TH E

WORKS

O F

THE RIGHT REVEREND

JONATHAN SHIP LET, D. D.

LORD BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND*
M.DCC.XCII.

CONTENTS.

A CHARGE
Delivered to the Clergy of the Diocefe
of St. Afaph, at the Primary Vijita-
tion in 1770, I
CHARGE II.
Delivered m the year 1774, - 25
Addrefs to the Reader, - - 51
CHARGE III.
Delivered in the year 1788, - 65
CHARGE

Vi CONTENTS.
CHARGE IV.
Delivered in the year ij%z, - 121
A SPEECH
Intended to have been fpoken on, the Bill
for altering the Charters of the Colony
of Maffachufett's Bay, - - 159
A SPEECH
On the Appeal from a Decree in the
Court of Chancery, in favour of Lite
rary Property, in the year 1774, 20 1
A SPEECH
On the Bill for repealing the Penal Laws.
againjl Protejlant Dijfenfers, in the
, yeariyyg, - . 2^
SER-

CONTENTS. vii
SERMON
Preached before the Houfe of Lords, in
the abbey church of St. Peter, Wefl
minfter, on Tuefday, January 30,
1770, being the day appointed to be
obferved as the day of the Martyrdom
. of King Charles I. - - 257
SERMON
Preached before the Incorporated Society for
the Propagation of the Go/pel in Foreign
Parts, at their anniverfary meeting
in the parijh church of St. Mary-le-
Bow, on Friday February 19, 1773, 295
SERMON
Preached in the parijh church of Chn&~
Chiarch, London, on Thurfday, A-
pril 24, 1777; being the time of the
yearly meeting of the children educated
in the charity fchools in and about the
cities of London and Weflminfter, 331

CHARGE DELIVERED BY TUX
Right Rev. Jonathan Shipley, D.D.
Lord Bifhop of St. Asaph,
To the Clergy Of his Diocefe, at his Primary Vifitation
in the Year 1770.

HAVING been promoted without any
folicitation, and very little defert of
mine, to a rank in the Church which re
quires more wifdom and prudence, and
more authority than I have the vanity to
. affume, I think it my peculiar good for-
tune to be placed over a body of clergy
whofe decent manners and exemplary be-
Vol. II. B haviour

2 CHARGE I.
haviour will render, if I may credit general
report, government an eafy tafk, and fpare
me the unpleafant neceffity of employing
cenfures and feverity.
As this flate of things is moft agreeable
to my own temper and willies, I will in
dulge the pleafure of believing it, and have
the fatisfaclion to be confirmed in my
opinion by the little experience I have
already had myfelf, and the concurrent
teflimony of thofe who have been befl
acquainted with the ftate of this Diocefe.
And though perhaps it may be needlefs to
far the greateft part of you, to give ' in-
flruclions which your whole conduct has
fhewn you to be well informed of; yet in
matters of very great importance, admo
nitions of the plaineft kind may be of ufe,
even to the wifeft ; for all that we know
is not always prefent , to our minds. I
fhall therefore take leave to lay before you,
: and

Charge i; $
and for my own ufe as well as yours, a
fhort view of the duties required of us by
the virtuous and honourable profeffion into
which we have entered. The province
you have undertaken is to inftrucl: your
parifhes in the rule of duty; of felf-govern-
ment ; of their behaviour towards one
another, as far as juftice and charity are
concerned; of the reverence and the
obedience that is due to the Author of our
Being and of the Univerfe, and of the
fitteft methods of expreffing it. Now that
this is not a contemptible nor ufelefs un
dertaking, is evident from hence; that
in all wife and civilized nations, there has
conftantly been fome eftablifhment to in
ftrucl: the people in thofe ceremonies and
rules of life, in which, according to their
notions, religion and virtue were fuppofed
to confift. And the excellent writings that
are left to us on moral fubjecls, form a
B % proof

4. CHARGE 1.
proof from the concurrent opinion of the
wifeft and beft of men in different ages,
that inftrudtions of this fort are of fingular
fervice to mankind. But in all thefe in
ftrudtions and ceremonies there were great
and palpable defects, apparent even to
thofe who obferved them. Our Saviour,
in the promulgation of the Gofpel, has
gracioufly fupplied thofe wants which rea-
fon had pointed out before, and had en
deavoured without much fuccefs to relieve.
The Bible, in which thefe comfortable
truths are delivered to us, is that good
treafure, that ample ftorehoufe* from
whence may eafily be drawn thofe ufeful
precepts and that Valuable knowledge,
which are fully fufHcient to anfwer all
religious and moral purpofes, and to direct
the actions of every order of men. He
that is beft acquainted with thefe foun
tains of living waters* Will beft be able to
collect

CHARGE!, 5
collect and difpenfe them in fuch due
proportions, as his own wants, and the
truft committed to his care may require.
The facred dodlrihes which it is chiefly
incumbent upon us to teach, are thofe-
which our hearers ought not to be igno
rant of, and from which they will receive
the greateft benefit. The awful truths
relating to the divine nature, as far as God
has vouchfafed to unfold them to us ; the
fallen ftate of man, which feems to have
been confirmed .by the concurrent tefti-
mony of antient. tradition, and which is
fo fuitable to the experience of our own
weaknefs and infirmities ; the doctrine of
pur redemption which nature has fb much
caufe to rejoice in, and is fo little able tQ
-comprehend, and the almoft apparent ne-
ceflity of the manifeftation of God in the
flefh to deftroy the works of the devil; thefe.
are the foundations, the chief cornerrftones
B3 of

(, CHARGE I.
of our faith and duty, and ought always to
be inculcated with zeal, and heard with
reverence. But the chief effect which
Scripture teaches us to expect even from
thefe doctrines is upon the lives of men ;
that, denying ungodlinefs and worldly lufts,
they fhould live foberly, righteoufly, and
godlily in this prefent world. It is there
fore our bufinefs to inforce in the ftrongeft
manner the great principles of moral duty,
which are held forth to us in Scripture
with the moft inftructive clearnefs, and in
many different lights. Sometimes our
duty is reprefented as a legal tribute paid
to the great Creator and fole Proprietorof
the Univerfe; and fometimes as the juft
return of love and gratitude to our heavenly
Father, the giver of all good things, whofe
tender mercies are over all his works.
In one place our duty to our fellow
creatures is put upon a footing of ftrict
juftice.

CHARGE I. 7
v
juftice and equity, and we are commanded
to do unto other men as we would they
mould do unto us. In another place we
are inftrudted to confider all the fons of
men as children of one common parent,
to love them as ourfelves, and to follow
that which is good for all men.
Thefe feveral foundations of our
duty lhould be laid open and explained ;
and your hearers fhould be inftrudted,
which is not a difficult tafk, how eafily
thefe principles may be applied to the
common occurrences of life, and the fitua-
tions in which they find themfelves placed.
I« the town and in the country very dif
ferent duties are required from men, and
they are expofed to very different tempta
tions. Now it will be of fingular fervice
to caution your hearers againft the vices
with which they are moft eafily befet,
againft that fpecies of intemperance and
B 4 dif-

8 CHAkGE I.
difhonefty into which their way of life$
or the example of their neighbours is moft
likely to lead them ; and much good may
be done by putting them in mind pf thofe
inftances of kindnefs and right behaviour
which they have not been ufed to practifej;
for men often continue to be not fo good
as they themfelve§ would chufe to be,
through inattention, and for want of being
made fenfible of the advantages and pro
priety of a different behaviour. It might
feem needlefs to mention, if one did not
fometimes meet with inftances that fhew
the neceffity of it, that whatever inftruc^.
|:ions you give, they fhould be couched in
plain, intelligible, and familiar language,
otherwife they are in reality np inflructions.
at all. And it is difficult to imagine how
very neceffary it is to obferve this rule, if
you choofe to be underftood by the loweft
rank pf your hearers. Qive me leave to,
recommend

CHARGE i; 9
Recommend to you upon this occafion, as
an excellent fyftem of religious knowledge,
delivered in plain, proper, and fignificanj:
language, and a model worthy your imita-^
tion, the catechetical ledtures of our late
worthy Metropolitan. But thefe admoni?
tions, and almoft every other I can under
take to giv.e, will be rendered in a manner
ufelefs, if you exercife your holy function
under a due fenfe of its importance, and
with the zeal and anxiety which a good
man mufl neceffarily feel for the fijccefs of
fo excellent a work. Love is of an inven
tive nature ; and the good- will and affec
tion we ought to bear to our flocks will
fuggeft many methods of teaching, and
enable you to influence their condudt, and
advance their interefts more effectually
than any cold and formal rules that can be
given. For, indeed, your labours will
neither be eafy to yourfelves, nor pf much
advantage

10 C H A R G E I.
advantage to your hearers, unlefs they are
the labours of love. And fure there is no
employment which can poffibly adminifter
more fatisfaction to a reafonable mind,
than that of ferving and improving our
fellow-creatures. The intention itfelf is
virtuous ; and pleafure and happinefs ac
company the exercife of it. Let us not
fuffer fo noble an office, which ought to
call forth every thing that is great and
amiable in the human mind, to dwindle,
through carelefTnefs and indifference, into
a mere opus operatum.
But after having fatisfied all the import
ant fervices that your duty requires of you,
there ftill will remain, efpecially in coun
try parifhes, a confiderable portion of
time to be employed in fuch a manner as
fhall appear moft reafonable to yourfelves.
Now the ferious turn which your profef-
fion necefTarily infpires into a good mind, will

C H A R G E I. ii
will not fuffer your hours of leifure to
been tirely loft, nor even your amufements,
to be totally idle and ufelefs. Such of you
as have not too long neglected the learned
languages, would do well to continue and
improve your acquaintance with the great
authors of antiquity; in fome of which
you will find moft faithful and pleafing
defcriptions of the beauties of nature; in '
others, judicious and lively records of "his
torical events, moral and prudential rules
of conduct; but chiefly pictures of life,
characters and manners, given- in fuch
feeling words, with fuch pure propriety
of language, and tinctured with fuch clear
good fenfe as you cannot poflibly read and
underftand, without a fenfible improve
ment. And befides the improvement you
cannot help deriving from fuch exalted
wifdom and genius, by ftudying the origi
nals in the fame language, you will often per-

;; CHARGE I.
perceive the force of fingular expreffions*
and underftand the cuftoms and allufiont
you meet with W the facred writings,
more perfectly than any commentaries can
teach you : and to the fame languages you
muft haye recourfe, if you chufe to make
yourfelves acquainted with the imperfect
but valuable remains of eeclefiaftical anti^
quity. But, indeed, I would not dif-
fuade you from applying to any branch of
fcience that fuits your tafte. Nothing of
this kind is without its ufe ; and the plea-!-
fure that is felt, arid/ the quick progrefs
that is made, where the fubjedl itfelf is
agreeable, may compenfate for the lefTey
importance of the fubjedl itfelf.
One part of knowledge however there
is, fo extenfive in the contemplation, of it,
fo ufeful in the application, with a variety
fitted to all taftes, and fuch degrees of
ylainriefs and obfcurity as may'give fuit-? able

CHARGEI. 13
able exercife to all capacities, that I can
not help recommending it to your confi-
deration. It is that kind of Hiftory and
Philofophy which is called Natural. The
views of the great parts of nature, the
beauty of their eonftrudtion, and the va
riety of ufes for which they are evidently
intended, and to which they are admirably
adapted, are the very paths of contempla
tion which lead us moft diredtly to the
knowledge of the great Creator, and which
form the mind to that ferious and religious
turn of thought which is peculiarly fuit-
able to your function. And the curious
particulars into which every branch of
this knowledge refolves itfelf, the endlefs
difcoveries which arife from enquiry, or
from eafy and obvious experiments, and
the ufeful applications of it to the advan
tages of fociety, and the improvement of
arts, in particular that of agriculture, the
moft

14 CHARGE I.
moft valuable of all* are circumftances
that ought to excite the curiofity of thofe
who feek only for entertainment, . and the
induftry of thofe. who wifh to be fervice-
able to their countrymen. Let me re
mind you, it is chiefly by a diligent and
fuccefsful profecution of this kind of
knowledge, that this kingdom has acquired
its high reputation for genius and fcience,
and the whole nation has profited of the
lights derived from hence to the advance
ment of hufbandry, of manufactures and
commerce. Permit me* for this reafon,
and for the fake of the people committed
to your care, to wifh that you would re
commend and encourage the learning of
the Englifh language; not that I would
wifh to abolifh the ufe of your own ori
ginal and venerable tongue. On the con
trary, it deferves to laft for ages, as a mo
nument of the antiquity of your nation^ and

CHARGE I, 15
and the invincible bravery of your ancef-
tors. But I wifh, moft fincerely, that
the inhabitants of this great Principality,
efpecially thofe of this diocefe, may enjoy
1
every advantage and convenience of life.-;
every improvement in arts, in knowledge,
and commerce, in as full meafure and
extent as the moft flourifhing part of
this ifland. Let every avenue of know
ledge and information be open to them;
let them make ufe of all their na
tural advantages; let them carry on the
improvements in cultivation, which they
have fo happily begun ; and let them learn
to manufacture the many excellent pro
ductions that abound on the furface, and in
the entrails of the foil. And if, by thofe
fuggeftions which may naturally be ex-r
peeled to arife from your fuperior know
ledge and education, their eyes may be
opened, or their induftry quickened, to
any

i6 charge!:
any of thefe ufeful works, you will enjoy*
the pureft of all pleafures, in ' the con-
fcioufnefs of having ferved your country;
you will receive your own fhare of the
public advantage; and you will procure'
that refpedl and dignity which is the effect
of fuperior wifdom, and is the beft fup-
port of your minifterial charadter. NPwy
the fhorteft and readieft way of obtaining
fuch advantages as thefe, is to adopt the
improvements, and imitate the fkill and
induftry, of your neighbours* Abolifh all
ufelefs and unfriendly diftindlions ; confi- -
der all the inhabitants of the ifland as na
tives of the fame happy country, as fub-
j'ects of the fame gracious Prince ; and aS
fellow-members of the wifeft, the moft
improved, and the beft conftituted civil
fociety upon earth. Refemble and copy;
them, where the refemblartce would be to
your advantage. Preferve only' to your-* felves

CHARGE!* 17
felves and your countrymen, thofe honour
able and virtuous diftinctions which have
long been a part of your character; Let
them retain their old integrity and cou
rage, their hofpitaiity, their friendly dif-
pofitions, and their warm benevolence of
heart. Thefe are qualities which* in all
ages* have been mentioned to their honour;
and which ftill endear them to all that
have the opportunity of knowing them*^
I rely too much upon the good fenfe of
my heafers, to believe they can think the
fubjedls I have mentioned undefetfving of
their attention, pr unworthy of this fo-
lemnity* It is the proper office of virtue,
and a moft important branch of our reli
gious duty* to communicate to other men
the conveniences and advantages, and the
temporal good things of this life ; and the
moft effectual means of doing this is, by
proper inftruction, to enable them to pro-
Vol. I. C cure.

iS C H'A'R G E 1".
cure thofe advantages for themfelves. He*
that can contrive, by any method, to make
his neighbours more induftrious, does them
the greateft fervice which they can re
ceive from a fellow- citizen ; and if he
does it with a religious view, will be en
titled to a proportionable reward from the
Supreme Judge of merit.
The firft and the moft effential duty of
a Clergyman is, to teach the dodtrines of
the gofpel, and to give an example of
godly life. This is of indifpenfible obli
gation ; and till we fee proofs to the con
trary, we ought to hope and believe, that
it belongs to every one of our brethren.
But great and valuable as thefe duties are,
it is hardly credible how much the value of
them is enhanced, when they are joined
with learning, with prudence, and with
a general knowledge'of the arts of life, and
the characters of men. Thefe are qualities which,

CHARGE I, 19
which will render your labours pleafant to
your hearers and jyourfelves ; which will
enable you to give to virtue its moft en
gaging ornaments, and make its beauty
appear; and thus you will adorn the
doctrine of God, our Saviour, in all,
things; Having now gone through fuch a de-
fcription of your duties as feemed to, me
fuitable to the prefent occafion, I hope
that you will believe that I am not un*
mindful of the very great and important
charge that refts upon myfelf I know
how unequal I am to the work I have un
dertaken ; and that my beft endeavours will
always ftand in need of your indulgence,
and fometimes of your forgivenefs. This
unaffected fenfe of my own weaknefs, will
render me defirous, on all proper occa-
fions, to receive your advice and affift-
ance ; and you cannot aflift me more ef-
C 2 fedlually

iO C H A R G E I.
fectually, than by a confcientious difcharge
of the truft repofed in you ; and by fup-
porting that character of decency and vir
tue, which your behaviour has already
gained. And, let me feripufly remind you
how very unworthy it would be of that
character, by giving teftimonials with
careleffnefs and indulgence, to introduce
immoral and worthlefs men into your own
refpectable body. It will depend 'entirely
upon the integrity of your teftimony, whe
ther the perfons whom I am foon to ordain
are fuch as will be the credit, or the dif-
grace of the diocefe. And I am unwilling
to believe that any of you are capable of
impofing upon me in a matter of fo much
confequence ; where I cannot guard, againft
the deceit, and muft think it my duty to
refent it. But I will not fully the plea-
fure I take in believing all the good that is
faid

C H A R G E I. 2t
laid of you, by entertaining a thought to
your difadvantage. On the contrary, it
will be a moft pleafing talk to me, the
moft grateful exercife of my office, to make
myfelf acquainted with your different me
rits and talents ; and to ufe the means that
are placed in my power to cher jfh and re
ward them. At prefent, I hope you will
give me credit for the goodnefs of my in
tentions : and make a reafonable allowance
for the reftraints and difficulties which
unavoidably attend a fituation like mine,
I muft not hope to be £o happy as to be
always able .to do the good that I wifh ;
and I may fometimes err for want of right
information, or from miftakes in judgment.
Some applications may be made to me of
fo powerful and fb obligatory a nature,
that to reject them might be deemed want
of juftice or gratitude. And I fhould be
jnfenfible to the beft of all human feelings,
C3 if,

22 C H A R G E I.
if, in the various fcenes of a pretty adtivs
life, I had not met with a few who had
claims upon me from friendfhip, from
mutual fervices, and an intimate know
ledge of their worth, Yet I will take care
to preferve myfelf, as much as in reafon I
ought, from the influence pf thefe confi-
derations ; and not let them interfere with
the juft rewards of thofe, who are mof^
acceptable to the natives of this country*
and beft able to ferve them? Fpr I hope
that I fhall not be numbered with thofe
afpiring men, who are always preffing for
ward; and never think themfelves fuffici-3 .
ently exalted above their brethren. That
odious vice of ambition, which is too apt
to ruin the 'gopd qualities pf thofe whom
it raifes, never gave any difturbance to
my younger days; and it fhall not em.-
bitter my age. I fhall think myfelf hapr
py fhould I be able to perfdrm. the duties
-: of

C H A R G E I. 23
of an office, of which I have great reafon
to fear the burthen, with tolerable fatis-
fadlion to my own mind ; and merit fome
fhare in the efteem of the many worthy
and refpedlable men who make up the
Clergy of this Diocefe.

C 4 , C HARGE

CHARGE II,
Delircred in the Year 1774.

THE office of the Clergy in general (and
a very important and honourable office it
is) is to inftrudl mankind in their duty.
And this I hope we perform with zeal and
integrity, according to the beft of our
abilities, towards the refpective congrega
tions that are committed to our care. But,
when we meet together on thefe folemn
occafions, it then becomes a part of our
office to think over and explain our own
duty; and to inftrudl and exhort one ano
ther. This was the plan I had formed to
, myfelf

iS C H A R G E II.
myfelf, when I addreffed you in my primary
vifitation. I then laid open a general view
and defcription of the obligations that are
due from us to civil fociety, and to the
Church of Chrift; intending, in the fu
ture difcourfes which God fhall permit me
to hold on thefe occafions, to trace our
duty through its particular branches and
divifions ; and to lay down the rules thai
may render our conduct not only pure and
undefiled, but ufeful and void of offence,
At prefent I am- forced to wave my former
defign, in order to lay before you matters
of a public nature ; which feemed at firft
to -threaten danger and ruin to our excel
lent eftablifhment,
The fpirit of enquiry is a principle of
the moft extenfive ufe in human affairs,
and has been applied with great advantage
to religious fubjedls ; but the love of truth
itfelf may fometimes become exceffive, and
enquiries

CHARGE IT. if
enquiries may be pufhed beyond the limits
which neither reafon nor piety would
ehufe to tranfgrefs. Befides this, preju-,
dice, ambition; malice, and other bad
paffions may fhelter themfefves under an
affedledTzeal for the purity of religion.
Some of thefe caufes I think we may,
without any breach of charity, prefume to
have mingled in the repeated attacks
which have been carried on for feveral
years fucceflively againft the eftablifhed
church. The Diffenters too of many
different denominations have applied, not
for a fuller enjoyment of their religious
liberty than they at prefent poffefs ; but
for a more clear and explicit declaration of
their right to it; and for a repeal of the
laws that are unfavourable, to it. Now
this .direct attack upon our church from
one quarter, and the zeal for doctrines
repugnant to our own from many others, feem

48 CHARGE If,
feem to imply a ferious call upon us to*
examine the foundations of that faith we
profefs ; whether we have built on loofe
and mouldering fand, or, as we truft, on a
firm and immoveable rock. In order to
purfue this examination I fhall not con-*
fider the form of our ecclefiaftical govern^
ment, the primitive inftitution of epifeo-
pacy, nor even the doctrines which dif-
tinguifh us from the Diffenters, and thofe
among ourfelves, whp have taken offence
at the church in which they have been.
bred. Was I to enter into thefe difputes,
I could only repeat the arguments which
have been retailed for ages pn eyery fide,
and have left each party in ppffeffion of
their own opinions. I fhall take a dif
ferent method, which perhaps will not be
more fatisfadlory'to ourfelves> but appears
to me to be better adapted to convincs
our enemies. Whatever ma'rks there may

C H A R G E II. 29
may be of the true religion, one of them
undoubtedly is to promote the practice of
virtue and unjverfal righteoufnefs. Reli
gion is certainly not the invention and
creature of civil policy; for it exifted prior
to civil government. But, as nature and
reafon have made it neceffary for the
governing part of every community, to
protedt and maintain fome publick mi-
nifters of religion, it is certainly the in-
tereft and the wifdom of the flare to chufe
fuch as may be teachers of virtue and
good morals to their fellow citizens. This
is the point of view which fhould deter
mine a legiflator, who refpects only the
good of his people, in the choice of his
religion. And upon this ground I will
take leave to fay, that the clergy of the
eftablifhed church can plead more merit
towards their country than any other re
ligious order of men that ever exifted. Ever

3o CHARGE II;
Ever fince the days of the reformatioriV
from the Book of Homilies to the ex
cellent writings of our late Archbifhppy
there has prevailed a fober rational fpirifc
of enquiry ; they have ftudied and given a
juft defcription of moral duties, and they
have uniformly purfued ,the fame defigny
each generation improving upon the laftv
This is a merit, of which our country has
enjoyed the fruits without being fuffi-
eiently fenfible of it. In order to make
this clear, it is neceffary to recollect what
ignorance, what fuperftition,- and what a
corrupt kind of cafuiftry has prevailed in
the countries of the Romifh religion
Some of their favourite doctrines, . the
virtues of pardons and indulgences, the
interceffion of faints ; and, what bad men of
all perfuafions pin their faith upon, and
even the good are too apt to give credit to,
the efficacy of the mere opus operatum; thefe

• GHARG E IL 3<
thefe and whatever befides have a tendency
to leffen the obligations of virtue, by find
ing out fome equivalent for it, or fome
contrivance to do without it, all thefe
things muft neceffarily retard the progrefs
men might otherwife make in the ftudy
pf their duty, by rendering them indifferent
about it. . Happily for our nwn church,
thefe corrupt doctrines were exploded
from the very beginning; for there ap
pears in her articles a temper and modera
tion, and a knowledge of the right method
of interpreting fcripture, which does her
great honour, confidering the prejudices
and the philofophy of that age. There is
vifible, even in the writings of the firft re-
formers, a vein of good fenfe and found
morals, which thofe only are competent
judges of who are acquainted- with the
general progrefs of improvement fince
their days. How foon after thefe did
Hooker

g4 ' t H AR G £ It
Hooker appear, who wrote of Religioff
and Government, not only with know
ledge and accuracy, but with a large
and philofophick reach of thought ? He
was foon fucceeded by numbers of. able
men who profited by his example ; whd
not only defended and explained the re
ligion, but improved the fcience of their
countrymen, and taught them to think
and reafon. Such was Hales of Eaton, an
early pattern of fblid learning and candor j
who joined great depth of thought with
great fimplicity of ftyle. Such was the
wife and moderate Bifhop Taylor j whofe
' Liberty of Prophecying' was the firft com
plete piece of good reafoning that England,
or perhaps Europe, had feen; in which
the rights of confcience and the power of
the civil magiftrate, are defcribed and
taught with as much weight of argument
as by any of the great men who came after
him;

CHARGE II. 33
him> and with a fpirit of Chriftian bene
volence fuperior to any. Contemporary
with thefe was the immortal Chilling-
Worth ; whofe work has hitherto remained
an acknowledged ftandard of juft reafoning,
and the moft able defence of the Proteftant
caufe. A little prior to him in years
was the judicious Bifhop Sanderfon; who
firft introduced a more folid and rational
manner of preaching ; and fet an example
which was afterwards fo much improved
upon, by the great men who appeared after
the reftoration. Then came Barrow ;
whofe comprehenfive mind, whofe bound-
lefs knowledge and commanding flow of
eloquence, have made him regarded as one
of our moft fhining lights. He was
equalled, though -: in a different way, by
the mild, perfuafiye, and pathetick Arch-
bifhop Tillotfon ; whofe clear interpretation
of fcripture, whofe knowledge of morals,
Vol. II. D and

34 CHARGE II.
and his fkill in adapting the rules of duty
to the manners of men and the fituations
of life, added to a pure, fimple, and ele
gant ftyle, have made him confidered ever
fince, as the moft perfect model of Chriftian
inftrudtion. It was in this age that the
true philofophy and the rational ftudy of
nature firft made its appearance; and I
cannot help owning that I think it an ho
nour to our Church, that fome of the moft
eminent of our own Clergy were princi
pally concerned, in the inftitution of that
fociety which has enlightened all Europe ;
and added fo much glory to the Britifh
name. It would be endlefs for me to defcribe
all the able minifters of the gofpel in our
own Church, who have flourifhed fince
the days of thefe illuftrious men : we may
fay of them, in general, that they have
fhown themfelves, at firft, very able de
fenders

C H A R G E II. 35
lenders of their country againft popery and
arbitrary power ; and that, in latter times,
they have defended the common caufe of
religion with great learning and judgment ;
and the moft folid reafoning againft the
various and perpetual attacks that have
been made upon us from the different
quarters of infidelity ; fometimes open and
ferious ; fometimes concealed under a veil
of irony and ridicule ; fometimes pretend
ing a great regard for virtue and morals ;
and fometimes fecretly undermining them,
or openly difavowing them. But the moft
remarkable part of their character, has been
to have fhowfi a greater attention than any
other church* to the practical duties of our
religion. If you look into, the writers of the
Romifh Church, you meet either with
loofe and difhoneft maxims ; or with unin
telligible raptures and myftery. If you
D 2 turn

36 CHARGE II.
turn to the writers of the Reformed
Churches in general ; you will meet with
much declamation, very fuperficial reafon
ing, and great ignorance of the ground of
moral duty. The writers of the Dif-
fenters in our own country, till Within the
laft forty years, are fo full of the doctrine
of falvation by faith alone ; and chufe to
dwell fo little r on the neceffity of good
works ; that it would be too much to ex
pect from them, clear and accurate defcrip-
tions of moral obligations. But, from the
beginning, the Clergy of the Eftablifhed
Church, having been happily free from the
fpeculative opinions which leffen the im
portance, and difcourage the fludy of our
duty; have given a ferious and rational at
tention to the various relations of human
life, and the obligations refulting from
them. I will venture to fay that all Eu
rope cannot produce fo many reafonable treatifea

C H A R G E II. 37
treatifes of ufeful pradlical religion, writ
ten before the end of the laft century, as
are to be found in our own Church. Add
to this, that no order of men have fludied
the Scriptures with fo much judgment and
critical fkill ; by which they have gradually
improved the underftandings of the people,
and have cleared, explained, and, in fome
inftances, have even reformed the doctrines
of the Church itfelf. They have alfo em
ployed themfelves very fuccefsfully in the
cultivation of fcience and literature. They
have borne a part in the great philofophi-
cal difcoveries which have done fo much
honour to our country. They have had
almoft the entire merit of educating the
youth of this kingdom; not only as tutors
and governors of the univerfities, but as
teachers of fchools, and private inftrudtors
in confiderable families. And being dif-
perfed in their feveral parifhes over the
D 3 whole

38 CHARGE II.
whole kingdom, we may prefume, without
vanity, that to their fuperior knowledge,
and their fociety, have been owing, irt a
• great meafure> the general improvement
pf the people ; and that character of good
fenfe and ufeful judgment by which they
are diftinguifhed from other nations. And,
I think, allowing thefe confederations nQ
more than their due weight, I may take
leave to conclude, that the Clergy of the
Eftablifhed Church have not been'a ufelefs
burthen to their country. I may even
venture to affirm, that the fingular ad
vantages this nation has reaped from her
fkill in commerce, in manufactures, and
the mechanical arts, have been owing in a
good meafure to that fuperior education,
w^iich not only the nobility and gentry,
but the middling ranks of life, have de
rived from the too much undervalued and
neglected body of the Clergy. Were we to

CHARGE II. 39
to enter into a calculation, merely on a
temporal view,- I doubt not but it would
appear that the civil advantages that have
redounded to fociety through our means,
have been an ample compenfation to our
country, for the legal provifion fhe has
made for us.
This is a confideration which I think
adminifters great comfort and fatisfadlion
to an honeft mind ; and, at the fame time,
ought to be a ftrong motive with us tp
continue our improvement in every valu
able kind of knowledge that may make us
ufeful to our neighbours, Confidered in
this light, the credit and dignity of our
Church ftands upon a folid foundation; as
a fociety that has thought it an effential
part of religion to cultivate and teach the
pureft morals; and many of whofe mem
bers, by their fludious and contemplative
Jives, have enlarged -the boundaries of fci-
D 4 ence,

40 C H A R G E II.
ence, and improved the underftanding of
their fellow citizens. Men of integrity
and virtue ought to be very cautious of
engaging in any meafures that may tend to
prejudice and undermine, and much lefs
to deftroy a Church that has deferved
fo well of our country. The virtues
fhe has taught and pradlifed, and en
couraged, afford a ftrong prefumption in
favour of the truth of her doctrines. But
then will they fay, can fhe oblige us to
fubfcribe Articles that we cannot believe ?
By no means. Every man muft judge for
himfelf, and be governed by the, didlates
of his own confcience. But then every
church muft have certain rules and prin
ciples which are to be confidered as the
terms of communion 5 otherwife her mem
bers could not join in the fame worfhip,
or meet together to hear fuch doctrines, as
they approve pf, The principles, that are
agreed

CHARGE II. 4t
agreed upon, and the rules that are laid
down, cannot be confidered, even by the
church that adopts them, as of equal au
thority with the Holy Scriptures. It is
enough if it can be maintained that they
are not inconfiftent with them. Every
fet of religious dodlrines that are drawn up
by man, will certainly partake, in fome
degree, of human infirmity ; and can hardly
efcape being difcoloured by the prejudices,
and even by the philofophy of the age.
For the' fame reafon, fince all human opi
nions are fubjedl to frequent changes, it is
highly probable that the religious doctrines
which fuit one age, will not be fo well
received in another. I mean the fpecula-
tive points of which men think fo differ
ently. Upon this account, it ought to be
the object of fuch as are employed in draw
ing up articles of religion, to confine
themfelves. as much as poffible to what is
clear

42 CHARGE II.
clear and fundamental; and to leave as
great a latitude in the interpretation of
their own laws, as is confiftent with
peace and uniformity of worfhip. And it
is amazing how well thefe rules were
obferved by the compilers of our Arti
cles, confidering the ftate of learning and
religious knowledge in the times they
lived. But from hence arifes a queftion, Whe
ther the Articles of Religion muft be per
petually changing with the fluctuating
opinions of men ? To which we anfwer,
that the fame difficulty occurs in all other
human laws. The manners and relations
of men, and the fituation of things are
perpetually changing ; and yet the bufi-
nefs of the world is carried on in the moft
material points, for a long courfe of years,
by the fame laws. The truth is, that it is
not neceffary to bring all human actions to
one

