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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical View of the Prevailing
+Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity., by William Wilberforce
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.
+
+Author: William Wilberforce
+
+Release Date: June 6, 2008 [EBook #25709]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROFESSED CHRISTIANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Shimmin, Nigel Blower, Greg Alethoup
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      A
+               PRACTICAL VIEW
+                   OF THE
+         PREVAILING RELIGIOUS SYSTEM
+                     OF
+            PROFESSED CHRISTIANS,
+                   IN THE
+          HIGHER AND MIDDLE CLASSES
+                  IN THIS
+                  COUNTRY,
+              CONTRASTED WITH
+             REAL CHRISTIANITY.
+
+
+        By WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, Esq;
+Member of Parliament for the County of York.
+
+
+Search the Scriptures!----          JOHN, v. 39.
+
+    How charming is DIVINE PHILOSOPHY!
+Not harsh, and crabbed, as dull Fools suppose,
+But Musical as is Apollo's lute,
+And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets,
+Where no crude surfeit reigns.           MILTON.
+
+
+                  DUBLIN:
+         Printed by Robert Dapper,
+    FOR B. DUGDALE, NO. 6, DAME-STREET.
+
+                M.DCC.XCVII.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+It has been, for several years, the earnest wish of the writer of the
+following pages to address his countrymen on the important subject of
+Religion; but the various duties of his public station, and a
+constitution incapable of much labour, have obstructed the execution of
+his purpose. Long has he been looking forward to some vacant season, in
+which he might devote his whole time and attention to this interesting
+service, free from the interruption of all other concerns; and he has
+the rather wished for this opportunity of undistracted and mature
+reflection, from a desire that what he might send into the world might
+thus be rendered less undeserving of the public eye. Meanwhile life is
+wearing away, and he daily becomes more and more convinced, that he
+might wait in vain for this season of complete vacancy. He must,
+therefore, improve such occasional intervals of leisure as may occur to
+him in the course of a busy life, and throw himself on the Reader's
+indulgence for the pardon of such imperfections, as the opportunity of
+undiverted and more mature attention might have enabled him to discover
+and correct.
+
+But the plea here suggested is by no means intended as an excuse for the
+opinions which he shall express, if they be found mistaken. Here, if he
+be in an error, it is however a deliberate error. He would indeed
+account himself unpardonable, if he were to intrude his first thoughts
+upon the Public on a question of such importance; and he can truly
+declare, that what he shall offer will be the result of much reading,
+observation, and inquiry, and of long, serious, and repeated
+consideration.
+
+It is not improbable that he may be accused of deviating from his proper
+line, and of impertinently interfering in the concerns of a Profession
+to which he does not belong. If it were necessary, however, to defend
+himself against this charge, he might shelter himself under the
+authority of many most respectable examples. But surely to such an
+accusation it may be sufficient to reply, that it is the duty of every
+man to promote the happiness of his fellow-creatures to the utmost of
+his power; and that he who thinks he sees many around him, whom he
+esteems and loves, labouring under a fatal error, must have a cold
+heart, or a most confined notion of benevolence, if he could refrain
+from endeavouring to set them right, lest in so doing he should be
+accused of stepping out of his proper walk, and expose himself on that
+ground to the imputation of officiousness.
+
+But he might also allege as a full justification, not only that Religion
+is the business of every one, but that its advancement or decline in any
+country is so intimately connected with the temporal interests of
+society, as to render it the peculiar concern of a political man; and
+that what he may presume to offer on the subject of Religion may perhaps
+be perused with less jealousy and more candour, from the very
+circumstance of its having been written by a Layman, which must at least
+exclude the idea (an idea sometimes illiberally suggested to take off
+the effect of the works of Ecclesiastics) that it is prompted by motives
+of self-interest, or of professional prejudice.
+
+But if the writer's apology be not found in the work itself, and in his
+avowed motive for undertaking it, he would in vain endeavour to satisfy
+his readers by any excuses he might assign; therefore, without farther
+preamble, he will proceed to the statement and execution of his
+purpose.
+
+The main object which he has in view is, not to convince the Sceptic, or
+to answer the arguments of persons who avowedly oppose the fundamental
+doctrines of our Religion; but to point out the scanty and erroneous
+system of the bulk of those who belong to the class of orthodox
+Christians, and to contrast their defective scheme with a representation
+of what the author apprehends to be real Christianity. Often has it
+filled him with deep concern, to observe in this description of persons,
+scarcely any distinct knowledge of the real nature and principles of the
+religion which they profess. The subject is of infinite importance; let
+it not be driven out of our minds by the bustle or dissipations of life.
+This present scene, and all its cares and all its gaieties, will soon be
+rolled away, and "we must stand before the judgment seat of Christ."
+This awful consideration will prompt the writer to express himself with
+greater freedom than he should otherwise be disposed to use. This
+consideration he trusts, also, will justify his frankness, and will
+secure him a serious and patient perusal. But it would be trespassing on
+the indulgence of the reader to detain him with introductory remarks.
+Let it only be farther premised, that if what shall be stated should to
+any appear needlessly austere and rigid, the writer must lay in his
+claim not to be condemned, without a fair inquiry whether or not his
+statements accord with the language of the sacred writings. To that test
+he refers with confidence; and it must be conceded by those who admit
+the authority of Scripture (such only he is addressing) that from the
+decision of the word of God there can be no appeal.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                              Page
+
+INTRODUCTION.                                                    v
+
+CHAP. I.
+_Inadequate Conceptions of the Importance of Christianity._      1
+
+CHAP. II.
+_Corruption of Human Nature._                                   14
+
+CHAP. III.
+_Chief Defects of the Religious System of the bulk of
+professed Christians, in what regards our Lord Jesus Christ,
+and the Holy Spirit--with a Dissertation concerning the use
+of the Passions in Religion._                                   43
+
+CHAP. IV.
+_On the prevailing inadequate Conceptions concerning the
+Nature and the Strictness of Practical Christianity._          100
+
+CHAP. V.
+_On the Excellence of Christianity in certain important
+Particulars. Argument which results thence in Proof of its
+Divine Origin._                                                252
+
+CHAP. VI.
+_Brief Inquiry into the present State of Christianity in
+this Country, with some of the Causes which have led to its
+critical Circumstances. Its Importance to us as a political
+Community, and practical Hints for which the foregoing
+Considerations give occasion._                                 262
+
+CHAP. VII.
+_Practical Hints to various Descriptions of Persons._          305
+
+
+
+
+A PRACTICAL VIEW, &c.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
+
+_Popular Notions.--Scripture Account.--Ignorance in this Case
+criminal.--Two false Maxims exposed._
+
+
+Before we proceed to the consideration of any particular defects in the
+religious system of the bulk of professed Christians, it may be proper
+to point out the very inadequate conception which they entertain of the
+importance of Christianity in general, of its peculiar nature, and
+superior excellence. If we listen to their conversation, virtue is
+praised, and vice is censured; piety is perhaps applauded, and
+profaneness condemned. So far all is well. But let any one, who would
+not be deceived, by these "barren generalities" examine a little more
+closely, and he will find, that not to Christianity in particular, but
+at best to Religion in general, perhaps to mere Morality, their homage
+is intended to be paid. With Christianity, as distinct from these, they
+are little acquainted; their views of it have been so cursory and
+superficial, that far from discerning its characteristic essence, they
+have little more than perceived those exterior circumstances which
+distinguish it from other forms of Religion. There are some few facts,
+and perhaps some leading doctrines and principles, of which they cannot
+be wholly ignorant; but of the consequences, and relations, and
+practical uses of these, they have few ideas, or none at all.
+
+Does this seem too strong? View their plan of life and their ordinary
+conduct; and not to speak at present of their general inattention to
+things of a religious nature, let us ask, wherein can we discern the
+points of discrimination between them and professed unbelievers? In an
+age wherein it is confessed and lamented that infidelity abounds, do we
+observe in them any remarkable care to instruct their children in the
+principles of the faith which they profess, and to furnish them with
+arguments for the defence of it? They would blush, on their child's
+coming out into the world, to think him defective in any branch of that
+knowledge, or of those accomplishments which belong to his station in
+life, and accordingly these are cultivated with becoming assiduity. But
+he is left to collect his religion as he may; the study of Christianity
+has formed no part of his education, and his attachment to it (where any
+attachment to it exists at all) is, too often, not the preference of
+sober reason, but merely the result of early prejudice and groundless
+prepossession. He was born in a Christian country, of course he is a
+Christian; his father was a member of the church of England, so is he.
+When such is the hereditary religion handed down from generation to
+generation, it cannot surprise us to observe young men of sense and
+spirit beginning to doubt altogether of the truth of the system in which
+they have been brought up, and ready to abandon a station which they are
+unable to defend. Knowing Christianity chiefly in the difficulties which
+it contains, and in the impossibilities which are falsely imputed to it,
+they fall perhaps into the company of infidels; and, as might be
+expected, they are shaken by frivolous objections and profane cavils,
+which, had they been grounded and bottomed in reason and argument, would
+have passed by them, "as the idle wind," and scarcely have seemed worthy
+of serious notice.
+
+Let us beware before it be too late. No one can say into what discredit
+Christianity may hereby grow, at a time when the free and unrestrained
+intercourse, subsisting amongst the several ranks and classes of
+society, so much favours the general diffusion of the sentiments of the
+higher orders. To a similar ignorance is perhaps in no small degree to
+be ascribed the success, with which Christianity has been attacked of
+late years in a neighbouring country. Had she not been wholly unarmed
+for the contest, however she might have been forced from her untenable
+posts, and compelled to disembarrass herself from her load of
+incumbrances, she never could have been driven altogether out of the
+field by her puny assailants, with all their cavils, and gibes, and
+sarcasms; for in these consisted the main strength of their petty
+artillery. Let us beware, lest we also suffer from a like cause; nor let
+it be our crime and our reproach, that in schools, perhaps even in
+Colleges, Christianity is almost if not altogether neglected.
+
+It cannot be expected, that they who are so little attentive to this
+great object in the education of their children, should be more so in
+other parts of their conduct, where less strongly stimulated by
+affection, and less obviously loaded with responsibility. They are of
+course therefore, little regardful of the state of Christianity in their
+own country; and still more indifferent about communicating the light of
+divine truth to the nations which "still sit in darkness."
+
+But Religion, it may be replied, is not noisy and ostentatious; it is
+modest and private in its nature; it resides in a man's own bosom, and
+shuns the observation of the multitude. Be it so.
+
+From the transient and distant view then, which we have been taking of
+these unassuming Christians, let us approach a little nearer, and listen
+to the unreserved conversation of their confidential hours. Here, if any
+where, the interior of the heart is laid open, and we may ascertain the
+true principles of their regards and aversions; the scale by which they
+measure the good and evil of life. Here, however, you will discover few
+or no traces of Christianity. She scarcely finds herself a place amidst
+the many objects of their hopes, and fears, and joys, and sorrows.
+Grateful, perhaps, (as well indeed they may be grateful) for health, and
+talents, and affluence, and other blessings belonging to their persons
+and conditions in life, they scarcely reckon in the number this grand
+distinguishing mark of the bounty of Providence; or if they mention it
+at all, it is noticed coldly and formally, like one of those obsolete
+claims to which, though but of small account in the estimate of our
+wealth or power, we think it as well to put in our title from
+considerations of family decorum or of national usage.
+
+But what more than all the rest establishes the point in question: let
+their conversation take a graver turn: here at length their religion,
+modest and retired as it is, must be expected to disclose itself; here
+however you will look in vain for the religion of Jesus. Their standard
+of right and wrong is not the standard of the gospel: they approve and
+condemn by a different rule; they advance principles and maintain
+opinions altogether opposite to the genius and character of
+Christianity. You would fancy yourself rather amongst the followers of
+the old philosophy; nor is it easy to guess how any one could satisfy
+himself to the contrary, unless, by mentioning the name of some
+acknowledged heretic, he should afford them an occasion of demonstrating
+their zeal for the religion of their country.
+
+The truth is, their opinions on these subjects are not formed from the
+perusal of the word of God. The Bible lies on the shelf unopened; and
+they would be wholly ignorant of its contents, except for what they hear
+occasionally at church, or for the faint traces which their memories may
+still retain of the lessons of their earliest infancy.
+
+How different, nay, in many respects, how contradictory, would be the
+two systems of mere morals, of which the one should be formed from the
+commonly received maxims of the Christian world, and the other from the
+study of the Holy Scriptures! it would be curious to remark in any one,
+who had hitherto satisfied himself with the former, the astonishment
+which would be excited on his first introduction to the latter. We are
+not left here to bare conjecture. This was, in fact, the effect produced
+on the mind of a late ingenious writer[1], of whose little work, though
+it bears perhaps some marks of his customary love of paradox, we must at
+least confess, that it exposes, in a strong point of view, the _poverty_
+of that superficial religion which has been above condemned; and that it
+every where displays that happy perspicuity, and grace, which so
+eminently characterize all the compositions of its author. But after
+this willing tribute of commendation, we are reluctantly compelled to
+remark, that the work in question discredits the cause which it was
+meant to serve, by many crude and extravagant positions; from which no
+one can be secure who forms a hasty judgment of a deep and comprehensive
+subject, the several bearings and relations of which have been
+imperfectly surveyed; and above all, it must be lamented, that it treats
+the great question which it professes to discuss, rather as a matter of
+mere speculation, than as one wherein our everlasting interests are
+involved. Surely the writer's object should have been, to convince his
+readers of their guilt still more than of their ignorance, and to leave
+them impressed rather with a sense of their danger than of their folly.
+
+It were almost a waste of time to multiply arguments in order to prove
+how criminal the voluntary ignorance, of which we have been speaking,
+must appear in the sight of God. It must be confessed by all who believe
+that we are accountable creatures, and to such only the writer is
+addressing himself, that we shall have to answer hereafter to the
+Almighty for all the means and occasions we have here enjoyed of
+improving ourselves, or of promoting the happiness of others. And if,
+when summoned to give an account of our stewardship, we shall be called
+upon to answer for the use which we have made of our bodily organs, and
+of the means of relieving the wants and necessities of our fellow
+creatures; how much more for the exercise of the nobler and more exalted
+faculties of our nature, of invention, and judgment, and memory; and for
+our employment of all the instruments and opportunities of diligent
+application, and serious reflection, and honest decision. And to what
+subject might we in all reason be expected to apply more earnestly, than
+to that wherein our eternal interests are at issue? When God has of his
+goodness vouchsafed to grant us such abundant means of instruction in
+that which we are most concerned to know, how great must be the guilt,
+and how aweful the punishment of voluntary ignorance!
+
+And why, it may be asked, are we in this pursuit alone to expect
+knowledge without inquiry, and success without endeavour? The whole
+analogy of nature inculcates on us a different lesson, and our own
+judgments in matters of temporal interests and worldly policy confirm
+the truth of her suggestions. Bountiful as is the hand of Providence,
+its gifts are not so bestowed as to seduce us into indolence, but to
+rouse us to exertion; and no one expects to attain to the height of
+learning, or arts, or power, or wealth, or military glory, without
+vigorous resolution, and strenuous diligence, and steady perseverance.
+Yet we expect to be Christians without labour, study, or inquiry. This
+is the more preposterous, because Christianity, being a revelation from
+God, and not the invention of man, discovering to us new relations, with
+their correspondent duties; containing also doctrines, and motives, and
+practical principles, and rules, peculiar to itself, and almost as new
+in their nature as supreme in their excellence, we cannot reasonably
+expect to become proficients in it by the accidental intercourses of
+life, as one might learn insensibly the maxims of worldly policy, or a
+scheme of mere morals.
+
+The diligent perusal of the Holy Scriptures would discover to us our
+past ignorance. We should cease to be deceived by superficial
+appearances, and to confound the Gospel of Christ with the systems of
+philosophers; we should become impressed with that weighty truth, so
+much forgotten, and never to be too strongly insisted on, that
+Christianity calls on us, as we value our immortal souls, not merely in
+_general_, to be _religious_ and _moral_, but _specially_ to believe the
+doctrines, and imbibe the principles, and practise the precepts of
+Christ. It might be to run into too great length to confirm this
+position beyond dispute by express quotations from Scripture. And (not
+to anticipate what belongs more properly to a subsequent part of the
+work) it may be sufficient here to remark in general, that Christianity
+is always represented in Scripture as the grand, the unparalleled
+instance of God's bounty to mankind. It was graciously held forth in the
+original promise to our first parents; it was predicted by a long
+continued series of prophets; the subject of their prayers, inquiries,
+and longing expectations. In a world, which opposed and persecuted them,
+it was their source of peace, and hope, and consolation. At length it
+approached--the Desire of all Nations--The long expected Star announced
+its presence--A multitude of the heavenly host hailed its introduction,
+and proclaimed its character; "Glory to God in the highest, on earth
+peace, good will towards men." It is every where represented in
+scripture by such figures as may most deeply impress on us a sense of
+its value; it is spoken of as light from darkness, as release from
+prison, as deliverance from captivity, as life from death. "Lord, now
+lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy
+salvation," was the exclamation with which it was welcomed by the pious
+Simeon; and it was universally received and professed among the early
+converts with thankfulness and joy. At one time, the communication of it
+is promised as a reward; at another, the loss of it is threatened as a
+punishment. And, short as is the form of prayer taught us by our blessed
+Saviour, the more general extension of the kingdom of Christ constitutes
+one of its leading petitions.
+
+With what exalted conceptions of the importance of Christianity ought we
+to be filled by such descriptions as these? Yet, in vain have we "line
+upon line and precept upon precept."--Thus predicted, thus prayed and
+longed for, thus announced and characterized and rejoiced in, this
+heavenly treasure poured into our lap in rich abundance we scarce
+accept. We turn from it coldly, or at best possess it negligently, as a
+thing of no account or estimation. But a due sense of its value would be
+assuredly impressed on us by the diligent study of the word of God, that
+blessed repository of divine truth and consolation. Thence it is that
+we are to learn our obligations and our duty, what we are to believe and
+what to practise. And, surely, one would think it could not be required
+to press men to the perusal of the sacred volume. Reason dictates,
+Revelation commands; "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
+God."--"Search the Scriptures,"--"Be ready to give to every one a reason
+of the hope that is in you." Such are the declarations and injunctions
+of the inspired writers; injunctions confirmed by commendations of those
+who obey the admonition. Yet, is it not undeniable that with the Bible
+in our houses, we are ignorant of its contents; and that hence, in a
+great measure, it arises, that the bulk of the Christian world know so
+little, and mistake so greatly, in what regards the religion which they
+profess?
+
+This is not the place for inquiring at large, whence it is that those
+who assent to the position, that the Bible is the word of God, and who
+profess to rest their hopes on the Christian basis, contentedly
+acquiesce in a state of such lamentable ignorance. But it may not be
+improper here to touch on two kindred opinions, from which, in the minds
+of the more thoughtful and serious, this acquiescence appears to derive
+much secret support. The one is, that it signifies little what a man
+believes; _look to his practice_. The other (of the same family) _that
+sincerity is all in all_. Let a man's opinions and conduct be what they
+may, yet, provided he be sincerely convinced that they are right,
+however the exigencies of civil society may require him to be dealt with
+amongst men, in the sight of God he cannot be criminal.
+
+It would detain us too long fully to set forth the various merits of
+these favourite positions, of which it is surely not the smallest
+excellence, that they are of unbounded application, comprehending within
+their capacious limits, all the errors which have been believed, and
+many of the most desperate crimes which have been perpetrated among men.
+The former of them is founded altogether on that grossly fallacious
+assumption, that a man's opinions will not influence his practice. The
+latter proceeds on this groundless supposition, that the Supreme Being
+has not afforded us sufficient means of discriminating truth from
+falsehood, right from wrong: and it implies, that be a man's opinions or
+conduct ever so wild and extravagant, we are to presume, that they are
+as much the result of impartial inquiry and honest conviction, as if his
+sentiments and actions had been strictly conformable to the rules of
+reason and sobriety. Never indeed was there a principle more general in
+its use, more sovereign in its potency. How does its beautiful
+simplicity also, and compendious brevity, give it rank before the
+laborious subtleties of Bellarmine! Clement, and Ravaillac, and other
+worthies of a similar stamp, from whose purity of intention the world
+has hitherto withheld its due tribute of applause, would here have found
+a ready plea; and their injured innocence shall now at length receive
+its full though tardy vindication. "These however," it may be replied,
+"are excepted cases." Certainly they are cases of which any one who
+maintains the opinion in question would be glad to disencumber himself;
+because they clearly expose the unsoundness of his principle. But it
+will be incumbent on such an one, first to explain with precision why
+they are to be exempted from its operation, and this he will find an
+impossible task; for sincerity, in its popular sense, so shamefully is
+the term misapplied, can be made the criterion of guilt and innocence on
+no grounds, which will not equally serve to justify the assassins who
+have been instanced. The conclusion cannot be eluded; no man was ever
+more fully persuaded of the innocence of any action, than these men
+were, that the horrid deed they were about to perpetrate was not lawful
+merely, but highly meritorious. Thus Clement and Ravaillac being
+unquestionably sincere, they were therefore indubitably innocent. Nay,
+the absurdity of this principle might be shewn to be even greater than
+what has yet been stated. It would not be going too far to assert, that
+whilst it scorns the defence of petty villains, of those who still
+retain the sense of good and evil, it holds forth, like some well
+frequented sanctuary, a secure asylum to those more finished criminals,
+who, from long habits of wickedness, are lost alike to the perception as
+to the practice of virtue; and that it selects a seared conscience and a
+heart become callous to all moral distinctions as the special objects of
+its care. Nor is it only in prophane history that instances like these
+are to be found, of persons committing the greatest crimes with a
+sincere conviction of the rectitude of their conduct. Scripture will
+afford us parallels; and it was surely to guard us against the very
+error which we have been now exposing, that our blessed Saviour
+forewarned his disciples: "The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you
+will think that he doeth God service."
+
+A principle like this must then be abandoned, and the advocates for
+sincerity must be compelled to restore this abused term to its genuine
+signification, and to acknowledge that it must imply honesty of mind,
+and the faithful use of the means of knowledge and of improvement, the
+desire of being instructed, humble inquiry, impartial consideration, and
+unprejudiced judgment. It is to these we would earnestly call you; to
+these (ever to be accompanied with fervent prayers for the divine
+blessing) Scripture every where holds forth the most animating promises.
+"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be
+opened unto you; Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;"
+such are the comfortable assurances, such the gracious encouragements to
+the truly sincere inquirer. How deep will be our guilt if we slight all
+these benevolent offers. "How many prophets and kings have desired to
+hear the things that we hear, and have not heard them!" Great indeed are
+our opportunities, great also is our responsibility. Let us awaken to a
+true sense of our situation. We have every consideration to alarm our
+fears, or to animate our industry. How soon may the brightness of our
+meridian sun be darkened! Or, should the long suffering of God still
+continue to us the mercies which we so much abuse, it will only
+aggravate our crime, and in the end enhance our punishment. The time of
+reckoning will at length arrive. And when finally summoned to the bar of
+God, to give an account of our stewardship, what plea can we have to
+urge in our defence, if we remain willingly and obstinately ignorant of
+the way which leads to life, with such transcendent means of knowing it,
+and such urgent motives to its pursuit?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE.
+
+
+SECT. I.
+
+_Inadequate Conceptions of the Corruption of Human Nature._
+
+After considering the defective notions of the importance of
+Christianity _in general_, which prevail among the higher orders of the
+Christian world, the particular misconceptions which first come under
+our notice respect the corruption and weakness of human nature. This is
+a topic on which it is possible that many of those, into whose hands the
+present work shall fall, may not have bestowed much attention. If the
+case be so, it may be requisite to intreat them to lend a patient and a
+serious ear. The subject is of the deepest import. We should not go too
+far if we were to assert, that it lies at the very root of all true
+Religion, and still more, that it is eminently the basis and ground-work
+of Christianity.
+
+So far as the writer has had an opportunity of remarking, the generality
+of professed Christians among the higher classes, either altogether
+overlook or deny, or at least greatly extenuate the corruption and
+weakness here in question. They acknowledge indeed that there is, and
+ever has been in the world, a great portion of vice and wickedness; that
+mankind have been ever prone to sensuality and selfishness, in
+disobedience to the more refined and liberal principles of their nature;
+that in all ages and countries, in public and in private life,
+innumerable instances have been afforded of oppression, of rapacity, of
+cruelty, of fraud, of envy, and of malice. They own that it is too often
+in vain that you inform the understanding, and convince the judgment.
+They admit that you do not thereby reform the hearts of men. Though they
+_know_ their duty, they will not practice it; no not even when you have
+forced them to acknowledge that the path of virtue is that also of real
+interest, and of solid enjoyment.
+
+These facts are certain; they cannot be disputed; and they are at the
+same time so obvious, that one would have thought that the celebrated
+apophthegm of the Grecian sage, "the majority are wicked," would
+scarcely have established his claim to intellectual superiority.
+
+But though these effects of human depravity are every where acknowledged
+and lamented, we must not expect to find them traced to their true
+origin.
+
+    Causa latet, vis est notissima.
+
+Prepare yourself to hear rather of frailty and infirmity, of petty
+transgressions, of occasional failings, of sudden surprisals, and of
+such other qualifying terms as may serve to keep out of view the true
+source of the evil, and without shocking the understanding, may
+administer consolation to the pride of human nature. The bulk of
+professed Christians are used to speak of man as of a being, who,
+naturally pure, and inclined to all virtue, is sometimes, almost
+involuntary, drawn out of the right course, or is overpowered by the
+violence of temptation. Vice with them is rather an accidental and
+temporary, than a constitutional and habitual distemper; a noxious
+plant, which, though found to live and even to thrive in the human mind,
+is not the natural growth and production of the soil.
+
+Far different is the humiliating language of Christianity. From it we
+learn that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his high original,
+degraded in his nature, and depraved in his faculties; indisposed to
+good, and disposed to evil; prone to vice, it is natural and easy to
+him; disinclined to virtue, it is difficult and laborious; that he is
+tainted with sin, not slightly and superficially, but radically and to
+the very core. These are truths which, however mortifying to our pride,
+one would think (if this very corruption itself did not warp the
+judgment) none would be hardy enough to attempt to controvert. I know
+not any thing which brings them home so forcibly to my own feelings, as
+the consideration of what still remains to us of our primitive dignity,
+when contrasted with our present state of moral degradation,
+
+        "Into what depth thou seest,
+    From what height fallen."
+
+Examine first with attention the natural powers and faculties of man!
+invention, reason, judgment, memory; a mind "of large discourse,"
+"looking before and after," reviewing the past, and thence determining
+for the present, and anticipating the future; discerning, collecting,
+combining, comparing; capable not merely of apprehending but of admiring
+the beauty of moral excellence: with fear and hope to warn and animate;
+with joy and sorrow to solace and soften; with love to attach, with
+sympathy to harmonize, with courage to attempt, with patience to endure,
+and with the power of conscience, that faithful monitor within the
+breast, to enforce the conclusions of reason, and direct and regulate
+the passions of the soul. Truly we must pronounce him "majestic though
+in ruin." "Happy, happy world," would be the exclamation of the
+inhabitant of some other planet, on being told of a globe like ours,
+peopled with such creatures as these, and abounding with situations and
+occasions to call forth the multiplied excellencies of their nature.
+"Happy, happy world, with what delight must your great Creator and
+Governor witness your conduct, and what large and merited rewards await
+you when your term of probation shall have expired.
+
+    "I, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto,
+    Grandia laturus meritorum præmia."
+
+But we have indulged too long in these delightful speculations; a sad
+reverse presents itself on our survey of the _actual_ state of man,
+when, from viewing his _natural_ powers, we follow him into _practice_,
+and see the uses to which he applies them. Take in the whole of the
+prospect, view him in every age, and climate, and nation, in every
+condition and period of society. Where now do you discover the
+characters of his exalted nature? "How is the gold become dim, and the
+fine gold changed?" How is his reason clouded, his affections
+perverted; his conscience stupified! How do anger, and envy, and
+hatred, and revenge, spring up in his wretched bosom! How is he a slave
+to the meanest of his appetites! What fatal propensities does he
+discover to evil! What inaptitude to good!
+
+Dwell awhile on the state of the ancient world; not merely on that
+benighted part of it where all lay buried in brutish ignorance and
+barbarism, but on the seats of civilized and polished nations, on the
+empire of taste, and learning, and philosophy: yet in these chosen
+regions, with whatever lustre the sun of science poured forth its rays,
+the moral darkness was so thick "that it might be felt." Behold their
+sottish idolatries, their absurd superstitions, their want of natural
+affection, their brutal excesses, their unfeeling oppression, their
+savage cruelty! Look not to the illiterate and the vulgar, but to the
+learned and refined. Form not your ideas from the conduct of the less
+restrained and more licentious; you will turn away with disgust and
+shame from the allowed and familiar habits of the decent and the moral.
+St. Paul best states the facts, and furnishes the explanation; "because
+they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, he gave them over to
+a reprobate mind[2]."
+
+Now direct your view to another quarter, to the inhabitants of a new
+hemisphere, where the baneful practices and contagious example of the
+old world had never travelled. Surely, among these children of nature we
+may expect to find those virtuous tendencies, for which we have hitherto
+looked in vain. Alas! our search will still be fruitless! They are
+represented by the historian of America, whose account is more
+favourable than those of some other great authorities, as being a
+compound of pride, and indolence, and selfishness, and cunning, and
+cruelty[3]; full of a revenge which nothing could satiate, of a ferocity
+which nothing could soften; strangers to the most amiable sensibilities
+of nature[4]. They appeared incapable of conjugal affection, or parental
+fondness, or filial reverence, or social attachments; uniting too with
+their state of barbarism, many of the vices and weaknesses of polished
+society. Their horrid treatment of captives taken in war, on whose
+bodies they feasted, after putting them to death by the most cruel
+tortures, is so well known, that we may spare the disgusting recital. No
+commendable qualities relieve this gloomy picture, except fortitude, and
+perseverance, and zeal for the welfare of their little community; if
+this last quality, exercised and directed as it was, can be thought
+deserving of commendation.
+
+But you give up the heathen nations as indefensible, and wish rather to
+form your estimate of man from a view of countries which have been
+blessed with the light of revelation.--True it is, and with joy let us
+record the concession, Christianity has set the general tone of morals
+much higher than it was ever found in the Pagan world. She has every
+where improved the character and multiplied the comforts of society,
+particularly to the poor and the weak, whom from the beginning she
+professed to take under her special patronage. Like her divine Author,
+"who sends his rain on the evil and on the good," she showers down
+unnumbered blessings on thousands who profit from her bounty, while they
+forget or deny her power, and set at nought her authority. Yet even in
+this more favoured situation we shall discover too many lamentable
+proofs of the depravity of man. Nay, this depravity will now become even
+more apparent and less deniable. For what bars does it not now overleap?
+Over what motives is it not now victorious? Consider well the superior
+light and advantages which we enjoy, and then appreciate the superior
+obligations which are imposed on us. Consider in how many cases our evil
+propensities are now kept from breaking forth, by the superior
+restraints under which vice is laid among us by positive laws, and by
+the amended standard of public opinion; and we may be assisted in
+conjecturing what force is to be assigned to these motives, by the
+dreadful proofs which have been lately exhibited in a neighbouring
+country, that when their influence is withdrawn, the most atrocious
+crimes can be perpetrated shamelessly and in the face of day. Consider
+then the superior excellence of our moral code, the new principles of
+obedience furnished by the gospel, and above all, the awful sanction
+which the doctrines and precepts of Christianity derive from the clear
+discovery of a future state of retribution, and from the annunciation of
+that tremendous day, "when we shall stand before the judgment seat of
+Christ." Yet, in spite of all our knowledge thus enforced and pressed
+home by this solemn notice, how little has been our progress in virtue?
+It has been by no means such as to prevent the adoption, in our days, of
+various maxims of antiquity, which, when well considered, too clearly
+establish the depravity of man. It may not be amiss to adduce a few
+instances in proof of this assertion. It is now no less acknowledged
+than heretofore, that prosperity hardens the heart: that unlimited power
+is ever abused, instead of being rendered the instrument of diffusing
+happiness: that habits of vice grow up of themselves, whilst those of
+virtue, if to be obtained at all, are of slow and difficult formation;
+that they who draw the finest pictures of virtue, and seem most
+enamoured of her charms, are often the least under her influence, and by
+the merest trifles are drawn aside from that line of conduct, which they
+most strongly and seriously recommend to others, that all this takes
+place, though most of the pleasures of vice are to be found with less
+alloy in the paths of virtue; whilst at the same time, these paths
+afford superior and more exquisite delights, peculiar to themselves, and
+are free from the diseases and bitter remorse, at the price of which
+vicious gratifications are so often purchased.
+
+It may suffice to touch very slightly on some other arguments, which it
+would hardly be right to leave altogether unnoticed: one of these (the
+justice of which, however denied by superficial moralists, parents of
+strict principles can abundantly testify) may be drawn from the perverse
+and froward dispositions perceivable in children, which it is the
+business and sometimes the ineffectual attempt of education to reform.
+Another may be drawn from the various deceits we are apt to practice on
+ourselves, to which no one can be a stranger, who has ever contemplated
+the operations of his own mind with serious attention. To the influence
+of this species of corruption it has been in a great degree owing, that
+Christianity itself has been too often disgraced. It has been turned
+into an engine of cruelty, and amidst the bitterness of persecution,
+every trace has disappeared of the mild and beneficent spirit of the
+religion of Jesus. In what degree must the taint have worked itself into
+the frame, and have corrupted the habit, when the most wholesome
+nutriment can be thus converted into the deadliest poison! Wishing
+always to argue from such premises as are not only really sound, but
+from such as cannot even be questioned by those to whom this work is
+addressed, little was said in representing the deplorable state of the
+Heathen world, respecting their defective and unworthy conceptions in
+what regards the Supreme Being, who even then however "left not himself
+without witness, but gave them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their
+hearts with food and gladness." But surely to any who call themselves
+Christians, it may be justly urged as an astonishing instance of human
+depravity, that we ourselves, who enjoy the full light of revelation; to
+whom God has vouchsafed such clear discoveries of what it concerns us to
+know of his being and attributes; who profess to believe "that in him we
+live, and move, and have our being;" that to him we owe all the comforts
+we here enjoy, and the offer of eternal Glory purchased for us by the
+atoning blood of his own Son; ("thanks be to God for his unspeakable
+gift,") that we, thus loaded with mercies, should every one of us be
+continually chargeable with forgetting his authority, and being
+ungrateful for his benefits; with slighting his gracious proposals, or
+receiving them at best but heartlessly and coldly.
+
+But to put the question concerning the natural depravity of man to the
+severest test: take the best of the human species, the watchful diligent
+self-denying Christian, and let _him_ decide the controversy; and that,
+not by inferences drawn from the practices of a thoughtless and
+dissolute world, but by an appeal to his personal experience. Go with
+him into his closet, ask him _his_ opinion of the corruption of the
+heart, and he will tell you that he is deeply sensible of its power, for
+that he has learned it from much self-observation and long acquaintance
+with the workings of his own mind. He will tell you, that every day
+strengthens this conviction; yea, that hourly he sees fresh reason to
+deplore his want of simplicity in intention, his infirmity of purpose,
+his low views, his selfish unworthy desires, his backwardness to set
+about his duty, his languor and coldness in performing it: that he
+finds himself obliged continually to confess, that he feels within him
+two opposite principles, and that "he cannot do the things that he
+would." He cries out in the language of the excellent Hooker, "The
+little fruit which we have in holiness, it is, God knoweth, corrupt and
+unsound: we put no confidence at all in it, we challenge nothing in the
+world for it, we dare not call God to reckoning, as if we had him in our
+debt books; our continual suit to him is, and must be, to bear with our
+infirmities, and pardon our offences."
+
+Such is the moral history, such the condition of man. The figures of the
+piece may vary, and the colouring is sometimes of a darker, sometimes of
+a lighter hue; but the principles of the composition, the grand
+outlines, are every where the same. Wherever we direct our view, we
+discover the melancholy proofs of our depravity; whether we look to
+ancient or modern times, to barbarous or civilized nations, to the
+conduct of the world around us, or to the monitor within the breast;
+whether we read, or hear, or act, or think, or feel, the same
+humiliating lesson is forced upon us,
+
+    Juppiter est quodcunque vides, quocunque moveris.
+
+Now when we look back to the picture which was formerly drawn of the
+_natural powers_ of man, and compare this his _actual_ state with that
+for which, from a consideration of those powers, he seems to have been
+originally calculated, how are we to account for the astonishing
+contrast! will frailty or infirmity, or occasional lapses, or sudden
+surprisals, or any such qualifying terms, convey an adequate idea of the
+nature, or point out the cause of the distemper? How, on any principles
+of common reasoning, can we account for it, but by conceiving that man,
+since he came out of the hands of his Creator, has contracted a taint,
+and that the venom of this subtle poison has been communicated
+throughout the race of Adam, every where exhibiting incontestible marks
+of its fatal malignity? Hence it has arisen, that the appetites deriving
+new strength, and the powers of reason and conscience being weakened,
+the latter have feebly and impotently pleaded against those forbidden
+indulgences which the former have solicited. Sensual gratifications and
+illicit affections have debased our nobler powers, and indisposed our
+hearts to the discovery of God, and to the consideration of his
+perfections; to a constant willing submission to his authority, and
+obedience to his laws. By a repetition of vicious acts, evil habits have
+been formed within us, and have rivetted the fetters of sin. Left to the
+consequences of our own folly, the understanding has grown darker, and
+the heart more obdurate; reason has at length altogether betrayed her
+trust, and even conscience herself has aided the delusion, till, instead
+of deploring our miserable slavery, we have too often hugged, and even
+gloried in our chains.
+
+Such is the general account of the progress of vice, where it is
+suffered to attain to its full growth in the human heart. The
+circumstances of individuals will be found indeed to differ; the
+servitude of some, if it may be allowed us to continue a figure so
+exactly descriptive of the case, is more rigorous than that of others,
+their bonds more galling, their degradation more complete. Some too (it
+will be remembered that we are speaking of the natural state of man,
+without taking Christianity into question) have for a while appeared
+almost to have escaped from their confinement; but none are altogether
+free; all without exception, in a greater or less degree bear about
+them, more visible or more concealed, the ignominious marks of their
+captivity.
+
+Such on a full and fair investigation must be confessed to be the state
+of facts; and how can this be accounted for on any other supposition,
+than that of some original taint, some radical principle of corruption?
+All other solutions are unsatisfactory, whilst the potent cause which
+has been assigned, does abundantly, and can alone sufficiently account
+for the effect. Thus then it appears, that the corruption of human
+nature is proved by the same mode of reasoning, as has been deemed
+conclusive in establishing the existence, and ascertaining the laws of
+the principle of gravitation: that the doctrine rests on the same solid
+basis as the sublime philosophy of Newton: that it is not a mere
+speculation, and therefore an uncertain though perhaps an ingenious
+theory, but the sure result of large and actual experiment; deduced from
+incontestable facts, and still more fully approving its truth by
+harmonizing with the several parts and accounting for the various
+phænomena, jarring otherwise and inexplicable, of the great system of
+the universe.
+
+Revelation, however, here comes in, and sustains the fallible
+conjectures of our unassisted reason. The Holy Scriptures speak of us as
+fallen creatures: in almost every page we shall find something that is
+calculated to abate the loftiness and silence the pretensions of man.
+"The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." "What is man,
+that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should
+be righteous[5]." "How much more abominable and filthy is man, which
+drinketh iniquity like water[6]?" "The Lord looked down from heaven upon
+the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and
+seek God. They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy:
+there is none that doeth good, no not one[7]." "Who can say, I have made
+my heart clean, I am pure from my sin[8]?" "The _heart_ is deceitful
+above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it." "Behold, I
+was shapen in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me." "We
+were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, fulfilling the
+desires of the flesh and of the mind." "O wretched man that I am, who
+shall deliver me from the body of this death!"--Passages might be
+multiplied upon passages, which speak the same language, and these again
+might be illustrated and confirmed at large by various other
+considerations, drawn from the same sacred source; such as those which
+represent a thorough change, a renovation of our nature, as being
+necessary to our becoming true Christians; or as those also which are
+suggested by observing that holy men refer their good dispositions and
+affections to the immediate agency of the Supreme Being.
+
+
+SECTION II.
+
+_Evil Spirit.--Natural State of Man._
+
+But in addition to all which has been yet stated, the word of God
+instructs us that we have to contend not only with our own natural
+depravity, but with the power of darkness, the Evil Spirit, who rules in
+the hearts of the wicked, and whose dominion we learn from Scripture to
+be so general, as to entitle him to the denomination of "the Prince of
+this world." There cannot be a stronger proof of the difference which
+exists between the religious system of the Scriptures, and that of the
+bulk of nominal Christians, than the proof which is afforded by the
+subject now in question. The existence and agency of the Evil Spirit,
+though so distinctly and repeatedly affirmed in Scripture, are almost
+universally exploded in a country which professes to admit the authority
+of the sacred volume. Some other Doctrines of Revelation, the force and
+real meaning of which are commonly in a great degree explained away, are
+yet conceded in general terms. But this seems almost by universal
+consent to have been abandoned, as a post no longer tenable. It is
+regarded as an evanescent prejudice, which it would now be a discredit
+to any man of understanding to believe. Like ghosts and witches and
+other phantoms, which haunted the night of superstition, it cannot in
+these more enlightened times stand the test of our severer scrutiny. To
+be suffered to pass away quietly, is as much as it can hope for; and it
+might rather expect to be laughed off the stage as a just object of
+contempt and derision.
+
+But although the Scripture doctrine concerning the Evil Spirit is thus
+generally exploded, yet were we to consider the matter seriously and
+fairly, we should probably find ground for believing that there is no
+better reason for its being abandoned, than that many absurd stories,
+concerning spirits and apparitions, have been used to be believed and
+propagated amongst weak and credulous people; and that the Evil Spirit
+not being the object of our bodily eyes, it would be an instance of the
+same weakness to give credit to the doctrine of its existence and
+agency. But to be consistent with ourselves, we might almost as well, on
+the same principle, deny the reality of all other incorporeal beings.
+What is there, in truth, in the doctrine, which is in itself improbable,
+or which is not confirmed by analogy? We see, in fact, that there are
+wicked men, enemies to God, and malignant towards their fellow
+creatures, who take pleasure, and often succeed, in drawing in others to
+the commission of evil. Why then should it be deemed incredible, that
+there may be one or more spiritual intelligences of similar natures and
+propensities, who may in like manner be permitted to tempt men to the
+practice of sin? Surely we may retort upon our opponents the charge of
+absurdity, and justly accuse them of gross inconsistency, in admitting,
+without difficulty, the existence and operation of these qualities in a
+material being, and yet denying them in an immaterial one (in direct
+contradiction to the authority of Scripture, which they allow to be
+conclusive) when they cannot, and will not pretend for a moment, that
+there is any thing belonging to the nature of matter, to which these
+qualities naturally adhere.
+
+But to dilate no farther on a topic which, however it may excite the
+ridicule of the inconsiderate, will suggest matter of furious
+apprehension to all who form their opinions on the authority of the word
+of God: thus brought as we are into captivity, and exposed to danger;
+depraved and weakened within, and tempted from without, it might well
+fill our hearts with anxiety to reflect, "that the day will come," when
+"the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
+melt with fervent heat;" "when the dead, small and great, shall stand
+before the tribunal of God;" and we shall have to give account of all
+things done in the body. We are naturally prompted to turn over the page
+of revelation with solicitude, in order to discover the qualities and
+character of our Judge, and the probable principles of his
+determination; but this only serves to turn painful apprehension into
+fixed and certain terror.--First of the qualities of our Judge. As all
+nature bears witness to his irresistible power, so we read in Scripture
+that nothing can escape his observation, or elude his discovery; not our
+actions only, but our most secret cogitations are open to his view. "He
+is about our path and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways[9]."
+"The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations
+of the thoughts[10]."--"And he will bring to light the hidden things of
+darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart."
+
+Now, hear his description and character and the rule of his award: "The
+Lord our God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."--"He is of purer
+eyes than to behold iniquity."--"The soul that sinneth, it shall
+die."--"The wages of sin is death." These positive declarations are
+enforced by the accounts which, for our warning, we read in sacred
+history, of the terrible vengeance of the Almighty: His punishment "the
+angels who kept not their first estate, and whom he hath reserved in
+everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day:"
+The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah; the sentence issued against the
+idolatrous nations of Canaan, and of which the execution was assigned to
+the Israelites, by the express command of God, at their own peril in
+case of disobedience: The ruin of Babylon, and of Tyre, and of Nineveh,
+and of Jerusalem, prophetically denounced as the punishment of their
+crimes, and taking place in an exact and terrible accordance with the
+divine predictions. These are indeed matter of awful perusal, sufficient
+surely to confound the fallacious confidence of any who, on the ground
+that our Creator must be aware of our natural weakness, and must be of
+course disposed to allow for it, should alledge that, though unable
+indeed to justify ourselves in the sight of God, we need not give way to
+such gloomy apprehensions, but might throw ourselves, with assured hope,
+on the infinite benevolence of the Supreme Being. It is indeed true,
+that with the threatenings of the word of God, there are mixed many
+gracious declarations of pardon, on repentance, and thorough amendment.
+But, alas! which of us is there, whose conscience must not reproach him
+with having trifled with the long-suffering of God, and with having but
+ill kept the resolutions of amendment, which he had some time or other
+formed in the seasons of recollection and remorse?--And how is the
+disquietude naturally excited by such a retrospect, confirmed and
+heightened by passages like these? "Because I have called, and ye
+refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have
+set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will
+laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh: when your
+fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;
+when distress and anguish cometh upon you: then shall they call upon me,
+but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find
+me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not chuse the fear of the
+Lord[11]." The apprehensions, which must be excited by thus reading the
+recorded judgments and awful language of Scripture, are confirmed to the
+inquisitive and attentive mind, by a close observation of the moral
+constitution of the world. Such a one will find occasion to remark, that
+all, which has been suggested of the final consequences of vice, is in
+strict analogy to what we may observe in the ordinary course of human
+affairs, wherein it will appear, on a careful survey, that God has so
+assigned to things their general tendencies, and established such an
+order of causes and effects, as (however interrupted here below by
+hindrances and obstructions apparently of a temporary nature) loudly
+proclaim the principles of his moral government, and strongly suggest,
+that vice and imprudence will finally terminate in misery[12]. Not that
+this species of proof was wanted; for that which we must acknowledge, on
+weighing the evidence, to be a revelation from God, requires not the aid
+of such a confirmation: but yet, as this accordance might be expected
+between the words and the works, the past and the future ordinations of
+the same Almighty Being, it is no idle speculation to remark, that the
+visible constitution of things in the world around us, falls in with the
+representations here given from Scripture of the dreadful consequences
+of vice, nay even of what is commonly termed inconsiderateness and
+imprudence.
+
+If such then be indeed our sad condition, what is to be done? Is there
+no hope? Nothing left for us, "but a fearful looking for of judgment,
+and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries[13]?" Blessed
+be God! we are not shut up irrecoverably in this sad condition: "Turn
+you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope;" hear one who proclaims
+his designation, "to heal the broken-hearted, to preach liberty to the
+captives, and recovering of sight to the blind." They who have formed a
+true notion of their lost and helpless state, will most gladly listen to
+the sound, and most justly estimate the value of such a deliverance. And
+this is the cause, which renders it of such pressing moment not to pass
+cursorily over those important topics of the original and superinduced
+corruption, and weakness of man; a discussion painful and humiliating
+to the pride of human nature, to which the mind lends itself with
+difficulty, and hearkens with a mixture of anger and disgust; but well
+suited to our case, and like the distasteful lessons of adversity,
+permanently useful in its consequences. It is here, never let it be
+forgotten, that our foundation must be laid; otherwise our
+superstructure, whatever we may think of it, will one day or other prove
+tottering and insecure. This is therefore no metaphysical speculation,
+but a practical matter: Slight and superficial conceptions of our state
+of natural degradation, and of our insufficiency to recover from it of
+ourselves, fall in too well with our natural inconsiderateness, and
+produce that fatal insensibility to the divine warning to "flee from the
+wrath to come," which we cannot but observe to prevail so generally.
+Having no due sense of the malignity of our disease, and of its dreadful
+issue, we do not set ourselves to work in earnest to obtain the remedy,
+as to a business arduous indeed, but indispensable: for it must ever be
+carefully remembered, that this deliverance is not _forced on us_, but
+_offered to us_; we are furnished indeed with every help, and are always
+to bear in mind, that we are unable of ourselves to will or to do
+rightly; but we are plainly admonished to "work out our own salvation
+with fear and trembling[14]."--Watchful, for we are encompassed with
+dangers; "putting on the whole armour of God," for "we are beset with
+enemies."
+
+May we be enabled to shake off that lethargy which is so apt to creep
+upon us! For this end, a deep practical conviction of our natural
+depravity and weakness will be found of eminent advantage. As it is by
+this we must at first be rouzed from our fallacious security, so by this
+we must be kept wakeful and active unto the end. Let us therefore make
+it our business to have this doctrine firmly seated in our
+understandings, and radically worked into our hearts. With a view to the
+former of these objects, we should often seriously and attentively
+consider the firm grounds on which it rests. It is plainly made known to
+us by the light of nature, and irresistibly enforced on us by the
+dictates of our unassisted understandings. But lest there should be any
+so obstinately dull, as not to discern the force of the evidence
+suggested to our reason, and confirmed by all experience, or rather so
+heedless as not to notice it, the authoritative stamp of Revelation is
+superadded, as we have seen, to complete the proof; and we must
+therefore be altogether inexcusable, if we still remain unconvinced by
+such accumulated mass of argument.
+
+But we must not only _assent_ to the doctrine clearly, but _feel_ it
+strongly. To this end, let the power of habit be called in to our aid.
+Let us accustom ourselves to refer to our natural depravity, as to their
+primary cause, the sad instances of vice and folly of which we read, or
+which we see around us, or to which we feel the propensities in our own
+bosoms; ever vigilant and distrustful of ourselves, and looking with an
+eye of kindness and pity on the faults and infirmities of others, whom
+we should learn to regard with the same tender concern as that with
+which the sick are used to sympathize with those who are suffering under
+the same distemper as themselves. This lesson once well acquired, we
+shall feel the benefit of it in all our future progress; and though it
+be a lesson which we are slow to learn, it is one in which study and
+experience, the incidents of every day, and every fresh observation of
+the workings of our own hearts, will gradually concur to perfect us. Let
+it not, after all then, be our reproach, and at length our ruin, that
+these abundant means of instruction are possessed in vain.
+
+
+SECTION III.
+
+_Corruption of Human Nature.--Objection._
+
+But there is one difficulty still behind, more formidable than all the
+rest. The pride of man is loth to be humbled. Forced to abandon the plea
+of innocence, and pressed so closely that he can no longer escape from
+the conclusion to which we would drive him, some more bold objector
+faces about and stands at bay, endeavouring to justify what he cannot
+deny, "Whatever I am," he contends, "I am what my Creator made me. I
+inherited a nature, you yourself confess, depraved, and prone to evil:
+how then can I withstand the temptations to sin by which I am environed?
+If this plea cannot establish my innocence, it must excuse or at least
+extenuate my guilt. Frail and weak as I am, a Being of infinite justice
+and goodness will never try me by a rule, which however equitable in the
+case of creatures of a higher nature, is altogether disproportionate to
+mine."
+
+Let not my readers be alarmed! The writer is not going to enter into the
+discussion of the grand question concerning the origin of moral evil,
+or to attempt at large to reconcile its existence and consequent
+punishment with the acknowledged attributes and perfections of God.
+These are questions, of which, if one may judge from the little success
+with which the acutest and profoundest reasoners have been ever
+labouring to solve the difficulties they contain, the full and clear
+comprehension is above the intellect of man. Yet, as such an objection
+as that which has been stated is sometimes heard from the mouths of
+professed Christians, it must not be passed by without a few short
+observations.
+
+Were the language in question to be addressed to us by an avowed
+sceptic, though it might not be very difficult to expose to him the
+futility of _his_ reasonings, we should almost despair of satisfying him
+of the soundness of our own. We should perhaps suggest impossibilities,
+which might stand in the way of such a system as he would establish: we
+might indeed point out wherein (arguing from concessions which he would
+freely make) his pre-conceptions concerning the conduct of the Supreme
+Being, had been in fact already contradicted, particularly by the
+existence at all of natural or moral evil: and if thus proved erroneous
+in one instance, why might they not be so likewise in another? But
+though by these and similar arguments we might at length silence our
+objector, we could not much expect to bring him over to our opinions. We
+should probably do better, if we were to endeavour rather to draw him
+off from these dark and slippery regions, (slippery in truth they are to
+every human foot) and to contend with him, where we might tread with
+firmness and freedom, on sure ground, and in the light of day. Then we
+might fairly lay before him all the various arguments for the truth of
+our holy religion; arguments which have been sufficient to satisfy the
+wisest, and the best, and the ablest of men. We should afterwards
+perhaps insist on the abundant confirmation Christianity receives from
+its being exactly suited to the nature and wants of man; and we might
+conclude, with fairly putting it to him, whether all this weight of
+evidence were to be overbalanced by this one difficulty, on a subject so
+confessedly high and mysterious, considering too that he must allow, we
+see but a part (O how small a part!) of the universal creation of God,
+and that our faculties are wholly incompetent to judge of the schemes of
+his infinite wisdom. This, if the writer may be permitted to offer his
+own judgment, is (at least in general) the best mode, in the case of the
+objection now in question, of dealing with unbelievers; and to adopt the
+contrary plan, seems somewhat like that of any one, who having to
+convince some untutored Indian of the truth of the Copernican system,
+instead of beginning with plain and simple propositions, and leading him
+on to what is more abstruse and remote, should state to him at the
+outset some astonishing problems, to which the understanding can only
+yield its slow assent, when constrained by the decisive force of
+demonstration. The novice, instead of lending himself to such a mistaken
+method of instruction, would turn away in disgust, and be only hardened
+against his preceptor. But it must be remembered, that the present work
+is addressed to those who acknowledge the authority of the holy
+Scriptures. And in order to convince all such that there is somewhere or
+other, a fallacy in our objector's reasoning, it will be sufficient to
+establish that though the word of God clearly asserts the justice and
+goodness of the Supreme Being, and also the natural depravity of man,
+yet it no less clearly lays down that this natural depravity shall never
+be admitted as an excuse for sin, but that "they which have done evil,
+shall rise to the resurrection of damnation[15]."--"That the wicked
+shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God." And it
+is worthy of remark, that, as if for the very purpose of more
+effectually silencing those unbelieving doubts which are ever springing
+up in the human heart, our blessed Saviour, though the messenger of
+peace and good will to man, has again and again repeated these awful
+denunciations.
+
+Nor (it must also be remarked) are the holy Scriptures less clear and
+full in guarding us against supposing our sins, or the dreadful
+consequences of them, to be chargeable on God.--"Let no man say when he
+is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil,
+neither tempteth he any man[16]:" "The Lord is not willing that any
+should perish[17]." And again, where the idea is repelled as injurious
+to his character,--"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should
+die? saith the Lord God; and not that he should return from his ways,
+and live[18]?" "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,
+saith the Lord God[19]." Indeed almost every page of the word of God
+contains some warning or invitation to sinners; and all these, to a
+considerate mind, must unquestionably be proofs of our present position.
+
+It has been the more necessary not to leave unnoticed the objection
+which we have been now refuting, because, where not admitted to such an
+unqualified extent as altogether to take away the moral responsibility
+of man, and when not avowed in the daring language in which it has been
+above stated; if may frequently be observed to exist in an inferior
+degree: and often, when not distinctly formed into shape, it lurks in
+secret, diffusing a general cloud of doubt or unbelief, or lowering our
+standard of right, or whispering fallacious comfort, and producing a
+ruinous tranquillity. Not to anticipate what will more properly come
+under discussion, when we consider the nature and strictness of
+practical Christianity; let us here, however, remark, that though the
+holy Scriptures so clearly state the natural corruption and weakness of
+man, yet they never, in the most minute degree, countenance, but
+throughout directly oppose, the supposition to which we are often too
+forward to listen, that this corruption and weakness will be admitted as
+lowering the demands of divine justice, and in some sort palliating our
+transgressions of the laws of God. It would not be difficult to shew
+that such a notion is at war with the whole scheme of redemption by the
+atonement of Christ. But perhaps it may be enough when any such
+suggestions as those which we are condemning force themselves into the
+imagination of a Christian, to recommend it to him to silence them by
+what is their best practical answer: that if our natural condition be
+depraved and weak, our temptations numerous, and our Almighty Judge
+infinitely holy; yet that the offers to penitent sinners of pardon and
+grace, and strength, are universal and unlimited. Let it not however
+surprise us, if in all this there seem to be involved difficulties which
+we cannot fully comprehend. How many such every where present
+themselves! Scarcely is there an object around us, that does not afford
+endless matter of doubt and argument. The meanest reptile which crawls
+on the earth, nay, every herb and flower which we behold, baffles the
+imbecility of our limited inquiries. All nature calls upon us to be
+humble. Can it then be surprising if we are at a loss on this question,
+which respects, not the properties of matter, or of numbers, but the
+counsels and ways of him whose "Understanding is infinite[20]," "whose
+judgments are declared to be unsearchable, and his ways past finding
+out[21]?" In this our ignorance however, we may calmly repose ourselves
+on his own declaration, "That though clouds and darkness are round about
+him, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his
+throne[22]." Let it also be remembered, that if in Christianity some
+things are difficult, that which it most concerns us to know, is plain
+and obvious. To this it is true wisdom to attach ourselves, assenting to
+what is revealed where above our faculties, we do not say contradictory
+to them, on the credit of what is clearly discerned, and satisfactorily
+established. In truth, we are all perhaps too apt to plunge into depths,
+which it is beyond our power to fathom; and it was to warn us against
+this very error, that the inspired writer, when he has been threatening
+the people, whom God had selected as the objects of his special favour,
+with the most dreadful punishments, if they should forsake the law of
+the Lord, and has introduced surrounding nations as asking the meaning
+of the severe infliction, winds up the whole with this instructive
+admonition; "Secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those which
+are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may
+_do_ all the words of this law[23]."
+
+To any one who is seriously impressed with a sense of the critical state
+in which we are here placed, a short and uncertain space in which to
+make our peace with God, and then the last judgment, and an eternity of
+unspeakable happiness or misery, it is indeed an awful and an affecting
+spectacle, to see men thus busying themselves in these vain speculations
+of an arrogant curiosity, and trifling with their dearest, their
+everlasting interests. It is but a feeble illustration of this exquisite
+folly, to compare it to the conduct of some convicted rebel, who, when
+brought into the presence of his Sovereign, instead of seizing the
+occasion to sue for mercy, should even neglect and trifle with the
+pardon which should be offered to him, and insolently employ himself in
+prying into his Sovereign's designs, and criticising his counsels. Our
+case indeed is, in another point of comparison, but too much like that
+of the convicted rebel. But there is this grand difference--that at the
+best, his success must be uncertain, ours, if it be not our own fault,
+is sure; and while, on the one hand, our guilt is unspeakably greater
+than that of any rebel against an earthly monarch; so, on the other, we
+know that our Sovereign is "Long-suffering, and easy to be intreated;"
+more ready to grant, than we to ask, forgiveness. Well then may we adopt
+the language of the poet:
+
+    What better can we do, than - - - prostrate fall
+    Before him reverent; and there confess
+    Humbly our faults, and pardon beg; with tears
+    Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air
+    Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign
+    Of sorrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Chief defects of the Religious System of the bulk of professed
+Christians, in what regards our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy
+Spirit--with a Dissertation concerning the use of the Passions in
+Religion._
+
+
+SECT. I
+
+SCRIPTURE DOCTRINES.
+
+That "God so loved the world, as of his tender mercy to give his only
+Son Jesus Christ for our redemption:"
+
+That our blessed Lord willingly left the glory of the Father, and was
+made man;
+
+That "he was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and
+acquainted with grief:"
+
+That "he was wounded for our transgressions; that he was bruised for our
+iniquities:"
+
+That "the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all:"
+
+That at length "he humbled himself even to the death of the Cross, for
+us miserable sinners; to the end that all who with hearty repentance and
+true faith, should come to him, might not perish, but have everlasting
+life:"
+
+That he "is now at the right hand of God, making intercession" for his
+people:
+
+That "being reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we may come
+boldly unto the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help
+in time of need:"
+
+That our Heavenly Father "will surely give his Holy Spirit to them that
+ask him:"
+
+That "the Spirit of God must dwell in us;" and that "if any man have not
+the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his:"
+
+That by this divine influence "we are to be renewed in knowledge after
+the image of him who created us," and "to be filled with the fruits of
+righteousness, to the praise of the glory of his grace;"--that "being
+thus made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light," we shall
+sleep in the Lord; and that when the last trumpet shall sound, this
+corruption shall put on incorruption--and that being at length perfected
+after his likeness, we shall be admitted into his heavenly kingdom.
+
+These are the leading Doctrines concerning our Saviour, and the Holy
+Spirit, which are taught in the Holy Scriptures, and held by the Church
+of England. The truth of them, agreeably to our general plan, will be
+taken for granted. Few of those, who have been used to join in the
+established form of worship, can have been, it is hoped, so inattentive,
+as to be ignorant of these grand truths, which are to be found every
+where dispersed throughout our excellent Liturgy. Would to God it could
+be presumed, with equal confidence, that all who assent to them in
+terms, discern their force and excellency in the understanding, and feel
+their power in the affections, and their transforming influence in the
+heart. What lively emotions are they calculated to excite in us of deep
+self-abasement, and abhorrence of our sins; and of humble hope, and firm
+faith, and heavenly joy, and ardent love, and active unceasing
+gratitude!
+
+But here, it is to be feared, will be found the grand defect of the
+religion of the bulk of professed Christians; a defect, like the palsy
+at the heart, which, while in its first attack, it changes but little
+the exterior appearance of the body, extinguishes the internal principle
+of heat and motion, and soon extends its benumbing influence to the
+remotest fibres of the frame. This defect is closely connected with that
+which was the chief subject of the last chapter: "they that are whole
+need not a physician, but they that are sick." Had we duly felt the
+burthen of our sins, that they are a load which our own strength is
+wholly unable to support, and that the weight of them must finally sink
+us into perdition, our hearts would have danced at the sound of the
+gracious invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
+laden, and I will give you rest[24]." But in those who have scarcely
+felt their sins as any incumbrance, it would be mere affectation to
+pretend to very exalted conceptions of the value and acceptableness of
+the proffered deliverance. This pretence accordingly, is seldom now kept
+up; and the most superficial observer, comparing the sentiments and
+views of the bulk of the Christian world, with the articles still
+retained in their creed, and with the strong language of Scripture, must
+be struck with the amazing disproportion.
+
+To pass over the throng from whose minds Religion is altogether excluded
+by the business or the vanities of life, how is it with the more decent
+and moral? To what criterion shall we appeal? Are their hearts really
+filled with these things, and warmed by the love which they are adapted
+to inspire? Then surely their minds are apt to stray to them almost
+unseasonably; or at least to hasten back to them with eagerness, when
+escaped from the estrangment imposed by the necessary cares and business
+of life. He was a masterly describer of human nature, who thus
+pourtrayed the characters of an undissembled affection;
+
+    "Unstaid and fickle in all other things,
+    Save in the constant image of the object,
+    That is beloved."
+
+"And how," it may be perhaps replied, "do you know, but that the minds
+of these people are thus occupied? Can you look into the bosoms of men?"
+Let us appeal to a test to which we resorted in a former instance. "Out
+of the abundance of the heart," it has been pronounced, "the mouth
+speaketh."--Take these persons then in some well selected hour, and lead
+the conversation to the subject of Religion. The utmost which can be
+effected is, to bring them to talk of things in the gross. They appear
+lost in generalities; there is nothing precise and determinate, nothing
+which implies a mind used to the contemplation of its object. In vain
+you strive to bring them to speak on that topic, which one might expect
+to be ever uppermost in the hearts of redeemed sinners. They elude all
+your endeavours; and if you make mention of it yourself, it is received
+with no very cordial welcome at least, if not with unequivocal disgust;
+it is at the best a forced and formal discussion. The excellence of our
+Saviour's moral precepts, the kindness and simplicity, and self-denial
+and unblemished purity of his life, his patience and meekness in the
+hour of death, cannot indeed be spoken of but with admiration, when
+spoken of at all, as they have often extorted unwilling praise from the
+most daring and malignant infidels. But are not these mentioned as
+qualities in the abstract, rather than as the perfections and lineaments
+of our patron and benefactor and friend, "who loved us, and gave himself
+for us;" of him "who died for _our_ offences, and rose again for _our_
+justification;" who is even now at the "right hand of God, making
+intercession for _us_?" Who would think that the kindness and humanity,
+and self-denial, and patience in suffering, which we so drily commend,
+had been exerted towards _ourselves_, in acts of more than finite
+benevolence of which _we_ were to derive the benefit, in condescensions
+and labours submitted to for _our_ sakes, in pain and ignominy, endured
+for _our_ deliverance?
+
+But these grand truths are not suffered to vanish altogether from our
+remembrance. Thanks to the compilers of our Liturgy, more than to too
+many of the occupiers of our pulpits, they are forced upon our notice in
+their just bearings and connections, as often as we attend the service
+of the church. Yet is it too much to affirm, that though there
+entertained with decorum, as what belong to the day and place, and
+occupation, they are yet too generally heard of with little interest;
+like the legendary tales of some venerable historian, or other
+transactions of great antiquity, if not of doubtful credit, which,
+though important to our ancestors, relate to times and circumstances so
+different from our own, that we cannot be expected to take any great
+concern in them? We hear of them therefore with apparent indifference;
+we repeat them almost as it were by rote, assuming by turns the language
+of the deepest humiliation and of the warmest thankfulness, with a calm
+unaltered composure; and when the service of the day is ended, they are
+dismissed altogether from our thoughts, till on the return of another
+Sunday, a fresh attendance on public worship gives occasion for the
+renewed expressions of our periodical gratitude. In noticing such
+lukewarmness as this, surely the writer were to be pardoned, if he were
+to be betrayed into some warmth of condemnation. The Unitarian and
+Socinian indeed, who deny, or explain away the peculiar doctrines of the
+Gospel, may be allowed to feel, and talk of these grand truths with
+little emotion. But in those who profess a sincere belief in them, this
+coldness is insupportable. The greatest possible services of man to man
+must appear contemptible, when compared with "the unspeakable mercies of
+Christ:" mercies so dearly bought, so freely bestowed--A deliverance
+from eternal misery--The gift of "a crown of glory, that fadeth not
+away." Yet, what judgment should we form of such conduct, as is here
+censured, in the case of any one who had received some signal services
+from a fellow creature? True love is an ardent, and an active
+principle--a cold, a dormant, a phlegmatic gratitude, are contractions
+in terms. When these generous affections really exist in vigour, are we
+not ever fond of dwelling on the value, and enumerating the merits of
+our benefactor? How are we moved when any thing is asserted to his
+disparagement! How do we delight to tell of his kindness! With what
+pious care do we preserve any memorial of him, which we may happen to
+possess? How gladly do we seize any opportunity of rendering to him, or
+to those who are dear to him, any little good offices, which, though in
+themselves of small intrinsic worth, may testify the sincerity of our
+thankfulness! The very mention of his name will cheer the heart, and
+light up the countenance! And if he be now no more, and if he had made
+it his dying request that, in a way of his own appointment, we would
+occasionally meet to keep the memory of his person, and of his services
+in lively exercise; how should we resent the idea of failing in the
+performance of so sacred an obligation!
+
+Such are the genuine characters, such the natural workings of a lively
+gratitude. And we believe, without doing violence to the most
+established principles of human nature, that where the _effects_ are so
+different, the _internal principle_ is in truth the same?
+
+If the love of Christ be thus languid in the bulk of nominal Christians,
+their joy and trust in him cannot be expected to be very vigorous. Here
+again we find reason to remark, that there is nothing distinct, nothing
+specific, nothing which implies a mind acquainted with the nature, and
+familiarized with the use of the Christian's privileges, habitually
+solacing itself with the hopes held out by the Gospel, and animated by
+the sense of its high relations, and its glorious reversion.
+
+The doctrine of the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, appears
+to have met with still worse treatment. It would be to convey a very
+inadequate idea of the scantiness of the conceptions on this head, of
+the bulk of the Christian world, to affirm merely, that they are too
+little conscious of the inefficacy of their own unassisted endeavours
+after holiness of heart and life, and that they are not daily employed
+in humbly and diligently using the appointed means for the reception and
+cultivation of the divine assistance. It would hardly be to go beyond
+the truth to assert, that for the most part their notions on this
+subject are so confused and faint, that they can scarcely be said in any
+fair sense to believe the doctrine at all.
+
+The writer of these sheets is by no means unapprized of the objections
+which he may expect from those, whose opinions he has been so freely
+condemning. He is prepared to hear it urged, that often where there have
+been the strongest pretences to the religious affections, of which the
+want has now been censured, there has been little or nothing of the
+reality of them; and that even omitting the instances (which however
+have been but too frequent) of studied hypocrisy, what have assumed to
+themselves the name of religious affections, have been merely the
+flights of a lively imagination, or the working of a heated brain; in
+particular, that this love of our Saviour, which has been so warmly
+recommended, is no better than a vain fervor, which dwells only in the
+disordered mind of the enthusiast. That Religion is of a more steady
+nature; of a more sober and manly quality; and that she rejects with
+scorn, the support of a mere feeling, so volatile and indeterminate, so
+trivial and useless, as that with which we would associate her; a
+feeling varying in different men, and even in the same man at different
+times, according to the accidental flow of the animal spirits; a
+feeling, lastly, of which it may perhaps be said, we are from our very
+nature, hardly susceptible towards an invisible Being.
+
+"As to the operations of the Holy Spirit," it may probably be further
+urged, that "it is perhaps scarcely worth while to spend much time in
+inquiring into the theory, when, in practice at least, it is manifest,
+that there is no sure criterion whereby any one can ascertain the
+reality of them, even in his own case, much less in that of another. All
+we know is, that pretenders to these extraordinary assistances, have
+never been wanting to abuse the credulity of the vulgar, and to try the
+patience of the wise. From the canting hypocrites and wild fanatics of
+the last century, to their less dangerous, chiefly because less
+successful, descendants of the present day, we hear the same unwarranted
+claims, the same idle tales, the same low cant; and we may discern not
+seldom the same mean artifices and mercenary ends. The doctrine, to say
+the best of it, can only serve to favour the indolence of man, while
+professing to furnish him with a compendious method of becoming wise and
+good, it supersedes the necessity of his own personal labours. Quitting
+therefore all these slothful and chimerical speculations, it is true
+wisdom to attach ourselves to what is more solid and practical; to the
+work which you will not yourself deny to be sufficiently difficult to
+find us of itself full employment: the work of rectifying the disorders
+of the passions, and of implanting and cultivating the virtues of the
+moral character."--"It is the service of the understanding which God
+requires of us, which you would degrade into a mere matter of bodily
+temperament, and imaginary impulses. You are contending for that which
+not only is altogether unworthy of our Divine Master, but which, with
+considerate men, has ever brought his religion into suspicion and
+disrepute, and under a shew of honouring him, serves only to injure and
+discredit his cause." Our Objector, warming as he proceeds, will perhaps
+assume a more impatient tone. "Have not these doctrines," he may
+exclaim, "been ever perverted to purposes the most disgraceful to the
+Religion of Jesus? If you want an instance, look to the standard of the
+inquisition, and behold the pious Dominicans torturing their miserable
+victims for the Love of Christ[25]. Or would you rather see the effects
+of your principles on a larger scale, and _by wholesale_ (if the phrase
+may be pardoned;) cast your eyes across the Atlantic, and let your zeal
+be edified by the holy activity of Cortez and Pizarro, and their
+apostles of the western hemisphere. To what else have been owing the
+extensive ravages of national persecutions, and religious wars and
+crusades; whereby rapacity, and pride, and cruelty, sheltering
+themselves (sometimes even from the furious bigots themselves) under the
+mask of this specious principle, have so often afflicted the world? The
+Prince of Peace has been made to assume the port of a ferocious
+conqueror, and forgetting the message of good will to men, has issued
+forth like a second Scourge of the Earth[26], to plague and desolate the
+human species."
+
+
+_Objection discussed._
+
+That the sacred name of Religion has been too often prostituted to the
+most detestable purposes; that furious bigots and bloody persecutors,
+and self-interested hypocrites of all qualities and dimensions, from the
+rapacious leader of an army, to the canting oracle of a congregation,
+have falsely called themselves Christians, are melancholy and
+humiliating truths, which (as none so deeply lament them) none will more
+readily admit, than they who best understand the nature, and are most
+concerned for the honour of Christianity. We are ready to acknowledge
+also without dispute, that the religious affections, and the doctrine of
+divine assistances, have almost at all times been more or less disgraced
+by the false pretences and extravagant conduct of wild fanatics and
+brain-sick enthusiasts. All this, however, is only as it happens in
+other instances, wherein the depravity of man perverts the bounty of
+God. Why is it here only to be made an argument, that there is danger of
+abuse? So is there also in the case of all the potent and operative
+principles, whether in the natural or moral world. Take for an instance
+the powers and properties of matter. These were doubtless designed by
+Providence for our comfort and well-being; yet they are often
+misapplied to trifling purposes, and still more frequently turned into
+so many agents of misery and death. On this fact indeed is founded the
+well-known maxim, not more trite than just, that "the best things when
+corrupted become the worst;" a maxim which is especially just in the
+instance of Religion. For in this case it is not merely, as in some
+others, that a great power, when mischievously applied, must be hurtful
+in proportion to its strength; but that the very principle on which in
+general we depend for restraining and retarding the progress of evil,
+not only ceases to interpose any kindly check, but is actively operative
+in the opposite direction. But will you therefore discard Religion
+altogether? The experiment was lately tried in a neighbouring country,
+and professedly on this very ground. The effects however with which it
+was attended, do not much encourage its repetition. But suppose Religion
+were discarded, then Liberty remains to plague the world; a power which
+though when well employed, the dispenser of light and happiness, has
+been often proved, and eminently in this very instance, to be capable
+when abused, of becoming infinitely mischievous. Well then, extinguish
+Liberty. Then what more abused by false pretenders, than Patriotism?
+Well, extinguish Patriotism. But then the wicked career to which we have
+adverted, must have been checked but for Courage. Blot out Courage--and
+so might you proceed to extinguish one by one, Reason, and Speech, and
+Memory, and all the discriminating prerogatives of man. But perhaps more
+than enough has been already urged in reply to an objection, which
+bottoms on ground so indefensible, as that which would equally warrant
+our condemning any physical or moral faculty altogether, on account of
+its being occasionally abused.
+
+As to the position of our Opponent, that there is no way whereby the
+validity of any pretensions to the religious affections may be
+ascertained; it must partly be admitted. Doubtless we are not able
+always to read the hearts of men, and to discover their real characters;
+and hence it is, that we in some measure lie open to the false and
+hypocritical pretences which are brought forward against us so
+triumphantly. But then these pretences no more prove all similar claims
+to be founded in falsehood and hypocrisy, than there having been many
+false and interested pretenders to wisdom and honesty, would prove that
+there can be no such thing as a wise or an honest man. We do not argue
+thus but where our reason is under a corrupt bias. Why should we be so
+much surprised and scandalized, when these importers are detected in the
+church of Christ? It is no more than our blessed Master himself taught
+us to expect; and when the old difficulty is stated, "didst thou not sow
+good seed in thy field, whence then hath it tares?" his own answer
+furnishes the best solution,--"an enemy hath done this."--Hypocrisy is
+indeed _detestable_, and enthusiasm sufficiently mischievous to justify
+our guarding against its approaches with jealous care. Yet it may not be
+improper to take this occasion for observing, that we are now and then
+apt to draw too unfavourable conclusions from unpleasant appearances,
+which may perhaps be chiefly or altogether owing to gross or confused
+conceptions, or to a disgusting formality of demeanor, or to
+indeterminate, low, or improperly familiar expressions. The mode and
+language, in which a vulgar man will express himself on the subject of
+Religion, will probably be vulgar, and it is difficult for people of
+literature and refinement not to be unreasonably shocked by such
+vulgarities. But we should at least endeavour to correct the rash
+judgments which we may be disposed to form on these occasions, and
+should learn to recognize and to prize a sound texture and just
+configuration, though disguised beneath a homely or uncouth drapery. It
+was an Apostle who declared that he had come (to the learned and
+accomplished Grecians too) "not with excellency of speech, or the wisdom
+of words." From these he had studiously abstained, lest he should have
+seemed to owe his success rather to the graces of oratory, than to the
+efficacy of his doctrines, and to the divine power with which they were
+accompanied. Even in our own times, when, the extraordinary operations
+and miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit having ceased, the necessity of
+study and preparation, and of attention to manner as well as matter, in
+order to qualify men to become teachers of religion, are no longer
+superseded, yet it is no more than an act of justice explicitly to
+remark, that a body of Christians, which from the peculiarly offensive
+grossnesses of language in use among them, had, not without reason,
+excited suspicions of the very worst nature, have since reclaimed their
+character[27], and have perhaps excelled all mankind in solid and
+unequivocal proofs of the love of Christ, and of the most ardent, and
+active, and patient zeal in his service. It is a zeal tempered with
+prudence, softened with meekness, soberly aiming at great ends by the
+gradual operation of well adapted means, supported by a courage which no
+danger can intimidate, and a quiet constancy which no hardships can
+exhaust.
+
+
+SECT. II.
+
+_On the Admission of the Passions into Religion._
+
+The objection of our Opponent, that by insisting on the obligation of
+making our blessed Saviour the object of our religious affections, we
+are degrading the worship of the understanding, and are substituting and
+raising up a set of mere feelings in its stead, is one which deserves
+our most serious consideration. If it be just, it is decisive; for ours
+must be unquestionably "a reasonable service[28]." The Objector must
+mean, either, that these affections are unreasonable in themselves, or
+that they are misplaced in religion. He can scarcely however intend that
+the affections are in their own nature unreasonable. To suppose him to
+maintain this position, were to suppose him ignorant of what every
+schoolboy knows of the mechanism of the human mind. We shall therefore
+take it for granted, that this cannot be his meaning, and proceed to
+examine the latter part of the alternative. Here also it may either be
+intended, that the affections are misplaced in Religion, _generally_, or
+that our blessed Saviour is not the proper object of them. The strain of
+our Objector's language, no less than the objections themselves which
+he has urged, render it evident that (perhaps without excluding the
+latter position) the former is in full possession of his mind.
+
+This notion of the affections being out of place in Religion, is indeed
+an opinion which appears to be generally prevalent. The affections are
+regarded as the strong-holds of enthusiasm. It is therefore judged most
+expedient to act, as prudent generals are used to do, when they raze the
+fortress, or spike up the cannon, which are likely to fall into the
+hands of an enemy. Mankind are apt to be the dupes of misapplied terms;
+and the progress of the persuasion now in question, has been
+considerably aided by an abuse of language, not sufficiently checked in
+its first advances, whereby that species of Religion which is opposite
+to the warm and affectionate kind, has been suffered almost without
+disturbance, to usurp to itself the epithet of _rational_. But let not
+this claim be too hastily admitted. Let the position in question be
+thoroughly and impartially discussed, and it will appear, if I mistake
+not, to be a gross and pernicious error. If amputation be indeed
+indispensable, we must submit to it; but we may surely expect to be
+heard with patience, or rather with favour and indulgence, while we
+proceed to shew that there is no need to have recourse to so desperate
+an enemy. The discussion will necessarily draw us into length. But our
+prolixity will not be greater than may well be claimed by the importance
+of the subject, especially as it scarcely seems to have hitherto
+sufficiently engaged the attention of writers on the subject of
+Religion.
+
+It cannot methinks but afford a considerable presumption against the
+doctrine which we are about to combat, that it proposes to exclude at
+once from the service of Religion so grand a part of the composition of
+man; that in this our noblest employment it condemns as worse than
+useless, all the most active and operative principles of our nature. One
+cannot but suppose that like the organs of the body, so the elementary
+qualities and original passions of the mind were all given us for
+valuable purposes by our all-wise Creator. It is indeed one of the sad
+evidences of our fallen condition, that they are now perpetually
+tumultuating and rebelling against the powers of reason and conscience,
+to which they should be subject. But even if Revelation had been silent,
+natural reason might have in some degree presumed, that it would be the
+effect of a Religion which should come from God, completely to repair
+the consequences of our superinduced depravity. The schemes of mere
+human wisdom had indeed tacitly confessed, that this was a task beyond
+their strength. Of the two most celebrated systems of philosophy, the
+one expressly confirmed the usurpation of the passions, while the other,
+despairing of being able to regulate, saw nothing left but to extinguish
+them. The former acted like a weak government, which gives independence
+to a rebellious province, which it cannot reduce. The latter formed its
+boasted scheme merely upon the plan of that barbarous policy, which
+composes the troubles of a turbulent land by the extermination of its
+inhabitants. This is the calm, not of order, but of inaction; it is not
+tranquillity, but the stillness of death;
+
+    Trucidare falso nomine imperium, & ubi solitudinem faciunt,
+    pacem appellant--
+
+Christianity, we might hope, would not be driven to any such wretched
+expedients; nor in fact does she condescend to them. They only thus
+undervalue her strength, who mistake her character, and are ignorant of
+her powers. It is her peculiar glory, and her main office, to bring all
+the faculties of our nature into their just subordination and
+dependence; that so the whole man, complete in all his functions, may be
+restored to the true ends of his being, and be devoted, entire and
+harmonious, to the service and glory of God. "My son, give me thine
+_heart_"--"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy _heart_:"--Such
+are the direct and comprehensive claims which are made on us in the holy
+Scriptures. We can scarcely indeed look into any part of the sacred
+volume without meeting abundant proofs, that it is the religion of the
+Affections which God particularly requires. Love, Zeal, Gratitude, Joy,
+Hope, Trust, are each of them specified; and are not allowed to us as
+weaknesses, but enjoined on us as our bounden duty, and commended to us
+as our acceptable worship. Where passages are so numerous, there would
+be no end of particular citations. Let it be sufficient therefore, to
+refer the reader to the word of God. There let him observe too, that as
+the lively exercise of the passions towards their legitimate object, is
+always spoken of with praise, so a cold, hard, unfeeling heart is
+represented as highly criminal. Lukewarmness is stated to be the object
+of God's disgust and aversion; zeal and love, of his favour and delight;
+and the taking away of the heart of stone and the implanting of a warmer
+and more tender nature in its stead, is specifically promised as the
+effect of his returning favour, and the work of his renewing grace. It
+is the prayer of an inspired teacher, in behalf of those for whom he was
+most interested, "that their love" (already acknowledged to be great)
+"might abound yet more and more:" Those modes of worship are set forth
+and prescribed, which are best calculated to excite the dormant
+affections, and to maintain them in lively exercise; and the aids of
+music and singing are expressly superadded to increase their effect. If
+we look to the most eminent of the Scripture Characters, we shall find
+them warm, zealous, and affectionate. When engaged in their favourite
+work of celebrating the goodness of their Supreme Benefactor, their
+souls appear to burn within them, their hearts kindle into rapture; the
+powers of language are inadequate to the expression of their transports;
+and they call on all nature to swell the chorus, and to unite with them
+in hallelujahs of gratitude, and joy, and praise. The man after God's
+own heart most of all abounds in these glowing effusions; and his
+compositions appear to have been given us in order to set the tone, as
+it were, to all succeeding generations. Accordingly (to quote the words
+of a late excellent prelate[29], who was himself warmed with the same
+heavenly flame) "in the language of this divine book, the praises of the
+church have been offered up to the Throne of Grace from age to age."
+Again, when it pleased God to check the future apostle of the Gentiles
+in his wild career, and to make him a monument of transforming grace;
+was the force of his affections diminished, or was it not only that
+their direction was changed? He brought his affections entire and
+unabated into the service of his blessed Master. His zeal now burned
+even with an increase of brightness; and no intenseness, no continuance
+of suffering could allay its ardor, or damp the fervors of his
+triumphant exultations. Finally--The worship and service of the
+glorified spirits in Heaven, is not represented to us a cold
+intellectual investigation, but as the worship and service of gratitude
+and love. And surely it will not be disputed, that it should be even
+here the humble endeavour of those, who are promised while on earth "to
+be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,"
+to bring their hearts into a capacity for joining in those everlasting
+praises.
+
+BUT it may not be unadvisable for the writer here to guard against a
+mistaken supposition, from which the mind of our Objector by no means
+appears exempt, that the force of the religious affections is to be
+mainly estimated (I had almost said by the thermometer) by the degree of
+mere animal fervor, by ardors, and transports, and raptures, of which,
+from constitutional temperament, a person may be easily susceptible; or
+into which daily experience must convince us, that people of strong
+conceptions and of warm passions may work themselves without much
+difficulty, where their hearts are by no means truly or deeply
+interested. Every tolerable actor can attest the truth of this remark.
+These high degrees of the passions bad men may experience, good men may
+want. They may be affected; they may be genuine; but whether genuine or
+affected, they form not the true standard by which the real nature or
+strength of the religious affections is to be determined. To ascertain
+these points, we must examine, whether they appear to be grounded in
+knowledge, to have their root in strong and just conceptions of the
+great and manifold excellences of their object, or to be ignorant,
+unmeaning, or vague: whether they are natural and easy, or constrained
+and forced; wakeful and apt to fix on their great objects, delighting in
+their proper nutriment (if the expression may be allowed) the exercises
+of prayer and praise, and religious contemplation; or voluntarily
+omitting offered occasions of receiving it, looking forward to them with
+little expectation, looking back on them with little complacency, and
+being disappointed of them with little regret: by observing whether
+these religious affections are merely occasional visitants, or the
+abiding inmates of the soul: whether they have got the mastery over the
+vicious passions and propensities, with which in their origin, and
+nature, and tendency, they are at open variance; or whether if the
+victory be not yet complete, the war is at least constant, and the
+breach irreconcilable: whether they moderate and regulate all the
+inferior appetites and desires which are culpable only in their excess,
+thus striving to reign in the bosom with a settled undisputed
+predominance: by examining, whether above all they manifest themselves
+by prompting to the active discharge of the duties of life, the
+personal, and domestic, and relative, and professional, and social, and
+civil duties. Here the wideness of their range and the universality of
+their influence, will generally serve to distinguish them from those
+partial efforts of diligence and self-denial, to which mankind are
+prompted by subordinate motives. All proofs other than this deduced from
+conduct, are in some degree ambiguous. This, this only, whether we
+argue from Reason or from Scripture, is a sure infallible criterion.
+From the daily incidents of conjugal and domestic life, we learn that a
+heat of affection occasionally vehement, but superficial and transitory,
+may consist too well with a course of conduct, exhibiting incontestable
+proofs of neglect and unkindness. But the passion, which alone the Holy
+Scriptures dignify with the name of Love, is a deep, not a superficial
+feeling; a fixed and permanent, not an occasional emotion. It proves the
+validity of its title, by actions corresponding with its nature, by
+practical endeavours to gratify the wishes and to promote the interests
+of the object of affection. "If a man love me, he will keep my sayings."
+"This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." This therefore
+is the best standard by which to try the quality, or, the quality being
+ascertained, to estimate the strength of the religious affections.
+Without suffering ourselves to derive too much complacency from
+transient fervors of devotion, we should carefully and frequently prove
+ourselves by this less dubitable test; impartially examining our daily
+conduct; and often comparing our actual, with our possible services, the
+fair amount of our exertions, with our natural or acquired means and
+opportunities of usefulness.
+
+After this large explanation, the prolixity of which will we trust be
+pardoned on account of the importance of the subject, and the danger of
+mistakes both on the right hand and on the left, we are perfectly ready
+to concede to the objector, whose arguments we have so long been
+considering, that the religious affections must be expected to be more
+or less lively in different men, and in the same man at different times,
+in proportion to natural tempers, ages, situations, and habits of life.
+But, to found an objection on this ground, would be as unreasonable as
+it were altogether to deny the obligation of the precepts, which command
+us to relieve the necessities of the indigent, because the infinitely
+varying circumstances of mankind must render it impossible to specify
+beforehand the sum which each individual ought on the whole to allot to
+this purpose, or to fix in every particular instance, on any determinate
+measure, and mode of contribution. To the one case no less than to the
+other, we may apply the maxim of an eminent writer; "An honest heart is
+the best casuist." He who every where but in Religion is warm and
+animated, there only phlegmatic and cold, can hardly expect (especially
+if this coldness be not the subject of unfeigned humiliation and sorrow)
+that his plea on the ground of natural temper should be admitted; any
+more than that of a person who should urge his poverty as a
+justification of his not relieving the wants of the necessitous, at the
+very time that he should be launching out into expence without
+restraint, on occasions in which he should be really prompted by his
+inclinations. In both cases, "it is the _willing_ mind which is
+required." Where that is found "every man will be judged according to
+what he hath, and not according to what he hath not[30]."
+
+After the decisive proofs already adduced from the word of God, of the
+unreasonableness of the objection to the admission of the passions into
+Religion, all farther arguments may appear superfluous to any one who is
+disposed to bow to scriptural authority. Yet the point is of so much
+importance, and it is to be feared, so little regarded, that it may not
+be amiss to continue the discussion. The best results of our
+understanding will be shewn to fall in with what clearly appears to be
+the authoritative language of revelation; and to call in the aid of the
+affections to the service of Religion, will prove to be not only what
+sober reason may permit, as in some sort allowable; but to be that which
+she clearly and strongly dictates to our deliberate judgments, as being
+what the circumstances of our natural condition indispensably require.
+We have every one of us a work to accomplish, wherein our eternal
+interests are at stake; a work to which we are naturally indisposed. We
+live in a world abounding with objects which distract our attention and
+divert our endeavours; and a deadly enemy is ever at hand to seduce and
+beguile us. If we persevere indeed, success is certain; but our efforts
+must know no remission. There is a call on us for vigorous and continual
+resolution, self-denial, and activity. Now, man is not a being of mere
+intellect.
+
+    Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor,
+
+is a complaint which, alas! we all of us might daily utter. The
+slightest solicitation of appetite is often able to draw us to act in
+opposition to our clearest judgment, our highest interests, and most
+resolute determinations. Sickness, poverty, disgrace, and even eternal
+misery itself, sometimes in vain solicit our regards; they are all
+excluded from the view, and thrust as it were beyond the sphere of
+vision, by some poor unsubstantial transient object, so minute and
+contemptible as almost to escape the notice of the eye of reason.
+
+These observations are more strikingly confirmed in our religious
+concerns than in any other; because in them the interests at stake are
+of transcendant importance: but they hold equally in every instance
+according to its measure, wherein there is a call for laborious,
+painful, and continued exertions, from which any one is likely to be
+deterred by obstacles, or seduced by the solicitations of pleasure. What
+then it to be done in the case of any such arduous and necessary
+undertaking? The answer is obvious--You should endeavour not only to
+convince the understanding, but also to affect the heart; and for this
+end, you must secure the reinforcement of the passions. This is indeed
+the course which would be naturally followed by every man of common
+understanding, who should know that some one for whom he was deeply
+interested, a child, for instance, or a brother, were about to enter on
+a long, difficult, perilous, and critical adventure, wherein success was
+to be honour and affluence; defeat was to be contempt and ruin. And
+still more, if the parent were convinced that his child possessed
+faculties which, strenuously and unremittingly exerted, would prove
+equal to all the exigences of the enterprize, but knew him also to be
+volatile and inconstant, and had reason to doubt his resolution and his
+vigilance; how would the friendly monitor's endeavour be redoubled, so
+to possess his pupil's mind with the worth and dignity of the
+undertaking, that there should be no opening for the entrance of any
+inferior consideration!--"Weigh well (he would say) the value of the
+object for which you are about to contend, and contemplate and study its
+various excellences, till your whole soul be on fire for its
+acquisition. Consider too, that, if you fail, misery and infamy are
+united in the alternative which awaits you. Let not the mistaken notion
+of its being a safe and easy service, for a moment beguile you into the
+discontinuance or remission of your efforts. Be aware of your imminent
+danger, and at the same time know your true security. It is a service of
+labour and peril; but one wherein the powers which you possess,
+strenuously and perseveringly exerted, cannot but crown you with
+victory. Accustom yourself to look first to the dreadful consequences of
+failure; then fix your eye on the glorious prize which is before you;
+and when your strength begins to fail, and your spirits are well nigh
+exhausted, let the animating view rekindle your resolution, and call
+forth in renewed vigour the fainting energies of your soul."
+
+It was the remark of an unerring observer, "The children of this world
+are wiser in their generation than the children of light." And it is
+indisputably true, that in religion we have to argue and plead with men
+for principles of action, the wisdom and expediency of which are
+universally acknowledged in matters of worldly concern. So it is in the
+instance before us. The case which has been just described, is an exact,
+but a faint representation of our condition in this life. Frail and
+"infirm of purpose," we have a business to execute of supreme and
+indispensable necessity. Solicitations to neglect it every where abound:
+the difficulties and dangers are numerous and urgent; and the night of
+death cometh, how soon we know not, "when no man can work." All this is
+granted. It seems to be a state of things wherein one should look out
+with solicitude for some powerful stimulants. Mere knowledge is
+confessedly too weak. The affections alone remain to supply the
+deficiency. They precisely meet the occasion, and suit the purposes
+intended. Yet, when we propose to fit ourselves for our great
+undertaking, by calling them in to our help, we are to be told that we
+are acting contrary to reason. Is this reasonable, to strip us first of
+our armour of proof, and then to send us to the sharpest of encounters?
+To summon us to the severest labours, but first to rob us of the
+precious cordials which should brace our sinews and recruit our
+strength?
+
+Let these pretended advocates for reason at length then confess their
+folly, and do justice to the superior wisdom as well as goodness of our
+heavenly Instructor, who better understanding our true condition, and
+knowing our frowardness and inadvertency, has most reasonably as well as
+kindly pointed out and enjoined on us the use of those aids which may
+counteract our infirmities; who commanding the effect, has commanded
+also the means whereby it may be accomplished.
+
+And now, if the use of the affections in religion, in _general_, be at
+length shewn to be conformable to reason, it will not require many words
+to prove that our blessed Saviour is the proper object of them. We know
+that love, gratitude, joy, hope, trust, (the affections in question)
+have all their appropriate objects. Now it must be at once conceded,
+that if these appropriate objects be not exhibited, it is perfectly
+unreasonable to expect that the correspondent passions should be
+excited. If we ask for love, in the case of an object which has no
+excellence or desirableness; for gratitude, where no obligation has
+been conferred; for joy, where there is no just cause of
+self-congratulation; for hope, where nothing is expected; for trust,
+where there exists no ground of reliance; then indeed, we must kiss the
+rod, and patiently submit to correction. This would be indeed Egyptian
+bondage, to demand the effects without the means of producing them. Is
+the case then so? Are we ready to adopt the language of the avowed
+enemies of our adorable Saviour; and again to say of him "in whom
+dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," that "he hath no form
+nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
+should desire him[31]?" Is it no obligation, that he who "thought it not
+robbery to be equal with God," should yet for our sakes "make himself of
+no reputation, and take upon him the form of a servant, and be made in
+the likeness of men; and humble himself, and become obedient unto death,
+even the death of the cross[32]?" Is it no cause of "_joy_, that to us
+is born a Saviour[33]", by whom we may "be delivered from the power of
+darkness; and be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
+saints in light[34]?" Can there be a "_hope_ comparable to that of our
+calling[35]"--"Which is Christ in us, the hope of glory[36]?" Can there
+be a _trust_ to be preferred to the reliance on "Christ Jesus; who is
+the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever[37]?" Surely, if our Opponent
+be not dead to every generous emotion, he cannot look his own objection
+in the face, without a blush of shame and indignation.
+
+
+SECTION III.
+
+_Consideration of the Reasonableness of Affections towards an invisible
+Being._
+
+But forced at last to retreat from his favourite position, and compelled
+to acknowledge that the religious affections towards our blessed Saviour
+are not unreasonable; he still however maintains the combat, suggesting
+that by the very constitution of our nature, we are not susceptible of
+them towards an invisible Being; in whose case, it will be added, we are
+shut out from all those means of communication and intercourse, which
+knit and cement the union between man and man.
+
+We mean not to deny that there is something in this objection. It might
+even seem to plead the authority of Scripture in its favour--"He that
+loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he
+hath not seen[38]?" And it was indeed no new remark in Horace's days,
+
+    Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures,
+    Quam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus.
+
+We receive impressions more readily from visible objects, we feel them
+more strongly, and retain them more durably. But though it must be
+granted that this circumstance makes it a more difficult task to
+preserve the affections in question in a healthful and vigorous state;
+is it thereby rendered impossible? This were indeed a most precipitate
+conclusion; and any one who should be disposed to admit the truth of it,
+might be at least induced to hesitate, when he should reflect that the
+argument applies equally against the possibility of the love of God, a
+duty of which the most cursory reader of Scripture, if he admit its
+divine authority, cannot but acknowledge the indispensable obligation.
+But we need only look back to the Scripture proofs which have been
+lately adduced, to be convinced that the religious affections are
+therein inculcated on us, as a matter of high and serious obligation.
+Hence we may be assured that the impossibility stated by our Opponent
+does not exist.
+
+Let us scrutinize this matter, however, a little more minutely, and we
+shall be compelled to acknowledge, though the conclusion may make
+against ourselves, that the objection vanishes when we fairly and
+accurately investigate the circumstances of the case. With this view,
+let us look a little into the nature of the affections of the human
+mind, and endeavour to ascertain whence it is that they derive their
+nutriment, and are found from experience to increase in strength.
+
+The state of man is such, that his feelings are not the obedient
+servants of his reason, prompt at once to follow its dictates, as to
+their direction, and their measure. Excellence is the just object of
+love; good in expectancy, of hope; evil to be apprehended, of fear; our
+fellow creatures' misfortunes, and sufferings, constitute the just
+objects of pity. Each of these passions, it might be thought, would be
+excited, in proportion to what our reason should inform us were the
+magnitude and consequent claims of its corresponding object. But this is
+by no means the case. Take first for a proof the instance of pity. We
+read of slaughtered thousands with less emotion, than we hear the
+particulars of a shocking accident which has happened in the next
+street; the distresses of a novel, which at the same time we know to be
+fictitious, affect us more than the dry narrative of a battle. We become
+so much interested by these incidents of the imagination (aware all the
+while that they are merely such) that we cannot speedily banish them
+from our thoughts, nor recover the tone of our minds; and often, we
+scarcely bring ourselves to lay down our book at the call of real
+misfortune, of which we go perhaps to the relief, on a principle of
+duty, but with little sense of interest or emotion of tenderness. It
+were easy to shew that it is much the same in the case of the other
+affections. Whatever be the cause of this disproportion, which (as
+metaphysics fall not within our province) we shall not stop to examine,
+the fact is undeniable. There appears naturally to be a certain
+strangeness between the passion and its object, which familiarity and
+the power of habit must gradually overcome. You must contrive to bring
+them into _close contact_; they must be jointed and glued together by
+the particularities of little incidents. Thus in the production of heat
+in the physical world, the flint and the steel produce not the effect
+without collision; the rudest Barbarian will tell us the necessity of
+attrition, and the chemist of mixture. Now, an object, it is admitted,
+is brought into _closer contact_ with its corresponding passion, by
+being seen and conversed with. This we grant is one way; but does it
+follow that there is no other? To assert this, would be something like
+maintaining, in contradiction to universal experience, that objects of
+vision alone are capable of attracting our regard. But nothing can be
+more unfounded than such a supposition. It might appear to be too
+nearly approaching to the ludicrous, to suggest as an example to the
+contrary, the metaphysician's attachment to his insubstantial
+speculations, or the zeal displayed in the pursuit,
+
+    Extra flammantia moenia mundi,
+
+of abstract sciences, where there is no idea of bringing them "within
+the visible diurnal sphere" to the vulgarity of practical application.
+The instance of the novel before-mentioned, proves, that we may be
+extremely affected by what we know to be merely ideal incidents and
+beings. By much thinking or talking of any one; by using our minds to
+dwell on his excellences; by placing him in imaginary situations which
+interest and affect us; we find ourselves becoming insensibly more and
+more attached to him: whereas it is the surest expedient for
+extinguishing an attachment which already exists, to engage in such
+occupations or society, as may cause our casual thoughts and more fixed
+meditations to be diverted from the object of it. Ask a mother who has
+been long separated from her child, especially if he has been in
+circumstances of honour, or of danger, to draw her attention to him, and
+to keep it in wakefulness and exercise, and she will tell you, that so
+far from becoming less dear, he appears to have grown more the object of
+her affections. She seems to herself to love him even better than the
+child who has been living under her roof, and has been daily in her
+view. How does she rejoice in his good fortune, and weep over his
+distresses! With what impatience does she anticipate the time of his
+return!
+
+We find therefore that sight and personal intercourse do not seem
+necessary to the production or increase of attachment, where the means
+of _close contact_ have been afforded; but on the other hand, if an
+object have been prevented from coming into _close contact_, sight and
+personal intercourse are not sufficient to give it the power of exciting
+the affections in proportion to its real magnitude. Suppose the case of
+a person whom we have often seen, and may have occasionally conversed
+with, and of whom we have been told in the general, that he possesses
+extraordinary merits. We assent to the assertion. But if we have no
+knowledge of particulars, no close acquaintance with him, nothing in
+short which brings his merits home to us, they interest us less than
+what we know to be a far inferior degree of the very same qualities in
+one of our common associates. A parent has several children, all
+constantly under his eye, and equally dear to him. Yet if any one of
+them be taken ill, it is brought into so much _closer contact_ than
+before, that it seems to absorb and engross the parent's whole
+affection. Thus then, though it will not be denied that an object by
+being visible may thereby excite its corresponding affection with more
+facility; yet this is manifestly far from being the prime consideration.
+And so far are we from being the slaves of the sense of vision, that a
+familiar acquaintance with the intrinsic excellences of an object,
+aided, it must be admitted, by the power of habit, will render us almost
+insensible to the impressions which its outward form conveys, and able
+entirely to lose the consciousness of an unsightly exterior.
+
+We may be permitted to remark, that the foregoing observations furnish
+an explanation, less discreditable than that which has been sometimes
+given, of an undoubted phænomenon in the human mind, that the greatest
+public misfortunes, however the understanding may lecture, are apt
+really to affect our feelings less than the most trivial disaster which
+happens to ourselves. An eminent writer[39] scarcely overstated the
+point when he observed, "that it would occasion a man of humanity more
+real disturbance to know that he was the next morning to lose his little
+finger, than to hear that the great empire of China had been suddenly
+swallowed up by an earthquake. The thoughts of the former, would keep
+him awake all night; in the latter case, after making many melancholy
+reflections on the precariousness of human life, and the vanity of all
+the labours of man which could be thus annihilated in a moment; after a
+little speculation too perhaps on the causes of the disaster, and its
+effects in the political and commercial world; he would pursue his
+business or his pleasure with the same ease and tranquillity as if no
+such accident had happened; and snore at night with the most profound
+serenity over the ruin of a hundred million of his fellow creatures.
+Selfishness is not the cause of this, for the most unfeeling brute on
+earth would surely think nothing of the loss of a finger, if he could
+thereby prevent so dreadful a calamity." This doctrine of _contact_
+which has been opened above, affords a satisfactory solution; and from
+all which has been said (the writer has reason perhaps to apologize for
+the length of the discussion) the circumstances, by which the affections
+of the mind towards any particular object are generated and
+strengthened, may be easily collected. The chief of these appear to be,
+whatever tends to give a distinct and lively impression of the object,
+by setting before us its minute parts, and by often drawing towards it
+the thoughts and affections, so as to invest it by degrees with a
+confirmed ascendency: whatever tends to excite and to keep in exercise a
+lively interest in its behalf: in other words; full knowledge, distinct
+and frequent mental entertainment, and pathetic contemplations.
+Supposing these means to have been used in any given degree, it may be
+expected, that they will be more or less efficacious, in proportion as
+the intrinsic qualities of the object afford greater or less scope for
+their operation, and more or fewer materials with which to work. Can it
+then be conceived, that they will be of no avail when steadily practised
+in the case of our Redeemer! If the principles of love, and gratitude,
+and joy, and hope, and trust, are not utterly extinct within us, they
+cannot but be called forth by the various corresponding objects which
+that blessed contemplation would gradually bring forth to our view. Well
+might the language of the apostle be addressed to Christians, "Whom
+having _not seen_ ye love; in whom, though now ye _see him not_, yet
+believing, ye _rejoice_ with joy unspeakable, and full of glory[40]."
+
+BUT fresh considerations pour in to render in this instance, the plea of
+its being impossible to love an invisible being, still more invalid. Our
+blessed Saviour, if we may be permitted so to say, is not removed far
+from us; and the various relations in which we stand towards him, seem
+purposely made known to us, in order to furnish so many different bonds
+of connection with him, and consequent occasions of continual
+intercourse. He exhibits not himself to us "dark with excessive
+brightness," but is let down as it were to the possibilities of human
+converse. We may not think that he is incapable of entering into our
+little concerns, and sympathizing with them; for we are graciously
+assured that he is not one "who cannot be touched with the feeling of
+our infirmities, having been in all points tempted like as we are[41]."
+The figures under which he is represented, are such as convey ideas of
+the utmost tenderness. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he
+shall gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and
+shall gently lead those that are with young[42]."--"They shall not
+hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for he
+that hath mercy on them, shall lead them, even by the springs of water
+shall he guide them[43]." "I will not leave you orphans[44]" was one of
+his last consolatory declarations[45]. The children of Christ are here
+separated indeed from the personal view of him; but not from his
+paternal affection and paternal care. Meanwhile let them quicken their
+regards by the animating anticipation of that blessed day, when he "who
+is gone to prepare a place for them, will come again to receive them
+unto himself." Then shall they be admitted to his more immediate
+presence: "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face:
+now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as I am known[46]."
+
+Surely more than enough has been now said to prove that this particular
+case, from its very nature, furnishes the most abundant and powerful
+considerations and means for exciting the feelings; and it might be
+contended, without fear of refutation, that by the diligent and habitual
+use of those considerations and means, we might with confident
+expectation of success, engage in the work of raising our affections
+towards our blessed Saviour to a state of due force and activity. But,
+blessed be God, we have a still better reliance; for the grand
+circumstance of all yet remains behind, which the writer has been led to
+defer, from his wish to contend with his opponents on their own ground.
+This circumstance is, that here, no less than in other particulars, the
+Christian's hope is founded, not on the speculations or the strength of
+man, but on the declaration of Him who cannot lie, on the power of
+Omnipotence.
+
+We learn from the Scriptures that it is one main part of the operations
+of the Holy Spirit, to implant these heavenly principles in the human
+mind, and to cherish their growth. We are encouraged to believe that in
+answer to our prayers, this aid from above will give efficacy to our
+earnest endeavours, if used in humble dependence on divine grace. We may
+therefore with confidence take the means which have been suggested. But
+let us, in our turn, be permitted to ask our opponents, have _they_
+humbly and perseveringly applied for this divine strength? or
+disclaiming that assistance, perhaps as tempting them to indolence,
+have they been so much the more strenuous and unwearied in the use of
+their own unaided endeavours? or rather have they not been equally
+negligent of both? Renouncing the one, they have wholly omitted the
+other. But this is far from being all. They even reverse all the methods
+which we have recommended as being calculated to increase regard; and
+exactly follow that course which would be pursued by any one who should
+wish to reduce an excessive affection. Yet thus leaving untried all the
+means, which, whether from Reason or Scripture, we maintain to be
+necessary to the production of the end, nay using such as are of a
+directly opposite nature, these men presume to talk to us of
+impossibilities! We may rather contend that they furnish a fresh proof
+of the soundness of our reasonings. We lay it down as a fundamental
+position, that speculative knowledge alone, that mere superficial
+cursory considerations, will be of no avail. Nothing is to be done
+without the diligent continued use of the appointed method. They
+themselves afford an instance of the truth of our assertions; and while
+they supply no argument against the efficacy of the mode prescribed,
+they acknowledge at least that they are wholly ignorant of any other.
+
+BUT let us now turn our eyes to Christians of a higher order, to those
+who have actually proved the truth of our reasonings; who have not only
+assumed the name, but who have possessed the substance, and felt the
+power of Christianity; who though often foiled by their remaining
+corruptions, and shamed and cast down under a sense of their many
+imperfections, have known in their better seasons, what it was to
+experience its firm hope, its dignified joy, its unshaken trust, its
+more than human consolations. In their hearts, love also towards their
+Redeemer has glowed; a love not _superficial_ and unmeaning (think not
+that this would be the subject of our praise) but constant and rational,
+resulting from a strong impression of the worth of its object, and
+heightened by an abiding sense of great, unmerited, and continually
+accumulating obligations; ever manifesting itself in acts of diligent
+obedience, or of patient suffering. Such was the religion of the holy
+martyrs of the sixteenth century, the illustrious ornaments of the
+English church. They realized the theory which we have now been faintly
+tracing. Look to their writings, and you will find that their thoughts
+and affections had been much exercised in habitual views of the blessed
+Jesus. Thus they used the required _means_. What were the _effects_?
+Persecution and distress, degradation and contempt in vain assailed
+them--all these evils served but to bring their affections into _closer
+contact_ with their object; and not only did their love feel no
+diminution or abatement, but it rose to all the exigencies of the
+occasion, and burned with an increase of ardor; and when brought forth
+at last to a cruel and ignominious death, they repined not at their
+fate; but rather rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for
+the name of Christ. By the blessing of God the writer might refer to
+still more recent times. But lest his authorities should be disputed,
+let us go to the Apostles of our Lord; and while, on a very cursory
+perusal of their writings, we must acknowledge that they commend and
+even prescribe to us the love of Christ, as one of the chief of the
+Christian graces; so on a more attentive inspection of those writings,
+we shall discover abundant proofs that they were themselves bright
+examples of their own precept; that our blessed Saviour was really the
+object of their warmest affection, and what he had done and suffered for
+them the continual matter of their grateful remembrance.
+
+The disposition so prevalent in the bulk of nominal Christians, to form
+a religious system for themselves, instead of taking it from the word of
+God, is strikingly observable in their scarcely admitting, except in the
+most vague and general sense, the doctrine of the influence of the Holy
+Spirit. If we look into the Scriptures for information on this
+particular, we learn a very different lesson. We are in them distinctly
+taught, that "of ourselves we can do nothing;" that "we are by nature
+children of wrath," and under the power of the evil spirit, our
+understandings being naturally dark, and our hearts averse from
+spiritual things; and we are directed to pray for the influence of the
+Holy Spirit to enlighten our understandings, to dissipate our
+prejudices, to purify our corrupt minds, and to renew us after the image
+of our heavenly Father. It is this influence which is represented as
+originally awakening us from slumber, as enlightening us in darkness, as
+"quickening us when dead[47]," as "delivering us from the power of the
+devil," as drawing us to God, as "translating us into the kingdom of his
+dear Son[48]," as "creating us anew in Christ Jesus[49]," as "dwelling
+in us, and walking in us[50];" so that "putting off the old man with his
+deeds," we are to consider ourselves as "having put on the new man,
+which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
+him[51]"; and as those who are to be "an habitation of God through the
+Spirit[52]." It is by this Divine assistance only that we can grow in
+Grace, and improve in all Holiness. So expressly, particularly, and
+repeatedly does the word of God inculcate these lessons, that one would
+think there were scarcely room for any difference of opinion among those
+who admit its authority. Sometimes[53] the whole of a Christian's
+repentance and faith, and consequent holiness, are ascribed _generally_
+to the Divine influence; sometimes these are spoken of separately, and
+ascribed to the same Almighty power. Sometimes different particular
+graces of the Christian character, those which respect our duties and
+tempers towards our fellow-creatures, no less than those which have
+reference to the Supreme Being, are particularly traced to this source.
+Sometimes they are all referred collectively to this common root, being
+comprehended under the compendious denomination of "the Fruits of the
+Spirit." In exact correspondence with these representations, this aid
+from above is promised in other parts of Scripture for the production of
+those effects; and the withholding or withdrawing of it is occasionally
+threatened as a punishment for the sins of men, and as one of the most
+fatal consequences of the Divine displeasure.
+
+The Liturgy of the church of England strictly agrees with the
+representation, which has been here given of the instructions of the
+word of God.
+
+
+SECT. IV.
+
+_Inadequate conceptions entertained by nominal Christians of the terms
+of acceptance with God._
+
+If then it be indeed as so has been now stated; that, in contradiction
+to the plainest dictates of Scripture, and to the ritual of our
+established Church, the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, the
+first fruits of our reconciliation to God, the purchase of our
+Redeemer's death, and his best gift to his true disciples, are too
+generally undervalued and slighted; if it be also true, as was formerly
+proved, that our thoughts of the blessed Saviour are confused and faint,
+our affections towards him languid and lukewarm, little proportioned to
+what they, who at such a price have been rescued from ruin, and endowed
+with a title to eternal glory, might be justly expected to feel towards
+the Author of their deliverance; little proportioned to what has been
+felt by others, ransomed from the same ruin, and partakers of the same
+inheritance: if this, let it be repeated, be indeed so, let us not shut
+our eyes against the perception of our real state; but rather endeavour
+to trace the evil to its source. We are loudly called on to _examine
+well our foundations_. If any thing be _there_ unsound and hollow, the
+superstructure could not be safe, though its exterior were less
+suspicious. Let the question then be asked, and let the answer be
+returned with all the consideration and solemnity which a question so
+important may justly demand, whether, in the grand concern of all, _the
+means of a sinner's acceptance with God_, there be not reason to
+apprehend, that the nominal Christians whom we have been addressing, too
+generally entertain very superficial, and confused, and (to speak in the
+softest terms) highly dangerous notions? Is there not cause to fear,
+that with little more than an indistinct and nominal reference to Him
+who "bore our sins in his own body on the tree," they really rest their
+eternal hopes on a vague, general persuasion of the unqualified mercy of
+the Supreme Being; or that, still more erroneously, they rely in the
+main, on their own negative or positive merits? "They can look upon
+their lives with an impartial eye, and congratulate themselves on their
+inoffensiveness in society; on their having been exempt, at least, from
+any gross vice, or if sometimes accidentally betrayed into it, on its
+never having been indulged habitually; or if not even so" (for there are
+but few who can say this, if the term vice be explained according to the
+strict requisitions of the Gospel) "yet on the balance being in their
+favour, or on the whole, not much against them, when their good and bad
+actions are fairly weighed, and due allowance is made for human
+frailty." These considerations are sufficient for the most part to
+compose their apprehensions; these are the cordials which they find most
+at hand in the moments of serious thought, or of occasional dejection;
+and sometimes perhaps in seasons of less than ordinary self-complacency,
+they call in also to their aid the general persuasion of the unbounded
+mercy and pity of God. Yet persons of this description by no means
+disclaim a Saviour, or avowedly relinquish their title to a share in the
+benefits of his death. They close their petitions with the name of
+Christ; but if not chiefly from the effect of habit, or out of decent
+conformity to the established faith, yet surely with something of the
+same ambiguity of principle which influenced the expiring philosopher,
+when he ordered the customary mark of homage to be paid to the god of
+medicine.
+
+Others go farther than this; for there are many shades of difference
+between those who flatly renounce, and those who cordially embrace the
+doctrine of Redemption by Christ. This class has a sort of general,
+indeterminate, and ill understood dependence on our blessed Saviour. But
+their hopes, so far as they can be distinctly made out (for their views
+also are very obscure) appear ultimately to bottom on the persuasion
+that they are now, through Christ, become members of a new dispensation,
+wherein they will be tried by a more lenient rule than that to which
+they must have been otherwise subject. "God will not now be extreme to
+mark what is done amiss; but will dispense with the rigorous exactions
+of his law, too strict indeed for such frail creatures as we are to hope
+that we can fulfil it. Christianity has moderated the requisitions of
+Divine Justice; and all which is now required of us, is thankfully to
+trust to the merits of Christ for the pardon of our sins, and the
+acceptance of our sincere though imperfect obedience. The frailties and
+infirmities to which our nature is liable, or to which our situation in
+life exposes us, will not be severely judged: and as it is practice that
+really determines the character, we may rest satisfied, that if on the
+whole our lives be tolerably good, we shall escape with little or no
+punishment, and through Jesus Christ our Lord, shall be finally
+partakers of heavenly felicity."
+
+We cannot dive into the human heart, and therefore should always speak
+with caution and diffidence, when from external appearances or
+declarations we are affirming the existence of any internal principles
+and feelings; especially as we are liable to be misled by the
+ambiguities of language, or by the inaccuracy with which others may
+express themselves. But it is sometimes not difficult to any one who is
+accustomed, if the phrase may be allowed, to the anatomy of the human
+mind, to discern, that generally speaking, the persons who use the above
+language, rely not so much on the merits of Christ, and on the agency of
+Divine Grace, as on their own power of fulfilling the moderated
+requisitions of Divine Justice. He will hence therefore discover in them
+a disposition rather to extenuate the malignity of their disease, than
+to magnify the excellence of the proffered remedy. He will find them apt
+to palliate in themselves what they cannot fully justify, to enhance the
+merit of what they believe to be their good qualities and commendable
+actions, to set as it were in an account the good against the bad; and
+if the result be not very unfavourable, they conceive that they shall be
+entitled to claim the benefits of our Saviour's sufferings as a thing of
+course. They have little idea, so little, that it might almost be
+affirmed that they have no idea at all, of the importance or difficulty
+of the duty of what the Scripture calls "submitting ourselves to the
+righteousness of God;" or of our proneness rather to justify ourselves
+in his sight, than in the language of imploring penitents to acknowledge
+ourselves guilty and helpless sinners. They have never summoned
+themselves to this entire and unqualified renunciation of their own
+merits, and their own strength; and therefore they remain strangers to
+the natural loftiness of the human heart, which such a call would have
+awakened into action, and roused to resistance. ALL THESE THEIR SEVERAL
+ERRORS NATURALLY RESULT FROM THE MISTAKEN CONCEPTION ENTERTAINED OF THE
+FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIANITY. They consider not that
+Christianity is a scheme for "justifying _the ungodly_[54]," by Christ's
+dying for them "_when yet sinners_[55][56];" a scheme "for reconciling
+us to God--_when enemies_;" and for making the fruits of holiness _the
+effects[57], not the cause_, of our being justified and reconciled:
+that, in short, it opens freely the door of mercy, to the greatest and
+vilest of penitent sinners; that obeying the blessed impulse of the
+grace of God, whereby they had been awakened from the sleep of death,
+and moved to seek for pardon, they might enter in, and through the
+regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit might be enabled to bring
+forth the fruits of Righteousness. But they rather conceive of
+Christianity as opening the door of mercy, that those who on the ground
+of their own merits could not have hoped to justify themselves before
+God, may yet be admitted for Christ's sake, on condition of their having
+previously satisfied the moderated requisitions of Divine Justice. In
+speaking to others also of the Gospel scheme, they are apt to talk too
+much of terms and performances on our part, on which we become entitled
+to an interest in the sufferings of Christ; instead of stating the
+benefits of Christ's satisfaction as extended to us freely, "without
+money and without price."
+
+THE _practical_ consequences of these errors are such as might be
+expected. They tend to prevent that sense which we ought to entertain of
+our own natural misery and helplessness; and that deep feeling of
+gratitude for the merits and intercession of Christ, to which we are
+wholly indebted for our reconciliation to God, and for the will and the
+power, from first to last, to work out our own salvation. They consider
+it too much in the light of a contract between two parties, wherein
+each, independently of the other, has his own distinct condition to
+perform; man--to do his duty; God--to justify and accept for Christ's
+sake: If they fail not in the discharge of their condition, assuredly
+the condition on God's part will be faithfully fulfilled. Accordingly,
+we find in fact, that they who represent the Gospel scheme in the manner
+above described, give evidence of the subject with which their hearts
+are most filled, by their proneness to run into merely moral
+disquisitions, either not mentioning at all, or at least but cursorily
+touching on the sufferings and love of their Redeemer; and are little
+apt to kindle at their Saviour's name, and like the apostles to be
+betrayed by their fervor into what may be almost an untimely descant on
+the riches of his unutterable mercy. In addressing others also whom they
+conceive to be living in habits of sin, and under the wrath of God, they
+rather advise them to amend their ways as a preparation for their coming
+to Christ, than exhort them to throw themselves with deep prostration of
+soul at the foot of the cross, there to obtain pardon and find grace to
+help in time of need.