C H A R G E II. 43
&ne common ftandard, It is every man's
duty to fearch after truth ; but it is not
neceffary, becaufe it is not pradlicable, that
Jill men fhould believe precifely the fame
fet of truths : and-, doubtlefs, it would be
the true wifdom of every church, at pro
per intervals, to revife her own Articles.
That would remove the doubts and
difficulties of tender confciences ; and let
them know exactly what it is expedled
they fhould believe. At prefent, it ap
pears that our ableft divines have gradually
departed from fome rigorous interpreta
tions of the Articles that prevailed at firft:
this is not unknown to thofe who alone
have authority to determine what is moft
expedient for us ; and we, doubt not, but
in their own good time, they will confent
to -have the burdens that are complained
pf, removed. In the mean while, it is
our duty to apply, with a godly fincerity, the

44 CHARGE II.
the learning and talents we are feveralh/
bleffed with, to the fincere and accurate
ftudy of the Holy Scriptures; to which
the compilers of our Articles appeal for
the truth of what they teach; and which,
we truft would lead unprejudiced minds to
that excellent Church, of which we pro-
fefs ourfelves to be members. And let us
remember that we can no way do her
more effedlual fervice, than by cultivating
that fuperiority of learning and know
ledge, which has hitherto been fo ho
nourable to the Clergy, and fo ufeful to
the Public.
I fhould have taken no notice of the
Petition of the Diffenters, if it had not
been confidered, I think unjuftly, as an
attack upon the Church. There feems to
be no reafon on our fide for refufing them
a legal title to that liberty of confcience
which we have fo long permitted them to
enjoy

CHARGE II. %s
enjtoy without any public inconvenience.
In general, it muft be owned> they anfwer
the charadler they have acquired of good
citizens, and decent, induftrious men;
and their teachers, of late years, by many
ufeful works of learning and fcience, and
particularly by many judicious explica
tions of the moral and pradlical parts of
duty, have fet us an example of diligence
and application, in which it would not be
for our credit to be outdone. And, if
fome of them have erred from the faith in
thofe doctrines to which we juftly afcribe
peculiar fandtity; and more of them have
been fufpected (we hope unjuftly) of doing
fo ; ftill it becomes more obligatory upon
us to inform ourfelves of ecclefiaftical hif
tory, and of all the fubtleties and wiles of
difputatiori; that we may be able to efcape
and confute them ; and to vindicate and
eftablifh that plain fenfe of Scripture which

46 CHARGE II.
which the whole tenor of revelation points
out to us; but the pride of learning is not
always willing to fubmit to*
In general there appears to be moft
ftrong and peculiar obligations upon our
Order, to labour, with great perfeverance, to
improve ourfelves in all the branches of
divine and human knowledge, particularly
in fuch as are more immediately ufeful to
fociety. This is evidently neceffary in
order to fupport that high character of
knowledge and wifdom which our Church
has hitherto fuftained. And much more
is required, at prefent, to preferve our
names from contempt; and to keep alive
thofe ufeful impreffions of refpedl and dig
nity, which contribute fo much to the
fuccefs of our labours ; much more, , I fay,
is required at prefent, when knowledge is
become more general ; and men may juftly
be offended, if the Order that is main tained

CHARGE II. 47
tained to inftrudl the reft, fhall not appear
to be more knowing and more virtuous
than their neighbours.
I thought to have ended here; but in
the prefent ftate of things, perhaps, it
may not be unfuitable- to the character I
fuftain, to caution you againft fuffering
yourfelves to be infected with the fpirit of
riot and licentioufnefs, which is fpread
through great part of your congregations.
There is nothing blameable in fhowing
your regard in a ferious; a decent, and
even a zealous manner, for the perfon or
the caufe that you approve. It were to
be wifhed, indeed, that men would em
ploy more care and difcernrnent than they
frequently do, in the choice of reprefenta-
tives, on whofe integrity the publick wel
fare depends.
But to take an adtive and a noify part in
the cpndudt of eledtions; to fubmit to
low

48 CHARGE II.
low offices and difgraceful familiarities <
to hope to gain favour and rife to prefer
ment by practices unfuitable to the cha
racter of a clergyman, has fomething in
it peculiarly mocking artd dffenfive to a
ferious mind; and makes even thofe who
are forced to employ fuch perfons afhamed
to reward them. I mention not this by
way of reproof; for I can fay with plea-
fure, that I know of none that deferve it.
On the contrary, I know of many under
my care, whofe learning and goodnefs are
recommended by a modeft and prudent
behaviour ; that gains them the refpedl of
their neighbours and the friendfhip of
their fuperiors. Such charadters it fhall be
my bufinefs to find out and to reward. I
can fay with pleafure, that I know no
diocefe in this kingdom, where the clergy
in general are more decent, more virtuous,
and more refpedlable ; and I believe there is

CHARGE II. 49
is no diocefe in which they are fo much
refpedled. Inftances of immoral and
fcandalous behaviour are very rare, and
they ought to be rare indeed. It is our
bufinefs to improve and cultivate whatever
we may have that is ufeful and praife-
worthy ; and to fupply, as well as we can,
the defects that all of us are liable to. As
for me, it will be the fault of my judg
ment, and not of my intention, if I do not
difpofe of the rewards which Providence
has committed to my diftribution, fo as to
anfwer the purpofes of public good. Un
common virtue, joined with uncommon
learning, ought to have a claim fupe
rior to every other recommendation ; and
my own heart would condemn me, if I did
not liften to it. Indeed, I have felt more
true^ happinefs in ferving a worthy man,
unafked, than in complying with all the
felicitations of the Great. Affure your-
\oi. II. - E felves

50 C H A R G E II.
felves that I fincerely wifh and endeavour
to promote the welfare of my clergy and
my diocefe ; and allow me to hope, that
your " candour and indulgence will excufe
my failings.

TO

T O
THE READER.

THE doctrine contained in the fol
lowing Charges, is neither new, nor
obfcure; and was evidently fuch as the
times called for. Yet, as it may be
thought, by fome, unfuitable to thofe af-
femblies in which it was delivered, I fhall
take leave to fay a few words in explana
tion. And here I would obferve, that
although it may be juftly confidered as the
diftinguifhing honor of the church of
England, that fhe has taught the moral
duties with more clearnefs, and in a more
reafonable manner, than any other Chrif-
tian community ; yet one fpecies of duty
there is, which all fedts and profeflions
have almoft equally neglected to teach ; I
E 2, mean

52 TO THE READER.
mean the duties of public men, and the
duties which all of us owe to our country.
But be this as it may, I am bold to affert,
that the teachers of a religion whofe prin
ciple is to do good to all men, cannot,
without deferting their office, forbear to
teach the duties of princes and magiftrates;
and to fhew the guilt and ruin arifing from
the violation of thofe duties. On fuch
occafions it becomes neceffary to raife
our conceptions above the common bufi
nefs of private life ; and venture to apply
the fimple precepts of our Saviour to the
greateft and moft important operations
of government. In the plainnefs of thofe
precepts there is a depth and wifdom that
are fufficient to direct the higheft adlions
of men : it is here, as in the moft perfedt
fyftems of philofophy, where the fimpleft
laws are employed to diredl the moft com
plicated motions, and' the moft immenfe forces.

TO THE READER. 53
forces. Nor is it furprifing to find fuch
refemblance in the workmanfhip of the
fame God. Tell us not, then, that religion
is merely a tranfadtion between God and
the foul — it is the language of hypocrites
and enthufiafts, or of obfcure and ufelefs
men. The religion of a Chriftian, in
public employment, fhould be as evident
as the virtue of a Phocion or an Ariftides ;
and in common cafes exert itfelf in the
fame manner.
Thofe heroes were led by the light of
nature, and the importance of objects, to
confider the fervice of their country as
the firft of human duties; which we feem
to have rejected from our religion as a
ufelefs and perifhed branch. For how
few are there now, who confider the fer
vice of the public in any other light than
as the means of making a fortune ! per
haps it may be faid, and with fome degree
E3 Of

$4 ' TO THE READER.
of plaufibility, that religion has nothing
to do with politics j but then it may be
faid with equal propriety, that merchan
dize or hufbandry have no concern with
religion; and yet religion is allowed to
govern the actions of the merchant and
the farmer; and furely it is of as much
importance that it fhould govern the con
duct of the ftatefman.
Religion has certainly nothing in its
nature contrary to government. The mif-
fortune is, we attempt to excufe every
thing in public life, by calling it politics.
The rules of our duty feem not to extend
to public tranfadtions. From whence we
fee men of decent and almoft virtuous
characters, do things which in private
tranfadtions their fouls would abhor.
Let them, however, be reminded, that
the fublimity of the Chriftian morals,
confifts in the ufefulnefs, the extent, the
univerfality

TO THE READER. $5
Univerfality of the principles; that they
give laws not only to the vulgar, but to
ftatefmen, princes, and law-givers them-
felves. .
The duties of government are undoubt
edly the moft important of all to fociety;
and the tranfgreffion of them is the higheft
guilt that is in the power of mankind to
incur. Look into the hiftorical part of
the Old Teftament ; and you will fee the
unerring Spirit of God reproving injuftice
and oppreffion, with a language and free
dom, that very much referable the indig
nation which fuch crimes have always
raifed in virtuous and generous minds.
But the benevolent fp irit of Chriftianity
furnifhes a ftill ftronger argument againft
arbitrary power: its whole doctrines breath
the moft liberal, public, and univerfal
friendfhip. That law which requires us
to love all men, ivill certainly not permit
E 4 us

56 TO THE READER.
us to neglect or abufe thofe with whom
we are moft intimately connected, and to
whom we are moft obliged.
I do not fay that the minifters of reli
gion fhould cenfure in public the meafures
of this, or that, Adminiftraion; but I do
fay that they fhould confider themfelves
as the- teachers of whatever is good and
ufeful to mankind ; or in other words, as
teachers of the gofpel. And fure it be
comes a bifhop, who is himfelf a member
of the legiflature, to mark the crimes and
the cuftoms that religion condemns. Nay,
I am bold to affirm, the nobleft office a
bifhop can be employed in, is to teach the
great duties of magiftrates; the law of
univerfal kindnefs ; and the particular ob
ligations that princes are under, not to
corrupt the manners of the people com
mitted to their charge.
Let the clergy, like the reft of their
fellow

TO THE READER. 57
fellow fubjedls, pay all due fubmiffion to
the powers that are fet over us for our
good ; tribute to whom tribute, honor to
whom honor is due. But let them teach
the greateft their duty; that they- are
not only fervants of our common mafter,
but, by the very tenure of their office, fer
vants of the people. Let them always
recommend in the moft powerful manner
the virtues of difintereftednefs, of hu
manity, of public fpirit to our rulers;
fince on their good conduct depend not
only the wealth and happinefs of us fub
jedls ; but we are fuch frail creatures that
even our good principles, the purity of
our religion, the knowledge of our rights,
our talents and our virtues, depend upon
the generous or oppreflive treatment we
meet with from thofe who govern us.
Under fuch impreffions Dr. Shipley, then

58 TO THE READER.
then bifhop of St. Afaph, addreffed his
clergy in the years 1778, and 1782.
At the former period We had begun
to feel feVerely the effedts of our fatal con-
teft with America ; and the latter was the
commencement of the Rockingham ad-
miniftration ; which, however difcordant
in its parts, undoubtedly contained as much
virtue, and as great abilities, as this or
any country could produce.
The Right Rev. Prelate was forced to
judge like his neighbours of the charac
ters of men by their acfioris : yet he has
moft ftudioufly avoided perfonal reflec
tions. He thought it became not, and
was indeed beneath a teacher of the gofpel,
to cenfure the conduct of individuals; it
was his part to point out what they owe
to God and their country; and to God and
their country he commits their reward or
punifhment.

TO THE READER. 59
punifhment. He lived to fee the times
change ; and our calamities advance upon
us with a rapidity that rendered the fenti-
ments that were fuitable to thofe years, a
very imperfect reprefentation of the more
melancholy years that followed. He lived
to fee a peace as humiliating and difgrace-
ful as our enemies could wifh; and yet, in
our fituation, perhaps as good as could be
made. He lived to fee the experience,
the merit, and the reputation of good and
wife men no proof againft the tempta
tions that government can offer.
He faw all friendfhip diffolved; and
that generous band who held fo long to
gether, broken and feparated; or connected
with others the moft unlike themfelves.
But he did not live to fee his country
rifing fuperior to fuch accumulated misfor
tunes; and reftored to a degree of fplendor,
confequence, and -profperity, which in
thofe

60 TO THE READER.
thofe days the moft fanguine durft not
¦ have anticipated.
At a time like the prefent, when thofe
ftrong features which formerly dift in guifhed
Whigs from Tories,- are in a great meafure
loft; when many who are Whigs in theory
are downright Tories in practice ; it may
be proper to obferve, that there is fuch a
thing as the character of an honeft man
diftinct from that of Whig or Tory. And
this diftindtion confifts, . according to my
humble idea, in acting, as far as the times
will admit, with men of principle andhonor;
and not in following even them, when they
act in oppofition to the public good.
Such, I am proud to fay, was the very
honorable and very unprofitable line of
condudt which the Bifhop of St. Afaph
uniformly purfued. It was this which
drew him from the quiet, unpretending
ftation of private life ; which led him to
quit

TO THE READER. 61
quit the beaten track of preferment ; to
refufe offers which have feldom fallen to
the lot of his profeffion ; and to follow
where juftice, duty, and the intereft of
the public called him.
At the beginning of the American war,
he faw the confequences of that unwife
and pernicious meafure; the effedls of
which, from the enormous debt contracted
by it, our country muft feel for ages. He
took at once a decided part ; he ventured
to differ from his friends, and even from
the refpedlable minifter who had raifed
him : and joined a fet of men to whom he
was a perfect ftranger ; but who appeared
to him to underftand, and purfue the true
interefts of their country. He foon ac
quired an intimacy with the heads of the
party ; and thofe who furvive, will do him
the juftice to acknowledge, he never en
tered into the paffions and jealoufies that
prevailed

62 TO THE READER.
prevailed amongft them; but for feveral
years perfifted in endeavouring to perfuade
the leaders of that party, that their intereft
and honor, and the fafety of their country,
confifted in their union. What were his
Lordfhip's religious fentiments, his works
will beft declare ; from thefe alfo it will
appear, that his attachment to our happy
conftitution, in church and ftate, was
zealous and unfeigned. He was a warm
and fteady friend to the moft unlimited
toleration, He juftly conceived that " no
church has a right to impofe articles of
faith on any other religious community*:"
and that the magiftrate, inftead of pre
venting men from worfhiping God in their
own way, ought to encourage the wpr-
fhipping of him in any way, if he means to
encourage virtue and piety. He was no
lefs a friend to the civil liberty of mankindj
* Vide Speech on Toleration. he

TO THE READER. 63
he was ready to admit all fedls and profef-
fions into a participation of the common
rights of their fellow citizens : but with
this invariable and decided provifo, that
their tenets did not militate againft the
eftablifhed government we live under.
What would have been now his opinion
refpedting the repeal of the Teft and Cor
poration Adls, may be improper for me
to determine. It refts upon the fimple
queftion, whether the language lately
held by thofe who wifh to be confidered
as holding forth the general opinion of
the Diffenters, comes within the above ex
ception. Thefe are the principles in which Dr.
Shipley lived and died; and to thofe who
know how to value fuch principles, this
publication will not be unacceptable.
The PUBLISHER.

CHARGE III.,
Delivered in the Year 1778.

JVlY firft idea of the method to be
obferved in the compofition of thofe
folemn Charges which it is my duty to
give; was to explain as well as I was
able, what is the beft kind of religious
inftrudlion, and what the beft means of
conveying it ; in order to cultivate thofe
ufeful and domeftic virtues, which enfure
all the bleffings and comforts of private
life; and make men happy without
wealth or orientation. I wifh to con
vince our hearers and ourfelves, that re
ligion is no auftere, melancholy, ufelefs
thing ; but our beft counfellor and guide
Vol vll. F in

66 CHARGE III.
in the common bufinefs pf life ; that aims
in all fituations to render us as happy as
prudence, reafon, and. virtue can make
us. Once I have been diverted from this.
grateful employment, by the neceffity of
paying fome attention to the difputes, con
cerning the Articles of our church ; and
thofe facred rights of cpnfcience which all
men are very ready to claim, and too un
willing to grant. At prefent the whole
attention of our minds, our beft, and
ftrongeft feelings, are all turned towards
the melancholy profpedl of our public
affairs. By a long feries of unfortunate
counfels and events, we find every thing
that was dear and precious in the eyes of"
our aneeftors, either loft, or brought into
the utmoft danger. It is hard, it is pain-
ful to the hearts of Britons to give up all
pur fond ideas of national glory and empire;
that vanity of noble minds which we had
perhaps

CHARGE III. - 67
perhaps too warmly indulged. — The awe-
ful and falutary difcipline of Providence is
now teaching us an humbler leffon. — But
fince almoft every human mifery is owing
to fome neglect or tranfgreffion of our
duty ; we ought to regard our public mif-
fortunes as a providential call upon us to
confider the nature of oiyr public duties.
In order to do this in as ufeful a manner
as the fhortnefs of the time will allow, I
will fuppofe you to be already acquainted
with the origin and principles of civil
government from whence thofe duties
arife. I will fuppofe you to know, that
civil fociety, like every other fpecies of
fociety, was firft inftituted for the benefit „
of thofe who enter into it ; /. e, for the
benefit of the people. Its firft beginnings,
like that of all other human contrivances,
were weak, fimple, and imperfect; fmall
numbers met together in little diftridls,
F 2 ^perhaps

63 CHARGE III.
perhaps like our parifhes ; either to afiift
each other in guarding againft fome gene
ral danger, or in performing fome works
in common ; from whence every one was
to derive an advantage. The benefits.
they afterwards experienced which were
not forefeen ; and the pleafures and com
forts arifing frorn the habits and ufe of
fociety; drew many more into the union,
and formed by degrees the rudiments of a
commonwealth. But every ftep they;
took, every regulation they invented,
every magifjrate they chofe, was evidently
with a. view to'preferve peace and fecu-
rjty, and tp' attain happinefs. It; is a
pleafant, a liberal, and ufeful fpeculation ;
and which I would venture to recommend
tp fuch as feel themselves capable of pur-
fuing it; tp obferve the progrefs, the
changes,* and the various forms of govern-
mept;.wifh the different degrees offiappi?'
nefs pr mifery attending them, as they may

CHARGE III. 69
may be collected from the records of hif
tory, joined to our own experience and
obfervation. Government is certainly a
moft important portion of the bufinefs of
.mankind; and it is alfo, perhaps, the
moft valuable branch of natural philofo
phy: but that purfuit would far exceed
the bounds of our prefent enquiry.
The origin of government was certainly
meant for the good of thofe civil focieties
which firft made ufe of it. The powers
granted to the firft magiftrates were few
and fimple ; and they were given only for
the prefent occafion. In the earlieft and
moft authentic of all hiftories, it appears
that the Israelites were governed at firft by
judges; a temporary magiftracy, and of
very limited powers. It was only great
and fignal occafions that prompted them
to feek for fome one to go before them to
battle. In the moft remote ages of anti-
F 3 quity,

70 CHARGE III.
quity we find there is as little appearance
of art and contrivance in their governments
as in their manners. The increafe of
wealth, and the improvements of life, in
troducing numberlefs new interefts and
competitions, the art of governing great
bodies of men became a Very complicated
work, of much contrivance and labour:
But, unfortunately, it grew neceffary to en
large the powers of government, before
experience had taught mpn the danger of
enlarging them too much. If we want to
know by what a number of progreffive
fteps that vaft machine has been brought
tp its prefent form, we may recollect what
kind of little ftates and principalities are
defcribed as eftablifhed in Greece, by thq
earlieft hiftorians and poets ; or in our own
country, in the obfcure annals of our firft
anceftors. Such, indeed, are ftill to be
found, in the tribes of Indians in the eaft- ern

C H A R G E III. 71
ern and weftern parts of the. world : con
fider through what a long feries of experi
ments, what numberlefs revolutions, what
dreadful changes between anarchy and def-
potifm, the race of men muft have paffed,
in their progrefs from that early period, to
the prefent unwieldy form of fociety.
In the governments of Europe at this
day, we fee the effedls of time, induftry,
and experience, working flowly for ages
on human nature. The migrations and
mixtures of nations, , the inventions of
arts, the improvements of navigation, and
the progrefs of commerce; together with
the influence of religion, of habit, of na
tional charadler, and all thofe unknown
caufes that act perpetually upon our minds
and bodies, which we call by the names
of Chance and Accident ; all thefe have
concurred with the talents and characters
pf extraordinary men, to introduce new
F 4 ranks '

73 CHARGE III.
ranks and orders of fociety ; to point out
the propriety of different offices and regu-
lations, and to form the prefent fyftem of
manners, cuftoms, and laws, which we
call Government.
I have endeavoured to exprefs myfelf
more fully upon this fubjedl, for the fake
of introducing an obfervation that appears
to me of very great importance ; it is this;
that the gradual and progreffive .manner in
which governments were formed, is an in-
difputable proof that fociety may fubfift,
and actually has fubfifted, for ages, with-
out lodging an abfolute and unlimited fo-
vereignty in any particular hands. I will
add further, that ever fince infatiableluft
of power and dominion has exercifed the
hearts of ambitious men, it has never yet,
in one fingle inftance, attained that full
arbitrary fway it is condemned to long for
in vain. Thofe who trample upon the laws and

CHARGE III. 73
and rights of a people, are yet forced to
refpedl their opinions, their prejudices, and
even their follies. The very inftruments
of their power become checks and bars to
the exercife of if; and fometimes become
the inftruments of its deftrudtion. Pro
vidence, in mercy to mankind, has fet
bounds, in the nature of things, which
wicked men cannot overpafs. Within
thofe limits, government is the work of
human invention. Its laws and powers
have been formed' and regulated, not by the
abftradl ideas of fpeculative men, who, of
all men are the moft ignorant of human
affairs, but by the opinions and bufinefs of
the world ; and chiefly from the ignorance
and negligence with which the people de
fend their rights, and the art and violence
with which bad men attack them. Per
haps there is no government at prefent
exifting, which owes not fome part of its
conftitution

74 , C H A R G'E III.
conftitutiori to fraud and ufurpation. But
whatever prejudice, in length of time, the
liberties of men 'may have fuffered from
the ambition of their fellow-citizens; go-
t vernment, at its origin, was certainly in
tended for the good of the feveral focieties
which firft made ufe of it. Men had riot
then acquired thofe ideas of unlimited fo-
vereignty which have grown up in aftef
ages ; from the incroaehments of princes,
the tamenefs of the people, the flattery of
courtiers, and the fophiftry of divines and
lawyers. That was the work of after times;
and of long habits of fear, fervility, and
adulation. By degrees, men feemed to
have loft fight of their own original inten
tions ; and their governors have often had
the confidence, from the fuccefs of their
ufurpations, to confider their own will and
pleafure as the end of their office : to con
fider themfelves not as the truftees of a
people,

CHARGE III. 75
people, but as the owners of a flock ; as
the lords of fubjedls, whofe only duty is
to fubmit.
I will not attempt to explain on how
juft a title thefe pretenfions were founded |
that you will find difcuffed, in the moft
ample and fatisfactory manner, in the writ
ings of Mr. Locke ; and of my venerable
friend and patron the late Bifhop Hoadley.
Only let me obferve to you, that thefe dif
ferent ways of thinking we have mention
ed; one of which confiders princes as the
truftees, and the other as the proprietors,
of their people ; have produced two very
different inferences concerning the powers
and the prerogatives of civil government.
Thofe who think government inftituted
for the fole ufe and emolument of the per
fons who govern, muft neceffarily think
their powers unlimited. For, on this fup*
pofition, their interefts alone are to be re
garded,

76 .CHARGE III.
garded, of which they are the only judges j
and who will fet bounds to their own pre-*
tenfions ? But they who believe govern
ment to be inftituted purely for the good
of the g6verned ; will naturally fuppofe that
the powers of their rulers are, in all cafes,
to be limited by the end for which thofe
rulers were appointed. And, as they muft
have obferved that the other opinion has,
in all countries, very numerous and very
formidable fupporters ; and in practice, at
leaft, has prevailed almoft univerfalty;
they muft regard it as a chief point of civil
wifdom to truft no more power to princes
than is ftrictly neceffary to procure the
good of fociety. Nor fhould this be con
fidered as a difadvantage even by the prince
himfelf; for the happieft ftate that man
can be placed in, is, to' be endowed with
great powers of doing good, and, at the
fame time, to be preferved from the temp tation

C'H A R G E III. 77
tation to do evil ; from the dangers of an
unbounded truft, and from the pride and
intoxication of arbitrary power. God,
who knoweth the weaknefs of the fons of
men ; for their own fakes, has rendered
every one of them dependant and account
able. Unlimited fovereignty belongs only
to him who is qualified to exercife it, by
unlimited wifdom and unlimited benevo
lence.' But very little of this kind of rea
foning is neceffary to convey to our hearers
that degree of knowledge concerning go
vernment, which will anfwer all the ends
of edification. In this, as in all other cafes,
it is fufficient for us to recur to that law -
which God has revealed to us for the di
rection of our lives. The principles of the
gofpel will inftrudl princes to obferve a
right courfe of action; and, at the fame
time, will enable us to judge of their
conduct.
Our

78 CHARGE III.
Our great lawgiver was himfelf prefent,
and inftrumental in the creation of this
immenfe world ; every thing in that ori
ginal plan of the univerfe, was ordered by
weight and meafure ; for divine wifdom
was prefent at the council. Innumerable
orders of beings were formed, and innu
merable worlds were prepared for their re*
ception. The inftindts and faculties with
which every fpecies was endued, the fijua- '
tions in which they were placed; the apart*
ments and accommodations that were pro-»
v vided for them, and the companions with
whom they were appointed to live ; were
. fully fufHcient to teach all beings the law
of their nature, by pointing out the means
of their prefervation and happinefs. Thi$
inftrudlion is given by nature to the beafts,
of the field and the fowls of the air. But
to us God has given reafon and judgment;
and left it to ourfelves, from our circum-
•ftances,.

CHARGE HI. 79
ftances, our wants, and our relations, to
colledt the will of our Creator, and our
own duty. And left our weaknefs and
prejudices fhould fometimes betray us into
wrong conclufions ; our Lord, as the laft
finifh'ing of his divine work, has gracioufly
given the cleareft revelation of his will' in
the gofpel. Even there, he only difcovers
to us the great principles and outlines of
the law that is to govern us. The appli
cation tp particular cafes is left to exercife
our own judgment and difcretion : for our
all-wife Governor feems to be jealous of
the honour which is due to the under
ftanding he has given us. He expects and
requires that we fhould live in the conftant
exercife of it.
Now, the great objedt of this univerfal
wifdpm is not merely to enforce the infe
rior and fubonhnate duties of life ; to di
rect the little charities, and the orderly
devotions

So CHARGE III.
devotions of obfcure private men, (though
no inftance of goodnefs is fo minute as to
efcape its influence) ; but to inftrudl man
kind to adt a ufeful and becoming part in
the various trying occafions of real life : to
form good parents, good citizens, and
good magiftrates; and fhew how every
office, and every member of fociety, ^
fhould contribute to the intereft of the
whole. Your memories will eafily fuggeft to you
the numberlefs paffages in fcripture which
breathe this fpirit of univerfal love and
benevolence. Now, it is one of the cleareft
and fimpleft confequences of fuch doctrine
as this, that the rulers of the people, who
are pofTefred of fo large a fhare of power;
whether by grant, or inheritance, or how
ever acquired; are ftridlly obliged, as
Chriftians, to ufe it to the benefit of their
fubjedls, who are alfo their brethren., Their

C H A ft G E HI. 81
Their true pre-eminence confifts in being
ftewards of a larger portion of the divine
bounty ; and their duty in a right diftribu-
tion of it. But it has, in all ages, been
the employment of flatterers and interefted
men, to fet princes free from thefe obliga
tions. Even the minifters of the gofpel
themfelves, have been too much inclined to
relax the duties which it was a principal
part of their office to enforce. The* fug-
geftions of intereft and difcretion ; the im-
pofing airs of grandeur* and the fear of
offending thofe who were the mafters of
their fortunes ; have induced even men q£
charadler to foothe the ears of princes with
the detail of their rights, their fovereignty,
and the obedience due to them; rather
than honeftly to exact at their hands thofe
public fervices, to fecure the performance
of which, their fovereignty and all its
rights were given.
Vol. II. G , We

82 CHARGE III.
We have been told that our Saviour's
difcourfes all related to the actions of .pri
vate men. If by this is meant, that the
actions of princes and rulers are not under
the controul of the .gofpel precepts, there
never was yet taught a more pernicious
and impious herefy. -Are they under
weaker obligations than their fellow-citi
zens to the love of God and their neigh
bour ? Is it not the duty of fovereigns and
ftatefrrien, 'as well as fubjedls, to be honeft
men ? Can they be good princes and good
ftatefthen without it ? It is true the Saviour
of the World was no Courtier ; he neither
wanted the protection, nor fought the fo-
ciety Of the Great. His own high office
placed him far above all principalities and
powers ; and the powers and diftindtions
which men covet fo ardently, and ufually
employ fo ill, were of frnall eftimation in
his fight; who values us not for our
wealth,

CHARGE III. 83
xvealth, and power, and titles; but for
thofe better qualities of the heart and
mind which are precious in the fight pf
God; whicjh princes canno^t, give, though
they can too often corrupt and deftroy.
His doctrines are of the moft extenfive and
-univerfal kind ; be founds his inftrudtions
in righteeufnefs and holinefs; in juftice
and mercy; in the love of God and our
"neighbour. ' Thefe principles pervade every
period and every flation of human life,
and are ufeful andibecoming in all. From
thefe great fources he expects that every
man, princes as well as others, ^fhould
draw the rules of their conduct. Let them
c.onfult their circumftances, their under-
ftandings, and^ their own hearts, for 'the
application; they will then fee that their'
duties fpring from the power they have
received, the throne they fit on, and>the
fceptre they bear. Their office and great-
G 2 nefs

S4 CHARGE III.
nefs themfelves, arethe fourceof their obli
gations. Their fovereignty makes them ac
countable for all the. power it gives, and
all the benefits it can produce.
But the irtftitution of government is
from heaven> and it' therefore muft in no
cafe be refifted.— Here, if we have the
courage to think for ourfelves, we fhall
deny both the affertion that is made, and
the confequence that is drawn from it. It
does not appear from fcriptufe that go
vernment is of divine inftitution, in any
other fenfe than that in which every other
fpecies of fociety may be derived from, the
fame original. All the inftitutions and.,
inventions of man are ultimately to be re
ferred to God, as their. Author. There is
certainly nothing divine in the ufual me
thods of forming, or adminiftring civil
government ; all that we fee of it is purely
human, and not always the beft of the ,
kind.