+
+The great importance of the subject in question will justify our having
+been thus particular. It has arisen from a wish that on a question of
+such magnitude, to mistake our meaning should be impossible. But after
+all which has been said, let it also be remembered, that except so far
+as the instruction of others is concerned, the point of importance is,
+the internal disposition of the mind; _where_ the dependence for pardon,
+and for holiness, is really placed; not what the language is, in which
+men express themselves. And it is to be hoped that he who searches the
+heart, sees the right dispositions in many who use the mistaken and
+dangerous language to which we have objected.
+
+If this so generally prevailing error concerning the nature of the
+Gospel offer be in any considerable degree just; it will then explain
+that so generally prevailing languor in the affections towards our
+blessed Saviour which was formerly remarked, and that inadequate
+impression of the necessity and value of the assistance of the divine
+Spirit. According to the soundest principles of reasoning, it may be
+also adduced as an additional proof of the correctness of our present
+statement, that it so exactly falls in with those phænomena, and so
+naturally accounts for them. For even admitting that the persons above
+mentioned, particularly the last class, do at the bottom rely on the
+atonement of Christ; yet on their scheme, it must necessarily happen,
+that the object to which they are most accustomed to look, with which
+their thoughts are chiefly conversant, from which they most habitually
+derive complacency, is rather their own qualified merit and services,
+though confessed to be inadequate, than the sufferings and atoning death
+of a crucified Saviour. The affections towards our blessed Lord
+therefore (according to the theory of the passions formerly laid down)
+cannot be expected to flourish, because they receive not that which was
+shewn to be necessary to their nutriment and growth. If we would love
+him as affectionately, and rejoice in him as triumphantly as the first
+Christians did; we must learn like them to repose our entire trust in
+him, and to adopt the language of the apostle, "God forbid that I should
+glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ[58]"--"Who of God is
+made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and
+redemption[59]."
+
+Doubtless there have been too many who, to their eternal ruin, have
+abused the doctrine of Salvation by Grace; and have vainly trusted in
+Christ for pardon and acceptance, when by their vicious lives they have
+plainly proved the groundlessness of their pretensions. The tree is to
+be known by its fruits; and there is too much reason to fear that there
+is no principle of faith, when it does not decidedly evince itself by
+the fruits of holiness. Dreadful indeed will be the doom, above that of
+all others, of those loose professors of Christianity, to whom at the
+last day our blessed Saviour will address those words, "I never knew
+you; depart from me, all ye that work iniquity." But the danger of error
+on this side ought not to render us insensible to the opposite error; an
+error against which in these days it seems particularly necessary to
+guard. It is far from the intention of the writer of this work to enter
+into the niceties of controversy. But surely without danger of being
+thought to violate this design, he may be permitted to contend, that
+they who in the main believe the doctrines of the church of England, are
+bound to allow that our dependence on our blessed Saviour, as alone the
+meritorious cause of our acceptance with God, and as the means of all
+its blessed fruits and glorious consequences, must be not merely formal
+and nominal, but real and substantial: not vague, qualified, and
+partial, but direct, cordial, and entire. "Repentance towards God, and
+faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ," was the sum of the apostolical
+instructions. It is not an occasional invocation of the name, or a
+transient recognition of the authority of Christ, that fills up the
+measure of the terms, _believing in Jesus_. This we shall find no such
+easy task; and if we trust that we do believe, we should all perhaps do
+well to cry out in the words of an imploring suppliant (he supplicated
+not in vain) "Lord help thou our unbelief." We must be deeply conscious
+of our guilt and misery, heartily repenting of our sins, and firmly
+resolving to forsake them: and thus penitently "fleeing for refuge to
+the hope set before us," we must found altogether on the merit of the
+crucified Redeemer our hopes of escape from their deserved punishment,
+and of deliverance from their enslaving power. This must be our first,
+our last, our only plea. We are to surrender ourselves up to him to "be
+washed in his blood[60]," to be sanctified by his Spirit, resolving to
+receive him for our Lord and Master, to learn in his school, to obey all
+his commandments.
+
+It may perhaps be not unnecessary, after having treated so largely on
+this important topic, to add a few words in order to obviate a charge
+which may be urged against us, that we are insisting on nice and
+abstruse distinctions in what is a matter of general concern; and this
+too in a system, which on its original promulgation was declared to be
+peculiarly intended for the simple and poor. It will be abundantly
+evident however on a little reflection, and experience fully proves the
+position, that what has been required is not the perception of a subtile
+distinction, but a state and condition of heart. To the former, the poor
+and the ignorant must be indeed confessed unequal; but they are far less
+indisposed than the great and the learned, to bow down to that
+"preaching of the cross which is to them that perish foolishness, but
+unto them that are saved the power of God, and the wisdom of God." The
+poor are not liable to be puffed up by the intoxicating fumes of
+ambition and worldly grandeur. They are less likely to be kept from
+entering into the strait and narrow way, and when they have entered to
+be drawn back again or to be retarded in their progress, by the cares or
+the pleasures of life. They may express themselves ill; but their views
+may be simple, and their hearts humble, penitent, and sincere. It is as
+in other cases; the vulgar are the subjects of phænomena, the learned
+explain them: the former know nothing of the theory of vision or of
+sentiment; but this ignorance hinders not that they see and think, and
+though unable to discourse elaborately on the passions, they can feel
+warmly for their children, their friends, their country.
+
+After this digression, if that be indeed a digression which by removing
+a formidable objection renders the truth of the positions we wish to
+establish more clear and less questionable, we may now resume the thread
+of our argument. Still intreating therefore the attention of those, who
+have not been used to think much of the necessity of this undivided,
+and, if it may be so termed, unadulterated reliance, for which we have
+been contending; we would still more particularly address ourselves to
+others who are disposed to believe that though, in some obscure and
+vague sense, the death of Christ as the satisfaction for our sins, and
+for the purchase of our future happiness, and the sanctifying influence
+of the Holy Spirit, are to be admitted as fundamental articles of our
+creed, yet that these are doctrines so much above us, that they are not
+objects suited to our capacities; and that, turning our eyes therefore
+from these difficult speculations, we should fix them on the practical
+and moral precepts of the Gospel. "These it most concerns us to know;
+these therefore let us study. Such is the frailty of our nature, such
+the strength and number of our temptations to evil, that in reducing the
+Gospel morality to practice we shall find full employment: and by
+attending to these moral precepts, rather than to those high mysterious
+doctrines which you are pressing on us, we shall best prepare to appear
+before God on that tremendous day, when 'He shall judge every man
+according to his WORKS.'"
+
+    "Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy!"
+
+It will at once destroy this flimsy web, to reply in the words of our
+blessed Saviour, and of his beloved Disciple--"This is the _work_ of
+God, that ye _believe_ in him whom he hath sent[61]." "This is his
+_commandment_, that we should _believe_ on the name of his Son Jesus
+Christ[62]." In truth, if we consider but for a moment the opinions
+(they scarcely deserve the name of system) of men who argue thus, we
+must be conscious of their absurdity. This may be not inconsistently the
+language of the modern Unitarian; but surely it is in the highest degree
+unreasonable to admit into our scheme all the grand peculiarities of
+Christianity, and having admitted, to neglect and think no more of them!
+"Wherefore" (might the Socinian say) "Wherefore all this costly and
+complicated machinery? It is like the Tychonic astronomy, encumbered and
+self-convicted by its own complicated relations and useless
+perplexities. It is so little like the simplicity of nature, it is so
+unworthy of the divine hand, that it even offends against those rules of
+propriety which we require to be observed in the imperfect compositions
+of the human intellect[63]."
+
+Well may the Socinian assume this lofty tone, with those whom we are now
+addressing. If these be indeed the doctrines of Revelation, common sense
+suggests to us that from their nature and their magnitude, they deserve
+our most serious regard. It is the very theology of Epicurus to allow
+the existence of these "heavenly things," but to deny their connection
+with human concerns, and their influence on human actions. Besides the
+unreasonableness of this conduct, we might strongly urge also in this
+connection the prophaneness of thus treating as matters of subordinate
+consideration those parts of the system of Christianity, which are so
+strongly impressed on our reverence by the dignity of the person to whom
+they relate. This very argument is indeed repeatedly and pointedly
+pressed by the sacred writers[64].
+
+Nor is the prophane irreverence of this conduct more striking than its
+ingratitude. When from reading that our Saviour was "the brightness of
+his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all
+things by the word of his power," we go on to consider the purpose for
+which he came on earth, and all that he did and suffered for us; surely
+if we have a spark of ingenuousness left within us, we shall condemn
+ourselves as guilty of the blackest ingratitude, in rarely noticing, or
+coldly turning away, on whatever shallow pretences, from the
+contemplation of these miracles of mercy. For those baser minds however
+on which fear alone can operate, that motive is superadded: and we are
+plainly forewarned, both directly and indirectly, by the example of the
+Jewish nation, that God will not hold them guiltless who are thus
+unmindful of his most signal acts of condescension and kindness. But as
+this is a question of pure Revelation, reasonings from probability may
+not be deemed decisive. To Revelation therefore we must appeal; and as
+it might be to trespass on the reader's patience fully to discuss this
+most important subject, we must refer him to the sacred Writings
+themselves for complete satisfaction. We would earnestly recommend it to
+him to weigh with the utmost seriousness those passages of Scripture
+wherein the peculiar doctrines of Christianity are expressly mentioned;
+and farther, to attend with due regard to the illustration and
+confirmation, which the conclusions resulting from those passages
+receive incidentally from the word of God. They who maintain the opinion
+which we are combating, will hereby become convinced that their's is
+indeed an _unscriptural_ Religion; and will learn instead of turning off
+their eyes from the grand peculiarities of Christianity, to keep these
+ever in view, as the pregnant principles whence all the rest must derive
+their origin, and receive their best support[65].
+
+Let us then each for himself solemnly ask ourselves, whether _we_ have
+fled for refuge to the appointed hope? And whether we are habitually
+looking to it, as to the only source of consolation? "Other foundation
+can no man lay:" there is no other ground of dependence, no other plea
+for pardon; but _here_ there _is_ hope, even to the uttermost. Let us
+labour then to affect our hearts with a deep conviction of our need of a
+Redeemer, and of the value of his offered mediation. Let us fall down
+humbly before the throne of God, imploring pity and pardon in the name
+of the Son of his love. Let us beseech him to give us a true spirit of
+repentance, and of hearty undivided faith in the Lord Jesus. Let us not
+be satisfied till the cordiality of our belief be confirmed to us by
+that character of the Apostle, "that to as many as believe Christ is
+precious;" and let us strive to increase daily in _love_ towards our
+blessed Saviour; and pray earnestly that "we may be filled with _Joy_
+and _Peace_ in believing, that we may abound in _Hope_ through the power
+of the Holy Ghost." Let us diligently put in practice the directions
+formerly given for cherishing and cultivating the principle of the Love
+of Christ. With this view let us labour assiduously to increase in
+knowledge, that ours may be a deeply rooted and rational affection. By
+frequent meditation on the incidents of our Saviour's life, and still
+more on the astonishing circumstances of his death; by often calling to
+mind the state from which he proposes to rescue us, and the glories of
+his heavenly kingdom; by continual intercourse with him of prayer and
+praise, of dependence and confidence in dangers, of hope and joy in our
+brighter hours, let us endeavour to keep him constantly present to our
+minds, and to render all our conceptions of him more distinct, lively,
+and intelligent. The title of Christian is a reproach to us, if we
+estrange ourselves from Him after whom we are denominated. The name of
+Jesus is not to be to _us_ like the Allah of the Mahometans, a talisman
+or an amulet to be worn on the arm, as an external badge merely and
+symbol of our profession, and to preserve us from evil by some
+mysterious and unintelligible potency; but it is to be engraven deeply
+on the heart, there written by the finger of God himself in everlasting
+characters. It is our title known and understood to present peace and
+future glory. The assurance which it conveys of a bright reversion, will
+lighten the burthens, and alleviate the sorrows of life; and in some
+happier moments, it will impart to us somewhat of that fulness of joy
+which is at God's right hand, enabling us to join even here in the
+heavenly Hosannah, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power,
+and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
+blessing[66]." "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him
+that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever[67]."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_On the prevailing inadequate Conceptions concerning the Nature and the
+Strictness of_ PRACTICAL _Christianity._
+
+
+SECT. I.
+
+One part of this title may perhaps on the first view excite some
+surprise in any one, who may have drawn a hasty inference from the
+charges conveyed by the two preceding chapters. Such an one might be
+disposed to expect, that they who have very low conceptions of the
+corruption of human nature, would be proportionably less indulgent to
+human frailty; and that they who lay little stress on Christ's
+satisfaction for sin, or on the operations of the Holy Spirit, would be
+more high and rigid in their demands of diligent endeavours after
+universal holiness; since their scheme implies that we must depend
+chiefly on our own exertions and performances for our acceptance with
+God.
+
+But any such expectations as these would be greatly disappointed. There
+is in fact a region of truth, and a region of errors. They who hold the
+fundamental doctrines of Scripture in their due force, hold also in its
+due degree of purity the practical system which Scripture inculcates.
+But they who explain away the former, soften down the latter also, and
+reduce it to the level of their own defective scheme. It is not from any
+confidence in the superior amount of their own performances, or in the
+greater vigour of their own exertions, that they reconcile themselves to
+their low views of the satisfaction of Christ, and of the influence of
+the Spirit; but it should rather seem their plan so to depress the
+required standard of practice, that no man need fall short of it, that
+no superior aid can be wanted for enabling us to attain to it. It
+happens however with respect to their simple method of morality, as in
+the case of the short ways to knowledge, of which some vain pretenders
+have vaunted themselves to be possessed: despising the beaten track in
+which more sober and humble spirits have been content to tread, they
+have indignantly struck into new and untried paths; but these have
+failed of conducting them to the right object, and have issued only in
+ignorance and conceit.
+
+It seems in our days to be the commonly received opinion, that provided
+a man admit in general terms the truth of Christianity, though he know
+not or consider not much concerning the particulars of the system; and
+if he be not habitually guilty of any of the grosser vices against his
+fellow creatures, we have no great reason to be dissatisfied with him,
+or to question the validity of his claim to the name and consequent
+privileges of a Christian. The title implies no more than a sort of
+formal, general assent to Christianity in the gross, and a degree of
+morality in practice, but little if at all superior to that for which we
+look in a good Deist, Mussulman, or Hindoo.
+
+If any one be disposed to deny that this is a fair representation of the
+religion of the bulk of the Christian world, he might be asked, whether
+if it were proved to them beyond dispute that Christianity is a mere
+forgery, would this occasion any great change in their conduct or habits
+of mind? Would any alteration be made in consequence of this discovery,
+except in a few of their speculative opinions, which, when distinct from
+practice, it is a part of their own system, as has been before remarked,
+to think of little consequence, and in their attendance on public
+worship, which however (knowing the good effects of religion upon the
+lower orders of the people) they might still think it better to attend
+occasionally for example's sake? Would not their regard for their
+character, their health, their domestic and social comforts, still
+continue to restrain them from vicious excesses, and to prompt them to
+persist in the discharge, according to their present measure, of the
+various duties of their stations? Would they find themselves
+dispossessed of what had been to them hitherto the repository of counsel
+and instruction, the rule of their conduct, their habitual source of
+peace, and hope, and consolation?
+
+It were needless to put these questions. They are answered in fact
+already by the lives of many known unbelievers, between whom and these
+professed Christians, even the familiar associates of both, though men
+of discernment and observation, would discover little difference either
+in conduct or temper of mind. How little then does Christianity deserve
+that title to novelty and superiority which has been almost universally
+admitted; that pre-eminence, as a practical code, over all other systems
+of ethics! How unmerited are the praises which have been lavished upon
+it by its friends; praises, in which even its enemies (not in general
+disposed to make concessions in its favour) have so often been unwarily
+drawn in to acquiesce!
+
+Was it then for this, that the Son of God condescended to become our
+instructor and our pattern, leaving us an example that we might tread in
+his steps? Was it for this that the apostles of Christ voluntarily
+submitted to hunger and nakedness and pain, and ignominy and death, when
+forewarned too by their Master that such would be their treatment? That,
+after all, their disciples should attain to no higher a strain of virtue
+than those who rejecting their Divine authority, should still adhere to
+the old philosophy?
+
+But it may perhaps be objected that we are forgetting an observation
+which we ourselves have made, that Christianity has raised the general
+standard of morals; to which therefore Infidelity herself now finds it
+prudent to conform, availing herself of the pure morality of
+Christianity, and sometimes wishing to usurp to herself the credit of
+it, while she stigmatizes the authors with the epithets of ignorant
+dupes or designing impostors!
+
+But let it then be asked, are the motives of Christianity so little
+necessary to the practice of it, its principles to its conclusions, that
+the one may be spared and yet the other remain in undiminished force?
+Still then, its _Doctrines_ are no more than a barren and inapplicable
+or at least an unnecessary theory, the place of which, it may perhaps be
+added, would be well supplied by a more simple and less costly scheme.
+
+But can it be? Is Christianity then reduced to a mere creed? Is its
+practical influence bounded within a few external plausibilities? Does
+its essence consist only in a few speculative opinions, and a few
+useless and unprofitable tenets? And can this be the ground of that
+portentous distinction, which is so unequivocally made by the Evangelist
+between those who accept, and those who reject the Gospel: "He that
+believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not
+the Son, shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him?" This
+were to run into the very error which the bulk of professed Christians
+would be most forward to condemn, of making an unproductive faith the
+rule of God's future judgment, and the ground of an eternal separation.
+Thus not unlike the rival circumnavigators from Spain and Portugal, who
+setting out in contrary directions, found themselves in company at the
+very time they thought themselves farthest from each other; so the bulk
+of professed Christians arrive, though by a different course, almost at
+the very same point, and occupy nearly the same station as a set of
+enthusiasts, who also rest upon a barren faith, to whom on the first
+view they might be thought the most nearly opposite, and whose tenets
+they with reason profess to hold in peculiar detestation. By what
+pernicious courtesy of language is it, that this wretched system has
+been flattered with the name of Christianity.
+
+The morality of the Gospel is not so slight a fabric. Christianity
+throughout the whole extent exhibits proofs of its Divine original, and
+its practical precepts are no less pure than its doctrines are sublime.
+Can the compass of language furnish injunctions stricter in their
+measure or larger in their comprehension, than those with which the word
+of God abounds; "_Whatsoever_ ye do in _word_ or _deed_, do _all_ in the
+name of the Lord Jesus;"--"Be _ye_ holy, _for God is holy_:"--"Be ye
+_perfect_ as your Father which is in Heaven is _perfect_?" We are
+commanded to _perfect_ holiness, to go on unto _perfection_.
+
+Such are the Scripture admonitions; and surely they to whom such
+admonitions are addressed, may not safely acquiesce in low attainments:
+a conclusion to which also we are led by the force of the expressions by
+which Christians are characterized in Scripture, and by the radical and
+thorough change, which is represented as taking place in any man on his
+becoming a real Christian. "Every one," it is said, "that hath this
+hope, purifieth himself even as God is pure:" true Christians are said
+to be "partakers of the Divine nature;"--"to be created anew in the
+image of God;"--"to be temples of the Holy Ghost;" the effects of which
+must appear "in _all_ goodness and righteousness and truth."
+
+Great as was the progress which the apostle Paul had made in all virtue,
+he declares of himself that _he_ still presses forward, "forgetting the
+things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are
+before." He prays for his beloved disciples, "that they may be _filled_
+with _all_ the fulness of God;" that they may be _filled_ "with the
+fruits of righteousness:" "that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto
+_all_ pleasing, being fruitful in _every_ good work." Nor is it a less
+pregnant and comprehensive petition, which, from our blessed Saviour's
+inserting it in that form of prayer which he has given as a model for
+our imitation, we may infer ought to be the habitual sentiment of our
+hearts; "Thy will be done in Earth _as it is in Heaven_."
+
+These few extracts from the word of God will serve abundantly to
+vindicate the _strictness_ of the Christian morality: but this point
+will however be still more fully established, when we proceed to
+investigate the _nature_, _essence_, and _governing principles_ of the
+Christian character.
+
+It is the grand essential practical characteristic of true Christians,
+that relying on the promises to repenting sinners of acceptance through
+the Redeemer, they have renounced and abjured all other masters, and
+have cordially and unreservedly devoted themselves to God. This is
+indeed the very figure which baptism daily represents to us: like the
+father of Hannibal, we there bring our infant to the altar, we
+consecrate him to the service of _his proper owner_, and vow _in his
+name_ eternal hostilities against all the enemies of his salvation.
+After the same manner Christians are become the sworn enemies of sin;
+they will henceforth hold no parley with it, they will allow it in no
+shape, they will admit it to no composition; the war which they have
+denounced against it, is cordial, universal, irreconcilable.
+
+But this not all--It is now their determined purpose to yield themselves
+without reserve to the reasonable service of their rightful Sovereign.
+"They are not their own:"--their bodily and mental faculties, their
+natural and acquired endowments, their substance, their authority, their
+time, their influence; all these, they consider as belonging to them,
+not for their own gratification, but as so many instruments to be
+consecrated to the honour and employed in the service of God. This must
+be the master principle to which every other must be subordinate.
+Whatever may have been hitherto their ruling passion; whatever hitherto
+their leading pursuit; whether sensual, or intellectual, of science, of
+taste, of fancy, or of feeling, it must now possess but a secondary
+place; or rather (to speak more correctly) it must exist only at the
+pleasure, and be put altogether under the controul and direction, of its
+true and legitimate superior.
+
+Thus it is the prerogative of Christianity "to bring into captivity
+_every thought_ to the obedience of Christ." They who really feel its
+power, are resolved (in the language of Scripture) "to live no longer to
+themselves, but to him that died for them;" they know indeed their own
+infirmities; they know, that the way on which they have entered is
+strait and difficult, but they know too the encouraging assurance,
+"They who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;" and relying on
+this animating declaration, they deliberately purpose that, so far as
+they may be able, the grand governing maxim of their future lives shall
+be, "_to do all to the glory of God_."
+
+Behold here the seminal principle, which contains within it, as in an
+embryo state, the rudiments of all true virtue; which, striking deep its
+roots, though feeble perhaps and lowly in its beginnings, silently
+progressive; and almost insensibly maturing, yet will shortly, even in
+the bleak and churlish temperature of this world, lift up its head and
+spread abroad its branches, bearing abundant fruits; precious fruits of
+refreshment and consolation, of which the boasted products of philosophy
+are but sickly imitations, void of fragrance and of flavour. But,
+
+    Igneus est ollis vigor & _coelestis_ origo.
+
+At length it shall be transplanted into its native region, and enjoy a
+more genial climate, and a kindlier soil; and, bursting forth into full
+luxuriance, with unfading beauty and unexhausted odours, shall flourish
+for ever in the paradise of God.
+
+But while the servants of Christ continue in this life, glorious as is
+the issue of their labours, they receive but too many humiliating
+memorials of their remaining imperfections, and they daily find reason
+to confess, that they cannot do the things that they would. Their
+_determination_, however, is still unshaken, and it is the fixed desire
+of their hearts to improve in _all holiness_--and this, let it be
+observed, on many accounts. Various passions concur to push them
+forward; they are urged on by the dread of failure, in this arduous but
+necessary work; they trust not, where their all is at stake, to lively
+emotions, or to internal impressions however warm; the example of Christ
+is their pattern, the word of God is their rule; there they read, that
+"without holiness no man shall see the Lord." It is the description of
+real Christians, that "they are gradually changed into the image of
+their Divine Master;" and they dare not allow themselves to believe
+their title sure, except so far as they can discern in themselves the
+growing traces of this blessed resemblance.
+
+It is not merely however the fear of misery, and the desire of
+happiness, by which they are actuated in their endeavours to excel in
+all holiness; they love it for its own sake: nor is it _solely_ by the
+sense of self-interest (this, though often unreasonably condemned, is
+but it must be confessed a principle of an inferior order) that they are
+influenced in their determination to obey the will, and to cultivate the
+favour of God. This determination has its foundations indeed in a deep
+and humiliating sense of his exalted Majesty and infinite power, and of
+their own extreme inferiority and littleness, attended with a settled
+conviction of its being their duty as his creatures, to submit in all
+things to the will of their great Creator. But these awful impressions
+are relieved and ennobled by an admiring sense of the infinite
+perfections and infinite amiableness of the Divine Character; animated
+by a confiding though humble hope of his fatherly kindness and
+protection; and quickened by the grateful recollection of immense and
+continually increasing obligations. This is the Christian love of God! A
+love compounded of admiration, of preference, of hope, of trust, of
+joy; chastised by reverential awe, and wakeful with continual gratitude.
+
+I would here express myself with caution, lest I should inadvertently
+wound the heart of some weak but sincere believer. The elementary
+principles which have been above enumerated, may exist in various
+degrees and proportions. A difference in natural disposition, in the
+circumstances of the past life, and in numberless other particulars, may
+occasion a great difference in the predominant tempers of different
+Christians. In one the love, in another the fear of God may have the
+ascendency; trust in one, and in another gratitude; but in greater or
+less degrees, a cordial complacency in the sovereignty, an exalted sense
+of the perfections, a grateful impression of the goodness, and a humble
+hope of the favour of the Divine Being, are common to them
+all.--Common--the determination to devote themselves without exceptions,
+to the service and glory of God.--Common--the desire of holiness and of
+continual progress towards perfection.--Common--an abasing consciousness
+of their own unworthiness, and of their many remaining infirmities,
+which interpose so often to corrupt the simplicity of their intentions,
+to thwart the execution of their purer purposes, and frustrate the
+resolutions of their better hours.
+
+But some perhaps, who will not directly and in the gross oppose the
+conclusions for which we have been contending, may endeavour to elude
+them. It may be urged, that to represent them as of general application,
+is going much too far; and however true in the case of some individuals
+of a higher order, it may be asserted they are not applicable to
+ordinary Christians; from these so much will not surely be expected; and
+here perhaps there may be a secret reference to that supposed
+mitigation of the requisitions of the divine Law under the Christian
+dispensation, which was formerly noticed. This is so important a point
+that it ought not to be passed over: let us call in the authority of
+Scripture; at the same time, not to tire the patience of our readers,
+but a few passages shall be cited, and we must refer to the word of God
+itself those who wish for fuller satisfaction. The difficulty here is
+not to find proofs, but to select with discretion from the multitude
+which pour in upon us. Here also, as in former instances, the positive
+injunctions of Scripture are confirmed and illustrated by various
+considerations and inferences, suggested by other parts of the sacred
+Writings, all tending to the same infallible conclusion.
+
+In the first place, the precepts are expressed in the broadest and most
+general terms; there is no hint given, that any persons are at liberty
+to conceive themselves exempted from the obligation of them; and in any
+who are disposed to urge such a plea of exemption, it may well excite
+the most serious apprehension to consider how the plea would be received
+by an earthly tribunal: no weak argument this to any who are acquainted
+with the Scriptures, and who know how often God is there represented as
+reasoning with mankind on the principles, which they have established
+for their dealings with each other.
+
+But in the next place the precepts in question contain within themselves
+abundant proofs of their _universal_ application, inasmuch as they are
+grounded on circumstances and relations common to _all_ Christians, and
+of the benefits of which, even our Objectors themselves (though they
+would evade the practical deductions from them) would not be willing to
+relinquish their share. Christians "are not their own," because "_they
+are bought with a price_;" they are not "to live unto themselves, but
+_to him that died for them_;" they are commanded to do the most
+difficult duties, "that they may be the children of their Father which
+is in heaven;" and "except a man _be born again of the Spirit_" (thus
+again becoming one of the sons of God) "_he cannot enter into the
+kingdom of heaven_." It is "_because they are sons_," that God has given
+them what in Scripture language is styled _the Spirit of adoption_. It
+is only of "as many _as are led by the Spirit of God_," that it is
+declared that "they are the sons of God;" and we are expressly warned
+(in order as it were to prevent any such loose profession of
+Christianity as that which we are here combating) "_If any man_ have not
+the Spirit of Christ, _he is none of his_." In short, Christians in
+general are every where denominated _the servants and the children_ of
+God, and are required to serve him with that submissive obedience, and
+that affectionate promptitude of duty, which belong to those endearing
+relations.
+
+Estimate next, the force of that well known passage--"Thou shalt love
+the Lord thy God with _all_ thy heart, and with _all_ thy mind, and with
+_all_ thy soul, and with _all_ thy strength!" The injunction is
+multiplied on us, as it were, to silence the sophistry of the caviller,
+and to fix the most inconsiderate mind. And though, for the sake of
+argument, we should concede for the present, that, under _the
+qualifications formerly suggested_, an _ardent_ and _vigorous_ affection
+were not indispensably required of us; yet surely if the words have any
+meaning at all, the least which can be intended by them is that settled
+predominant esteem and cordial preference for which we are now
+contending. The conclusion which this passage forces on us, is
+strikingly confirmed by other parts of Scripture, wherein the love of
+God is positively commended to the _whole_ of a Christian church[68]; or
+wherein the want of it[69], or wherein its not being the chief and
+ruling affection, is charged on persons professing themselves
+Christians, as being sufficient to disprove their claim to that
+appellation, or as being equivalent to denying it[70]. Let not therefore
+any deceive themselves by imagining, that only an absolute unqualified
+renunciation of the desire of the favour of God is _here_ condemned. God
+will not accept of a _divided_ affection; a _single_ heart, and a
+_single_ eye are in express terms declared to be indispensably required
+of us. We are ordered, under the figure of amassing heavenly treasure,
+to make the favour and service of God our _chief_ pursuit, for this very
+reason, because "_where our treasure is, there will our hearts be
+also_." It is on this principle that in speaking of particular vices,
+such phrases are often used in Scripture, as suggest that their
+criminality mainly consists in drawing away the HEART from Him who is
+the just object of its preference; and that sins, which we might think
+very different in criminality, are classed together, because they all
+agree in this grand character. Nor is this preference asserted only over
+affections which are vicious in themselves, and to which therefore
+Christianity might well be supposed hostile; but over those also which
+in their just measure are not only lawful, but even most strongly
+enjoined on us. "He that loveth father and mother more than me," says
+our blessed Saviour, "is not worthy of me;" "and he that loveth son or
+daughter more than me, is not worthy of me[71]." The spirit of these
+injunctions harmonizes with many commendations in Scripture of zeal for
+the honour of God; as well as with that strong expression of disgust and
+abhorrence with which the lukewarm, those that are neither cold nor hot,
+are spoken of as being more loathsome and offensive than even open and
+avowed enemies.
+
+Another class of instances tending to the same point is furnished by
+those many passages of Scripture, wherein the promoting of _the glory_
+of God is commanded as our supreme and universal aim, and wherein the
+honour due unto _Him_ is declared to be that in which He will allow no
+competitor to participate. On this head indeed the Holy Scriptures are,
+if possible, more peremptory than on the former; and at the same time so
+full as to render particular citations unnecessary, in the case of any
+one who has ever so little acquaintance with the word of God.
+
+To put the same thing therefore in another light. All who have read the
+Scriptures must confess that idolatry is the crime against which God's
+highest resentment is expressed, and his severest punishment denounced.
+But let us not deceive ourselves. It is not in bowing the knee to idols
+that idolatry consists, so much as in the internal homage of the heart;
+as in the feeling towards them of any of that supreme love, or
+reverence, or gratitude, which God reserves to himself as his own
+exclusive prerogative. On the same principle, whatever else draws off
+the heart from him, engrosses our prime regard, and holds the chief
+place in our esteem and affections, _that_, in the estimation of reason,
+is no less an idol to us, than an image of wood or stone would be;
+before which we should fall down and worship. Think not this a strained
+analogy; it is the very language and argument of inspiration. The
+servant of God is commanded not to set up his idol in his _Heart_; and
+sensuality and covetousness are repeatedly termed _Idolatry_. The same
+God who declares--"My glory will I not give to another, neither my
+praise _to graven images_," declares also--"Let not the wise man glory
+in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man _glory_ in his might; let not
+the rich man _glory_ in his riches[72]." "No flesh may _glory_ in his
+presence;" "he that _glorieth_, let him glory in the Lord." The sudden
+vengeance by which the vain-glorious ostentation of Herod was punished,
+when, acquiescing in the servile adulation of an admiring multitude, "he
+gave not God the _glory_," is a dreadful comment on these injunctions.
+
+These awful declarations, it is to be feared, are little regarded. Let
+the Great, and the Wise, and the Learned, and the Successful lay them
+seriously to heart, and labour habitually to consider their superiority,
+whether derived from nature, or study, or fortune, as the unmerited
+bounty of God. This reflection will naturally tend to produce a
+disposition, instead of that proud self complacency so apt to grow upon
+the human heart, in all respects opposite to it; a disposition
+honourable to God, and useful to man, a temper composed of reverence,
+humility, and gratitude, and delighting to be engaged in the praises,
+and employed in the benevolent service of the universal Benefactor.
+
+But, to return to our subject, it only remains to be remarked, that here
+as in the former instances, the characters of the righteous and of the
+wicked, as delineated in Scripture, exactly correspond with the
+representations which have been given of the Scripture injunctions.
+
+The necessity of this cordial unreserved devotedness to the glory and
+service of God, as being indispensable to the character of the true
+Christian, has been insisted on at the greater length, not only on
+account of its own extreme importance, but also because it appears to be
+a duty too generally overlooked. Once well established, it will serve as
+a fundamental principle both for the government of the heart and
+regulation of the conduct; and will prove eminently useful in the
+decision of many practical cases, which it might be difficult to bring
+under the undisputed operation of any subordinate or appropriate rule.
+
+
+SECT. II.
+
+And now, having endeavoured to establish the strictness, and to
+ascertain the essential character of true practical Christianity, let us
+investigate a little more in detail the practical system of the bulk of
+professed Christians among ourselves[73].
+
+It was formerly remarked, that the whole subject of Religion was often
+viewed from such a distance as to be seen only in the gross. We now, it
+is to be feared, shall find too much cause for believing that they who
+approach a little nearer, and do discover in Christianity somewhat of a
+distinct form, yet come not close enough to discern her peculiar
+lineaments and conformation. The writer must not be understood to mean
+that the several misconceptions, which he shall have occasion to point
+out, will be generally found to exist with any thing like precision,
+much less that they are regularly digested into a system; nor will it be
+expected they all should meet in the same person, nor that they will not
+be found in different people, and under different circumstances,
+variously blended, combined, and modified. It will be enough if we
+succeed in tracing out great and general outlines. The human countenance
+may be well described by its general characters, though infinitely
+varied by the peculiarities which belong to different individuals, and
+often by such shades and minutenesses of difference, as though
+abundantly obvious to our perceptions, it would exceed the power of
+definition to discriminate, or even of language to express.
+
+A very erroneous notion appears to prevail concerning the true nature of
+Religion. Religion, agreeably to what has been already stated, (the
+importance of the subject will excuse repetition) may be considered as
+the implantation of a vigorous and active principle; it is seated in
+the heart, where its authority is recognized as supreme, whence by
+degrees it expels whatever is opposed to it, and where it gradually
+brings all the affections and desires under its complete controul and
+regulation.
+
+But though the heart be its special residence, it may be said to possess
+in a degree the ubiquity of its Divine Author. Every endeavour and
+pursuit must acknowledge its presence; and whatever does not, or will
+not, or cannot receive its sacred stamp, is to be condemned as
+inherently defective, and is to be at once abstained from or abandoned.
+It is like the principle of vitality, which, animating and informing
+every part, lives throughout the whole of the human body, and
+communicates its kindly influence to the smallest and remotest fibres of
+the frame. But the notion of Religion entertained by many among us seems
+altogether different. They begin indeed, in submission to her clear
+prohibitions, by fencing off from the field of human action, a certain
+district, which, though it in many parts bear fruits on which they cast
+a longing eye, they cannot but confess to be forbidden ground. They next
+assign to Religion a portion, larger or smaller according to whatever
+may be their circumstances and views, in which however she is to possess
+merely a qualified jurisdiction, and having so done, they conceive that
+without let or hindrance they have a right to range at will over the
+spacious remainder. Religion can claim only a stated proportion of their
+thoughts, and time, and fortune, and influence; and of these, or perhaps
+of any of them, if they make her any thing of a liberal allowance, she
+may well be satisfied: the rest is now their own to do what they will
+with; they have paid their tythes, say rather their composition, the
+demands of the Church are satisfied, and they may surely be permitted to
+enjoy what she has left without molestation or interference.
+
+It is scarcely possible to state too strongly the mischief which results
+from this fundamental error. At the same time its consequences are so
+natural and obvious, that one would think it scarcely possible not to
+foresee that they must infallibly follow. The greatest part of human
+actions is considered as indifferent. If men are not chargeable with
+actual vices, and are decent in the discharge of their religious duties;
+if they do not stray into the forbidden ground, if they respect the
+rights of the conceded allotment, what more can be expected from them?
+Instead of keeping at a distance from _all sin_, in which alone consists
+our safety, they will be apt not to care how near they approach what
+they conceive to be the boundary line; if they have not actually passed
+it, there is no harm done, it is no trespass. Thus the free and active
+spirit of Religion is "cribbed and hemmed in;" she is checked in her
+disposition to expand her territory, and enlarge the circle of her
+influence. She must keep to her prescribed confines, and every attempt
+to extend them will be resisted as an encroachment.
+
+But this is not all. Since whatever can be gained from her allotment, or
+whatever can be taken in from the forbidden ground, will be so much of
+addition to that land of liberty, where men may roam at large, free from
+restraint or molestation, they will of course be constantly, and almost
+insensibly, straitening and pressing upon the limits of the religious
+allotment on the one hand; and on the other, will be removing back a
+little farther and farther the fence which abridges them on the side of
+the forbidden ground. If Religion attempt for a time to defend her
+frontier, she by degrees gives way. The space she occupies diminishes
+till it be scarcely discernible; whilst, her spirit extinguished, and
+her force destroyed, she is little more than the nominal possessor even
+of the contracted limits to which she has been avowedly reduced.
+
+This it is to be feared is but too faithful a representation of the
+general state of things among ourselves. The promotion of the glory of
+God, and the possession of his favour, are no longer recognized as the
+objects of our highest regard, and most strenuous endeavours; as
+furnishing to us, a vigorous, habitual, and universal principle of
+action. We set up for ourselves: we are become our own masters. The
+sense of constant homage and continual service is irksome and galling to
+us; and we rejoice in being emancipated from it, as from a state of base
+and servile villainage. Thus the very tenure and condition, by which
+life and all its possessions are held, undergo a total change: our
+faculties and powers are now our own: whatever we have is regarded
+rather as a property than as a trust; or if there still exist the
+remembrance of some paramount claim, we are satisfied with an occasional
+acknowledgment of a nominal right; we pay our pepper corn, and take our
+estates to ourselves in full and free enjoyment.
+
+Hence it is that so little sense of responsibility seems attached to the
+possession of high rank, or splendid abilities, or affluent fortunes, or
+other means or instruments of usefulness. The instructive admonitions,
+"give an account of thy stewardship,"--"occupy till I come;" are
+forgotten. Or if it be acknowledged by some men of larger views than
+ordinary, that a reference is to be had to some principle superior to
+that of our own gratification, it is, at best, to the good of society,
+or to the welfare of our families: and even then the obligations
+resulting from these relations, are seldom enforced on us by any higher
+sanctions than those of family comfort, and of worldly interest or
+estimation. Besides; what multitudes of persons are there, people
+without families, in private stations, or of a retired turn, to whom
+they are scarcely held to apply! and what multitudes of cases to which
+it would be thought unnecessary scrupulosity to extend them! Accordingly
+we find _in fact_, that the generality of mankind among the higher
+order, in the formation of their schemes, in the selection of their
+studies, in the choice of their place of residence, in the employment
+and distribution of their time, in their thoughts, conversation, and
+amusements, are considered as being at liberty, if there be no actual
+vice, to consult in the main their own gratification.
+
+Thus the generous and wakeful spirit of Christian Benevolence, seeking
+and finding every where occasions for its exercise, is exploded, and a
+system of _decent selfishness_ is avowedly established in its stead; a
+system scarcely more to be abjured for its impiety, than to be abhorred
+for its cold insensibility to the opportunities of diffusing happiness.
+"Have we no families, or are they provided for? Are we wealthy, and bred
+to no profession? Are we young and lively, and in the gaiety and vigour
+of youth? Surely we may be allowed to take our pleasure. We neglect no
+duty, we live in no vice, we do nobody any harm, and have a right to
+amuse ourselves. We have nothing better to do, we wish we had; our time
+hangs heavy on our hands for want of it."
+
+I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beer-sheba, and cry "It is all
+barren." No man has a right to be idle--Not to speak of that great work
+which we all have to accomplish, and surely the _whole_ attention of a
+short and precarious life is not more than an eternal interest may well
+require; where is it that in such a world as this, health and leisure
+and affluence may not find some ignorance to instruct, some wrong to
+redress, some want to supply, some misery to alleviate? Shall Ambition
+and Avarice never sleep? Shall they never want objects on which to
+fasten? Shall they be so observant to discover, so acute to discern, so
+eager, so patient to pursue, and shall the Benevolence of Christians
+want employment?
+
+Yet thus life rolls away with too many of us in a course of "shapeless
+idleness." Its recreations constitute its chief business. Watering
+places--the sports of the field--cards! never failing cards!--the
+assembly--the theatre--all contribute their aid--amusements are
+multiplied, and combined, and varied, "to fill up the void of a listless
+and languid life;" and by the judicious use of these different
+resources, there is often a kind of sober settled plan of domestic
+dissipation, in which with all imaginable decency year after year wears
+away in unprofitable vacancy. Even old age often finds us pacing in the
+same round of amusements, which our early youth had tracked out.
+Meanwhile, being conscious that we are not giving into any flagrant
+vice, perhaps that we are guilty of no irregularity, and it may be, that
+we are not neglecting the offices of Religion, we persuade ourselves
+that we need not be uneasy. In the main we do not fall below the general
+standard of morals, of the class and station to which we belong, we may
+therefore allow ourselves to glide down the stream without apprehension
+of the consequences.
+
+Some, of a character often hardly to be distinguished from the class we
+have been just describing, take up with _sensual_ pleasures. The chief
+happiness of their lives consists in one species or another of animal
+gratification; and these persons perhaps will be found to compose a
+pretty large description. It will be remembered, that it belongs not to
+our purpose to speak of the grossly and scandalously profligate, who
+renounce all pretensions to the name of Christians; but of those who,
+maintaining a certain decency of character, and perhaps being tolerably
+observant of the forms of Religion, may yet be not improperly termed
+_sober sensualists_. These, though less impetuous and more measured, are
+not less staunch and steady, than the professed votaries of licentious
+pleasure, in the pursuit of their favourite objects. "Mortify the flesh,
+with its affections and lusts," is the Christian _precept_; a soft
+luxurious course of habitual indulgence, is the _practice_ of the bulk
+of modern Christians: and that constant moderation, that wholesome
+discipline of restraint and self-denial, which are requisite to prevent
+the unperceived encroachments of the inferior appetites, seem altogether
+disused, as the exploded austerities of monkish superstition.
+
+Christianity calls her professors to a state of diligent watchfulness
+and active services. But the persons of whom we are now speaking,
+forgetting alike the duties they owe to themselves and to their
+fellow-creatures, often act as though their condition were meant to be a
+state of uniform indulgence, and vacant, unprofitable sloth. To multiply
+the comforts of affluence, to provide for the gratification of appetite,
+to be luxurious without diseases, and indolent without lassitude, seems
+the chief study of their lives. Nor can they be clearly exempted from
+this class, who, by a common error, substituting the means for the end,
+make the preservation of health and spirits, not as instruments of
+usefulness, but as sources of pleasure, their great business and
+continual care.
+
+Others again seem more to attach themselves to what have been well
+termed the 'pomps and vanities of this world.' Magnificent houses, grand
+equipages, numerous retinues, splendid entertainments, high and
+fashionable connections, appear to constitute, in their estimation, the
+supreme happiness of life. This class too, if we mistake not, will be
+found numerous in our days; for it must be considered, _that it is the
+heart_, _set on these things_, which constitutes the essential
+character. It often happens, that persons, to whose rank and station
+these indulgences most properly belong, are most indifferent to them.
+The undue solicitude about them is more visible in persons of inferior
+conditions and smaller fortunes, in whom it is not rarely detected by
+the studious contrivances of a misapplied ingenuity to reconcile parade
+with oeconomy, and glitter at a cheap rate. But this temper of display
+and competition is a direct contrast to the lowly, modest, unassuming
+carriage of the true Christian: and wherever there is an evident effort
+and struggle to excel in the particulars here in question, a manifest
+wish thus to rival superiors, to outstrip equals, to dazzle inferiors;
+it is manifest the great end of life, and of all its possessions, is too
+little kept in view, and it is to be feared that the gratification of a
+vain ostentatious humour is the predominant disposition of the heart.
+
+As there is a sober sensuality, so is there also a sober avarice, and a
+sober ambition. The commercial and the professional world compose the
+chief sphere of their influence. They are often recognized and openly
+avowed as just master principles of action. But where this is not the
+case, they assume such plausible shapes, are called by such specious
+names, and urge such powerful pleas, that they are received with
+cordiality, and suffered to gather strength without suspicion. The
+seducing considerations of diligence in our callings, of success in our
+profession, of making handsome provisions for our children, beguile our
+better judgments. "We rise early, and late take rest, and eat the bread
+of carefulness." In our few intervals of leisure, our exhausted spirits
+require refreshment; the serious concerns of our immortal souls, are
+matters of speculation too grave and gloomy to answer the purpose, and
+we fly to something that may better deserve the name of relaxation, till
+we are again summoned to the daily labours of our employment.
+
+Meanwhile Religion seldom comes in our way, scarcely occurs to our
+thoughts; and when some secret misgivings begin to be felt on this head,
+company soon drowns, amusements dissipate, or habitual occupations
+insensibly displace or smother the rising apprehension. Professional and
+commercial men perhaps, especially when they happen to be persons of
+more than ordinary reflection, or of early habits of piety not quite
+worn away, easily quiet their consciences by the plea, that necessary
+attention to their business leaves them no time to think on these
+serious subjects at present. "Men of leisure they confess should
+consider them; they themselves will do it hereafter when they retire;
+meanwhile they are usefully or at least innocently employed." Thus
+business and pleasure fill up our time, and the "one thing needful," is
+forgotten. Respected by others, and secretly applauding ourselves,
+(perhaps congratulating ourselves that we are not like such an one who
+is a spendthrift or a mere man of pleasure, or such another who is a
+notorious miser) the true principle of action is no less wanting in us,
+and personal advancement or the acquisition of wealth is the object of
+our supreme desires and predominant pursuit.
+
+It would be to presume too much on the reader's patience to attempt a
+delineation of the characters of the politician, the metaphysician, the
+scholar, the poet, the virtuoso, the man of taste, in all their
+varieties. Of these and many other classes which might be enumerated,
+suffice it to remark, and to appeal to every man's own experience for
+the truth of the observation, that they in like manner are often
+completely engrossed by the objects of their several pursuits. In many
+of these cases indeed a generous spirit surrenders itself wholly up with
+the less reserve, and continues absorbed with the fuller confidence,
+from the consciousness of not being led to its object by self-interested
+motives. Here therefore these men are ardent, active, laborious,
+persevering, and they think, and speak, and act, as those, the whole
+happiness of whose life turns on the success or failure of their
+endeavours. When such, as we have seen it, is the undisturbed composure
+of mere triflers, it is less wonderful that the votaries of learning and
+of taste, when absorbed in their several pursuits, should be able to
+check still more easily any growing apprehension, silencing it by the
+suggestion, that they are more than harmlessly, that they are
+meritoriously employed. "Surely the thanks of mankind are justly paid to
+those more refined spirits who, superior alike to the seductions of
+ease, and the temptations of avarice, devote their time and talents to
+the less gainful labours of increasing the stores of learning or
+enlarging the boundaries of science; who are engaged in raising the
+character and condition of society, by improving the liberal arts, and
+adding to the innocent pleasures or elegant accomplishments of life."
+Let not the writer be so far misunderstood, as to be supposed to
+insinuate that Religion is an enemy to the pursuits of taste, much less
+to those of learning and of science. Let these have their _due_ place in
+the estimation of mankind; but this must not be the _highest_ place. Let
+them know their just _subordination_. They deserve not to be the
+_primary_ concern, for there is another, to which in importance they
+bear no more proportion than our span of existence to eternity.
+
+Thus the supreme desires of the heart, the center to which they should
+tend, losing its attractive force, are permitted without controul to
+take that course, whatever it may be, which best suits our natural
+temper, or to which they are impelled by our various situations and
+circumstances. Sometimes they manifestly appear to be almost entirely
+confined to a single track; but perhaps more frequently the lines in
+which they move are so intermingled and diversified, that it becomes not
+a little difficult, even when we look into ourselves, to ascertain the
+object by which they are chiefly attracted, or to estimate with
+precision the amount of their several forces, in the different
+directions in which they move. "Know thyself," is in truth an injunction
+with which the careless and the indolent cannot comply. For this
+compliance, it is requisite, in obedience to the Scripture precept, "to
+keep the heart with all diligence." Mankind are in general deplorably
+ignorant of their true state; and there are few perhaps who have any
+adequate conception of the real strength of the ties, by which they are
+bound to the several objects of their attachment, or who are aware how
+small a share of their regard is possessed by those concerns on which it
+ought to be supremely fixed.
+
+But if it be indeed true, that except the affections of the soul be
+supremely fixed on God; that unless it be _the leading and governing
+desire and primary pursuit_ to possess his favour and promote his glory,
+we are considered as having transferred our fealty to an usurper, and as
+being in fact revolters from our lawful sovereign; if this be indeed the
+Scripture doctrine, all the several attachments which have been lately
+enumerated, of the different classes of society, wherever they interest
+the affections, and possess the soul in any such measure of strength as
+deserves to be called _predominance_, are but so many varied expressions
+of _disloyalty_. God requires to set up his throne in the heart, and to
+reign in it without a rival: if he be kept out of his right, it matters
+not by what competitor. The revolt may be more avowed or more secret;
+it may be the treason of deliberate preference, or of inconsiderate
+levity; we may be the subjects of a more or of a less creditable master;
+we may be employed in services more gross or more refined: but whether
+the slaves of avarice, of sensuality, of dissipation, of sloth, or the
+votaries of ambition, of taste, or of fashion; whether supremely
+governed by vanity and self-love, by the desire of literary fame or of
+military glory, we are alike estranged from the dominion of our rightful
+sovereign. Let not this seem a harsh position; it can appear so only
+from not adverting to what was shewn to be the _essential nature_ of
+true Religion. He who bowed the knee to the god of medicine or of
+eloquence, was no less an idolater than the worshipper of the deified
+patrons of lewdness or of theft. In the several cases which have been
+specified, the _external acts_ indeed are different; but in _principle_
+the disaffection is the same; and unless we return to our allegiance, we
+must expect the title, and prepare to meet the punishment, of rebels on
+that tremendous day, when all false colours shall be done away, and
+(there being no longer any room for the evasions of worldly sophistry,
+or the smooth plausibilities of worldly language) "that which is often
+highly esteemed amongst men, shall appear to have been abomination in
+the sight of God."
+
+These fundamental truths seem vanished from the mind, and it follows of
+course, that every thing is viewed less and less through a religious
+medium. To speak no longer of instances wherein _we ourselves_ are
+concerned, and wherein the unconquerable power of indulged appetite may
+be supposed to beguile our better judgment, or force us on in defiance
+of it; not to insist on the motives by which the conduct of men is
+determined, often avowedly, in what are to _themselves_ the most
+important incidents of life; what are the judgments which they form in
+the case of _others_? Idleness, profusion, thoughtlessness, and
+dissipation, the misapplication of time or of talents, the trifling away
+of life in frivolous occupations or unprofitable studies; all these
+things we may regret in those around us, in the view of their temporal
+effects; but they are not considered in a religious connection, or
+lamented as endangering everlasting happiness. Excessive vanity and
+inordinate ambition are spoken of as weaknesses rather than as sins;
+even covetousness itself, though a hateful passion, yet, if not extreme,
+scarcely presents the face of _Irreligion_. Is some friend, or even some
+common acquaintance sick, or has some accident befallen him? How
+solicitously do we inquire after him, how tenderly do we visit him, how
+much perhaps do we regret that he has not better advice, how apt are we
+to prescribe for him, and how should we reproach ourselves, if we were
+to neglect any means in our power of contributing to his recovery! But
+"the mind diseased" is neglected and forgotten--"_that_ is not our
+affair; we hope (we do not perhaps really believe) that here it is well
+with him." The truth is, we have no solicitude about his spiritual
+interest. Here he is treated like the unfortunate traveller in the
+Gospel; we look upon him; we see but too well his sad condition, but
+(Priest and Levite alike) we pass by on the other side, and leave him to
+the officious tenderness of some poor despised Samaritan.
+
+Nay, take the case of our very children, when our hearts being most
+interested to promote their happiness, we must be supposed most desirous
+of determining on right principles, and where therefore the real
+standard of our deliberate judgments may be indisputably ascertained: in
+their education and marriage, in the choice of their professions, in our
+comparative consideration and judgment of the different parts of their
+several characters, how little do we reflect that they are immortal
+beings! Health, learning, credit, the amiable and agreeable qualities,
+above all, fortune and success in life, are taken, and not unjustly
+taken, into the account; but how small a share in forming our opinions
+is allowed to the probable effect which may be produced on their eternal
+interests! Indeed the subjects of our mutual inquiries, and
+congratulations, and condolences, prove but too plainly what
+considerations are in these cases uppermost in our thoughts.
+
+Such are the fatal and widely spreading effects, which but too naturally
+follow from the admission of the grand fundamental error before
+mentioned, that of not considering Religion as a principle of universal
+application and command. Robbed of its best energies, Religion now takes
+the form of a cold compilation of restraints and prohibitions. It is
+looked upon simply as a set of penal statutes; these, though wise and
+reasonable, are however, so far as they extend, abridgments of our
+natural liberty, and nothing which comes to us in this shape is
+extremely acceptable:
+
+    Atqui nolint occidere quemquam, posse volunt.
+
+Considering moreover, that the matter of them is not in general very
+palatable, and that the partiality of every man where his own cause is
+in question, will be likely to make him construe them liberally in his
+own favour, we might beforehand have formed a tolerable judgment of the
+manner in which they are actually treated. Sometimes we attend to the
+words rather than to the spirit of Scripture injunctions, overlooking
+the principle they involve, which a better acquaintance with the word of
+God would have clearly taught us to infer from them. At others, "the
+spirit of an injunction is all;" and this we contrive to collect so
+dexterously, as thereby to relax or annul the strictness of the terms.
+"Whatever is not expressly forbidden cannot be _very_ criminal; whatever
+is not positively enjoined, cannot be indispensably necessary--If we do
+not offend against the laws, what more can be expected from us?--The
+persons to whom the strict precepts of the Gospel were given, were in
+very different circumstances from those in which we are placed. The
+injunctions were drawn rather tighter than is quite necessary, in order
+to allow for a little relaxation in practice. The expressions of the
+sacred Writers are figurative; the Eastern style is confessedly
+hyperbolical."
+
+By these and other such dishonest shifts (by which however we seldom
+deceive ourselves, except it be in thinking that we deceive others) the
+pure but strong morality of the word of God is explained away, and its
+too rigid canons are softened down, with as much dexterity as is
+exhibited by those who practise a logic of the same complexion, in order
+to escape from the obligations of human statutes. Like Swift's
+unfortunate Brothers[74], we are sometimes put to difficulties, but our
+ingenuity is little inferior to their's. If totidem verbis[75] will not
+serve our turn, try totidem syllabis; if totidem syllabis fail, try
+totidem literis: then there is in our case, as well as in theirs, "an
+allegorical sense" to be adverted to; and if every other resource fail
+us, we come at last to the same conclusion as the Brothers adopted, that
+after all, those rigorous clauses require some allowance, and a
+favourable interpretation, and ought to be understood "cum grano salis."
+
+But when the law both in its spirit and its letter is obstinate and
+incorrigible, what we cannot bend to our purpose we must break--"Our
+sins we hope are of the smaller order; a little harmless gallantry, a
+little innocent jollity, a few foolish expletives which we use from the
+mere force of habit, meaning nothing by them; a little warmth of
+colouring and licence of expression; a few freedoms of speech in the
+gaiety of our hearts, which, though not perhaps strictly correct, none
+but the over-rigid would think of treating any otherwise than as venial
+infirmities, and in which very grave and religious men will often take
+their share, when they may throw off their state, and relax without
+impropriety. We serve an all-merciful Being, who knows the frailty of
+our nature, the number and strength of our temptations, and will not be
+extreme to mark what is done amiss. Even the less lenient judicatures of
+human institution concede somewhat to the weakness of man. It is an
+established maxim--'De minimis non curat lex.' We hope we are not worse
+than the generality. All men are imperfect. We own we have our
+infirmities; we confess it is so; we wish we were better, and trust as
+we grow older we shall become so; we are ready to acknowledge that we
+must be indebted for our admission into a future state of happiness, not
+to our own merit, but to the clemency of God, and the mercy of our
+Redeemer."
+
+But let not this language be mistaken for that of true Christian
+humiliation, of which it is the very essence to feel the burden of sin,
+and to long to be released from it: nor let two things be confounded,
+than which none can be more fundamentally different, the allowed want of
+universality in our determination, and our endeavour to obey the will of
+God, and that defective accomplishment of our purposes, which even the
+best of men will too often find reason to deplore. In the persons of
+whom we have been now speaking, the unconcern with which they can amuse
+themselves upon the borders of sin, and the easy familiarity with which
+they can actually dally with it in its less offensive shapes, shew
+plainly that, distinctly from its consequences, it is by no means the
+object of their aversion; that there is no love of holiness as such; no
+endeavour to acquire it, no care to prepare the soul for the reception
+of this divine principle, and to expel or keep under whatever might be
+likely to obstruct its entrance, or dispute its sovereignty.
+
+It is indeed a most lamentable consequence of the practice of regarding
+Religion as a compilation of statutes, and not as an internal principle,
+that it soon comes to be considered as being conversant about _external
+actions_ rather than about _habits of mind_. This sentiment sometimes
+has even the hardiness to insinuate and maintain itself under the guise
+of extraordinary concern for _practical Religion_; but it soon discovers
+the falsehood of this pretension, and betrays its real nature. The
+expedient indeed of attaining to superiority in practice, by not wasting
+any of the attention on the internal principles from which alone
+practice can flow, is about as reasonable, and will answer about as
+well, as the oeconomy of the architect, who should account it mere
+prodigality to expend any of his materials in laying foundations, from
+an idea that they might be more usefully applied to the raising of the
+superstructure. We know what would be the fate of such an edifice.
+
+It is indeed true, and a truth never to be forgotten, that all
+pretensions to internal principles of holiness are vain when they are
+contradicted by the conduct; but it is no less true, that the only
+effectual way of improving the latter, is by a vigilant attention to the
+former. It was therefore our blessed Saviour's injunction, "Make the
+tree good" as the necessary means of obtaining good fruit; and the holy
+Scriptures abound in admonitions, to let it be our chief business to
+cultivate our hearts with all diligence, to examine into their state
+with impartiality, and watch over them with continual care. Indeed it is
+the _Heart_ which constitutes the _Man_; and external actions derive
+their whole character and meaning from the motives and dispositions of
+which they are the indications. Human judicatures, it is true, are
+chiefly conversant about the former, but this is only because to our
+limited perceptions the latter can seldom be any otherwise clearly
+ascertained. The real object of inquiry to human judicatures is the
+_internal_ disposition; it is to this that they adapt the nature, and
+proportion the degree, of their punishments.
+
+Yet though this be a truth so obvious, so established, that to have
+insisted on it may seem almost needless; it is a truth of which we are
+apt to lose sight in the review of our religious Character, and with
+which the _habit_, of considering Religion as consisting rather in
+external actions, than internal principles, is at direct and open war.
+This mode of judging may well be termed _habitual_: for though by some
+persons it is advisedly adopted, and openly avowed, yet in many cases
+for want of due watchfulness, it has stolen insensibly upon the mind; it
+exists unsuspected, and is practised, like other habits, without
+consciousness or observation.
+
+In what degree soever this pernicious principle prevails, in that degree
+is the mischief it produces. The vicious affections, like noxious weeds,
+sprout up and increase of themselves but too naturally; while the graces
+of the Christian temper, exotics in the soil of the human heart, like
+the more tender productions of the vegetable world, though the light and
+breath of Heaven must quicken them, require on our part also, in order
+to their being preserved in health and vigour, constant superintendence
+and assiduous care. But so far from their being earnestly sought for, or
+watchfully reared, with unremitted prayers for that Divine Grace,
+without which all our labours must be ineffectual; such is the result of
+the principle we are here condemning, that no endeavours are used for
+their attainment, or they are suffered to droop and die almost without
+an effort to preserve them. The culture of the mind is less and less
+attended to, and at length perhaps is almost wholly neglected. Way
+being thus made for the unobstructed growth of other tempers, the
+qualities of which are very different, and often directly opposite,
+these naturally overspread and quietly possess the mind; their
+contrariety to the Christian spirit not being discerned, and even
+perhaps their presence being scarcely acknowledged, except when their
+existence and their nature are manifested in the conduct by marks too
+plain to be overlooked or mistaken.
+
+Some of the most important branches of the Christian temper, wherein the
+bulk of nominal Christians appear eminently and allowedly defective,
+have been already noticed in this and in the preceding chapter. Many
+others still remain to be particularized.
+
+First then, it is the comprehensive compendium of the character of true
+Christians, that "they are walking by faith, and not by sight." By this
+description is meant, not merely that they so firmly believe in the
+doctrine of future rewards and punishments, as to be influenced by that
+persuasion to adhere in the main to the path of duty, though tempted to
+forsake it by present interest, and present gratification; but farther,
+that the great truths revealed in Scripture concerning the unseen world,
+are the ideas for the most part uppermost in their thoughts, and about
+which habitually their hearts are most interested. This state of mind
+contributes, if the expression may be allowed, to rectify the illusions
+of vision, to bring forward into nearer view those eternal things which
+from their remoteness are apt to be either wholly overlooked, or to
+appear but faintly in the utmost bounds of the horizon; and to remove
+backward, and reduce to their true comparative dimensions, the objects
+of the present life, which are apt to fill the human eye, assuming a
+false magnitude from their vicinity. The true Christian knows from
+experience however, that the former are apt to fade from the sight, and
+the latter again to swell on it. He makes it therefore his continual
+care to preserve those just and enlightened views, which through Divine
+mercy he has obtained. Not that he will retire from that station in the
+world which Providence seems to have appointed him to fill: he will be
+active in the business of life, and enjoy its comforts with moderation
+and thankfulness; but he will not be "totus in illis," he will not give
+up his whole soul to them, they will be habitually subordinate in his
+estimation to objects of more importance. The awful truth has sunk deep
+into his mind, "the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
+which are not seen are eternal;" and in the tumult and bustle of life,
+he is sobered by the still small voice which whispers to him "the
+fashion of this world passes away." This circumstance alone must, it is
+obvious, constitute a vast difference between the habitual temper of his
+mind, and that of the generality of nominal Christians, who are almost
+entirely taken up with the concerns of the present world. They _know_
+indeed that they are mortal, but they do not _feel_ it. The truth rests
+in their understandings, and cannot gain admission into their hearts.
+This speculative persuasion is altogether different from that strong
+_practical_ impression of the infinite importance of eternal things,
+which attended with a proportionate sense of the shortness and
+uncertainty of all below, while it prompts to activity from a conviction
+that "the night cometh when no man can work," produces a certain
+firmness of texture, which hardens us against the buffets of fortune,
+and prevents our being very deeply penetrated by the cares and
+interests, the goods or evils, of this transitory state. Thus this just
+impression of the relative value of temporal and eternal things,
+maintains in the soul a dignified composure through all the vicissitudes
+of life. It quickens our diligence, yet moderates our ardour; urges us
+to just pursuits, yet checks any undue solicitude about the success of
+them, and thereby enables us, in the language of Scripture, "to use this
+world as not abusing it," rendering us at once beneficial to others and
+comfortable to ourselves.
+
+But this is not all--besides the distinction between the nominal and the
+real Christian, which results from the impressions produced on them
+respectively by the _eternal duration_ of heavenly things, there is
+another grounded on their _nature_, no less marked, nor less important.
+They are stated in Scripture, not only as entitling themselves to the
+notice of the true Christian from considerations of interest, but as
+approving themselves to his judgment from a conviction of their
+excellence, and yet farther, as recommending themselves to his feelings,
+by their being suited to the renewed dispositions of his heart. Indeed
+were the case otherwise, did not their qualities correspond with his
+inclinations; however he might endure them on principles of duty, and be
+coldly conscious of their superior worth, he could not lend himself to
+them with cordial complacency, much less look to them as the surest
+source of pleasure. But this is the light in which they are habitually
+regarded by the true Christian. He walks in the ways of Religion, not
+by constraint, but willingly; they are to him not only safe, but
+comfortable; "ways of pleasantness as well as of peace." Not but that
+here also he is from experience aware of the necessity of constant
+support, and continual watchfulness; without these, his old estimate of
+things is apt to return on him, and the former objects of his affections
+to resume their influence. With earnest prayers, therefore, for the
+Divine Help, with jealous circumspection, and resolute self-denial, he
+guards against, and abstains from, whatever might be likely again to
+darken his _enlightened judgment_, or to vitiate his reformed taste;
+thus making it his unwearied endeavour to grow in the knowledge and love
+of heavenly things, and to obtain a warmer admiration, and a more
+cordial relish of their excellence.
+
+That this is a just representation of the habitual judgment, and of the
+leading disposition of true Christians, will be abundantly evident, if,
+endeavouring to form ourselves after our proper model, we consult the
+sacred Scripture. But in vain are Christians there represented as having
+set their _affections_ on things above, as _cordially rejoicing_ in the
+service, and delighting in the worship of God. Pleasure and Religion are
+contradictory terms with the bulk of nominal Christians. They may look
+back indeed on their religious offices with something of a secret
+satisfaction, and even feel it during the performance of them, from the
+idea of being engaged in the discharge of a duty; but this is altogether
+different from the pleasure which attends an employment in itself
+acceptable and grateful to us. The writer must here again guard against
+being understood to speak of a deficiency in the _warmth_ and
+_vehemence_ merely of religious affections. Are the service and worship
+of God _pleasant_ to these persons? it is not asked whether they are
+_delightful_. Do they diffuse over the soul any thing of that calm
+complacency, that mild and grateful composure, which bespeaks a mind in
+good humour with itself and all around it, and engaged in a service
+suited to its taste, and congenial with its feelings?
+
+Let us appeal to that Day which is especially devoted to the offices of
+Religion: Do they joyfully avail themselves of this blessed opportunity
+of withdrawing from the business and cares of life; when, without being
+disquieted by any doubt whether they are not neglecting the duties of
+their proper callings, they may be allowed to detach their minds from
+earthly things, that by a fuller knowledge of heavenly objects, and a
+more habitual acquaintance with them, their hope may grow more "full of
+immortality?" Is the day cheerfully devoted to those holy exercises for
+which it was appointed? Do they indeed "come into the courts of God with
+gladness?" And how are they employed when not engaged in the public
+services of the day? Are they busied in studying the word of God, in
+meditating on his perfections, in tracing his providential
+dispensations, in admiring his works, in revolving his mercies, (above
+all, the transcendent mercies of redeeming love) in singing his praises,
+"and speaking good of his name?" Do their secret retirements witness the
+earnestness of their prayers and the warmth of their thanksgivings,
+their diligence and impartiality in the necessary work of
+self-examination, their mindfulness of the benevolent duty of
+intercession? Is the kind purpose of the institution of a Sabbath
+answered by them, in its being made to their servants and dependents a
+season of rest and comfort? Does the instruction of their families, or
+of the more poor and ignorant of their neighbours, possess its due share
+of their time? If blessed with talents or with affluence, are they
+sedulously employing a part of this interval of leisure in relieving the
+indigent, and visiting the sick, and comforting the sorrowful, in
+forming plans for the good of their fellow-creatures, in considering how
+they may promote both the temporal and spiritual benefit of their
+friends and acquaintance: or if their's be a larger sphere, in devising
+measures whereby through the Divine blessing, they may become the
+honoured instruments of the more extended diffusion of religious truth?
+In the hours of domestic or social intercourse, does their conversation
+manifest the subject of which their hearts are full? Do their language
+and demeanor shew them to be more than commonly gentle, and kind, and
+friendly, free from rough and irritating passions?
+
+Surely an entire day should not seem long amidst these various
+employments. It might well be deemed a privilege thus to spend it, in
+the more immediate presence of our Heavenly Father, in the exercises of
+humble admiration and grateful homage; of the benevolent, and domestic,
+and social feelings, and of all the best affections of our nature,
+prompted by their true motives, conversant about their proper objects,
+and directed to their noblest end; all sorrows mitigated, all cares
+suspended, all fears repressed, every angry emotion softened, every
+envious or revengeful or malignant passion expelled; and the bosom, thus
+quieted, purified, enlarged, ennobled, partaking almost of a measure of
+the Heavenly happiness, and become for a while the seat of love, and
+joy, and confidence, and harmony.
+
+The nature, and uses, and proper employments of a Christian Sabbath,
+have been pointed out more particularly, not only because the day will
+be found, when thus employed, eminently conducive, through the Divine
+blessing, to the maintenance of the religious principle in activity and
+vigour; but also because we must all have had occasion often to remark,
+that many persons, of the graver and more decent sort, seem not seldom
+to be nearly destitute of religious resources. The Sunday is with them,
+to say the best of it, a _heavy_ day; and that larger part of it, which
+is not claimed by the public offices of the church, dully drawls on in
+comfortless vacuity, or without improvement is trifled away in vain and
+unprofitable discourse. Not to speak of those who by their more daring
+profanation of this sacred season, openly violate the laws and insult
+the religion of their country, how little do many seem to enter into the
+_spirit_ of the institution, who are not wholly inattentive to its
+exterior decorums! How glad are they to qualify the rigor of their
+religious labours! How hardly do they plead against being compelled to
+devote the _whole_ of the day to Religion, claiming to themselves no
+small merit for giving up to it a part, and purchasing therefore, as
+they hope, a right to spend the remainder more agreeably! How
+dexterously do they avail themselves of any plausible plea for
+introducing some weekday employment into the Sunday, whilst they have
+not the same propensity to introduce any of the Sunday's peculiar
+employment into the rest of the week! How often do they find excuses
+for taking journeys, writing letters, balancing accounts; or in short
+doing something, which by a little management might probably have been
+anticipated, or which, without any material inconvenience, might be
+postponed! Even business itself is recreation, compared with Religion,
+and from the drudgery of this day of Sacred Rest they fly for relief to
+their ordinary occupations.
+
+Others again who would consider business as a prophanation, and who
+still hold out against the encroachments of the card table, get over
+much of the day, and gladly seek for an innocent resource, in the social
+circle or in family visits, where it is not even pretended that the
+conversation turns on such topics as might render it in any way
+conducive to religious instruction, or improvement. Their families
+meanwhile are neglected, their servants robbed of Christian privileges,
+and their example quoted by others, who cannot see that they are
+themselves less religiously employed, while playing an innocent game at
+cards, or relaxing in the concert room.
+
+But all these several artifices, _whatever they may be_, _to unhallow_
+the Sunday and to change its character (it might be almost said "to
+relax its horrors,") prove but too plainly, however we may be glad to
+take refuge in Religion, when driven to it by the loss of every other
+comfort, and to retain as it were a reversionary interest in an asylum,
+which may receive us when we are forced from the transitory enjoyments
+of our present state; that _in itself_ it wears to us a gloomy and
+forbidding aspect, and not a face of consolation and joy; that the
+worship of God is with us a _constrained_ and not a _willing_ service,
+which we are glad therefore to abridge though we dare not omit it.
+
+Some indeed there are who with concern and grief will confess this to be
+their uncomfortable and melancholy state; who humbly pray, and
+diligently endeavour, for an imagination less distracted at devotional
+seasons, for a heart more capable of relishing the excellence of divine
+things; and who carefully guard against whatever has a tendency to chain
+down their affections to earthly enjoyments. Let not such be
+discouraged. It is not they whom we are condemning: but such as knowing
+and even acknowledging this to be their case, yet proceed in a way
+directly contrary: who, scarcely seeming to suspect that any thing is
+wrong with them, voluntarily acquiesce in a state of mind which is
+directly contrary to the positive commands of God, which forms a perfect
+contrast to the representations given us in Scripture of the Christian
+character, and accords but too faithfully in one leading feature with
+the character of those, who are stated to be the objects of Divine
+displeasure in this life, and of Divine punishment in the next.
+
+It is not however only in these essential constituents of a devotional
+frame that the bulk of nominal Christians are defective. This they
+freely declare (secretly feeling perhaps some complacency from the
+frankness of the avowal) to be a higher strain of piety than that to
+which they aspire. Their forgetfulness also of some of the leading
+dispositions of Christianity, is undeniably apparent in their allowed
+want of the spirit of kindness, and meekness, and gentleness, and
+patience, and long suffering; and above all, of that which is the stock
+on which alone these dispositions can grow and flourish, that
+_humility_ and _lowliness of mind_, in which perhaps more than in any
+other quality may be said to consist the true essence and vital
+principle of the Christian temper. These dispositions are not only
+neglected, but even disavowed and exploded, and their opposites, if not
+rising to any great height, are acknowledged and applauded. _A just
+pride, a proper and becoming pride_, are terms which we daily hear from
+Christian lips. To possess _a high spirit_, to behave with _a proper
+spirit_ when used ill,--by which is meant a quick feeling of injuries,
+and a promptness in resenting them,--entitles to commendation; and a
+meek-spirited disposition, the highest Scripture eulogium, expresses
+ideas of disapprobation and contempt. Vanity and vain glory are suffered
+without interruption to retain their natural possession of the heart.
+But here a topic opens upon us of such importance, and on which so many
+mistakes are to be found both in the writings of respectable authors,
+and in the commonly prevailing opinions of the world, that it may be
+allowed us to discuss it more at large, and for this purpose to treat of
+it in a separate section.
+
+
+SECTION III.
+
+_On the Desire of human Estimation and Applause--The generally
+prevailing Opinions contrasted with those of the true Christian._
+
+The desire of human estimation, and distinction, and honour, of the
+admiration and applause of our fellow creatures, if we take it in its
+full comprehension, and in all its various modifications, from the
+thirst of glory to the dread of shame, is the passion of which the
+empire is by far the most general, and perhaps the authority the most
+commanding. Though its power be most conspicuous and least controulable
+in the higher classes of society, it seems, like some resistless
+conqueror, to spare neither age, nor sex, nor condition; and taking ten
+thousand shapes, insinuating itself under the most specious pretexts,
+and sheltering itself when necessary under the most artful disguises, it
+winds its way in secret, when it dares not openly avow itself, and mixes
+in all we think, and speak, and do. It is in some instances the
+determined and declared pursuit, and confessedly the main practical
+principle; but where this is not the case, it is not seldom the grand
+spring of action, and in the Beauty and the Author, no less than in the
+Soldier, it is often the master passion of the soul.
+
+This is the principle which parents recognize with joy in their infant
+offspring, which is diligently instilled and nurtured in advancing
+years, which, under the names of honourable ambition and of laudable
+emulation, it is the professed aim of schools and colleges to excite and
+cherish. The writer is well aware that it will be thought he is pushing
+his opinions much too far, when he ventures to assail this great
+principle of human action; "a principle," its advocates might perhaps
+exclaim, "the extinction of which, if you could succeed in your rash
+attempt, would be like the annihilation in the material world of the
+principle of motion; without it all were torpid and cold and
+comfortless. We grant," they might go on to observe, "that we never
+ought to deviate from the paths of duty in order to procure the applause
+or to avoid the reproaches of men, and we allow that this is a rule too
+little attended to in practice. We grant that the love of praise is in
+some instances a ridiculous, and in others a mischievous passion; that
+to it we owe the breed of coquettes and coxcombs, and, a more serious
+evil, the noxious race of heroes and conquerors. We too are ready, when
+it appears in the shape of vanity, to smile at it as a foible, or in
+that of false glory, to condemn it as a crime. But all these are only
+its perversions; and on account of them to contend against its true
+forms, and its legitimate exercise, were to give into the very error
+which you formerly yourself condemned, of arguing against the use of a
+salutary principle altogether, on account of its being liable to
+occasional abuse. When turned into the right direction, and applied to
+its true purposes, it prompts to every dignified and generous
+enterprise. It is erudition in the portico, skill in the lycæum,
+eloquence in the senate, victory in the field. It forces indolence into
+activity, and extorts from vice itself the deeds of generosity and
+virtue. When once the soul is warmed by its generous ardor, no
+difficulties deter, no dangers terrify, no labours tire. It is this
+which, giving by its stamp to what is virtuous and honourable its just
+superiority over the gifts of birth and fortune, rescues the rich from a
+base subjection to the pleasures of sense, and makes them prefer a
+course of toil and hardship to a life of indulgence and ease. It
+prevents the man of rank from acquiescing in his hereditary greatness,
+and spurs him forward in pursuit of _personal_ distinction, and of a
+nobility which he may justly term his own. It moderates and qualifies
+the over-great inequalities of human conditions; and reaching to those
+who are above the sphere of laws, and extending to cases which fall not
+within their province, it limits and circumscribes the power of the
+tyrant on his throne, and gives gentleness to war, and to pride,
+humility.
+
+"Nor is its influence confined to public life, nor is it known only in
+the great and the splendid. To it is to be ascribed a large portion of
+that courtesy and disposition to please, which naturally producing a
+mutual appearance of good will, and a reciprocation of good offices,
+constitute much of the comfort of private life, and give their choicest
+sweets to social and domestic intercourse. Nay, from the force of habit,
+it follows us even into solitude, and in our most secret retirements we
+often act as if our conduct were subject to human observation, and we
+derive no small complacency from the imaginary applauses of an ideal
+spectator."
+
+So far of the _effects_ of the love of praise and distinction: and if
+after enumerating some of these, you should proceed to investigate its
+_nature_, "We admit," it might be added, "that a hasty and misjudging
+world often misapplies commendations and censures: and whilst we
+therefore confess, that the praises of the discerning few are alone
+truly valuable; we acknowledge that it were better if mankind were
+always to act from the sense of right and the love of virtue, without
+reference to the opinions of their fellow-creatures. We even allow,
+that independently of consequences, this were perhaps in itself a higher
+strain of virtue; but it is a degree of purity which it would be vain to
+expect from the bulk of mankind. When the _intrinsic excellence_ of this
+principle however is called in question, let it be remembered, that in
+its higher degrees it was styled, by one who meant rather to detract
+from its merits than to aggravate them, 'the infirmity of _noble_
+minds;' and surely, that in such a soil it most naturally springs up,
+and flourishes, is no mean proof of its exalted origin and generous
+nature.
+
+"But were these more dubious, and were it no more than a splendid error;
+yet considering that it works so often in the right direction, it were
+enough to urge in its behalf, that it is a principle of real _action_,
+and approved energy. That, as much as practice is better than theory,
+and solid realties than empty speculation, so much is it to be preferred
+for general use before those higher principles of morals, which however
+just and excellent in themselves, you would in vain attempt to bring
+home to the 'business and bosoms of mankind' at large. Reject not then a
+principle thus universal in its influence, thus valuable in its effects;
+a principle, which, by whatever name you may please to call it, acts by
+motives and considerations suited to our condition; and which, putting
+it at the very lowest, must be confessed, in our present infirm state,
+to be an habitual aid and an ever present support to the feebleness of
+virtue! In a selfish world it produces the effects of disinterestedness,
+and when public spirit is extinct, it supplies the want of patriotism.
+Let us therefore with gratitude avail ourselves of its help, and not
+relinquish the good which it freely offers, from we know not what vain
+dreams of impracticable purity and unattainable perfection."
+
+All this and much more might be urged by the advocates of this favourite
+principle. It would be however no difficult task to shew that it by no
+means merits this high eulogium. To say nothing of that larger part of
+the argument of our opponents, which betrays, and even proceeds upon,
+that mischievous notion of the innocence of error, against which we have
+already entered our formal protest, the principle in question is
+manifestly of a most inconstant and variable nature; as inconstant and
+variable as the innumerably diversified modes of fashions, habits, and
+opinions in different periods and societies. What it tolerates in one
+age, it forbids in another; what in one country it prescribes and
+applauds, in another it condemns and stigmatizes! Obviously and openly,
+it often takes vice into its patronage, and sets itself in direct
+opposition to virtue. It is calculated to produce rather the
+_appearance_ than the _reality_ of excellence; and at best not to check
+the _love_ but only the _commission_ of vice. Much of this indeed was
+seen and acknowledged by the philosophers, and even by the poets, of the
+Pagan world. They declaimed against it as a mutable and inconsistent
+principle; they lamented the fatal effects which, under the name of
+false glory, it had produced on the peace and happiness of mankind. They
+condemned the pursuit of it when it led its followers out of the path of
+virtue, and taught that the praise of the wise and of the good only was
+to be desired.
+
+But it was reserved for the page of Scripture to point out to us
+distinctly, wherein it is apt to be essentially defective and vicious,
+and to discover to us more fully its encroaching nature and dangerous
+tendencies; teaching us at the same time, how, being purified from its
+corrupt qualities, and reduced under just subordination, it may be
+brought into legitimate exercise, and be directed to its true end.
+
+In the sacred volume we are throughout reminded, that we are originally
+the creatures of God's formation, and continual dependents on his
+bounty. There too we learn the painful lesson of man's degradation and
+unworthiness. We learn that humiliation and contrition are the tempers
+of mind best suited to our fallen condition, and most acceptable in the
+sight of our Creator. We learn that these (to the repression and
+extinction of that spirit of arrogance and self-importance, so natural
+to the heart of man) it should be our habitual care to cherish and
+cultivate; studiously maintaining a continual sense, that, not only for
+all the _natural_ advantages over others which we may possess, but that
+for all our _moral_ superiority also, we are altogether indebted to the
+unmerited goodness of God. It might perhaps be said to be the great end
+and purpose of all revelation, and especially to be the design of the
+Gospel, to reclaim us from our natural pride and selfishness, and their
+fatal consequences; to bring us to a just sense of our weakness and
+_depravity_; and to dispose us, with unfeigned humiliation, to abase
+ourselves, and give glory to God. "No flesh may glory in his presence;
+he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord"--"The lofty looks of man
+shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and
+the Lord alone shall be exalted[76]."
+
+These solemn admonitions are too generally disregarded, and their
+intimate connection with the subject we are now considering, appears to
+have been often entirely overlooked, even by Christian moralists. These
+authors, without reference to the main spring, and internal principle of
+conduct, are apt to speak of the love of human applause, as being
+meritorious or culpable, as being the desire of true or of false glory,
+accordingly as the external actions it produces, and the pursuits to
+which it prompts, are beneficial or mischievous to mankind. But it is
+undeniably manifest, that in the judgment of the word of God, the love
+of worldly admiration and applause is in its _nature_ essentially and
+radically corrupt; so far as it partakes of a disposition to exalt and
+aggrandize ourselves, to pride ourselves on our natural or acquired
+endowments, or to assume to ourselves the merit and credit of our good
+qualities, instead of ascribing all the honour and glory where only they
+are due. Its _guilt_ therefore in these cases, is not to be measured by
+its effects on the happiness of mankind; nor is it to be denominated
+_true or false_ glory, accordingly as the ends to which it is directed
+are beneficial or mischievous, just or unjust objects of pursuit; but it
+is _false_, because it exalts that which ought to be abased, and
+_criminal_, because it encroaches on the prerogative of God.
+
+The Scriptures further instruct us, not merely that mankind are liable
+to error, and therefore that the world's commendations _may be_
+sometimes mistaken; but that their judgment being darkened and their
+hearts depraved, its applauses and contempt will for the most part be
+systematically misplaced; that though the beneficent and disinterested
+spirit of Christianity, and her obvious tendency to promote domestic
+comfort and general happiness, cannot but extort applause; yet that her
+aspiring after more than ordinary excellence, by exciting secret
+misgivings in others, or a painful sense of inferiority not unmixed with
+envy, cannot fail often to disgust and offend. The word of God teaches
+us, that though such of the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, as
+are coincident with worldly interests and pursuits, and with worldly
+principles and systems, may be professed without offence; yet, that what
+is opposite to these, or even different from them, will be deemed
+needlessly precise and strict, the indulgence of a morose and gloomy
+humour, the symptoms of a contracted and superstitious spirit, the marks
+of a mean, enslaved, or distorted understanding. That for these and
+other reasons, the follower of Christ must not only make up his mind to
+the _occasional relinquishment_ of worldly favour, but that it should
+even afford him matter of holy jealousy and suspicion of himself, when
+it is very lavishly and very generally bestowed.
+
+But though the standard of worldly estimation differed less from that of
+the Gospel; yet since our affections ought to be set on heavenly things,
+and conversant about heavenly objects; and since in particular the love
+and favour of God ought to be the matter of our supreme and habitual
+desire, to which every other should be subordinated; it follows, that
+the love of human applause must be manifestly injurious, so far as it
+tends to draw down our regards to earthly concerns, and to bound and
+circumscribe our desires within the narrow limits of this world.
+Particularly, that it is _impure_, so far as it is tinctured with a
+disposition to estimate too highly, and love too well, the good opinion
+and commendations of man.
+
+But though, by these and other instructions and considerations, the Holy
+Scripture warns us against the inordinate desire or earnest pursuit of
+worldly estimation and honour; though it so greatly reduces their value,
+and prepares us for losing them without surprise, and for relinquishing
+them with little reluctance: yet it teaches us, that Christians in
+general are not only not called upon absolutely and voluntarily to
+renounce or forego them; but that when, without our having solicitously
+sought them, they are bestowed on us for actions intrinsically good, we
+are to accept them as being intended by Providence, to be sometimes,
+even in this disorderly state of things, a present solace, and a reward
+to virtue. Nay more, we are instructed, that in our general deportment,
+that in little particulars of conduct otherwise indifferent, that in the
+_circumstances_ and _manner_ of performing actions in themselves of a
+determined character and indispensable obligation, (guarding however
+against the smallest degree of artifice or deceit) that by watching for
+opportunities of doing little kindnesses, that by avoiding
+singularities, and even humouring prejudices, where it may be done
+without the slightest infringment on truth or duty, we ought to have a
+due respect and regard to the approbation and favour of men. These
+however we should not value, chiefly as they may administer to our own
+gratification, but rather as furnishing means and instruments of
+influence, which we may turn to good account, by making them subservient
+to the improvement and happiness of our fellow creatures, and thus
+conducive to the _glory of God_. The remark is almost superfluous, that
+on occasions like these we must even watch our hearts with the most
+jealous care, lest pride and self love insensibly infuse themselves, and
+corrupt the purity of principles so liable to contract a taint.
+
+Credit and reputation, in the judgment of the true Christian, stand on
+ground not very different from riches; which he is not to prize highly,
+or to desire and pursue with solicitude; but which, when they are
+allotted to him by the hand of Providence, he is to accept with
+thankfulness, and use with moderation; relinquishing them when it
+becomes necessary, without a murmur; guarding most circumspectly, so
+long as they remain with him, against that sensual and selfish temper,
+and no less against that pride and wantonness of heart, which they are
+too apt to produce and cherish; thus considering them as in themselves
+acceptable, but, from the infirmity of his nature, as highly dangerous
+possessions, and valuing them chiefly not as instruments of luxury or
+splendour, but as affording the means of honouring his heavenly
+Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind.
+
+Christianity however, as was formerly observed, proposes not to
+extinguish our natural desires, but to bring them under just controul,
+and direct them to their true objects. In the case both of riches and of
+honour, she maintains the consistency of her character. While she
+commands us not to set our hearts on _earthly_ treasures, she reminds us
+that "we have in _Heaven_ a better and more enduring substance" than
+this world can bestow; and while she represses our solicitude respecting
+earthly credit, and moderates our attachment to it, she holds forth to
+us, and bids us habitually to aspire after, the splendours of that
+better state, where is true glory, and honour, and immortality; thus
+exciting in us a just ambition, suited to our high origin, and worthy of
+our large capacities, which the little, misplaced, and perishable
+distinctions of this life would in vain attempt to satisfy.
+
+It would be mere waste of time to enter into any laboured argument to
+prove at large, that the light in which worldly credit and estimation
+are regarded, by the bulk of professed Christians, is extremely
+different from that in which they are placed by the page of Scripture.
+The _inordinate_ love of _worldly glory_ indeed, implies a passion,
+which from the nature of things cannot be called into exercise in the
+generality of mankind, because, being conversant about great objects, it
+can but rarely find that field which is requisite for its exertions. But
+we every where discover the same principle reduced to the dimensions of
+common life, and modified and directed according to every one's sphere
+of action. We may discover it in a supreme love of distinction, and
+admiration, and praise; in the universal acceptableness of flattery; and
+above all in the excessive valuation of our worldly character, in that
+watchfulness with which it is guarded, in that jealousy when it is
+questioned, in that solicitude when it is in danger, in that hot
+resentment when it is attacked, in that bitterness of suffering when it
+is impaired or lost. All these emotions, as they are too manifest to be
+disputed, so are they too reputable to be denied. Dishonour, disgrace,
+and shame present images of horror too dreadful to be faced; they are
+evils, which it is thought the mark of a generous spirit to consider as
+excluding every idea of comfort and enjoyment, and to feel, in short, as
+too heavy to be borne.
+
+The consequences of all this are natural and obvious. Though it be not
+openly avowed, that we are to follow after worldly estimation, or to
+escape from worldly disrepute, when they can only be pursued or avoided
+by declining from the path of duty; nay though the contrary be
+recognized as being the just opinion; yet all the effect of this
+speculative concession is soon done away _in fact_. Estimating worldly
+credit as of the highest intrinsic excellence, and worldly shame as the
+greatest of all possible evils, we sometimes shape and turn the path of
+duty itself from its true direction, so as it may favour our acquisition
+of the one, and avoidance of the other; or when this cannot be done, we
+boldly and openly turn aside from it, declaring the temptation is too
+strong to be resisted.
+
+It were easy to adduce numerous proofs of the truth of these assertions.
+It is proved, indeed, by that general tendency in Religion to conceal
+herself from the view, (for we might hope that in these cases she often
+is by no means altogether extinct) by her being apt to vanish from our
+conversations, and even to give place to a pretended licentiousness of
+sentiments and conduct, and a false shew of infidelity. It is proved, by
+that complying acquiescence and participation in the habits and manners
+of this dissipated age, which, has almost confounded every external
+distinction between the Christian and the Infidel, and has made it so
+rare to find any one who dares incur the charge of Christian
+singularity, or who can say with the Apostle that "he is not ashamed of
+the Gospel of Christ." It is proved (how can this proof be omitted by
+one to whose lot it has so often fallen to witness and lament, sometimes
+he fears to afford an instance of it?) by that quick resentment, those
+bitter contentions, those angry retorts, those malicious triumphs, that
+impatience of inferiority, that wakeful sense of past defeats, and
+promptness to revenge them, which too often change the character of a
+Christian deliberative Assembly, into that of a stage for prize
+fighters: violating at once the proprieties of public conduct, and the
+rules of social decorum, and renouncing and chasing away all the
+charities of the Religion of Jesus!
+
+But from all lesser proofs, our attention is drawn to one of a still
+larger size, and more determined character. Surely the reader will here
+anticipate our mention of the practice of Duelling: a practice which, to
+the disgrace of a Christian society, has long been suffered to exist
+with little restraint or opposition.
+
+This practice, whilst it powerfully supports, mainly rests on, that
+excessive over-valuation of character, which teaches that worldly credit
+is to be preserved at _any_ rate, and disgrace at _any_ rate to be
+avoided. The _unreasonableness_ of duelling has been often proved, and
+it has often been shewn to be criminal on various principles: sometimes
+it has been opposed on grounds hardly tenable; particularly when it has
+been considered as an indication of malice and revenge[77]. But it
+seems hardly to have been enough noticed in what chiefly consists its
+_essential_ guilt; that it is a deliberate preference of the favour of
+man, before the favour and approbation of God, _in articulo mortis_, in
+an instance, wherein our own life, and that of a fellow creature are at
+stake, and wherein we run the risk of rushing into the presence of our
+Maker in the very act of offending him. It would detain us too long, and
+it were somewhat beside our present purpose, to enumerate the
+mischievous consequences which result from this practice. They are many
+and great; and if regard be had merely to the temporal interests of men,
+and to the well being of society, they are but poorly counterbalanced by
+the plea, which must be admitted in its behalf by a candid observer of
+human nature, of a courtesy and refinement in our modern manners unknown
+to ancient times.
+
+But there is one observation which must not be omitted, and which seems
+to have been too much overlooked: In the judgment of that Religion which
+requires purity of heart, and of that Being to whom, as was before
+remarked, "thought is action," he cannot be esteemed innocent of this
+crime, who lives in a settled habitual determination to commit it, when
+circumstances shall call upon him so to do[78]. This is a consideration
+which places the crime of duelling on a different footing from almost
+any other; indeed there is perhaps NO other, which mankind habitually
+and deliberately resolve to practise whenever the temptation shall
+occur. It shews also that the crime of duelling is far more general in
+the higher classes than is commonly supposed, and that the whole sum of
+the guilt which the practice produces is great, beyond what has perhaps
+been ever conceived! It will be the writer's comfort to have solemnly
+suggested this consideration, to the consciences of those by whom this
+impious practice might be suppressed: If such there be, which he is
+strongly inclined to believe, their's is the crime, and their's the
+responsibility of suffering it to continue[79].
+
+In the foregoing observations, it has not been the writer's intention to
+discuss completely that copious subject, the love of worldly estimation.
+It would be to exceed the limits of a work like this, fully to
+investigate so large, and at the same time so important a topic. Enough
+however may have perhaps been said, to make it evident that this
+principle is of a character highly _questionable_; that it should be
+brought under absolute subjection, and watched with the most jealous
+care: That, notwithstanding its lofty pretensions, it often can by no
+means justly boast that high origin and exalted nature, which its
+superficial admirers are disposed to concede to it. What real intrinsic
+essential value, it might be asked, does there appear to be in a
+virtue, which had wholly changed its nature and character, if public
+opinion had been different? But it is in truth of base extraction, and
+ungenerous qualities, springing from selfishness and vanity, and low
+ambition; by these it subsists, and thrives, and acts; and envy, and
+jealousy, and detraction, and hatred, and variance, are its too faithful
+and natural associates. It is, to say the best of it, a root which bears
+fruits of a poisonous as well as of a beneficial quality. If it
+sometimes stimulates to great and generous enterprises, if it urges to
+industry, and sometimes to excellence, if in the more contracted sphere
+it produces courtesy and kindness; yet to its account we must place the
+ambition which desolates nations, and many of the competitions and
+resentments which interrupt the harmony of social life. The former
+indeed has been often laid to its charge, but the latter have not been
+sufficiently attended to; and still less has its _noxious_ influence on
+the vital principle, and distinguishing graces of the Christian
+character, been duly pointed out and enforced.
+
+To read indeed the writings of certain Christian moralists,[80] and to
+observe how little they seem disposed to call it in question, except
+where it raves in the conqueror, one should be almost tempted to
+suspect; that, considering it as a principle of such potency and
+prevalence, as that they must despair of bringing it into just
+subjection, they were intent only on complimenting it into good humour
+(like those barbarous nations which worship the evil Spirit through
+fear;) or rather, that they were making a sort of composition with an
+enemy they could not master, and were willing, on condition of its
+giving up the trade of war, to suffer it to rule undisturbed, and range
+at pleasure.
+
+But the truth is, that the reasonings of Christian moralists too often
+exhibit but few traces of the genius of Christian morality. Of this
+position, the case before us is an instance. This principle of the
+desire of worldly distinction and applause, is often allowed, and even
+commended, with too few qualifications, and too little reserve. To covet
+wealth is base and sordid, but to covet honour is treated as the mark of
+a generous and exalted nature. These writers scarcely seem to bear in
+mind, that though the principle in question tends to prevent the
+commission of those grosser acts of vice which would injure us in the
+general estimation; yet that it not only stops there, but that it there
+begins to exert almost an equal force in the opposite direction. They do
+not consider how apt this principle is, even in the case of those who
+move in a contracted sphere, to fill us with vain conceits, and vicious
+passions; and above all how it tends to fix the affections on earthly
+things, and to steal away the heart from God. They acknowledge it to be
+criminal when it produces mischievous effects, but forget how apt it is,
+by the substitution of a false and corrupt motive, to vitiate the purity
+of our good actions, depriving them of all which rendered them truly and
+essentially valuable. That, not to be too hastily approved, because it
+takes the side of virtue, it often works her ruin while it asserts her
+cause, and like some vile seducer, pretends affection only the more
+surely to betray.
+
+It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity not to rest satisfied
+with superficial appearances, but to rectify the _motives_, and purify
+the _heart_. The true Christian, in obedience to the lessons of
+Scripture, no where keeps over himself a more resolute and jealous
+guard, than where the desire of human estimation and distinction is in
+question. No where does he more deeply feel the insufficiency of his
+unassisted strength, or more diligently and earnestly pray for divine
+assistance. He may well indeed watch and pray against the encroachments
+of a passion, which, when suffered to transgress its just limits,
+discovers a peculiar hostility to the distinguishing graces of the
+Christian temper; a passion which must insensibly acquire force, because
+it is in continual exercise; to which almost every thing _without_
+administers nutriment, and the growth of which _within_ is favoured and
+cherished by such powerful auxiliaries as pride and selfishness, the
+natural and perhaps inexterminable inhabitants of the human heart; of
+which the predominance, if established, is thus so pernicious, and which
+possesses so many advantages for effecting its establishment.
+
+Strongly impressed therefore with a sense of the indispensable necessity
+of guarding against the progress of this encroaching principle, in
+humble reliance on superior aid, the true Christian thankfully uses the
+means, and habitually exercises himself in the considerations and
+motives, suggested to him for that purpose by the word of God. He is
+much occupied in searching out, and contemplating his own infirmities.
+He endeavours to acquire and maintain a just conviction of his great
+unworthiness; and to keep in continual remembrance, that whatever
+distinguishes himself from others, is not properly his own, but that he
+is altogether indebted for it to the undeserved bounty of Heaven. He
+diligently endeavours also, habitually to preserve a _just_ sense of the
+real worth of human distinction and applause, knowing that he shall
+covet them less when he has learned not to over-rate their value. He
+labours to bear in mind, how undeservedly they are often bestowed, how
+precariously they are always possessed. The censures of good men justly
+render him suspicious of himself, and prompt him carefully and
+impartially to examine into those parts of his character, or those
+particulars of his conduct, which have drawn on him their
+animadversions. The favourable opinion and the praises of good men are
+justly acceptable to him, where they accord with the testimony of his
+own heart; that testimony being thereby confirmed and warranted. Those
+praises favour also and strengthen the growth of mutual confidence and
+affection, where it is his delight to form friendships, rich not less in
+use than comfort, and to establish connections which may last for ever.
+But even in the case of the commendations of good men, he suffers not
+himself to be beguiled into an over-valuation of them, lest he should be
+led to substitute them in the place of conscience. He guards against
+this by reflecting how indistinctly we can discern each other's motives,
+how little enter into each other's circumstances, how mistaken therefore
+may be the judgments formed of us, or of our actions, even by good men,
+and that it is far from improbable, that we may at some time be
+compelled to forfeit their esteem, by adhering to the dictates of our
+own consciences.
+
+But if he endeavours thus to set loose to the favour and applause even
+of good men, much more to those of the world at large; not but that he
+is sensible of their worth as means and instruments of usefulness and
+influence; and under the limitations and for the ends allowed in
+Scripture (these it is needless to repeat) he is glad to possess,
+observant to acquire, and careful to retain them. He considers them
+however, if we may again introduce the metaphor, like the precious
+metals, as having rather an exchangeable than an intrinsic value, as
+desirable not simply in their possession, but in their use. In this
+view, he holds himself to be responsible for that share of them which he
+enjoys, and, to continue the figure, as bound not to let them lie by him
+unemployed, this were hoarding; not to lavish them prodigally, this
+would be waste; not imprudently to misapply them, this were folly and
+caprice: but as under an obligation to regard them as conferred upon him
+that they might be brought into action, and as what therefore he may by
+no means throw away, though ready, if it be required, to relinquish them
+with cheerfulness; and never feeling himself at liberty, in
+consideration of the use he intends to make of them, to acquire or
+retain them unlawfully. He holds it to be his bounden duty to seek
+diligently for occasions of rendering them subservient to their true
+purposes; and when any such occasion is found, to expend them cheerfully
+and liberally, but with discretion and frugality; being no less prudent
+in determining the measure, than in selecting the objects of their
+application, that they may go the farther by being thus managed with
+oeconomy.
+
+Acting therefore on these principles, he will studiously and diligently
+use any degree of worldly credit he may enjoy, in removing or lessening
+prejudices; in conciliating good-will, and thereby making way for the
+less obstructed progress of truth; and in providing for its being
+entertained with candour, or even with favour, by those who would bar
+all access against it in any rougher or more homely form. He will make
+it his business to set on foot and forward benevolent and useful
+schemes; and where they require united efforts, to obtain and preserve
+for them this co-operation. He will endeavour to discountenance vice, to
+bring modest merit into notice; to lend as it were his light to men of
+real worth, but of less creditable name, and perhaps of less
+conciliating qualities and manners; that they may thus shine with a
+reflected lustre, and be useful in their turn, when invested with their
+just estimation. But while by these and various other means he strives
+to render his reputation, so long as he possesses it, subservient to the
+great ends of advancing the cause of Religion and Virtue, and of
+promoting the happiness and comfort of mankind, he will not transgress
+the rule of the Scripture precepts in order to obtain, to cultivate, or
+to preserve it, resolutely disclaiming that dangerous sophistry of
+"doing evil that good may come." Ready however to relinquish his
+reputation when required so to do, he will not throw it away; and so far
+as he allowably may, he will cautiously avoid occasions of diminishing
+it, instead of studiously seeking, or needlessly multiplying them, as
+seems sometimes to have been the practice of worthy but imprudent men.
+There will be no capricious humours, no selfish tempers, no moroseness,
+no discourtesy, no affected severity of deportment, no peculiarity of
+language, no indolent neglect, or wanton breach, of the ordinary forms
+or fashions of society. His reputation is a possession capable of uses
+too important to be thus sported away; if sacrificed at all, it shall be
+sacrificed at the call of duty. The world shall be constrained to allow
+him to be amiable, as well as respectable in other parts of his
+character; though in what regards Religion, they may account him
+unreasonably precise and strict. In this no less than in other
+particulars, he will endeavour to reduce the enemies of Religion to
+adopt the confession of the accusers of the Jewish ruler, "we shall not
+find any fault or occasion against this Daniel--except concerning the
+law of his God:" and even there, if he give offence, it will only be
+where he dares not do otherwise; and if he fall into dis-esteem or
+disgrace it shall not be chargeable to any conduct which is justly
+dishonourable, or even to any unnecessary singularities on his part, but
+to the false standard of estimation of a misjudging world. When his
+character is thus mistaken, or his conduct thus misconstrued, he will
+not wrap himself up in a mysterious sullenness; but will be ready, where
+he thinks any one will listen to him with patience and candour, to clear
+up what has been dubious, to explain what has been imperfectly known,
+and "speaking the truth in love" to correct, if it may be, the erroneous
+impressions which have been conceived of him. He may sometimes feel it
+his duty publicly to vindicate his character from unjust reproach, and
+to repel the false charges of his enemies; but he will carefully however
+watch against being led away by pride, or being betrayed into some
+breach of truth or of Christian charity, when he is treading in a path
+so dangerous. At such a time he will also guard, with more than ordinary
+circumspection, against any undue solicitude about his worldly
+reputation for its own sake; and when he has done what duty requires for
+its vindication, he will sit down with a peaceable and quiet mind, and
+it will be matter of no very deep concern to him if his endeavours
+should have been ineffectual. If good men in every age and nation have
+been often unjustly calumniated and disgraced, and if, in such
+circumstances, even the darkness of paganism has been able contentedly
+to repose itself on the consciousness of innocence, shall one who is
+cheered by the Christian's hope, who is assured also, that a day will
+shortly come in which whatever is secret shall be made manifest, and the
+mistaken judgments of men, perhaps even of good men, being corrected,
+that "he shall then have praise of God;" shall such an one, I say, sink?
+shall he even bend or droop under such a trial? They might be more
+excusable in over-valuing human reputation to whom all beyond the grave
+was dark and cheerless. They also might be more easily pardoned for
+pursuing with some degree of eagerness and solicitude that glory which
+might survive them, thus seeking as it were to extend the narrow span of
+their earthly existence: but far different is our case, to whom these
+clouds are rolled away, and "life and immortality brought to light by
+the Gospel." Not but that worldly favour and distinction are amongst the
+best things this world has to offer: but the Christian knows it is the
+very condition of his calling, _not_ to have his portion here; and as in
+the case of any other earthly enjoyments, so in that also of worldly
+honour, he dreads, lest his supreme affections being thereby gratified,
+it should be hereafter said to him "remember that thou in thy life time
+receivedst thy good things."
+
+He is required by his holy calling to be victorious over the world; and
+to this victory, the conquest of the dread of its dis-esteem and
+dishonour is essentially and indispensably required. He reflects on
+those holy men who "had trial of cruel mockings;" he remembers that our
+blessed Saviour himself "was despised and rejected of men;" and what is
+he, that he should be exempted from the common lot, or think it much to
+bear the scandal of his profession? If therefore he is creditable and
+popular, he considers this, if the phrase may be pardoned, as something
+beyond his bargain; and he watches himself, with double care, lest he
+should grow over-fond of what he may be shortly called upon to
+relinquish. He meditates often on the probability of his being involved
+in such circumstances, as may render it necessary for him to subject
+himself to disgrace and obloquy; thus familiarizing himself with them
+betimes, and preparing himself, that when the trying hour arrives they
+may not take him unawares.
+
+But the cultivation of the desire of "that honour which cometh from
+God," he finds the most effectual means of bringing his mind into a
+proper temper, in what regards the love of human approbation. Christian!
+would thou indeed reduce this affection under just controul--_sursum
+corda!_ Rise on the wings of contemplation, until the praises and the
+censures of men die away upon the ear, and the still small voice of
+conscience is no longer drowned by the din of this nether world. Here
+the sight is apt to be occupied with earthly objects, and the hearing to
+be engrossed with earthly sounds; but there thou shalt come within the
+view of that resplendent and incorruptible crown, which is held forth to
+thy acceptance in the realms of light, and thine ear shall be regaled
+with Heavenly melody! Here we dwell in a variable atmosphere--the
+prospect is at one time darkened by the gloom of disgrace, and at
+another the eye is dazzled by the gleamings of glory: but thou hast now
+ascended above this inconstant region; no storms agitate, no clouds
+obscure the air, and the lightnings play, and the thunders roll beneath
+thee.
+
+Thus, at chosen seasons, the Christian exercises himself; and when, from
+this elevated region he descends into the plain below, and mixes in the
+bustle of life, he still retains the impressions of his more retired
+hours. By these he realizes to himself the unseen world; he accustoms
+himself to speak and act as in the presence of "an innumerable company
+of angels, and of the spirits of just men made perfect, and of God the
+Judge of all;" the consciousness of _their_ approbation cheers and
+gladdens his soul, under the scoffs and reproaches of an undiscerning
+world, and to his delighted ear, their united praises form a _harmony_
+which a few discordant earthly voices cannot interrupt.
+
+But though the Christian be sometimes enabled thus to triumph over the
+inordinate love of human applause, he does not therefore deem himself
+secure from its encroachments. On the contrary, he is aware, so strong
+and active is its principle of vitality, that even where it seems
+extinct, let but circumstances favour its revival, and it will spring
+forth again in renewed vigour. And as his watch must thus during life
+know no termination, because the enemy will ever be at hand; so it must
+be the more close and vigilant, because he is no where free from danger,
+but is on every side open to attack. "Sume superbiam quæsitam meritis,"
+was the maxim of a worldly moralist: but the Christian is aware, that he
+is particularly assailable where he really excels; there he is in
+especial danger, lest his motives, originally pure, being insensibly
+corrupted, he should be betrayed into an anxiety about worldly favour,
+false in principle or excessive in degree, when he is endeavouring to
+render his virtue amiable and respected in the eyes of others, and in
+obedience to the Scripture injunction, is willing to let his "light so
+shine before men, that they may see his good works, and glorify his
+Father which is in heaven."
+
+He watches himself also on small as well as on great occasions: the
+latter indeed, in the case of many persons, can hardly ever be expected
+to occur, whereas the former are continually presenting themselves: and
+thus, whilst on the one hand they may be rendered highly useful in
+forming and strengthening a just habit of mind in the particular in
+question; so, on the other, they are the means most at hand for enabling
+us to discover our own real character. Let not this be slightly passed
+over. If any one finds himself shrinking from disrepute or dis-esteem in
+little instances; but apt to solace himself with the persuasion, that
+his spirits being fully called forth to the encounter, he could boldly
+stand the brunt of sharper trials; let him be slow to give entertainment
+to so beguiling a suggestion; and let him not forget that these little
+instances, where no credit is to be got, and the vainest can find small
+room for self-complacency, furnish perhaps the truest tests whether we
+are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and are willing, on principles
+really pure, to bear reproach for the name of Jesus.
+
+The Christian too is well aware that the excessive desire of human
+approbation is a passion of so subtile a nature, that there is nothing
+into which it cannot penetrate; and from much experience, learning to
+discover it where it would lurk unseen, and to detect it under its more
+specious disguises, he finds, that elsewhere disallowed and excluded, it
+is apt to insinuate itself into his very religion, where it especially
+delights to dwell, and obstinately maintains its residence. Proud piety
+and ostentatious charity, and all the more open effects it there
+produces, have been often condemned, and we may discover the tendencies
+to them in ourselves, without difficulty. But where it appears not so
+large in bulk, and in shape so unambiguous, let its operation be still
+suspected. Let not the Christian suffer himself to be deceived by any
+external dissimilitudes between himself and the world around him,
+trusting perhaps to the sincerity of the principle to which they
+originally owed their rise; but let him beware lest through the
+insensible encroachments of the subtle usurper, his religion should at
+length have "only a name to live," being gradually robbed of its
+vivifying principle; lest he should be mainly preserved in his religious
+course by the dread of incurring the charge of levity, for quitting a
+path on which he had deliberately entered. Or where, on a strict and
+impartial scrutiny of his governing motives, he may fairly conclude
+this not to be the case, let him beware lest he be influenced by this
+principle in particular parts of his character, and especially where any
+external singularities are in question; closely scrutinizing his
+apparent motives, lest he should be prompted to his more than ordinary
+religious observances, and be kept from participating in the licentious
+pleasures of a dissipated age, not so much by a vigorous principle of
+internal holiness, as by a fear of lessening himself in the good opinion
+of the stricter circle of his associates, or of suffering even in the
+estimation of the world at large, by violating the proprieties of his
+assumed character.
+
+To those who, in the important particular which we have been so long
+discussing, wish to conform themselves to the injunctions of the word of
+God, we must advise a laborious watchfulness, a jealous guard, a close
+and frequent scrutiny of their own hearts, that they may not mistake
+their real character, and too late find themselves to have been
+mistaken, as to what they had conceived to be their governing motives.
+Above all, let them labour, with humble prayers for the Divine
+assistance, to fix in themselves a deep, habitual, and practical sense
+of the excellence of "that honour which cometh from God," and of the
+comparative worthlessness of all earthly estimation and pre-eminence. In
+truth, unless the affections of the soul be thus predominantly engaged
+on the side of heavenly in preference to that of human honour, though we
+may have relinquished the pursuit of fame, we shall not have acquired
+that firm contexture of mind, which can bear disgrace and shame, without
+yielding to the pressure. Between these two states there is a wide
+interval, and he who, on a sober review of his conduct and motives,
+finds reason to believe he has arrived at the one, must not therefore
+conclude he has reached the other. To the one, a little natural
+moderation and quietness of temper may be sufficient to conduct us: but
+to the other, we can only attain by much discipline and slow advances;
+and when we think we have made great way, we shall often find reason to
+confess in the hour of trial, that we had greatly, far too greatly,
+over-rated our progress.
+
+When engaged too in the prosecution of this course, we must be aware of
+the snares which lie in our way, and of the deceits to which we are
+liable: and we must be provided against these impositions, by having
+obtained a full and distinct conception of the temper of mind with
+regard to human favour, which is prescribed to us in Scripture; and by
+continually examining our hearts and lives to ascertain how far they
+correspond with it. This will prevent our substituting contemplation in
+the place of action, and giving ourselves too much up to those religious
+meditations which were formerly recommended, in which we must not
+indulge to the neglect of the common _duties_ of life: this will prevent
+our mistaking the gratification of an indolent temper for the
+Christian's disregard of fame; for, never let it be forgotten, we must
+_deserve_ estimation, though we may not _possess_ it, forcing men of the
+_world_ to acknowledge, that we do not want their boasted spring of
+action to set us in motion; but that its place is better supplied to us
+by another, which produces all the good of their's without its evil;
+thus demonstrating the superiority of the principle which animates us,
+by the superior utility and excellence of its effects. This principle,
+in order to be pure and genuine, though nerved with more than mortal
+firmness, must be sweetened by love, and tempered with humility. The
+former of these qualities will render us kind, friendly, and beneficent,
+preventing our being no longer on the watch to promote the happiness or
+comfort of others, than whilst we are stimulated by the desire of their
+applause; the produce of which passion, whatever may be vaunted of its
+effects on social intercourse, is often nothing better than selfishness,
+but ill concealed under a superficial covering of exterior courtesy.
+
+Humility, again, reducing us in our own value, will moderate our claims
+on worldly estimation. It will check our tendency to ostentation and
+display, prompting us rather to avoid, than to attract notice. It will
+dispose us to sit down in quiet obscurity, though, judging ourselves
+impartially, we believe ourselves better entitled to credit, than those
+on whom it is conferred; closing the entrance against a proud, painful,
+and malignant passion, from which, under such circumstances, we can
+otherwise be hardly free, the passion of "high disdain from sense of
+injured merit."
+
+Love and humility will concur in producing a frame of mind, not more
+distinct from an ardent thirst of glory, than from that frigid
+disregard, or insolent contempt, or ostentatious renunciation of human
+favour and distinction, which we have sometimes seen opposed to it.
+These latter qualities may not infrequently be traced to a slothful,
+sensual, and selfish temper; to the consciousness of being unequal to
+any great and generous attempts; to the disappointment of schemes of
+ambition or of glory; to a little personal experience of the world's
+capricious and inconstant humour. The renunciation in these cases,
+however sententious, is often far from sincere; and it is even made not
+unfrequently, with a view to the attainment of that very distinction
+which it affects to disclaim. In some other of these instances, the
+over-valuation and inordinate desire of worldly credit, however
+disavowed, are abundantly evident, from the merit which is assumed for
+relinquishing them; or from that sour and surly humour, which betrays a
+gloomy and a corroded mind, galled and fretting under the irritating
+sense of the want of that which it most wishes to possess.
+
+But the Christian's is a far different temper: not a temper of sordid
+sensuality, or lazy apathy, or dogmatizing pride, or disappointed
+ambition: more truly independent of worldly estimation than philosophy
+with all her boasts, it forms a perfect contrast to Epicurean
+selfishness, and to Stoical pride, and to Cynical brutality. It is a
+temper compounded of firmness, and complacency, and peace, and love; and
+manifesting itself in acts of kindness and of courtesy; a kindness, not
+pretended but genuine; a courtesy, not false and superficial, but
+cordial and sincere. In the hour of popularity it is not intoxicated, or
+insolent; in the hour of unpopularity, it is not desponding or morose;
+unshaken in constancy, unwearied in benevolence, firm without roughness,
+and assiduous without servility.
+
+Notwithstanding the great importance of the topic which we have been
+investigating, it will require much indulgence on the part of the
+reader, to excuse the disproportionate length into which the discussion
+has been almost insensibly drawn out: yet this, it is hoped, may not be
+without its uses, if the writer have in any degree succeeded in his
+endeavour, to point out the dangerous qualities and unchristian
+tendencies of a principle, of such general predominance throughout the
+higher classes of society, and to suggest to the serious inquirer some
+practical hints for its regulation and controul. Since the principle
+too, of which we have been treating, is one of the most ordinary
+modifications of pride; the discussion may also serve in some degree to
+supply a manifest deficiency, a deficiency to be ascribed to the fear of
+trespassing too far on the reader's patience, in having but slightly
+touched on the allowed prevalence of that master passion, and on the
+allowed neglect of its opposite, humility.
+
+
+SECTION IV.
+
+_The generally prevailing Error, of substituting amiable Tempers and
+useful Lives in the place of Religion, stated and confuted; with Hints
+to real Christians._
+
+There is another practical error very generally prevalent, the effects
+of which are highly injurious to the cause of Religion; and which in
+particular is often brought forward when, upon Christian principles, any
+advocates for Christianity would press the practice of Christian
+virtues. Before we proceed, therefore, to comment upon what remains to
+be discussed, of the misconceptions and defects of the bulk of professed
+Christians, it may not be amiss to dispose of this objection to our
+whole scheme.
+
+The error in question is that of exaggerating the merit of certain
+amiable and useful qualities, and of considering them as of themselves
+sufficient to compensate for the want of the supreme love and fear of
+God.
+
+It seems to be an opinion pretty generally prevalent, that kindness and
+sweetness of temper; sympathizing, and benevolent, and generous
+affections; attention to what in the world's estimation are the
+domestic, relative, and social duties; and above all a life of general
+activity and usefulness, may well be allowed, in our imperfect state, to
+make up for the defect of what in strict propriety of speech is termed
+Religion.
+
+Many indeed will unreservedly declare, and more will hint the opinion,
+that "the difference between the qualities above-mentioned and Religion,
+is rather a verbal or logical, than a real and essential difference; for
+in truth what are they but Religion in substance if not in name? Is it
+not the great end of Religion, and in particular the glory of
+Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the
+violence, to controul the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of
+man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to
+make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends, and to render us
+active and useful in the discharge of the relative, social, and civil
+duties? We do not deny that in the general mass of society, and
+particularly in the lower orders, such conduct and tempers cannot be
+diffused and maintained by any other medium than that of Religion. But
+if the end be effected, surely it is only unnecessary refinement to
+dispute about the means. It is even to forget your own principles; and
+to refuse its just place to solid practical virtue, while you assign too
+high a value to speculative opinions."
+
+Thus a fatal distinction is admitted between Morality and Religion: a
+great and desperate error, of which it is the more necessary to take
+notice; because many who would condemn, as too strong, the language in
+which this opinion is sometimes openly avowed, are yet more or less
+tinctured with the notion itself; and under the habitual and almost
+unperceived influence of this beguiling suggestion, are vainly solacing
+their imaginations, and repressing their well-grounded fears concerning
+_their own_ state; and are also quieting their just solicitude
+concerning the spiritual condition of _others_, and soothing themselves
+in the neglect of friendly endeavours for their improvement.
+
+There can hardly be a stronger proof of the cursory and superficial
+views, with which men are apt to satisfy themselves in religious
+concerns, than the prevalence of the opinion here in question; the
+falsehood and sophistry of which must be acknowledged by any one who,
+admitting the authority of Scripture, will examine it with ever so
+little seriousness and impartiality of mind.
+
+Appealing indeed to a less strict standard, it would not be difficult to
+shew that the moral worth of these sweet and benevolent tempers, and of
+these useful lives, is apt to be greatly over-rated. The former
+involuntarily gain upon our affections and disarm our severer judgments,
+by their kindly, complying, and apparently disinterested nature; by
+their prompting men to flatter instead of mortifying our pride, to
+sympathize either with our joys or our sorrows, to abound in obliging
+attentions and offices of courtesy; by their obvious tendency to produce
+and maintain harmony and comfort in social and domestic life. It is not
+however unworthy of remark, that from the commendations which are so
+generally bestowed on these qualities, and their rendering men
+universally acceptable and popular, there is many a false pretender to
+them, who gains a credit for them which he by no means deserves; in whom
+they are no more than the proprieties of his assumed character, or even
+a mask which is worn in public, only the better to conceal an opposite
+temper. Would you see this man of courtesy and sweetness stripped of his
+false covering, follow him unobserved into his family; and you shall
+behold, too plain to be mistaken, selfishness and spleen harassing and
+vexing the wretched subjects of their unmanly tyranny; as if being
+released at length from their confinement, they were making up to
+themselves for the restraint which had been imposed on them in the
+world.