CHARGE III. 85
kind. It is the ordinance of man to which
we are juftly bound to fubmit, for the
Lord's fake.
But fuppofe, for once, that their com-
miffion was undoubtedly divine ; fuppofe,
if you pleafe, that every monarch's accef-
fion was attefted by %'ris and wonders, by
thunders and lightnings. from above; and
all that facred terror and amazement with
which . the voice of God was heard from
Mount Sinai; — -even, then, what elfe could
be theeffedt of this aweful and divine fo-
lemnity, but to enforce more ftrongly the
obligations to righteoufnefs and mercy;
which are the foundations of every lawful
throne. In whatever manner . the fove
reignty is confirmed, the commifiion under
which it is held, and the duties refulting
from it, are ftill the fame. And, becaufe
the obligations impofed are more public,
G 3 more

86' CHARGE III.
more folemn, and more perfonal ; it would
be the ftrangeft of all conclufipns' from
thence to infer, that, on account of thefe
very circumftarices, the fovefeign is erri-
powered to break them all with impunity.
But, however, true it is that Chriftian
princes do not reigri without a divine
commiffion ; and fortunately we have the
original conveyed to us in the words of our
great Lawgiver himfelf:^" Ye kriow that
" the princes of the Gentiles exercife do-
" minion over them ; arid they that are
" great exercife authority over them : but
" it fhall not be (o with you; for whofo-.
,f ever will be great among you, let him
" be your fervant."
According to this defcription, the whole
duty of a Chriftian prince cdnfifts in being
the ferVant of the public, And there is
not a fentiment in the whole Bible more
Worthy

CHARGE III. 87
worthy of God, made manifeft in the flefh.
And left princes fhould think the office
mean and degrading ; the Son of God has
ennobled the employment by fetting the
example : " Even as the Son of Man (for
*' fo the Son of God cpndefcends to call
*' himfelf) came not to be miniftered unto,
'" but to minifter, arid to give his life a ran-
" fom for many." The conditions annexed
to fovereignty are to ferve and protect thofe
over whom you reign ; to diffufe fafety,
order, and happinefs. Thefe are condi
tions fit for God to impofe upon them
whom he advances to the go\*ernment of
their fellow- creatures. They are the con
ditions which he has prefcribed to himfelf
in the government of the world. This,
furely, is one of our Saviour's fpeeches,
which relates not only to private men.
But, in fact, every feritence of indefinite
inftrudlion to be found in the gofpel is
G4 directed

8S CHARGE III.
directed to all men. The principles of
right conduct, in public and private life,
are exactly the fame. The virtues which
are cultivated with the' greateft advantage
in a private ftation, have all their func-
tioris in pubbc fcenes ; and even appear
with greater life and luftre. Indeed, what
in common life is honefty, benevplenee,
and difintereftednefs ; acquires dignity in a
monarch; and becomes magnanimity, cle
mency, heroifm. The exertions of virtue
which are not unufual in inferior char
radte'rs, appear, from their very rarenefs,
great, fublime,' and almoft fupernatural,
in princes. Judge, then, how unfavourable
are the higheft ranks to the cultivation of
real goodnefs, and the true happinefs of
man ; and learn from hence to refpedl your
own conditions, and to fet a juft value on
the fafety, the moderation, the true friend-
fhips, the rational improvements, and the
domeftic

CHARGE III. 89
pleasures that grow up pf themfelves in,
the middle, path of life.
As for the privilege, which in many
nations is fuppofed to belong to princes,
of committing all forts of violence with
impunity; that pertainly is not founded on
the words of Chrift. The high cpmmif-
fion under which they act, does not en
title them to violate any fingle article of it.
And if the laws of their country have paid,
them the compliment not to fuppofe them
capable of being criminal; to turn this ge*
nerous confidence into a plea for injuftice,
may itfelf be juftly confidered as the greatr
eft of all crimes. God forbid that it fhould
ever more become neceffary in this country
to deliberate concerning the punifhment
of princes. May they learn wifdom from
the ill fuccefs of former ufurpations ! Other
nations who have bowed their neck to the
yoke, and have never known a better ftate, may

9o CHARGE III.
may feek for fome degree of eafe and quiet
in a blind unlimited fubmiffion ; but with
us every right we claim, and every blef-
fing we enjoy, muft remind us that every
one of them was fepured to us by the ge
nerous ftruggles of our anceftors againft
arbitrary will.
To require paffive obedience of Britons,
' is to require a formal renunciation of all
their old habits and principles; of their
rights, their liberties, and their fenfes-,
If it be afked, what then is the juft and
true fecurity of a good prince ? I anfwer,
the laws of his country ; and the love of
his people. The art of preventing infur-
rections and rebellions, is not to take
from the people the power to refift; but
to make it their intereft to obey. Un
numbered monarchs have mined them
felves and their pofterity by enlarging their
prerogative ; but none was ever dethroned for

CHARGE III. 9.1
for the wifdom and juftice of his govern
ment. Thofe are royal virtues that oc-
cafion no refiftance. Againft thefe there
is no law. The nature of man is not
changed by the rank he holds: the virtues
and talents that were cultivated with ad
vantage in a private ftation; Will have their
proper functions in the office of a monarch;
and appear with ftill greater ufe and luftre.
Even patience, humility, and felf-denial
are not the virtues of fubjedls only. The
vety higheft ftatioris afford the nobleft
room for exercifing them. They whofe
actions are of "fnoft importance, but fub
jedl to the turns of time and chance, have
continual occafion for patience : they who
are furrounded by flatterers, have conftant
employment for humility; and wretched
are the fubjedls where the prince denies
himfelf nothing that his power wijl per-
mit. Righteoufnefs and mercy; or in the
modern

92 CHARGE III.
modern ufe. of language, juftice, and be
nevolence ; are fo far from being fit to be
excluded from the cabinets of princes,
that good government is nothing elfe but
the full exercife and difplay of thofe fove-
reign virtues. They contain in themfelves
the very art and myftery of true policy.
They are not beneath the attention of the
greateft monarchs ; fince God himfelf does
not difdain to ufe them in the government
of the world. And all the minifterial arts
and refinements which lead through the
crooked paths of policy, falfely fo called;
are a fort of unwife cunning, that leads
only to guilt and difgrace ; and tp cheat,
and betray the people it was their duty
to protect. Let it be allowed me to men
tion, one inftance of this falfe policy with
a bscoming dread and abhorrence; the
art of government by a corrupt influence
and bribery. Perhaps human nature does not

CHARGE III. v 93
not afford a ftronger inftance of the power
of habit to make men do wrong. It is
unneceffary, and improper for me to fay,
how long this practice has prevailed; and
how far it has extended in our own
country. There is a decency attending
our profeffion that juftly reftrains us from
provoking paffions and enmities by per-
fonal cenfures ; but there is alfo a dignity
in truth, which ought to embolden us to
inforfn the greateft of their duty. It is
the fault of the people in all countries to
be credulous and generous ; and to place a
too unfufpedting confidence in their rulers;
from whence it has happened, that in moft
nations, except our own, the appearance,
or name of freedom is hardly to be met
with. But if any thing upon earth is
facred, it is the rights which a people have
exprefsly referved to themfelves ; after
trufting every thing elfe to the difcretion of

94 CHARGE III.
of their rulers. Such, with us, is the fe>
curity of our perfons ; a trial by known
(laws and unprejudiced judges; and,- above
all the independency of parliament ; efpe
cially of your own reprefentatives. To
undermine thefe rights, and to corrupt
thefe reprefentatives; is to deprive us of
all that is valuable in our free government;
and to ruin the very effence of our confti-
(tution. Under the appearance and the
expenfive forms of limited monarchy, it
fubjedls us, in effect, to arbitrary Will. It
mocks men with the image of liberty,
while it flips on their fetters, and rivets
them faft.
Every man who has a heart to feel, or
eyes to fee, muft perceive the injuftice,
the ingratitude, the breach of truft, and the
pure confummate iniquity of this corrupt
influence. Every act of government in
fuch circumftances becomes an act of
fraud

CHARGE III. 95 N
fraud and difhonefty; and the evil is not
the lefs, by affuming the appearance of
law and liberty. But the worft of all, is,
the general profligacy of character, which
muft neceffarily be introduced, by making
honors and titles, and offices, the reward
of betraying our country. Honeftyand
integrity are an immediate difqualification
for any employment of truft, or profit.
Purfue the confequences of this folrt of
adminiftration in your own minds, and
fee what at laft it muft produce. The
true end of. government is to make men
abetter and happier ; the plain and vifible
end of corruption, is to make then worth-
lefs and miferable ; and a better expedient
for that purpofe has never yet been in
vented. This, at leaft, I may prefume to
fay is a fpecies of government which is not
of divine appointment. But perhaps it
may be afked, whether I think our own
government

96 CHARGE III.
government is arrived at that ftate of cor-*
ruption I have been defcribing ? God for
bid that I fhould be able to affirm it. It
is not our province to afcertain matter of
fact, but to defcribe the limits of duty.
Mathematicians often affift themfelves
in the difcovery of truth, by fuppofing cafes
not only that do not, but that cannot
exift. Yet I would afk for no greater
bleffing than" to have the manners and the^
conftitution pf this country pure, and in-
Corrupt; I fhould then think ourfelves far '
iafer and happier, notwithftandingthe pre
fent magnitude of our public misfortunes,-
than in the career of our old triumphs.
I need not at prefent undertake to fhew
what duties and public fervices are indif-
penfably required in all the inferior de
partments of government. The fame
chain of obligation runs through all the
variable connections of human life. Every man

CHARGE III. 97
man in his place is bound- to do what fer-
vice he can to his fellow creatures; and to -
employ his beft underftanding .and judg
ment in the choice of the means.
This appears to be the fovereign law
that is given to all human, and perhaps to
all intelligent beings. Men, therefore, who
have the ufe of their reafon, and a fenfe
of their duty; will judge of the nature and
extent of their obligations, by the import
ance of what they do. They will fee, for
inftance, that it is not quite agreeable to
the benevolent fpirit of the gofpel, to do
more mifchief by a fingle vote, than the
virtues of the longeft private life can atone
for. Can they be fpectators. of the pre
fent diftreffes, and the approaching ruin
of their country, and yet think it a matter
of total indifference what meafures they
confent to, and approve of? Let us make
every candid allowance for prejudices and
Vol. II. H habits,

98 CHARGE III.
habits ; for the connections which it is'fo
natural to follow, and for the influence
which it is fo difficult to refift. Yet fome
limits, furely, fhould be fet to the warmth
of gratitude and the views of intereft.
The mere ceremony of voting is an ac
tion totally indifferent in itfelf; and is
ufually countenanced on both fides of a
queftion by fox many confiderable charac
ters, that common minds are apt to be
fatisfied with the authority of their own
party, and to difregard the confequences.
We have read of , magic characters, and
images, that could inflict tortures arid the
pangs of death at the greateft diftances.
We know, for we have feen, that it is pof-
fible for the votes of a great council, to
fend fire, flaughter, and defoliation tp .the
ends of the earth; and we begin to know
that it is poffible for thefe calamities, by a
dreadful

CHARGE III. 99
dreadful reverberation, to return ten fold
to the country that firft caufed them.
Now is it poffible that men can feel in
nocent, while they are producing the
greateft of all human evils; evils which,
after caufing the difgrace and torment of
their own age and country, may be tranf-
mitted to future generations; and laft as
long as the prefent conftitution of nature?
But where, it may be afked, is the mifchief
of giving a fingle vote, which makes no
change in the public determinations ; and
perhaps acquits a debt of refpedl and gra
titude, or avoids the "refentment of a power
which we are not able to contend with ?
In anfwer to this, after execrating that
infamous perverfion of government, which
makes it in any cafe penal to follow the
light of evidence, and the didlates of con
fcience ; we need only obferve, that the
intermixing of thefe interefted confidera-
H 2 tions

ioo CHARGE III.
tions in public affairs, is the very prin
ciple that forms all the evils we groan-
under; and makes the cure of them fo def- '
perate. • Upon this fubjedl men ought to
diftruft their own integrity. Their felfifh-
nefs may eafily induce them to make very
unfair eftimates of the mifchief they do by
their votes. The ruin of a country comr
prehends fuch a monftrous, fuch an enor
mous aggregate of guilt and mifery, that
to have-contributed to it, only in a fmall
proportion, far exceeds all the crimes
which it is poffible for a private man to
commit. Such arguments as thefe we
have been examining, are the vain fuggef-
tions and artifices of difhoneft and unhappy
minds, that feek for comfort in a foil where
it will not grow. But let us not be de
ceived ; guilt is not divifible into fhares,
rior is it to be leffened by the felfi.fh apo
logies, or encouraging examples with
which

CHARGE III. , ioi,
which men feek to difculpate them
felves. He that, with a full knowledge of
the fubjedt, gives his affent and fupport to
any pernicious meafure; whether thofe
who concur with him are many or few,
or whether the defignfucceeds or mifcar-
ries ; is himfelf guilty of the whole. The
eye of Divine Juftice fearcheth the reins,
and the heart, and has always the fulleft
evidence to decide upon. If it be faid,
that, in fupporting the moft deftrudtive
meafure s, they ftill follow the example of
many honeft and virtuous men ; we need
only recollect, that if this apology was ad
mitted, there would be a Handing juftifi-
cation provided at once for every thing
that was profligate and deteftable. There
are no meafures, of the moft dangerous
tendency, but fome good men are found
weak enough to approve.
Far be it from me tp undervalue the
H 3 meaneft

102 CHARGE III.
meaneft kind, or the loweft degree, of
goodnefs, wherever it is found. But very
¦ few of us, God knows, are perfect enough
to be held forth as patterns. Men of ftrict
and punctilious virtue in private life, will
often allow themfelves veryv reprehenfible
liberties in their public conduct. The
temptations there, are much ftronger ; and
the fenfe of duty is ufually weaker than in
other fituations. At moft, however, a
man's example will juflify thofe only who
fol|ow the virtues he pradtifes ; not thofe
who negledl the duties which he never
practifed. If the men you affect to imi
tate are decent, temperate, and charitable ;
be decent, temperate, and charitable,, like
them ; but be not, like them* corrupt and
fervile ; imitate them no longer, when the
only, reafonable motive of imitation- eeafes.
In defcribing the caufes of public un-
happinefs, I mean not to cenfure,> or to
encourage

CHARGE III. 103
encourage the cenfure, of public charac
ters. It is our bufinefs to ftate the prin
ciples, and trace the limits of duty, in-
every rank of life. God forbid we fhould
fo fax degrade our character as to mix ma
levolence and abufe with the facred truths
We deliver ! There, are too many always
ready to watch and expofe human infir
mities. But, perhaps a ferious word,
pointed with truth, and uttered with ten-
dernefs, may dart fudden light into a mif-
guided underftanding ; and leave it ftartled
and aftonifhed at the magnitude of its own
crimes. It may be neceffary to touch only
a few hearts, to fave a whole people ; and
whatever, probability may lie againft the
fuccefs, charity, in fo good a caufe, will
wifh to make the experiment.
Inftead of continuing fuch reflections as
thefe, you may, perhaps, rather think it
proper for me to give the reafon of dwell-
H4 ing

104 CHARGE III.,
ing fo long on fo unufual a fubjedl. — My
reafon is, that it is' incumbent upon us to
explain the whole dpdlrine of our Sa
viour. It is the duty of our profeffion to preferve
the everlafling gofpel whole and undivided;
and to teach it. en tire. Now the duties of
*
public life, confidered in their fingle acts,
are by far the moft important of all ; and
if they are never taught, or never taught
clearly and honeftly (and much more if
they are difguifed, diffembled, or com
plimented away), is it to be wondered at
that they fhould be lefs underftood, and
worfe obeyed, than any other of our obli
gations ? — Add to this, that all the parts
of our religion have a mutual dependance.
It is neceffary you fhould know the duties
of governors and rulers, that you may be
able to treat, with accuracy, the duties of
fubjedls. From the nature and end of
their '

CHARGE III. 105
their office and powers, arife the obligation
and the limits of our obedience.
- Some have obferved, and with an ap
pearance of truth'; that fince the Chriftian
religion has prevailed, there have not been
thofe great efforts of public fpirit, thofe
noble facrifices to the intereft of their
country, which fhone with fo much luftre
in the days of Grecian and Roman liberty.
Without enquiring how the fact flands; I
will boldly affirm, that the religion deli
vered to us in the gpfpel is not the caufe
of it. I appeal to you who ftudy the
fcriptures daily; — What inftrudtions do
you there meet with but fuch as tend to
the peace, and improvement, and happinefs
of mankind ? When our Saviour would
comprize our whole duty to man in one
fhort, general expreffion, he commands us
to love our neighbour; and in the parable
of the good ' Samaritan, he extends the
meaning

106 CHARGE^ III.
meaning of the word neighbour, with
great wifdom and precifion, to all whom
we can be ufeful to, or who1 can be ufeful '
to us. Temperance, felf-denial, meek-
nefs, and humility ; long-fuffering, gen-
tlenefs, kindnefs, and brotherly love ; every
thing that tends to recommend and endear
us to one another, are the leffons repeated
in almoft every, page. The whole world,
to the eye of a Chriftian, appears as one
great republic, united, under the law of
kindnefs, in one common intereft ; or ra- '
ther as one univerfal family, confifting of
kindred and brethren ; enjoying the com
mon bleffings of life under the wife admi-
nlftration of the Father of angels and men ;
and as being co-heirs of all the glorious
hopes that are to be fatisfied in a better
world. Now, under fuch a difpenfatio'n
as this, what room can we find . for a go
vernment by force, adminiftered only for
the

CHARGE III. 107
the benefit of a few, at the expence of
their ^brethren ; much lefs of a govern
ment by corruption, /. e. by difcouraging
every virtue^ and difobeying every law, that
Chrift has given us ? Such notions and
fuch practices as thefe, in fuch a fyftem
as ours, are totally inadmiffible. The only
. kind of government that is compatible
with the cleareft tenor of the gofpel, is not
; an unhappy intercourfe between force and
arbitrary will, on one fide ; and terror and
fervility on the other; but an exercife of a
mild, rational, and ufeful authority over a
willing people; the integrity of a good
fteward, joined with the tendernefs of a
parent. Good government is not an ex
emption from the duties of the gofpel, but
a continual exercife of them.
It is very far from my thoughts to wifh
you to perplex your hearers with political
controversies ; or to enter into the local
intrigues

108 CHARGE HI.
intrigues of confiderable families; and to
take an active part in the management, of
elections. Nothing, in my opinion, is
more inconfiftent with that decency of
character, which unlefs we fupport, our
inftructions will lpfe their weight. Yet I
am not ignorant that by fuch methods fome
unworthy men have found means to rife,
even in the church ; but they meet with
very little refpedl, even from thofe who
employ them ; and I publicly declare that
this kind of merit fhall entitle no one to*
any of the rewards that are in my difpofal.
Should any one, however, chufe to engage
in a ferious ftudy of the nature and forma
tion of government ; I cannot poffibly re
prehend him for purfuing a path, where
Mr. Hooker, with fo much wifdom and
honour, has led the way. Indeed, the
principles of good government, which is
the moft effectual art yet known of mak ing

CHARGE III. 109
ing men happy, are a ftudy by no means
unfuitable to our facred function. Nor
would I too roughly cenfure thofe who
hunt after public happinefs in the fields of
invention (the only fcene, I fear, where fhe
is to be found in her perfect ftate), and
amufe themfelves with the enchanting
dreams of young and virtuous minds, con
cerning imaginary ftates and kingdoms,
where all is peace and felicity.
Such notions may raife expectations of
improvement and happinefs, which a cor
rupt people is very ill prepared to realize ;
but thefe harmlefs errors are too foon cor
rected by the rough experience of the
world. Still let our minds be conftantly
exercifed as far as our duties and our cares
will permit, either in acquiring or com
municating knowledge. Our profeffion
abounds, in leifure ; and it is laudable to
fill up the intervals of duty with every kind - of

no C H A R G E III.
of liberal enquiry.— This, if I do not flat
ter myfelf, has long been the lingular cha
radler and merit of the National Clergy ;
and we ought not to fuffer fo high an ho
nour to perifh in our hands. They have
taught their countrymen riot only religion
but fcience ; and the principles of many
ufeful and liberal arts. From the feeds of
knowledge, which, by their inftrudlion s
and fociety, have been fcattered over the
whole kingdom; have arifen, in fome
meafure, that ftrong fenfe and juft difcern-
ment of things, which have long diflinguifh-
ed the natives of this ifland : and, per
haps, in their time, no qualities have con
tributed more to that imperial wealth and
greatnefs, which, at prefent, we can only
remember. We fhall not do juftice to the national
prudence and merit of our anceftors, un^
lefs we acknowledge that they, in the moft
, v ignorant

CHARGE III. m
ignorant ages, with unwearied fpirit, pre-
ferved, eftablifhed, and defined the rights
and liberties of the commons ; that is of
men in general; while their princes and
nobles were employing their little paffions
and talents in contending for power, or
abufing it. Our anceftors, when they
knew little elfe,"knew that it was riot their
intereft to be opprefled ; nor to leave it in
the" power Of any man to opprefs them. I
will not hefitate to affirm that, from our
legal conftitution, which was gradually
formed by the unexampled attention of
our predeceffors to the public good ; may
be collected a more ufeful and practical
knowledge of government, than from all
the abftradl reafonings of the wifeft men.
Go, therefore, to the rock from whence
you and your fathers, with all their Vir
tues, were hewn; call to mind the good
old ufages, the laws and manners, and
principles

ii2 CHARGE III.
principles of your forefathers ; thofe ori- '
ginal moulds in which the noble character
of an Englifhman was formed. The Con-
ftitution which they have delivered to us,
feems to have been rather the growth
of time and nature, than the work of
human invention. It acquired ftrength
and form from the flow fuggeftions of
fenfe and ufe, to. a people in all circum-
ftances attentive to their true interefts. • It
followed the changes of power, manners,
and property; and every change was an
improvement. Law was] then employed
to regifter the dictates of nature and expe
rience ; and that conformity to the prefent
actual ftate of things in which confifts the
virtue of all human eftablifhments, was
preferved in the government of this coun
try, by the living wifdom of the judges
and the l'egiflature, under the filent con-
troul of a freei armed, and vigilant people. Such

Charge ith tij
Such a wife and folid inftitution took
deep root in the minds and hearts of men,
and made this ifland happy for ages; even
long after the commanding fpirit and ge
nius that formed it was departed from us*
We may challenge all the annals of uni
verfal hiftory to produce, in any ancient
or modern ftate, a period of public profpe-
rity and private freedom, and happinefs,
equal" to what this nation has feen in the
reigns that have patted fince the Revolu
tion,. Ours was then the age and the
country in which a wife man Would have
chofen to live* Let us often refrefh our
weary minds with the memory of thofe
golden days, when we enjoyed all the
bleffings of nature, and all the improve
ments of mankhtdi in full meafure and
fecurity ; and had nothing to fear from our
enemies or our rulers. All fpeculative
forms of government are mere futility,
Vol. II. I when

n4 CHARGE III.
when compared with this found and folid
experience of our anceftors. Let us there
fore preferve in our hearts a religious ve
neration for that nobleft work of human
wifdom, the Britifh Conftitution :v but it
more efpecially behoves us, in the day of
danger and adverfity, to acquaint ourfelves
with the large foundations of juftice, na
tural equality, and good-will to man, on
which it was built. All the calamities of
the people, and their rulers, indifferent
periods, have been uniformly owing to
fome unwife deviations from this great law
of public happinefs.
We are an extravagant race, that have
loft all that the virtue of our fathers had
gained and faved for us. Let us, however,
yet remember the good habits and wife
principles, that made them great and
happy: let us make the knowledge of
them, at leaft, our own, and carefully preferve

CHARGE III. 115
jpreferve it as the moft precious inheritance
We can now leave to our children. I truft
I fhall be forgiven by the lovers of their
country, for this digreffion in its praife.
It is pleafant to ruminate over her old vir
tues and glories, as on the worth and ex»-
cellence of departed friends,, who fhared
the beft pleafufes of our happieft days.
Allow me alfo to obferve, that thefe
reflections are not fo foreign to our office
and profeffion as they may at firft appear:
for, perhaps,' the fureft method we can
take to preferve and propagate the pure reli
gion we profefs, is to preferve our free
Conftitution. The great advantage bur
religion has above all others, confifts in its
being true, which renders it fure of gain
ing by examination and enquiry. Now*
every free ftate promotes freedom of en
quiry ; and freedom of enquiry is the moft
certain rule that God and nature have
, I 2 taught

n6 CHARGE III.
taright us for the difcovery of truth. It is
evident that Chriflianity flourifhes no where
fo kindly, nor produces sfuch excellent
fruits, as under free governments. Reli-r
gion itfelf can find no nobler feat upon
earth than the heart of a freeman. ,
And if, at any time, the minifters of
religion have lent the fupport of their au
thority to the worft of governments, it is
not that religion is of itfelf favourable to
arbitrary power, but that arbitrary power
too often corrupts religion.
One caution more there is, which I
look upon as rather proper for rrie to men
tion, than neceffary for you to hear. It is
that the moft warm and ardent regard for
the public, fhould never make us neglect
either to teach or jpractife the duties of
private life. For, to confider things fairly,
thofe duties are, to every man, the moft
immediate and efficient cauies of happinefs, Let

CHARGE III. 117
Let public affairs be ever fo profperous,
yet a man cannot be happy who lives at
variance with his neighbours; or, through
want of natural affection, neither performs
the offices, nor relifhes the enjoyments of
domeftic life. Private duties are the uni
verfal duties of every man ; and he who
has not difcharged them, is in right, and
ought to be in fact, utterly difqualified for
the management of all public affairs ; for
the holding any place of truft or profit.
Government ought to be the employment
of good men exclufively; none elfe can
poffibly be fit for it ; I mean of fuch good
men who think that he who commands
them to love their neighbour, commands
them alfo to love their country. Strange
as thefe maxims may appear in our days,
I do affure you they are not owing to my
ignorance of the world, and its prefent
opinions ; but to the long obfervation of
I 3 what

n8 CHAR GE III.
what that unhappy world has fuffered by
the negledl of them.
The fubftance^of the dodtrine I have
endeavoured to explain may be compre
hended in a few intelligible words. The
manifeft defigri of the Chriftian religion is
to procure the improvement and happinefs
of man. The precepts of it are univerfal
and obligatory on all; on princes as well as
their fubjedls. Meeknefs, patience, hu-
mility, and felf-denial are the virtues com
mon to both. In the practice of thefe,
and of every other duty, the fame pru
dence and good fenfe are to be ufed ; the
fame confiderations of time and place; the
fame attention to the characters of men,
and the fituation of things which we think
it fo neceffary to employ in the condudt of
our great temporal concerns. To fup
pofe ariy exemptions from thefe duties in
favor of the greateft, is to fuppofe what is

CHARGE III. n9
is evidently contrary to the intention, the
wifdom, and the character of our great
Lawgiver. That would be to undo his
own work; to render his own divine law
of none effect. If you afk me by what
authorityunjuft rulers are to be punifhed, I
can only anfwer, that hiftory and expe
rience tell us that they feldom efcape
punifhment ; and that they who tranfgrefs
the laws of God, and are injurious to their
fellow creatures, have every thing to fear
from God and man. There is a provifion
in the conftitution of nature, in the judg
ments of God, and the paffions and in-
ftindts of men that will rectify this almoft
univerfal defect of civil government ; and
not fuffer the blackeft of all crimes to pafs
unpunifhed. From this great, univerfal,
and inviolable obligation on all the fons of
men to promote the general happinefs by
the practice of the gofpel virtues* I will
1 4 take

130 CHARGE III.
take upon me to infer, and I think with
the ftrongeft evidence, that the religion
of Jefus, which I, his unworthy fervant,
have endeavoured to defcribe, and which I
exhort you to preach, is not only holy, and
wife, and juft, and good ; but is abfo the
moft public-fpirited religion; the moft-
favorable to civil liberty ; the moft bene
ficial, to ftates and kingdoms, as well as
individuals, which has ever yet appeared
upon earth.

CHARGE IV.
Delivered In the Year 1782.

I N the charge I delivered to you at my
laft general vifitation, I thought it. became
me to take fuch notice of the melancholy
fituation of publick affairs, and to treat
them with fuch a religious turn of thought
as was fuitable to men of our profeffion.
Though there was then much reafon for
unfavorable fufpicions, which have fince
arifen to a greater degree of certainty than
we could have wifhed, yet I did not pre
fume to eenfure any particular fet of men ;
but endeavoured to give a plain defcrip-
, tion

122 C H A R G E IV.
tiPn of the duties incumbent upon all men
in high office, who are intrufted with the
direction of publick affairs. How far
thefe duties had been performed or neg
lected I left to the judgment of thofe who
had obferved their conduct, and the benefit
or mifchief accruing from it. While the
• event of things was undetermined, there
was prudence and charity in fuch caution
as this. But after the whple nation have
declared their fenfe of the mifery and ruin
that had well nigh overwhelmed them ;
we may now with freedom, and yet with
decency, profefs our honeft opinions of
of men and things. Yet even now, in-
ftead of turning our thoughts to the caufes,
and the authors of our misfortunes ; I
would rather chufe to congratulate you on
the fortunate change, which partly ex-
perience and the conviction of our own
follies, but principally that all- wife Provi dence,

C H A R G E IV. 123,
dence, which is always the trueft friend
of mankind, has wrought for us. The
very men the people had wifhed for, ' who
had lamented and felt their grievances,
who knew their fufferings, and the lan
guage of their hearts, are the men that are
now intrufted with the management of
their affairs. We have already received
fome agreeable proofs that we have not
been miftaken in our choice. Much of
that profufion and extravagance which
increafed the burthen of the publick, and
rendered it to a generous mind more irk-
fome to bear, has been removed and fup-
preffed. They have gone farther than the
cure of temporary evils, and have had the
courage, with a wife and fteady hand, to
probe our wounds to the bottom. They
have had the courage to attack that fyftem
of corruption, which other minifters have
made ufe of as the neceffary method of
( doing

124 CHARGE IV.
doing bufinefs ; without which government
could not be carried on. Yet with concern
I am forced to own, that diffentions have
taken place among the men to whom we
are looking for fafety. But as we know
the goodnefs of their characters, let us
hope that they differ with that temper and
integrity of heart which good men will
preferve in all fituations ; and may their
contentions only make them ftrive who
fhall be foremoft in the fervice of their
country. Where men are honeft, fome-
thing good and ufeful will enter into all
they do ; and even their ambition turn to
the fervice of the publick.
I am fenfible that in treating this fub
jedt, I am forced to introduce a language
that is new and unufual on fuch occafions;
and, in general, that whatever comes un
der the name of politicks, is confidered as
unfuitable to qur profeffion. And fo much
indeed

C H A R G E IV. 125
indeed 1 moft readily acknowledge, that
it does not become the clergy to take an
active part in the management of elections,
or to enter into the intrigues of party ; and
much lefs does it become us to flatter the
great ; to foment the pride and the ambi
tion of princes; and by extolling their
power and fovereignty, to tempt them to
ufe what was trailed to them for the good
of the people, to their hurt and mifchief.
But then, on the other hand, it is not
only allowable, but it is a clear and im
portant part of our office, as ruinifters of
the gofpel, to explain diftinctly what du
ties are expected from men in all the dif
ferent ranks of life. And we muft never
forget, that all the various ranks and or
ders of men are connected together, and
give and receive mutual afliflances ; " for
we are members one of another." Men
in the moft elevated ftations, who are ap
pointed

126 CHARGE IV.
pointed to adl for the good of the whole,
have their duties affigned to them, as well
as the meaneft; and it is the intereft of
every one of their fellow-fubjedls, that
thofe duties fhould be clearly taught and
faithfully difcharged. For it is the con
duct of the governing part of mankind
that muft produce the fafety and happinefs
of the reft ; it depends, upon their right
behaviour that we purfelves may be en
abled to lead quiet and peaceable lives in
all . godlinefs and honefty. But having
formerly explained, with great integrity
and the beft judgment that I am poffeft of,
the duties that ftatefmen owe to the pub
lick; and having now the happinefs to be
placed under an Adminiftration beloved by
the people, and profeffing to govern by
the good old principles, which we feared
had departed from us ; but are now, thank
God, returned,' and appear in their full
force

CHARGE IV. 127
force and evidence ; inftead of enquiring
farther into the duty of our governors, it
rather becomes us at the prefent hour
to confider what are the duties that our
country requires from ourfelves; from
every one of us as we are fubjedls, as we
are fellow-citizens, as we are Britons.
In all countries, wherever government
is eftablifhed, it is the duty of every pri
vate perfon to obey that man, or affemblyof
men, that are intrufted by the people with
the power of making laws for the good
of the whole. This obligation arifes from
the very nature of government itfelf;
which would be of no effect if thofe who
live under it were not obliged to obey it.
And, indeed, it muft be allowed, that
under the worft and moft arbitrary govern
ments, there generally fubfifted many good
laws, which their fubjedls were in con
fcience bound to fubmit to. Even bad
.princes

128 CHARGE IV.
princes think it neceffary to fecure the
perfons and properties of their people
againft the injuries which they are dif-
pofed to offer to one another; and there
are many ufeful regulations for the in
ternal order and conveniences of the flare*
and its defence and fecurity againft foreign.
enemies, which fare equally adopted by
governments, whether good or bad ; though
not with the fame choice and prudence.
Now to thefe regulations* which are evi
dently intended for the benefit of the whole
fociety, ail men, in all countries, and un
der all governments, are alike obliged to
fubmit : it is a duty we owe to our neigh
bours, our friends* and our countrymen,
as well as to our rulers.
But then it becomes a queftion how far
it may be obligatory upon us to obey our
rulers in matters of a different fort ; efpe
cially in inftances where their commands are