+
+But where the benevolent qualities are genuine, they often deserve the
+name rather of amiable instincts, than of moral virtues. In many cases,
+they imply no mental conflict, no previous discipline: they are apt to
+evaporate in barren sensibilities, and transitory sympathies, and
+indolent wishes, and unproductive declarations: they possess not that
+strength and energy of character, which, in contempt of difficulties and
+dangers, produce alacrity in service, vigour and perseverance in action.
+Destitute of proper firmness, they often encourage that vice and folly
+which it is their especial duty to repress; and it is well if, from
+their soft complying humour, they are not often drawn in to participate
+in what is wrong, as well as to connive at it. Thus their possessors
+are frequently, in the eye of truth and reason, bad magistrates, bad
+parents, bad friends; defective in those very qualities, which give to
+each of those several relations its chief and appropriate value. And
+this, let it be also observed, is a defect which might well bring into
+question that freedom from selfishness, which is so often claimed for
+them; inasmuch as there is too great reason to fear, that it often
+arises in us chiefly from indisposition to submit to a painful effort,
+though real good-will commands the sacrifice, or from the fear of
+lessening the regard in which we are held, and the good opinion which is
+entertained of us.
+
+It should farther also be observed concerning these qualities, when they
+are not grounded and rooted in religion, that they are of a sickly and
+short-lived nature, and want that hardy and vigorous temperament, which
+is requisite for enabling them to bear without injury, or even to
+survive, the rude shocks and the variable and churlish seasons, to which
+in such a world as this they must ever be exposed. It is only a
+_Christian_ love of which it is the character, that "it suffereth long,
+and yet is kind;" "that it is not easily provoked, that it beareth all
+things, and endureth all things." In the spring of youth indeed, the
+blood flows freely through the veins; we are flushed with health and
+confidence; hope is young and ardent, our desires are unsated, and
+whatever we see has the grace of novelty; we are the more disposed to be
+good-natured because we are pleased; pleased, because universally well
+received. Wherever we cast our eyes, we see some face of friendship, and
+love, and gratulation: All nature smiles around us. Now the amiable
+tempers of which we have been speaking naturally spring up. The soil
+suits, the climate favours them. They appear to shoot forth vigorously
+and blossom in gay luxuriance. To the superficial eye, all is fair and
+flourishing; we anticipate the fruits of Autumn, and promise ourselves
+an ample produce. But by and by the sun scorches, the frost nips, the
+winds rise, the rains descend; our golden dreams are blasted, all our
+fond expectations are no more. Our youthful efforts let it be supposed
+have been successful; and we rise to wealth or eminence. A kind flexible
+temper and popular manners have produced in us, as they are too apt, a
+youth of easy social dissipation, and unproductive idleness; and we are
+overtaken too late by the consciousness of having wasted that time which
+cannot be recalled, and those opportunities which we cannot now recover.
+We sink into disregard and obscurity when, there being a call for
+qualities of more energy, indolent good nature must fall back. We are
+thrust out of notice by accident or misfortunes. We are left behind by
+those with whom we started on equal terms, and who, originally perhaps
+having less pretensions and fewer advantages, have greatly outstripped
+us in the race of honour: and their having got before us is often the
+more galling, because it appears to us, and perhaps with reason, to have
+been chiefly owing to a generous easy good-natured humour on our part,
+which disposed us to allow them at first to pass by us without jealousy,
+and led us to give place without a struggle to their more lofty
+pretensions. Thus we suffered them quietly to occupy a station to which
+originally we had as fair a claim as they; but, this station being once
+tamely surrendered, we have forfeited it for ever. Our aukward and vain
+endeavours meanwhile to recover it, while they shew that we want
+self-knowledge and composure in our riper years, as much as in our
+younger we had been destitute of exertion, serve only to make our
+inferiority more manifest, and to bring our discontent into the fuller
+notice of an ill-natured world, which however not unjustly condemns and
+ridicules our misplaced ambition.
+
+It may be sufficient to have hinted at a few of the vicissitudes and
+changes of advancing life; let the reader's own mind fill up the
+catalogue. Now the bosom is no longer cheerful and placid; and if the
+countenance preserve its exterior character, this is no longer the
+honest expression of the heart. Prosperity and luxury, gradually
+extinguishing sympathy, and puffing up with pride, harden and debase the
+soul. In other instances, shame secretly clouds, and remorse begins to
+sting, and suspicion to corrode, and jealousy and envy to embitter.
+Disappointed hopes, unsuccessful competitions, and frustrated pursuits,
+sour and irritate the temper. A little personal experience of the
+selfishness of mankind, damps our generous warmth and kind affections;
+reproving the prompt sensibility and unsuspecting simplicity of our
+earlier years. Above all, ingratitude sickens the heart, and chills and
+thickens the very life's-blood of benevolence: till at length our
+youthful Nero, soft and susceptible, becomes a hard and cruel tyrant;
+and our youthful Timon, the gay, the generous, the beneficent, is
+changed into a cold, sour, silent misanthrope.
+
+And as in the case of amiable tempers, so in that also of what are
+called useful lives, it must be confessed that their intrinsic worth,
+arguing still merely on principles of reason, is apt to be greatly
+over-rated. They are often the result of a disposition naturally
+bustling and active, which delights in motion, and finds its labour more
+than repaid, either by the very pleasure which it takes in its
+employments, or by the credit which it derives from them. More than
+this; if it be granted that Religion tends in general to produce
+usefulness, particularly in the lower orders, who compose a vast
+majority of every society; and therefore that these irreligious men of
+useful lives are rather exceptions to the general rule; it must at least
+be confessed that they are so far useless, or even positively
+mischievous, as they either neglect to encourage or actually discourage
+that principle, which is the great operative spring of usefulness in the
+bulk of mankind.
+
+Thus it might well perhaps be questioned, estimating these men by their
+own standard, whether the _particular_ good in this case, is not more
+than counterbalanced by the _general_ evil; still more, if their conduct
+being brought to a strict account, they should be charged, as they
+justly ought, with the loss of the good which, if they had manifestly
+and avowedly acted from a higher principle, might have been produced,
+not only directly in themselves, but indirectly and remotely in others,
+from the extended efficacy of a religious example. They may be compared,
+not unaptly, to persons whom some peculiarity of constitution enables to
+set at defiance those established rules of living, which must be
+observed by the world at large. These healthy debauchees, however they
+may plead in their defence that they do themselves no injury, would
+probably, but for their excesses, have both enjoyed their health
+better, and preserved it longer, as well as have turned it to better
+account; and it may at least be urged against them, that they disparage
+the laws of temperance, and fatally betray others into the breach of
+them, by affording an instance of their being transgressed with
+impunity.
+
+But were the merit of the qualities in question greater than it is, and
+though it were not liable to the exceptions which have been alleged
+against it, yet could they be in no degree admitted, as a compensation
+for the want of the supreme love and fear of God, and of a predominant
+desire to promote his glory. The observance of one commandment, however
+clearly and forcibly enjoined, cannot make up for the neglect of
+another, which is enjoined with equal clearness and equal force. To
+allow this plea in the present instance, would be to permit men to
+abrogate the first table of the law on condition of their obeying the
+second. But Religion suffers not any such _composition_ of duties. It is
+on the very self same miserable principle, that some have thought to
+atone for a life of injustice and rapine by the strictness of their
+religious observances. If the former class of men can plead the diligent
+discharge of their duties to their fellow-creatures, the latter will
+urge that of their's to God. We easily see the falsehood of the plea in
+the latter case; and it is only self deceit and partiality which prevent
+its being equally visible in the former. Yet so it is; such is the
+unequal measure, if I may be allowed the expression, which we deal out
+to God, and to each other. It would justly and universally be thought
+false confidence in the religious thief or the religious adulterer, (to
+admit for the sake of argument such a solecism in terms) to solace
+himself with the firm persuasion of the Divine favour: but it will, to
+many, appear hard and precise, to deny this firm persuasion of Divine
+approbation to the avowedly irreligious man of social and domestic
+usefulness.
+
+Will it here be urged, that the writer is not doing justice to his
+opponent's argument; which is not, that irreligious men of useful lives
+may be excused for neglecting their duties towards God, in consideration
+of their exemplary discharge of their duties towards their
+fellow-creatures; but that in performing the latter they perform the
+former _virtually_, and _substantially_, if not in name?
+
+Can then our opponent deny, that the Holy Scriptures are in nothing more
+full, frequent, strong, and unequivocal, than in their injunctions on us
+supremely to love and fear God, and to worship and serve him continually
+with humble and grateful hearts; habitually regarding him as our
+Benefactor, and Sovereign, and Father, and abounding in sentiments of
+gratitude and loyalty, and respectful affection? Can he deny that these
+positive precepts are rendered, if possible, still more clear, and their
+authority still more binding, by illustrations and indirect
+confirmations almost innumerable? And who then is that bold intruder
+into the counsels of infinite wisdom, who, in palpable contempt of these
+precise commands, thus illustrated also and confirmed, will dare to
+maintain that, knowing the intention with which they were primarily
+given and the ends they were ultimately designed to produce, he may
+innocently neglect or violate their plain obligations; on the plea that
+he conforms himself, though in a different manner, to this primary
+intention, and produces, though by different means, these real and
+ultimate ends?
+
+This mode of arguing is one, with which, to say nothing of its insolent
+prophaneness, the heart of man, prone to deceive himself and partial in
+his own cause, is not fit to be trusted. Here again, more cautious and
+jealous in the case of our worldly, than of our religious interests, we
+readily discern the fallacy of this reasoning and protest against it,
+when it is attempted to be introduced into the commerce of life. We see
+clearly that it would afford the means of refining away by turns every
+moral obligation. The adulterer might allow himself with a good
+conscience, to violate the bed of his unsuspecting friend, whenever he
+could assure himself that his crime would escape detection; for then,
+where would be the evil and misery, the prevention of which was the real
+ultimate object of the prohibition of adultery? The thief, in like
+manner, and even the murderer, might find abundant room for the
+_innocent_ exercise of their respective occupations, arguing from the
+primary intention and real objects of the commands, by which theft and
+murder were forbidden. There perhaps exists not a crime, to which this
+crooked morality would not furnish some convenient opening.
+
+But this miserable sophistry deserves not that we should spend so much
+time in the refutation of it. To discern its fallaciousness, requires
+not acuteness of understanding, so much as a little common honesty.
+"There is indeed no surer mark of a false and hollow heart, than a
+disposition thus to quibble away the clear injunctions of duty and
+conscience[81]:" It is the wretched resource of a disingenuous mind,
+endeavouring to escape from convictions before which it cannot stand,
+and to evade obligations which it dares not disavow.
+
+The arguments which have been adduced would surely be sufficient to
+disprove the extravagant pretensions of the qualities under
+consideration, though those qualities were _perfect_ in their _nature_.
+But they are not perfect. On the contrary, they are radically defective
+and corrupt; they are a body without a soul; they want the vital
+actuating principle, or rather they are animated and actuated by a false
+one. Christianity, let me avail myself of the very words of a friend[82]
+in maintaining her argument, is "a Religion of Motives." _That_ only is
+Christian practice, which flows from Christian principles; and none else
+will be admitted as such by Him, who will be obeyed as well as
+worshipped "in spirit and in truth."
+
+This also is a position of which, in our intercourse with our
+fellow-creatures, we clearly discern the justice, and universally admit
+the force. Though we have received a benefit at the hands of any one, we
+scarcely feel grateful, if we do not believe the intention towards us to
+have been friendly. Have we served any one from motives of kindness, and
+is a return of service made to us? We hardly feel ourselves worthily
+requited, except that return be dictated by gratitude. We should think
+ourselves rather injured than obliged by it, if it were merely prompted
+by a proud unwillingness to continue in our debt[83]. What husband, or
+what father, not absolutely dead to every generous feeling, would be
+satisfied with a wife or a child; who, though he could not charge them
+with any actual breach of their respective obligations, should yet
+confessedly perform them from a cold sense of duty, in place of the
+quickening energies of conjugal, and filial affection? What an insult
+would it be to such an one, to tell him gravely that he had no reason to
+complain!
+
+The unfairness, with which we suffer ourselves to reason in matters of
+Religion, is no where more striking than in the instance before us. It
+were perhaps not unnatural to suppose that, as we cannot see into each
+other's bosoms, and have no sure way of judging any one's internal
+principles but by his external actions, it would have grown into an
+established rule, that when the latter were unobjectionable, the former
+were not to be questioned; and on the other hand, that in reference to a
+Being who searches the heart, our motives, rather than our external
+actions, would be granted to be the just objects of inquiry. But we
+exactly reverse these natural principles of reasoning. In the case of
+our fellow-creatures, the motive is that which we principally inquire
+after and regard. But in the case of our Supreme Judge, from whom no
+secrets are hid, we suffer ourselves to believe that internal principles
+may be dispensed with, if the external action be performed!
+
+Let us not however be supposed ready to concede, in contradiction to
+what has been formerly contended, that where the true motive is wanting,
+the external actions themselves will not generally betray the defect.
+Who is there that will not confess in the instance so lately put, of a
+wife and a child who should discharge their respective obligations
+merely from a cold sense of duty, that the inferiority of their
+actuating principle would not be confined to its _nature_, but would be
+discoverable also in its _effects_? Who is there that does not feel that
+these domestic services, thus robbed of their vital spirit, would be so
+debased and degraded in our estimation, as to become not barely lifeless
+and uninteresting, but even distasteful and loathsome? Who will deny
+that these would be performed in fuller measure, with more wakeful and
+unwearied attention, as well as with more _heart_; where with the same
+sense of duty the enlivening principle of affection should be also
+associated?
+
+The enemies of Religion are sometimes apt to compare the irreligious
+man, of a temper naturally sweet and amiable, with the religious man of
+natural roughness and severity; the irreligious man of natural activity,
+with the religious man who is naturally indolent; and thence to draw
+their inferences. But this mode of reasoning is surely unjust. If they
+would argue the question fairly, they should make their comparisons
+between persons of similar natural qualities, and not in one or two
+examples, but in a mass of instances. They would then be compelled to
+confess the efficacy of Religion, in heightening the benevolence and
+increasing the usefulness of men: and to admit that, granting the
+occasional but rare existence of genuine and persevering benevolence of
+disposition and usefulness of life, where the religious principle is
+wanting; yet that experience gives us reason to believe, that true
+Religion, while it would have implanted these qualities in persons in
+whom before they had no place, would in general have given, to these
+very characters in whom they do exist, additional force in the same
+direction. It would have rendered the amiable more amiable, the useful
+more useful, with fewer inconsistencies, with less abatement.
+
+Let _true Christians_ meanwhile be ever mindful, that _they_ are loudly
+called upon to make this argument still more clear, these positions
+still less questionable. You are every where commanded to be tender and
+sympathetic, diligent and useful; and it is the character of that
+"wisdom from above," in which you are to be proficients, that it "is
+gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits." Could
+the efficacy of Christianity in softening the heart be denied by those,
+who saw in the instance of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, that it
+was able to transform a bigotted, furious, and cruel persecutor, into an
+almost unequalled example of candour, and gentleness, and universal
+tenderness and love? Could its spirit of active beneficence be denied by
+those, who saw its Divine Author so diligent and unwearied in his
+benevolent labours, as to justify the compendious description which was
+given of him by a personal witness of his exertions, that he "went about
+doing good?" Imitate these blessed examples: so shall you vindicate the
+honour of your profession, and "put to silence the ignorance of foolish
+men:" so shall you obey those Divine injunctions of adorning the
+doctrine of Christ, and of "letting your light shine before men, that
+they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
+heaven." Beat the world at its own best weapons. Let your love be more
+affectionate, your mildness less open to irritation, your diligence more
+laborious, your activity more wakeful and persevering. Consider
+sweetness of temper and activity of mind, if they naturally belong to
+you, as talents of special worth and utility, for which you will have to
+give account. Carefully watch against whatever might impair them,
+cherish them with constant assiduity, keep them in continual exercise,
+and direct them to their noblest ends. The latter of these qualities
+renders it less difficult, and therefore more incumbent on you, to be
+ever abounding in the work of the Lord; and to be copious in the
+production of that species of good fruit, of which mankind in general
+will be most ready to allow the excellence, because they best understand
+its nature. In _your_ instance, the solid substance of Christian
+practice is easily susceptible of that high and beautiful polish, which
+may attract the attention, and extort the admiration of a careless and
+undiscerning world, so slow to notice, and so backward to acknowledge,
+intrinsic worth, when concealed under a less sightly exterior. Know
+then, and value as ye ought, the honourable office which is especially
+devolved on you. Let it be your acceptable service to recommend the
+discredited cause, and sustain the fainting interests of Religion, to
+furnish to her friends matter of sound and obvious argument, and of
+honest triumph; and if your best endeavours cannot conciliate, to refute
+at least, and confound her enemies.
+
+If on the other hand, you are conscious that you are naturally rough and
+austere, that disappointments have soured, or prosperity has elated you,
+or that habits of command have rendered you quick in expression, and
+impatient of contradiction; or if, from whatever other cause, you have
+contracted an unhappy peevishness of temper, or asperity of manners, or
+harshness and severity of language, (remember that these defects are by
+no means incompatible with an aptness to perform services of substantial
+kindness); if nature has been confirmed by habit till at length your
+soul seems thoroughly tinctured with these evil dispositions, yet do not
+despair. Remember that the Divine Agency is promised, "to take away the
+heart of stone, and give a heart of flesh," of which it is the natural
+property to be tender and susceptible. Pray then earnestly and
+perseveringly, that the blessed aid of Divine Grace may operate
+effectually on your behalf. Beware of acquiescing in the evil tempers in
+question, under the idea that they are the ordinary imperfections of the
+best of men; that they shew themselves only in little instances; that
+they are only occasional, hasty, and transient effusions, when you are
+taken off your guard; the passing shade of your mind, and not the
+settled colour. Beware of excusing or allowing them in yourself, under
+the notion of warm zeal for the cause of Religion and virtue, which you
+perhaps own is now and then apt to carry you into somewhat over-great
+severity of judgment, or sharpness in reproof. Listen not to these, or
+any other such flattering excuses, which your own heart will be but too
+ready to suggest to you. Scrutinize yourself rather with rigorous
+strictness; and where there is so much room for self-deceit, call in the
+aid of some faithful friend, and unbosoming yourself to him without
+concealment, ask his impartial and unreserved opinion of your behaviour
+and condition. Our unwillingness to do this, often betrays to others,
+(not seldom it first discovers to ourselves) that we entertain a secret
+distrust of our own character and conduct. Instead also of extenuating
+to yourself the criminality of the vicious tempers under consideration,
+strive to impress your mind deeply with a sense of it. For this end,
+often consider seriously, that these rough and churlish tempers are a
+direct contrast to the "meekness and gentleness of Christ;" and that
+Christians are strongly and repeatedly enjoined to copy after their
+great Model in these particulars, and to be themselves patterns of
+"mercy and kindness, and humbleness of mind, and meekness, and long
+suffering." They are to "put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
+and clamour, and evil speaking," not only "being ready to every good
+work, but being _gentle_ unto _all_ men," "shewing _all_ meekness unto
+_all_ men," "forbearing, forgiving," tender hearted. Remember the
+Apostle's declaration, that "if any man bridleth not his tongue, he only
+seemeth to be religious, and deceiveth his own heart;" and that it is
+one of the characters of that love, without which all pretensions to the
+name of Christian are but vain, that "it doth not behave itself
+unseemly." Consider how much these acrimonious tempers must break in
+upon the peace, and destroy the comfort, of those around you. Remember
+also that the honour of your Christian profession is at stake, and be
+solicitous not to discredit it: justly dreading lest you should disgust
+those whom you ought to conciliate; and by conveying an unfavourable
+impression of your principles and character, should incur the guilt of
+putting an "offence in your brother's way;" thereby "hindering the
+Gospel of Christ," the advancement of which should be your daily and
+assiduous care.
+
+Thus having come to the full knowledge of your disease, and to a just
+impression of its malignity, strive against it with incessant
+watchfulness. Guard with the most jealous circumspection against its
+breaking forth into act. Force yourself to abound in little offices of
+courtesy and kindness; and you shall gradually experience in the
+performance of these a pleasure hitherto unknown, and awaken in yourself
+the dormant principles of sensibility. But take not up with external
+amendment; guard against a false shew of sweetness of disposition; and
+remember that the Christian is not to be satisfied with the world's
+superficial courtliness of demeanor, but that his "Love is to be without
+dissimulation." Examine carefully, whether the unchristian tempers,
+which you would eradicate, are not maintained in vigour by selfishness
+and pride; and strive to subdue them effectually, by extirpating the
+roots from which they derive their nutriment. Accustom yourself to
+endeavour to look attentively upon a careless and inconsiderate world,
+which, while it is in such imminent peril, is so ignorant of its danger.
+Dwell upon this affecting scene, till it has excited your pity; and this
+pity, while it melts the mind to Christian love, shall insensibly
+produce a temper of habitual sympathy and softness. By means like these,
+perseveringly used in constant dependence on Divine aid, you may
+confidentially hope to make continual progress. Among men of the world,
+a youth of softness and sweetness will often, as we formerly remarked,
+harden into insensibility, and sharpen into moroseness. But it is the
+office of Christianity to reverse this order. It is pleasing to witness
+this blessed renovation: to see, as life advances, asperities gradually
+smoothing down, and roughnesses mellowing away: while the subject of
+this happy change experiences within, increasing measures of the comfort
+which he diffuses around him; and feeling the genial influences of that
+heavenly flame which can thus give life, and warmth, and action, to what
+had been hitherto rigid and insensible, looks up with gratitude to him
+who has shed abroad this principle of love in his heart;
+
+    Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma.
+
+Let it not be thought that in the foregoing discussion, the amiable and
+useful qualities, where they are not prompted and governed by a
+principle of religion, have been spoken of in too disparaging terms. Nor
+would I be understood as unwilling to concede to those who are living in
+the exercise of them, their proper tribute of commendation: Inest sua
+gratia. Of such persons it must be said, in the language of scripture,
+"they have their reward." They have it in the inward complacency, which
+a sweet temper seldom fails to inspire; in the comforts of the domestic
+or social circle; in the pleasure which from the constitution of our
+nature accompanies pursuit and action. They are always beloved in
+private, and generally respected in public life. But when devoid of
+Religion, if the word of God be not a fable, "they cannot enter into the
+kingdom of Heaven." True practical Christianity (never let it be
+forgotten) consists in devoting the heart and life to God; in being
+supremely and habitually governed by a desire to know, and a disposition
+to fulfil his will, and in endeavouring under the influence of _these
+motives_ to "live to his glory." Where these essential requisites are
+wanting, however amiable the character may be, however creditable and
+respectable among men; yet as it possesses not the grand distinguishing
+essence, it must not be complimented with the name, of Christianity.
+This however, when the external decorums of Religion are not violated,
+must commonly be a matter between God and a man's own conscience; and we
+ought never to forget how strongly we are enjoined to be candid and
+liberal in judging of the motives of others, while we are strict in
+scrutinizing and severe in questioning our own. And this strict scrutiny
+is no where more necessary, because there is no where more room for the
+operation of self-deceit. We are all extremely prone to lend ourselves
+to the good opinion which, however falsely, is entertained of us by
+others; and though we at first confusedly suspect, or even indubitably
+know, that their esteem is unfounded, and their praises undeserved, and
+that they would have thought and spoken of us very differently, if they
+had discerned our secret motives, or had been accurately acquainted with
+all the circumstances of our conduct; we gradually suffer ourselves to
+adopt their judgment of us, and at length feel that we are in some sort
+injured or denied our due, when these false commendations are
+contradicted or withheld. Without the most constant watchfulness, and
+the most close and impartial self-examination, irreligious people of
+amiable tempers, and still more those of useful lives, from the general
+popularity of their character, will be particularly liable to become the
+dupes of this propensity. Nor is it they only who have here need to be
+on their guard: men of real religion will also do well to watch against
+this delusion. There is however another danger to which these are still
+more exposed, and against which it is the rather necessary to warn them,
+because of our having insisted so strongly on their being bound to be
+diligent in the discharge of the active duties of life. In their
+endeavours to fulfil this obligation, let them specially beware, lest
+setting out on right principles, they insensibly lose them in the course
+of their progress; lest engaging originally in the business and bustle
+of the world, from a sincere and earnest desire to promote the glory of
+God, their minds should become so heated and absorbed in the pursuit of
+their object, as that the true motive of action should either altogether
+cease to be an habitual principle, or should at least lose much of its
+life and vigour; lest their thoughts and affections being engrossed by
+temporal concerns, their sense of the reality of "unseen things" should
+fade away, and they should lose their relish for the employments and
+offices of Religion.
+
+The Christian's path is beset with dangers--On the one hand, he justly
+dreads an inactive and unprofitable life; on the other, he no less
+justly trembles for the loss of that spiritual-mindedness, which is the
+very essence and power of his profession. This is not quite the place
+for the full discussion of the difficult topic here in question: and if
+it were, the writer of these sheets is too conscious of his own
+incompetencies, not to be desirous of asking rather than of giving
+advice respecting it. Yet, as it is a matter which has often engaged his
+most serious consideration, and has been the frequent subject of his
+anxious inquiry into the writings and opinions of far better
+instructors, he will venture to deliver a few words on it, offering
+them with unaffected diffidence.
+
+Does then the Christian discover in himself, judging not from accidental
+and occasional feelings, on which little stress is either way to be
+laid, but from the permanent and habitual temper of his mind, a settled,
+and still more a growing, coldness and indisposition towards the
+considerations and offices of Religion? And has he reason to apprehend
+that this coldness and indisposition are owing to his being engaged too
+much or too earnestly in worldly business, or to his being too keen in
+the pursuit of worldly objects? Let him carefully examine the state of
+his own heart, and seriously and impartially survey the circumstances of
+his situation in life; humbly praying to the Father of light and mercy,
+that he may be enabled to see his way clearly in this difficult
+emergency. If he finds himself pursuing wealth, or dignity, or
+reputation, with earnestness and solicitude; if these things engage many
+of his thoughts; if his mind naturally and inadvertently runs out into
+contemplations of them; if success in these respects greatly gladdens,
+and disappointments dispirit and distress his mind; he has but too plain
+grounds for self-condemnation. "No man can serve two masters." The world
+is evidently in possession of his heart, and it is no wonder that he
+finds himself dull, or rather dead, to the impression and enjoyment of
+spiritual things.
+
+But though the marks of predominant estimation and regard for earthly
+things be much less clear and determinate; yet if the object which he is
+pursuing be one which, by its attainment, would bring him a considerable
+accession of riches, station, or honour, let him soberly and fairly
+question and examine whether the pursuit be warrantable? here also,
+asking the advice of some judicious friend; his backwardness to do
+which, in instances like these, should justly lead him, as was before
+remarked, to distrust the reasonableness of the schemes which he is
+prosecuting. In such a case as this, we have good cause to distrust
+ourselves. Though the inward hope, that we are chiefly prompted by a
+desire to promote the glory of our Maker, and the happiness of our
+fellow-creatures, by increasing our means of usefulness, may suggest
+itself to allay, yet let it not altogether remove, our suspicions. It is
+not improbable, that beneath this plausible mask we conceal, more
+successfully perhaps from ourselves than from others, an inordinate
+attachment to the pomps and transitory distinctions of this life; and as
+this attachment gains the ascendency, it will ever be found, that our
+perception and feeling of the supreme excellence of heavenly things will
+proportionably subside.
+
+But when the consequences which would follow from the success of our
+worldly pursuits do not render them so questionable, as in the case we
+have been just considering; yet, having such good reason to believe that
+there is somewhere a flaw, could we but discover it, let us carefully
+scrutinize the whole of our conduct, taking that word in its largest
+sense; in order to discover whether we may not be living either in the
+breach or in the omission of some known duty, and whether it may not
+therefore have pleased God to withdraw from us the influence of his Holy
+Spirit; particularly inquiring, whether the duties of self-examination,
+of secret and public prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and
+the other prescribed means of Grace, have not been either wholly
+intermitted at their proper seasons, or at least been performed with
+precipitation or distraction? And if we find reason to believe, that the
+allotment of time, which it would be most for our spiritual improvement
+to assign to our religious offices, is often broken in upon and
+curtailed; let us be extremely backward to admit excuses for such
+interruptions and abridgments. It is more than probable, for many
+obvious reasons, that even our worldly affairs themselves will not on
+the long run, go on the better for encroaching upon those hours, which
+ought to be dedicated to the more immediate service of God, and to the
+cultivation of the inward principles of Religion. Our hearts at least
+and our conduct will soon exhibit proofs of the sad effects of this
+fatal negligence. They who in a crazy vessel navigate a sea wherein are
+shoals and currents innumerable, if they would keep their course or
+reach their port in safety, must carefully repair the smallest injuries,
+and often throw out their line and take their observations. In the
+voyage of life also the Christian who would not make shipwreck of his
+faith, while he is habitually watchful and provident, must often make it
+his express business to look into his state, and ascertain his progress.
+
+But to resume my subject; let us when engaged in this important
+scrutiny, impartially examine ourselves whether the worldly objects
+which engross us, are all of them such as properly belong to our
+profession, or station, or circumstances in life; which therefore we
+could not neglect with a good conscience? If they be, let us consider
+whether they do not consume a larger share of our time than they really
+require; and whether, by not trifling over our work, by deducting
+somewhat which might be spared from our hours of relaxation, or by some
+other little management, we might not fully satisfy their just claims,
+and yet have an increased overplus of leisure, to be devoted to the
+offices of Religion.
+
+But if we deliberately and honestly conclude that we ought not to give
+these worldly objects less of our _time_, let us endeavour at least to
+give them less of our _hearts_: striving that the settled frame of our
+_desires_ and affections may be more spiritual; and that in the motley
+intercourses of life we may constantly retain a more lively sense of the
+Divine presence, and a stronger impression of the reality of unseen
+things; thus corresponding with the Scripture description of true
+Christians, "walking by faith and not by sight, and having our
+conversation in Heaven."
+
+Above all, let us guard against the temptation, to which we shall
+certainly be exposed, of lowering down our views to our state, instead
+of endeavouring to rise to the level of our views. Let us rather
+determine to know the worst of our case, and strive to be suitably
+affected with it; not forward to speak peace to ourselves, but patiently
+carrying about with us a deep conviction of our backwardness and
+inaptitude to religious duties, and a just sense of our great weakness
+and numerous infirmities. This cannot be an unbecoming temper, in those
+who are commanded to "work out their salvation with fear and trembling."
+It prompts to constant and earnest prayer. It produces that sobriety,
+and lowliness and tenderness of mind, that meekness of demeanor and
+circumspection in conduct, which are such eminent characteristics of
+the true Christian.
+
+Nor is it a state devoid of consolation--"O tarry thou the Lord's
+leisure, be strong and he shall comfort thy heart."--"They that wait on
+the Lord, shall renew their strength."--"Blessed are they that mourn,
+for they shall be comforted." These Divine assurances sooth and
+encourage the Christian's disturbed and dejected mind, and insensibly
+diffuse a holy composure. The tint may be solemn, nay even melancholy,
+but it is mild and grateful. The tumult of his soul has subsided, and he
+is possessed by complacency, and hope, and love. If a sense of
+undeserved kindness fill his eyes with tears, they are tears of
+reconciliation and joy: while a generous ardour springing up within him
+sends him forth to his worldly labours "fervent in spirit;" resolving
+through the Divine aid to be henceforth more diligent and exemplary in
+living to the Glory of God, and longing meanwhile for that blessed time,
+when, "being freed from the bondage of corruption," he shall be enabled
+to render to his Heavenly Benefactor more pure and acceptable service.
+
+After having discussed so much at large the whole question concerning
+amiable tempers in general, it may be scarcely necessary to dwell upon
+that particular class of them which belongs to the head of generous
+emotions, or of exquisite sensibility. To these almost all which has
+been said above is strictly applicable; to which it may be added, that
+the persons in whom the latter qualities most abound, are often far from
+conducing to the peace and comfort of their nearest connections. These
+qualities indeed may be rendered highly useful instruments, when
+enlisted into the service of Religion. But we ought to except against
+them the more strongly, when not under her controul; because there is
+still greater danger than in the former case, that persons in whom they
+abound, may be flattered into a false opinion of themselves by the
+excessive commendations often paid to them by others, and by the
+beguiling complacencies of their own minds, which are apt to be puffed
+up with a proud though secret consciousness of their own superior
+acuteness and sensibility. But it is the less requisite to enlarge on
+this topic, because it has been well discussed by many, who have
+unfolded the real nature of those fascinating qualities; who have well
+remarked, that though shewy and apt to catch the eye, they are of a
+flimsy and perishable fabric, not of that less gaudy but more
+substantial and durable texture, which, imparting permanent warmth and
+comfort, will long preserve its more sober honours, and stand the wear
+and tear of life, and the vicissitudes of seasons. It has been shewn,
+that these qualities often fail us when most we want their aid; that
+their possessors can solace themselves with their imaginary exertions in
+behalf of ideal misery, and yet shrink from the labours of active
+benevolence, or retire with disgust from the homely forms of real
+poverty and wretchedness. In fine, the superiority of true Christian
+charity and of plain practical beneficence has been ably vindicated; and
+the school of Rousseau has been forced to yield to the school of Christ,
+when the question has been concerning the best means of promoting the
+comfort of family life, or the temporal well-being of society[84].
+
+
+SECTION V.
+
+_Some other grand defects in the practical system of the Bulk of nominal
+Christians._
+
+In the imperfect sketch which has been drawn of the Religion of the bulk
+of nominal Christians, their fundamental error respecting the essential
+nature of Christianity has been discussed, and traced into some of its
+many mischievous consequences. Several of their particular
+misconceptions and allowed defects have also been pointed out and
+illustrated. It may not be improper to close the survey by noticing
+some others, for the existence of which we may now appeal to almost
+every part of the preceding delineation.
+
+In the first place, then, there appears throughout, both in the
+principles and allowed conduct of the bulk of nominal Christians, a most
+inadequate idea of the _guilt and evil of sin_. We every where find
+reason to remark, that, as was formerly observed, Religion is suffered
+to dwindle away into a mere matter of _police_. Hence the guilt of
+actions is estimated, not by the proportion in which, according to
+Scripture, they are offensive to God, but by that in which they are
+injurious to society. Murder, theft, fraud in all its shapes, and some
+species of lying, are manifestly, and in an eminent degree, injurious to
+social happiness. How different accordingly, in the moral scale, is the
+place they hold, from that which is assigned to idolatry, to general
+irreligion, to swearing, drinking, fornication, lasciviousness,
+sensuality, excessive dissipation; and in particular circumstances, to
+pride, wrath, malice, and revenge!
+
+Indeed, several of the above-mentioned vices are held to be grossly
+criminal in the lower ranks, because manifestly ruinous to their
+temporal interests: but in the higher, they are represented as "losing
+half their evil by losing all their grossness," as flowing naturally
+from great prosperity, from the excess of gaiety and good humour; and
+they are accordingly "regarded with but a small degree of
+disapprobation, and censured very slightly or not at all[85]."--"Non
+meus hic sermo est." These are the remarks of authors, who have
+surveyed the stage of human life with more than ordinary observation;
+one of whom in particular cannot be suspected of having been misled by
+religious prejudices, to form a judgment of the superior orders too
+unfavourable and severe.
+
+Will these positions however be denied? Will it be maintained that there
+is not the difference already stated, in the moral estimation of these
+different classes of vices? Will it be said, that the one class is
+indeed more generally restrained, and more severely punished by human
+laws, because more properly cognizable by human judicatures, and more
+directly at war with the well-being of society; but that when brought
+before the tribunal of internal opinion they are condemned with equal
+rigour?
+
+Facts may be denied, and charges laughed out of countenance: but where
+the general sentiment and feeling of mankind are in question, our common
+language is often the clearest and most impartial witness; and the
+conclusions thus furnished, are not to be parried by wit, or eluded by
+sophistry. In the present case, our ordinary modes of speech furnish
+sufficient matter for the determination of the argument; and abundantly
+prove our disposition to consider as matters of small account, such sins
+as are not held to be injurious to the community. We invent for them
+diminutive and qualifying terms, which, if not, as in the common uses of
+language[86], to be admitted as signs of approbation and good will, must
+at least be confessed to be proofs of our tendency to regard them with
+palliation and indulgence. Free-thinking, gallantry, jollity[87], and a
+thousand similar phrases might be adduced as instances. But it is worthy
+of remark, that no such soft and qualifying terms are in use, for
+expressing the smaller degrees of theft, or fraud, or forgery, or any
+other of those offences, which are committed by men against their
+fellow-creatures, and in the suppression of which we are interested by
+our regard to our temporal concerns.
+
+The charge which we are urging is indeed undeniable. In the case of any
+question of honour, or of moral honesty, we are sagacious in discerning
+and inexorable in judging the offence. No allowance is made for the
+suddenness of surprise, or the strength of temptations. One single
+failure is presumed to imply the absence of the moral or honourable
+principle. The memory is retentive on these occasions, and the man's
+character is blasted for life. Here, even the mere suspicion of having
+once offended can scarcely be got over: "There is an aukward story about
+that man, which must be explained before he and I can become
+acquainted." But in the case of sins against God, there is no such
+watchful jealousy, none of this rigorous logic. A man may go on in the
+frequent commission of known sins, yet no such inference is drawn
+respecting the absence of the religious principle. On the contrary, we
+say of him, that "though his _conduct_ be a little incorrect, his
+_principles_ are untouched;"--that he has _a good heart_: and such a man
+may go quietly through life, with the titles of a _mighty worthy
+creature_, and a _very good Christian_.
+
+But in the Word of God actions are estimated by a far less accommodating
+standard. There we read of no little sins. Much of our Saviour's sermon
+on the mount, which many of the class we are condemning affect highly to
+admire, is expressly pointed against so dangerous a misconception.
+_There_, no such distinction is made between the rich and the poor. No
+notices are to be traced of one scale of morals for the higher, and of
+another for the lower classes of society. Nay, the former are expressly
+guarded against any such vain imagination; and are distinctly warned,
+that their condition in life is the more dangerous, because of the more
+abundant temptations to which it exposes them. Idolatry, fornication,
+lasciviousness, drunkenness, revellings, inordinate affection, are, by
+the apostle likewise classed with theft and murder, and with what we
+hold in even still greater abomination; and concerning them all it is
+pronounced alike, that "they which do such things shall not inherit the
+kingdom of God[88]."
+
+In truth, the instance which we have lately specified, of the loose
+system of these nominal Christians, betrays a fatal absence of the
+principle which is the very foundation of all Religion. Their slight
+notions of the guilt and evil of sin discover an utter want of all
+suitable reverence for the Divine Majesty. This principle is justly
+termed in Scripture, "the beginning of wisdom," and there is perhaps no
+one quality which it is so much the studious endeavour of the sacred
+writers to impress upon the human heart[89].
+
+Sin is considered in Scripture as rebellion against the sovereignty of
+God, and every different act of it equally violates his law, and, if
+persevered in, disclaims his supremacy. To the inconsiderate and the gay
+this doctrine may seem harsh, while, vainly fluttering in the sunshine
+of worldly prosperity, they lull themselves into a fond security. "But
+the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the
+Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
+with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall
+be burnt up"--"Seeing then, that all these things shall be dissolved,
+what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and
+Godliness?"[90] We are but an atom in the universe.--Worlds upon worlds
+surround us, all probably full of intelligent creatures, to whom, now or
+hereafter, we may be a spectacle, and afford an example of the Divine
+procedure. Who then shall take upon him to pronounce what might be the
+issue, if sin were suffered to pass unpunished in one corner of this
+universal empire? Who shall say what confusion might be the consequence,
+what disorder it might spread through the creation of God? Be this
+however as it may, the language of Scripture is clear and
+decisive;--"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people
+that forget God."
+
+It should be carefully observed too, that these awful denunciations of
+the future punishment of sin derive additional weight from this
+consideration, that they are represented, not merely as a judicial
+sentence which, without violence to the settled order of things, might
+be remitted through the mere mercy of our Almighty Governor, but as
+arising out of the established course of nature; as happening in the way
+of natural consequence, just as a cause is necessarily connected with
+its effect; as resulting from certain connections and relations which
+rendered them suitable and becoming. It is stated, that the kingdom of
+God and the kingdom of Satan are both set up in the world, and that to
+the one or the other of these we must belong. "The righteous have
+_passed_ from death unto life"--"they are delivered from the power of
+darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son[91]."
+They are become "the children," and "the subjects of God." While on
+earth, they love his day, his service, his people; they "speak good of
+his name;" they abound in his works. Even here they are in some degree
+possessed of his image, by and by it shall be perfected; they shall
+awake up after his "likeness," and being "heirs of eternal life," they
+shall receive "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that
+fadeth not away."
+
+Of sinners, on the other hand, it is declared, that "they are of their
+father the devil;" while on earth, they are styled "his children," "his
+servants;" they are said "to do his works," "to hold of his side," to
+be, "subjects of his kingdom:" at length "they shall partake his
+portion," when the merciful Saviour shall be changed into an avenging
+Judge, and shall pronounce that dreadful sentence, "depart from me, ye
+cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
+
+Is it possible that these declarations should not strike terror, or at
+least excite serious and fearful apprehension in the lightest and most
+inconsiderate mind? But the imaginations of men are fatally prone to
+suggest to them fallacious hopes in the very face of these positive
+declarations. "We cannot persuade ourselves that God will in fact prove
+so severe." It was the very delusion to which our first parents
+listened; "Ye shall not surely die."
+
+Let me ask these rash men, who are thus disposed to trifle with their
+immortal interests, had they lived in the antediluvian world, would they
+have conceived it possible that God would then execute his predicted
+threatening? Yet the event took place at the appointed time; the flood
+came and swept them all away: and this awful instance of the anger of
+God against sin is related in the inspired writings for our instruction.
+Still more to rouse us to attention, the record is impressed in
+indelible characters on the solid substance of the very globe we
+inhabit; which thus, in every country upon earth, furnishes practical
+attestations to the truth of the sacred writings, and to the actual
+accomplishment of their awful predictions. For myself I must declare,
+that I never can read without awe the passage, in which our Saviour is
+speaking of the state of the world at the time of this memorable event.
+The wickedness of men is represented to have been great and prevalent;
+yet not as we are ready to conceive, such as to interrupt the course,
+and shake the very frame of society. The general face of things was,
+perhaps, not very different from that which is exhibited in many of the
+European nations. It was a selfish, a luxurious, an irreligious, and an
+inconsiderate world. They were called, but they would not hearken; they
+were warned, but they would not believe--"They did eat, they drank, they
+married wives, they were given in marriage:" such is the account of one
+of the Evangelists; in that of another it is stated nearly in the same
+words; "They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
+and knew not until the flood came and swept them all away."
+
+Again, we see throughout, in the system which we have been describing a
+most inadequate conception of the difficulty of becoming true
+Christians; and an utter forgetfulness of its being the great business
+of life to secure our admission into Heaven, and to prepare our hearts
+for its service and enjoyments. The general notion appears to be, that,
+if born in a country of which Christianity is the established religion,
+we are born Christians. We do not therefore look out for positive
+evidence of our really being of that number; but putting the _onus
+probandi_, (if it may be so expressed) on the wrong side, we conceive
+ourselves such _of course_, except our title be disproved by positive
+evidence to the contrary. And we are so slow in giving ear to what
+conscience urges to us on this side; so dexterous in justifying what is
+clearly wrong, in palliating what we cannot justify, in magnifying the
+merit of what is fairly commendable, in flattering ourselves that our
+habits of vice are only occasional acts, and in multiplying our single
+acts into habits of virtue, that we must be bad indeed, to be compelled
+to give a verdict against ourselves. Besides, having no suspicion of our
+state, we do not set ourselves in earnest to the work of
+self-examination; but only receive in a confused and hasty way some
+occasional notices of our danger, when sickness, or the loss of a
+friend, or the recent commission of some act of vice of greater size
+than ordinary, has awakened in our consciences a more than usual degree
+of sensibility.
+
+Thus, by the generality, it is altogether forgotten, that the Christian
+has a great work to execute; that of forming himself after the pattern
+of his Lord and Master, through the operation of the Holy Spirit of God,
+which is promised to our fervent prayers and diligent endeavours.
+Unconscious of the obstacles which impede, and of the enemies which
+resist their advancement; they are naturally forgetful also of the ample
+provision which is in store, for enabling them to surmount the one, and
+to conquer the other. The scriptural representations of the state of the
+Christian on earth, by the images of "a race," and "a warfare;" of its
+being necessary to rid himself of every encumbrance which might retard
+him in the one, and to furnish himself with the whole armour of God for
+being victorious in the other, are, so far as these nominal Christians
+are concerned, figures of no propriety or meaning. As little (as was
+formerly shewn) have they, in correspondence with the Scripture
+descriptions of the feelings and language of real Christians, any idea
+of acquiring a relish while on earth, for the worship and service of
+Heaven. If the truth must be told, their notion is rather a confused
+idea of future gratification in Heaven, in return for having put a force
+upon their inclinations, and endured so much religion while on earth.
+
+But all this is only _nominal_ Christianity, which exhibits a more
+inadequate image of her real excellencies, than the cold copyings, by
+some insipid pencil, convey of the force and grace of Nature, or of
+Raphael. In the language of Scripture, Christianity is not a
+geographical, but a moral term. It is not the being a native of a
+Christian country: it is _a condition, a state_; the possession of a
+_peculiar nature_, with the _qualities_ and _properties_ which belong to
+it.
+
+Farther than this, it is a state into which we are not _born_, but into
+which we must be _translated_; a nature which we do not _inherit_, but
+into which we are to be _created anew_. To the undeserved grace of God,
+which is promised on our use of the appointed means, we must be indebted
+for the attainment of this nature; and, to acquire and make sure of it,
+is that great "work of our salvation," which we are commanded to "work
+out with fear and trembling." We are every where reminded, that this is
+a matter of labour and difficulty, requiring continual watchfulness, and
+unceasing effort, and unwearied patience. Even to the very last, towards
+the close of a long life consumed in active service, or in cheerful
+suffering, we find St. Paul himself declaring, that he conceived bodily
+self-denial and mental discipline to be indispensably necessary to his
+very safety. Christians, who are really worthy of the name, are
+represented as being "made meet for the inheritance of the Saints in
+light;" as "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" as
+"looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God." It is
+stated as being enough to make them happy, that "Christ should receive
+them to himself;" and the songs of the blessed spirits in Heaven are
+described to be the same, as those in which the servants of God on earth
+pour forth their gratitude and adoration.
+
+Conscious therefore of the indispensable necessity, and of the arduous
+nature of the service in which he is engaged, the true Christian sets
+himself to the work with vigour, and prosecutes it with diligence. His
+motto is that of the painter; "_nullus dies sine linea_." Fled as it
+were from a country in which the plague is raging, he thinks it not
+enough just to pass the boundary line, but would put out of doubt his
+escape beyond the limbs of infection. Prepared to meet with
+difficulties, he is not discouraged when they occur; warned of his
+numerous adversaries, he is not alarmed on their approach, or unprovided
+for encountering them. He knows that the beginnings of every new course
+may be expected to be rough and painful; but he is assured that the
+paths on which he is entering will ere long seem smoother, and become
+indeed "paths of pleasantness and peace."
+
+Now of the state of such an one the expressions of Pilgrim and Stranger
+are a lively description; and all the other figures and images, by which
+Christians are represented in Scripture, have in his case a determinate
+meaning and a just application. There is indeed none, by which the
+Christian's state on earth is in the word of God more frequently imaged,
+or more happily illustrated, than by that of a journey: and it may not
+be amiss to pause for a while in order to survey it under that
+resemblance. The Christian is travelling on business through a strange
+country, in which he is commanded to execute his work with diligence,
+and pursue his course homeward with alacrity. The fruits which he sees
+by the way-side he gathers with caution; he drinks of the streams with
+moderation; he is thankful when the sun shines, and his way is
+pleasant; but if it be rough and rainy, he cares not much, he is but a
+traveller. He is prepared for vicissitudes; he knows that he must expect
+to meet with them in the stormy and uncertain climate of this world. But
+he is travelling to "a better country," a country of unclouded light and
+undisturbed serenity. He finds also by experience, that when he has had
+the least of external comforts, he has always been least disposed to
+loiter; and if for the time it be a little disagreeable, he can solace
+himself with the idea of his being thereby forwarded in his course. In a
+less unfavourable season, he looks round him with an eye of observation;
+he admires what is beautiful; he examines what is curious; he receives
+with complacency the refreshments which are set before him, and enjoys
+them with thankfulness. Nor does he churlishly refuse to associate with
+the inhabitants of the country through which he is passing; nor, so far
+as he may, to speak their language, and adopt their fashions. But he
+neither suffers pleasure, nor curiosity, nor society, to take up too
+much of his time, and is still intent on transacting the business which
+he has to execute, and on prosecuting the journey which he is ordered to
+pursue. He knows also that, to the very end of life, his journey will be
+through a country in which he has many enemies; that his way is beset
+with snares; that temptations throng around him, to seduce him from his
+course or check his advancement in it; that the very air disposes to
+drowsiness, and that therefore to the very last it will be requisite for
+him to be circumspect and collected. Often therefore he examines
+whereabouts he is, how he has got forward, and whether or not he is
+travelling in the right direction. Sometimes he seems to himself to
+make considerable progress, sometimes he advances but slowly, too often
+he finds reason to fear that he has fallen backward in his course. Now
+he is cheered with hope, and gladdened by success; now he is disquieted
+with doubts, and damped by disappointments. Thus while in nominal
+Christians, Religion is a dull uniform thing, and they have no
+conception of the desires and disappointments, the hopes and fears, the
+joys and sorrows, which it is calculated to bring into exercise; in the
+true Christian all is life and motion, and his great work calls forth
+alternately the various passions of the soul. Let it not therefore be
+imagined that his is a state of unenlivened toil and hardship. His very
+labours are "the labours of love;" if "he has need of patience," it is
+"the patience of hope;" and he is cheered in his work by the constant
+assurance of present support, and of final victory. Let it not be
+forgotten, that this is the very idea given us of happiness by one of
+the ablest examiners of the human mind; "a constant employment for a
+desired end, with the consciousness of continual progress." So true is
+the Scripture declaration, that "Godliness has the promise of the life
+that now is, as well as of that which is to come."
+
+Our review of the character of the bulk of nominal Christians has
+exhibited abundant proofs of their allowed defectiveness in that great
+constituent of the true Christian character, _the love of God_. Many
+instances, in proof of this assertion, have been incidentally pointed
+out, and the charge is in itself so obvious, that it were superfluous to
+spend much time in endeavouring to establish it. Put the question fairly
+to the test. Concerning the proper marks and evidences of affection,
+there can be little dispute. Let the most candid investigator examine
+the character, and conduct, and language of the persons of whom we have
+been speaking; and he will be compelled to acknowledge, that so far as
+love towards the Supreme Being is in question, these marks and evidences
+are no where to be met with. It is in itself a decisive evidence of a
+contrary feeling in those nominal Christians, that they find no pleasure
+in the service and worship of God. Their devotional acts resemble less
+the free-will offerings of a grateful heart, than that constrained and
+reluctant homage, which is exacted by some hard master from his
+oppressed dependents, and paid with cold sullenness, and slavish
+apprehension. It was the very charge brought by God against his
+ungrateful people of old, that, while they called him Sovereign and
+Father, they withheld from him the regards which severally belong to
+those respected and endearing appellations. Thus we likewise think it
+enough to offer to the most excellent and amiable of Beings, to our
+supreme and unwearied Benefactor, a dull, artificial, heartless
+gratitude, of which we should be ashamed in the case of a
+fellow-creature, who had ever so small a claim on our regard and
+thankfulness!
+
+It may be of infinite use to establish in our minds a strong and
+habitual sense of that first and great commandment--"Thou shalt love the
+Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
+soul, and with all thy strength." This passion, operative and vigorous
+in its very nature, like a master spring, would put and maintain in
+action all the complicated movements of the human soul. Soon also would
+it terminate many practical questions concerning the allowableness of
+certain compliances; questions which, with other similar difficulties,
+are often only the cold offspring of a spirit of reluctant submission,
+and cannot stand the encounter of this trying principle. If, for
+example, it were disputed, whether or not the law of God were _so_
+strict as had been stated, in condemning the slightest infraction of its
+precepts; yet, when, from the precise demands of justice, the appeal
+should be made to the more generous principle of love, there would be at
+once an end of the discussion. Fear will deter from acknowledged crimes,
+and self-interest will bribe to laborious services: but it is the
+peculiar glory, and the very characteristic, of this more generous
+passion, to shew itself in ten thousand little and undefinable acts of
+sedulous attention, which love alone can pay, and of which, when paid,
+love alone can estimate the value. Love outruns the deductions of
+reasoning; it scorns the refuge of casuistry; it requires not the slow
+process of laborious and undeniable proof that an action would be
+injurious and offensive, or another beneficial or gratifying, to the
+object of affection. The least hint, the slightest surmise, is
+sufficient to make it start from the former, and fly with eagerness to
+the latter.
+
+I am well aware that I am now about to tread on very tender ground; but
+it would be an improper deference to the opinions and manners of the age
+altogether to avoid it. There has been much argument concerning the
+lawfulness of theatrical amusements[92]. Let it be sufficient to
+remark, that the controversy would be short indeed, if the question were
+to be tried by this criterion of love to the Supreme Being. If there
+were any thing of that sensibility for the honour of God, and of that
+zeal in his service, which we shew in behalf of our earthly friends, or
+of our political connections, should we seek our pleasure in that place
+which the debauchee, inflamed with wine, or bent on the gratification of
+other licentious appetites, finds most congenial to his state and temper
+of mind? In that place, from the neighbourhood of which, (how justly
+termed a school of morals might hence alone be inferred) decorum, and
+modesty, and regularity retire, while riot and lewdness are invited to
+the spot, and invariably select it for their chosen residence! where the
+sacred name of God is often prophaned! where sentiments are often heard
+with delight, and motions and gestures often applauded, which would not
+be tolerated in private company, but which may far exceed the utmost
+licence allowed in the social circle, without at all transgressing the
+large bounds of theatrical decorum! where, when moral principles are
+inculcated, they are not such as a Christian ought to cherish in his
+bosom, but such as it must be his daily endeavour to extirpate; not
+those which Scripture warrants, but those which it condemns as false and
+spurious, being founded in pride and ambition, and the over-valuation of
+human favour! where surely, if a Christian should trust himself at all,
+it would be requisite for him to prepare himself with a double portion
+of watchfulness and seriousness of mind, instead of selecting it as the
+place in which he may throw off his guard, and unbend without danger!
+The justness of this last remark, and the general tendency of
+theatrical amusements, is attested by the same well instructed master in
+the science of human life, to whom we had before occasion to refer. By
+him they are recommended as the most efficacious expedient for relaxing,
+among any people, that "_preciseness and austerity_ of morals," to use
+his own phrase, which, under the name of holiness, it is the business of
+Scripture to inculcate and enforce. Nor is this position merely
+theoretical. The experiment was tried, and tried successfully, in a city
+upon the continent[93], in which it was wished to corrupt the simple
+morality of purer times.
+
+Let us try the question by a parallel instance.
+
+What judgment should we form of the warmth of that man's attachment to
+his Sovereign, who, at seasons of recreation, should seek his pleasures
+in scenes as ill accordant with the principle of loyalty, as those of
+which we have been speaking are with the genius of religion? If for this
+purpose he were to select the place, and frequent the amusements, to
+which Democrats and Jacobins[94] should love to resort for
+entertainment, and in which they should find themselves so much at home,
+as invariably to select the spot for their abiding habitation; where
+dialogue, and song, and the intelligible language of gesticulation,
+should be used to convey ideas and sentiments, not perhaps palpably
+treasonable, or directly falling within the strict precision of any
+legal limits, but yet palpably contrary to the spirit of monarchical
+government; which, further, the highest authorities had recommended as
+sovereign specifics for cooling the warmth, and enlarging the narrowness
+of an excessive loyalty! What opinion should we form of the delicacy of
+that friendship, or of the fidelity of that love, which, in relation to
+their respective objects, should exhibit the same contradictions?
+
+In truth, the _hard measure_, if the phrase may be pardoned, which, as
+has been before remarked, we give to God; and the very different way in
+which we allow ourselves to act, and speak, and feel, where he is
+concerned, from that which we require, or even practise in the case of
+our fellow-creatures, is in itself the most decisive proof that the
+principle of the love of God, if not altogether extinct in us, is at
+least in the lowest possible degree of languor.
+
+From examining the degree in which the bulk of nominal Christians are
+defective in the love of God, if we proceed to inquire concerning the
+strength of their love towards their fellow-creatures, the writer is
+well aware of its being generally held, that here at least they may
+rather challenge praise than submit to censure. And the many beneficent
+institutions in which this country abounds, probably above every other,
+whether in ancient or modern times, may be perhaps appealed to in proof
+of the opinion. Much of what might have been otherwise urged in the
+discussion of this topic, has been anticipated in the inquiry into the
+grounds of the extravagant estimation, assigned to amiable tempers and
+useful lives, when unconnected with religious principle. What was then
+stated may serve in many cases to lower, in the present instance, the
+loftiness of the pretensions of these nominal Christians; and we shall
+hereafter have occasion to mention another consideration, of which the
+effect must be, still further to reduce their claims. Meanwhile, let it
+suffice to remark, that we must not rest satisfied with merely
+superficial appearances, if we would form a fair estimate of the degree
+of purity and vigour, in which the principle of good will towards men
+warms the bosoms of the generality of professed Christians in the higher
+and more opulent classes in this country. In a highly polished state of
+society, for instance, we do not expect to find moroseness; and in an
+age of great profusion, though we may reflect with pleasure on those
+numerous charitable institutions, which are justly the honour of Great
+Britain; we are not too hastily to infer a strong principle of internal
+benevolence, from liberal contributions to the relief of indigence and
+misery. When these contributions indeed are equally abundant in frugal
+times, or from individuals personally oeconomical, the source from
+which they originate becomes less questionable. But a vigorous principle
+of philanthropy must not be at once conceded, on the ground of liberal
+benefactions to the poor, in the case of one who by his liberality in
+this respect is curtailed in no necessary, is abridged of no luxury, is
+put to no trouble either of thought or of action; who, not to impute a
+desire of being praised for his benevolence, is injured in no man's
+estimation; in whom also familiarity with large sums has produced that
+freedom in the expenditure of money, which (thereby affording a fresh
+illustration of the justice of the old proverb, "Familiarity breeds
+contempt,") it never fails to operate, except in minds under the
+influence of a strong principle of avarice.