CHARGE IV. 129
are very unreafonable, and very oppreffive.
In the firft place, let us truft St^Paul, and
the reafon of our own minds ; and believe
that they are the rnirtifters of GPd for out
good :. and indeed it would be difficult to
affign any other caufe for fuch an inftitu-
tion that is fuitable to the goodnefsof
God, Or the Wants and the prudence
pf man. If, then, they fhould totally
pervert the ends of their appointment, and
become a terror to good works, and the
abettors and 'encoUragers of whatever is
evil ; it would certainly become criminal,
or at leaft not obligatory, to render that
obedience to them which they would be
apt to expedli For* contracts in all deal
ings amongft men are diffolved, when the
conditions are violated on which they were
made* But as men are of different difpb-
fitions, and as our rulers, like other men,
may have a great mixture of good and bad
Vpl. II. K in

i3o CHARGE IV.
in. their characters; it may become' difficult
to determine how far we are to fubmit,
where laws unjuft and oppreffive, are in
termingled with fuch as are ufeful and
good. Here, alfo, let your conduct be diredted
by the inftrudtions you meet with in Scrip
ture; and where thofe fail, or are not fuf-
ficiently clear, by the reafon and light of
your own minds ; confider, in every in
ftance, what Prudence, what Juftice, and
what Charity require of you. As long as
you follow fuch excellerit guides, you will
never deviate far from the right way ; and
under their influence you will eafily per
ceive what obedience you are to pay to
civil government, and what duties you
owe to your country. And this is much
more eafily underftood, in cafes like our
own ; where the wifdom of the nation has
prefcribed fuch limits to the power of
their

C H A R G E IV. 131
their princes; and exacted fuch conditions
from them as they cannot tranfgrefs,
without fhaking the foundations of that
allegiance on which their fovereignty is
built4 Happy is that people, which has
thus fecured their perfons and properties,
and the enjoyment of their rights, from
the arbitrary will of mam And it is not
only their intereft, but their duty to pre
ferve entire thofe noble privileges which
their fathers have delivered to them, and
which their children claim as their inherit
ance. It is certainly not a grateful office to
lay open the fhame and difhonour of our
country; but, it nearly concerns everyone
of us to know by what means the ruin,
which we have hardly yet efcaped, was
brought fo near to us. It is now general
ly known, and unwillingly acknowledged
by thofe, whofe intereft would prompt
K 2 them

132 CHARGE IV.
them to conceal ; it that the moft unlimit
ed corruption has prevailed in the general
management of publick affairs ; all the
offices of Government, places and pen-
fions ; the dignities in the church, the im
portant polls in the law ; all the immenfe
patronage which the people have intrufted
to the Crown to be employed as the reward
of merit, or to provide for the publick
fervice, by filling every department with
able and upright officers; all this and more,
together with all the hopes, and defires
and paffions, which they who have every
thing to give, can raife in the corrupt and
credulous heart of man ; all this and eve-
ry other art and inftrument were employed
to carry into execution thofe fchemes,
which have difpofed of the whole intereft
and property of this unhappy country,
without meafure and without account, till
hardly any thing is left. And what is
painful

C H A R G E IV. 133
painful to think of, the larger the bur
thens that were laid upon us the more we
were defrauded; and the more pernicious
the meafures, the greater fums were ne
ceffary to prevail on interefted men to fup
port them. We had an empire ; but, it is
now broken and feparated. We had colo
nies of ineftimable value for their com
merce, their affiftance, and their fidelity:
but now their power is acting againft us,
and their wealth and trade are enriching
our bittereft enemies. We had wealth and
manufactures ; but our wealth is gone, and
our induftry fickens and declines. A few
years ago, rents were high, and improve
ments were carried on with fpirit : I need
not tell you, who hear me, what is the cafe
at prefent; now that your lands have loft
near half their value. In exchange for all
thefe loffes, what have we gained but a
lead of enormous debt and infupportable
K 3 taxes;

i34 CHARGE IV.
taxes ; and fuch a combination of power
ful enemies againft us, that even the bra*
very and the victories of pur countrymen
cannot long fave us; and what terms of
peace we can hope to obtain, mu:ft depend
upon the will of the powerful and exafpe-
rated nations we are contending with. But
to what end may many of you, who heap
me, fay, is all this fingular difquifitiori ot\
the ftate of publick affairs ? Believe me, it
is not from any pleafure I take in introdu,
Cing. what is called politicks into a place
Where it ought very feldom to appear ; nor
do I think it a grateful employment, to
enumerateand dwell upon the calamities of
our country : but my defign and my
wifhes are, to make you truly fenfible how
much the* fafety and happinefs* even of
private men, depend upon the manner in
which they are governed.
- The

C H A R G E IV. 135
The very effence of virtue and vice
arifes from the good and harm that men
do in the world; and the knowledge of
our duties themfelves, is collected from a
due confideration of the common iritereft.
How great, then, muft be that guilt which
has brought this kingdom from the glo
rious ftate, which even the young may
remember, to the condition in which we
now find it. Yet I "neither cenfure, nor
acquit, thofe who were trufted till very
lately with the - management of publick
affairs. It is the duty of their fucceffors
to let the people know how much they
have been injured.
If we lived under an arbitrary prince,
he, indeed, though no conditions were
prefcribed to him by his people, would
ftill be bound to govern them by the rules
pf juftice and, humanity.; The powers that
be, are ordained of God, and God never
K 4 gave

136 C H A R G E IV.
gave to any man a power, I mean a law*.
ful power, to commit injuftice and wrong.
Such a power would be an evident con-*
tradidlion in terms. But ftill, where the
people have left the whole management
of their, interefts to the difcretion of one
man, there private perfons have no choice,
but to fubmit ; unlefs the oppreffion be-.
comes fo enormous and evident as to con-,
vince a majority that refiftance is become
. neceffary to felf-prefervation. 1 But where
men have had the wifdom, and happily
for us our fathers were fo wife, as, to re-*
' quire their princes to govern according to
fuch conditions of law and juftice as were
at firft agreed upon; there it becomes not
only the intereft, but the duty of every
man, as far as his power and influence
extends, to fee that thofe conditions are
punctually obferved and complied with.
Now, parliaments, efpecially thaf part of
them

CHARGE IV- 137
them which reprefents the people, were
inftituted to fhare, the fupreme power
with the prince; and to be a check upon
an authority that would otherwife be arbi
trary. But that power, which is intended
to check and reftrain another power, muft
neceffarily be fuppofed independent of
that which it is to reftrain ; and yet from
the want of a due regard to fo very obvi
ous a truth, have proceeded all the pub
lick miferies we have felt, and all the
dangers we fear. This could not have
happened, if private men had always re
quired, in the choice of their reprefenta
tives, that integrity and goodnefs of cha
racter, which common fenfe will teach us.
to look for, in thofe to whom we entruft
every thing that is valuable. But our
anceftors were honeft and carelefs; Our
fathers faw the growth and progrefs of
corruption; but not feeling much harm from

138 CHARGE IV.
from an evil that made its advances by
gentle degrees, they little thought that
what they neglected as, a trifle, would be
the mifery and deftrudtion of their chil
dren. We, however, fhould be of all men
the moft jnexcufable, if, under the im
mediate fenfe and experience of almoft
every publick evil, we fhould neglect any
lawful means to fhake off that load of fin
and mifery which almoft overwhelms us.
I wifh not, my brethren, to inflame your
paffions ; I ferve no faction ; I pay fervile
court to no man. I fpeak the language of
truth and fobernefs, of piety and virtue,
I give utterance to thofe fentiments,
which are fuggefted in far more fignificant
terms than mine, by the wrongs, and the
diftreffes of our country.
The time, perhaps, is foon approach
ing, when you will be trufted once more
with the choice of your reprefentatives, Whenever

C H A R G E IV. 139
Whenever it comes, give the world a proof
of your own integrity, by votes and re
commendations in favour of intelligent and
worthy men; men of independent for
tunes; but not raifed by the plunder of
the publick, who have fhewn their love
for their country by their hatred of cor
ruption. Nor is it fufficient to chufe men
wife and honeft; but, confidering the
weaknefs of our common nature, we
ought to employ the moft juft and proba
ble methods to keep them fo. We ought
to favour and fupport the endeavours of
many worthy men, to preferve the inte
grity of their reprefentatives, by not trail
ing them with power too long ; by tranf-
ferring the right of election, from the
fhamelefs inhabitants of fmall boroughs,
without property or principle, to great
commercial towns, or to larger diftridts;
and, as much as poffible, to place the power of

I4o CHARGE IV.
of chufing our lawgivers in the hands of
honeft and, independent men, who have an
intereft not to abufe it. Above all, we
fhould encourage thofe plans which tend
to reftrain the expences, and leffen the
profits, and the frauds of Government; and
to guard againft the growth of that in-
croaching power, from which neither we,
nor our fathers, have been fufficiently able
to fequre ourfelves. But fome affpdl to be
alarmed at thefe proceedings, as danger^-
ous innovations, and' a change in the
conftitution. That it is a change muft
be allowed; but a change that we ought
to wifh and pray for ; a change from rot
ten nefs and difeafe, to vigour, health,
and gladnefs. Changes and alterations
are the natural fteps which the mind of
man makes in its progrefs towards im-*
provement ; they arife from the wifdom.
pf experience. The conftitution itfelf is
little

C H A R G E IV. 141
little more than a collection of fuch
changes and alterations as our forefathers
found neceffary to be made in the form of
their government; and why fhould not we
be allowed to watch over our own fafety,
as well as they.
The order, conftancy, and beauty of
the creation itfelf is preferved by thofe
periodical and falutary changes, by which
the whole frame of nature is in a manner
renewed and invigorated. But after all,
what are the alarming changes thefe men
are afraid of? Suppofe that they were all
to take place, the full effect of them could
amount to no, more than to give the na
tion a chance of having more honeft re
prefentatives than we have hitherto been
bleft with. Now, if honefty was really
that noxious weed, which fome men
feem to think it ; yet it does not take
xoot fo deep, ' nor fpread fo faft, that we
need be under any fear of its over-running the

i42 CHARGE IV.
the land. It is remarkable, that in out
late fhameful days, when new fources of
corruption were daily opening, and in
fluence was grown irrefiftable; no fuch
apprehenfions of danger appeared from the
fame quarter; honefty it feems is the only
thing we have to fear. Sure no man can
ferioufly think that a change, which will
only make us more honeft, is a change to
be afraid of; for if it does not make us
honefter, it is no change at all. Yet I
ought not to conceal from you, my
brethren, that we have been told from an
unexpected place, and from no mean au
thority, that the principles and conduct
we recommend, are not the way to pre
ferment. Perhaps we cannot difpute the
affertion. Thofe who tell us fo, certainly
knew the way to preferment better than
we. But if the endeavour to ferve our
country does not lead to preferment;- it
may

C H A R G E IV. 143
may ftill be a good road, and perhaps may
lead to fomething better. It may lead to
felf-fatisfaction, to a good name, to the
honour of our religion, and to the happi
nefs of our brethren.
I know of no precept in the Gofpel that
either teaches or recommends to us the
art of rifing in courts; but 'they enjoin us
moft exprefsly to lift up our hearts above
the pomps and vanities of this wicked
world, and, with a true greatnefs of mind,
to defpife them.
Our proper ftate is a life of learning,
reflection, and retirement, adapted to the
improvement of ourfelves; as our employ
ment is to the fervice and inftrudlion of
our neighbours. A competency in the
middle ftate of life, which is undoubtedly
the happieft, is what a common fhare of
merit in our profeffion is almoft, fure of
attaining. Indeed, I never yet knew a re
fpedlable

144 CHARGE IV;
fpedtable clergyman that was totally ne*
gledled by the world. Let us, therefore,
venture to truft the care of our fortunes to
the difpofal of our Almighty Father. He
is the never-failing friend of virtuous men>-
and all good things are in his patronage.
And let us not, for. any fallacious hopes of
advantage, thofe waking dreams of worldly
men, neglect to preach fo ufeful and effen-
tial a doctrine as the love of our country
and the duty we owe to it; which, in the
eye of mere reafon, and in the fenfe of
thofe worthies, who, in all ages, have
eminently ferved mankind, is the moft
binding and facred of all duties. Forget
not that all which this poor country has
fuffered for the laft feven years; all that
we ftill feel, and all the unknown evils we
may juftly fear; will have been owing to
the general neglect of this moft facred
duty. To the practice of this duty was
owing

CHARGE IV. 145
owing the good eftablifhed government
which produced all the fingular bleffings
, , which our fathers enjoyed; and which gave
them that honourable fuperiority over
other nations which their degenerate fons
have loft. It is furely worth while to
confider how a duty fo ufeful to mankind,
and fo refpedlable in itfelf, fhould have
been fo little regarded, and held as fome
thing diftindl and feparate from our reli
gious obligations. Some Divines have
thought proper ferioufly to enquire jnto
the caufe why no mention is made in the
Gofpel of the duties of friendfhip, or the
Jove of our country ; without the latter of
which no ftate can be free, and without
the former no private man can be happy.
If the charge was juft, the omiffion would
be unpardonable. But they feem not to
have enough attended to the large and
comprehenfive fenfe in which the divine
Vol. II. L law

i46 CHARGE IV.
law every where abounds. When we are
taught to love our neighbour, to do good
to all men, and to perfect ourfelves in that
love which is the fulfilling of the law; our
Saviour expedts that we fhould ufe the
judgment he has given us, and the pru
dence we have acquired by living in the
world, in obeying his precepts fo as to
anfwer his intentions. It is impoffible,
perhaps, that by any effort of ours, we
can ferve or benefit all mankind. At
leaft, that is an honour referved only for
a few,' who may be confidered [as the fa
vourites of heaven. The influence of our
limited powers cannot hope to reach fo far.
But the neareft approach we can make to
wards filling up fo immenfe a defcription
of our duty, is by performing what we
owe to our country, that great fociety
which is the largeft portion of mankind
with whom we are connected ; from whom we

C H A R G E IV. 147
we can derive any benefit ; or to which we
can pay any fervice. This is to manifeft
the love of our neighbour, and to do good
to all men, in the moft literal fenfe, and
to the fulleft extent that our faculties can
reach. To ferve our country is the neareft
approach we can make to the fervice of
mankind; If you afk me in what inftances this
duty is to be chiefly exerted ; I anfwer, in
the firft place, and at all feafons, by be
having with fenfe, integrity, and goodnefs,
in your refpedlive ftations, and by inftrudt-
ing your neighbours to do the fame. Make
yourfelves good men, and you can hardly
avoid being good citizens ; and you ferve
your country very effentially if you qualify
yourfelves, and encourage others, to ferve
it. This, perhaps, in feafons of peace
and quiet, is all the duty that your coun
try expects from private men. But, in
L 2. times

148 C H A R G E IV.
of public danger and calamity, when there
is either ftrong proof, or juft and general
fufpicion of wrong management ; it may
then become neceffary for every man, as
far as his power and influence extend, to
inform himfelf of the ftate of things; and
join in' fuch petitions* and other confti-
tutional meafures, as may carry the un-
corrupted fenfe of the people to the Throne;
and make our. rulers forget, for a while,
their greatnefs, and remember their obli
gations. That fenfe, which is the lan
guage of facts, and the feelings of men, is
almoft univerfally right ; but it rifes to
the force and evidence of demonftration,
when it remonftrates againft: things wrong
in themfelves ; particularly againft that un
due influence and corruption which appear
, in fo many feducing forms, and which it
is not to be expected that common good
characters fhould refift. Our

C H A R G E IV. 149
Our bufinefs is, by preaching and in
ftrudlion, to make men horieft and good ;
but we all know how little our endeavours
can avail when ftrong temptations and inte-
refted motives are ufed'to counteract them.
What then have we to hope fhould all the
terrors, and profits, and promifes, of go
vernment, be employed to make men act
againft their principles ? Nothing, there
fore, is of more confequence, even to re
ligion itfelf, than that the powers of go
vernment, which are of fuch extenfive and
irrefiftible efficacy, fhould be placed in
virtuous hands ; and we cannot ferve our
country more effectually than by employ
ing our wifhes, our approbation, and our
warmeft endeavours, in the advancement
of fo good a work. Efpecially, let us not
fuffer good men to think that the direction
of public affairs is a matter of indifference;
and that politics have no concern wifh re-
L3j "g10"*

150. C H A R G E IV.
ligion. Perhaps there is no opinion that
has been more inftrumental than this in
bringing on our public misfortunes. When
good men have been perfuaded by the
converfation and example of many in high
rank, and of decent characters, that a man
is juftified by a fpirit of honour and conT
fiftency in fupporting the meafures pf his
party, be they right or wrong; there could
not be a more fuccefsful contrivance tq
make them guilty of the moft immoral,
unjuft, and pernicious actions ; to make
them the moft ufeful tools that ambition
and wickednefs can work with. Remem
ber what is the fenfe of the Apoftle on a
fubjedt like this. He that doth righteouf
nefs is righteous. Our underftanding is
the moft valuable talent that God has given
us, and of the mpft extenfive ufe, Em*
ploy that talent, whenever ypu take a part
or pafs a judgment on public meafures. Watch

CHARGE IV. 151
Watch the confequences of things, and
obferve the characters of men ; and then
adl upon the fulleft information you can
get, with the fame attention and fincerity
that you chufe to exert in your moft im
portant private affairs.
I hope my brethren will forgive me for
having infifted fo largely on a duty, from
the neglect of which, every one, who hears
me is a fufferer; and, perhaps, our dear
country, whofe name ufed to be the pride
and delight of our hearts, is, at this mo
ment, perifhing. Let them do me the
juftice to believe, that I fpeak the language
of an honeft man ; of one who loves and
refpedts his clergy, who loves his diocefe,
and who loves his country.

L 4

SPEECH,

INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN SPOKEN

BILL

ALTERING THE CHARTERS

O ¥ T H £

COLONY OF MASSACHUSETT'S BAY.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE Author . of the following Speech
might juftify his manner of publifhing it
by very great authorities. Some of the
nobleft pieces of eloquence, the world is
in ppffeffion of, were not' fpoken on the
great occafions they were intended to
ferve, and feemed to have been preferved
merely from the high fenfe. that was en
tertained of their merit.
The prefent performance appears in
public from humbler but jufter mo
tives:

156 ADVERTISEMENT.
tives: from the great national import
ance of the fubjedl; from a very warm
defire and fome faint hope of ferving
our country, by fuggefting a few of the
ufeful truths which great men are apt to
overlook. The Author has abftained moft reli-
gioufly from perfonal reflections. He
has cenfured no man, and therefore
hopes he has offended no man. He
feels moft fenfibly the misfortune of
differing from many of thofe whom he
wifhes to live and act with^ and from
fome of as much virtue and ability as
this kingdom affords. But there are
alfb great authorities on the other fide;
and the greateft authority can never
perfuade

ADVERTISEMENT. i5?
perfuade him, that it is better to extort
by force, what he thinks may be gained
more furely by gentle means.
He looks upon power as a coarfe
and mechanical inftrument of govern
ment, and holds the ufe of it to be
particularly dangerous to the relation
that fubfifts between a mother-country
and her colonies. In fuch a cafe he
doubts whether any point ought to be
purfued, which cannot be carried by
perfuafion, by the fenfe of a common
intereft, and the exercife of a mode
rate authority. He thinks it unnecef-
fary to lay down the limits of fovereignty
and obedience, and more unneceffary to
fight for them. If we can but reftore that

»5 S ' ADVERTISEMENT.
that mutual regard and confidence, which
formerly governed our whole intercourse1
with our colonies, particular cafes will
eafily provide for themfelves; He acts;
the part of the trueft patriot in this
dangerous crifis, whether he lives at
London or at jfofton, who purfues fin
cerely the moft lenient and conciliating
meafures; and wifhes to reftore the publig
peace by fome better method than the
flaughter of jmr fellow-citizens.

A

SPEECH, &c. &c* &c.

IT is of fuch great importance to com-
pofe or even to moderate the diffentions,
which fubfift at prefent .between our
unhappy country and her colonies, that I
cannot help endeavouring, from the faint
profpedt I have of contributing fomething
to fo good an end, to overcome the inex-
preffible reluctance I feel at uttering my
thoughts before the moft refpedlable of all
audiences. '
The true object of all our deliberations
on this occafion, , which I hope we fhall
never

160 A SPEECH, fee-
never lofe fight of, is a full and cordial
reconciliation with North America. Now
I own, my Lords, I have many doubts
whether the terrors and punifhments, we
hang out to them at prefent, are the furefl
means of producing this reconciliation.
Let us at leaft do this juftice to the peo
ple of North America to own, that we
can all remember a time when they were
much better friends than at prefent to
their mother country. They are neither '
our natural nor our determined enemies.
Before the Stamp Act, we confidered them
in the light of as good fubjedls as the na
tives of any county in England.
It is worth while to enquire by what
fteps we fi7ft gained their affection," and
preferved it fo long; and by what conduct
we have lately loft it. Such an enquiry may
. point out the means of reftoring peace,
and make the ufe of force un neceffary againft

A SPEECH, &e. 161
i
againft a peoplej whom I cannot yet for
bear to confider as Our brethren.
It has always been a moft arduous talk
to govern diftant provinces, with even i.
tolerable appearance of juftice. The vice-
soys and governors of other nations are
ufually temporary tyrants, who think
themfelves obliged to make the moft of
iheir time; who not only plunder the
people* but carry away their fpoils, and
dry up all the fources of commerce and
ind-uftryi Taxation in their hands, is an
unlimited power of oppreftlon : but in
whatever hands the power of taxation is
lodged, it implies and includes all other
powers. Arbitrary taxation is plunder
authorifed by law: it is the fupport and
the effence of tyranny; and has done more
mifchief to mankind, than thofe other
th/ee fcourges from heaven, famine, pefti-
lence, and the fword. I need not carry
Vol. II. M ; your

162 A S P E E C H, &c.
your Lordfhips out of your own know
ledge, or out of your own dominions, to
make you conceive what mifery this right
of taxation is capable of producing in a
provincial government. , We need only re
collect, that our countrymen in India have,
in the fpace of five or fix years, in virtue
of this right, deftroyed, ftarved,* and driven
away more inhabitants from Bengal, than
are to-be found at prefent in all our
American Colonies ; more than all thofe
formidable numbers which we have been
nurfing up for the fpace of 200 years, with
fo much care and fuccefs, to the aftonifh-
ment of all Europe. This is no exagge
ration, my Lords, but plain matter of fact,
collected from the accounts font over by
Mr. Haftings, whofe name I mention with
honour and veneration. And I muft own,
fuch accounts- have very much leffened
the pleafure I ufed to feel in thinking myfelf

A SPEECH, &c. 163
¦myfelf an Englifhman. , We ought furely
not, to hold our colonies totally inexcufable
for wifhing tP exempt themfelves from a
grievance, which has caufed fuch unex
ampled devaftation; and, my Lords, it
would be too difgraceful to ourfelves, to
try fo cruel an experiment more than once.
Let us refledt, that before thefe innovations,
were thought of, by following the line of
good condudt which had been marked out
by our anceftors, we governed North
America with mutual benefit to them and
ourfelves. It was a happy idea, that made
us firft confider them rather as inftruments
of commerce than as objects of government.
It was wife and generous to give them
the form and the fpirit of our own con-
ftitution ; an affembly in which a greater
, equality of reprefentation has been pre
ferved than at home; and councils and 5'
governors* fuch as were adapted to their
M 2 fituation,

164 A SPEECH, &c.
fituation, though they muft be acknow
ledged to be very inferior copies of the
dignity of this Houfe, and the Majefty of
the Crown.
But what is far mpre valuable than all
the reft, we gave them liberty. We allowed
them to ufe their own judgment in the
management pf their own intereft. The
idea of taxing them never entered our
v heads. On the contrary, they have ex
perienced our liberality on many public
occafions: we have given them bounties
to encourage their induftry, and have de
manded no return but what every.ftate ex
acts from its colonies, the advantages of an
exclufive commerce,, and the regulations
that are neceffary to focure it. We made
requifitions to them on great occafions, in
the fame manner as our princes formerly
afked benevolences of their fubjedls.; and
as nothing was afked but what Was vifibly for

A SPEECH, &c. 165
for the public good, it was always grant
ed ; and they fometimes did more than we
expedled. The matter of right was nei
ther difputed, nor even confidered. And
let us not forget that the people of New
England were themfelves, during the laft
war, the moft forward of all in the national
Caufe; that every year we voted them a
confiderable fum, in acknowledgment of
their zeal and their fervices; that in the
preceding war, they alone enabled us to
make the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, by
furnifhing us with the only equivalent for
the towns that were taken from our allies
in Flanders ; and that in times of peace,
they alone have taken from us fix times as
.much of our woollen manufadlures, as the
Whole kingdom pf Ireland. Such a colony,
- my Lprds^ not only from the juftice, but
from ]the gratitude we owe them, have a
right to be heard in their defence- , and if
M 3 their

166 A SPEECH, &c.
their crimes are not of the moft inexpiable
kind, I could almoft fay, they have a. right
to be forgiven.
But in the times we fpeak of, our pub
lic intercourfe was carried on with eafe
and fatisfadlion. We regarded them as
our friends and fellow-citizens, and relied
as much upon their fidelity as on the in
habitants of our own country. They faw
our power with pleafure ; for they confi
dered it only as their protection. They
inherited our laws, our language, and
our cuftoms; they preferred our manufac
tures, and' followed our fafhions with a
partiality, that fecured our exclufive trade
with them, mpre effectually than all the
regulations and vigilance of the cuftom-
houfe. Had we fuffered them to enrich us
a little longer, and to grow a little richer.
themfelves, their men of fortune, like the
Weft- Indians, would undoubtedly have
made

A SPEECH, &c. 167
made this country their place of education
and refort. For they looked up to Eng
land with reverence and affection, as to the
country of their friends and anceftors.
They efteemed and they called it their
home, and thought of it as the Jews once
thought of the Land of Canaan.
Now, my Lords, confiderwith yourfelves
what were the chains and ties that united
this people to their mother-country, with
fo much warmth and affection, at fo amaz
ing a diftance. The colonies of other na
tions have been difcontented with their
treatment, and not without fufficient caufe;
always murmuring at their grievances, and
fometimes breaking out into acts of rebel
lion. Our fubjedls at home, with all their
xeafons for fatisfadlion, have never been
entirely fatisfied. Since the beginning of
this century we have had two rebellions,
feveral plots and confpiracies ; and we our-
M 4 felves

i68 A SPEECH, &c.
felves have been witneffes to the moft dan
gerous exceffes of fedition. But the prp-
vinces in North America have engaged in
no party, have excited no oppofitipn; they
•have been utter ftrangers even to the name
of Whig and Tory. In all changes, in
all revolutions, they have quietly followed
the fortunes, and fubmitted to the gpyern-j
anent of England. /
Now let me appeal to your Lordfhips, as
to men of enlarged and liberal minds, wh<$
have been led by your office and rank to
the ftudy pf hiftoiy. Can ypu find in the
long fucceffion pf ages, in the whole ex
tent of human affairs, a fingle inftance^
where diftant provinces have* been pre
ferved in fo flourifhing a ftate, and kept
at the fame time in fuch due fubjectipn tp
their mother country ? My Lords, their is
no inftance ; the cafe never exifted before,
. It is perhaps the moft lingular pheno menon

A SPEECH, &c. 169
menpn in all civil hiftory; and the caufe
pf it well defery.es your ferious cpnfidera-
tion. The true caufe is, that a mother
country never exifted before, who placed
her natives and her colonies on the fame
equal footing; and joined with them in
fairly carrying on one common intereft.
Yououghtto confider this, my Lords, not
as a mere hiftorical fadt, but as a moft im
portant and invaluable difcpvery. It en
larges our ideas of the power and energy
pf good government beyond all former ex
amples; and fhews that it can act, like gra
vitation,, at the greateft diftances. It proves
to a demonftration that you may have
good fubjedls in the remoteft corners of
the earth, if you will but treat them with
kindnefs and equity. If you have any
' doubts of the truth of this kind of reafon
ing, the experience we have had of a differ
ent kind will entirely remove them. The

170 A SPEECH, &c.
The good genius of our country had
led us to the fimple and happy method of
governing freemen, which I have endea
voured to defcribe. Our minifters re
ceived it from their predeceffors, and for
fome time continued to obferve it; but
without knowing its value. At length,
prefuming on their own wifdom, and the
quiet difpofition of the Americans, they
flattered themfelves that we might reap
great advantages' from their profperity by
deftroying the caufe of it, They chofe
in an unlucky hour to treat them as other
nations have thought fit to treat their
colonies ; they threatened and they taxed
them, I do not now enquire whether taxation
is matter of right ; I only confider it as
matter of experiment ; for furely the art
of government itfelf is founded on ex
perience. I need not fuggeft- what were the

A SPEECH, &e. 171
the confequences of this change of mea
fures. The evils produced by it were
fuch as we ftill remember and ftill feel.
We fuffered more by our lofs of trade
with them, than the wealth flowing in
from India was able to recompenfe. The
bankruptcy of the Eaft India Company
may be fufficiently accounted for by the
rapine abroad and the knavery at home ;
but it certainly would have been delayed
fome years, had we continued our com
merce with them in xthe fingle article of
tea. But that and many other branches of
trade have been diverted into other chan
nels, and may probably never return in-
tire to their old courfe. But what is worft
of all,* we have loft their confidence and
friendfhip; we have ignorantly under
mined the moft folid foundation of our
own powen
In order to obferve the ftridteft impar tiality,

172 A S P E E C H, &c.
tiali$y, it is but juft for us to enquire
what we h.ave gained by thefe taxes as well
as what we have loft, I am affured that
put of all the fums raifed in America the
Jaft year but one, if the expences are de
ducted, which the natives wpuld elfe have
difcharged themfelves, the net revenue
paid into the Treafury to go in aid of the
finking fund, or to be employed in what
ever public fervices parliament fhall thinJk;
fit, is eighty-five pounds. Eighty- five
pounds, my Lords, is the whole equir
valent we have received for all the hatred
and mifchief, and all the infinite loffes
this kingdom has fuffered during that
, year in her difputes with North America,
Money that is earned fp dearly as this,
ought to be expended with great wifdom
and ceconomy. My Lords, were you
to take up but one thoufand pounds more
• from North America upon the fame
terms,

A SPEECH, &e. 173
terms, the nation itfelf would be a bank
rupt. But the moft amazing and the moft
alarming circumftance is ftill behind. It
is that our cafe is fo incurable, that all
this experience has made no impreffion.
upon us. And yet, my Lords, if you
could but keep thefe facts, which I have
ventured to lay before you, for a few mo
ments in your minds (fuppofing your
right of taxation to be never fo clear), yet
I think you muft neceffarily perceive thai
it cannot be exercifed in any manner that
can be advantageous to ourfelves or, them.
We have not always the wifdom to tax
ourfelves with propriety ; and I am confi
dent we could never tax a people at that
diftance, without infinite blunders, and
infinite oppreffion. And to own the truth,
my Lords, we are not honeft enough to
truft ourfelves with the power of fhifting
our own burthens upon them. Allow me,
therefore,

174 A SPEECH, Sec.
therefore, to conclude, I think, unanfwer-
ably, that the inconvenience and diftrefs
we have felt in this change of our conduct,
no lefs than the eafe and tranquillity we
formerly found in the purfuit of it, will
force us, if we have any fenfe left, to re
turn to the good old path we trod in fo
long, and found it the way of pleafant-
nefs. I defire to have it underftood, that' I
am oppofi'ng no rights that our legiflature'
may think proper to claim: I am only
comparing two different methods of go
vernment. By your old rational and ge
nerous adminifti&tion, by treating the
Americans a-s your friends and fellow-
citizens, you made them the happieft of
human kind; arid at the fame time drew
from them, by commerce, more clear
profit than Spain has drawn from all its'
mines ; and their growing numbers were
a daily-

ASP E E C H, &c. 175
a daily-increafing addition to your ftrength.
There was no room for improvement or
alteration in fo noble a fyftem of policy as
this. It was faridtified by time, by expe
rience, by public utility. I will venture
to ufe a bold language, my Lords; I will
affert, that if we had uniformly adopted
this equitable adminiftration in all our
diftant provinces, as far as circumftances
would admit, it would have placed this
country, for ages, at the head of human
affairs in every quarter of the, world. My
Lords, this is no vifionary or chimerical
dodtrine. The idea of governing pro
vinces and colonies by force is vifionary
and chimerical. The experiment has of
ten been tried and it has never fucceeded."
It ends infallibly in the ruin of the one
country or the other, or in the laft degree
of wretchednefs.
If there is any truth, my Lords, in what .
I have

176 A S PEE dH, &6
I have faid, and I moft firmly believe it
all to be true ; let me recommend it to yoii
to refume that generous and benevolent
fpirit in the difcuffion of our differences^
which ufed to be the fource of our uniem
We certainly did wrong in taxing them i
when the Stamp Act was repealed; we"
did wrong in laying on othet taxes, which
tended only to keepalivea claim, that waS
mifchievous, impracticable, and ufelefs*
We acted contrary to our own principles
of liberty, and to the generous fenliments
of our fovereign, when we defired to have
their judges dependent on the crown foi*
their ftipends as well as their continuance*
It was equally unwife to wifh to make the
governors' independent of the people fat
their falaries. ' We ought, to confider the
governors, not as fpies intrufted with. the
management of our intereft, but as the
fcrvants of the people,- recommended to
them1

A SPEECH, &c. 177
them by us. Our ears ought to be open
to every complaint againft the governors ;
but we ought not to fuffer the governors
to complain of the people. We have
taken a different , method, to which no
fmall part of our difficulties are owing.
Our ears have been open to the governors
and fhiit to the people. This muft necef
farily lead us to countenance the jobs of
interefted men, under the pretence of de
fending the rights -of the crown. But the
people are certainly the beft judges whether
they are well governed ; and the crown can
have no rights inconfiftent with the hap
pinefs of the people.
Now, my Lords, we ought to do what
I have fuggefted, and, many things more,
out of prudence and juftice, to win their
affection, and to do them public fervice.
If we have a right to govern them, let us
exert it for the true ends of government.
Vol. II. N ' But

178 A SPEECH, &c.
But, my Lords, what we ought to do, from
motives of reafon and juftice, is much more
than is fufficient to bring them to a reafon
able accommodation. For thus, as I ap
prehend, flands the cafe : They petition for
the repeal of an act of parliament, which
they complain of as unjuft and oppreffive.
And there is not a man amongft us', not
the warmeft friend pf adminiftration, who
does not fincerely wifh that act had never
been 'made. In fact, they only afk for
what we wifh to be rid of. Under fuch a
difpofition of mind, one would imagine
there could be no occafion for fleets and
armies tP bring men to a good underftand
ing. But, my Lords, our difficulty lies
in the point of honour. We muft not let
down the dignity pf the mother country ;
but preferve her fovereignty over all the
parts of the Britifh Empire. This language
has fomething in it that founds pleafant to
the

A SPEECH, &c. 179
the ears of Englifhmen, but is otherwife
of little weight. For fiire, my Lords,
there are methods of making reafonable
conceffions, and yet without injuring our
dignity. Minifters are generally fruitful,
in expedients to reconcile difficulties of
this kind, to^efcape the embarraffments of
forms, the competitions of dignity and
precedency ; and to let clafhing rights fleep
while they tranfact their, bufinefs. Now,
my Lords, on this occafion can they. find
no excufe, no pretence, no invention, no
happy turn of language, not one colourable
argument for doing the greateft fervice they
can ever render to their country ? It muft
be fomething more than incapacity that
makes men barren of expedients at fuch
a feafon as this. Do, but for once, remove
this impracticable flateiinefs and dignity,
and treat the matter with a little common
fenfe and a little good humour, and our re-
N 2 conciliation

1 8o A SPEECH, k
conciliation Would not be the work of an
hour. But after all, my Lords, if there
is any thing mortifying in undoing the
errors of our minifters, it is a mortification
we ought to fubmit to. If it was unjuft
to tax them, we ought to repeal k for
their fakes; if it was unwife to tax them,
we ought to repeal it for our own. A mat-
ter fo trivial in itfelf as the three-penny
duty upon tea, but which has given caufe
to fo much national hatred and reproach,
ought not to be fuffered to fubfift ah unne-
ceffary day. Muft the intereft, the com
merce, and the union of this country and
her colonies, be all of them facrificed to
fave the credit of one imprudent meafure of
adminiftration? I own I cannot compre-
hend that there is any dignity either in
being in the Wrong, or in perfifting in it.
I have known friendfhip preferyed and af
fection gained, but I "never knew dignity loft,

A SPEECH, &c. 181
loft, by the candid acknowled gmentof an
error. And, my Lords, let me appeal to
your own experience of a few years back
ward (I will not mention particulars, be
caufe I would pafs no cenfures and revive
no unpleafant reflections) but I think every
candid minifter muft own, that admini-
fixation has fuffered in more inftances
than one, both in intereft and credit, by
not chufing to give up pojnts, that could
not be defended.
With regard to the people of Bofton, I
am free to own that I neither approve of
their riots nor their punifhment. And yet
if we inflict it as we ought, with a confci-
oufnefs that we were ourfelves the aggref-
fors, that we gave the provocation, and
that their difobedience is the fruit of our
own imprudent and imperious conduct, I
think the punifhment cannot rife to any
great' degree of feverity.
i N 3 I own,

182 A S P E E C H, &c.
I own, my Lords, I have read the report
of the Lords Committees of this Houfe,
with very different fentiments,from thofe
with which it was drawn up. It feems to he
defigned, that we fhould confider their vio
lent meafures and fpeeches, as fo many
determined adls of oppofition to the fove
reignty. of England, arifing from the ma
lignity of their own hearts. One would
think the mother country had been totally
filent and paffive in the progrefs of the
whole affair. I, on the contrary, confider
thefe violences as the natural effects of fuch
meafures as ours on the minds of freemen.
And this is the moft ufeful point of view,
in which government can confider them.
In their fituation, a wife man would expect
to meet with the ftrongeft marks of
paffion and imprudence, and be prepared
to forgive them. The firft and' eafieft'
thing to be done ,is to correct our own
errors;

A SPEECH, &c. 183
errors ; and I am confident we fhould
find it the moft effedlual method to corredl
theirs. At any rate let us put ourfelves
.in the right ; and then, if we muft con
tend with North America, we fhall be
unanimous at home, and the wife and the
moderate there will be our friends. At
prefent we force every North American to
be our enemy; and the wife and moderate
at home, and thofe immenfe multitudes,
which muft foon begin to fuffer by the
madnefs of our rulers, will unite to op-
pofe them. It is a ftrange idea we have
taken up, to cure their refentments by in-
creafing their provocations ; to remove the
effedls of our own ill conduct, by multi- ,
plying the -inftances of it. But the fpirit
of blindnefs and infatuation is gone forth.
We are hurrying wildly on' without, any.
fixed defign, Without any important ob
ject. We purfue a vain phantom of un-
N 4 limited

184 A SPEECH, &c,
ft
limited fover.eignty, which was not made
for man; and reject the folid advantages of
a moderate, ¦> ufeful, and intelligible aur-
thority. That juft God, whom we have
all fo deeply offended, can hardly inflict a
feverer national punifhment, than by com-r
mitting us to the natural confequences of
our Own conduct. Indeed, in my opinion,
a blacker cloud never hung over this
ifland, To reafon cpnfiftently with , the prin-r
ciples ,of juftice and national friendfhip
which I have endeavoured to. eftablifh, or
rather to revive what was eftablifhed by
our anceftors, as our wifeft rule pf cendudl
for the government of America, I muft
neceffarily difapprove of the bill before us ;
for it contradicts every one of them, In
our prefent fituation, every adt. pf the le-
giflature, even our adls of feverity ought
tp be fo rnany fteps tpwards the reconqiliar

tio'n,

A SPEECH, &c. 185
tion we wifh for. But to change the go
vernment of a people, without their con-
fent, is the higheft and moft arbitrary adt
of fovereignty, that one nation can exer
cife over another. The Romans hardly
ever proceeded to this extremity even over
a conquered nation, till its frequent re
volts and infurredlions had made them
deem it incorrigible. The very idea of
it, implies a moft total abjedt and flavifh de
pendency in the inferior ftate. Recollect that
the Americans are men of like paffions with
ourfelves, and think how deeply this treat
ment muft affect them. They have the
fame veneration for their charters, that we
have for our Magna Charta, and they
ought in reafon to have greater. They
are the title deeds to all their rights both
public and "private. What ! my Lords,
muft thefe rights never acquire any legal
affurance and ftability ? Can they derive no
force

186 A S PEE CH, &c»
force from the peaceable poffeffion of near
two hundred years ? And muft the funda
mental conftitution of a powerful ftate, be
for ever fubjedl to as capricious alterations
as you may think fit to make in the char
ters of a little mercantile company, or the
corporation of a borough ? This will un
doubtedly furnifh matter for a more per
nicious debate than has yet been moved.
Every other colony will make the cafe its
own. They will complain that their
rights can never be afcertained ; that every
thing belonging to them depends upon
pur arbitrary will; .and- may think it better
to run any hazard, than to fubmit to the
violence of their mother country, in a
matter in which they can fee- neither
moderation nor end.
But let us coolly enquire, what is the
reafon of this unheard-of innovation. Is
it to make them ' peaceable ? My Lords, it

A SPEECH, &c. 187
it will make them mad. Will they be
better governed if we introduce this
change ? Will they be more our friends ?
The leaft that fuch a meafure can do, is,
to make them hate us. And would to
God, my Lords, we had governed our
felves with as much ceconomy, integrity,
and prudence as they have done. Let
them continue to enjoy the liberty our
.fathers gave them. Gave them, did I
fay ? They are coheirs of liberty with our
felves; and their portion pf the inheritance
has been much better looked after thai*
purs. Suffer them to enjoy a little longer
that fhort period of public integrity
and dpmeftic happinefs, which feems to ?
be the portion ' allotted by Providence to
young rifing ftates. Inftead of hoping that
their conftitution may receive improve
ment from bur fkill in government, the
moft ufeful wifh I can form in their fa
vour

188 A SPEECH, &c.
vour is> that heaven may long preferve
them from our vices and our politics.
Let me add farther, that to make any
changes in their government without their
confent, would be to tranfgrefs the wifeft
rules of policy, and to wound our moft im
portant interefts. As they increafe in
numbers and in riches, our comparative
ftrength muft leffen. In another age,
when our power has begun to lofe fome
thing of its fuperiority, we fhould be
happy if we could fupport our autho
rity by mutual good-will and the habit
of commanding ; but chiefly by thofe ori
ginal eftablifhments, which time and pub
lic honour might have rendered inviolable.
Our pofterity will then have reafon to la
ment that they cannot avail themfelves of
thofe treafures of public friendfhip and
confidence which our fathers had wifely
hoarded up, and we are throwing away,. It

A SPEECH, &c. 189
It is hard, it is cruel, befides all our debts
and taxes, and thofe enormous expences
which are multiplying upon us every year,
to load our unhappy fons with the hatred
and curfes of North America. Indeed, my '
Lords, we are treating pofterity very fcur-
vily. We have mortgaged all the lands ; we
have cut down all the oaks ; we are now
trampling down the fences, rooting up
the feedlings and famplers, and ruining
all the refources of another age. We fhall
fend the next generation into the world,
like the wretched heir of a worthlefs fa
ther, without money, credit, or friends ;
With a ftripped, incumbered, and per
haps untenanted eftate.
Having fpoke fo largely againft the prin
ciple of the bill, it is hardly neceffary to
enter into the merits of it. I fhall only ob
ferve, that even if we had the confent of
the people to alter their government, it
,- :> , would

190 A S P E E C H, &c,
would be unwife to make fuch alterations
as thefe; To give the appPintment of the
governor and council to the crown; and the
difpofal of all places, even of the judges,
and with a power of removing them, to the
governor ; is evidently calculated With a
view to form a ftrong party in our favour,
This I know has been done in other colo- '
nies ; but ftill this is opening a fource of
perpetual difcord, where it is our intereft
always tq agree. If we mean any thing
by this eftablifhment, it is to fupport the
governor and the council againft the peo
ple, i. e. to quarrel with our* friends, that
we may pleafe their fervants. This fcheme
of governing them by a party is not wifely
imagined ; it is much too premature, and,
at all events, mufl turn to our difadvantage.
If it fails, it will only make us contempti
ble ; if it fucceeds, it will make us odious.
It is our intereft to take very little part in
their

A SPEECH, &c. i9r
their domeftic adminiftration of govern
ment, but purely to watch over them for
their good. We never gained fo much by
North America as when we let them go- ,
vern themfelves, and were content to trade
with them and to protect them. One would
think, my Lords, there were fome ftatute
law,, prohibiting us, under the fevereft
penalties, to profit by experience.
My Lords, I have ventured to lay my
thoughts before you, on the greateft na
tional concern that ever came under your
deliberation, with as much honefty as you
will meet with from abler men, and with
a melancholy affurance, that not a word of
; it will be regarded. And yet, my Lords,
with your permiffion, I will wafle one fhort
argument more on the fame caufe, one that
I own I am fond of, and which contains in
, it, what, I think, muft affect every ge
nerous mind. My Lords, I look upon
North

192 A SPEECH, &d.
North America as the only great nurfery of
freemen now left upon the face of the earth*
We have feen the liberties of Poland and
Sweden fwept away, in the courfe of one
year, by treachery and ufurpation. The
free towns in Germany are like fo many
dying fparks, that go out one after ano
ther; and which muft all be foon extin-
guifhed under the deftrudlive greatnefs of
their neighbours. Holland is little more
than a great trading company, with luxu
rious manners, and an exhaufted revenue;
with little ftrength, and with lefs fpirit.
Switzerland alone is free and happy within
the narrow inclofure of its rocks and vallies.
As for the ftate of this country, my Lords,
I can only refer myfelf to your own fecret
thoughts. I am difpofed to think and
hope the beft of public liberty. Were I
to defcribe her according to my own ideas
at prefent, I fhould fay that fhe has a fickly
countenance,

A SPEECH, &C. 193
Countenancev but I truft fhe has a ftrong
conftitution. But Whatever may be our future fate^ the
greateft glory that attends this country, a
greater than any other nation ever acquired^
is to have formed and hurfed up to fuch a
ftate of happinefs, thofe colonies whorh we
are now fo eager to butcher. We ought
to cherifh them as the immortal monu
ments of our public juftice and wifdom ; as
the heirs of our better days, of our old arts
and manners, and of our expiring national
virtues. What work of art, or power, or
public utility has ever equalled the glory
of having peopled a Continent Without
guilt or bloodfhed, with a multitude of free
and happy Common-Wealths ; to have given
them the beft arts of life arid government;
and to have fuffered them under the fhelter.
©f our authority, to acquire in peace the
Vql.IL O fkip

194 A SPEECH, &c.
fkill to ufe them. In comparifon of this,
the policy of governing by influence, and
even the pride of war and victory are
difhoneft' tricks, and poor contemptible
pageantry. We feem not to be fenfible of the high
vand important truft which Providence has
committed to our charge. . The moft preci
ous remains of civil hberty, that the World
can now boaft of, are lodged in our hands j
and God forbid that we fhould violate fo
facred a depofit. By enflaving your colo-»
nies, you not only ruin the peace, the
commerce, and the fortunes of both coun
tries ; but you extinguifh the faireft hopes,
fhut up the laft afylum of mankind. I
think, my Lords, without being weakly
fuperftitious, that a' good man may hope
that Heaven will take part againft the
execution of a plan which feems big, not
only with mifchief, but impiety. Let

A SPEECH &Ci i95
Lei u$ be content with the fpoils and the
ieftrudtion of the eaft; If your Lordfhips
Can fee no impropriety in it, let the plun
derer and the Pppreffor ftill go free; But
let not the love of liberty be the only
crime yoU think wPrthy of punifhmenti
I fear We fhall foon make it a part of our
natural character; to ruin every thing
that has the misfortune to depend upon
US; ^
No nation has ever before contrived, in
fo fhort a fpace of time, without any war
•or public calamity (unlefs unwife meafures
may be fo called) to deftroy fuch ample
refoUrces of commerce$ wealth and power*
as of late were oUfs, and which, if they
had been rightly improved, might have
raifed us to a ftate of more honourable
and more permanent greatnefs than the
World has yet feen; ' O 2 Let

196 A S P E E C H, &c.
Let me remind the noble Lords in ad
miniftration, that before the ftamp act,
they had power fufficient. to anfwer all
the juft ends of 'government, and they
were all completely anfwered. If that is
the power they want, though we have
loft much of it at prefent, a few kind
words would recover it all.
But if the tendency of this bill is, as I
own it appears to me, to acquire a power
of governing them by influence and cor
ruption; in the firft place, my Lords, this
is not true government, but a fophifticated
kind, which counterfeits the appearance,
but without the fpirit or virtue of the true :
and then, as it tends to debafe their fpirits
and corrupt their manners, to deftroy all
that is great and refpedlable in fo confi
derable a part of the human fpecies, and
by degrees to gather them together with the

A SPEECH, &c. 197
the reft of the world, under the yoke of
univerfal flavery ; I think, for thefe rea-
fons, it is the duty of every wife man,
of every honeft man, and of every En-
glifhman, by all lawful means, to op-
pofe it.

O 3 A SPEECH,

SPEECH, &c.

O N

THE APPEAL FROM A DECREE IN THE
COURT OF CHANCERY,

IN FAVOR OF

LITERARY PROPERTY,
In the YEAR 1774.

A
SPEECH 0 N
LITERARY PROPERTY,
In the YEAR, 1774,

I BELIEVE, I fhall have a great majority
pf the Houfe with me, when I fay, that in
the cpurfe of this trial, wehave heardenough
to inform, and enough to puzzle us; it is this
latter circumftance, that induces me to ex
plain my own thoughts, before the moft re
fpedlable of all audiences; not that I have the
prefumption, to think, I can fay any thing
that may deferve the leaft attention from the

202 A S P E E C H, &c.
the great law Lords ; but to others, whofe
underftandings are of the fame moderate
fize with my own, perhaps it may be of
fome ufe to explain my own difficulties,
and my method of getting rid of them.
It feems to be acknowledged on all hands
that this literary property did not exift be
fore the invention of printing; and I will
add, not for a confiderable time after. For,
as every one had the liberty of copying
whatever had been publifhed before, and
as printing is only a more expeditious me
thod of copying ; it neceffarily follows that
he who invented the art of printing, as
long as he kept it to himfelf, muft entirely
monopolize that fpecies of copying.
Authors, in this fituation, were forced
to make intereft with printers to have their
works printed ; and even paid a fort of
copy-money to the printers for doing them
that honour. And this was, at that time,
a greater

A SPEECH, &c, 203
a greater favour than we may poffibly ap
prehend. For the firft printers were au
thors themfelves, and, you may depend
upon it, always gave the preference to
their own works. After this, princes af-
fumed the fole controul of the prefs. They
gave licences and privileges for what and
to whom they pleafed. They did, in all
refpedts, what they pleafed with books j
and fome of them were fo unwife even as
to write them, During all this time there
is no appearance of a literary property
yefted in authors ; and the poffeflion of it
at leaft feems to have been divided between
the church, the ftate, and the flationers
company. Yet, even at this time, there
js fuppofed to have exifted a copy-right,
derived either from prerogative, from de
crees of the ftar-chamber, from ^the fla
tioners company, or from the law of na
ture, Now, my Lords, I own I diftruft all

804 A.SPEE C H, Sec.
all thefe fources of common law we have
been referred to except the laft; I cannot
argue from them;" they do not convince
.me. I even think I can difcover evident
marks of fophiftry and falfe reafoning.
But, my Lords, there is one fource of
Jaw which has been very fparingly touched
upon either by the able counfel, or by the
learned judges; but which appears tome
in dignity and authority far fuperior to any
other we have heard of, and which yet is
clear and intelligible even to us lay-lords ;
for in this qafe I have the honour to rank
in that elafs myfelf; the fource I am
fpeaking of, is no other than that well-
known and yet too much neglected fource
of public utility. Lawyers may have other
ideas in their heads, but I am fure le-
giflators ought to be governed by this.
Through whatever channels law may flow
in its progrefs ; whether through the ada
mantine

A SPEECH, &C. 205
mantine fetters of prerogative, or the prac
tice of courts, or the "opinions of the fages
of the law, or the bye-paths of the fta-
tibners company ; it ought always to keep
a fixed eye upon the public good. Even
that pure fountain of immemorial cuftom,
which is fuppofed to convey to us the
wifdom of ages, and which certainly does
not apply to the prefent cafe; even this
firft and moft refpedlable fource of law, is
only valuable as it is prefumed, by long
trial and experience, to anfwer more furely
the purpofes of public good. Here we
have a fure guide to follow, one that can
not lead us aftray. Let us obferve the
. ftraight, the plain, but the too little fre
quented path of public good ; and if we
make no confiderable progrefs, we cannot
err. It is impoffible, my Lords, for us to
trace the progrefs of a law from its begin ning;

io6 A SPEECH, &c,
ning; the hiftory of it depends upon a fotf
of criticifm that lies out of our way; buf
we may venture to purfue it in its confe
quences, and to judge of the caufe by the*
effedls. Let us confider the fuppofed
common law before us by thefe rules*
By the ftatute law at prefent, authors'
are entitled to the exclufive privilege of ,
printing their works for the term of four-*
teen years ; which they have a power of
renewing for fourteen years more4 Be-*,-
fides this, there is claimed for them, for
they claim nothing for themfelves, an ex-»
clufive right of printing them for ever.
Now it comes before us whether this laft
claim is founded in common law; and the
fafeft and moft practicable way of deciding
• the difficulty, is to enquire whether it^is of
public advantage to have it fo; or if it
may feem, perhaps, too much for us to
to determine, in all cafes, what is of pub lic

A SPEECH, &c. 207
lie advantage; we may at leaft be confident
that what is of evident public detriment is
not the genuine produce of that wifdom of
the nation, which is held forth to us by the
common law.
In the firft place, my Lords, I think it
clear that this extenfion of the copy-right
from twenty-eight years to all eternity, is
no real benefit to authors themfelves. For
whatever pleafing dreams an author may
form to himfelf of the life to come in every
poet's creed, no bookfeller will treat with
him upon that footing. He will tell him
that the market is glutted ; that gentlemen
and ladies have very little time for reading,
and that it will be a long time before he
fhall be able to get off one imprefliOn. In
fhort he will not fuppofe it poffible that
the work fhould laft above five or fix
years, and will talk of feven as extreme
old age for a modern performance. Au
thors

ao8 A SPEECH, Sec.
thors muft neceffarily come to the book*
fellers terms till they grow, rich men j ot
what is not much to be apprehended; till
rich men turn authors* But fin all cafes
that we have hitherto known; the author's
intereft is determined before the firft four
teen years are expired; and; commonly, a
long part of the term itfelf; and the whole
immortality in reverfionj muft turn entirely
to the profit of the bookfeller. All the
wifdom of the common law, in this
inftance, muft of neceffity deppfit the
whole profits of literature upon the book-
fellers. Under, this law, in a certain
length of time, thefe. gentlemen will of
courfe acquire a monopoly in all thofe va-*
luable writings of their countrymen whofe
merit has made them furvive the reft. ¦
Now, my Lords, monopolies in general
are odious. Good governments have fome
times favoured them for a fhort term ; -but
Ibe«

A SPEECH, Sec. ao^
I believe the moft arbitrary government
was never fp unwife as to give a perpetual
monopoly of any kind to one man and his
heirs. But to veft in one particular fet of
men an hereditary and indefeafible mono
poly in all the works of genius and litera
ture ; in the books of morals, fcience, and
religion ; in all ufeful and elegant compo-
fitions ; this, my Lords, could not be the
work of law or of nature ; or it muft be a
ftrange. lufus naturae, the wildeft prank
that nature ever played. This is not the
genuine .offspring of that good old com
mon law which, with infinite judgment
and gravity, has accommodated itfelf to
the great changes in human affairs, and has
always kept. her eye fixed upon the public
good. It is a new fpurious kind of maca
roni common law, crept of late years into
Weftminfter-hall, which diflikes the old-
fafhioned cut of our good old Englifh
VpL. II. P rights

am A SPEECH, &C.
rights and liberties; which endeavoured
to prune and trim the rights of juries* and
the liberty of the prefs, to the true foreign
French fafhion. This time two years, it
endeavoured to alter the laws of entail, and
to give a flability to the property of a
thimble or a nutmeg-grater, which the
law does not give to our old demefne
lands. £ Let us but remove from our minds all
this law juggling, all thefe indecent at
tempts to miflead. us, by arguing from
principles which we cannot underftand,
and there will not be the leaft difficulty in
the prefent cafe. If this law is eftab
lifhed, the bookfellers will have the uni
verfal monopoly of knowledge we are
fpeaking of. What ufe they will infallibly
make of it, we may judge pretty tolerably
from what they have done already. For
many' years backwards, they have partly
exercifed

A-i SPEECH, &C. air
-exercifed the right which they now claim
by law. What by collufive agreement
among .themfelves; by bribing, and even
penfioning fome who oppofed their claims;
by intimidating the poorer fort; by
ufing all arts to fupport their claim, and
hy "watching a favourable current of opi
nion in Weflminfter; Hall, they have, at
laft, obtained a verdict in their favour
ftrengthened by a decree in the Court of
Chancery. But, during all the time that
this right has been only exercifed by them,
but not acknowledged, I appeal to your
Lordfhips, whether the good ftandar.d
books have not been printed as you would
expect from monopolizers; the price
raifed ; the paper, the print, and the
binding growing daily worfe. Have not
the common editions of Milton, , of the
Spedlator, of the'other Englifh books of
great popular demand, been fo printed as
P 2 to

212 A SPEECH, &c.
to make it evident that the fole end of the
publifher was to get. money, and not
credit. I will venture to affirm, that the
beft books, and of the fureft fale, have
been always the worft printed. But more
than this, they have fometimes refufed to
infert very confiderable and ufeful Im
provements, when the work has a certain
fale*. A Right Reverend Prelate, who
had very carefully collated the beft edi
tions of Locke's' Effay on the Human
Underftanding, offered his notes and ob-
fervations to a bookfeller, who was pub
lifhing that work; he defired to be exr-
cufed from printing them, alledging, that
the work fold very well already.
And thus probably many ufeful additions
may have been fuppreffed for fear of hurt
ing the fale of old impreffions, juft as the
fifhmongers are faid to deftroy great quanti ties

A SPEECH, Sec, 213
ties of fifh, for fear of over-flocking the
market. Another contrivance is, to vend a great
deal of trafh, under the credit of a few
excellent pieces. Thus they will never
print Addhon's works, except in an ex-
penfive quarto edition, left they fhould
hurt the fale of the Spectators, Guardians,
and Tatlers. Buxton waters-, my L<frds,
are defervedly famous. The landlord,
who has an exclufive right to the well,
and the lodgings, gives wprfe fare and
worfe accommodation, than fo much good
company would meet with in any part of
England. And if, after the caufe before
us is decided, which God forbid, in their
favour, you want a Locke, or a Milton,
from the only bookfellers who will have
the power to fell them ; you muft content
yourfelf, at their own price, to take fuch
paper, print, and binding as they fhall
P 3 think

2i4 A SPEECH, &c.
think fit to give you. My Lords, it is a
fact I have frequently heard mentioned,
that, by lowering the price of ink, the
bookfellers have obliged the makers to
hurt and debafe the quality of it: fo that
none of the books, which are now printed,
are fit to be bound till they have lain by a
year, and fome not even then. Thisr my
Loffis, is evident at firft fight. The
printing ink is not black ; it is a kind of a
dull blueifh colour, with rather more of a
dirty eaft, but fomething like what the
ladies call petit gris. For this reafon,
Bafkerville, before he could make ufe of
his elegant types, was obliged to manu
facture his own ink. But if you have a
mind to pafs a fair judgment on the effects
of a monopoly on printing, allow me to
mention the Bibles and Common Prayer
Books, which are publifhed under a royal
patent, and which, I believe, I may fay
without

A S.PEEC H, &'c. 215
without fear of being contradicted, were
for a long time the very worft printed
books in Europe. Could his Majefty,
who is fo generous a patron of liberal arts,
have poffibly by any human means been
informed that an art, fo deferving of royal
•encouragement, as that of printing, has
been exercifed ever fince the revolution,
to no other vifible purpofe but to blind
and puzzle the beft of his Majefty's fub
jedls, and to make large dividends to the
patentees, fure nothing would ever pre
vail upon him to renew fo preppfterous a
grant. The Roman Catholicks, for fear
of making their common people too wife,
have printed their Bible in an unknown
tongue. It would have anfwered their
purpofe more decently, and almoft as ef
fectually, lo have employed fuch printers
as ours ; for it fignifies little, whether
they have Bibles which they cannot un-
P 4 derftand,

216 A SPEEC H, &c.
derftand, or JBibles which they cannot
read, I remember when Bibles and Com«-
mon Prayer Books, that were printed at
Edinburgh, bore an extravagant price-
becaufe they were a little more legible
than our own. That this difgracefiil
ftate of printing is owing entirely to the
monopoly, may appear from hence; that
in foreign Proteftant countries, where the
ptefs is open, the Bibles and publick
prayers are. printed with clear and elegant
types, fuperior in general to other Books
in the language ; not blotted and blurred,
like our own, where the letters, feem
ftruggling to get from one fide of the leaf
to the other, and fometimes they fucceed,
fometimes meet half way, and caufe a con-
fufion which no eye can deeypher. In
order to convey the jufteft idea I can of the
whole matter, allow me to telj a fhort
ftory, and I hope I may claim your indul gence

A SPEECH, &c. 217
gende for departing a very little from the
gravity pf my character. A ftationer, in
hopes of making his fortune, carried with
him a large affortment of his own wares,
and, atnongft the reft, a great many of
thefe Bibles we have^been defcribing, and
a large quantity of cards, and fettled in
North America. The cards fold amaz
ingly ; but the Bibles, being not quite fo
legible as the cards,, ftuck on his hands;
to remedy this, he declared he would fell
no more cards, unlefs they would confent
to take a Bible with every pack. They
demurred at firft, but cards were to be
had no where elfe, and the elderly ladies,
could not hold out, fo he foon difpofed of
his Bibles.
This ftationer, my Lords, was an ex
traordinary man. He is the firft that has
found out a method of levying an- internal
tax upon North America. It

8i8 A SPEECH,' Set.
It appears to me, my Lords, extremely
probable, that if we confirm this mono
poly of the bookfellers,- the 'fame game
will be played in a different manner upon
ourfelves. Thofev gentlemen, who by
giving, i oo years ago, the 500th part of
their value for ^the exclufive and everlaft-
ing property in the works of Locke, and
Milton, have purchafed a common law
right to cheat: us to what extent they
pleafe ; and may think it very reafonable
not to part with one of thofe precious
volumes, unlefs we chufe to take a bottle
of Maredant's Drops, or of Beaume de
Vie, with, them. I fhall not be able- to
buy a volume of Tillotfon's Sermons, with
out having a gallipot of fomething or other
tacked to them. This, perhaps, may be
confidered as mere invention ; but I have
a right to fuggeft any poffible method that
may be ufed by thofe who have a legal
right

A SPEECH, &c. 219
right to impofe upon us; and, take my
word for it, their invention is much better
than mine. They are plodding men, who
will think deeply on the'fubjedt, and make
themfelves mafters of it.
But, my Lords, there are greater mif-
ehiefs remaining than any I have men
tioned. If we are forced to pay a double
price for our reading, to the greateft part
of us it may be a very fupportablc tax;
though even that may fall very heavy on
men of real learning and genius in narrow
circumftances. But, my Lords, this fpi
rit of monopoly has a tendency to obftrudt
the advancement of knowledge. When
Dr. Smith, the late Mafter of Trinity Col
lege, was publifhing his valuable Treatife
of Optics, it became neceffary, in the
courfe of his work, to make long quota
tions from Sir Ifaac Newton's Theory of
Light and Colours. The bookfeller, who had

220 A S P E E C H, . &c.
had the copy-right of that work (does it
not hurt you, my Lords, to think that Sir
Ifaac Newton, the glory not of his coun
try only, but of his age and fpecies, who;
certainly, if any author, ever did write for
mankind, and for immortality, it was him,
fhould be the property of an impofing
bookfeller ?) this proprietor of Sir Ifaac
Newton, infifted on his copy-right, and
refufed to let the Doctor print fuch long
quotations without a valuable confider-
ation. How the difpute ended, I cannot
tell; but I know that it gave much plague
to the author, and delayed his publication
for a confiderable time.
A very refpedlable Judge, to whom this
country is obliged for a moft excellent 'in-
ftitute of laws, I am told has lately parted
with the fee-fimple of his works to a
bookfeller. The bookfeller has fince
printed an octavo edition, with many large and

A SPEECH, &e. 221
and important alterations; and has not, as
in equity and gratitude he ought to have
done, reprinted the alterations in the
quarto fize, for the benefit of fuch of his
readers as have bought the large edition.
Does not this proceeding amount to a de
claration, that the faid bookfeller is deter
mined, by every way he can think of, tp
impofe upon the public, to the utmoft of
his poor abilities. To perfift in exercifing
the abufes of thofe rights, at the very time
they are called in qUeftion, fhows a moft
incurable habit of impofition.
I have only mentioned a few cafes that I
have either been acquainted with myfelf,
or have lately met with in converfation,
and fhall tire your Lordfhips with no more.
Only permit me to remind you that one
of the learned Judges complained of the
enormous dearnefs of law-books, which,
as it was contradicted by no one prefent, I
think

222 A SPEECH, &c.
think we may confider as a point deter
mined by all the twelve Judges.
It has been obferved, and it is a plea-
fure to hear it from the learned Judges,
that, by the common law, every right has
a remedy ; and I hope that, by the common
law,' every wrong has; a remedy too. Now,
my Lords, I fhould be glad to know what
remedy there is for the wrongs which are '
every day fuftained by his Majefty's fub
jedls from the bookfellers ; and whether,
if the common law is, in itfelf, fo wife
and fagacious as Lord Coke reprefents it
to be, it would not rather have chofen to
reftrain their depredations, than to enlarge
their priyileges.
My Lords, there is another difadvantage
arifing from this monopoly, of a national
kind, that deferves your ferious attention;.
Whilft thefe gentlemen are intent on the
advantages of their copy-rights, and being ' fure

A SPEECH, Sect 223
fure of a fale, confider only the cheapnefs;
and not the excellence, of the work,
every material of the manufacture is de-
bafed; the workmen become mere drudges,
without fpirit or emulation; and no work
is undertaken that is to do honour to the
prefs, and depend upon the workmanfhip
for fale; the claffics, and other books that
are open, to all, will be printed at Glafgow
and Edinburgh, or imported from Hol
land. I am told, that in London, they
have almoft forgot the art of printing La
tin and Greek ; and that Mr. Bowyer, who
is very fuperior to his profeflion, is the
only man at prefent qualified to be the
editor of a Work of learning.
Now, my Lords, allow me to hope,
that our votes fhall this day fet at liberty
the fpirit, the activity, and the inventive
genius of our countrymen, that have been
cramped and fettered top long by this mo
nopoly.