+
+Our conclusion, perhaps, would be less favourable, but not less fair, if
+we were to try the characters in question by those surer tests, which
+are stated by the Apostle to be less ambiguous marks of a real spirit of
+philanthropy. The strength of every passion is to be estimated by its
+victory over passions of an opposite nature. What judgment then shall we
+form of the force of the benevolence of the age, when measured by this
+standard? How does it stand the shock, when it comes into encounter with
+our pride, our vanity, our self-love, our self-interest, our love of
+ease or of pleasure, with our ambition, with our desire of worldly
+estimation? Does it make us self-denying, that we may be liberal in
+relieving others? Does it make us persevere in doing good in spite of
+ingratitude; and only pity the ignorance, or prejudice, or malice, which
+misrepresents our conduct, or misconstrues our motives? Does it make us
+forbear from what we conceive may probably prove the occasion of harm
+to a fellow-creature; though the harm should not seem naturally or even
+fairly to flow from our conduct, but to be the result only of his own
+obstinacy or weakness? Are we slow to believe any thing to our
+neighbour's disadvantage? and when we cannot but credit it, are we
+disposed rather to cover, and as far as we justly can, to palliate, than
+to divulge or aggravate it? Suppose an opportunity to occur of
+performing a kindness, to one who from pride or vanity should be loth to
+receive, or to be known to receive, a favour from us; should we honestly
+endeavour, so far as we could with truth, to lessen in his own mind and
+in that of others the merit of our good offices, and by so doing dispose
+him to receive them with diminished reluctance, and a less painful
+weight of obligation? This end, however, must be accomplished, if to be
+accomplished at all, by a simple and fair explanation of the
+circumstances, which may render the action in no wise inconvenient to
+ourselves, though highly beneficial to another; not by speeches of
+affected disparagement, which we might easily foresee, and in fact do
+foresee, must produce the contrary effect. Can we, from motives of
+kindness, incur or risk the charge of being deficient in spirit, in
+penetration, or in foresight? Do we tell another of his faults, when the
+communication, though probably beneficial to _him_, cannot be made
+without embarrassment or pain to ourselves, and may probably lessen his
+regard for our person, or his opinion of our judgment? Can we stifle a
+repartee which would wound another; though the utterance of it would
+gratify our vanity, and the suppression of it may disparage our
+character for wit? If any one advance a mistaken proposition, in an
+instance wherein the error may be mischievous to him; can we, to the
+prejudice perhaps of our credit for discernment, forbear to contradict
+him in public, if it be probable that in so doing, by piquing his pride
+we might only harden him in his error? and can we reserve our counsel
+for some more favourable season, the "mollia tempora fandi," when it may
+be communicated without offence? If we have recommended to any one a
+particular line of conduct, or have pointed out the probable mischiefs
+of the opposite course, and if our admonitions have been neglected, are
+we _really hurt_ when our predictions of evil are accomplished? Is our
+love superior to envy, and jealousy, and emulation? Are we acute to
+discern and forward to embrace any fair opportunity of promoting the
+interests of another; if it be in a line wherein we ourselves also are
+moving, and in which we think our progress has not been proportioned to
+our desert? Can we take pleasure in bringing his merits into notice, and
+in obviating the prejudices which may have damped his efforts, or in
+removing the obstacles which may have retarded his advancement? If even
+to this extent we should be able to stand the scrutiny, let it be
+farther asked how, in the case of our enemies, do we correspond with the
+Scripture representations of love? Are we meek under provocations, ready
+to forgive, and apt to forget injuries? Can we, with sincerity, "bless
+them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them
+which despitefully use us, and persecute us?" Do we prove to the
+Searcher of hearts a real spirit of forgiveness, by our forbearing not
+only from avenging an injury when it is in our power, but even from
+telling to any one how ill we have been used; and that too when we are
+not kept silent by a consciousness that we should lose credit by
+divulging the circumstance? And lastly, can we not only be content to
+return our enemies good for evil, (for this return, as has been remarked
+by one of the greatest of uninspired authorities,[95] may be prompted by
+pride and repaid by self-complacency) but, when they are successful or
+unsuccessful without our having contributed to their good or ill
+fortune, can we not only be content, but cordially rejoice in their
+prosperity, or sympathize with their distresses?
+
+These are but a few specimens of the characteristic marks which might be
+stated, of a true predominant benevolence; yet even these may serve to
+convince us how far the bulk of nominal Christians fall short of the
+requisitions of Scripture, even in that particular, which exhibits their
+character in the most favourable point of view. The truth is, we do not
+enough call to mind the exalted tone of Scripture morality; and are
+therefore apt to value ourselves on the heights to which we attain, when
+a better acquaintance with our standard would have convinced us of our
+falling far short of the elevation prescribed to us. It is in the very
+instance of the most difficult of the duties lately specified, the
+forgiveness and love of enemies, that our Saviour points out to our
+imitation the example of our Supreme Benefactor. After stating that, by
+being kind and courteous to those who, even in the world's opinion, had
+a title to our good offices and good will, we should in vain set up a
+claim to _Christian_ benevolence, he emphatically adds, "Be ye
+therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
+
+We must here again resort to a topic which was lately touched on, that
+of theatrical amusements; and recommend it to their advocates to
+consider them in connection with the duty, of which we have now been
+exhibiting some of the leading characters.
+
+It is an undeniable fact, for the truth of which we may safely appeal to
+every age and nation, that the situation of the performers, particularly
+of those of the female sex, is remarkably unfavourable to the
+maintenance and growth of the religious and moral principle, and of
+course highly dangerous to their eternal interests. Might it not then be
+fairly asked, how far, in all who confess the truth of this position, it
+is consistent with the sensibility of Christian benevolence, merely for
+the entertainment of an idle hour, to encourage the continuance of any
+of their fellow-creatures in such a way of life, and to take a part in
+tempting any others to enter into it? how far, considering that, by
+their own concession, they are employing whatever they spend in this
+way, in sustaining and advancing the cause of vice, and consequently in
+promoting misery; they are herein bestowing this share of their wealth
+in a manner agreeable to the intentions of their holy and benevolent
+Benefactor? how far also they are not in this instance the rather
+criminal, from there being so many sources of innocent pleasure open to
+their enjoyment? how far they are acting conformably to that golden
+principle of doing to others as we would they should do to us? how far
+they harmonize with the spirit of the Apostle's affectionate
+declaration, that he would deny himself for his whole life the most
+innocent indulgence, nay, what might seem almost an absolute necessary,
+rather than cause his weak fellow Christian to offend? or lastly, how
+far they are influenced by the solemn language of our Saviour himself;
+"It must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the
+offence cometh; it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged
+about his neck, and that he were cast into the depths of the sea?" The
+present instance is perhaps another example of our taking greater
+concern in the temporal, than in the spiritual interests of our fellow
+creatures. That man would be deemed, and justly deemed, of an inhuman
+temper, who in these days were to seek his amusement in the combats of
+gladiators and prize fighters: yet _Christians_ appear conscious of no
+inconsistency, in finding their pleasure in spectacles maintained at the
+risk at least, if not the ruin, of the eternal happiness of those who
+perform in them!
+
+
+SECT. VI.
+
+_Grand defect.--Neglect of the peculiar Doctrines of Christianity._
+
+But the grand radical defect in the practical system of these nominal
+Christians, is their forgetfulness of all the peculiar doctrines of the
+Religion which they profess--the corruption of human nature--the
+atonement of the Saviour--and the sanctifying influence of the Holy
+Spirit.
+
+Here then we come again to the grand distinction, between the Religion
+of Christ and that of the bulk of nominal Christians in the present
+day. The point is of the utmost _practical importance_, and we would
+therefore trace it into its actual effects.
+
+There are, it is to be apprehended, not a few, who having been for some
+time hurried down the stream of dissipation in the indulgence of all
+their natural appetites, (except, perhaps, that they were restrained
+from very gross vice by a regard to character, or by the yet unsubdued
+voice of conscience); and who, having all the while thought little, or
+scarcely at all about Religion, "living," to use the emphatical language
+of Scripture, "without God in the world," become in some degree
+impressed with a sense of the infinite importance of Religion. A fit of
+sickness, perhaps, or the loss of some friend or much loved relative, or
+some other stroke of adverse fortune, damps their spirits, awakens them
+to a practical conviction of the precariousness of all human things, and
+turns them to seek for some more stable foundation of happiness than
+this world can afford. Looking into themselves ever so little, they
+become sensible that they must have offended God. They resolve
+accordingly to set about the work of reformation.--Here it is that we
+shall recognize the fatal effects of the prevailing ignorance of the
+real nature of Christianity, and the general forgetfulness of its grand
+peculiarities. These men _wish_ to reform, but they know neither the
+real _nature_ of their distemper nor its true remedy. They are aware,
+indeed, that they must "cease to do evil, and learn to do well;" that
+they must relinquish their habits of vice, and attend more or less to
+the duties of Religion: but having no conception of the actual
+malignity of the disease under which they labour, or of the perfect cure
+which the Gospel has provided for it, or of the manner in which that
+cure is to be effected,
+
+    "They do but skin and film the ulcerous place,
+    While rank corruption, mining all within,
+    Infects unseen."
+
+It often happens therefore but too naturally in this case, that where
+they do not soon desist from their attempt at reformation, and relapse
+into their old habits of sin; they take up with a partial and scanty
+amendment, and fondly flatter themselves that it is a thorough change.
+They now conceive that they have a right to take to themselves the
+comforts of Christianity. Not being able to raise their practice up to
+their standard of right, they lower their standard to their practice:
+they sit down for life contented with their present attainments,
+beguiled by the complacencies of their own minds, and by the favourable
+testimony of surrounding friends; and it often happens, particularly
+where there is any degree of strictness in formal and ceremonial
+observances, that there are no people more jealous of their character
+for Religion.
+
+Others perhaps go farther than this. The dread of the wrath to come has
+sunk deeper into their hearts; and for a while they strive with all
+their might to resist their evil propensities, and to walk without
+stumbling in the path of duty. Again and again they resolve; again and
+again they break their resolutions[96]: All their endeavours are
+foiled, and they become more and more convinced of their own moral
+weakness, and of the strength of their indwelling corruption. Thus
+groaning under the enslaving power of sin, and experiencing the futility
+of the utmost efforts which they can use for effecting their
+deliverance, they are tempted (sometimes it is to be feared they yield
+to the temptation) to give up all in despair, and to acquiesce under
+their wretched captivity, conceiving it impossible to break their
+chains. Sometimes, probably, it even happens that they are driven to
+seek for refuge from their disquietude in the suggestions of infidelity;
+and to quiet their troublesome consciences by arguments which they
+themselves scarcely believe, at the very moment in which they suffer
+themselves to be lulled asleep by them. In the mean time while this
+conflict has been going on, their walk is sad and comfortless, and their
+couch is nightly watered with tears. These men are pursuing the right
+object, but they mistake the way in which it is to be obtained. _The
+path in which they are now treading is not that which the Gospel has
+provided for conducting them to true holiness, nor will they find in it
+any solid peace._
+
+Persons under these circumstances naturally seek for religious
+instruction. They turn over the works of our modern Religionists, and
+as well as they can collect the advice addressed to men in their
+situation: the substance of it is, at the best, of this sort; "Be sorry
+indeed for your sins, and discontinue the practice of them, but do not
+make yourselves so uneasy. Christ died for the sins of the whole world.
+Do your utmost; discharge with fidelity the duties of your stations, not
+neglecting your religious offices; and fear not but that in the end all
+will go well; and that having thus performed the conditions required on
+your part, you will at last obtain forgiveness of our merciful Creator
+through the merits of Jesus Christ, and be aided, where your own
+strength shall be insufficient, by the assistance of his Holy Spirit.
+Meanwhile you cannot do better than read carefully such books of
+practical divinity, as will instruct you in the principles of a
+Christian life. We are excellently furnished with works of this nature;
+and it is by the diligent study of them that you will gradually become a
+proficient in the lessons of the Gospel."
+
+But the holy Scriptures, and with them the Church of England, call upon
+those who are in the circumstances above-stated, to _lay afresh the
+whole foundation of their Religion_. In concurrence with the Scripture,
+that Church calls upon them, in the first place, gratefully to adore
+that undeserved goodness which has awakened them from the sleep of
+death; to prostrate themselves before the Cross of Christ with humble
+penitence and deep self-abhorrence; solemnly resolving to forsake all
+their sins, but relying on the Grace of God alone for power to keep
+their resolution. Thus, and thus only, she assures them that all their
+crimes will be blotted out, and that they will receive from above a new
+living principle of holiness. She produces from the Word of God the
+ground and warrant of her counsel; "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
+and thou shalt be saved."--"No man," says our blessed Saviour, "cometh
+unto the Father but by me."--"I am the true Vine. As the branch cannot
+bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
+ye abide in me."--"He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth
+forth much fruit; for without" (or severed from) "me ye can do
+nothing,"--"By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of
+yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should
+boast: for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
+works."
+
+Let us not be thought tedious, or be accused of running into needless
+repetitions, in pressing this point with so much earnestness. It is in
+fact a point which can never be too much insisted on. It is the cardinal
+point on which the whole of Christianity turns; on which it is
+peculiarly proper in this place to be perfectly distinct. There have
+been some who have imagined that the wrath of God was to be deprecated,
+or his favour conciliated, by austerities and penances, or even by forms
+and ceremonies, and external observances. But all men of enlightened
+understandings, who acknowledge the moral government of God, must also
+acknowledge, that vice must offend and virtue delight him. In short they
+must, more or less, assent to the Scripture declaration, "without
+holiness no man shall see the Lord." But the grand distinction, which
+subsists between the true Christian and all other Religionists, (the
+class of persons in particular whom it is our object to address) is
+concerning the _nature_ of this holiness, and the _way in which it is to
+be obtained_. The views entertained by the latter, of the _nature_ of
+holiness, are of all degrees of inadequateness; and they conceive it is
+to be _obtained_ by their own natural unassisted efforts: or if they
+admit some vague indistinct notion of the assistance of the Holy Spirit,
+it is unquestionably obvious, on conversing with them, that this does
+not constitute the _main practical_ ground of their dependence. _But the
+nature of the holiness, to which the desires of the true Christian are
+directed, is no other than the restoration of the image of God: and as
+to the manner of acquiring it, disclaiming with indignation every idea
+of attaining it by his own strength, all his hopes of possessing it rest
+altogether on the divine assurances of the operation of the Holy Spirit,
+in those who cordially embrace the Gospel of Christ. He knows therefore
+that this holiness is not to_ PRECEDE _his reconciliation to God, and be
+its_ CAUSE; _but to_ FOLLOW _it, and be its_ EFFECT. _That in short it
+is by_ FAITH IN CHRIST _only[97] that he is to be justified in the sight
+of God; to be delivered from the condition of a child of wrath, and a
+slave of Satan; to be adopted into the family of God; to become an heir
+of God and a joint heir with Christ, entitled to all the privileges
+which belong to this high relation; here, to the Spirit of Grace, and a
+partial renewal after the image of his Creator; hereafter, to the more
+perfect possession of the Divine likeness, and an inheritance of eternal
+glory._
+
+And as it is in this way, that, in obedience to the dictates of the
+Gospel, the true Christian must originally become possessed of the vital
+spirit and living principle of universal holiness; so, in order to grow
+in grace, he must also study in the same school; finding in the
+consideration of the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, and in the
+contemplation of the life, and character, and sufferings of our blessed
+Saviour, the elements of all practical wisdom, and an inexhaustible
+storehouse of instructions and motives, no otherwise to be so well
+supplied. From the neglect of these peculiar doctrines arise the main
+practical errors of the bulk of professed Christians. These gigantic
+truths retained in view, would put to shame the littleness of their
+dwarfish morality. It would be impossible for them to make these
+harmonize with their low conceptions, of the wretchedness and danger of
+their natural state, which is represented in Scripture as having so
+powerfully called forth the compassion of God, that he sent his only
+begotten Son to rescue us. Where _now_ are their low conceptions of the
+worth of the soul, when means like these were taken to redeem it? Where
+_now_ their inadequate conceptions of the guilt of sin, for which in the
+divine counsels it seemed requisite that an atonement no less costly
+should be made, than that of the blood of the only begotten Son of God?
+How can they reconcile their low standard of Christian practice with the
+representation of our being "temples of the Holy Ghost?" Their cold
+sense of obligation, and scanty grudged returns of service, with the
+glowing gratitude of those who, having been "delivered from the power of
+darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son," may well
+conceive that the labours of a whole life will be but an imperfect
+expression of their thankfulness.
+
+The peculiar doctrines of the Gospel being once admitted, the
+conclusions which have been now suggested are clear and obvious
+deductions of reason. But our neglect of these important truths is still
+less pardonable, because they are distinctly and repeatedly applied in
+Scripture to the very purposes in question, and the whole superstructure
+of Christian morals is grounded on their deep and ample basis. Sometimes
+these truths are represented in Scripture, _generally_, as furnishing
+Christians with a vigorous and ever present principle of universal
+obedience. And our slowness in learning the lessons of heavenly wisdom
+is still further stimulated, by almost every particular Christian duty
+being occasionally traced to them as to its proper source. They are
+every where represented as warming the hearts of the people of God on
+earth with continual admiration, and thankfulness, and love, and joy; as
+triumphing over the attack of the last great enemy, and as calling forth
+afresh in Heaven the ardent effusions of their unexhausted gratitude.
+
+If then we would indeed be "filled with wisdom and spiritual
+understanding;" if we would "walk worthy of the Lord unto all well
+pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
+knowledge of God;" here let us fix our eyes! "Laying aside every weight,
+and the sin that does so easily beset us; let us run with patience the
+race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS, the Author and Finisher
+of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the
+cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
+throne of God[98]."
+
+Here best we may learn the infinite _importance_ of Christianity. How
+little it can deserve to be treated in that slight and superficial way,
+in which it is in these days regarded by the bulk of nominal Christians,
+who are apt to think it may be enough, and almost equally pleasing to
+God, to be religious _in any way_, and upon _any_ system. What exquisite
+folly it must be to risk the soul on such a venture, in direct
+contradiction to the dictates of reason, and the express declaration of
+the word of God! "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
+salvation?"
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+Here we shall best learn the duty and reasonableness of an absolute and
+unconditional surrender of soul and body to the will and service of
+God.--"We are not our own; for we are bought with a price," and must
+"therefore" make it our grand concern to "glorify God with our bodies
+and our spirits, which are God's." Should we be base enough, even if we
+could do it with safety, to make any reserves in our returns of service
+to that gracious Saviour, who "gave up _himself_ for us?" If we have
+formerly talked of compounding by the performance of some commands for
+the breach of others; can we now bear the mention of a _composition_ of
+duties, or of retaining to ourselves the right of practising _little_
+sins! The very suggestion of such an idea fills us with indignation and
+shame, if our hearts be not dead to every sense of gratitude.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+Here we find displayed, in the most lively colours, the guilt of sin,
+and how hateful it must be to the perfect holiness of that Being, "who
+is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." When we see that, rather than
+sin should go unpunished, "God spared not his own Son," but "was
+_pleased_[99], to bruise him and put him to grief" for our sakes; how
+vainly must impenitent sinners flatter themselves with the hope of
+escaping the vengeance of Heaven, and buoy themselves up with I know not
+what desperate dreams of the Divine benignity!
+
+Here too we may anticipate the dreadful sufferings of that state, "where
+shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth;" when rather than that we should
+undergo them, "the Son of God" himself, who "thought it no robbery to be
+equal with God," consented to take upon him our degraded nature with all
+its weaknesses and infirmities; to be "a man of sorrows," "to hide not
+his face from shame and spitting," "to be wounded for our
+transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and at length to endure
+the sharpness of death, "even the death of the Cross," that he might
+"deliver us from the wrath to come," and open the kingdom of Heaven to
+all believers.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+_Here_ best we may learn to grow in the love of God! The certainty of
+his pity and love towards repenting sinners, thus irrefragably
+demonstrated, chases away the sense of tormenting fear, and best lays
+the ground in us of a reciprocal affection. And while we steadily
+contemplate this wonderful transaction, and consider in its several
+relations the amazing truth, that "God spared not his own Son, but
+delivered him up for us all;" if our minds be not utterly dead to every
+impulse of sensibility, the emotions of admiration, of preference, of
+hope, and trust, and joy, cannot but spring up within us, chastened with
+reverential fear, and softened and quickened by overflowing
+gratitude[100]. _Here_ we shall become animated by an abiding
+disposition to endeavour to please our great Benefactor; and by a humble
+persuasion, that the weakest endeavours of this nature will not be
+despised by a Being, who has already proved himself so kindly affected
+towards us[101]. _Here_ we cannot fail to imbibe an earnest desire of
+possessing his favour, and a conviction, founded on his own declarations
+thus unquestionably confirmed, that the desire shall not be
+disappointed. Whenever we are conscious that we have offended this
+gracious Being, a single thought of the great work of Redemption will be
+enough to fill us with compunction. We shall feel a deep concern, grief
+mingled with indignant shame, for having conducted ourselves so
+unworthily towards one who to us has been infinite in kindness: we shall
+not rest till we have reason to hope that he is reconciled to us; and we
+shall watch over our hearts and conduct in future with a renewed
+jealousy, lest we should again offend him. To those who are ever so
+little acquainted with the nature of the human mind, it were superfluous
+to remark, that the affections and tempers which have been enumerated,
+are the infallible marks and the constituent properties of Love. Let
+_him_ then who would abound and grow in this Christian principle, be
+much conversant with the great doctrines of the Gospel.
+
+It is obvious, that the attentive and frequent consideration of these
+great doctrines, must have a still more direct tendency to produce and
+cherish in our minds the principle of the love of Christ. But on this
+head, so much was said in a former chapter, as to render any farther
+observations unnecessary.
+
+Much also has been already observed concerning the love of our
+fellow-creatures, and it has been distinctly stated to be the
+indispensable, and indeed the characteristic duty of Christians. It
+remains, however to be here farther remarked, that this grace can no
+where be cultivated with more advantage than at the foot of the cross.
+No where can our Saviour's dying injunction to the exercise of this
+virtue be recollected with more effect; "This is my commandment, that ye
+love one another as I have loved you." No where can the admonition of
+the Apostle more powerfully affect us; "Be ye kind one to another,
+tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake,
+hath forgiven you." The view of mankind which is here presented to us,
+as having been all involved in one common ruin; and the offer of
+deliverance held out to all, by the Son of God's giving of himself up to
+pay the price of our reconciliation, produce that sympathy towards our
+fellow-creatures, which, by the constitution of our nature, seldom
+fails to result from the consciousness of an identity of interests and a
+similarity of fortunes. Pity for an unthinking world assists this
+impression. Our enmities soften and melt away: we are ashamed of
+thinking much of the _petty injuries_ which we may have suffered, when
+we consider what the Son of God, "who did no wrong, neither was guile
+found in his mouth," patiently underwent. Our hearts become tender while
+we contemplate this signal act of loving-kindness. We grow desirous of
+imitating what we cannot but admire. A vigorous principle of enlarged
+and active charity springs up within us; and we go forth with alacrity,
+desirous of treading in the steps of our blessed Master, and of
+manifesting our gratitude for his unmerited goodness, by bearing each
+others burdens, and abounding in the disinterested labours of
+benevolence.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+_He_ was meek and lowly of heart, and from the study of _his_ character
+we shall best learn the lessons of humility. Contemplating the work of
+Redemption, we become more and more impressed with the sense of our
+natural darkness, and helplessness, and misery, from which it was
+requisite to ransom us at such a price; more and more conscious that we
+are utterly unworthy of all the amazing condescension and love which
+have been manifested towards us; ashamed of the callousness of our
+tenderest sensibility, and of the poor returns of our most active
+services. Considerations like these, abating our pride and reducing our
+opinion of _ourselves_, naturally moderate our pretensions towards
+_others_. We become less disposed to exact that respect for our persons,
+and that deference for our authority, which we naturally covet; we less
+sensibly feel a slight, and less hotly resent it; we grow less
+irritable, less prone to be dissatisfied; more soft, and meek, and
+courteous, and placable, and condescending. We are not literally
+required to practise the same humiliating submissions, to which our
+blessed Saviour himself was not ashamed to stoop[102]; but the _spirit_
+of the remark applies to us, "the servant is not greater than his Lord:"
+and we should especially bear this truth in mind, when the occasion
+calls upon us to discharge some duty, or patiently to suffer some ill
+treatment, whereby our pride will be wounded, and we are likely to be in
+some degree degraded from the rank we had possessed in the world's
+estimation. At the same time the Sacred Scriptures assuring us, that to
+the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, purchased for us by the
+death of Christ, we must be indebted for the success of all our
+endeavours after improvement in virtue; the conviction of this truth
+tends to render us diffident of our own powers, and to suppress the
+first risings of vanity. Thus, while we are conducted to heights of
+virtue no otherwise attainable, due care is taken to prevent our
+becoming giddy from our elevation[103]. It is the Scripture
+characteristic of the Gospel system, that by it all disposition to
+exalt ourselves is excluded; and if we really grow in grace, we shall
+grow also in humility.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+"He endured the cross, despising the shame."--While we steadily
+contemplate this solemn scene, that sober frame of spirit is produced
+within us, which best befits the Christian, militant here on earth. We
+become impressed with a sense of the shortness and uncertainty of time,
+and that it behoves us to be diligent in making provision for eternity.
+In such a temper of mind, the pomps and vanities of life are cast behind
+us as the baubles of children.--We lose our relish for the frolics of
+gaiety, the race of ambition, or the grosser gratifications of
+voluptuousness. In the case even of those objects, which may more justly
+claim the attention of reasonable and immortal beings; in our family
+arrangements, in our plans of life, in our schemes of business, we
+become, without relinquishing the path of duty, more moderate in
+pursuit, and more indifferent about the issue. Here also we learn to
+correct the world's false estimate of things, and to "look through the
+shallowness of earthly grandeur[104];" to venerate what is truly
+excellent and noble, though under a despised and degraded form; and to
+cultivate within ourselves that true magnanimity, which can make us rise
+superior to the smiles or frowns of this world; that dignified composure
+of soul which no earthly incidents can destroy or ruffle. Instead of
+repining at any of the little occasional inconveniences we may meet with
+in our passage through life; we are almost ashamed of the multiplied
+comforts and enjoyments of our condition, when we think of him, who,
+though "the Lord of glory," "had not where to lay his head." And if it
+be our lot to undergo evils of more than ordinary magnitude, we are
+animated under them by reflecting, that we are hereby more conformed to
+the example of our blessed Master: though we must ever recollect one
+important difference, that the sufferings of Christ were voluntarily
+borne for _our_ benefit, and were probably far more exquisitely
+agonizing than any which we are called upon to undergo. Besides, it must
+be a solid support to us amidst all our troubles to know, that they do
+not happen to us by chance; that they are not even merely the punishment
+of sin; but that they are the dispensations of a kind Providence, and
+sent on messages of mercy.--"The cup that our Father hath given us,
+shall we not drink it?"--"Blessed Saviour! by the bitterness of thy
+pains we may estimate the force of thy love; we are _sure_ of thy
+kindness and compassion; thou wouldst not willingly call on us to
+suffer; thou hast declared unto us, that all things shall finally work
+together for good to them that love thee; and therefore, if thou so
+ordainest it, welcome disappointment and poverty, welcome sickness and
+pain, welcome even shame, and contempt, and calumny. If this be a rough
+and thorny path, it is one in which thou hast gone before us. Where we
+see thy footsteps we cannot repine. Meanwhile, thou wilt support us with
+the consolations of thy grace; and even here thou canst more than
+compensate to us for any temporal sufferings, by the possession of that
+peace, which the world can neither give nor take away."
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+"The Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
+before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
+the right hand of God." From the scene of our Saviour's weakness and
+degradation, we follow him, in idea, into the realms of glory, where "he
+is on the right hand of God; angels, and principalities, and powers
+being made subject unto him."--But though changed in place, yet not in
+nature, he is still full of sympathy and love; and having died "to save
+his people from their sins," "he ever _liveth_ to make intercession for
+them." Cheered by this animating view, the Christian's fainting spirits
+revive. Under the heaviest burdens he feels his strength recruited; and
+when all around him is dark and stormy, he can lift up an eye to Heaven,
+radiant with hope, and glistening with gratitude. At such a season, no
+dangers can alarm, no opposition can move, no provocations can irritate.
+He may almost adopt, as the language of his sober exultation, what in
+the philosopher was but an idle rant: and, considering that it is only
+the garment of mortality which is subject to the rents of fortune; while
+his spirit, cheered with the divine support, keeps its place within,
+secure and unassailable, he can sometimes almost triumph at the stake,
+or on the scaffold, and cry out amidst the severest buffets of
+adversity, "Thou beatest but the case of Anaxarchus." But it is rarely
+that the Christian is elevated with this "joy unspeakable and full of
+glory:" he even lends himself to these views with moderation and
+reserve. Often, alas! emotions of another kind fill him with grief and
+confusion: and conscious of having acted unworthy of his high calling,
+perhaps of having exposed himself to the just censure of a world ready
+enough to spy out his infirmities, he seems to himself almost "to have
+crucified the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." But let
+neither his joys intoxicate, nor his sorrows too much depress him. Let
+him still remember that his _chief_ business while on earth is not to
+meditate, but to act; that the seeds of moral corruption are apt to
+spring up within him, and that it is requisite for him to watch over his
+own heart with incessant care; that he is to discharge with fidelity the
+duties of his particular station, and to conduct himself, according to
+his measure, after the example of his blessed Master, whose meat and
+drink it was to do the work of his heavenly Father; that he is
+diligently to cultivate the talents with which God has entrusted him,
+and assiduously to employ them in doing justice and shewing mercy, while
+he guards against the assaults of any internal enemy. In short, he is to
+demean himself, in all the common affairs of life, like an _accountable_
+creature, who, in correspondence with the Scripture character of
+Christians, is "waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." Often
+therefore he questions himself, "Am I employing my time, my fortune, my
+bodily and mental powers, so as to be able to 'render up my account with
+joy, and not with grief?' Am I 'adorning the doctrine of God my Saviour
+in all things;' and proving that the servants of Christ, animated by a
+principle of filial affection, which renders their work a service of
+perfect freedom, are capable of as active and as persevering exertions,
+as the votaries of fame, or the slaves of ambition, or the drudges of
+avarice?"
+
+Thus, without interruption to his labours, he may interpose occasional
+thoughts of things unseen; and amidst the many little intervals of
+business, may calmly look upwards to the heavenly Advocate, who is ever
+pleading the cause of his people, and obtaining for them needful
+supplies of grace and consolation. It is these realizing views, which
+give the Christian a relish for the worship and service of the heavenly
+world. And if these blessed images, "seen but through a glass darkly,"
+can thus refresh the soul: what must be its state, when on the morning
+of the resurrection it shall awake to the unclouded vision of celestial
+glory! when, "to them that look for him, the Son of God shall appear a
+second time without sin unto salvation!" when "sighing and sorrow being
+fled away;" when doubts and fears no more disquieting, and the painful
+consciousness of remaining imperfections no longer weighing down the
+spirit, they shall enter upon the fruition of "those joys, which eye
+hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of
+man to conceive;" and shall bear their part in that blessed
+anthem--"Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto
+the Lamb," for ever and ever!
+
+Thus (never let it be forgotten) the main distinction between real
+Christianity, and the system of the bulk of nominal Christians, chiefly
+consists in the different place which is assigned in the two schemes to
+the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel. These, in the scheme of nominal
+Christians, if admitted at all, appear but like the stars of the
+firmament to the ordinary eye. Those splendid luminaries draw forth
+perhaps occasionally a transient expression of admiration, when we
+behold their beauty, or hear of their distances, magnitudes, or
+properties: now and then too we are led, perhaps, to muse upon their
+possible uses: but however curious as subjects of speculation, after
+all, it must be confessed, they twinkle to the common observer with a
+vain and "idle" lustre; and except in the dreams of the astrologer, have
+no influence on human happiness, or any concern with the course and
+order of the world. But to the _real_ Christian, on the contrary, THESE
+_peculiar doctrines constitute the center to which he gravitates! the
+very sun of his system! the soul of the world! the origin of all that is
+excellent and lovely! the source of light, and life, and motion, and
+genial warmth, and plastic energy!_ Dim is the light of reason, and cold
+and comfortless our state, while left to her unassisted guidance. Even
+the Old Testament itself, though a revelation from Heaven, shines but
+with feeble and scanty rays. But the blessed truths of the Gospel are
+now unveiled to _our_ eyes, and _we_ are called upon to behold, and to
+enjoy "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of
+Jesus Christ," in the full radiance of its meridian splendor. The words
+of inspiration best express our highly favoured state: "We all, with
+open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
+into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
+Lord."
+
+    Thou art the source and center of all minds,
+    Their only point of rest, ETERNAL WORD
+    From thee departing, they are lost, and rove
+    At random, without honour, hope, or peace:
+    From thee is all that soothes the life of man;
+    His high endeavour, and his glad success;
+    His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.
+    But O! thou bounteous Giver of all good!
+    Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown:
+    Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor,
+    And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_On the Excellence of Christianity in certain important Particulars.
+Argument which results thence in Proof of its divine Origin._
+
+
+The writer of the present work, having now completed a faint delineation
+of the leading features of real Christianity, may be permitted to
+suspend for a few moments the farther execution of his plan, for the
+purpose of pointing out some excellences which she really possesses; but
+which, as they are not to be found in that superficial system which so
+unworthily usurps her name, appear scarcely to have attracted sufficient
+notice. If he should seem to be deviating from the plan which he
+proposed to himself, he would suggest as his excuse; that the
+observations which he is about to offer will furnish a strong argument,
+in favour of the correctness of his preceding delineation of
+Christianity, since she will _now_ appear to exhibit more clearly, than
+as she is usually drawn, the characters of her Divine original.
+
+It holds true, indeed, in the case of Christianity, as in that of all
+the works of God, that though a superficial and cursory view cannot
+fail to discover to us somewhat of their beauty; yet, when on a more
+careful and accurate scrutiny we become better acquainted with their
+properties, we become also more deeply impressed by a conviction of
+their excellence. We may begin by referring to the last chapter for an
+instance of the truth of this assertion. Therein was pointed out that
+intimate connection, that perfect harmony, between the leading doctrines
+and the practical precepts of Christianity, which is apt to escape the
+attention of the ordinary eye.
+
+It may not be improper also to remark, though the position be so obvious
+as almost to render the statement of it needless, that there is the same
+close connection and perfect harmony in the leading doctrines of
+Christianity among each other. It is self-evident, that the corruption
+of human nature, that our reconciliation to God by the atonement of
+Christ, and that the restoration of our primitive dignity by the
+sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, are all parts of one whole,
+united in close dependence and mutual congruity.
+
+Perhaps, however, it has not been sufficiently noticed, that in the
+chief practical precepts of Christianity, there is the same essential
+agreement, the same mutual dependency of one upon another. Let us survey
+this fresh instance of the wisdom of that system, which is the only
+solid foundation of our present or future happiness.
+
+The virtues most strongly and repeatedly enjoined in Scripture, and by
+our progress in which we may best measure our advancement in holiness,
+are the fear and love of God and of Christ; love, kindness, and meekness
+towards our fellow-creatures; indifference to the possessions and
+events of this life, in comparison with our concern about eternal
+things; self-denial, and humility.
+
+It has been already pointed out in many particulars, how essentially
+such of these Christian graces as respect the Divine Being are connected
+with those, which have more directly for their objects our
+fellow-creatures and ourselves. But in the case of these two last
+descriptions of Christian graces; the more attentively we consider them
+with reference to the acknowledged principles of human nature, and to
+indisputable facts, the more we shall be convinced that they afford
+mutual aid towards the acquisition of each other; and that when
+acquired, they all harmonize with each other in perfect and essential
+union. This truth may perhaps be sufficiently apparent from what has
+been already remarked; but it may not be useless to dwell on it a little
+more in detail. Take then the instances of loving-kindness and meekness
+towards others; and observe the solid foundation which is laid for them
+in self-denial, in moderation as to the good things of this life, and in
+humility. The chief causes of enmity among men are, pride and
+self-importance, the high opinion which men entertain of themselves, and
+the consequent deference which they exact from others: the
+over-valuation of worldly possessions and of worldly honours, and in
+consequence, a too eager competition for them. The rough edges of one
+man rub against those of another, if the expression may be allowed; and
+the friction is often such as to injure the works, and disturb the just
+arrangements and regular motions of the social machine. But by
+Christianity all these roughnesses are filed down: every wheel rolls
+round smoothly in the performance of its appointed function, and there
+is nothing to retard the several movements, or break in upon the general
+order. The religious system indeed of the bulk of nominal Christians is
+satisfied with some tolerable appearances of virtue: and accordingly,
+while it recommends love and beneficence, it tolerates, as has been
+shewn, pride and vanity in many cases; it even countenances and commends
+the excessive valuation of character; and at least allows a man's whole
+soul to be absorbed in the pursuit of the object which he is following,
+be it what it may of personal or professional success. But though these
+latter qualities may, for the most part, fairly enough consist with a
+soft exterior and courtly demeanor, they cannot so well accord with the
+genuine internal principle of love. Some cause of discontent, some
+ground of jealousy or of envy will arise, some suspicion will corrode,
+some disappointment will sour, some slight or calumny will irritate and
+provoke reprisals. In the higher walks of life, indeed, we learn to
+disguise our emotions; but such will be the real inward feelings of the
+soul, and they will frequently betray themselves when we are off our
+guard, or when we are not likely to be disparaged by the discovery. This
+state of the higher orders, in which men are scuffling eagerly for the
+same objects, and wearing all the while such an appearance of sweetness
+and complacency, has often appeared to me to be not ill illustrated by
+the image of a gaming table. There, every man is intent only on his own
+profit; the good success of one is the ill success of another, and
+therefore the general state of mind of the parties engaged may be pretty
+well conjectured. All this, however, does not prevent, in well-bred
+societies, an exterior of perfect gentleness and good humour. But let
+the same employment be carried on among the lower orders, who are not so
+well schooled in the art of disguising their feelings; or in places
+where, by general connivance, people are allowed to give vent to their
+real emotions; and every passion will display itself, by which the
+"human face divine" can be distorted and deformed. For those who never
+have been present at so humiliating a scene, the pencil of Hogarth has
+provided a representation of it, which is scarcely exaggerated; and the
+horrid name[105], by which it is familiarly known among its frequenters,
+sufficiently attests the fidelity of its resemblance.
+
+But Christianity is not satisfied with producing merely the specious
+guise of virtue. She requires the substantial reality, which may stand
+the scrutinizing eye of that Being "who searches the heart." Meaning
+therefore that the Christian should live and breathe; in an atmosphere,
+as it were, of benevolence, she forbids whatever can tend to obstruct
+its diffusion or vitiate its purity. It is on this principle that
+Emulation is forbidden: for, besides that this passion almost insensibly
+degenerates into envy, and that it derives its origin chiefly from pride
+and a desire of self-exaltation; how can we easily love our neighbour as
+ourselves, if we consider him at the same time our rival, and are intent
+upon surpassing him in the pursuit of whatever is the subject of our
+competition?
+
+Christianity, again, teaches us not to set our hearts on earthly
+possessions and earthly honours; and thereby provides for our really
+loving, or even cordially forgiving, those who have been more successful
+than ourselves in the attainment of them, or who have even designedly
+thwarted us in the pursuit. "Let the rich," says the Apostle, "rejoice
+in that he is brought low." How can he who means to attempt, in any
+degree, to obey this precept, be irreconcilably hostile towards any one
+who may have been instrumental in his depression?
+
+Christianity also teaches us not to prize human estimation at a very
+high rate; and thereby provides for the practice of her injunction, to
+love from the heart those who, justly or unjustly, may have attacked our
+reputation, and wounded our character. She commands not the shew, but
+the reality of meekness and gentleness; and by thus taking away the
+aliment of anger and the fomenters of discord, she provides for the
+maintenance of peace, and the restoration of good temper among men, when
+it may have sustained a temporary interruption.
+
+It is another capital excellence of Christianity, that she values moral
+attainments at a far higher rate than intellectual acquisitions, and
+proposes to conduct her followers to the heights of virtue rather than
+of knowledge. On the contrary, most of the false religious systems which
+have prevailed in the world, have proposed to reward the labour of their
+votary, by drawing aside the veil which concealed from the vulgar eye
+their hidden mysteries, and by introducing him to the knowledge of their
+deeper and more sacred doctrines.
+
+This is eminently the case in the Hindoo, and in the Mahometan Religion,
+in that of China, and, for the most part, in the various modifications
+of ancient Paganism. In systems which proceed on this principle, it is
+obvious that the bulk of mankind can never make any great proficiency.
+There was accordingly, among the nations of antiquity, one system,
+whatever it was, for the learned, and another for the illiterate. Many
+of the philosophers spoke out, and professed to keep the lower orders in
+ignorance for the general good; plainly suggesting that the bulk of
+mankind was to be considered as almost of an inferior species. Aristotle
+himself countenanced this opinion. An opposite mode of proceeding
+naturally belongs to Christianity, which without distinction professes
+an equal regard for all human beings, and which was characterized by her
+first Promulgator as the messenger of "glad tidings to the poor."
+
+But her preference of moral to intellectual excellence is not to be
+praised, only because it is congenial with her general character, and
+suitable to the ends which she professes to have in view. It is the part
+of true wisdom to endeavour to excel there, where we may really attain
+to excellence. This consideration might be alone sufficient to direct
+our efforts to the acquisition of virtue rather than of knowledge.--How
+limited is the range of the greatest human abilities! how scanty the
+stores of the richest human knowledge! Those who undeniably have held
+the first rank, both for natural and acquired endowments, instead of
+thinking their pre-eminence a just ground of self-exaltation, have
+commonly been the most forward to confess that their views were bounded
+and their attainments moderate. Had they indeed been less candid, this
+is a discovery which we could not have failed to make of ourselves.
+Experience daily furnishes us with examples of weakness, and
+short-sightedness, and error, in the wisest and the most learned of men,
+which might serve to confound the pride of human wisdom.
+
+Not so in morals.--Made at first in the likeness of God, and still
+bearing about us some faint traces of our high original, we are offered
+by our blessed Redeemer the means of purifying ourselves from our
+corruptions, and of once more regaining the image of our Heavenly
+Father[106]. In love, the compendious expression for almost every
+virtue, in fortitude under all its forms, in justice, in humility, and
+in all the other graces of the Christian character, we are made capable
+of attaining to heights of real elevation: and were we but faithful in
+the use of the means of grace which we enjoy; the operations of the Holy
+Spirit, prompting and aiding our diligent endeavours, would infallibly
+crown our labours with success, and make us partakers of a Divine
+nature. The writer has himself known some who have been instances of the
+truth of this remark. To the memory of one,[107] now no more, may he be
+permitted to offer the last tribute of respectful friendship? His
+course, short but laborious, has at length terminated in a better world;
+and his luminous tract still shines in the sight, and animates the
+efforts of all who knew him, and "marshals them the way" to Heavenly
+glory. Let me not be thought to undervalue any of the gifts of God, or
+of the fruits of human exertion: but let not these be prized beyond
+their proper worth. If one of those little industrious reptiles, to
+which we have been well sent for a lesson of diligence and foresight,
+were to pride itself upon its strength, because it could carry off a
+larger grain of wheat than any other of its fellow-ants; should we not
+laugh at the vanity which could be highly gratified with such a
+contemptible pre-eminence? And is it far different to the eye of reason,
+when man, weak, short-sighted man, is vain of surpassing others in
+knowledge, in which at best his progress must be so limited; forgetting
+the true dignity of his nature, and the path which would conduct him to
+real excellence?
+
+The unparalleled value of the precepts of Christianity ought not be
+passed over altogether unnoticed in this place, though it be needless to
+dwell on it; since it has been often justly recognized and asserted, and
+has in some points been ably illustrated, and powerfully enforced by the
+masterly pen of a late writer. It is by no means however the design of
+this little work to attempt to trace the various excellencies of
+Christianity; but it may not have been improper to point out a few
+particulars, which, in the course of investigation, have naturally
+fallen under our notice, and hitherto perhaps may scarcely have been
+enough regarded. Every such instance, it should always be remembered, is
+a fresh proof of Christianity being a revelation from God.
+
+It is still less, however, the intention of the writer to attempt to
+vindicate the Divine origin of our Holy Religion. This task has often
+been executed by far abler advocates. In particular, every Christian,
+with whatever reserves his commendations must be disqualified, should be
+forward to confess his obligations _on this head_ to the author before
+alluded to; whose uncommon acuteness has enabled him, in a field already
+so much trodden, to discover arguments which had eluded the observation
+of all by whom he was preceded, and whose unequalled perspicuity puts
+his reader in complete possession of the fruits of his sagacity.
+Anxious, however, in my little measure, to contribute to the support of
+this great cause, may it be permitted me to state one argument, which
+impresses my mind with particular force. This is, the great variety of
+the _kinds_ of evidence which have been adduced in proof of
+Christianity, and the confirmation thereby afforded of its truth:--the
+proof from prophecy--from miracles--from the character of Christ--from
+that of his Apostles--from the nature of the doctrines of
+Christianity--from the nature and excellence of her _practical
+precepts_--from the accordance we have lately pointed out between the
+doctrinal and practical system of Christianity, whether considered each
+in itself or in their mutual relation to each other--from other species
+of internal evidence, afforded in the more abundance in proportion as
+the sacred records have been scrutinized with greater care--from the
+account of co-temporary or nearly co-temporary writers--from the
+impossibility of accounting on any other supposition, than that of the
+truth of Christianity, for its promulgation and early prevalence: these
+and other lines of argument have all been brought forward and ably urged
+by different writers, in proportion as they have struck the minds of
+different observers more or less forcibly. Now, granting that some
+obscure and illiterate men, residing in a distant province of the Roman
+empire, had plotted to impose a forgery upon the world; though some
+foundation for the imposture might, and indeed must, have been attempted
+to be laid; it seems, at least to my understanding, morally impossible
+that _so many different species of proofs_, and all so strong, should
+have lent their _concurrent_ aid, and have united their _joint_ force in
+the establishment of the falsehood. It may assist the reader in
+estimating the value of this argument, to consider upon how different a
+footing, in this respect, has rested every other religious system,
+without exception, which was ever proposed to the world; and, indeed,
+every other historical fact, of which the truth has been at all
+contested.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_Brief Inquiry into the present State of Christianity in this Country,
+with some of the Causes which have led to its critical Circumstances.
+Its Importance to us as a political Community, and practical Hints for
+which the foregoing considerations give occasion._
+
+
+It may not be altogether improper to remind the reader, that hitherto
+our discussion has been concerning the prevailing Religious opinions
+merely of _professed Christians_: no longer confining ourselves to
+persons of this description, let us now extend our inquiry, and briefly
+investigate the _general_ state of Christianity in this country.
+
+The tendency of Religion in general to promote the temporal well-being
+of political communities, is a fact which depends on such obvious and
+undeniable principles, and which is so forcibly inculcated by the
+history of all ages, that there can be no necessity for entering into a
+formal proof of its truth. It has indeed been maintained, not merely by
+Schoolmen and Divines, but by the most celebrated philosophers, and
+moralists, and politicians of every age.
+
+The peculiar excellence in this respect also of Christianity, considered
+independently of its truth or falsehood, has been recognized by many
+writers, who, to say the least, were not disposed to exaggerate its
+merits. Either or both of these propositions being admitted, the state
+of Religion in a country at any given period, not to mention its
+connection with the eternal happiness of the inhabitants, immediately
+becomes a question of great _political_ importance: and in particular it
+must be material to ascertain whether Religion be in an advancing or in
+a declining state; and if the latter be the case, whether there be any
+practicable means for preventing at least its farther declension.
+
+If the representations contained in the preceding chapters, of the state
+of Christianity among the bulk of professed Christians, be not very
+erroneous; they may well excite serious apprehension in the mind of
+every reader, when considered merely in a political view. And this
+apprehension would be encreased, if there should appear reason to
+believe that, for some time past, Religion has been on the decline
+amongst us, and that it continues to decline at the present moment.
+
+When it is proposed, however, to inquire into the actual state of
+Religion in any country, and in particular to compare that state with
+its condition at any former period; there is one preliminary observation
+to be made, if we would not be liable to gross error. There exists,
+established by tacit content, in every country, what may be called a
+general standard or tone of morals, varying in the same community at
+different periods, and different at the same period in different ranks
+and situations in society. Whoever falls below this standard, and, not
+unfrequently, whoever also rises above it, offending against this
+general rule, suffers proportionably in the general estimation. Thus a
+regard for character, which, as was formerly remarked, is commonly the
+grand governing principle among men, becomes to a certain degree, though
+no farther, an incitement to morality and virtue. It follows of course,
+that where the practice does no more than come up to the required level,
+it will be no sufficient evidence of the existence, much less will it
+furnish any just measure of the force, of a real internal principle of
+Religion. Christians, Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics, persons of
+ten thousand different sorts of passions and opinions, being members at
+the same time of the same community, and all conscious that they will be
+examined by this same standard, will regulate their conduct accordingly,
+and, with no great difference, will all adjust themselves to the
+required measure.
+
+It must also be remarked, that the causes which tend to raise or to
+depress this standard, commonly produce their effects by slow and almost
+insensible degrees; and that it often continues for some time nearly the
+same, when the circumstances, by which it was fixed, have materially
+altered.
+
+It is a truth which will hardly be contested, that Christianity,
+whenever it has at all prevailed, has raised the general standard of
+morals to a height before unknown. Some actions, which among the
+ancients were scarcely held to be blemishes in the most excellent
+characters, have been justly considered by the laws of every Christian
+community, as meriting the severest punishments. In other instances,
+virtues formerly rare have become common; and in particular a merciful
+and courteous temper has softened the rugged manners, and humanized the
+brutal ferocity prevalent among the most polished nations of the heathen
+world. But from what has been recently observed, it is manifest, that,
+so far as external appearances are concerned, these effects, when once
+produced by Christianity, are produced alike in those who deny and in
+those who admit her divine original; I had almost said in those who
+reject and those who cordially embrace the doctrines of the Gospel: and
+these effects might and probably would remain for a while, without any
+great apparent alteration, however her spirit might languish, or even
+her authority decline. The form of the temple, as was once beautifully
+remarked, may continue, when the _dii tutelares_ have left it. When we
+are inquiring therefore into the real state of Christianity at any
+period; if we would not be deceived in this important investigation, it
+becomes us to be so much the more careful not to take up with
+superficial appearances.
+
+It may perhaps help us to ascertain the advancing or declining state of
+Christianity in Great Britain at the present moment; and still more to
+discover some of the causes by which that state has been produced, to
+employ a little time in considering what might naturally be expected to
+be its actual situation; what advantages or disadvantages such a
+religion might be expected to derive, from the circumstances in which
+it has been placed among us, and from those in which it still continues.
+
+Experience warrants, and reason justifies and explains the assertion,
+that Persecution generally tends to quicken the vigour and extend the
+prevalence of the opinions which she would eradicate. For the peace of
+mankind, it has grown, at length almost into an axiom, that "her
+devilish engine back recoils upon herself." Christianity especially has
+always thriven under persecution. At such a season she has no lukewarm
+professors; no adherents concerning whom it is doubtful to what party
+they belong. The Christian is then reminded at every turn, that his
+Master's kingdom is not of this world. When all on earth wears a black
+and threatening aspect, he looks up to heaven for consolation; he learns
+practically to consider himself as a pilgrim and stranger. He then
+cleaves to fundamentals, and examines well his foundation, as at the
+hour of death. When Religion is in a state of external quiet and
+prosperity, the contrary of all this naturally takes place. The soldiers
+of the church militant then forget that they are in a state of warfare.
+Their ardour slackens, their zeal languishes. Like a colony long settled
+in a strange country[108], they are gradually assimilated in features,
+and demeanour, and language, to the native inhabitants, till at length
+almost every vestige of peculiarity dies away.
+
+If, in general, persecution and prosperity be productive respectively of
+these opposite effects; this circumstance alone might teach us what
+expectations to form concerning the state of Christianity in this
+country, where she has long been embodied in an establishment, which is
+intimately blended, and is generally and justly believed to have a
+common interest with our civil institutions; which is liberally, though
+by no means too liberally, endowed, and, not more favoured in wealth
+than dignity, has been allowed "to exalt her mitred front in courts and
+parliaments:" an establishment--the offices in which are extremely
+numerous, and these, not like the priesthood of the Jews, filled up from
+a particular race, or, like that of the Hindoos, held by a separate cast
+in entailed succession; but supplied from every class, and branching by
+its widely extended ramifications into almost every individual family in
+the community: an establishment--of which the ministers are not, like
+the Roman Catholic clergy, debarred from forming matrimonial ties, but
+are allowed to unite themselves, and multiply their holdings to the
+general mass of the community by the close bonds of family connection;
+not like some of the severer of the religious orders, immured in
+colleges and monasteries, but, both by law and custom, permitted to mix
+without restraint in all the intercourses of society.
+
+Such being the circumstances of the pastors of the church, let the
+community in general be supposed to have been for some time in a rapidly
+improving state of commercial prosperity; let it also be supposed to
+have been making no unequal progress in all those arts, and sciences,
+and literary productions, which have ever been the growth of a polished
+age, and are the sure marks of a highly finished condition of society.
+It is not difficult to anticipate the effects likely to be produced on
+_vital_ Religion, both in the clergy and the laity, by such a state of
+external prosperity as has been assigned to them respectively. And these
+effects would be infallibly furthered, where the country in question
+should enjoy a free constitution of government. We formerly had occasion
+to quote the remark of an accurate observer of the stage of human life,
+that a much looser system of morals commonly prevails in the higher,
+than in the middling and lower orders of society. Now, in every country,
+of which the middling classes are daily growing in wealth and
+consequence, by the success of their commercial speculations; and, most
+of all, in a country having such a constitution as our own, where the
+acquisition of riches is the possession also of rank and power; with the
+comforts and refinements, the vices also of the higher orders are
+continually descending, and a mischievous uniformity of sentiments, and
+manners, and morals, gradually diffuses itself throughout the whole
+community. The multiplication of great cities also, and above all, the
+habit, ever increasing with the increasing wealth of the country, of
+frequenting a splendid and luxurious metropolis, would powerfully tend
+to accelerate the discontinuance of the religious habits of a purer age,
+and to accomplish the substitution of a more relaxed morality. And it
+must even be confessed, that the commercial spirit, much as we are
+indebted to it, is not naturally favourable to the maintenance of the
+religious principle in a vigorous and lively state.
+
+In times like these, therefore, the strict precepts and self-denying
+habits of Christianity naturally slide into disuse; and even among the
+better sort of Christians, are likely to be softened, so far at least
+as to be rendered less abhorrent from the general disposition to
+relaxation and indulgence. In such prosperous circumstances, men, in
+truth, are apt to think very little about religion. Christianity,
+therefore, seldom occupying the attention of the bulk of nominal
+Christians, and being scarcely at all the object of their study, we
+should expect, of course, to find them extremely unacquainted with its
+tenets. Those doctrines and principles indeed, which it contains in
+common with the law of the land, or which are sanctioned by the general
+standard of morals formerly described, being brought into continual
+notice and mention by the common occurrences of life, might continue to
+be recognized. But whatever she contains peculiar to herself, and which
+should not be habitually brought into recollection by the incidents of
+every day, might be expected to be less and less thought of, till at
+length it should be almost wholly forgotten. Still more might this be
+naturally expected to become the case, if the peculiarities in question
+should be, from their very nature, at war with pride, and luxury, and
+worldly mindedness, the too general concomitants of rapidly increasing
+wealth: and this would particularly happen among the laity; if the
+circumstance of their having been at any time abused to purposes of
+hypocrisy or fanaticism, should have prompted even some of the better
+disposed of the clergy, perhaps from well intentioned though erroneous
+motives, to bring them forward less frequently in their discourses on
+Religion.
+
+When so many should thus have been straying out of the right path, some
+bold reformer might, from time to time, be likely to arise, who should
+not unjustly charge them with their deviation: but, though right perhaps
+in the main; yet deviating himself also in an opposite direction, and
+creating disgust by his violence, or vulgarity, or absurdities, he might
+fail, except in a few instances, to produce the effect of recalling them
+from their wanderings.
+
+Still, however, the Divine Original of Christianity would not be
+professedly disavowed; partly from a real, and more commonly from a
+political, deference for the established faith, but most of all, from
+the bulk of mankind being not yet prepared, as it were, to throw away
+the scabbard, and to venture their eternal happiness on the issue of its
+falsehood. Some bolder spirits, indeed, might be expected to despise the
+cautious moderation of these timid reasoners, and to pronounce
+decisively, that the Bible was a forgery: while the generality,
+professing to believe it genuine, should, less consistently, be
+satisfied with remaining ignorant of its contents; and when pressed,
+should discover themselves by no means to believe many of the most
+important particulars contained in it.
+
+When, by the operation of causes like these, any country has at length
+grown into the condition which has been here stated; it is but too
+obvious, that, in the bulk of the community, Religion, already sunk very
+low, must be hastening fast to her entire dissolution. Causes, energetic
+and active like these, though accidental hindrances may occasionally
+thwart their operation, will not at once become sluggish and
+unproductive. Their effect is sure; and the time is fast approaching,
+when Christianity will be almost as openly disavowed in the language, as
+in fact it is already supposed to have disappeared from the conduct of
+men; when infidelity will be held to be the necessary appendage of a man
+of fashion, and _to believe_ will be deemed the indication of a feeble
+mind and a contracted understanding.
+
+Something like what have been here premised are the conjectures which we
+should naturally be led to form, concerning the state of Christianity in
+this country, and its probable issue, from considering her own nature,
+and the peculiar circumstances in which she has been placed. That her
+real condition differs not much from the result of this reasoning from
+probability, must, with whatever regret, be confessed by all who take a
+careful and impartial survey of the actual situation of things among us.
+But our hypothetical delineation, if just, will have approved itself to
+the reader's conviction, as we have gone along, by suggesting its
+archetypes; and we may therefore be spared the painful and invidious
+task of pointing out, in detail, the several particulars wherein our
+statements are justified by facts. Every where we may actually trace the
+effects of increasing wealth and luxury, in banishing one by one the
+habits, and new-modelling the phraseology, of stricter times; and in
+diffusing throughout the middle ranks those relaxed morals and
+dissipated manners, which were formerly confined to the higher classes
+of society. We meet, indeed, with more refinement, and more generally
+with those amiable courtesies which are its proper fruits: those vices
+also have become less frequent, which naturally infest the darkness of a
+ruder and less polished age, and which recede on the approach of light
+and civilization:
+
+    Defluxit numerus Saturnius, & grave virus
+    Munditiæ pepulere:
+
+But with these grossnesses, Religion, on the other hand, has also
+declined; God is forgotten; his providence is exploded; his hand is
+lifted up, but we see it not; he multiplies our comforts, but we are not
+grateful; he visits us with chastisements, but we are not contrite. The
+portion of the week set apart to the service of Religion we give up,
+without reluctance, to vanity and dissipation. And it is much if, on the
+periodical return of a day of national humiliation, having availed
+ourselves of the certainty of an interval from public business to secure
+a meeting for convivial purposes; we do not insult the Majesty of Heaven
+by feasting and jollity, and thus deliberately disclaim our being
+included in the solemn services of this season of penitence and
+recollection[109].
+
+But when there is not this open and shameless disavowal of Religion, few
+traces of it are to be found. Improving in almost every other branch of
+knowledge, we have become less and less acquainted with Christianity.
+The preceding chapters have pointed out, among those who believe
+themselves to be orthodox Christians, a deplorable ignorance of the
+Religion they profess, an utter forgetfulness of the peculiar doctrines
+by which it is characterized, a disposition to regard it as a mere
+system of ethics, and, what might seem an inconsistency, at the same
+time a most inadequate idea of the nature and strictness of its
+practical principles. This declension of Christianity into a mere system
+of ethics, may partly be accounted for, as has been lately suggested; by
+considering the corruption of our nature, what Christianity is, and in
+what circumstances she has been placed in this country. But it has also
+been considerably promoted by one peculiar cause, on which, for many
+reasons, it may not be improper to dwell a little more particularly.
+
+Christianity in its best days (for the credit of our representations let
+this be remembered, by those who object to our statement as austere and
+contracted) was such as it has been delineated in the present work. This
+was the Religion of the most eminent Reformers, of those bright
+ornaments of our country who suffered martyrdom under queen Mary; of
+their successors in the times of Elizabeth; in short of all the pillars
+of our Protestant church; of many of its highest dignitaries; of
+Davenant, of Hall, of Reynolds, of Beveridge, of Hooker, of Andrews, of
+Smith, of Leighton, of Usher, of Hopkins, of Baxter[110], and of many
+others of scarcely inferior note. In their pages the peculiar doctrines
+of Christianity were every where visible, and on the deep and solid
+basis of these doctrinal truths were laid the foundations of a
+superstructure of morals proportionably broad and exalted. Of this fact
+their writings still extant are a decisive proof: and they who may want
+leisure, or opportunity, or inclination, for the perusal of these
+valuable records, may satisfy themselves of the truth of the assertion,
+that, such as we have stated it, was the Christianity of those times, by
+consulting our Articles and Homilies, or even by carefully examining our
+excellent Liturgy. But from that tendency to deterioration lately
+noticed, these great fundamental truths began to be somewhat less
+prominent in the compositions of many of the leading divines before the
+time of the civil wars. During that period, however, the peculiar
+doctrines of Christianity were grievously abused by many of the
+sectaries, who were foremost in the commotions of those unhappy days;
+who, while they talked copiously of the free grace of Christ, and the
+operations of the Holy Spirit, were by their lives an open scandal to
+the name of Christian[111].