224 A SPEECH, Sec.
nopoly. Why may not the Engli/h printers
attain to that refpedlable pre-eminehee
which our artificers of other kinds have
acquired over the workmen of jother na
tions ? In every part of Europe our lan
guage is ftudied, and there is a demand for
our authors. If thefe are well printed,
they will be purchafed every where with
greedinefs ; and why may we not, in a fhort
time, by the talent of improvement which
is natural to us, be able to fupply other
nations with more elegant editions of the
Greek and Latin writers, awl of the beft
French and Italian books, than they have
yet feen; which, at the fame time that
they do honour to our prefs, may procure
a beneficial commerce to our country.
I would not be underftood, by any thing
I have faid of bookfellers; to reprefent them"
as a worfe fort of men than their neigh
bours. The law which puts it in their
power,

A'SPEECH, Sec. 225
power, and makes it their intereft, to de
fraud us, makes them by degrees, confider
thofe frauds as innocent. What happens
in the common courfe of bufinefs, is al
ways held excufable. But, my Lords, in
a ferious light, I think it a very powerful
additional objection againft this copy-right,
tl^at it tends to corrupt the natural honefty
and integrity of thofe who are poffeffors
of it.
Now, putting all thefe circumftances
together which I have been able to touch
upon, but very fuperficially; the fordid
and unlimited impofitions of bookfellers ;
the obftrudlions laid in the paths of know
ledge ; and the total deftrudlion pf a very
honourable branch of commerce ; all that
we have fuffered, and all that we have loft,
and all that we are likely to fuffer and lofe
.by this propofed extenfion of their privi
leges ; let me afk your Lordfhips with the
Vol. II. Q^_ utmoft

226 A SPEECH, Sec.
0
utmoft ferieufnefs and candor, whether it
is poffible that a {genuine branch of the
common laiW fhould. neeeffarilyleadms into
fo many m'ifchiefs and inconveniences ? In.
mathematical -retffonings, we pften come
defignedly to a falfe conclufion, in order
to fhowthefalfehood of the principles we
feafon'ed upon. In enquiries concerning
law and morals, if we are led to fome pro-
pofition that is hurtful and pernicious to
fociety, -we are equally fure that the prin
ciples we' went upon areiunfound. Now,
fince this, monopoly of bookfellers' hasoap-
peared, upon examination, toibe a certain
-fource and a conftant encouragement of
impofitions, frauds, and knavery, and a
' reftrain t upon learning and commerce, I
think myfelf authorifed to infer, with the
utmoft certainty, that the literaryiproperty, /
frpm which* it neceffarily proceeds, is not
a genuine produce of' the common law, but

A SPEECH, &c. 227
but a mere fiction and impofture. I am
fuire of the impofture itfelf, though I may
not be able to trace it to its fource, or to
follow it through all its appearances.
My Lords, .if the decree before us fhould
be affirmed, it will be a fort of misfortune
tp us .to have had fuch men as Locke and
Newton fpr pur countrymen. Therefl qf
the .world, will have the liberty of reading
their works, publifhed with all the ad
vantages arifing from freedom and emula
tion. To us they will be doled put like
fome quack mediciue, at. what price, and
under what. conditions the bookfeller fhall
think, fit. to impofe. The writings of thefe
great men, my Lords, are the property,
as well as j the glory, of the country.
Let me add but one fhort argument
.more, but which, in iny opinion, is deci-
ffiye. If this literary property had been
.eftablifhed beyond all poffibility of contra-
Q_2 diction

2218 A SPEECH, Sec.
diction at common law; if it was iup-
ported by immemorial cuftom, by the uni
form opinions of great lawyers, and a long
feries of adjudged cafes, I fhould acknow
ledge it with great reluctance, and fhould
be puzzled with it as with fome ftrange
preternatural produce of the common law;
but fhould think it highly neceffary for the
legiflature to interpofe, and to limit by
ftatute a perpetual right, that muft other-
wife be the fource of great inconvenience
and great injuftice.
But when, in fupport of this right, we
meet with no opinions of learned lawyers,
no adjudged cafes, except fuch as are not
applicable, or not competent to the pre
fent cafe, but certainly not conclufive;
when the grounds on which it is built are
metaphyfical arguments, and fubtle dif-
tindtions, never ufed before, and invented
only for the prefent occafion, I cannot but
think

A SPEECH, &c. 229
think we are at liberty to govern our judg
ments by the great mafter principle of all
law, the good of the public ; which is not
fond of temporary monopolies, but cannot
endure a perpetual one. We can cer
tainly do no great harm upon this «ccafion,
by paying a little attention to the Public
Good,

0^3 S E R-

S P E E C H, Vc. &c.

ON THE

BILL FOR REPIAL1NC
(THE PENAL LAWS
AGAINST
PROTESTANT DISSENTERS,
In the Year 1779.

/

SPEECH, &c, &c. &c.

I RISE up, my Lords, not from the va
nity of a fpeaker, which, God knows, I
have no pretentions toj but I feel my
felf under a ftrong pbligation to give
fome reafons fpr my opinion, in a cafe
where I ftand almoft fingle from my
brethren. In the firft place, I give my confent moft

234 A SPEECH, &c!
moft fully and fincerely to the Bill as it
now ftands, repealing all the penal laws
againft the Proteftant Diffenters. Thefe
laws were, from the beginning, the dif
grace of the national church.
They were pa^fed originally^ froifi no
publick-fpirited, and from no truly religi
ous motive. 'ffjey'were* die produce of
revenge, of a fpirit of patty and perfec
tion, inconfiftent with our national liberty,
and our national character. To the repeal
of thefe laws I confent moft cordially;
and, if the Bitf is Confined to that fingle
point, I fhall took upon it as the beft
proof 6f pblitfcal wifdom that I hive ever
beeh witriefs tp within thefe walls. But
trie additional clatife, impofing a confef-
noh pf faith upon them (fhort indgeHeraf,
and true, as it undoubtedly is), has a very
aifrefent complexion from the reft. ' I
hope

A* S P* E E C H, &c. 235
hope it will be underftood that a Protef-
tarrf Bifhbp can have ho poffible objection
fo ffie declaring in his own perfon, that
the Scriptures contain the revealed will of
G'od; arid are fhe rule of his faith and
practice. This is evidently the moft
fundamental article 6f our religion ; every
Slhbr article depends upon the truth of it.
I not only believe it, but hope I fhould
have the virtue, if called upon; to feal it
with rfly blood. And yet, my Lords, thd
¦ jhoft faded truth I believe myfelf, I do
nol think that I have any fight to impofe
upon other men. Only let it be remem
bered; that I atknowledge the truth of
the declaration, and object folely to the
im^Sfitiori of it.
Fbf let me obferve, in the firft place,
that, by adding this claufe, we cohvefl
the Bill, fr'Pm being a repeal of all former
pthH laws, into a penal law itfelf; for
thofe

236 A SPEECH, &c,
thofe who do notfubfcribe the declaration,
remain ftill liable to all the old penalties.
But why is this declaration neceffary to
be impofed ? Is there a Proteftant congre
gation in tjiis kingdom, is there one in
ajl Europe, which does not believe that
the Scriptures are the revealed will of God,
aud the rule of faith and practice? The
publick wprfhip, at leaft the greateft part
of it, every where confifts in reading an4
explaining thp Holy Scriptures. The Bible
is the acknowledged religipn of every
Proteftant congregation. Whoever re
ceives the Scriptures at all? receives them
as the will pf God. Take away the au
thority of the Holy Scriptures, and all Prp-
teftant congregations are diffolved at once,
If all we want is to, have this truth ad
mitted by all Protpftant congregations,
we may be fatisfied to our hearts content ;
for there never yet exifted a fingle Prpr
teftant

A SPEECH, Sec. 237
teftant who denied it ; and I will venture
to prophefy there never will.
' But fuppofe there was fomewhere a fet
of Chriftiahs, who did not receive our
Canon of Scripture; fuppofe they built \
their faith upon fome of the old fpurious
Gofpels; or fuppofe that they rejected
fome of our canonical books ; or fuppofe
that they rejected all infpired writings, and
placed their faith only on the fecret in
fluences of the Spirit. Would you perfe-
cute them for believing the Chriftian Re
ligion, on arguments that fuit their own
underftanding ? The cjueftion is not whe
ther they judge wrong, but whether they
are not to be tolerated, although they judge
wrong. We all allow, in every one of
the fuppofitions we have made, that the
Diffenters would be in error ; but errors
in matters of Religion are the very 'ground
and fubjedl of Toleration. I wifh,

238 A S P E E C H, &c.
I wifh, too, your Lordfhips would con
fider who are the men that would be the
greateft fufferers by this impofition. The
moft confcientious, the moft learned, and
the moft refpedlable of the Diffenting
Minifters. A great majority of thefe, I
am told, declare againft £1 human autho
rity in matters of Religion. They hold
that no church has a right tb impofe an
article of faith on any other religious
community. I believe from my heart
that they fay true; at leaft, if they do not,
he that can confute them is a much abler
man than myfelf. Now, my Lords, thefe
are men, who deferve our efteem for their
fcience, their literature, their critical ftudy
of the Scriptures, and their excellent writ
ings either defending or teaching common
Chriftianity; and, my Lords, they have of
late ftood forth almoft fingly in defence of
the natural, civil, and religious rights of
mankind.

A SPEECH, &c. 239
mankind. I will prefume to fay it will be
no difparagement to this bench to confider
fuch men as our friends and brethren ; not
as odious rivals, that want to foramble with
us for perferment and power; but as
fellow-labourers, engaged in the fame
honorable rafk with ourfelves, to inftrudl
mankind in the art of true happinefs.
And I refpedl them the more for having
gone fuch lengths in learning and en
quiry, when the utmoft reward of their
ambition can very little exceed £1 00 per
ann. Yet, my Lords, if we enact this
claufe, and put it in execution, thefe men
will not even be tolerated.
My Lords, I can hardly venture to
pronounce what fort of conduct and fenti-
ment is fuitable to our prefent ftate of
humiliation. Let me recall your thoughts to that
ftate of imperial greatnefs and dignity, which

240 A S.P E E C H, &c.
which we were poffeffed of, before the
Miriiftry had perfuaded you to vote it
away. America was filled with every difc
ferent fedt, that was the growth of this
country and their own; befides fome that
were imported from Germany. All of
them were tolerated ; they were ufed to
fee their neighbours enjoy the divine wor-
fhip they liked beft, and were happy in
poffeffing the fame privileges themfelves-;
in confequenee of this, all has been peace*
and harmony. No religious differences
have given the leaft difturbance to Go
vernment for the laft century.
We were, indeed, difappointed in our
hopes of eftablifhing epifcopacy in Ame
rica. But, even that point, if I am right
ly informed, might have been carried, had
it not been for the total fupinenefs and ne
gligence of the Minifters ; who have never
¦ \- . cared

A SPEECH, Sec. 24r
cared for any thing belonging to bifhops,
but their votes.
Look upon the ftate of Bengal, where
every feet, and every fuperftition, from
the day 5 of ZorPafter, to the prefent age;
from the worfhippers of fire and idols,
down to the difciples of Mahomet, are to- -
lerated. No government has ever made
more free with the property of their fub
jedls, than our countrymen there have
done ; yet, even they have left the .poor
Gentoos their religion, who have left
them nothing elfe : but, I will venture to
fay, that even that poor, paffive, effemi
nate race, could not have been .governed
without a generaL toleration ; without this
general toleration, the immenfe empire
we are now iofing, would have been loft
long before.
The whole fubjedt of toleration, is not
properly a queftion relating to the church,
Vol. II. R but

242 A SPEECH, Sec.
but the ftate. And allow me to fay,
with all due refpedl to this Right Reverend
Bench,, that we ourfelves are not the very
men, to whofe decifion I would chufe to
commit it. It is the duty of the magiftrate
(for it is the very end of magiftracy) to
protect all men in the enjoyment of their
natural rights ; and allow me to confider
the free exercife of our religion, as one of
the firft and beft of them.
Confider what has been the practice
of the wifeft and freeft ftates. All na
tions have been favorable to toleration, in
proportion to their improvements, and their
freedom. The Dutch at firft made trial
of persecution,, like their neighbours; but,
they foon found that fober and indiiftrious
fubjedls were worth preferving, whether
they were Jews, Turks, Infidels, or He
retics. It

A SPEECH, &c. 243
It is a fingular obfervation, and which
I think fhould have the greateft weight
with a legiflature ; that though all modern
hiftory is full of mifchiefs, occafioned by
the want of toleration ; yet, no author has
ever undertaken to fhew, that any public
evils have any where been occafioned by
toleration. .
And though toleration is the natural
growth of only free Governments ; yet the
difadvantages of an intolerant fpirit are
fo great, and fo apparent, that arbitrary
ftates haVe been forced, out of mere felfifh
prudence, to defert their own principles,
and to tolerate the heretic, in order to
preferve the manufacturer. France has
thought it prudent, to connive at' the reli
gion of the Proteftants, in confideration
of their ufefulnefs and induftry.
Here, my Lords, I feel 'it neceffary to
take fome notice of the petition from the
R 2 Univerfity

244 A SPlEECH, Sec.
Univerfity of Oxford; out of the refpedl
I bear, and the relation I have formerly
held to that feat of learning. ,
It is there apprehended, that if perfons
i are fuffered to teach as Diffenting Mini-
fters, without making any declaration,
that even Atheifts might be admitted, and
men who would teach any dodlrines con
trary to the principles of Chriftianity. In
the firft place, allow me to obferve, that
the apprehenfions of thefe learned gentle
men are contrary to plain experience.
We have lived the beft part of a century,
without enforcing the declarations or fub-
fcriptions, that are enjoined by law: To
all practical purppfes, they have had no
exiftence any where, but in the ftatute
book. Now, let me afk, whether any fuch
confequences have appeared ? Have thofe,
who are called 'Proteftant Diffenters, held
any dOdtfiries incompatible with the lprin- ciples

A' SPEECH, &c. a45
ciples of Chriftianity and the good of fo
ciety ? Have they not been confidered in
the two former reigns as loyal fubjedls, and
as good citizens ? Can Oxford herfelf
boaft of having produced more fteady
friends to the Houfe of Hanover ?
But, in truth, my Lords, the Lay Pro
teftant Diffenters would no more bear to be
taught fuch impious dodlrines, than the
Univerfities themfelves. No feet ever
confifted of hypocrites. The majority,
in their religious enquiries, feek after truth
and happinefs, and are fometimes apt too
eafily to believe they have found them.
If I may fpeak from the information of a
very narrow and accidental 'acquaintance,
I muft fay they have laymen amongft them
of liberal education, and who have exer-
cifed their underftandings with as much
freedom, care, and ability, as any men I
have known of our own church, Men of
R 3 this

246 A S P E E C H, Sec.
this charadler will have weight wherever
they are, and they will neither admit
themfelves, nor fuffer their neighbours to
admit, fuch teachers into their pulpits as
the Oxford gentlemen are alarmed at.
The moft' pernicious principles to fo
ciety, and the moft repugnant to the true
fpirit of Chriftianity, that ever obtained a
firm footing in this country, are the old
Tory principles. The Diffenters are, at
leaft, clear and innocent of this guilt.
Thefe principles, of late, have been care
fully nurfed and revived. They have al
moft- ventured to appear at Court, but
have fhewn themfelves, without difguifej
in the minifterial writers. Let it be al
lowed me, with the moft refpectful tqn-
dernefs, to admonifh that learned body, to
whom I owed the pleafures of my yoilth,
and that foundation of fcience and ufeful
literature,, which I have fince too little cul-

A SPEECH, Sec. 247
cultivated; — let me conjure them not to
fuffer thofe odious principles to revive again
within their walls; which are as incom
patible with true learning as they are with
liberty. The men who have given up
their love of freedom, and have forgot the
natural rights of mankind, .have loft the
beft and moft vital part — of the vigour and
nerves of their underftanding. They are
neither able to difcover truth, nor to relifh
fcience. No Jacobite.'was ever, a philo-
fopher. But to pretend to fupport the Houfe of
Hanover, by thofe ftale and impotent prin
ciples, which ruined the Houfe of Stuart,
is a greater degree of fophiftry and npn-
fenfe than has ever yet appeared in the
Schools. Suppofe it poffible, that the
people of England fhould fo far lofe their
fenfes, as generally to adopt the old Tory
principles ; how foon might they be turned
R 4 againft

i4& A 'SPEECH, Sect
againft the Adminiftration that labours to
propagate them ! How foon might our
inveterate enemies, whom the bluilders of
Pur Minifters have united and made power
ful, introduce a competitor for the Crown,
who has an older and a better title to the
benefit of thofe principles !— Inftead of
this mean, difhpneft, view, let them inftij
into the noble yPuth committed to their
care, a thirft pf knowledge, a tafte for
fcience, a warm Ipve of liberty, virtue,
and their country. Let them inftrudl them
in the true conftitution pf government ;
not in the old fyftem of bondage and fer-
vility, but in that great reformation pf
government which was brought about by
King William ; the fpirit and the memory
of which are almoft loft, -together with
the greatnefs and glory that were the fruit
of it.
In this country, my Lords, religious and

A SPEECH, Sec. 249
and party zeal has paffed many fevere laws
againft Diffenters; and, for many years,
the State has had the wifdom not to. exe
cute them.
Even this claufe, which I object to,
when it was afked at a meeting of the
Right Reverend Bench, where I had the
honour to be prefent, whether it was ever
intended to be put in execution ? It was
anfwered, no ; there was no fuch intention.
I afked then, and I afk now, What was
the ufe of making laws that were never to
be executed ? It was faid, to be fuitable
to our dignity and our authprity.
To make good and ufeful laws, fuch
as carry in them their own force and
evidence, is a work of great dignity and
authority ; but to make ufelefs and infig-
nificant laws, is not to exercife authority,
but to leffen and degrade it. It is a vain,
idle, and infolent parade of Jegiflation; tending

250 A. SPEECH, &c. ..
tending only to fhow that we know not
how to ufe the powers we are trufted
with. And yet, my Lords, would to God, the
four laft fhameful and miferable years had
been employed only in making fuch trifling
laws as thefe. .This wretched country
might ftill have been fafe, and perhaps,
once more, might have been happy ; and
Government would only have loft, what it
never feems to have cared for, a little more
of its dignity and credit.
And let us for one moment confider in
what hands is- to be lodged this power of
regulating religious doctrines, and preform
ing articles of faith. Certainly, in this
country, we muft place this holy depofit
where we have placed every thing elfe that
is great and good ; the honour, the inte
reft, and the revenues of our country;
our hopes, our public confidence, ancj the
majority

A SPEECH, &c. 251
majority of our votes ; alf muft undoubt
edly be placed in the keeping of the Mi
niftry. Now, my Lords, this fyftem of church
government would, in my opinion, be the
moft effectual method we could take to in-
creafe the body of the Diffenters, Some
very good Chriftians of our own church,
might poffibly make a few reafonable ob
jections to letting the Miniftry for the
time being, cut 'and fhuffle their religion
for them. And, perhaps, my Lords, there
; might be Minifters to whofe management,
none who have the leaft value for their
religion would chufe to commit it. One
• might naturally afk a Minifter for a good
penfion, or a good contract, or a place at
Greenwich Hofpital ; but hardly any one
would think of ufing their intereft to get
him a place in heaven. What I now fay
: applies only to future bad Minifters ; for, of

252 A SPEECH, Sec.
of the prefent Adminiftration, I moft
firmly believe that they are full as capable
of defining articles of faith, as of directing
the counfels of ftate.
I fhall end what I propofed to fay, with
obferving, that the ruling party is always
very liberal in beftowing the title of Schif-
matics and Heretics on thofe who differ
from them in matters of religion, and re-
prefenting them as dangerous to the ftate.
My Lords, the contrary is the truth:
thofe who are uppermoft, and have the
power, are the men who do the mifchief;
the Schifmatics only fuffer and complain,
and are often thought worthy of punifh
ment for that very reafon, Afk who has
brought the affairs of this country into the
prefent calamitous ftate ? Who are the
men that have plundered and depopulated
Bengal ? Who are they that have turned a
whole continent, inhabited by friends and
' kindred,

A SPEECH, &c. 253
kindred, into our bittereft enemies ? Yes !
they who have fhorn the ftrength, and cut
off the right arm of Britain were all
members of the eftablifhed church, all or
thodox men. — I am not afraid of thofe ten
der and fcrupulous confciences who are
oyer cautious of profeffing or believing too
much ; if they are fincerely in th'e wrong,
I forgive their errors, and refpedl their in
tegrity. The men I am afraid of, are the
men who believe every thing, and fiib-
fcribe every thing, and who vote for every
thing.

§ER-

SERMON

PREACHED BEFORE
THE HOUSE OF LORDS,
IN THE ABBEY CHURCH Of
ST.' PETER, WESTMINSTER,
ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 1770,
Being the Day appointed to be obferved as the Day
of the Martyrdom of King Charles I.

SERMON

PREACHED BEFORE THE

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Is A. xxxiii. part of ver* 6.
And wifdom and knowledge jhall be the fa- '
bility of thy times.
AS the form of this world, and of the
moft confiderable objedts in it, is conti
nually varying j and, as things acquire
and lofe importance by the changes of
. time and circumftances, I hope I fhall
not. be thought to have departed too far
from the limits prefcribed to me, if I
confider my fubjedt in the point of view,
which feems moft to merit your attention
Vol. II. ' S . at

258 SERMO N, &c.
at prefent, and is moft likely to fu^gefl
the means and excite the defire of ferving
our country. To this end, I fhall take
leave to regard the guilty fcenes we com
memorate, not as the whole of my fubjedt,
but as one link of that long chain of caufes,
which the wifdom of Providence has been
employing, for the fpace of feveral ages,
i
in forming the manners and character of
this diftinguifhed' nation. The doctrine
contained in my text, and implying that
improvements in knowledge and arts, add
not only to the credit, but to the ftrength
and fecurity of a nation, will be better
illuftrated by this manner of treating my
fubjedt, than from a regular comment on
the words themfelves : •" And wifdom and
*' knowledge fhall be the ftability of thy
" tames." This country has not always enjoyed
that pre-eminence of power and dignity which

SERMON, &c, 259
which k is now poffeffed of. Before the
Reformation, our anceftors had fhown
themfelves capable of war and conquefts j
had given proofs of manly fenfe, and ^
fpirit of freedom in the frame of their laws"
and conftitution ; and had produced fome
rare examples of karning and genius : but,
upon the whole, they muft be acknow
ledged to have been very inferior to the
fouthern parts of Europe in literature, "in
manners, in commerce, and in the arts of
life. It muft be owned too, that the at
tention of our countrymen was awakened
by flow degrees, and not till moft other
parts of Europe had been ftruck with the
novelty, .the truth, and the great import
ance of the doctrine taught by the Re
formers* They were then* little verfed in
the arts of controverfy j and the part they
took, was more owing to the" example of
their neighbours,- and to the influence of
S z politica]

260 SERMON, Sec.
political events, than to the love of truth
and the fpirit of inquiry. But they foon
began to feel and exercife their own
powers ; and growing interefted in fo im
portant a caufe, they proceeded at length
in the work of reformation with as much
learning and fagacity, and more good
fenfe and moderation, than the ableft
of their teachers. And though the good
work was foon interrupted by the revival
of popery, yet the fhort continuance,
and the violent effects of it, excited a
warmer zeal for reformation, and gave
ftrength and fpirit to their after-endeavours.
It was long before the fear of popery fub-
fided ; and while it lafted, it encouraged a
careful ftudy of the Scriptures, and a cri
tical examination of the grounds on which
its principal doctrines were founded. And
the new fedls that ftarted up continually,
by furnifhing frefh matter of difpute, en
larged

SERMON, Sec. 261
larged the bounds of inquiry, and accuf-
tomed men to defend themfelves againft
attacks from every quarter.
The mind of man eafily proceeds from
one difcovery to others of a fimilar kind.
It was natural for them, who had juft
freed themfelves from the encroachments
of ecclefiaftical power, to enquire into the
rights and authority of civil government.
Even under the profperous reign of Eliza
beth, there appeared a difpofition to.exa-
mine into the grounds and foundations of
thofe powers which were exercifed with
moderattion, glory and utility. Inftead of
allaying this inquifitive fpirit, her fuccef-
. for acted as if it had been policy to encou
rage it. His feeble acts of violence, and
the declamations he wrote, to convince
his people of the excellence of arbitrary
government, could only tend' to excite
thofe jealoufies, and flir thofe queftions,
S 3 which

262 S E R M- ON, &c.
which a wife prince would chufe to fup-
prefs. For it is the wifdom . of govern*
ment to prevent enquiries into . the origin
of its powers, by anfwering the good pur
pofes for which they were granted or af-
fumed,
^ In the unfortunate days that followed,
the fpirit of enquiry, that had been raifed,
became more vehement and more general,
Their religious and civil difputes were
blended together, and cqmmunicated their
rage and acrimony to each other. On one
fide, the neceffary adts of authority were
confidered as oppreffion ; and on the other,
the juft remonftrances of the people were
treated as fedition. This irritable ftate of
f
mind is certainly not the moft favourable
for the difeovery of truth ; but yet it may
help" tp fhake off prejudices, and prepare
the underftanding to make a proper ufe of
the calm, that fpjtow.s fuch agitations, FPF

SERMO N, &c. 26J
. For in thofe dayst the reverence that had
been annexed to old opinions, was fhaken
and. impaired by the violent attacks that
were made upon them. The received dic-
tates of law and government were con
futed by the fenfe of oppreffion, and the
impulfe of neceffity. Their grievances
were , heavy and palpable. The hand of
violence hung over their heads ; and their
terrors were awakened by their fufferirigs^
It was not then neceffary to convince them ,
of their dangers by long and intricate rea-
fonings ; or to ufe perfuafion and intreaties,
to make them fenfible of their grievances.
They acted in corifequence of their feel
ings; and burft the chains of fophiftry
and violence, by the efforts which fenfe
and nature made to preferve themfelves.
We ought to think over the tranfadtions of
thofe times with tendernefs ; for they were
the actions of our forefather's: not to en-
S 4 , gage

264 SERMON, &c.
gage in their paffions j but to draw with
temper and mildnefs, fuch admonitions
from their hiftory, as may teach us to
avoid civil diffentions, and to value peace
and good government ; to confider the
outrages of the times, the public miferies,
the fatal end of a mifguided virtuous prince,
and the ftate of horror and confufion they
lived in, as one of the great fcenes which
Providence fometimes introduces to exe
cute its myfterious purpofes ; and which,
at that time, produced a vifibie change in
the manners and opinions of the nation.
For, in that fierce conflict of tempers, in
terefts, and characters ; of enthufiafm and
fuperftition; of tyranny and fadlion; of
ambition and liberty ; of all the vices and
virtues exerted with as much force and
induftry as human nature could employ ;
great and valuable talents were formed,
beneficial views \ Jre opened, and the
outlines

SERMON, &c. 265
outlines of many important truths were
ftruck out with incorrect boldnefs and
ftrength. And though the majority of all
parties were too much prejudiced, and tod
much heated to fee truth in [any feet but
their own; yet there were a few, who
were able to poffefs their faculties, and to
look with temper on the confufion and
madnefs of the times. To them, the dif-
treffes of their country, amidft. fcenes of
horror and melancholy, afforded much
matter for reflection, and many inlets
of improvement. They were taught to
diftinguifh the true boundaries of reafon
and religion, by the ftrange deviations
from them that were before their eyes :
they faw the exceffes of liberty, and the
evils of tyranny and oppreffion ; and that
both are equally inconfiftent with the
rights and the happinefs of mankind:
and they learned from the irreconcilable variety

266 S E R M O N, &c.
variety of opinions, that toleration and
mutual indulgence are principles of natural
juftice, and the only pradlicable conditions
of living in peace and charity. Thefe were
of that fort of men whofe talents give them
an authority over the minds of others.
They taught their countrymen to think
and reafon with more clearnefs, and in a
natural language, free from foholaftic fub
tleties and the affectation of learning; and
to the honour of the eftablifhed church,
the gre&teft part of them were her mem
bers. From hence we may conclude, that
during the miferies of the civil wars ; and
perhaps through the experience of thofe
miferies, under that all- wife diredlion which
bringeth good out of evil, the nation in
general was acquiring a more compre-
henfive view of things, and jufter no
tions of religion and government.
In the times fucceeding the Reftoration, religion

SERMON, &c; 267
religion and liberty had much to fear; but
thofe times were not unfavourable to the
improvement of knowledge. The rights
of the people were left infecure and un
determined-; and they were always in
danger from the power, the claims, and
the infidiou-s arts of government ; befides
^ the "remains of fome pld prejudices in fa
vour of arbitrary principles. But then
this fituation obliged them to a ftronger
exertion of their faculties; made them vi
gilant and attentive ; and gave conftant
exercife to their reafon on the mcfft impor
tant of all fubjedls, religion and govern
ment. In other great kingdoms, the li
berty of enquiring into men's natural
rights had been fuppreffed for the fecurity
of the ftate; in ours, the endeavour to
fupprefs, it gave warmth and fpirit to the
exercife of it. There were alfo other ob
jects pf importance, which at that time
claimed

268 SERMON, &c.
claimed the attention of the people. Frefh
matter was furnifhed to their enquiry and
imitation, by the growth of manufactures,
the extenfion of commerce, and the im
provement of navigation ; for in thofe great
fources of national ftrength, fome neigh
bouring ftates were ftill fuperior to us. It
was alfo our good fortune to avail ourfelves
of the folly and cruelty of our neighbours,
who drove into our arms fome thoufands of
their moft deferving fubjedls, and with
them many ufeful arts and inventions;
rather than they would permit them to
worfhip the God of their fathers, after the
manner which they called herefy. That
all thefe caufes of improvement were not
without their effedt, may be colledted from
the progrefs then made by fome of our
contemplative countrymen, in the moft
arduous of all fciences. For they were the
inventors of that clear, fimple," and fub-
lime