+
+Towards the close of the last century, the divines of the established
+Church (whether it arose from the obscurity of their own views, or from
+a strong impression of former abuses, and of the evils which had
+resulted from them) began to run into a different error. They professed
+to make it their chief object to inculcate the moral and practical
+precepts of Christianity, which they conceived to have been before too
+much neglected; but without sufficiently maintaining, often even without
+justly laying the grand foundation, of a sinner's acceptance with God;
+or pointing out how the practical precepts of Christianity grow out of
+her peculiar doctrines, and are inseparably connected with them[112].
+By this fatal error, the very genius and essential nature of
+Christianity imperceptibly underwent a change. She no longer retained
+her peculiar characters, or produced that appropriate frame of spirit by
+which her followers had been characterized. Facilis descensus. The
+example thus set was followed during the present century, and its effect
+was aided by various causes already pointed out. In addition to these,
+it may be proper to mention as a cause of powerful operation; that for
+the last fifty years the press has teemed with moral essays, many of
+them published periodically, and most extensively circulated; which,
+being considered either as works of mere entertainment, or, in which at
+least entertainment was to be blended with instruction, rather than as
+religious pieces, were kept free from whatever might give them the air
+of sermons, or cause them to wear an appearance of seriousness,
+inconsistent with the idea of relaxation. But in this way the fatal
+habit, of considering Christian morals as distinct from Christian
+doctrines, insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of
+Christianity went more and more out of sight; and, as might naturally
+have been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and
+decay, being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and
+nutriment. At length, in our own days, these peculiar doctrines have
+almost altogether vanished from the view. Even in many sermons, as we
+have formerly noticed, scarcely any traces of them are to be found.
+
+But the degree of neglect into which they are really fallen, may perhaps
+be rendered still more manifest by appealing to another criterion. There
+is a certain class of publications, of which it is the object to give
+us exact delineations of life and manners: and when these are written by
+authors of accurate observation and deep knowledge of human nature; (and
+many such there have been in our times) they furnish a more faithful
+picture, than can be obtained in any other way, of the prevalent
+opinions and feelings of mankind. It must be obvious that novels are
+here alluded to. A careful perusal of the most celebrated of these
+pieces would furnish a strong confirmation of the apprehension,
+suggested from other considerations, concerning the very low state of
+Religion in this country; but they would still more strikingly
+illustrate the truth of the remark, that the grand peculiarities of
+Christianity are almost vanished from the view. In a sermon, although
+throughout the whole of it there may have been no traces of these
+peculiarities, either directly or indirectly, the preacher closes with
+an ordinary form; which, if one were to assert that they were absolutely
+omitted, would immediately be alledged in contradiction of the
+assertion, and may just serve to protect them from falling into entire
+oblivion. But in novels, the writer is not so tied down. In these,
+people of Religion, and clergymen too, are placed in all possible
+situations, and the sentiments and language deemed suitable to the
+occasion are assigned to them. They are introduced instructing,
+reproving, counselling, comforting. It is often the author's intention
+to represent them in a favourable point of view, and accordingly he
+makes them as well informed and as good Christians as he knows how. They
+are painted amiable, benevolent, and forgiving; but it is not too much
+to say, that if all the peculiarities of Christianity had never
+existed, or had been proved to be false, the circumstance would scarcely
+create the necessity of altering a single syllable in any of the most
+celebrated of these performances. It is striking to observe the
+difference which there is in this respect in similar works of Mahometan
+authors, wherein the characters, which they mean to represent in a
+favourable light, are drawn vastly more observant of the peculiarities
+of their religion[113].
+
+But to make an end of this discussion, concerning the degree in which
+the peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into neglect, and
+concerning one of the principal of the causes which have produced it: if
+this be the state of things even in the case of sermons, and of the
+compositions of those, whose sphere of information must be supposed
+larger than that of the bulk of mankind; it must excite less wonder,
+that in the world in general, though Christianity be not formally
+denied, people know little about it; and that in fact you find, when you
+come to converse with them, that, admitting in terms the Divine
+Revelation of Scripture, they are far from believing the propositions
+which it contains.
+
+It has also been a melancholy prognostic of the state to which we are
+progressive, that many of the most eminent of the literati of modern
+times have been professed unbelievers: and that others of them have
+discovered such lukewarmness in the cause of Christ, as to treat with
+especial good will, and attention, and respect, those men, who, by their
+avowed publications, were openly assailing, or insidiously undermining
+the very foundations of the Christian hope; considering themselves as
+more closely united to them, by literature, than severed from them by
+the widest religious differences[114]. Can it then occasion surprise,
+that under all these circumstances, one of the most acute and most
+forward of the professed unbelievers[115] should appear to anticipate,
+as at no great distance, the more complete triumph of his sceptical
+principles; and that another author of distinguished name[116], not so
+openly professing those infidel opinions, should declare of the writer
+above alluded to, whose great abilities had been systematically
+prostituted to the open attack of every principle of Religion, both
+natural and revealed, "that he had always considered him, both in his
+life-time and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a
+perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty
+will permit?"
+
+Can there then be a doubt, whither tends the path in which we are
+travelling, and whither at length it must conduct us? If any should
+hesitate, let them take a lesson from experience. In a neighbouring
+country, several of the same causes have been in action; and they have
+at length produced their full effect. Manners corrupted, morals
+depraved, dissipation predominant, above all, Religion discredited, and
+infidelity grown into repute and fashion[117], terminated in the public
+disavowal of every religious principle, which had been used to attract
+the veneration of mankind. The representatives of a whole nation
+publicly witnessing, not only without horror, but, to say the least,
+without disapprobation, an open unqualified denial of the very existence
+of God; and at length, as a body, withdrawing their allegiance from the
+Majesty of Heaven.
+
+There are not a few, perhaps, who may have witnessed with apprehension,
+and may be ready to confess with pain, the gradual declension of
+Religion; but who at the same time may conceive that the writer of this
+tract is disposed to carry things too far. They may even allege, that
+the degree of Religion for which he contends is inconsistent with the
+ordinary business of life, and with the well-being of society; that if
+it were generally to prevail, people would be wholly engrossed by
+Religion, and all their time occupied by prayer and preaching. Men not
+being sufficiently interested in the pursuit of temporal objects,
+agriculture and commerce would decline, the arts would languish, the
+very duties of common life would be neglected; and, in short, the whole
+machine of civil society would be obstructed, and speedily stopped. An
+opening for this charge is given by an ingenious writer[118] alluded to
+in an early period of our work; and is even somewhat countenanced by an
+author since referred to, from whom such a sentiment justly excites more
+surprise[119].
+
+In reply to this objection it might be urged, that though we should
+allow it for a moment to be in a considerable degree well founded, yet
+this admission would not warrant the conclusion intended to be drawn
+from it. The question would still remain, whether our representation of
+what Christianity requires be agreeable to the word of God? For if it
+be, surely it must be confessed to be a matter of small account to
+sacrifice a little worldly comfort and prosperity, during the short span
+of our existence in this life, in order to secure a crown of eternal
+glory, and the enjoyment of those pleasures which are at God's right
+hand for evermore! It might be added also, that our blessed Saviour had
+fairly declared, that it would often be required of Christians to make
+such a sacrifice; and had forewarned us, that, in order to be able to do
+it with cheerfulness whenever the occasion should arrive, we must
+habitually sit loose to all worldly possessions and enjoyments. And it
+might farther be remarked, that though it were even admitted, that the
+_general prevalence of vital Christianity_ should somewhat interfere
+with the views of national wealth and aggrandisement; yet that there is
+too much reason to believe that, do all we can, this general prevalence
+needs not to be apprehended, or, to speak more justly, could not be
+hoped for. But indeed the objection on which we have now been
+commenting, is not only groundless, but the very contrary to it is the
+truth. If Christianity, such as we have represented it, were generally
+to prevail; the world, from being such as it is, would become a scene of
+general peace and prosperity; and abating the chances and calamities
+"which flesh is inseparably heir to," would wear one unwearied face of
+complacency and joy.
+
+On the first promulgation of Christianity, it is true, some of her early
+converts seem to have been in danger of so far mistaking the genius of
+the new Religion, as to imagine that in future they were to be
+discharged from an active attendance on their secular affairs. But the
+Apostle most pointedly guarded them against so gross an error, and
+expressly and repeatedly enjoined them to perform the particular duties
+of their several stations with increased alacrity and fidelity, that
+they might thereby do credit to their Christian profession. This he did,
+at the same time that he prescribed to them that predominant love of God
+and of Christ, that heavenly-mindedness, that comparative indifference
+to the things of this world, that earnest endeavour after growth in
+grace and perfection in holiness, which have already been stated as the
+essential characteristics of real Christianity. It cannot therefore be
+supposed by any who allow to the Apostle even the claim of a consistent
+instructor, much less by any who admit his Divine authority, that these
+latter precepts are incompatible with the former. Let it be remembered,
+that the grand characteristic mark of the true Christian, which has been
+insisted on, is _his desiring to please God in all his thoughts, and
+words, and actions; to take the revealed word to be the rule of his
+belief and practice; to "let his light shine before men;" and in all
+things to adorn the doctrine which he professes_. No calling is
+proscribed, no pursuit is forbidden, no science or art, no pleasure is
+disallowed, which is reconcilable with this principle. It must indeed be
+confessed that Christianity would not favour that vehement and
+inordinate ardour in the pursuit of temporal objects, which tends to the
+acquisition of immense wealth, or of widely spread renown: nor is it
+calculated to gratify the extravagant views of those mistaken
+politicians, the chief object of whose admiration, and the main scope of
+whose endeavours for their country, are, extended dominion, and
+commanding power, and unrivalled affluence, rather than those more solid
+advantages of peace, and comfort, and security. These men would barter
+comfort for greatness. In their vain reveries they forget that a nation
+consists of individuals, and that true national prosperity is no other
+than the multiplication of particular happiness.
+
+But in fact, so far is it from being true that the prevalence of _real_
+Religion would produce a stagnation in life; that a man, whatever might
+be his employment or pursuit, would be furnished with a new motive to
+prosecute it with alacrity, a motive far more constant and vigorous than
+any human prospects can supply: at the same time, his solicitude being
+not so much to succeed in whatever he might be engaged in, as to act
+from a pure principle and leave the event to God; he would not be liable
+to the same disappointments, as men who are active and laborious from a
+desire of worldly gain or of human estimation. Thus he would possess the
+true secret of a life at the same time useful and happy. Following peace
+also with all men, and looking upon them as members of the same family,
+entitled not only to the debts of justice, but to the less definite and
+more liberal claims of fraternal kindness; he would naturally be
+respected and beloved by others, and be in himself free from the
+annoyance of those bad passions, by which they who are actuated by
+worldly principles are so commonly corroded. If any country were indeed
+filled with men, each thus diligently discharging the duties of his own
+station without breaking in upon the rights of others, but on the
+contrary endeavouring, so far as he might be able, to forward their
+views and promote their happiness; all would be active and harmonious in
+the goodly frame of human society. There would be no jarrings, no
+discord. The whole machine of civil life would work without obstruction
+or disorder, and the course of its movements would be like the harmony
+of the spheres.
+
+Such would be the happy state of a truly Christian nation within itself.
+Nor would its condition with regard to foreign countries form a contrast
+to this its internal comfort. Such a community, on the contrary,
+peaceful at home, would be respected and beloved abroad. General
+integrity in all its dealings would inspire universal confidence:
+differences between nations commonly arise from mutual injuries, and
+still more from mutual jealousy and distrust. Of the former there would
+be no longer any ground for complaint; the latter would find nothing to
+attach upon. But if, in spite of all its justice and forbearance, the
+violence of some neighbouring state should force it to resist an
+unprovoked attack, (for hostilities strictly defensive are those only in
+which it would be engaged) its domestic union would double its national
+force; while the consciousness of a good cause, and of the general
+favour of Heaven, would invigorate its arm, and inspirit its efforts.
+
+It is indeed the position of an author, to whom we have had frequent
+occasion to refer, and whose love of paradox has not seldom led him into
+error, that true Christianity is an enemy to patriotism. If by
+patriotism be meant that mischievous and domineering quality, which
+renders men ardent to promote, not the happiness, but the aggrandisement
+of their own country, by the oppression and conquest of every other; to
+such patriotism, so generally applauded in the Heathen world, that
+Religion must be indeed an enemy, whose foundation is justice, and whose
+compendious character is "peace,--and good will towards men." But if by
+patriotism be understood that quality which, without shutting up our
+philanthropy within the narrow bounds of a single kingdom, yet attaches
+us in particular to the country to which we belong; of this true
+patriotism, Christianity is the most copious source, and the surest
+preservative. The contrary opinion can indeed only have arisen from not
+considering the fulness and universality of our Saviour's precepts. Not
+like the puny productions of human workmanship, which at the best can
+commonly serve but the particular purpose that they are specially
+designed to answer; the moral, as well as the physical, principles of
+the great Author of all things are capable of being applied at once to
+ten thousand different uses; thus, amidst infinite complication,
+preserving a grand simplicity, and therein bearing the unambiguous stamp
+of their Divine Original. Thus, to specify one out of the numberless
+instances which might be adduced; the principle of gravitation, while it
+is subservient to all the mechanical purposes of common life, keeps at
+the same time the stars in their courses, and sustains the harmony of
+worlds.
+
+Thus also in the case before us: society consists of a number of
+different circles of various magnitudes and uses; and that circumstance,
+wherein the principle of patriotism chiefly consists, whereby the duty
+of patriotism is best practised, and the happiest effects to the general
+weal produced, is, that it should be the desire and aim of every
+individual to fill well his own proper circle, as a part and member of
+the whole, with a view to the production of general happiness. This our
+Saviour enjoined when he prescribed the duty of universal love, which is
+but another term for the most exalted patriotism. Benevolence, indeed,
+when not originating from Religion, dispenses but from a scanty and
+precarious fund; and therefore, if it be liberal in the case of some
+objects, it is generally found to be contracted towards others. Men who,
+acting from worldly principles, make the greatest stir about general
+philanthropy or zealous patriotism, are often very deficient in their
+conduct in domestic life; and very neglectful of the opportunities,
+fully within their reach, of promoting the comfort of those with whom
+they are immediately connected. But true Christian benevolence is always
+occupied in producing happiness to the utmost of its power, and
+according to the extent of its sphere, be it larger or more limited; it
+contracts itself to the measure of the smallest; it can expand itself to
+the amplitude of the largest. It resembles majestic rivers, which are
+poured from an unfailing and abundant source. Silent and peaceful in
+their outset, they begin with dispensing beauty and comfort to every
+cottage by which they pass. In their further progress they fertilize
+provinces and enrich kingdoms. At length they pour themselves into the
+ocean; where, changing their names but not their nature, they visit
+distant nations and other hemispheres, and spread throughout the world
+the expansive tide of their beneficence.
+
+It must be confessed, that many of the good effects, of which Religion
+is productive to political societies, would be produced even by a false
+Religion, which should prescribe good morals, and should be able to
+enforce its precepts by sufficient sanctions. Of this nature are those
+effects, which depend on our calling in the aid of a Being who sees the
+heart, in order to assist the weakness, and in various ways to supply
+the inherent defects of all human jurisprudence. But the superior
+excellence of Christianity in this respect must be acknowledged, both in
+the superiority of her moral code, and in the powerful motives and
+efficacious means which she furnishes for enabling us to practise it;
+and in the tendency of her doctrines to provide for the observance of
+her precepts, by producing tempers of mind which correspond with them.
+
+But, more than all this; it has not perhaps been enough remarked, that
+true Christianity, from her essential nature, appears peculiarly and
+powerfully adapted to promote the preservation and healthfulness of
+political communities. What is in truth their grand malady? The answer
+is short; Selfishness. This is that young disease received at the moment
+of their birth, "which grows with their growth, and strengthens with
+their strength;" and through which they at length expire, if not cut off
+prematurely by some external shock or intestine convulsion.
+
+The disease of selfishness, indeed, assumes different forms in the
+different classes of society. In the great and the wealthy, it displays
+itself in luxury, in pomp and parade; and in all the frivolities of a
+sickly and depraved imagination, which seeks in vain its own
+gratification, and is dead to the generous and energetic pursuits of an
+enlarged heart. In the lower orders, when not motionless under the
+weight of a superincumbent despotism, it manifests itself in pride, and
+its natural offspring, insubordination in all its modes. But though the
+external effects may vary, the internal principle is the same; a
+disposition in each individual to make self the grand center and end of
+his desires and enjoyments; to over-rate his own merits and importance,
+and of course to magnify his claims on others, and in return to
+under-rate their's on him; a disposition to undervalue the advantages,
+and over-state the disadvantages, of his condition in life. Thence
+spring rapacity and venality, and sensuality. Thence imperious nobles,
+and factious leaders; and an unruly commonalty, bearing with difficulty
+the inconveniences of a lower station, and imputing to the nature or
+administration of their government the evils which necessarily flow from
+the very constitution of our species, or which perhaps are chiefly the
+result of their own vices and follies. The opposite to selfishness is
+public spirit; which may be termed, not unjustly, the grand principle of
+political vitality, the very _life's breath_ of states, which tends to
+keep them active and vigorous, and to carry them to greatness and glory.
+
+The tendency of public spirit, and the opposite tendency of selfishness,
+have not escaped the observation of the founders of states, or of the
+writers on government; and various expedients have been resorted to and
+extolled, for cherishing the one, and for repressing the other.
+Sometimes a principle of internal agitation and dissension, resulting
+from the very frame of the government, has been productive of the
+effect. Sparta flourished for more than seven hundred years under the
+civil institutions of Lycurgus; which guarded against the selfish
+principle, by prohibiting commerce, and imposing universal poverty and
+hardship. The Roman commonwealth, in which public spirit was cherished,
+and selfishness checked, by the principle of the love of glory, was also
+of long continuance. This passion naturally operates to produce an
+unbounded spirit of conquest, which, like the ambition of the greatest
+of its own heroes, was never satiated while any other kingdom was left
+it to subdue. The principle of political vitality, when kept alive only
+by means like these, merits the description once given of eloquence:
+"Sicut flamma, materia alitur, & motibus excitatur, & urendo clarescit."
+But like eloquence, when no longer called into action by external
+causes, or fomented by civil broils, it gradually languishes. Wealth and
+luxury produce stagnation, and stagnation terminates in death.
+
+To provide, however, for the continuance of a state, by the admission of
+internal dissensions, or even by the chilling influence of poverty,
+seems to be in some sort sacrificing the end to the means. Happiness is
+the end for which men unite in civil society; but in societies thus
+constituted, little happiness, comparatively speaking, is to be found.
+The expedient, again, of preserving a state by the spirit of conquest,
+though even this has not wanted its admirers[120], is not to be
+tolerated for a moment, when considered on principles of universal
+justice. Such a state lives, and grows, and thrives, by the misery of
+others, and becomes professedly the general enemy of its neighbours, and
+the scourge of the human race. All these devices are in truth but too
+much like the fabrications of man, when compared with the works of the
+Supreme Being; clumsy, yet weak in the execution of their purpose, and
+full of contradictory principles and jarring movements.
+
+I might here enlarge with pleasure on the unrivalled excellence, in this
+very view, of the constitution under which we live in this happy
+country; and point out how, more perhaps than any which ever existed
+upon earth, it is so framed, as to provide at the same time for keeping
+up a due degree of public spirit, and yet for preserving unimpaired the
+quietness, and comfort, and charities of private life; how it even
+extracts from selfishness itself many of the advantages which, under
+less happily constructed forms of government, public spirit only can
+supply. But such a political discussion, however grateful to a British
+mind, would here be out of place. It is rather our business to remark,
+how much Christianity in every way sets herself in direct hostility to
+selfishness, the mortal distemper of political communities; and
+consequently, how their welfare must be inseparable from her prevalence.
+It might indeed, be almost stated as the main object and chief concern
+of Christianity, to root out our natural selfishness, and to rectify the
+false standard which it imposes on us; with views, however, far higher
+than any which concern merely our temporal and social well-being; to
+bring us to a just estimate of ourselves, and of all around us, and to a
+due impression of the various claims and obligations resulting from the
+different relations in which we stand. Benevolence, enlarged, vigorous,
+operative benevolence, is her master principle. Moderation in temporal
+pursuits and enjoyments, comparative indifference to the issue of
+worldly projects, diligence in the discharge of personal and civil
+duties, resignation to the will of God, and patience under all the
+dispensations of his Providence, are among her daily lessons. Humility
+is one of the essential qualities, which her precepts most directly and
+strongly enjoin, and which all her various doctrines tend to call forth
+and cultivate; and humility, as has been before suggested, lays the
+deepest and surest grounds for benevolence. In whatever class or order
+of society Christianity prevails, she sets herself to rectify the
+particular faults, or, if we would speak more distinctly, to counteract
+the particular mode of selfishness, to which that class is liable.
+Affluence she teaches to be liberal and beneficent; authority, to bear
+its faculties with meekness, and to consider the various cares and
+obligations belonging to its elevated station, as being conditions on
+which that station is conferred. Thus, softening the glare of wealth,
+and moderating the insolence of power, she renders the inequalities of
+the social state less galling to the lower orders, whom also she
+instructs, in their turn, to be diligent, humble, patient: reminding
+them that their more lowly path has been allotted to them by the hand of
+God; that it is their part faithfully to discharge its duties, and
+contentedly to bear its inconveniences; that the present state of things
+is very short; that the objects, about which worldly men conflict so
+eagerly, are not worth the contest; that the peace of mind, which
+Religion offers to all ranks indiscriminately, affords more true
+satisfaction than all the expensive pleasures which are beyond the poor
+man's reach; that in this view, however, the poor have the advantage,
+and that if their superiors enjoy more abundant comforts, they are also
+exposed to many temptations from which the inferior classes are happily
+exempted; that "having, food and raiment, they should be therewith
+content," for that their situation in life, with all its evils, is
+better than they have deserved at the hand of God; finally, that all
+human distinctions will soon be done away, and the true followers of
+Christ will all, as children of the same Father, be alike admitted to
+the possession of the same heavenly inheritance. Such are the blessed
+effects of Christianity on the temporal well-being of political
+communities.
+
+But the Christianity which can produce effects like these, must be real,
+not nominal, deep, not superficial. Such then is the Religion we should
+cultivate, if we would realize these pleasing speculations, and arrest
+the progress of political decay. But in the present circumstances of
+this country, it is a farther reason for endeavouring to cultivate this
+vital Christianity, still considering its effects merely in a political
+view, that, according to all human appearance, we must either have this
+or none: unless the prevalence of this be in some degree restored, we
+are likely, not only to lose all the advantages which we might have
+derived from true Christianity, but to incur all the manifold evils
+which would result from the absence of all religion.
+
+In the first place, let it be remarked, that a weakly principle of
+Religion, and even such an one, in a political view, is productive of
+many advantages; though its existence may be prolonged if all external
+circumstances favour its continuance, can hardly be kept alive, when the
+state of things is so unfavourable to vital Religion, as it must be
+confessed to be in our condition of society. Nor is it merely the
+ordinary effects of a state of wealth and prosperity to which we here
+allude. Much also may justly be apprehended, from that change which has
+taken place in our general habits of thinking and feeling, concerning
+the systems and opinions of former times. At a less advanced period of
+society, indeed, the Religion of the state will be generally accepted,
+though it be not felt in its vital power. It was the Religion of our
+forefathers: with the bulk it is on that account entitled to reverence,
+and its authority is admitted without question. The establishment in
+which it subsists pleads the same prescription, and obtains the same
+respect. But in our days, things are very differently circumstanced. Not
+merely the blind prejudice in favour of former times, but even the
+proper respect for them, and the reasonable presumption in their favour,
+has abated. Still less will the idea be endured, of any system being
+kept up, when the imposture is seen through by the higher orders, for
+the sake of retaining the common people in subjection. A system, if not
+supported by a real persuasion of its truth, will fall to the ground.
+Thus it not unfrequently happens, that in a more advanced state of
+society, a religious establishment must be indebted for its support to
+that very Religion, which in earlier times it fostered and protected; as
+the weakness of some aged mother is sustained, and her existence
+lengthened, by the tender assiduities of the child whom she had reared
+in the helplessness of infancy. So in the present instance, unless there
+be reinfused into the mass of our society, something of that principle,
+which animated our ecclesiastical system in its earlier days, it is vain
+for us to hope that the establishment will very long continue: for the
+anomaly will not much longer be borne, of an establishment, the _actual_
+principles of the bulk of whose members, and even teachers, are so
+extremely different from those which it professes. But in proportion as
+vital Christianity can be revived, in that same proportion the church
+establishment is strengthened; for the revival of vital Christianity is
+the very reinfusion of which we have been speaking. This is the very
+Christianity on which our establishment is founded; and that which her
+Articles, and Homilies, and Liturgy, teach throughout.
+
+But if, when the reign of prejudice, and even of honest prepossession,
+and of grateful veneration, is no more (for by these almost any system
+may generally be supported, before a state, having passed the period of
+its maturity, is verging to its decline); if there are any who think
+that a dry, unanimated Religion, like that which is now professed by
+nominal Christians, can hold its place; much more that it can be revived
+among the general mass of mankind, it may be affirmed, that, arguing
+merely on human principles, they know little of human nature. The kind
+of Religion which we have recommended, whatever opinion may be
+entertained concerning its truth, and to say nothing of the agency of
+Divine Grace, must at least be conceded to be the only one which is at
+all suited to make impression upon the lower orders, by strongly
+interesting the passions of the human mind. If it be thought that a
+system of ethics may regulate the conduct of the higher classes; such an
+one is altogether unsuitable to the lower, who must be worked upon by
+their affections, or they will not be worked upon at all. The antients
+were wiser than ourselves, and never thought of governing the community
+in general by their lessons of philosophy. These lessons were confined
+to the schools of the learned; while for the million, a system of
+Religion, such as it was, was kept up, as alone adapted to their grosser
+natures. If this reasoning fail to convince, we may safely appeal to
+experience. Let the Socinian and the moral teacher of Christianity come
+forth, and tell us what effects _they_ have produced on the lower
+orders. They themselves will hardly deny the inefficacy of their
+instructions. But, blessed be God, the Religion which we recommend, has
+proved its correspondence with the character originally given of
+Christianity, that it was calculated for the poor; by changing the whole
+condition of the mass of society in many of the most populous districts
+in this and other countries; and by bringing them from being scenes of
+almost unexampled wickedness and barbarism, to be eminent for sobriety,
+decency, industry, and, in short, for whatever can render men useful
+members of civil society.
+
+If indeed, through the blessing of Providence, a principle of true
+Religion should in any considerable degree gain ground, there is no
+estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influence on
+our political welfare. These effects are not merely negative: though it
+would be much, merely to check the farther progress of a gangrene, which
+is eating out the very vital principles of our social and political
+existence. The general standard of morality formerly described, would be
+raised, it would at least be sustained and kept for a while from farther
+depression. The esteem which religious characters would personally
+attract, would extend to the system which they should hold, and to the
+establishment of which they should be members. These are all merely
+natural consequences. But to those who believe in a superintending
+Providence, it may be added, that the blessing of God might be drawn
+down upon our country, and the stroke of his anger be for a while
+suspended.
+
+Let us be spared the painful task of tracing, on the contrary, the fatal
+consequences of the extinction of Religion among us. They are indeed
+such as no man, who is ever so little interested for the welfare of his
+country, can contemplate without the deepest concern. The very loss of
+our church establishment, though, as in all human institutions, some
+defects may be found in it, would in itself be attended with the most
+fatal consequences. No prudent man dares hastily pronounce how far its
+destruction might not greatly endanger our civil institutions. It would
+not be difficult to prove, that the want of it would also be in the
+highest degree injurious to the cause of Christianity; and still more,
+that it would take away what appears from experience to be one of the
+most probable means of its revival. To what a degree might even the
+avowed principles of men, not altogether without Religion, decline, when
+our inestimable Liturgy should no longer remain in use! a Liturgy justly
+inestimable, which continually sets before us a faithful model of the
+Christian's belief, and practice, and language; restraining us, as far
+as restraint is possible, from excessive deviations; furnishing us with
+abundant instruction when we would return into the right path; affording
+an advantageous ground of no little value, to such instructors as still
+adhere to the good old principles of the Church of England; in short,
+daily shaming us, by preserving a living representation of the opinions
+and habits of better times, as some historical record, which reproaches
+a degenerate posterity, by exhibiting the worthier deeds of their
+progenitors. In such a state of things, to what a depth public morals
+might sink, may be anticipated by those who consider what would then be
+the condition of society; who reflect how bad principles and vicious
+conduct mutually aid each other's operation, and how, in particular, the
+former make sure the ground which the latter may have gained; who
+remember, that in the lower orders, the system of honour, and the
+responsibility of character, are wanting, which in the superior classes,
+in some poor degree, supply the place of higher principles. It is well
+for the happiness of mankind, that such a community could not long
+subsist. The cement of society being no more, the slate would soon be
+dissolved into individuality.
+
+Let it not be vainly imagined, that our state of civilization must
+prevent the moral degeneracy here threatened. A neighbouring nation has
+lately furnished a lamentable proof, that superior polish and refinement
+may well consist with a very large measure of depravity. But to appeal
+to a still more decisive instance: it may be seen in the history of the
+latter years of the most celebrated of the Pagan nations, that the
+highest degrees of civilization and refinement are by no means
+inseparable from the most shocking depravity of morals. The fact is
+certain, and the obvious inference with regard to ourselves cannot be
+denied. The cause of this strange phænomenon, (such it really appears to
+our view) for which the natural corruption of man might hardly seem to
+account sufficiently, has been explained by an inspired writer. Speaking
+of the most polished nations of antiquity, he observes; "Because when
+they knew God, they glorified him not as God, and were not
+_solicitous_[121] to retain him in their knowledge, he gave them over to
+a reprobate mind." Let us then beware, and take warning from their
+example: let us not suffer our self-love to beguile us: let us not
+vainly persuade ourselves, that although prosperity and wealth may have
+caused us to relax a little too much, in those more serious duties which
+regard our Maker, yet that we shall stop where we are; or, at least,
+that we can never sink into the same state of moral depravation.
+Doubtless we should sink as low, if God were to give us up also to our
+own imaginations. And what ground have we to think he will not? If we
+would reason justly, we should not compare ourselves with the state of
+the Heathen world when at its worst; but with its state at that period,
+when, for its forgetfulness of God, and its ingratitude towards him, it
+was suffered to fall, till at length it reached that worst, its ultimate
+point of depression. The Heathens had only reason and natural conscience
+to direct them: we enjoy, superadded to these, the clear light of Gospel
+revelation, and a distinct declaration of God's dealings with them, to
+be a lesson for our instruction. How then can we but believe that if we,
+enjoying advantages so much superior to their's, are alike forgetful of
+our kind Benefactor, we also shall be left to ourselves? and if so left,
+what reason can be assigned why we should not fall into the same
+enormities?
+
+What then is to be done? The inquiry is of the first importance, and the
+general answer to it is not difficult.--The causes and nature of the
+decay of Religion and morals among us sufficiently indicate the course,
+which, on principles of sound policy, it is in the highest degree
+expedient for us to pursue. The distemper of which, as a community, we
+are sick, should be considered rather as a moral than a political
+malady. How much has this been forgotten by the disputants of modern
+times! and accordingly, how transient may be expected to be the good
+effects of the best of their publications! We should endeavour to tread
+back our steps. Every effort should be used to raise the depressed tone
+of public morals. This is a duty particularly incumbent on all who are
+in the higher walks of life; and it is impossible not to acknowledge the
+obligations, which in this respect we owe as a nation, to those exalted
+characters, whom God in his undeserved mercy to us, still suffers to
+continue on the throne, and who set to their subjects a pattern of
+decency and moderation rarely seen in their elevated station.
+
+But every person of rank, and fortune, and abilities, should endeavour
+in like manner to exhibit a similar example, and recommend it to the
+imitation of the circle in which he moves. It has been the opinion of
+some well-meaning people, that by giving, as far as they possibly could
+with innocence, into the customs and practices of irreligious men, they
+might soften the prejudices too frequently taken up against Religion, of
+its being an austere gloomy service; and thus secure a previous
+favourable impression against any time, when they might have an
+opportunity of explaining or enforcing their sentiments. This is always
+a questionable, and, it is to be feared, a dangerous policy. Many
+mischievous consequences necessarily resulting from it might easily be
+enumerated. But it is a policy particularly unsuitable to our
+inconsiderate and dissipated times, and to the lengths at which we are
+arrived. In these circumstances, the most likely means of producing the
+_revulsion_ which is required, must be boldly to proclaim the
+distinction between the adherents of "God and Baal." The expediency of
+this conduct in our present situation is confirmed by another
+consideration, to which we have before had occasion to refer. It is
+this--that when men are aware that something of difficulty is to be
+effected, their spirits rise to the level of the encounter; they make up
+their minds to bear hardships and brave dangers, and to persevere in
+spite of fatigue and opposition: whereas in a matter which is regarded
+as of easy and ordinary operation, they are apt to slumber over their
+work, and to fail in what a small effort might have been sufficient to
+accomplish, for want of having called up the requisite degree of energy
+and spirit. Conformably to the principle which is hereby suggested, in
+the circumstances in which we are placed, the line of demarcation
+between the friends and the enemies of Religion should now be made
+clear; the separation should be broad and obvious. Let him then, who
+wishes well to his country, no longer hesitate what course of conduct to
+pursue. The question now is not, in what liberties he might warrantably
+indulge himself in another situation? but what are the restraints on
+himself which the exigencies of the present times render it adviseable
+for him to impose? Circumstanced as we now are, it is more than ever
+obvious, that _the best man is the truest patriot_.
+
+Nor is it only by their personal conduct, (though this mode will always
+be the most efficacious) that men of authority and influence may promote
+the cause of good morals. Let them in their several stations encourage
+virtue and discountenance vice in others. Let them enforce the laws by
+which the wisdom of our forefathers has guarded against the grosser
+infractions of morals; and congratulate themselves, that in a leading
+situation on the bench of justice there is placed a man who, to his
+honour be it spoken, is well disposed to assist their efforts[122]. Let
+them favour and take part in any plans which may be formed for the
+advancement of morality. Above all things, let them endeavour to
+instruct and improve the rising generation; that, if it be possible, an
+antidote may be provided for the malignity of that venom, which is
+storing up in a neighbouring country. This has long been to my mind the
+most formidable feature of the present state of things in France; where,
+it is to be feared, a brood of moral vipers, as it were, is now
+hatching, which, when they shall have attained to their mischievous
+maturity, will go forth to poison the world. But fruitless will be all
+attempts to sustain, much more to revive, the fainting cause of morals,
+unless you can in some degree restore the prevalence of Evangelical
+Christianity. It is in morals as in physics; unless the source of
+practical principles be elevated, it will be in vain to attempt to make
+them flow on a high level in their future course. You may force them for
+a while into some constrained position, but they will soon drop to
+their natural point of depression. By all, therefore, who are studious
+of their country's welfare, more particularly by all who desire to
+support our ecclesiastical establishment, every effort should be used to
+revive the Christianity of our better days. The attempt should
+especially be made in the case of the pastors of the Church, whose
+situation must render the principles which they hold a matter of
+supereminent importance. Wherever these teachers have steadily and
+zealously inculcated the true doctrines of the Church of England, the
+happiest effects have commonly rewarded their labours. And it is worth
+observing, in the view which we are now taking, that these men, as might
+naturally be expected, are, perhaps without exception, friendly to our
+ecclesiastical and civil establishments[123]; and consequently, that
+their instructions and influence tend _directly_, as well as
+_indirectly_, to the maintenance of the cause of order and good
+government. Nor should it be forgotten by any who, judging with the
+abstract coldness of mere politicians, might doubt whether, by adopting
+the measures here recommended, a religious warmth would not be called
+into action, which might break out into mischievous irregularities; that
+experience proves that an establishment affords, from its very nature,
+the happy means of exciting a considerable degree of fervour and
+animation, and at the same time of restraining them within due bounds.
+The duty of encouraging vital Religion in the Church particularly
+devolves on all who have the disposal of ecclesiastical preferment, and
+more especially on the dignitaries of the sacred order. Some of these
+have already sounded the alarm; justly censuring the practice of
+suffering Christianity to degenerate into a mere system of ethics, and
+recommending more attention to the peculiar doctrines of our Religion.
+In our schools, in our universities, let the study be encouraged of the
+writings of those venerable divines, who flourished in the purer times
+of Christianity. Let even a considerable proficiency in their writings
+be required of candidates for ordination. Let our churches no longer
+witness that unseemly discordance, which has too much prevailed, between
+the prayers which precede, and the sermon which follows.
+
+But it may be enough to have briefly hinted at the course of conduct,
+which, in the present circumstances of this country, motives merely
+political should prompt us to pursue. To all who have at heart the
+national welfare, the above suggestions are solemnly submitted. They
+have not been urged altogether without misgivings, lest it should
+appear, as though the concern of Eternity were melted down into a mere
+matter of temporal advantage, or political expediency. But since it has
+graciously pleased the Supreme Being so to arrange the constitution of
+things, as to render the prevalence of true Religion and of pure
+morality conducive to the well-being of states, and the preservation of
+civil order; and since these subordinate inducements are not
+unfrequently held forth, even by the sacred writers; it seemed not
+improper, and scarcely liable to misconstruction, to suggest inferior
+motives to readers, who might be less disposed to listen to
+considerations of a higher order.
+
+Would to God that the course of conduct here suggested might be fairly
+pursued! Would to God that the happy consequences, which would result
+from the principles we have recommended, could be realized; and above
+all, that the influence of true Religion could be extensively diffused!
+It is the best wish which can be formed for his country, by one who is
+deeply anxious for its welfare:--
+
+    Lucem redde tuam, dux bone, patriæ!
+    Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus
+    Affulsit populo, gratior it dies,
+        Et soles melius nitent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_Practical Hints to various Descriptions of Persons._
+
+
+Thus have we endeavoured to trace the chief defects of the religious
+system of the bulk of professed Christians in this country. We have
+pointed out their low idea of the importance of Christianity in general;
+their inadequate conceptions of all its leading doctrines, and the
+effect hereby naturally produced in relaxing the strictness of its
+practical system; more than all, we have remarked their grand
+fundamental misconception of its genius and essential nature. Let not
+therefore the difference between them and true believers be considered
+as a minute difference; as a question of forms or opinions. The question
+is of the very substance of Religion; the difference is of the most
+serious and momentous amount. We must speak out. _Their Christianity is
+not Christianity._ It wants the radical principle. It is mainly
+defective in all the grand constituents. Let them no longer then be
+deceived by names in a matter of infinite importance: but with humble
+prayer to the Source of all wisdom, that he would enlighten their
+understandings, and clear their hearts from prejudice; let them
+seriously examine by the Scripture standard their real belief and
+allowed practice, and they will become sensible of the shallowness of
+their scanty system.
+
+If through the blessing of Providence on any thing which may have been
+here written, there should be any whom it has disposed to this important
+duty of self-inquiry; let me previously warn them to be well aware of
+our natural proneness to think too favourably of ourselves. Selfishness
+is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it
+is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our good qualities,
+and to overlook or extenuate our defects. The corruption of human nature
+therefore being admitted, it follows undeniably, that in all our
+reckonings, if we would form a just estimate of our character, we must
+make an allowance for the effects of selfishness. It is also another
+effect of the corruption of human nature, to cloud our moral sight, and
+blunt our moral sensibility. Something must therefore be allowed for
+this effect likewise. Doubtless, the perfect purity of the Supreme Being
+makes him see in us stains, far more in number and deeper in dye; than
+we ourselves can discover. Nor should another awful consideration be
+forgotten. When we look into ourselves, those sins only, into which we
+have lately fallen, are commonly apt to excite any lively impression.
+Many individual acts of vice, or a continued course of vicious or
+dissipated conduct, which, when recent, may have smitten us with deep
+remorse, after a few months or years leave but very faint traces in our
+recollection; at least, those acts alone continue to strike us strongly,
+which were of very extraordinary magnitude. But the strong impressions
+which they at first excited, not the faded images which they
+subsequently present to us, furnish the true measure of their guilt: and
+to the pure eyes of God, this guilt must always have appeared far
+greater than to us. Now to the Supreme Being we must believe that there
+is no past or future; as whatever _will be_, so whatever _has been_, is
+retained by him in present and unvarying contemplation, continuing
+always to appear just the same as at the first moment of its happening.
+Well may it then humble us in the sight of that Being "who is of purer
+eyes than to behold iniquity;" to call to mind that, unless our offences
+have been blotted out by our obtaining an interest in the satisfaction
+of Christ, through true repentance and lively faith, we appear before
+him clothed with the sins of our whole lives, in all their original
+depth of colouring, and with all the aggravations which we no longer
+particularly remember, but which, in general, we, perhaps, may recollect
+to have once filled us with shame and confusion of face. The writer is
+the rather desirous of enforcing this reflection; because he can truly
+declare, that he has found no consideration so efficacious in producing
+in his own mind the deepest self-abasement.
+
+In treating of the sources of the erroneous estimates which we form of
+our religious and moral character, it may not, perhaps, be without its
+uses to take this occasion of pointing out some other common springs of
+self-deception. Many persons, as was formerly hinted, are misled by the
+favourable opinions entertained of them by others; many, it is to be
+feared, mistake a hot zeal for orthodoxy, for a cordial acceptance of
+the great truths of the Gospel; and almost all of us, at one time or
+other, are more or less misled by confounding the suggestions of the
+understanding with the impulses of the will, the assent which our
+judgment gives to religious and moral truths, with a hearty belief and
+approbation of them.
+
+There is another frequent source of self-deception, which is productive
+of so much mischief in life, that, though it may appear to lead to some
+degree of repetition, it would be highly improper to omit the mention of
+it in this place. That we may be the better understood, it may be proper
+to premise, that certain particular vices, and likewise that certain
+particular good and amiable qualities, seem naturally to belong to
+certain particular periods and conditions of life. Now, if we would
+reason fairly in estimating our moral character, we ought to examine
+ourselves with reference to that particular "sin which does most easily
+beset us," not to some other sin to which we are not nearly so much
+liable. And in like manner, on the other hand, we ought not to account
+it matter of much self-complacency, if we find in ourselves that good
+and amiable quality which naturally belongs to our period or condition;
+but rather look for some less ambiguous sign of a real internal
+principle of virtue. But we are very apt to reverse these rules of
+judging: we are very apt, on the one hand, both in ourselves and in
+others, to excuse "the besetting sin," taking and giving credit for
+being exempt from others, to which we or they are less liable; and on
+the other hand, to value ourselves extremely on our possession of the
+good or amiable quality which naturally belongs to us, and to require no
+more satisfactory evidence of the _sufficiency_ at least of our moral
+character. The bad effects of this partiality are aggravated by the
+practice, to which we are sadly prone, of being contented, when we take
+a hasty view of ourselves, with negative evidences of our state;
+thinking it very well if we are not shocked by some great actual
+transgression, instead of looking for the positive signs of a true
+Christian, as laid down in the holy Scripture.
+
+But the source of self-deception, which it is more particularly our
+present object to point out, is a disposition to consider as a conquest
+of any particular vice, our merely forsaking it on our quitting the
+period or condition of life to which that vice belongs; when perhaps
+also we substitute for it the vice of the new period or condition on
+which we are entering. We thus mistake our merely outgrowing our vices,
+or our relinquishing them from some change in our worldly circumstances,
+for a thorough, or at least for a sufficient, reformation.
+
+But this topic deserves to be viewed a little more closely. Young people
+may, without much offence, be inconsiderate and dissipated; the youth of
+one sex may indulge occasionally in licentious excesses; those of the
+other may be supremely given up to vanity and pleasure: yet, provided
+that they are sweet tempered, and open, and not disobedient to their
+parents or other superiors, the former are deemed _good hearted_ young
+men, the latter, _innocent_ young women. Those who love them best have
+no solicitude about their spiritual interests: and it would be deemed
+strangely strict in themselves, or in others, to doubt of their becoming
+more religious as they advance in life; to speak of them as being
+actually under the divine displeasure; or, if their lives should be in
+danger, to entertain any apprehensions concerning their future destiny.
+
+They grow older, and marry. The same licentiousness, which was formerly
+considered in young men as a venial frailty, is now no longer regarded
+in the husband and the father as compatible with the character of a
+decently religious man. The language is of this sort; "they have sown
+their wild oats, they must now reform, and be regular." Nor perhaps is
+the same manifest predominance of vanity and dissipation deemed innocent
+in the matron: but if they are kind respectively in their conjugal and
+parental relations, and are tolerably regular and decent, they pass for
+_mighty good sort of people_; and it would be altogether unnecessary
+scrupulosity in them to doubt of their coming up to the requisitions of
+the divine law, as far as in the present state of the world can be
+expected from human frailty. Their hearts, however, are perhaps no more
+than before supremely set on the great work of their salvation, but are
+chiefly bent on increasing their fortunes, or raising their families.
+Meanwhile they congratulate themselves on their having amended from
+vices, which they are no longer strongly tempted to commit, or their
+abstaining from which ought not to be too confidently assumed as a test
+of the strength of the religious principle, since the commission of them
+would prejudice their characters, and perhaps injure their fortune in
+life.
+
+Old age has at length made its advances. Now, if ever, we might expect
+that it would be deemed high time to make eternal things the _main_
+object of attention. No such thing! There is still an appropriate good
+quality, the presence of which calms the disquietude, and satisfies the
+requisitions both of themselves and of those around them. It is now
+required of them that they should be good natured and cheerful,
+indulgent to the frailties and follies of the young; remembering, that
+when young themselves they gave into the same practices. How opposite
+this to that dread of sin, which is the sure characteristic of the true
+Christian; which causes him to look back upon the vices of his own
+youthful days with shame and sorrow; and which, instead of conceding to
+young people to be wild and thoughtless, as a privilege belonging to
+their age and circumstances, prompts him to warn them against what had
+proved to himself matter of such bitter retrospection! Thus, throughout
+the whole of life, some means or other are devised for stifling the
+voice of conscience. "We cry peace while there is no peace;" and both to
+ourselves and others that complacency is furnished, which ought only to
+proceed from a consciousness of being reconciled to God, and a humble
+hope of our possessing his favour.
+
+I know that these sentiments will be termed uncharitable; but I must not
+be deterred by such an imputation. It is time to have done with that
+senseless cant of charity, which insults the understandings, and trifles
+with the feelings, of those who are really concerned for the happiness
+of their fellow-creatures. What matter of keen remorse and of bitter
+self-reproaches are they storing up for their future torment, who are
+themselves its miserable dupes; or who, being charged with the office of
+watching over the eternal interests of their children or relations,
+suffer themselves to be lulled asleep, or beguiled by such shallow
+reasonings into sparing themselves the momentary pain of executing their
+important duty! Charity, indeed, is partial to the object of her regard;
+and where actions are of a doubtful quality, this partiality disposes
+her to refer them to a good, rather than to a bad, motive. She is apt
+also somewhat to exaggerate merits, and to see amiable qualities in a
+light more favourable than that which strictly belongs to them. But true
+charity is wakeful, fervent, full of solicitude, full of good offices,
+not so easily satisfied, not so ready to believe that every thing is
+going on well as a matter of course; but jealous of mischief, apt to
+suspect danger, and prompt to extend relief. These are the symptoms by
+which genuine regard will manifest itself in a wife or a mother, in the
+case of the _bodily_ health of the object of her affections. And where
+there is any real concern for the _spiritual_ interests of others, it is
+characterized by the same infallible marks. That wretched quality, by
+which the sacred name of charity is now so generally and so falsely
+usurped, is no other than indifference; which, against the plainest
+evidence, or at least where there is strong ground of apprehension, is
+easily contented to believe that all goes well, because it has no
+anxieties to allay, no fears to repress. It undergoes no alternation of
+passions; it is not at one time flushed with hope, nor at another
+chilled by disappointment.
+
+To a considerate and feeling mind, there is something deeply afflicting,
+in seeing the engaging cheerfulness and cloudless gaiety incident to
+youth, welcomed as a sufficient indication of internal purity by the
+delighted parents; who, knowing the deceitfulness of these flattering
+appearances, should eagerly avail themselves of this period, when once
+wasted never to be regained, of good humoured acquiescence and dutiful
+docility: a period when the soft and ductile temper of the mind renders
+it more easily susceptible of the impressions we desire; and when,
+therefore, habits should be formed, which may assist our natural
+weakness to resist the temptations to which we shall be exposed in the
+commerce of maturer life. This is more especially affecting in the
+female sex, because that sex seems, by the very constitution of its
+nature, to be more favourably disposed than ours to the feelings and
+offices of Religion; being thus fitted by the bounty of Providence, the
+better to execute the important task which devolves on it, of the
+education of our earliest youth. Doubtless, this more favourable
+disposition to Religion in the female sex, was graciously designed also
+to make women doubly valuable in the wedded state: and it seems to
+afford to the married man the means of rendering an active share in the
+business of life more compatible, than it would otherwise be, with the
+liveliest devotional feelings; that when the husband should return to
+his family, worn and harassed by worldly cares or professional labours,
+the wife, habitually preserving a warmer and more unimpaired spirit of
+devotion, than is perhaps consistent with being immersed in the bustle
+of life, might revive his languid piety; and that the religious
+impressions of both might derive new force and tenderness from the
+animating sympathies of conjugal affection. Can a more pleasing image be
+presented to a considerate mind, than that of a couple, happy in each
+other and in the pledges of their mutual love, uniting in an act of
+grateful adoration to the author of all their mercies; recommending each
+other, and the objects of their common care, to the divine protection;
+and repressing the solicitude of conjugal and parental tenderness by a
+confiding hope, that, through all the changes of this uncertain life,
+the Disposer of all things will assuredly cause all to work together for
+the good of them that love and put their trust in him; and that, after
+this uncertain state shall have passed away, they shall be admitted to a
+joint participation of never ending happiness. It is surely no mean or
+ignoble office which we would allot to the female sex, when we would
+thus commit to them the charge of maintaining in lively exercise
+whatever emotions most dignify and adorn human nature; when we would
+make them as it were the medium of our intercourse with the heavenly
+world, the faithful repositories of the religious principle, for the
+benefit both of the present and of the rising generation. Must it not
+then excite our grief and indignation, when we behold mothers, forgetful
+at once of their own peculiar duties, and of the high office which
+Providence designed their daughters to fulfil; exciting, instead of
+endeavoring to moderate in them, the natural sanguineness and
+inconsiderateness of youth; hurrying them night after night to the
+resorts of dissipation; thus teaching them to despise the _common_
+comforts of the family circle; and, instead of striving to raise their
+views, and to direct their affections to their true object, acting as if
+with the express design studiously to extinguish every spark of a
+devotional spirit, and to kindle in its stead an excessive love of
+pleasure, and, perhaps, a principle of extravagant vanity, and ardent
+emulation!
+
+_Innocent young women! Good hearted young men!_ Wherein does this
+_goodness of heart_ and this _innocence_ appear? Remember that we are
+fallen creatures, born in sin, and naturally depraved. Christianity
+recognises no _innocence_ or _goodness of heart_, but in the remission
+of sin, and in the effects of the operation of divine grace. Do we find
+in these young persons the characters, which the holy Scriptures lay
+down as the only satisfactory evidences of a safe state? Do we not on
+the other hand discover the specified marks of a state of alienation
+from God? Can the blindest partiality persuade itself that _they_ are
+loving, or striving "to love God with all their hearts, and minds, and
+souls, and strength?" Are _they_ "seeking first the kingdom of God, and
+his righteousness?" Are _they_ "working out their salvation with fear
+and trembling?" Are _they_ "clothed with humility?" Are _they_ not, on
+the contrary, supremely given up to self-indulgence? Are _they_ not at
+least "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?" Are the offices of
+Religion _their_ solace or _their_ task? Do _they_ not come to these
+sacred services with reluctance, continue in them by constraint, and
+quit them with gladness? And of how many of _these_ persons may it not
+be affirmed in the spirit of the prophet's language: "The harp, and the
+viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they
+regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his
+hands?" Are not the youth of one sex often actually committing, and
+still more often wishing for the opportunity to commit, those sins of
+which the Scripture says expressly, "that they which do such things
+_shall not_ inherit the kingdom of God?" Are not the youth of the other
+mainly intent on the gratification of vanity; and looking for their
+chief happiness to the resorts of gaiety and fashion, to all the
+multiplied pleasures which public places, or the still higher
+gratifications of more refined circles, can supply?
+
+And then, when the first ebullitions of youthful warmth are over, what
+is their boasted reformation? They may be decent, sober, useful,
+respectable, as members of the community, or amiable in the relations of
+domestic life. But is _this_ the change of which the Scripture speaks?
+Hear the expressions which it uses, and judge for yourselves--"Except a
+man be _born again_, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."--"The
+_old man_--is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;" an expression
+but too descriptive of the vain delirium of youthful dissipation, and of
+the false dreams of pleasure which it inspires; but "the _new man_" is
+awakened from this fallacious estimate of happiness; "_he_ is renewed in
+knowledge after the image of him that created him"--"He is created
+_after God_ in righteousness and true holiness." The persons of whom we
+are speaking are no longer, indeed, so thoughtless, and wild, and
+dissipated, as formerly; so negligent in their attention to objects of
+real value; so eager in the pursuit of pleasure; so prone to yield to
+the impulse of appetite. But this is no more than the change of which a
+writer of no very strict cast speaks, as naturally belonging to their
+riper age:
+
+    Conversis studiis, ætas animusque virilis
+    Quærit opus, & amicitias: inservit honori:
+    Commisisse cavet, quod mox mutare laboret.
+                                              HOR.
+
+This is a point of infinite importance: let it not be thought tedious to
+spend even yet a few more moments in the discussion of it. Put the
+question to another issue, and try it, by appealing to the principle of
+life being a state of probation; (a proposition, indeed, true in a
+certain sense, though not exactly in that which is sometimes assigned to
+it,) and you will still be led to no very different conclusion.
+Probation implies resisting, in obedience to the dictates of Religion,
+appetites which we are naturally prompted to gratify. Young people are
+not tempted to be churlish, interested, covetous; but to be
+inconsiderate and dissipated, "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
+God." People again in middle age are not so strongly tempted to be
+thoughtless, and idle, and licentious. From excesses of this sort they
+are sufficiently withheld, particularly when happily settled in domestic
+life, by a regard to their characters, by the restraints of family
+connections, and by a sense of what is due to the decencies of the
+married state. _Their_ probation is of another sort; _they_ are tempted
+to be supremely engrossed by worldly cares, by family interests, by
+professional objects, by the pursuit of wealth or of ambition. Thus
+occupied, they are tempted to "mind earthly rather than heavenly
+things," forgetting "the one thing needful;" to "set their affections"
+on temporal rather than eternal concerns, and to take up with "a form of
+godliness," instead of seeking to experience the power thereof: the
+foundations of this nominal Religion being laid, as was formerly
+explained more at large, in the forgetfulness, if not in the ignorance,
+of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity. These are the _ready-made_
+Christians formerly spoken of, who consider Christianity as a
+geographical term, properly applicable to all those who have been born
+and educated in a country wherein Christianity is professed; not as
+indicating a renewed nature, as expressive of a peculiar character, with
+its appropriate desires and aversions, and hopes, and fears, and joys,
+and sorrows. To people of this description, the solemn admonition of
+Christ is addressed; "I know thy works; that thou hast a name that thou
+livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which
+remain that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect
+before God."
+
+If there be any who is inclined to listen to this solemn warning, who is
+awakened from his dream of false security, and is disposed to be not
+only _almost_ but _altogether_ a Christian--O! let him not stifle or
+dissipate these beginnings of seriousness, but sedulously cherish them
+as the "workings of the Divine Spirit," which would draw him from the
+"broad" and crowded "road of destruction into the narrow" and thinly
+peopled path "that leadeth to life." Let him retire from the
+multitude--Let him enter into his closet, and on his bended knees
+implore, for Christ's sake and in reliance on his mediation, that God
+would "take away from him the heart of stone, and give him a heart of
+flesh;" that the Father of light would open his eyes to his true
+condition, and clear his heart from the clouds of prejudice, and
+dissipate the deceitful medium of self-love. Then let him carefully
+examine his past life, and his present course of conduct, comparing
+himself with God's word: and considering how any one might reasonably
+have been expected to conduct himself, to whom the Holy Scriptures had
+been always open, and who had been used to acknowledge them to be the
+revelation of the will of his Creator, and Governor, and Supreme
+Benefactor; let him there peruse the awful denunciations against
+impenitent sinners; let him labour to become more and more deeply
+impressed with a sense of his own radical blindness and corruption;
+above all, let him steadily contemplate, in all its bearings and
+connections, that stupendous truth, _the incarnation and crucifixion of
+the only begotten Son of God, and the message of mercy proclaimed from
+the cross to repenting sinners_.--"Be ye reconciled unto God."--"Believe
+in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
+
+When he fairly estimates the guilt of sin by the costly satisfaction
+which was required to atone for it, and the worth of his soul by the
+price which was paid for its redemption, and contrasts both of these
+with his own sottish inconsiderateness; when he reflects on the amazing
+love and pity of Christ, and on the cold and formal acknowledgments with
+which he has hitherto returned this infinite obligation, making light of
+the precious blood of the Son of God, and trifling with the gracious
+invitations of his Redeemer: surely, if he be not lost to sensibility,
+mixed emotions of guilt, and fear, and shame, and remorse, and sorrow,
+will nearly overwhelm his soul; he will smite upon his breast, and cry
+out in the language of the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
+But, blessed be God, such an one needs not despair--it is to persons in
+this very situation, and with these very feelings, that the offers of
+the Gospel are held forth, and its promises assured; "to the weary and
+heavy laden" under the burden of their sins; to them who thirst for the
+water of life; to them who feel themselves "tied and bound by the chain
+of their sins;" who abhor their captivity, and long earnestly for
+deliverance. Happy, happy souls! which the grace of God has visited,
+"has brought out of darkness into his marvellous light," and "from the
+power of Satan unto God." Cast yourselves then on his undeserved mercy;
+he is full of love, and will not spurn you: surrender yourselves into
+his hands, and solemnly resolve, through his Grace, to dedicate
+henceforth all your faculties and powers to his service.
+
+It is your's now "to work out your own salvation with fear and
+trembling," relying on the fidelity of him who has promised to "work in
+you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Ever look to him for
+help: your only safety consists in a deep and abiding sense of your own
+weakness, and in a firm reliance on his strength. If you "give all
+diligence," his power is armed for your protection, his truth is pledged
+for your security. You are enlisted under the banner of Christ--Fear
+not, though the world, and the flesh, and the devil are set in array
+against you.--"Faithful is he that hath promised;"--"be ye also faithful
+unto death, and he will give you a crown of life."--"He that endureth
+to the end, the same shall be saved." In such a world as this, in such a
+state of society as ours, especially if in the higher walks of life, you
+must be prepared to meet with many difficulties:--arm yourselves,
+therefore, in the first place, with a determined resolution not to rate
+human estimation beyond its true value; not to dread the charge of
+particularity, when it shall be necessary to incur it; but as was before
+recommended, let it be your constant endeavour to retain before your
+mental eye, that bright assemblage of invisible spectators, who are the
+witnesses of your daily conduct, and "to seek that honour which cometh
+from God." You cannot advance a single step, till you are in some good
+measure possessed of this comparative indifference to the favour of men.
+We have before explained ourselves too clearly to render it necessary to
+declare, that no one should needlessly affect singularity: but to aim at
+incompatible advantages, to seek to please God and the world, where
+their commands are really at variance, is the way to be neither
+respectable, nor good, nor happy. Continue to be ever aware of your own
+radical corruption and habitual weakness. Indeed, if your eyes be really
+opened, and your heart truly softened, "hungering and thirsting after
+righteousness," rising in your ideas of true holiness, and proving the
+genuineness of your hope by desiring "to purify yourself even as God is
+pure;" you will become daily more and more sensible of your own defeats,
+and wants, and weaknesses; and more and more impressed by a sense of the
+mercy and long suffering of that gracious Saviour, "who forgiveth all
+your sin, and healeth all your infirmities."