SERMON, &c. 269
lime philofophy, which remains to this
day the nobleft and moft fuccefsful effort
of human genius, and which is ftill more
valuable for its method and principles,
than for its difcoveries. Such exalted
talents and abilites, fo fuperior to the
higheft attainments of other men, could
not have been formed amongft an ignorant
people. It was in vain to expect that a
nation poffeffed of thefe high endowments,
and full of the confcious pride that accom
panies them, fhould fubmit with patience
to part with them, and whatever elfe they
held dear, at the command of an arbitrary
prince. Yet there was one found weak
and unjuft enough to require from them
fuch a facrifice. . The event was, that his
fubjedt s faw, with a proper indignation,
the mifchief that was prepared for them ;
and wifely giving up, for a time, the views
of their /efpective parties, the members of

27<* SERM ON, &c.
of the eftablifhed church, and the Pro^
teftant Diffenters of all kinds, uniting their
efforts* and joining in one great, durable,
and national intereft ; they burft at once
die chains of flavery and fuperftition, be-*
caufe it was not pofEble that they fhould*
be holder of them-.-
The conduct of our anceftors at. this*
period; the courage andfirmnefs with which
they afferted their liberties; the temper and-
wifdom.- they difcovered in the conftitution'
©f their government ; and the tendernefs;
and humanity with which they liftened
to the prejudices, and adjufted the claims'
of their fellow-citizens, afforded at that
time a great and mftrudtive fpectacle to
the reft of the world ;. and an example of
right behaviour on fignal trying occafions,
which- ought to be ever dear to their
pofterity. And we ought to remember, wifh grati- .
tude

SERMON, &c. 271
fude and veneration,, how much the na
tion was then indebted to that wife and
fingular monarch; that, hero without paf-
fion or vanity, whofe virtues and fervices,.
we muft own, with fhame, were not fuf-
ficiently refpedled by our anceftors.
From this aera we firft obtained a prof-
pedt of better times; an age. of domeftic
peace. a.ni liberty ; of knowledge and arts ;
of private happinefs. and publick glory.
The improvement of commerce was the
immediate, eonfequeneCof freedom, to an
active people, poffeffed of great natural
advantages* and who had acquired the
fkill to ufe them. And their endeavours
were animated,, and, their views enlight
ened by their alliance and intercourfe with
a wife commercial republic, which had
firft taught the world, what great thingsr
may be effedled by induftry, when pro-
tedkd by a free government. From that
period,

i-ji SERMON, Sec,
period, notwithftanding the interefted
views of men in power, and* the.oppofi-
tion which even their beft intentions are
fure to meet with from their competitors j
notwithftanding the contradictory meafures
of parties, and the accidental madnefsof
the populace; yet, upon the whple, the
great objects of publick national good have
been better underftood, and more fuccefs-
fully cultivated, than in any other age.,
The people who had fhown fuch activity
and vigour in their former precarious ftate
of liberty, did not flacken their endea
vours, when the full and free exercife of
their powers, and all the advantages arifing
from it were fecured to them. It would
be atafk of more labour than ufe, to trace
out the particular fteps of their advance
ment in commerce and arts. Let thofe
who have vifited other countries, compare
the moft flourifhing of them with the pre fent

SERMON, &c; 273
fcnt ftate of their own ; and let thofe who
are advanced in years, call to mind the ap
pearance of things which they faw in their
childhood ; and then, after furveying the
face* of this kingdom in town and country,
the extenfion of agriculture, the new arts
of cultivation, the works" of publick uti-
lityj the rivers^ the plantations, and the
buildings, which eaft a luftre over the
whole ifland ; add to this the neatnefs,
convenience, and elegance, diffufed through
the middle rank of life* and penetrating
into the moft obfeure and diftant parts ;
and having furveyed all this, let them
judge of the caufe by its effects, and efti-
mate the fpirit and underftanding of this
nation, by the greatnefs and the rapidity
of its improvements. That ufeful fpecies
of philofophy which we mentioned above,
which traces out the operations of nature
by well-chofen experiments) and patient
Vol. II. T obfer-

274 S E R M O N, &c.
obfervation ; which is the offspring of our
own country, and which fpreading from
hence, has improved and enlightened
great part of the world ; has mixed its be
neficial influence with the management of
commerce, the cultivation of- arts, and
even with the common employments of
life. The purfuit of natural knowledge
ftill continues ; not indeed with a fuccefs
that equals the great difcoveries made by
oUr fathers, when the fecrets of nature
were firft laid open to them : but yet the
common flock is ftill increafing by daily
additions, and there remain very valuable
gleanings, after the full harveft of fcience,
which they had the advantage of reaping
before us. Every profeffion has fhaken
off its antient prejudices, and learned to
reafon and judge, in their refpective pro
vinces, with greater accuracy, and on bet
ter principles. The civil and religious difputes

SERMON, Sic. 275
difpUtes which exercifed the paffions of
our forefathers, have loft their virulence ;
having at laft undergone that cool exami
nation, which always produces either
unanimity or peace. The diffentions in
ftate have not been kindled for many years
by the fury of national parties, but by that
ambition and ftruggle for power, which
will ever be infeparable from human na
ture. If the paffions of the people have
fometimes been inflamed by the inftiga-
tion of factious leaders, or by fome
unjuftifiable fteps of government; the
ftorm has foon fpent itfelf, and without
any mifchievous effects. Even the prefent
diftradtions of the times, which have been
owing to caufes very difproportionable to
their effects, and been fomented by the
arts of men whofe wifdom is certainly
not equal, to their ambition, - will fubfide
of themfelves, as foon as the good fenfe of
T 2 the

276 ,S E R M O N, Sec.
the people has calmed their apprehenfions.
It will not long be practicable to" keep
alive groundlefs jealoufies, andtoalarm their
minds with the dread of grievances which
they neither feel nor underftand : and our
Sovereign, in due time, will reap the fruits
of his patience and long-fuffering ; of his
care for the happinefs, and his indulgence
for the errors of his people. All this, and
greater things than thefe, may with affu-
rance be hoped for from that folid and
clear good fenfe, which has now been im
proving by the conftant experience and
difcipline of feveral ages, and which may
, juftly be confidered as the charadteriftic
of this nation; which, when unbiaffed,
and left to itfelf, has a wonderful difcern-
ment in the characters of men; is able to
inftrudl ftatefmen and minifters in the
-great objedls of public utility, and the
means of attaining them; and when it acts
with

SERMON, &c. 277
with freedom, carries with it that invin
cible fpirit, which can execute every prac-,
ticable undertaking; which is itfelf the
greateft of all our national refources ; and
will be found, in times of fevere trial,
capable of doing greater things for the
public fervice, than experience has yet
fhown, or imagination fuggefted to us.
Let it be allowed me, on this occafion,
to dwell only on the merits and improve
ments of my countrymen, in which they
excel mankind; at leaft, to wifh that it
was excufable to pafs over in filence the
profligacy and licentioufnefs, the infati-
able love of pleafure, the contempt of
order and law, of religion and government,
which have already prevailed top far, and
which are the natural effects of great prof-
perity upon vulgar minds. And though
the vaft numbers who manage the bufi
nefs, arid fupport the honour of the nation,
T 3 cannot

27$ S E R M 0_ N, Sec;
Cannot be deeply infected with thefe vices j
and the inftances we meet with in private!
life of every amiable and ufeful virtue,
ought to be kept in our minds on this oc
cafion; yet fuch is undeniably the grow*
ing corruption of our public manners, a3
ought to give a very juft alarm, not only
to the friends of religion, but to the lovers
of their country. But let us hope, that
the fenfe and virtue of this people will
exert themfelves to prevent their own de-
ftrudtiort; let us hope more from that
over-ruling Providence, which has always
protected, and which has often faved us ;
and let us turn our eyes from this melan
choly view of things, which neither out
fubjedt nor our inclination lead us to,
purfue, The reflections which we have made in
honpur of our country (true and juft as
we efteem them) would bq very unworthy of

SERMON, &c. 279
of this- place and occafion, if they were
to terminate in mere amufement, or in the
indulgence pf that vanity which all men
affume to themfelves from the exploits and
renown of their ^countrymen. Yet, I
hope, I fhall be juftified, when I remind
you, that thefe refledtions ought to be ta
ken into confideration, when we endeavour
to form a reafonable notion of that im
portant .moral duty, the love of our coun
try. If the fociety we live in has really
the fuperiority we boaft of, Pver other
communities, in wifdom, intelligence,
the laws of government, and the arts of
life, it certainly ought to be ferved, defend
ed, and obeyed, with proportionable de
grees of fpirit and affection. The inha
bitants of this country would ill deferve
their wealth arid plenty^ all the advan
tages and ornaments of life, of which they
have fo large a fhare ; the liberty they are
T 4 proud

2So SERMON, Sec,
proud of; and that pure religion which
their fathers were ready to die for, and
which they too much negledl ; if they
fhowed no more zeal for the government
which procures them thefe advantages, than
the oppreffed fubjedls of fome -kingdoms
do, for the laws and cuftoms which are the
caufes of their mifery, Our countrymen,
on the contrary, have reafons of the moft
powerful kind tp love a community, which
is fo eminently diftingiiifhed by its merits,
its happinefs, its beneficial views an$ pur
pofes. It is honourable, it is virtuous to
promote the intereft of a community,
which aims not at greatnefs by unjuft mea
fures ; which feeks not conqueft, and the
means of tyrannizing oyer its neighbours ;
but rather to maintain equality and inde
pendence between bordering ftates, arid
to fupprefs the ambition of others ;. which
founds all the fuperioriry it pretends to„ on

SERMON, Sec. 281
on a more dextrous application of the
gifts of nature to the purpofes of life, and
pn communicating ufeful arts and inven
tions to the reft of the world. It is the
common intereft of mankind that a na
tion, to whom they are fo much indebted,
fhould be reverenced and fupported, and
enjoy its. glories in a ftate of permanent
profperity. But they who are the fubjedls
of fuch a government, ought to preferve a
deep and lively fenfe of their own privi
leges and happinefs; and to affume that
virtuous pride which makes men worthy of
the honours that are conferred on them.
They "fhould reverence a conftitution, from
which they have derived a long' confinu-
anceNof bleffings ; and they ought to ftu
dy the principles, and confider the ftruc-
ture of it,' that they may be qualified to
prefervej to defend, and to improve it.
The warmeft loyalty, and the moft will-
V '¦ ing

3&2 SERMON, Sec.
ing obedience, is due to him who is intruft
ed with the execution of fuch a noble
fyftem of laws; for it is only in obedience
* to the laws, that the effect and excellence
of government is feen. And as there is
no other people, who fo well knows the
ends and the advantages of government,
there is none who ought fo cheerfully to
fubmit to their governors. To fcrutinize
their conduct with rigour and malice, is
unwife and ungenerous. It deprives them
of their juft and natural reward, the ex-
quifite pleafure which is felt in ferving a
grateful people : it diverts- them from the
great objects of public good; and -it dif-
courages men of mild and ingenuous tem
pers from the fervice of their country.
But it has always been the weaknefs of
our countrymen, to exercife their difcern-*
ment with too much feverity on public
affairs ; and to require more at the hands
1 , of

SERMON, Ssc. 233
©f their rulers, than can reafonably be ex
pected from creatures like men. And yet,
that their ftatefmen have not, in general,
been fo corrupt, or fo incapable, as they
feem to take for granted,- may appear from
this fingle confideration ; that it is by a
feries of adminiftrations, almoft every one
of which has been unpopular in its turn,
that this kingdom has attained to its envi
ed power and profperity. And let us reflect
with due candour, that it requires talents
and experience of the moft uriiverfal kind,
to manage the affairs of a nation, whofe
commerce, empire, and influence, renders
it more or lefs connected with every other
people. There are other reflections arifing from
the view we have taken of our fubjedt*
not unworthy the attention of ftatefmen
and minifters.
To prefide over a people which Jias fo
many

284 S-ERMO N, Sec.
many titles of pre-eminence above other
nations, is the higheft office in value and
dignity which can fall to the lot of man.
It opens, to a generous mind, the nobleft,
the greateft, the moft practicable means
of ferving our country, and doing the moft
extenfive good to our fellow-creatures.
Great part of the work is made eafy to
them by a conftitution of government^
and a fyftem of laws, which carry with
them the experience and wifdom of ages ;
fuch as the moft comprehenfive mind of
itfelf could never have invented, and
would chufe to be reftrained by ; but, in
deed, they are not properly reftraints ; but
the rules which wifdom and goodnefs have
formed to themfelves, for the execution
of their own purpofes. Now, to wifh to
fhake off thefe rules, which render go
vernment eafy, confiftent, and popular, for
the fake of acting by mere will and hu
mour-,

SERMON, &c. 285
mour, would' be childifh folly: but coolly
to intend to ruin the liberties of the firft
people in the world ; to deftroy the talents
and virtues, the arts and fciences, the
power, the commerce, and the happinefs
of fuch a nation as this (for none of thefe
can long furvive our liberties), would be a
work of much deeper guilt in this enlight
ened age, when thofe bleffings are become
greater in themfelves, and the value of
them is better known; than any of the
tyrannical attempts which our forefathers
fo bravely withftood. I am firmly per
fuaded that I fpeak the language of our fo-
vereign's heart, when I fay, there is no
perfpn in the whole extent of his domi
nions, fo ftrongly interefted in the preferva
tion of our liberties as himfelf. To' de
ftroy them would~be to pluck up the roots
of his own greatnefs ; to become the in-
•' confiderable monarch of a wretched peo ple.

i86 S E R M O N, Sec.
pie. This is a truth which has received
new light and evidence from the experience
of every reign ; has actually rendered the
revival of arbitrary defigns more odious and
more impracticable ; and it ought to render
us very cautious of imputing fuch defigns
to thofe who are appointed to rule over us.
How cruel and ungrateful muft fuch fuf-
picions appear to him, who places his hap
pinefs in the love of his people ! Men of
virtue and moderation will not indulge a
difpofition of mind fo repugnant to pru
dence and humanity, and fo deftrudlive of
happinefs. They will think it not too late
to fhow refentment, when they begin to
feel oppreffion. What elfe is wanting*
but union and public confidence to make
us enjoy completely, the fulleft tide of
profperity that ever flowed in upon any
land ?
There would be a manifeft impropriety in

SERMON, &c. 287
« in treating a fubjedl of fuch univerfal con
cern, if I fhould entirely omit to confider,
in what refpedts it is applicable to that il-
luftrious order, whofe commands I am
now obeying. Let it therefore be allowed
me, with all due humility and refpedl,
not as an officious advifer, but as perform
ing, a part of my office, to remind thofe
who are the firft in rank and titles among
an active, knowing, and victorious people j
that this pre-eminence was annexed to
their birth, not by any natural right (for
nature knows nothing of fuch diftindlions),
but to reward the merits of their anceftors,
. and to form an order in the ftate, whofe
property and education, by rendering them
able and independent, might qualify them
to be trufled with a perpetual fhare in the
legiflature. Now, in whatever hands'
power is lodged under a government fo
equitably conftituted as . ours ; and indeed under

288 S £ R MO N, &c.
under any government, there always goes
along with it an obligation to ufe it to thofe
purpofes of public good, for which it appears
to have been given. This is the only good
tenure by which all legal authority is held.
And while they feel themfelves thus ftridtly
obliged to acquire and exercife the. virtues
and the abilities, which are requifite to the
difcharge of their office ; let them remem
ber, that they are placed by their rank, as
it were, in the public view; expofed to
the examination of a » people, who are
more inclined to difcover faults, than to
forgive them. , Not only their parliamen
tary condudt, but the abufe of their wealth
and influence; the vicious, illiberal, or effe
minate turn of their pleafures ; even the
idlenefs and amufements of their private
hours, become matter of public curiofity
and cenfure. Now, thefe are cenfures
which the wife and good will always re
fpedl;

S ,E R M O N, &c* 289
fpedt; and which the moft rich and power
ful cannot defpife with impunity. In
deed, there is no rank of men, either in
this or any other country, to whom it is
of fo much importance to maintain a good
character; that treafure of life, the va
lue of which is too little known ; and
without which eloquence, knowledge,
and application, often become pernicious,
and even contemptible qualities. Mere
expence and magnificence can neither give
it, nor atone for the want of it. The
lofs of weight and authority in one great
council, can never be well fupplied by
procuring an undue influence over another:
for neither God nor man will confent,
that- true honour and credit fhall be at
tainable by any other expedients than wif
dom and integrity.
Quitting therefore party and family con
nections, which engage the good and the
Vol. II. U bad

290 SERMON, Sec.
bad indifcriminately in the defence of each
others conduct, and whofe interefts, in
fome refpedls at leaft, muft neceffarily
vary from that of the public ,- let every
one purfue the plain open path of duty
and honour, and let all unite in one vir
tuous confederacy to procure the good of
the whole. And to enable them to render
the important fervice they owe to their
country;, let them, at leaft, keep pace
with the public improvement in every
liberal branch of knowledge; let them
exercife, in their private lives, that ceco-
nomy that preferves virtue, and that libe
rality which gives reputation; let them
acquire habits of temperance and applica
tion, which alone c»n qualify men for
great undertakings j and let them preferve
that contempt of luxury, and firmnefs of
mind, which can bear the lofs of favour
or of popularity. For indeed, without a
generous

SERMON, Sec. 291
generous indifference for the common ob
jects of ambition, which nothing but a
true fenfe of our religious duties can give,
it will be extremely difficult for them,
amidft the fluctuations of power and for
tune, to maintain either integrity or peace
of mind.
And now, may the all-wife Protector
of empires enable his favoured people, in
this their day of trial, to refume that
prudence and temper; that, fteady, mo
derate, and generous fpirit, which has
carried them with fuccefs and honour
through the dangers and commotions
of former ages: fo fhall the terrors that
afflidt, and the calamities that threaten
us, pafs away like a cloud. Moved by
the fenfe of impending evils, may they
feek for refuge and fupport in the practice
of their holy, and wife, and ufeful religion,
which has efficacy to perfect all their im-
/ U2 provements,

292 SERMO N, Sec.
provements, and to correct the diforders
they complain of; that one thing needful,
and that one thing to them particularly
wanting. May they ftill be diftinguifhed
above other nations, and employed in
executing the nobleft purpofes of Provi
dence on this earthly ftage. " May
knowledge and wifdom ftill be the liabi
lity of their times ;" and may they hold
forth to the inftrudlion of mankind, a
lafting example of freedom* virtue, and
happinefs. i -o .

SERMON PRE4CHED BEFORE THE
INCORPORATED SOCIETY
FOt TBI
Propagation of the Gofpel in Foreign Parts;
AT THEIR
ANNIVERSARY MEETING
IN THE
PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY-LE-BOW, ' ' ' *'
On Friday, February ig, 1773.

SERMON, &c.
Luke, Chap. ii. Ver. 14.
Glory be to God in the higheft, and on earth
peace, good-will towards men.
1 KNOW no paffageinthe holy Scriptures,
that may be adapted with more propriety
to our prefent meeting, than this declara
tion from the angel of the gracious pur
pofes of Heaven in publifhing the Gofpel,
c That which was the defign of the Gofpel
itfelf muft- neceffarily be the chief object
of a Society inftituted to propagate it.
The generous office, we have undertaken,
is, by inftructing diftant countries in reli
gious

296 SERMON, &c,
gious truths, to promote the peace and
happinefs of mankind. It is by fuch ac
tions the holy Scriptures allow the fons of
men to confider themfelves as glorifying
God; and fuch, we are affured, are the
moft likely to obtain his favour and good
will to men. Without entering into a
farther explication pf the words, fuffer me
to defire that you will keep in your minds
the general principle contained in them ;
and you will find it eafily applicable to the
facts, the circumftances, and the different
fituations of things, which I fhall tajse
leave to mention, as being more or lefs
connedled with the credit and influence
of this Society.
The firft object of pur zeal was the
converfipn pf the Indians ; and it fhoul4
feem no difficult talk to influence the
minds of men, who have few religious
notions of their own growth, and appear to

¦ SERMON, &c. 297
to have no ftrong prejudices in favour of
them. Such minds one would think
might eafily be led to receive a religion of
the moft fimple form, confifting of a few
great luminous principles, and inculcating
plain rules of life and conduct, which
muft approve their ufefulnefs in deferts,
as well as in cities. Such doctrines,
founded on Divine authority, would, in
all appearance, be particularly welcome,
where the reftraints of law and govern
ment have but little force, Yet it has
happened contrary to our hopes, that the
preaching of the Gofpel has been of fmall;
efficacy amongft the Indians, The faga
city, for which they are remarkable, feems
to be of a partial kind, and to partake
more of inftindl than of reafon. They
can employ great art to obtain their ends ;
to procure what they defire ; or to gain a
Superiority oyer an enemy : but their paf
fions

29S S E R M O N, Sec.
fions and habits proceeding always in one
narrow track, they have neither relifh nor
difcernment for the cleareft truths, to
which they have not been accuftomed.
After fhewing the greateft addrefs and
courage in fubduing or furprifing an enemy,
they cannot comprehend that it would be
generous not to torture him ; and that it
would be wife to give fuch treatment as
they would wifh to receive. They have
befides an untameable favage fpirit, which
has refufed to hear the voice of inftrue-
tion; which has obftinately rejected the
arts and improvements of the Europeans,
and has hitherto only adopted the moft
beaftly of their vices .
For thefe reafons, though we ought
not to remit-our endeavours, yet I fear we
have little reafon to hope for their conver
sion, till fome great change in their man
ners has made them abandon their favage
vagrant

SERMON, Sec. 299
vagrant life, and prepared them for the
difcipline of law and religion.
But a more promifing field is opened to
our hopes, in the populous provinces of
our own colonies. The rapid increafe ,of
their numbers on every fide, in a country
where the means of fubfiftence are eafy
and open, together with the perpetual ao
ceffion of inhabitants from Europe, are
continually forming new congregations.
Now knowledge of all kinds will probably
be rare amongft men who are entering
into the firft rudiments of .fociety; and
while their attention is bent on procuring
the neceffaries of life, it is not to be ex
pected that they fhould be either diligent
or fuccefsful in the improvement of reli
gious knowledge. Here therefore the
inftrudlions that are conveyed to them by
the liberality of this Society, may be of
effentiaf and durable fervice. This is
fowing

3do SERMON, &c,
fowing the good feed in a fruitful foil j
and what is fo planted may produce re
turns of an hundred fold, and afford fruit
and nourifhment to future generations.
Allow me to indulge a little the pleafure
of contemplating in profpedl the good
that may refult in after- times from this
our labour of loveT
wi Perhaps the annals of hiftory have never
afforded a more grateful fpectacle to a be
nevolent and philofophic mind, than the
growth and progrefs of the Britifh colonies
in North America, We fee a number of
fcattered fettlements, formed at firft for
the purpofes of trade, or from a fpirit of
enterprise ; to procure a maintenance, or
to enjoy the exercife of their religion*
which in thofe unhappy days was refufed
them at home; growing by degrees, un
der the protection of their mother-country*
who treated them with the indulgence due to

SERMON, Sec. 301
to their weaknefs and infancy, into little
feparate commonwealths. Placed in a
climate, that foon became fruitful and
healthy by their induftry ; poffeffing that
liberty which was the natural growth of
their own country, and fecured by her
power againft foreign enemies, they feem
to have been intended, as a folitary expe- 1
riment, to inftrudl the world to what im
provements and happinefs mankind will
naturally attain, when they are fuffered to
ufe their own prudence, in fearch pf their
own intereft. I muft repeat it again, as
an obfervation not unworthy of this audi
ence and this occafion, that there is no
inftance in the records of time, where
infant colonies have been treated with
fuch a juft and liberal indulgence.
Had thefe fettlements been left to fhift .
for themfelves, they would have perifhed
and been fwept away by the rough courfe of

302 S E R M O N, Sec.
of aceidents, like feeds that are fcattered
by the winds, of which not one in a
thoufartd takes root and comes to maturity.
Had they been planted by any kingdom
but our own, the inhabitants would have
carried with them the chains and oppref-
fion, to which they had been inured at
home: they would have been fubjedl to
the fchemes of minifters and favourites,
and have fuffered more from their igno
rance than from their rapine. At beft
they could only have hoped to be con
fidered as the live flock upon a lucra
tive farm, which might fometimes be fuf
fered to thrive for the fake of its pro*
duce. : But Britain from the beginning has
treated her colonies in a very different
manner. She has not fold them her pro
tection at the price of their ' liberty : fhe
has always been ready to encourage their
induftry

SERMON, &c. 303
hiduftry, to relieve their wants, and to
revenge their injuries ; and has fought no
other advantage from fo generous a con
duct, but the mutual benefit arifing to
diftant countries from the fupply of each
other's wants. Adhering to thefe maxims,
fhe has continued to reap the fruits of her
own wifdom and moderation in a fur-
prifing encreafe of national greatnefs;
while her profperous colonies are fpread
ing without interruption over a vaft con
tinent, that may in a few centuries rival
the commerce, the arts, and thp power of
Europe. It is difficult for man to look into
the deftiny of future ages. The defigns
of Providence are too vaft and compli
cated, and our own powers are too nar
row, to admit of much fatisfadlion to
our curiofity. But when we fee many
great and powerful caufes conftantly at
work.

304 SERMON, Sec.
work, we cannot doubt of their producing
proportionable effedls. The colonies in
North America have not only taken root
and acquired ftrength ; but feem haften-
ing with an accelerated progrefs to fuch a
powerful ftate, as may introduce a new
and important change in human affairs.
Defcended from anceftors of the moft im
proved and enlightened part of the old
world, they receive as it were by inherit
ance all the improvements and difcoveries
, of their mother-country. And it happens
fortunately for them to commence their
flourifhing ftate at a time when the human
underftanding has attained to the free ufe
of its powers, and has learned to act with
vigour and certainty. They may avail
themfelves not only of the experience and
induftry, but even of the errors and mif-
: takes of former days. Let it be confidered
for how many ages great part of tfce world
appears

SERMON, &c. 305
appears not to have thought at all; how
many more they have been bufied in form
ing fyftems and conjectures ; while reafon
has been loft in a labyrinth of words, and
they never feem to have fufpedted, on
what frivolous matters their minds were
employed. And let it be well underftood,
what rapid improvements, what import
ant difcoveries have been made in a few
years, by a few countries, with our own
at their head, which have at laft difcovered
the right method of ufing their faculties.
May we not reafonably expect that a num
ber of provinces, poffeffed of thefe advan
tages, and quickened by mutual emula
tion, with only the common progrefs of
the human mind, fhould very considerably
enlarge the boundaries of fcience ? The
vaft continent . itfelf, over which they are
gradually fpreading, may be confidered as
a treafure, yet untouched, of natural pro-
Vo^. II. X ductions,

3o6 SERMON, Sec.
dudlions, that fhall hereafter afford ample
matter for commerce and contemplation.
And if we reflect what a flock of know
ledge may be accumulated by the conftant
progrefs of induftry and obfervation,- fed
with frefh fupplies from the flores of na
ture, affifted fometimes by thofe happy
ftrokes of chance, which , mock all the
powers of invention, and fometimes by
thofe fuperior characters, which arife oc-
cafionally to inftrudl and enlighten the
world ; it is difficult even to imagine to
what heighth of improvement their dif
coveries may extend.
And perhaps they may make as confi
derable advances in the arts of civil govern
ment and the conduct of life.
We have reafon to be proud, and even
jealous, of our excellent conftitution.
But thofe equitable principles on which
it was formed, an equal reprefentation, (the

SERMON, Sec. 307
(the beft difcovery of political wifdom)
and a juft and commodious diftribution of
power, which with us were the price of
civil wars, and the reward of the virtues
and fufferings of our anceftors, de-
fcend to them as a natural inheritance,
without toil or pain. But muft they reft
here as in the utmoft effort of human
genius ? Can chance and time, the wif
dom and the experience of publick men,
fuggeft no new remedy againft the evils,
their vices and ambition are perpetually
apt to caufe ? May they not hope, with
out prefumption, to preferve a greater
zeal for piety and publick devotion than
we have done ? For fure it can hardly
happen to them, as it has to us, that when
religion is beft underftood.. and rendered
moft pure and reafonable, that then fhould
be the precife time, when many ceafe to
believe and practife it,, and all in general
X 2 become

308 SERMO N, Sec.
become moft indifferent to it. May they
not poflibly be more fuccefsful than their
mother- country has been, in preferving
that reverence and authority, which is due
to the laws ? to thofe who make, and to
thofe who execute them ? May not a
method be invented of procuring fome
tolerable fhare of the comforts of life to
thofe inferior ufeful ranks of men, to
whofe induftry we are indebted for the
whole ? Time and difcipline may difcover
fome means to correct the extreme inequa
lities of condition between the rich and
the poor, fo dangerous to the innocence
and the happinefs of both. They may
fortunately be led by habit and choice to
defpife that luxury, which is confidered -
with us as the true enjoyment of wealth.
They may have little relifh for that ceafe-
lefs hurry of amufements, which is pur-
fued in this country without pleafure, exercife,

SERMON, Sec. 309
exercife, or employment. Arfd perhaps
after trying fome of our follies and ca
prices, and rejecting the reft, they may be
led by reafon and experiment to that old
fimplicity, which was firft pointed out by
nature, and has produced thofe models
which we ftill admire in arts, eloquence,
and manners. The diverfity of new fcenes
and fituations, which fo many growing
ftates muft neceffarily pafs through, may
introduce changes in the fluctuating opi
nions and manners of men, which we can
form no conception of. And not only the
gracious difpofition of Providence, but
the vifible preparation of caufes, feems to
indicate ftrong tendencies towards a ge
neral improvement, •
. And I hope that thefe matters, which
I have prefumed to dwell upon perhaps a
little too minutely, will not appear totally
foreign to the prefent occafion, ff we re-
X3 flea

310 S E R M O N, Sec.
fleet to whatever limits the population of
our colonies may extend, whatever ftates.
and kingdoms they may form ; through
all the progrefs of their fortunes and, prof
perity; the labours of this Society will
probably continue to operate with an in-
creafing influence. That fober and rea
fonable fenfe pf duty, which has been
taught under our direction to a few feat-.
tered villages, may give its charadler here
after to- the religion and morals of a
powerful ftate. The weak and imperfedl
fruits we reap at prefent may bear no
higher proportion to the future benefits
that may arife, than that of a few fcat
tered feeds to the fulnefs of the harveft.
- And perhaps the difinterefted zeal of
this Society for the inftrudlion of our
brethren in North America, may tend to
revive that union and cordiality between
the mofher-country and its colonies, which

SERMON, &ci 311
which for the common utility ought never
to have been interrupted. It is by no
means decent from this place to cenfure
the condudt of our fuperiors, or even to
fuppofe it blameable ; but furely as good
fubjedls we may wifh and endeavour to
heal the wounds, pf our country, without
enquiring by what hand they were in
flicted. We may? and I think we ought
tp wifh, that* the true intereft of the whole
extenfive community may govern our
future contefts, and regulate all our claims.
Our mutual relation was formed, and has
hitherto fubfifted, by a perpetual commu
nication pf benefits. We want the pro
duce pf foils and climates, that differ fo
much from pur own; and they will long
have occafion for the fruits of our arts,
our induftry, and pur experience. And
fhould they ever ceafe to want our pro
tection, which as long as we render it be-
X 4 neficiai

*3ia SERMON, &c.
" neficial to them they never will ; yet we
may ftill continue united in intereft, in
commerce,, and the grateful remembrance *
of old fervices. May the wife and good
on both fides, without enquiring too curi-
oufly into the grounds of paft animofities,
endeavour by all prudent means to reftore
that old publick friendfhip and confidence,
which made us great, happy; and victo
rious. To countries fo clofely united it
is needlefs, and even dangerous, to have
recourfe to the interpretation of charters
and written laws. Such difcuffions excite
jealoufy, and intimate an unfriendly difpo-
fition. It is common utility, mutual wants.
and mutual fervices, that fhould point out
the true- line bf fuhmiffion and authority.
Let them refpedl the power that faved
them ; and let us always love the compa
nions of our dangers and our glories. If
we confider their profperity as making part

SERMON, &c. 313
partpf our own, we fhall feel no jealoufy
at their improvements; and they will
always cheerfully fubmit to an authority,
which they find is exercifed invariably to
the common advantage. During all our
happy days of concord, partly from our
national moderation, and partly from the
wifdom, and fometimes perhaps from the
careleffnefs of our minifters, they have
been trailed in a good meafure with the
intire management of their affairs : and
the fuccefs they have met with ought to
be to us an ever memorable proof, that
the true art of government confifts in not
governing too much. And why fhould
friendfhip and gratitude, and long attach
ments, which irifpire all the relifh and
fweelnefs of private life, be fuppofed to
be of no weight in the intercourfe be
tween great communities,? Thefe are
principles of human nature, which adt
with

314 SERMON, &c."
with much greater certainty on numbers
than on individuals. If properly culti
vated, they may to us be productive of
the nobleft benefits ; and, at all events,
will neither leffen the extent of our power,
nor fhorten the duration of it,
When things are on fo reafonable a
footing, if there fhould happen to be any
errors in government, they will foon be
corrected by the friendly difpofition of the
people; and the endeavours to feparate
the intereft of the colonies from that of
Great Britain will be received with the
indignation that is due to the artifices of
factious men, who wifh to grow eminent
by the misfortunes of their country.
Even in that future ftate pf inde
pendency, which, fome amongft them
ignorantly wifh for, but which for their
true intereft can never be too long delayed;
the old and prudent will often look back on

SERMON, &c; 3i5
on their prefent happinefs with regret ; and
confider the peace and fecurity, the ftate
of vifible improvement, and brotherly
equality, which they enjoyed under the
protection pf their mother-country, as the
true golden age of America.
I need not fuggeft how favourable thefe
difpofitions muft prove to the reception of
the religious and benevolent doctrines,
which it is the bufinefs of this fociety to
propagate. Under a mutual inclination to
peace and good- will, the leffons of piety
we teach will be heard with that fair atten
tion which always turns to the advantage
of truth ; and the claims we make will be
eftimated (which is all we ought to defire)
by the refaonablenefs of them.
I own I feel upon my mind a ftrong
impreffion of the public advantages that
would refult from this benevolent and
chriftian policy ; and I could wifh for the
intereft

3i6 S E R M O N, Sec.
intereft of mankind, and of our country
in particular, that it may not be thought
wholly of a vifionary nature. I think I
can fee a ftrong and immediate demand
upon us for fuch a conduct, from the
fituation we are in, and the unufual occur
rences that have pafled before us within a
few years. There feems at prefent to be
a great end general commotion, and ten
dency to change, in the minds of men.
Animated by the gradual improvement of
knowledge, and the fortunate example of
this country, our neighbours have had the
courage to think with greater freedom on
the moft important fubjedls, and to look
for, fomething better in religion and
government, than they find eftablifhed
among themfelves. And even in this land
of liberty, where we have been long in
poffeffion of the moft folid and valuable
truths, the fpirit of enquiry is ftill at
work,

SERMON, Sec. 317
work', and urging its purfuits with a dan
gerous freedom, that rifks more than it
can hope to gain. At the fame time not
only difcpntent and fadlion, but the real
difficulties of things, the extent, the
fluctuation and the intricacies of com
merce, afford fufficient exercife for politi
cal wifdom. Add to this a vaft acceffion
of diftant territory, the art of governing
which we are yet to learn. Our colonies
are rifing into ftates and nations. The ex
treme boundaries of the world are open
ing to our view; and regions, unknown to
our fathers, may foon become the objects
of contention. In this great fhifting foene
of human affairs, the concerns of this ex
tenfive empire are growing every year into
more importance and dignity. It behoves
us to adopt fome plan of conduct, that
fhall be fuitable to our fituation and the
high character we fuftain. The intereft of

318 SERMO N, See.
of Britain, confidered fingly by itfelf,
ought not at prefent to be the fole;
and in a few ages may not be the moft
confiderable object of attention. We have
already tried what advantage is to be found
in governing by force ; and have no reafon
to be proud of the experiment. What
benefit has accrued to the public from the
plunder and defolation of an induftrious,
helplefs people? The whole' profit we
have reaped from fo much injuftice and
difhonour, has ended in fraudulent fchemes;
vain and extravagant expeditions, ruinous
expence and luxury ; attended with a ge
neral lbfs of credit and confidence, a Hid
den fufpenfion of commerce and induftry,
and an almoft total floppage of the main
fprings and vital motions of fociety. It
requires no common degree of wifdom to
deliver our country from fuch gains and
fuch profperity as this ! A great

SERMON, Sfc. 319
A great liberal commanding fpirit is
wanting ; fuch as has appeared but rarely
in modern times, but was better known to
the ancients ; which, without computing
and calculating what is ftrictly due, can
extort affection and gratitude by public
fervices ; which can facrifice little and even
great interefts to the eftablifhment of a
folid permanent Authority, founded on
juftice and moderation: . which permitting
its fubjedls to enjoy and improve all their
natural advantages, can always avail itfelf
of their wealth and numbers', for the de
fence or the glory of the empire ; and is
fure to find the moft powerful refources of
government in their friendfhip and love.
.We prefume not to inftrudl our rulers
in the meafures of government : but it is
the proper office of a preacher of the gof7
pel of peace, to point out the laws of
juftice and equity, which muft ultimately '
;> regulate

320 SERMON, Sec.
regulate the happinefs ,of ftates as well as
of individuals ; and which are no other in
effect than thofe benevolent chriftian mo
rals which it is the province of this fociety
to teach, transferred from the duties, of
private life to the adminiftration of pub
lic affairs. In fact, by what bond of
union fhall we hold together the members
of this great empire; difperfed and fcat
tered as they lie over the face of the
earth ? No power can be fwift Or extenfive
enough to anfwer the purpofe. Some art
muft be employed to intereft all the diftant
parts in the prefervation of the whole;
which can only be effected by ferving,
obliging,, and protedting them. It ought
not to be the firft object in contemplation,
what we are to get by them ; but how we
can beft improve, affift, and reward them ;
by what benefits we may procure their
• happinefs and win their affection. But isr
government

SERMON, &c. 321
government, then, entitled to no emolu
ments in recompence for all its cares ? I
anfwer, that they who have the heart to
do good to thofe who depend upon them,
will always meet with ample return.
None are fo fure to reap the benefits of
the foil, as they who have fpared no
•
expence in the cultivation. And it is
univerfally true, that the more we exact
from our fubjedls, the lefs we fhall
gain from them. " Bountifulness ig
A PLENTIFUL GARDEN, AND MERCIFUL
NESS ENDURETH FOR EVER." Let the
diftant nations, that depend upon us, be
made to know and feel that they owe their
peace and happinefs to our protedtion.
Let them be encouraged to confider them
felves not as our flaves, but as our friends
and brethren. And let us endeavour to
wipe away the tears from the poor op-
preffed natives bf India; and fuffer them,
Vol. II. Y if

322 SERMON, &c.
if poffible, to enjoy fome tafte of the le
gal fecurity and civil liberty, which ren
ders life dear to ourfelves; which are
bleffings hitherto unknown to thofe cli
mates, but more grateful to the heart of
man, than all the fruits and odours which
nature has lavifhed upon them.
This righteoufnefs and mercy, which
is due to all men, but efpecially to thofe
who are under our protedlion, is the law
of nature, the command of religion, and
it ought to be the firft and leading maxim
of civil policy. But it is amazing how
flowly in all countries the principles ,of
natural juftice, which are fo evidently ne
ceffary in private life, has been admitted
into the adminiftration of public affairs.
Not many ages ago, it was cuftomary to
engage in war without a reafonable caufe
or provocation, and to carry it on without
humanity or mercy. Since then, it is
happily

SERMON, Sec. 323
happily become neceffary for ftates to ex
plain their motives, and juftify their con
duct, before they begin to deftroy their
fellow-creatures. And bleffed be his
memory who firft taught the foldier
to fpare the ufeful hufbandman, and to
feel a horror at the fhedding of innocent
blood. It has been the policy of government,
fuch as it is, from the earlieft times, to
keep diftant provinces and colonies under
the moft fevere reftraints and fubjedtion.
Yet when thofe reftraints have been re
moved, the mother-country has always been
a great gainer by the_ advantages fhe has
communicated to her fubjedls. Indeed it
is a truth, not more important than it is
evident and obvious, that the moft fure
and effectual method of receiving good
from men is to do good to them ; or, as
St. Paul beautifully expreffes it, " to
Y 2 PROVOKE

324 SERMON, &c.
PROVOKE ONE ANOTHER TO GOOD
works." But the minds of men are not
fufficieatly prepared and enlightened by
experience to adopt it in practice. A time,
I doubt not, will come, in the progreffive
improvement of human affairs, when the
checks and reftraints we lay on the in-
duftry of our fellow-fubjedts, and the
jealoufies we conceive at their profperity,
will be confidered as the effects of a mif
taken policy, prejudicial to all • parties,
but chiefly to Ourfelves. It would be a
noble effort of virtuous ambition to anti
cipate this difcovery; to break through
the prejudices and felfifh fpirit of the age ;
to find a better path to our true intereft ;
and to make our country great, and pow-
i'
erful, and rich, not by force or fraud,
but by juftice, friendfhip, and humanity.
I fhould not have dwelt fo long on fo
unufual a fubjedt, had it not been for the
great

SERMON, &c. 325
great and almoft infinite importance of it.
The virtue of a private man affifts and fup-
ports a few individuals ; but this public
virtue does good to thoufands and tens of
thoufands. The former relieves the dif-
»
trefs of a friend, or of a family : the lat
ter adls in a higher fphere ; it founds ftates
and kingdoms, or makes them profperous
and happy. Yet all this merit, which
a nation can never fufficiently acknowledge,
at leaft all that we prefume to defcribe,
confifts in the right application of the
plain good rules, which are fo often repeat
ed to us in fcripture; " Whatsoever
ye would that men should do unto
you, do ye even so unto them.
Follow that which is good to all ,
men. Look not every man on his
own things, but every man also on
the things of others. bear ye one
another's burthens, and so fulfil
Y 3 THE

326 .SERMON, &c.
the law of Christ". But thefe truths
lie before the eye of men, like the medi
cinal herbs in the open field; and for
want of applying them to their proper
objects, they remain ignorant of their
virtues. Yet, we may fay, with a pious
confidence, that this has not been our
own cafe. This Society has thought that
we could not obey thefe divine precepts
in a manner more agreeable to the true
fpirit of them, than by teaching to diftant
nations the truths that are beft calcu
lated to make them happy. Could we
teach them to the great and the wife
of this world, that would be happi
nefs indeed; that would be the moft
effedlual and the moft beneficial pro
pagation of the gofpel, that the world
has yet feen. Mankind would then
have an experimental .proof of the fal-
vation offered to us from above; and
would

SERMON, &c. 327
would acknowledge, with gratitude, the
propriety of that meffage from Hea
ven, " Glory be to God in the
highest, on earth peace, good
will TOWARDS MEN."

T4 A SER-

R M O N

PREACHED IN THE

PARISH-CHURCH OF CHRIST CHURCH, ,
LONDON,
On Thurfday, April the 24th, 1777 :
Being the Time of the YEARLY MEETING of the
Children Educated in the Charity-Schools
in and about the Cities of London and West
minster.

SERMON,

Proverbs xxii. part of the 6th verfe.
'Train up a. child in the way he Jloould go —
IT is unneceffary before fuch an audience
as this to fpeak of the importance of a
good education : but to point out that
which is beft, to mark the fleps by which
we fhould train up a child in the way he
fhould go, is matter of ufe and difficulty.
But the fubjedl at prefent before us is of
a narrower kind, and is confined to that
loweft fpecies, and, as it were, rudiments
of education, which is fuited to the children
of the poor in their earliefl days. In the
greatefl part of this, too, I have been hap pily

332 SERMO N, Sec.
pily anticipated by the valuable perform
ances of thofe who have gone before me
in this office, and which lie before the
eye of the public. They have confi
dered the groundlefs objedlions, and they
and the Society have profited by the rea
fonable ones that have been made againft
the inftitutions that have been adopted:
It were to be wifhed, indeed, that
through better laws and principles and
habits than at prefent obtain amongft us,
the loweft of our fellow-fubjedts were fo
far removed from diftrefs as to be able to
maintain and educate their own children.
For it muft be owned, that all the care and
inftrudlion which public charity can pur-
chafe for them, are but very imperfedl
fubflitutes for the tendernefs and attention
of honeft parents.
However, as things are at prefent cir-
cumftanced, it is the office of good men, as

S E R M O N, &c. 333
as ftewards of the manifold grace of God,
to fupply the defedls of the carelefs, the
profligate, and the diftreffed part of their
fpecies. They have the melancholy
honour to find that their virtues arife from
the faults and miferies of their fellow-
creatures. Their labour at prefent is
much increafed by the apparent neceffity
of fuch fervices as thefe ; but even at pre
fent that labour is not without its reward,
and it refls in hope of a more fuitable and
immortal recompence hereafter.
There is one objection againft the infti-
tution we think it our duty to patronize,
which has made an impreflion upon the
minds of men, that is not yet worn out.
It is, that fome part at leaft of the inftruc-
tions provided by us are unneceffary> and
even prejudical to the lower ranks of life,
by giving a tafte for enjoyments, and a
fenfe of their ownmerit, fuperior to the
offices

334 SERMON, Sec.
offices they mufl be employed in, That
there are kinds of knowledge and inftrudlion,
which would be very unfuitable to their
low ftation, is readily admitted. And it
is ,no lefs true, that it would be neither
juft nor wife to leave them entirely defti-
tute of all inftrudlion. But it is evident
that the nature and quantity of the inftruc-
tion neceffary to be given, is to be deter
mined by the demands of the age and the
fociety they live in. There have been
times of ignorance and barbarifm, when
princes and their great officers of ftate
were unable to write, and fometimes even
to read. But then this ignorance was in a
manner general, and the bad effedls of it
appeared in the coarfe and corrupt man
ners of the people, who were held in a
fhameful dependence on one order pf men,
who had monopolized the little knowledge
that was then to be met with, and, like
other

SERMON, &c. 33$
other monopolizers, they were indifferent
about the goodnefs of their merchandize,
and took care not to overftock the market.
But in a country like this, which is fo
much indebted for its wealth, its power,
and its happinefs, to its improvements in
knowledge, it is furely requifite, that
inftrudlion fhould be diffufed amongft the
lower orders of men in a more liberal mea
fure. Even the fervices we expedl from
them require, on many occafions, a degree
of prudence which cannot be attained
without fome education. The progrefs
we have made in arts and commerce has
raifed a greater demand for fkill and judg
ment in the meaneft of our workmen.
And however backward we may be to
acknowledge the relation, yet reafon and
religion agree to tell us, that the poor are
our brethren. It does not become us to
widen and aggravate the little differences that

S36 SERMON, &c;
that fortune has placed between us. Nor
is it juft or wife, with regard to the public,
to deprive it of the benefits it has often
received from the ufeful and vigorous
talents that have been, nurfed up in the
hardinefs of poverty. As for the public
mifchiefs that are to be apprehended
from trufting the poor with too much
knowledge; as far as we can judge frqm
experience, the danger is imaginary. It
is not from their knowledge, but from
their idlenefs and their ignorance, and
the bad example of their fuperiors, that
fuch mifchiefs are to be apprehended.
But whatever kind of knowledge it may
be thought proper to deny the poor, one
kind there is (and the confideration of it
is at prefent our chief concern) which alj
mufl allow to be expedient for them, and
that is the knowledge of their dtjty.
They who are the mofl rigorous to thp
poof

SERMON, &c. 337
poor in this world, will certainly not
grudge them the hopes of a better life.
Now to propagate this ufeful know
ledge is the great objedl of our Society,
and we have certainly contributed very
confiderably to fo good a work, by difliri-
buting printed copies of the bible and our
excellent liturgy, either gratis, or at fo low
a price as comes within the reach of the
poor; and by fupplying them with manu
als of devotion, and many pradlical trea-
tifes, of which we have certainly chofen
by far the beft of the kind.
It is unpleafant to cenfure the perform
ances of men, whofe good intentions de
ferve juft commendation ; but it is alfo in
cumbent upon us to provide that our own
good intentions may not lofe their effect by
any error or imperfection in the perform
ance. Let it therefore be allowed me, not
from a fpirit of criticifm, but as repeating
Vol. II, Z the

33* S E R M O N, &c
the complaints of the beft and wifeft men,
and I flatter myfelf the fenfe of many of
my hearers, to obferve, that thefe tracts of
piety and devotion are frequently written
with great want of judgment. They cer
tainly have not the fiiccefs that might be
expected, either in forming the under-
flandings, or mending the lives of the few
that ufe them. What are the caufes of
this difappointment is an enquiry that de-
ferves to employ a little of our time.
It is impoffible to explain by how many
different ways men may depart from the
rule of their duty. There is one fimple
and uniform line of truth ; but the devia
tions of ignorance and error are infinite.
Yet amidft all this variety I may venture «
to fingle out one great and leading princi
ple which appears to me to have contri
buted very largely to thefe injudicious
compofiticns. It is the opinion that the
fole

SERMON, Sec. 339
fole intention of our religion is to prepare
its followers for a better life, without any
immediate regard to their happinefs at pre
fent. This was one of the earliefl and pri
mitive fources of error, when chriftianity
firft began to fuffer by the contagion of
that fuperftition and falfe philofophy,
which it was intended to extirpate. To
an attentive obferver of human nature and
the world we live in, it muft neceffarily ap
pear to be the intention of our creator,
which to us is the ftrongeft of all laws,
that all men fhould concur in procuring
that happinefs which every man wifhes for,
and which every man has an equal capacity
to acquire and an equal right to expect.
But the misfortune is, that men are not
contented to purchafe happinefs at the
only price at which it can be had ; hut
hope, by a foolifh kind of cunning, to ob
tain the end without ufing the natural
Z 2 <.-¦¦--••-•. means.

34o S E R M O N, Seel
means. It is thus they feek for health
without temperance, for knowledge and
wealth without induftry, and for religion
and happinefs without virtue. To encou
rage thefe wild pUrfuits it was maintained
very early that the gofpel was an inftitut-ion
defigned only to lead us to Heaven. The
immediate confequence was, that many
well meaning men retired not only from
•the bufinefs and vanities, but from the du
ties of the prefent life, and confumed
themfelves in folitude and ufelefs aufteri-
ties ; giving their prayers only to the
world, which wanted their good offices and
affiftance. It would be tedious and unne-
ceffary to fhow what advantages were ta
ken, after the true grounds of religion were
weakened or rendered uncertain, by defign"-
ing men, of the fimplicity of their brethren.
To do that would be to enter into the hif
tory of the growth and progrefs of the^pa- pal

SERMON, &c. 341
pal power, which reduced mankind to a
ftate of general ignorance and fervitude,
from whence, the greateft part of Europe is
but juft beginning to recover. And even
in this favoured country, where we have fo
long enjoyed that religious liberty, which
all have a right to, yet the fame principle
ftill continues to operate, weakly and fi-
lently indeed, but not imperceptibly. The
fhorteft way to judge of its influence, and
to difcern its effects, is to compare it with
the fcripture-rule of our duty. In the firft
place it is obfervable that what is there re
quired of us is never laid down in a very
methodical or circumftantial manner. We
do not think juftly pf our holy religion,
unlefs we remember that it is the moft
extenfive and univerfal of all religious dif-
penfations. It is not only revealed, but it
is adapted to every country and every cli
mate, to all the different races of men, and
Z3 to

342 S E R M, O N, Sec.
to all the infinite forms of fociety and go
vernment in which they can be placed.
Now it feems at firft fight, that if there
is a law of fuch univerfal and unbounded
authority, it cannot poflibly confift of all
the innumerable rules, which are appli
cable to every particular cafe: it muft
rather be compofed of a few great and
luminous precepts, comprehending the
general principles that are to govern our
lives. Now, this is the very form and method
in which the gofpel morals are delivered
to us. Your own recollection will anti
cipate what I am going to fay. Indeed it
is hardly neceffary to obferve to you that
the whole of -ourtluty is declared by our
great lawgiver to confift in the love of
God and of our neighbour. To do unto
other men as we would they fhould do'
unto us, we are told, by the fame autho rity,

SERMON, &c. 343
rity, is the law and the prophets. Let no
man feek his own, hut every man an
other's wealth. Follow that which is
good to all men. By love ferve one ano
ther, for love is the fulfilling of the law.
Thefe 3 great and general principles are
the true charadteriftics of a religion de
figned for the ufe and benefit of the whole
world. And it is remarkable, that the
facred writers have feldom given us any
particular or circumflantial views of duty.
Some very important branches of it are
but flightly mentioned, or alluded to, or
left to be collected from the firft principles
themfelves. And where particular duties
are enjoined they are not defcribed with
exadtnefs and precifion. If we are com
manded to obey our parents, or to relieve
the poor, the nature and meafure of that
obedience and that relief muft be deter
mined not from the words of Scripture,
Z 4 hut

344 S- E R M O N, Sec.
hut from, the wants and the conditions
of the Society we live in, the manners of
the age, the fenfe and the expectations of
good men, and the. impreffion which ob
jects then prefent ought to make- upon
reafonable minds. And thus without tying
us down to minute inftrudlion s, the fpirit
of God governs us in a more liberal man
ner. He trufts the direction of our own
conduct to the ftrength of our own minds
and the integrity of our own hearts. Our
duty is not prefcribed to us by certain fpe-
cific rules, but arifes continually from the
actions and bufinefs of human life. The
circumftances of every fituation we can
be placed Lin will fuggeft to an upright
mind the meafures of its behaviour. Our
obligation thus taking its rife from the
fituations and' charadters in which we act
is, fomething fixed and fubftantial, and at,.
the fame time, by the univerfality of its
principles.

SERMON, &c. 345
principles accommodates itfelf to all the
changes in human affairs. And by»mix-
ing thus intimately in the fprings and
principles of action, it affumes a right to
conduct and govern every fcene of human
life, and forms, as the exigencies of the
world require, not only faints and martyrs,
butprinces and ftatefmen. The duty there
fore of a good Chriftian does not banifhhim
from the world, or entice him into fome
folitary path of life-: it rather calls him
into the midft of it* and prompts him to
feek occafions of being greatly and exten-
fively ufeful. This at leaft is the idea
which we muft form of our religion from
reading the gofpel itfelf. Chrjft himfelf
was a. fountain of benevolence that flowed
without ceafing to fupply the wants of
mankind. The lives of the apoftles and
the firft difciples were active and fecial.
and fpent in the fervice of the world; and if

346 SERMON, Stc.
If they appear themfelves to have been
more excellent and valuable than the com
mon race of men, it is only becaufe they
were employed, in a fublimer fpecies of
ufefulnefs. As far therefore as any religious treatife
departs from this character of Chriftian
duty, fo far it tends to miflead the mind,
and fruftrate the good purpofes it was in
tended to ferve: Faith and devotion are
the fureft guides and ftrongeft incentives
to virtuous actions; but that author would
ftrip them of their nobleft merit who
fhoqld reprefent them as refling in mere
contemplation, or as matters totally dif-
tindt from, and unconnected with the reft
of our duty. And whatever tends' to divert
our attention from the fervices we owe to
our neighbour, or to leffen the import-
ance of them, or to fubftitute any other
branch of duty in its place, is fo far de
fective,

SERMON, &c.' 347
fedlive, and injurious to the purity and
fimplicity of the Gofpel. " The grace of
God hath appeared from Heaven unto men,
teaching us that, denying ungodlinefs and
worldly lu ft s, we mould live foberly, righte-
oufly, and godly in this prefent world."
You fee that the great Apoflje of the
Gentiles makes Revelation itfelf the hand
maid to virtue. And let us remember that
it is not only the inferior members of
fociety, whofe poverty and ignorance ren
ders them the objedls of our care, that
are fubjedt to this divine law : the higher
men take their rank- in the world j in pro
portion to the power and influence they
acquire, they will find that their obliga
tions are too enlarged. It is a work of
no fmall thought and judgment, even to
fpend a large fortune with ufefulnefs and
propriety ; to obferve a juft and liberal
oecpnomy without the imputation of ava rice

34$ SERMON, Sec.
rice or profufion; to comply with the
manners and innocent cuftoms, and yet
fhun thediflipation and vices of the age; and
to reconcile our own inclinations and enjoy
ments with our character, our ftation, and
the good of our countty. In fuch fitu-»
anions to; perceive and to do the good we
are capable of doing is a fevere and ferious
tafk, and requires the whole attention of
the ftrongeft mind. But the public/. fcenes.
of life are the true ftage for piety and
virtue, to difplay themfelves with the beft
advantage. There arife the great and noble
opportunities for the facrifice of pleafure
and intereft; there felf-denial has, a ufe and
luftre that rewards, all its fufferings; and
there the benevolent mind is animated
with the profpedl of doing extenfive good
to multitudes, and of ferving future gene
rations.
„• - The manner in which we now confider the

S E R M ON, Sec. 349
the duty of a Chriftian does not exclude
or derogate in the leaft degree from the
important truths which are revealed to us
concerning the nature and the difpenfa-
tions of God. All thofe truths are the
improvement and continuation of the dif
coveries of reafon. We acknowledge
with veneration the influence they claim
over our hearts and minds ; but we con*
•fine ourfelves at prefent to the confidera
tion of- their bleffed effects vifihle in the
lives of good men. The depth of th&
riches of the' wifdom arid mercy of God is
-exemplified in the gofpel, not by methods
of devotion and felf-denial removed and
feparate from the common ways of life;
but by inftrudting us as rational creatures
to accommodate our minds with all godli*.
nefs and honefty to the world we are
placed in, and that part that is allotted to
us. This method of treating our duty
opens

350 SERMON, &c.
opens to us a rich and noble vein of
thought. I fhall venture to purfue it
through a few of its confequences, at the
rifk of departing a little from the more
immediate fubjedl of my difcourfe.
If the practice of our religion confifts
in the love of our neighbour and our ufe-
fulnefs to fociety, this will furnifh us with
a very eafy rule for the interpretation of
thofe paffages in Scripture that feem to
be tinctured with unufual feverity. They
who are no friends to religion are apt to
confider that felfTdenial, which it teaches,
as an unreafonable precept, fubjedting man
kind to un neceffary fufferings, which in
all appearance are neither fuggefted by
intereft nor enjoined by virtue. But when
we learn that this and every other duty
are only branches of that behaviour which
confults the good of the whole, we then
perceive that the felf-denial required of u«
muft

SERMON, &c. 351
muft be always of fueh a kind as is neither
unreafonable nor unnecefiary. Indeed felf-
denial, in its full extent, is not merely a
religious duty; but a condition annexed
to the attainment of excellence in every
kind. It is a law of nature and Provi-
dence that nothing great or valuable can
be performed, without giving up many
favourite amufements, pleafures, and pre
judices. Self-denial feen in this light is
fo far from being ufelefs, that it is the
very difcipline of Prudence in the conduct
of life. It is a fuperior and a mafter vir
tue, and fhould not be debafed to fuper-
ficial and trifling aufterities. When it
ceafes to be ufeful it becomes puerile and
impertinent. ' The real fcenes of life fup
ply us with fufficient occafions for a ra
tional and manly exercife of this virtue.
Deny yourfelves the gratifications that
reafon condemns, though they are recom
mended

354 SERMON, &c.
mended tiy fafhion and example. Sacri
fice not your- own judgment and your
better inclinations to the imperious vanity
of thofe who take the lead in folly, and
fee the world weak enough to follow them.
Difdain the profits that are the fruits of
fraud, rapine, or fervility : and you will
foon find that you mufl pay a confiderable
price for the fatisfadlion of adling an honeft
part. Thus the rule of doing good is the
meafure of every virtue.
Was humility to fignify' a general unqua
lified fubmiffion to all our fellow-creatures,
-it would not be eafy to defcribe its life or
limits. But if it is a branch of that gene
ral behaviour which refpedls the good of
•fociety, it immediately becomes clear and
intelligible. For this humility arifes from
a fenfe that the meaneft of our fpecies are
ourfellow creatures,andthatas Chriftians we
are children and fervants of the fame God. It

-S E R M O N, &c. 3$3 ¦
It is not a mean, fervile character, which
affects to to be contemptible, and is fo ; but
it is feen in thofe quiet, unpretending dif
pofitions, which men are pleafed to eon-
verfe and live with, and which gain more
than others by claiming lefs. In high ranks
it is the natural expreffion of a great and
liberal mind. It is the true, innocent art,
though little known, of winning affection, ;
and governing reafonable creatures.
Our Saviour's language is, "Whoever
will be great among you, let him be your
fervant." Is there any thing in human
nature more noble and magnificent than
this idea of humility ?
Indeed the very effence of Chriftian
duty muft neceffarily confift in doing
good. For what is juftice, if it does no
good, but ufelefs feverity ? and what are
even mercy and ^charity, if they do no
good, but weak indulgence and vain pro-
A a fufion ?

354 SERMON, Sec.
fufion ? Confider what fort of men the
world is moft in want of. Is it not the
induftrious and frugal tradefman, the
upright magiftrate, the honeft and able
ftatefman, the good parent, the good
hufband, the good citizen ? Thofe who
dujy carry on the bufinefs of life are they
who beft perform its duties. Judge of
the nature of virtue by the true and ge
nuine effects of it. ¦**»;
Let me add, in the laft place* that this
notion of duty, which reprefents it as con
fifting in doing good, and being ufeful to
our fellow-creatures, is not only adapted
to our prefent ftate of pilgrimage upon
earth; but the fame law will probably
govern our future exiftence, and may
poffibly extend to all the fuperior orders pf
intelligent beings. It is a moft important
and commanding principle, and feems,
like attraction, to pervade the whole unj-
- - • yerfe.

S. E[R M O N, &c. 35s
verfe. For fure we ought to reject, with
a pious indignation, the fancy that we are
to pafs eternal days in liftening to concerts
pf divine harmony, or in the indolent con
templation of our own happinefs. Such
imaginations favour too much of felfifhnefs
and fenfuality. Look round all the com-
pafs of nature, and fee if God has per
mitted any being to make itfelf happy by
doing nothing and caring only for itfelf.
In the immenfe extent of creation new
fcenes, new fituations, new diverfities of
life and action, without end, will open
themfelves. But, fure, in all that extent
God has not removed any fet of his intel
ligent creatures beyond the iimits and the
©perat'ion of doing and receiving good. All
nature is made perfect and happy by the
fupport and affiftance which its parts re
ceive from each other. May we not be
allowed to imagine, without prefumption,
A a 2 that

356 SERMON, Sep.
that the exercife of this unlimited benevo
lence, of thofe tender mercies which are
over all his works, is one great and ever-
lafling fource of happinefs to the Deity
himfelf? and may we not prefume that
God, who has indulged fo large a fhare of
that divine pleafure- to us> who are perhaps
the meaneft of his offspring, has given a
fuller meafure of the fame grace; and nobler
exercifes of that bleffed employment which
fo much refembles his own, to thofe fu
perior orders of fpirits, that rife above us
in all conceivable degrees of perfection.
On thefe fuppofitipns it becomes clear
and intelligible how the prefent life is a
preparation for a better. Not only the
good works we have done> and the rewards
attending them, will follow us into the
world of fpirits ; but the good principles
we have learned, the good habits we have
formed, the generous and benevolent paf
fions

SERMON, &c. 357
fioris we have noufifhed arid cultivated,
will ftill make a part of our character, will
accompany us into happier fcenes, and ftill
find their ufe and exercife. Our powers
may be enlarged, our faculties may be im
proved ; but ftill, in the moft exalted ftation
in the univerfe, the pureft and moft en
lightened mind can find no employment
more worthy of itfelf than that of doing
good. This, then, is the great ruling principle
which ought to be ever prefent to our
minds, and govern the whole condudl of
our lives. In our moft ferious hours, and
even in our amufements ; whether we act
ourfelves, or pafs a judgment On the actions
or writings' of other men, it will always be
the certain teft of what is right to enquire
how fart his leading and fovereign principle
has been attended to. This will help us,
in a good meafure, to diftinguifh and fepa- rate

358 S E R M O N, &c.
rate the little blemifhes' which, through an
indifcreet piety, are apt to fleal into good
men and good books.
; I fhall only add, that it is hardly poffible
for imagination to fuggeft a more perfect
exercife of this heavenly principle, the true
fource of all human virtue, than the
giving of due fupport and countenance to
that excellent, inftitution to which we are
called by this day's folemnity.

FINIS.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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