+
+This is the solution of what to a man of the world might seem a strange
+paradox, that in proportion as the Christian grows in grace, he grows
+also in humility. Humility is indeed the vital principle of
+Christianity; that principle by which from first to last she lives and
+thrives, and in proportion to the growth or decline of which she must
+decay or flourish. _This_ first disposes the sinner in deep
+self-abasement to accept the others of the Gospel; _this_, during his
+whole progress, is the very ground and basis of his feelings and
+conduct, both in relation to God, his fellow creatures, and himself; and
+when at length he shall be translated into the realms of glory, _this_
+principle shall still subsist in undiminished force: He shall "fall
+down; and cast his crown before the Lamb; and ascribe blessing, and
+honour, and glory, and power, to him that sitteth upon the throne, and
+to the Lamb for ever and ever." The _practical_ benefits of this
+habitual lowliness of spirit are too numerous, and at the same time too
+obvious; to require enumeration. It will lead you to dread the
+beginnings, and fly from the occasions of sin; as that man would shun
+some infectious distemper, who should know that he was pre-disposed to
+take the contagion. It will prevent a thousand difficulties, and decide
+a thousand questions, concerning worldly compliances; by which those
+persons are apt to be embarrassed, who are not duly sensible of their
+own exceeding frailty, whose views of the Christian character are not
+sufficiently elevated, and who are not enough possessed with a continual
+fear of "grieving the Holy Spirit of God," and of thus provoking him to
+withdraw his gracious influence. But if you are really such as we have
+been describing, you need not be urged to set the standard of practice
+high, and to strive after universal holiness. It is the desire of your
+hearts to act in all things with a single eye to the favour of God, and
+thus the most ordinary actions of life are raised into offices of
+Religion. This is the purifying, the transmuting principle, which
+realizes the fabled touch, which changes all to gold. But it belongs to
+this desire of pleasing God, that we should be continually solicitous to
+discover the path of duty; that we should not indolently wait, satisfied
+with not refusing occasions of glorifying God, when they are forced upon
+us; but that we should pray to God for wisdom and spiritual
+understanding, that we may be, acute in discerning opportunities of
+serving him in the world, and judicious in selecting and wise in
+improving them. Guard indeed against the distraction of worldly cares;
+and cultivate heavenly mindedness, and a spirit of continual prayer, and
+neglect not to watch incessantly over the workings of your deceitful
+heart: but be active also, and useful. Let not your precious time be
+wasted "in shapeless idleness;" an admonition which, in our days, is
+rendered but too necessary by the relaxed habits of persons even of real
+piety: but wisely husband and improve this fleeting treasure. Never be
+satisfied with your present attainments; but "forgetting the things
+which are behind," labour still to "press forward" with undiminished
+energy, and to run the race that is set before you without flagging in
+your course.
+
+Above all, measure your progress by your improvement in love to God and
+man. "God is Love." This is the sacred principle, which warms and
+enlightens the heavenly world, that blessed feat of God's visible
+presence. There it shines with unclouded radiance. Some scattered beams
+of it are graciously lent to us on earth, or we had been benighted and
+left in darkness and misery; but a larger portion of it is infused into
+the hearts of the servants of God, who thus "are renewed in the divine
+likeness," and even here exhibit some faint traces of the image of their
+heavenly Father. It is the principle of love which disposes them to
+yield themselves up without reserve to the service of him, "who has
+bought them with the price of his own blood."
+
+Servile, and base, and mercenary, is the notion of Christian practice
+among the bulk of nominal Christians. They give no more than they _dare_
+not with-hold; they abstain from nothing but what they _must_ not
+practise. When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and
+the consequent obligation to desist from it, they reply to you in the
+very spirit of Shylock, "they cannot find it in the bond." In short,
+they know Christianity only as a system of restraints. She is despoiled
+of every liberal and generous principle: she is rendered almost unfit
+for the social intercourses of life, and is only suited to the gloomy
+walls of that cloister, in which they would confine her. But _true
+Christians_ consider themselves not as satisfying some rigorous
+creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude. Their's is accordingly
+not the stinted return of a constrained obedience, but the large and
+liberal measure of a voluntary service. This principle, therefore, as
+was formerly remarked, and has been recently observed of true Christian
+humility, prevents a thousand _practical_ embarrassments, by which they
+are continually harassed, who act from a less generous motive; and who
+require it to be clearly ascertained to them, that any gratification or
+worldly compliance, which may be in question, is beyond the allowed
+boundary line of Christian practice[124]. _This_ principle regulates the
+true Christian's choice of companions and friends, where he is at
+liberty to make an option; _this_ fills him with the desire of promoting
+the temporal well-being of all around him, and still more with pity and
+love, and anxious solicitude for their spiritual welfare. Indifference
+indeed in this respect is one of the surest signs of a low or declining
+state in Religion. _This_ animating principle it is, which in the true
+Christian's happier hour inspirits his devotions, and causes him to
+delight in the worship of God; which fills him with consolation, and
+peace, and gladness, and sometimes even enables him "to rejoice with joy
+unspeakable and full of glory."
+
+But this world is not his resting place: here, to the very last, he must
+be a pilgrim and a stranger; a soldier, whose warfare ends only with
+life, ever struggling and combating with the powers of darkness, and
+with the temptations of the world around him, and the still more
+dangerous hostilities of internal depravity. The perpetual vicissitudes
+of this uncertain state, the peculiar trials and difficulties with which
+the life of a Christian is chequered, and still more, the painful and
+humiliating remembrance of his own infirmities, teach him to look
+forward, almost with outstretched neck, to that promised day, when he
+shall be completely delivered from the bondage of corruption, and sorrow
+and sighing shall flee away. In the anticipation of that blessed period,
+and comparing this churlish and turbulent world, where competition, and
+envy, and anger, and revenge, so vex and agitate the sons of men, with
+that blissful region where Love shall reign without disturbance, and
+where all being knit together in bonds of indissoluble friendship, shall
+unite in one harmonious song of praise to the Author of their common
+happiness, the true Christian triumphs over the fear of death: he longs
+to realize these cheering images, and to obtain admission into that
+blessed company.--With far more justice than it was originally used, he
+may adopt the beautiful exclamation--"O præclarum illum diem, cum ad
+illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar, atque ex hac
+turba et colluvione discedam!"
+
+What has been now as well as formerly remarked, concerning the habitual
+feelings of the real believer, may suggest a reply to an objection
+common in the mouths of nominal Christians, that we would deny men the
+innocent amusements and gratifications of life; thus causing our
+Religion to wear a gloomy forbidding aspect, instead of her true and
+natural face of cheerfulness and joy. This is a charge of so serious a
+nature, that although it lead into a digression, it may not be improper
+to take some notice of it.
+
+In the first place, Religion prohibits no amusement or gratification
+which is _really_ innocent. The question, however, of its innocence,
+must not be tried by the loose maxims of worldly morality, but by the
+spirit of the injunctions of the word of God; and by the indulgence
+being conformable or not conformable to the genius of Christianity, and
+to the tempers and dispositions of mind enjoined on its professors.
+There can be no dispute concerning the true end of recreations. They are
+intended to refresh our exhausted bodily or mental powers, and to
+restore us, with renewed vigour, to the more serious occupations of
+life. Whatever, therefore, fatigues either body or mind, instead of
+refreshing them, is not fitted to answer the designed purpose. Whatever
+consumes more time, or money, or thought, than it is expedient (I might
+say _necessary_) to allot to mere amusement, can hardly be approved by
+any one who considers these talents as precious deposits for the
+expenditure of which he will have to give account. Whatever directly or
+indirectly must be likely to injure the welfare of a fellow creature,
+can scarcely be a suitable _recreation_ for a Christian, who is "to love
+his neighbour as himself;" or a very consistent _diversion_ for any one,
+the business of whose life is to diffuse happiness.
+
+But does a Christian never relax? Let us not so wrong and vilify the
+bounty of Providence, as to allow for a moment that the sources of
+innocent amusement are so rare, that men must be driven, almost by
+constraint, to such as are of a doubtful quality. On the contrary, such
+has been the Creator's goodness, that almost every one, both of our
+physical and intellectual, and moral faculties (and the same may be said
+of the whole creation which we see around us) is not only calculated to
+answer the proper end of its being, by its subserviency to some purpose
+of solid usefulness, but to be the instrument of administering pleasure.
+
+                          Not content
+    With every food of life to nourish man,
+    Thou mak'st all nature beauty to his eye
+    And music to his ear.
+
+Our Maker also, in his kindness, has so constructed us, that even mere
+vicissitude is grateful and refreshing--a consideration which should
+prompt us often to seek, from a prudent _variation_ of _useful
+pursuits_, that recreation, for which we are apt to resort to what is
+altogether, _unproductive_ and _unfruitful_.
+
+Yet rich and multiplied are the springs of innocent relaxation. The
+Christian relaxes in the temperate use of all the gifts of Providence.
+Imagination, and taste, and genius, and the beauties of creation, and
+the works of art, lie open to him. He relaxes in the feast of reason, in
+the intercourses of society, in the sweets of friendship, in the
+endearments of love, in the exercise of hope, of confidence, of joy, of
+gratitude, of universal good will, of all the benevolent and generous
+affections; which, by the gracious ordination of our Creator, while
+they disinterestedly intend only happiness to others, are most surely
+productive to ourselves of complacency and peace. O! little do they know
+of the true measure of enjoyment, who can compare these delightful
+complacencies with the frivolous pleasures of dissipation, or the coarse
+gratifications of sensuality. It is no wonder, however, that the nominal
+Christian should reluctantly give up, one by one, the pleasures of the
+world; and look back upon them, when relinquished, with eyes of
+wistfulness and regret: because he knows not the sweetness of the
+delights with which true Christianity repays those trifling sacrifices,
+and is greatly unacquainted with the _nature_ of that pleasantness which
+is to be found in the ways of Religion.
+
+It is indeed true, that when any one, who has long been going on in the
+gross and unrestrained practice of vice, is checked in his career, and
+enters at first on a religious course, he has much to undergo. Fear,
+guilt, remorse, shame, and various other passions, struggle and conflict
+within him. His appetites are clamorous for their accustomed
+gratification, and inveterate habits are scarcely to be denied. He is
+weighed down by a load of guilt, and almost overwhelmed by the sense of
+his unworthiness. But all this ought in fairness to be charged to the
+account of his past sins, and not to that of his present repentance. It
+rarely happens, however, that this state of suffering continues very
+long. When the mental gloom is the blackest, a ray of heavenly light
+occasionally breaks in, and suggests the hope of better days. Even in
+this life it commonly holds true, "They that sow in tears shall reap in
+joy."
+
+Neither, when we maintain, that the ways of Religion are ways of
+pleasantness, do we mean to deny that the Christian's internal state is,
+through the whole of his life, a state of discipline and warfare.
+Several of the causes which contribute to render it such have been
+already pointed out, together with the workings of his mind in relation
+to them: but if he has solicitudes and griefs peculiar to himself, he
+has "joys also with which a stranger intermeddles not."
+
+"Drink deep," however, "or taste not," is a direction full as applicable
+to Religion, if we would find it a source of pleasure, as it is to
+knowledge. A little Religion is, it must be confessed, apt to make men
+gloomy, as a little knowledge to render them vain: hence the unjust
+imputation often brought upon Religion by those, whose degree of
+Religion is just sufficient, by condemning their course of conduct, to
+render them uneasy: enough merely to impair the sweetness of the
+pleasures of sin, and not enough to compensate for the relinquishment of
+them by its own peculiar comforts. Thus these men bring up, as it were,
+an ill report of that land of promise, which, in truth, abounds with
+whatever, in our journey through life, can best refresh and strengthen
+us.
+
+We have enumerated some sources of pleasure which men of the world may
+understand, and must acknowledge to belong to the true Christian; but
+there are others, and those of a still higher class, to which they must
+confess themselves strangers. To say nothing of a qualified, I dare not
+say an entire, exemption from those distracting passions and corroding
+cares, by which he must naturally be harassed, whose treasure is within
+the reach of mortal accidents; there is the humble quiet-giving hope of
+being reconciled to God, and of enjoying his favour; with that solid
+peace of mind, which the world can neither give nor take away, that
+results from a firm confidence in the infinite wisdom and goodness of
+God, and in the unceasing care and kindness of a generous Saviour: and
+there is the persuasion of the truth of the divine assurance, that all
+things shall work together for good.
+
+When the pulse indeed beats high, and we are flushed with youth, and
+health, and vigour; when all goes on prosperously, and success seems
+almost to anticipate our wishes; then we feel not the want of the
+consolations of Religion: but when fortune frowns, or friends forsake
+us; when sorrow, or sickness, or old age, comes upon us, then it is,
+that the superiority of the pleasures of Religion is established over
+those of dissipation and vanity, which are ever apt to fly from us when
+we are most in want of their aid. There is scarcely a more melancholy
+sight to a considerate mind, than that of an old man, who is a stranger
+to those only true sources of satisfaction. How affecting, and at the
+same time how disgusting, is it to see such an one awkwardly catching at
+the pleasures of his younger years, which are now beyond his reach; or
+feebly attempting to retain them, while they mock his endeavours and
+elude his grasp! To such an one, _gloomily_ indeed does the evening of
+life set in! All is sour and cheerless. He can neither look backward
+with complacency nor forward with hope: while the aged Christian,
+relying on the assured mercy of his Redeemer, can calmly reflect that
+his dismission is at hand; that his redemption draweth nigh: while his
+strength declines, and his faculties decay, he can quietly repose
+himself on the fidelity of God: and at the very entrance of the valley
+of the shadow of death, he can lift up an eye, dim, perhaps, and feeble,
+yet occasionally sparkling with hope, and confidently looking forward to
+the near possession of his heavenly inheritance, "to those joys which
+eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart
+of man to conceive."
+
+Never were there times which inculcated more forcibly than those in
+which we live, the wisdom of seeking a happiness beyond the reach of
+human vicissitudes. What striking lessons have _we_ had of the
+precarious tenure of all sublunary possessions! Wealth, and power, and
+prosperity, how peculiarly transitory and uncertain! But Religion
+dispenses her choicest cordials in the seasons of exigence, in poverty,
+in exile, in sickness, and in death. The essential superiority of that
+support which is derived from Religion is less felt, at least it is less
+apparent, when the Christian is in full possession of riches, and
+splendour, and rank, and all the gifts of nature and fortune. But when
+all these are swept away by the rude hand of time, or the rough blasts
+of adversity, the true Christian stands, like the glory of the forest,
+erect and vigorous; stripped indeed of his summer foliage, but more than
+ever discovering to the observing eye the solid strength of his
+substantial texture:
+
+    Pondere fixa suo est, nudosque per aera ramos
+    Attollens, trunco non frondibus efficit umbram.
+
+
+SECTION II.
+
+_Advice to some who profess their full Assent to the fundamental
+Doctrines of the Gospel._
+
+In a former chapter we largely insisted on what may be termed the
+fundamental practical error of the bulk of professed Christians in our
+days; their either overlooking or misconceiving the peculiar method,
+which the Gospel has provided for the renovation of our corrupted
+nature, and for the attainment of every Christian grace.
+
+But there are mistakes on the right hand and on the left; and our
+general proneness, when we are flying from one extreme to run into an
+opposite error, renders it necessary to superadd another admonition. The
+generally prevailing error of the present day, indeed, is that
+fundamental one which was formerly pointed out. But while we attend, in
+the first place, to this; and, on the warrant both of Scripture and
+experience, prescribe hearty repentance and lively faith, as the only
+root and foundation of all true holiness; we must at the same time guard
+against a practical mistake of another kind. They who, with penitent
+hearts, have humbled themselves before the cross of Christ; and who,
+pleading his merits as their only ground of pardon and acceptance with
+God, have resolved henceforth, through the help of his Spirit, to bring
+forth the fruits of righteousness, are sometimes apt to conduct
+themselves as if they considered their work as now done; or at least as
+if this were the whole they had to do, as often as, by falling afresh
+into sin, another act of repentance and faith may seem to have become
+necessary. There are not a few in our relaxed age, who thus satisfy
+themselves with what may be termed _general_ Christianity; who feel
+_general_ penitence and humiliation from a sense of their sinfulness _in
+general_, and _general_ desires of universal holiness; but who neglect
+that vigilant and jealous care, with which they should labour to
+extirpate every _particular_ corruption, by studying its nature, its
+root, its ramifications, and thus becoming acquainted with its secret
+movements, with the means whereby it gains strength, and with the most
+effectual methods of resisting it. In like manner, they are far from
+striving with persevering alacrity for the acquisition and improvement
+of every Christian grace. Nor is it unusual for ministers, who preach
+the truths of the Gospel with fidelity, ability, and success, to be
+themselves also liable to the charge of dwelling altogether in their
+instructions on this _general_ Religion: instead of tracing and laying
+open all the secret motions of inward corruption, and instructing their
+hearers how best to conduct themselves in every distinct part of the
+Christian warfare; how best to strive against each particular vice, and
+to cultivate each grace of the Christian character. Hence it is, that in
+too many persons, concerning the sincerity of whose general professions
+of Religion we should be sorry to entertain a doubt, we yet see little
+progress made in the regulation of their tempers, in the improvement of
+their time, in the reform of their plan of life, or inability to resist
+the temptation to which they are particularly exposed. They will confess
+themselves, in general terms, to be "_miserable sinners_:" this is a
+tenet of their creed, and they feel even proud in avowing it. They will
+occasionally also lament particular failings: but this confession is
+sometimes obviously made, in order to draw forth a compliment for the
+very opposite virtue: and where this is not the case, it is often not
+difficult to detect, under this false guise of contrition, a secret
+self-complacency, arising from the manifestations which they have
+afforded of their acuteness or candour in discovering the infirmity in
+question, or of their frankness or humility in acknowledging it. This
+will scarcely seem an illiberal suspicion to any one, who either watches
+the workings of his own heart, or who observes, that the faults
+confessed in these instances are very seldom those, with which the
+person is most clearly and strongly chargeable.
+
+_We must plainly warn these men_, and the consideration is seriously
+pressed on their instructors also, _that they are in danger of deceiving
+themselves. Let them beware lest they be nominal Christians of another
+sort._ These persons require to be reminded, that there is no _short
+compendious method of holiness_: but that it must be the business of
+their whole lives to grow in grace, and continually adding one virtue to
+another, as far as may be, "to go on towards perfection." "He only that
+doeth righteousness is righteous." Unless "they bring forth the fruits
+of the Spirit," they can have no sufficient evidence that they have
+received that "Spirit of Christ, without which they are none of his."
+But where, on the whole, our unwillingness to pass an unfavourable
+judgment may lead us to indulge a hope, that "the root of the matter is
+found in them;" yet we must at least declare to them, that instead of
+adorning the doctrine of Christ, they disparage and discredit it. The
+world sees not their secret humiliation, not the exercises of their
+closets, but it is acute in discerning practical weaknesses: and if it
+observe that they have the same eagerness in the pursuit of wealth or
+ambition, the same vain taste for ostentation and display, the same
+ungoverned tempers, which are found in the generality of mankind; it
+will treat with contempt their pretences to superior sanctity and
+indifference to worldly things, and will be hardened in its prejudices
+against the only mode, which God has provided for our escaping the wrath
+to come, and obtaining eternal happiness.
+
+Let him then, who would be indeed a Christian, watch over his ways and
+over his heart with unceasing circumspection. Let him endeavour to
+learn, both from men and books, particularly from the lives of eminent
+Christians[125], what methods have been actually found most effectual
+for the conquest of every particular vice, and for improvement in every
+branch of holiness. Thus studying his own character, and observing the
+most secret workings of his own mind, and of our common nature; the
+knowledge which he will acquire of the human heart in general, and
+especially of his own, will be of the highest utility, in enabling him
+to avoid or to guard against the occasions of evil: and it will also
+tend, above all things, to the growth of humility, and to the
+maintenance of that sobriety of spirit and tenderness of conscience,
+which are eminently characteristic of the true Christian. It is by this
+unceasing diligence, as the Apostle declares, that the servants of
+Christ must make their calling sure. Their labour will not be thrown
+away; for "an entrance shall" at length "be ministered unto them
+abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ."
+
+
+SECT. III.
+
+_Brief Observations addressed to Sceptics and Unitarians._
+
+There is another class of men, an increasing class, it is to be feared,
+in this country, that of absolute unbelievers, with which this little
+work has properly no concern: but may the writer, sincerely pitying
+their melancholy state, be permitted to ask them one plain question? If
+Christianity be not in their estimation true, yet is there not at least
+a presumption in its favour, sufficient to entitle it to a serious
+examination; from its having been embraced, and that not blindly and
+implicitly, but upon full inquiry and deep consideration, by Bacon, and
+Milton, and Locke, and Newton, and much the greater part of those, who,
+by the reach of their understandings, or the extent of their knowledge,
+and by the freedom too of their minds, and their daring to combat
+existing prejudices, have called forth the respect and admiration of
+mankind? It might be deemed scarcely fair to insist on Churchmen, though
+some of them are among the greatest names this country has ever known.
+Can the sceptic in general say with truth, that he has either prosecuted
+an examination into the evidences of Revelation at all, or at least with
+a seriousness and diligence in any degree proportioned to the importance
+of the subject? The fact is, and it is a fact which redounds to the
+honour of Christianity, that infidelity is not the result of sober
+inquiry and deliberate preference. It is rather the slow production of a
+careless and irreligious life, operating together with prejudices and
+erroneous conceptions, concerning the nature of the leading doctrines
+and fundamental tenets of Christianity.
+
+Take the case of young men of condition, bred up by what we have termed
+nominal Christians. When children, they are carried to church, and
+thence they become acquainted with such parts of Scripture as are
+contained in our public service. If their parents preserve still more of
+the customs of better times, they are taught their Catechism, and
+furnished with a little farther religious knowledge. After a while, they
+go from under the eyes of their parents; they enter into the world, and
+move forward in the path of life, whatever it may be, which has been
+assigned to them. They yield to the temptations which assail them, and
+become, more or less, dissipated and licentious. At least they neglect
+to look into their Bible; they do not enlarge the sphere of their
+religious acquisitions; they do not even endeavour, by reflection and
+study, to turn into what may deserve the name of knowledge and rational
+conviction, the opinions which, in their childhood, they had taken on
+trust.
+
+They travel, perhaps, into foreign countries; a proceeding which
+naturally tends to weaken their nursery, prejudice in favour of the
+Religion in which they were bred, and by removing them from all means of
+public worship, to relax their practical habits of Religion. They return
+home, and commonly are either hurried round in the vortex of
+dissipation, or engage with the ardour of youthful minds in some public
+or professional pursuit. If they read or hear any thing about
+Christianity, it is commonly only about those tenets which are subjects
+of controversy: and what reaches their ears of the Bible, from their
+occasional attendance at church; though it may sometimes impress them
+with an idea of the purity of Christian morality, contains much which,
+coming thus detached, perplexes and offends them, and suggests various
+doubts and startling objections, which a farther acquaintance with the
+Scripture would remove. Thus growing more and more to know Christianity
+only by the difficulties it contains; sometimes tempted by the ambition
+of shewing themselves superior to vulgar prejudice, and always prompted
+by the natural pride of the human heart to cast off their subjection to
+dogmas imposed on them; disgusted, perhaps, by the immoral lives of some
+professed Christians, by the weaknesses and absurdities of others, and
+by what they observe to be the implicit belief of numbers, whom they see
+and know to be equally ignorant with themselves, many doubts and
+suspicions of greater or less extent spring up within them. These doubts
+enter into the mind at first almost imperceptibly: they exist only as
+vague indistinct surmises, and by no means take the precise shape or
+the substance of a formed opinion. At first, probably, they even offend
+and startle by their intrusion: but by degrees the unpleasant sensations
+which they once excited wear off: the mind grows more familiar with
+them. A confused sense (for such it is, rather than a formed idea) of
+its being desirable that their doubts should prove well founded, and of
+the comfort and enlargement which would be afforded by that proof, lends
+them much secret aid. The impression becomes deeper; not in consequence
+of being reinforced by fresh arguments, but merely by dint of having
+longer rested in the mind; and as they increase in force, they creep on
+and extend themselves. At length they diffuse themselves over the whole
+of Religion, and possess the mind in undisturbed occupancy.
+
+It is by no means meant that this is universally the process. But,
+speaking generally, this might be termed, perhaps not unjustly, the
+_natural history_ of scepticism. It approves itself to the experience of
+those who have with any care watched the progress of infidelity in
+persons around them; and it is confirmed by the written lives of some of
+the most eminent unbelievers. It is curious to read their own accounts
+of themselves, the rather as they accord so exactly with the result of
+our own observation.--We find that they once perhaps gave a sort of
+implicit hereditary assent to the truth of Christianity, and were what,
+by a mischievous perversion of language, the world denominates
+_believers_. How were they then awakened from their sleep of ignorance?
+At what moment did the light of truth beam in upon them, and dissipate
+the darkness in which they had been involved? The period of their
+infidelity is marked by no such determinate boundary. Reason, and
+thought, and inquiry had little or nothing to do with it. Having for
+many years lived careless and irreligious lives, and associated with
+companions equally careless and irreligious; not by force of study and
+reflection, but rather by the lapse of time, they at length attained to
+their infidel maturity. It is worthy of remark, that where any are
+reclaimed from infidelity, it is generally by a process much more
+rational than that which has been here described. Something awakens them
+to reflection. They examine, they consider, and at length yield their
+assent to Christianity on what they deem sufficient grounds.
+
+From the account here given, it appears plainly that infidelity is
+generally the offspring of prejudice, and that its success is mainly to
+be ascribed to the depravity of the moral character. This fact is
+confirmed by the undeniable truth, that in _societies_, which consist of
+individuals, infidelity is the natural fruit, not so much of a studious
+and disputatious, as of a dissipated and vicious age. It diffuses itself
+in proportion as the general morals decline; and it is embraced with
+less apprehension, when every infidel is kept in spirits, by seeing many
+around him who are sharing fortunes with himself.
+
+To any fair mind this consideration alone might be offered, as
+suggesting a strong argument against infidelity, and in favour of
+Revelation. And the friends of Christianity might justly retort the
+charge, which their opponents often urge with no little affectation of
+superior wisdom; that we implicitly surrender ourselves to the influence
+of prejudice, instead of examining dispassionately the ground of our
+faith, and yielding our assent only according to the degree of evidence.
+
+In our own days, when it is but too clear that infidelity increases, it
+is not in consequence of the reasonings of the infidel writers having
+been much studied, but from the progress of luxury, and the decay of
+morals: and, so far as this increase may be traced at all to the works
+of sceptical writers; it has been produced, not by argument and
+discussion, but by sarcasms and points of wit, which have operated on
+weak minds, or on nominal Christians, by bringing gradually into
+contempt, opinions which, in their case, had only rested on the basis of
+blind respect and the prejudices of education. It may therefore be laid
+down as an axiom, that _infidelity is in general a disease of the heart
+more than of the understanding_. If Revelation were assailed only by
+reason and argument, it would have little to fear. The literary opposers
+of Christianity, from Herbert to Hume, have been seldom read. They made
+some stir in their day: during their span of existence they were noisy
+and noxious; but like the locusts of the east, which for a while obscure
+the air, and destroy the verdure, they were soon swept away and
+forgotten. Their very names would be scarcely found, if Leland had not
+preserved them from oblivion.
+
+The account which has been given, of the secret, but grand, source of
+infidelity, may perhaps justly be extended, as being not seldom true in
+the case of those who deny the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel.
+
+In the course which we lately traced from nominal orthodoxy to absolute
+infidelity, Unitarianism[126] is indeed, a sort of half-way house, if
+the expression may be pardoned; a stage on the journey, where sometimes
+a person indeed finally stops, but where, not unfrequently, he only
+pauses for a while, and then pursues his progress.
+
+The Unitarian teachers by no means profess to absolve their followers
+from the unbending strictness of Christian morality. They prescribe the
+predominant love of God, and an habitual spirit of devotion: but it is
+an unquestionable fact; a fact which they themselves almost admit, that
+this class of religionists is not in general distinguished for superior
+purity of life; and still less for that frame of mind, which, by the
+injunction "to be spiritually, not carnally, minded," the word of God
+prescribes to us, as one of the surest tests of our experiencing the
+vital power of Christianity. On the contrary, in point of fact,
+_Unitarianism_ seems to be resorted to, not merely by those who are
+disgusted with the peculiar doctrines of Christianity; but by those also
+who are seeking a refuge from the strictness of her practical precepts;
+and who, more particularly, would escape from the obligation which she
+imposes on her adherents, rather to incur the dreaded charge of
+singularity, than fall in with the declining manners of a dissipated
+age.
+
+Unitarianism, where it may be supposed to proceed from the understanding
+rather than from the heart, is not unfrequently produced by a confused
+idea of the difficulties, or, as they are termed, the impossibilities
+which orthodox Christianity is supposed to involve. It is not our
+intention to enter into the controversy:[127] but it may not be improper
+to make one remark as a guard to persons in whose way the arguments of
+the Unitarians may be likely to fall; namely, that one great advantage
+possessed by Deists, and perhaps in a still greater degree by
+Unitarians, in their warfare with the Christian system, results from the
+very circumstances of their being the assailants. They urge what they
+state to be powerful arguments against the truth of the fundamental
+doctrines of Christianity, and then call upon men to abandon them as
+posts no longer tenable. But they, who are disposed to yield to this
+assault, should call to mind, that it has pleased God so to establish
+the constitution of all things, that perplexing difficulties and
+plausible objections may be adduced against the most established truths;
+such, for instance, as the being of a God, and many others both physical
+and moral. In all cases, therefore, it becomes us, not on a partial view
+to reject any proposition, because it is attended with difficulties; but
+to compare the difficulties which it involves, with those which attend
+the alternative proposition which must be embraced on its rejection. We
+should put to the proof the alternative proposition in its turn, and see
+whether it be not still less tenable than that which we are summoned to
+abandon. In short, we should examine circumspectly on all sides; and
+abide by that opinion which, on carefully balancing all considerations,
+appears fairly entitled to our preference. Experience, however, will
+have convinced the attentive observer of those around him, that it has
+been for want of adverting to this just and obvious principle, that the
+Unitarians in particular have gained most of their proselytes from the
+Church, so far as argument has contributed to their success. If the
+Unitarians, or even the Deists, were considered in their turn as masters
+of the field; and were in their turn attacked, both by arguments tending
+to disprove their system directly, and to disprove it indirectly, by
+shewing the high probability of the truth of Christianity, and of its
+leading and peculiar doctrines, it is most likely that they would soon
+appear wholly unable to keep their ground. In short, reasoning fairly,
+there is no medium between absolute _Pyrrhonism_ and true Christianity:
+and if we reject the latter on account of its difficulties, we shall be
+still more loudly called upon to reject every other system which has
+been offered to the acceptance of mankind. This consideration might,
+perhaps, with advantage be more attended to than it has been, by those
+who take upon them to vindicate the truth of our holy religion: as many,
+who from inconsideration, or any other cause, are disposed to give up
+the great fundamentals of Christianity, would be startled by the idea,
+that on the same principle on which they did this, they must give up the
+hope of finding any rest for the sole of their foot on any ground of
+Religion, and not stop short of unqualified Atheism.
+
+Besides the class of those who professedly reject revelation, there is
+another, and that also, it is to be feared, an increasing one, which may
+be called the class of half-unbelievers, who are to be found in various
+degrees of approximation to a state of absolute infidelity. The system,
+if it deserve the name, of these men, is grossly irrational. Hearing
+many who assert and many who deny the truth of Christianity, and not
+reflecting seriously enough to consider that it must be either true or
+false, they take up a strange sort of middle opinion of its qualified
+truth. They conceive that there must be something in it, though by no
+means to the extent to which it is pushed by orthodox Christians. They
+grant the reality of future punishment, and even that they themselves
+cannot altogether expect to escape it; yet, "they trust it will not go
+so hard with them as the churchmen state:" and, as was formerly hinted,
+though disbelieving almost every material doctrine which Christianity
+contains; yet, even in their own minds, they by no means conceive
+themselves to be inlisted under the banners of infidelity, or to have
+much cause for any great apprehension lest Christianity should prove
+true.
+
+But let these men be reminded, that there is no middle way. If they can
+be prevailed on to look into their Bible, and do not make up their minds
+absolutely to reject its authority; they must admit that there is no
+ground whatever for this vain hope, which they suffer themselves to
+indulge, of escaping but with a slight measure of punishment. Nor let
+them think their guilt inconsiderable. Is it not grossly criminal to
+trifle with the long-suffering of God, to despise alike his invitations
+and his threatenings, and the offer of his Spirit of grace, and the
+precious blood of the Redeemer? Far different is the Scripture estimate;
+"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" "It shall be
+more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment," than for
+them, who voluntarily shut their eyes against that full light, which the
+bounty of Heaven has poured out upon them. These half-unbelievers are
+even more reprehensible than downright sceptics, for remaining in this
+state of careless uncertainty, without endeavouring to ascertain the
+truth or falsehood of revelation. The probability which they admit, that
+it may be true, imposes on them an additional and an undeniable
+obligation to inquiry. But both to them and to decided sceptics it must
+be plainly declared, that they are in these days less excusable than
+ever, for not looking into the grounds and proofs on which is rested the
+truth of Christianity; for never before were these proofs so _plainly,
+and at so easy a rate_, offered to the consideration of mankind. Through
+the bounty of Providence, the more widely spreading poison of infidelity
+has in our days been met with more numerous and more powerful antidotes.
+One of these has been already pointed out: and it should be matter of
+farther gratitude to every real Christian, that in the very place on
+which modern infidelity had displayed the standard of victory, a warrior
+in the service of Religion, a man of the most acute discernment and
+profound research, has been raised up by Providence to quell their
+triumph[128]. He was soon taken from us; but happily for him and for
+ourselves, not till he had announced, that, like the Magi of old, he had
+seen the star of Christ in the East, and had fallen down and worshipped
+him. Another should be mentioned with honour, who is pursuing the track
+which that great man had pointed out[129]. Henceforth let all objectors
+against Christianity, on the ground of its being disproved by the
+oriental records, be put to silence. The strength of their cause
+consisted in their ignorance, and in our own, of oriental learning. They
+availed themselves for a while of our being in a state of darkness; but
+the light of day has at length broken in and exposed to deserved
+contempt their superficial speculations.
+
+The infatuation of these unbelievers upon trust would be less striking,
+if they were able altogether to decline Christianity; and were at
+liberty to relinquish their pretensions to its rewards, on condition of
+being exempted from its punishments. But that is not the case; they must
+stand the risk of the encounter, and their eternal happiness or misery
+is suspended upon the issue[130]. What must be the emotions of these
+men, on first opening their eyes in the world of spirits, and being
+convinced, too late, of the awful reality of their impending ruin? May
+the mercy and the power of God awaken them from their desperate slumber,
+while life is yet spared, and there is yet space for repentance!
+
+
+SECTION IV.
+
+_Advice suggested by the state of the times to true Christians._
+
+To those, who really deserve the appellation of true Christians, much
+has been said incidentally in the course of the present work. It has
+been maintained, and the proposition will not be disputed by any sound
+or experienced politician, that they are always most important members
+of the community. But we may boldly assert, that there never was a
+period wherein, more justly than in the present, this could be affirmed
+of them; whether the situation, in all its circumstances, of our own
+country be attentively considered, or the general state of society in
+Europe. Let them on their part seriously weigh the important station
+which they fill, and the various duties which it now peculiarly enforces
+on them. If we consult the most intelligent accounts of foreign
+countries, which have been recently published, and compare them with the
+reports of former travellers; we must be convinced, that Religion and
+the standard of morals are every where declining, abroad even more
+rapidly than in our own country. But still, the progress of irreligion,
+and the decay of morals at home, are such as to alarm every considerate
+mind, and to forebode the worst consequences, unless some remedy can be
+applied to the growing evil. We can depend only upon true _Christians_
+for effecting, in any degree, this important service. Their system, as
+was formerly stated, is that of our national church: and in proportion,
+therefore, as their system prevails, or as it increases in respect and
+estimation, from the manifest good conduct of its followers; in that
+very proportion the church is strengthened in the foundations, on which
+alone it can be much longer supported, the esteem and attachment of its
+members, and of the nation at large. Zeal is required in the cause of
+Religion; they only can feel it. The charge of singularity must be
+incurred; they only will dare to encounter it. Uniformity of conduct,
+and perseverance in exertion, will be requisite; among no others can we
+look for those qualities.
+
+Let true Christians then, with becoming earnestness, strive in all
+things to recommend their profession, and to put to silence the vain
+scoffs of ignorant objectors. Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ
+in an age when so many, who bear the name of Christians, are ashamed of
+Him: and let them consider as devolved on Them the important duty of
+suspending for a while the fall of their country, and, perhaps, of
+performing a still more extensive service to society at large; not by
+busy interference in politics, in which it cannot but be confessed there
+is much uncertainty; but rather by that sure and radical benefit of
+restoring the influence of Religion, and of raising the standard of
+morality.
+
+Let them be active, useful, generous towards others; manifestly moderate
+and self-denying in themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness, as
+they would be of the most acknowledged sin. When Providence blesses them
+with affluence, let them withdraw from the competition of vanity; and,
+without sordidness or absurdity, shew by their modest demeanour, and by
+their retiring from display, that, without affecting singularity, they
+are not slaves to fashion; that they consider it as their duty to set an
+example of moderation and sobriety, and to reserve for nobler and more
+disinterested purposes, that money, which others selfishly waste in
+parade, and dress, and equipage. Let them evince, in short, a manifest
+moderation in all temporal things; as becomes those whose affections are
+set on higher objects than any which this world affords, and who
+possess, within their own bosoms, a fund of satisfaction and comfort,
+which the world seeks in vanity and dissipation. Let them cultivate a
+catholic spirit of universal good will, and of amicable fellowship
+towards all those, of whatever sect or denomination, who, differing from
+them in non-essentials, agree with them in the grand fundamentals of
+Religion. Let them countenance men of real piety wherever they are
+found; and encourage in others every attempt to repress the progress of
+vice, and to revive and diffuse the influence of Religion and virtue.
+Let their earnest prayers be constantly offered, that such endeavours
+may be successful, and that the abused long-suffering of God may still
+continue to us the invaluable privilege of vital Christianity.
+
+Let them pray continually for their country in this season of national
+difficulty. We bear upon us but too plainly the marks of a declining
+empire. Who can say but that the Governor of the universe, who declares
+himself to be a God who hears the prayers of his servants, may, in
+answer to their intercessions, for a while avert our ruin, and continue
+to us the fulness of those temporal blessings, which in such abundant
+measure we have hitherto enjoyed[131]. Men of the world, indeed, however
+they may admit the natural operation of natural causes, and may
+therefore confess the effects of Religion and morality in promoting the
+well being of the community; may yet, according to their humour, with a
+smile of complacent pity, or a sneer of supercilious contempt, read of
+the service which real Christians may render to their country, by
+conciliating the favour and calling down the blessing of Providence. It
+may appear in their eyes an instance of the same superstitious weakness,
+as that which prompts the terrified inhabitant of Sicily to bring for
+the image of his tutelar saint, in order to stop the destructive ravages
+of Ætna. We are, however, sure, if we believe the Scripture, that God
+will be disposed to favour the nation to which his servants belong; and
+that, in fact, such as They, have often been the unknown and unhonoured
+instruments of drawing down on their country the blessings of safety and
+prosperity.
+
+But it would be an instance in myself of that very false shame which I
+have condemned in others, if I were not boldly to avow my firm
+persuasion, that _to the decline of Religion and morality our national
+difficulties must both directly and indirectly be chiefly ascribed; and
+that my only solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend not so
+much on her fleets and armies, not so much on the wisdom of her rulers,
+or the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still
+contains many, who, in a degenerate age, love and obey the Gospel of
+Christ; on the humble trust that the intercession of these may still be
+prevalent, that for the sake of these, Heaven may still look upon us
+with an eye of favour._
+
+Let the prayers of the Christian reader be also offered up for the
+success of this feeble endeavour in the service of true Religion. God
+can give effect to the weakest effort; and the writer will feel himself
+too much honoured, if by that which he has now been making, but a single
+fellow creature should be awakened from a false security, or a single
+Christian, who deserves the name, be animated to more extensive
+usefulness. He may seem to have assumed to himself a task which he was
+ill qualified to execute. He fears he may be reproached with arrogance
+and presumption for taking upon him the office of a teacher. Yet, as he
+formerly suggested, it cannot be denied, that it belongs to his public
+situation to investigate the state of the national Religion and morals;
+and that it is the part of a real patriot to endeavour to retard their
+decline, and promote their revival. But if the office, in which he has
+been engaged, were less intimately connected with the duties of his
+particular station, the candid and the liberal mind would not be
+indisposed to pardon him. Let him be allowed to offer in his excuse a
+desire not only to discharge a duty to his country, but to acquit
+himself of what he deems a solemn and indispensable obligation to his
+acquaintance and his friends. Let him allege the unaffected solicitude
+which he feels for the welfare of his fellow creatures. Let him urge the
+fond wish he gladly would encourage; that, while, in so large a part of
+Europe, a false philosophy having been preferred before the lessons of
+revelation, Infidelity has lifted up her head without shame, and walked
+abroad boldly and in the face of day; while the practical consequences
+are such as might be expected, and licentiousness and vice prevail
+without restraint: here at least there might be a sanctuary, a land of
+Religion and piety, where the blessings of Christianity might be still
+enjoyed, where the name of the Redeemer might still be honoured; where
+mankind might be able to see what is, in truth, the Religion of Jesus,
+and what are its blessed effects; and whence, if the mercy of God should
+so ordain it, the means of religious instruction and consolation might
+be again extended to surrounding countries and to the world at large.
+
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+A
+
+_Abuse_ of things, unfairness of arguing from it against their use, 53.
+
+_Acceptance_ with God, commonly prevailing notions respecting it, 85-88.
+  --Scripture, and Church of England, doctrine respecting it, 88-92.
+  --practical consequences, of common notions respecting it, 89.
+  --true doctrine vindicated from objection, 93-94.
+
+_Addison_, quoted, 162.
+
+_Affections_, of their admission into Religion, 57, 58.
+  --their admission into Religion reasonable, 59-62.
+  --true test and measure of them in Religion, 62-65.
+  --in Religion, not barely allowable, but highly necessary, 66-69.
+  --our Saviour the just object of them, 69, 70.
+  --objection, that they are impossible towards an invisible Being,
+    discussed, 71-77.
+  --little excited by public misfortunes, and why, 75, 76.
+  --towards our Saviour, special grounds for them, 77, 78.
+  --divine aid promised for exciting them, 79, 80.
+  --our statements respecting them in Religion verified by facts,
+    80, 81.
+  --religious, St. Paul a striking instance of them, 61.
+
+_Ambition_, votaries of, 125, 126.
+
+_Amiable_ tempers, discussion respecting, 178-198.
+  --substituted for Religion, 179, 180.
+  --value of, estimated by the standard of mere reason, 180.
+  --false pretenders to them, 181.
+  --real nature, when not grounded on Religion, 181, 182.
+  --precarious nature, 182-184.
+  --value of, on Christian principles, 186.
+  --life, Christian's most so, 190, 191.
+  --Christians urged to this, 192-196.
+  --its just praise, 197, 198.
+  --apt to deceive us, 198.
+
+_Applause_, desire of, universal, 146, 147.
+
+
+B.
+
+_Babington_, the reverend Matthew, 259.
+
+_Benevolence_, true Christian, its exalted nature, 287, 288.
+
+_Bacon_, Lord, quoted, 229.
+
+
+C.
+
+_Calumny_, considerations which reconcile the Christian to it,
+           169, 170.
+
+_Charity_, true, what, and its marks, 311, 312.
+
+_Christianity_, vital revival of, would invigorate church establishment,
+                294.
+  --vital, alone suited to lower orders, 295, 296.
+  --the common system, falsely so called, 305.
+  --the truest patriotism, 287-292.
+  --of the world, its base nature, 324.
+  --not a gloomy service, 326-332.
+  --relaxations compatible with, 327, 328.
+  --its solid texture, 332.
+  --general, what so called, 334, 335.
+  --true, requires incessant watchfulness and care, 336.
+  --state in which it finds us, 30-33.
+  --its present critical circumstances, 265-272.
+  --reduced to a system of ethics, proofs of this, 273, 277, 278.
+  --causes, which have tended to produce neglect of her peculiar
+    doctrines, 269, 270, 274-276.
+  --peculiar doctrines of, taught by the oldest divines and highest
+    dignitaries of the English church, 273, 274.
+  --peculiar doctrines gradually fallen into neglect, 276-278.
+  --sad symptoms of its low state among us, 278-280.
+  --objection, that our system of it too strict, stated and answered,
+    280-283.
+  --vital, its happy influence on temporal well-being of communities,
+    283-285.
+  --not hostile to patriotism, 285-287.
+  --from its essential nature, peculiarly adapted to well-being of
+    communities, 290-292.
+  --vital, can alone produce these effects, 293.
+  --excellence of it, in some particulars not commonly noticed, 252-259.
+  --general state of, in England, 262.
+  --its tendency to promote the well-being of political communities,
+    262-288, 292, 293.
+  --has raised the general standard of practice, 264, 265.
+  --sickens in prosperity and flourishes under persecution, 266, 267.
+  --peculiarities of, naturally slide into disuse, 269.
+
+_Christians_, true, duties especially incumbent on them in these times,
+              350-353.
+  --should pray for their country, 351.
+  --their prayers intreated for the success of this work, 353.
+  --ready made, who esteemed such, 318.
+  --real, how different from nominal, 214, 215.
+  --life, illustrated by figure of a traveller, 217-219.
+
+_Commons_, House of, proves inordinate love of worldly glory, 159.
+
+_Consistency_ between Christianity's leading doctrines and practical
+              precepts, 231-252, 253.
+  --between Christianity's leading doctrines amongst each other, 253.
+  --between Christianity's practical precepts amongst each other,
+    253-257.
+
+_Contact_, necessary to produce any interest in our affections,
+           73-78, 81.
+
+_Corruption_ of human nature, common notions of it, 14-16.
+  --of human nature, Scripture account of it, 16, 26, 27.
+  --of human nature, arguments suggested in proof of it, 16-26.
+  --of Heathen world, and striking instance of it, 18, 19.
+  --of savage life, 19, 20.
+  --proof of it, furnished by the state of the Christian world, 20-24.
+  --by the experience of the true Christian, 24, 25.
+  --human, its general effects, when suffered to operate without
+    restraint, 25, 26.
+  --human, firm grounds on which it rests, 35.
+  --human, practical uses of the doctrine, 36.
+
+_Cowper's Task_, recommended, 234-352.
+  --quoted, 251.
+
+
+D.
+
+_Defective_, conceptions generally prevailing concerning importance of
+             Christianity, 1-5.
+  --conceptions concerning human corruption, 15, 16.
+  --conceptions concerning the evil spirit, 28.
+  --conceptions concerning the doctrines, which respect our Saviour and
+    the Holy Spirit, 70, 71, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50.
+  --conceptions concerning the means of acceptance with God, 84-91.
+  --conceptions prevailing concerning practical Christianity, 102-104,
+    117-205.
+  --conceptions of guilt and evil of sin, 206-210.
+  --fear of God, 210.
+  --sense of the difficulty of getting to heaven, 214, 215.
+  --love of God in nominal Christians, 219-221.
+  --love of God, proofs of it in nominal Christians, 221-224.
+  --conceptions general, concerning peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
+    231.
+  --conceptions of peculiarities of Christianity, practical mischiefs
+    from them, 232.
+
+_Depths_, of the things of God; and our proneness to plunge into them,
+          41-43.
+
+_Devotedness_ to God, duty of it, 107-110, 113, 116, 118.
+
+_Dissipated_ and indolent, class of, 121, 122.
+
+_Dissipation_, seems to have prevailed in the antediluvian world, 213.
+
+_Doddridge's_ Sermons on Regeneration, referred to, note, 83.
+
+_Duelling_, its guilt, &c. 159-161.
+
+
+E.
+
+_Error_, innocence of, considered, 10-12.
+
+_Establishment_, religious, in England, how circumstanced, 267.
+
+_Estimation_, desire of, universal, 146, 147.
+  -- common language concerning it, the effects of the love of it, and
+     the nature of the passion, 148-150.
+  -- commendations of it questioned, 151.
+  -- essential defects of inordinate love of it, explained, 152, 153.
+  -- love of, Scripture lessons concerning, 152-156.
+  -- value of, analogous to riches, 156.
+  -- love of, common notions respecting it, 157, 158.
+  -- proofs of our statements respecting it from House of Commons, 159.
+  -- proofs of our statements respecting it from duelling, 159-161.
+  -- real nature of inordinate love of it, 162, 163.
+  -- true Christian's conduct respecting love of it, 164-173.
+  -- true modes of guarding against excessive love of it, 171, 172.
+  -- advice to the true Christian respecting love of it, 174-178.
+  -- love of, best moderated by humility and charity, 176.
+  -- true Christian's temper respecting it, 177.
+
+_Evil_ spirit, the existence and agency not contrary to reason, 28, 29.
+
+_External_ actions substituted for habits of mind, 134, 135.
+
+
+F.
+
+_Faith_, Christian's life, a life of, 137, 138.
+
+_Families_, two, the righteous and the wicked, 212.
+
+_Ferguson_, the historian, 290.
+
+_Fuller's_ Calvinism and Socinianism compared, 344.
+
+_Fundamental_ practical distinction between systems of nominal and real
+              Christians, 237, 250, 251.
+
+
+G.
+
+_General_ tone of morals, Christianity has raised it, 104.
+  --established by consent in every country, 263, 264.
+
+_Geneva_, the effect of theatres, 223.
+
+_Gloomy_ service, false charge that we make Christianity such, 327.
+
+_Glory_, true and false, what properly so called, 153.
+  --Mistakes concerning it, 153.
+
+_Good hearted_ young men, term misapplied, 310.
+
+_Good hearted_ young men, the title disproved, 315.
+
+_Gratitude_, true signs of, 49.
+
+
+H.
+
+_Habits_, of mind forgotten in Religion, 134-146.
+
+_Heavenly mindedness_, best promoted by being much conversant with
+                       peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 250.
+
+_Holy Spirit_, Scripture doctrine concerning, 44, 82, 83.
+  --popular notions concerning, 50-53.
+
+_Honour_, false notions respecting it, 162, 163.
+
+_Horne_, Dr. quoted, 61.
+
+_Humility_, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
+            244, 245.
+  --the ground of Christian graces, 146.
+  --excellent practical effects of, 176.
+
+
+I.
+
+_Ignorance_ of Christianity, common, 5, 6.
+  --criminal, 6, 7.
+
+_Importance_ of Christianity, inadequate conceptions generally
+                              entertained of it, 1-13.
+  --of Christianity, proofs of the inadequate ideas generally
+                     entertained of it, 2-5.
+  --of Christianity, ideas of it given by the Holy Scriptures, 8-10.
+  --of Christianity, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of
+                     Christianity, 240.
+
+_Inconsistency_ of the world's practical system, 255, 256.
+
+_Indifference_ about Christianity generally prevalent, 9.
+  --general towards our Saviour, proofs of, 46-48.
+
+_Infidelity_, common progress of it, 338-342.
+  --a disease of the heart more than of the understanding, 342.
+
+_Innocent_ young women, term how misapplied, 310.
+  --young women, the title disproved, 315.
+
+_Intellectual_ attainments, rated below moral by Christianity, 257-260.
+  --low degree of excellence within our reach, 258.
+
+
+J.
+
+_Jones_, Sir William, a champion for Christianity, 348.
+
+
+K.
+
+_Kenyon_, Lord Chief Justice, commendations of, 302.
+
+
+L.
+
+_Language_, common, concerning the importance of Christianity, 5.
+  --concerning human corruption, 15.
+  --concerning affections towards our Saviour, and Holy Spirit's
+    operations, 51, 52.
+  --concerning terms of acceptance with God, 85-87.
+  --concerning mode of relaxing the strictness of Christian precept,
+    132, 133.
+  --concerning human judicatures, 133.
+  --concerning amiable tempers and useful lives, 179.
+  --common to people desirous of repenting, 235.
+
+_Learning_, votaries of, 127.
+
+_Life_, Christian, illustrated under figure of a traveller, 217-219.
+  --Christian's, a life of faith, 137-140.
+
+_Liturgy_, bad effects to be feared from its disuse, 297.
+
+_Lives_, several mentioned, 336.
+
+_Love_, true signs of it, 46, 47.
+  --of God, its essential characters, 110.
+  --of Christ, justly to be expected of us, 69, 70, 77, 78, 107, 108.
+  --means of exciting it, 99, 100.
+  --of God, defective in nominal Christians, 219, 220.
+  --of God, proofs of its being defective, 220-224.
+  --of fellow-creatures, nominal Christians defective in, 225.
+  --of fellow-creatures, true marks of, 226-229.
+  --of God, best enforced by Christianity's peculiarities, 242.
+  --Christians to cultivate this grace above all others, 324.
+  --its excellent effects in the true Christian, 325.
+  --of fellow-creatures best enforced by peculiar doctrines, 243, 244.
+
+_Low_ standard of practice generally prevailing, 102, 103, 117-135.
+
+_Lower_ classes, not unfit that true doctrine of acceptance should be
+                 stated to them, 93, 94.
+
+
+M.
+
+_McLaurin_, his essays and sermons referred to, 83, 97.
+
+_Maurice_, Mr. a defender of Christianity, 348.
+
+_Maxims_, which prove human corruption, 21.
+
+_Medium_, religious, almost lost, 130.
+
+_Milton_, quoted, 43.
+
+_Moral_, attainments rated above intellectual, by Christianity, 257.
+  --attainments, how much more we can excel in them than in
+                 intellectual ones, 259.
+
+_Moravians_, commendation of, 56.
+
+
+N.
+
+_Natural_ condition of man without Christianity, 31-33.
+
+_Nature_, essential, of true practical Christianity, 129.
+
+_Necessity_, excuse on the plea of, stated, and answered, 36-42.
+  --opponent on the ground of, how best opposed, 37, 38.
+
+_Nominal_ and real Christian, distinction between them most important,
+                              306.
+
+_Novels_, prove how peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into
+          neglect, 277, 278.
+
+
+O.
+
+_Objections_ against the religious affections towards Christ, and
+             against the operations of the Holy Spirit, 50-53.
+  --against human accountableness, discussed, 36-42.
+  --against the religious affections towards Christ, and against the
+    operations of the Holy Spirit, discussed, 53-83.
+
+_Outgrowing_ vices mistaken for forsaking them, 308, 318.
+
+_Owen_, Dr. referred to, 275.
+
+
+P.
+
+_Paley_, Mr. his defence of Christianity noticed, 260, 281.
+
+_Partiality_ in the religious views of nominal Christians, 119-121.
+
+_Particular_, Christians must not fear to be so when required by duty,
+              167.
+
+_Pascal's_ thoughts referred to, 245.
+  --thoughts recommended, 348.
+
+_Peculiar_, doctrines, use, in promoting humility, 244, 245.
+  --in promoting moderation in earthly pursuits, 246.
+  --in promoting cheerfulness in suffering, 247.
+  --in promoting confidence in danger, and patience in suffering,
+    248, 249.
+  --in promoting heavenly mindedness, 250.
+  --doctrines, demand our utmost attention, 94-97.
+  --doctrines, use of, 239.
+  --doctrines, use of, in enforcing importance of Christianity, 240.
+  --doctrines, use of, in enforcing entire surrender to God, 240.
+  --doctrines, use of, in enforcing guilt of sin, and dread of
+    punishment, 241.
+  --in promoting love of God, 241, 242.
+  --in promoting love of fellow-creatures, 243, 244.
+
+_Philosophy_, epicurism and stoicism, 59.
+
+_Pitt_, Mr. slander respecting him refuted--Note 272.
+
+_Pleasure_, the true Christian finds in Religion, 139, 140.
+
+_Pleasures_ of true Religion, 325-332.
+
+_Policy_, mistaken, of compromise with immorality, 301.
+
+_Polished_ state of society no security against progress of immorality,
+           298, 299.
+
+_Political_, good effects from the prevalence of Christianity, as above
+             described, 283-295.
+  --good effects from revival of vital Christianity, 296.
+  --bad effects from its farther decline, 297, 298.
+  --happiness of a Christian nation, 283-287.
+
+_Pomp_ and parade, votaries of, 124.
+
+_Poor_ the, more favourably circumstanced as to Religion, 93, 292.
+
+_Pope_, the Poet, referred to, 246.
+
+_Popular_ notions concerning our Saviour and the Holy Spirit, 46-48.
+
+_Practical_ hints, on importance of Christianity, 13.
+  --on human corruption, 35.
+  --on mode of dealing with a certain description of infidels, 37, 38.
+  --on the means of exciting our affections towards our Saviour,
+    99, 100.
+  --respecting love of estimation, 174-178.
+  --respecting amiable tempers and useful lives, 192.
+  --to naturally sweet tempered, 193.
+  --to naturally rough and austere, 194-199.
+  --to true Christian, when engaged in hurry of worldly affairs,
+    199-204.
+  --to persons desirous of repenting, 235.
+  --respecting uses of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 240-251.
+  --for revival of Religion, 300-304.
+  --to various descriptions, 305-318.
+  --to such as, having been hitherto careless, wish to become true
+    Christians, 318-332.
+  --to some who profess their full assent to fundamental doctrines
+    of Christianity, 333-336.
+  --to Sceptics and Unitarians, 337-345.
+  --to half-unbelievers, 346-348.
+  --to true Christians, from state of times, 349-354.
+  --Christianity, chapter on, 100-251.
+  --prevailing low views of it, 102-104.
+  --Christianity, its real strictness, 105, 106.
+  --its true nature, 107-110.
+  --charged on all without exception in its full strictness, 111-115.
+  --mischiefs of neglect of peculiarities of Christianity, 232.
+  --distinction, fundamental, between systems of nominal and real
+    Christians, 231-234.
+  --precepts of Christianity, most excellent, 260.
+  --use of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 238.
+
+_Prevailing_, low views of practical Christianity, proofs of them, 104.
+  --inadequate sense of peculiar doctrines of Christians, 231, &c.
+
+_Probation_, notion of, disproves prevailing system of Religion, 317.
+
+_Proof_ of Christianity's divine origin, 260-262.
+
+_Puritans_, many of their writings commended, 275.
+
+
+R.
+
+_Religion_, practical hints for its revival, 300-305.
+  -- the only true support in trouble and peril, 332.
+
+_Repentance_, advice for such as are disposed to, 318-324.
+
+_Reputation_, true Christian's conduct respecting it, 164-178.
+  -- true Christian preserves, without over-valuing it, 167-170.
+
+_Richardson_, mentioned, 278.
+
+_Robertson_, Dr. censured, 279.
+
+_Rousseau_, school of, 204, 205.
+
+
+S.
+
+_Scepticism_, natural history of it, 338-340.
+
+_Sceptics_ and Unitarians, advantage they have in attacking
+                           Christianity, 344, 345.
+
+_Scripture_ doctrine, importance of, to Christianity, 8-10.
+  -- doctrine, concerning human corruption, 14-27.
+  -- doctrine, concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit, 43, 44.
+
+_Self-deception_, frequent sources of, 306-318.
+  -- another common kind, 333-335.
+
+_Self-examination_, helps in, 306.
+
+_Selfishness_ of common practical Religion, 121-127.
+  -- the disease of political societies, 288.
+  -- peculiarly counteracted by Christianity, 291, 292.
+
+_Sensibility_, exquisite, how little truly valuable, and how different
+               from true practical benevolence, 204, 205.
+
+_Sensualists_ class of, 123.
+
+_Sin_, how spoken of in Scripture, 211.
+  -- defective conceptions of, 207.
+
+_Sincerity_, false notion of it, 10-12.
+  -- true what, 13.
+
+_Sins_, no little ones, 210, 211.
+  -- little, what accounted such, 208.
+
+_Smith_, Dr. _Adam_, 76. 188, 189. 279.
+
+_Soame Jenyns_, his View of the Internal Evidence of Christianity
+                referred to, 6. 281.
+
+_Sophistry_, with which Religion is explained away, 133.
+
+_Stage_ the, proof from its being frequented by nominal Christians of
+             their defective love of God, 221-224. 230, 231.
+  -- proof from, illustrated by political analogy, 223.
+
+_Statutes_, Religion made a set of, 131, 132.
+
+_Sterne_ strongly censured, 206.
+
+_Strictness_ of true practical Christianity, 105, 106.
+  -- of our system, objected to, as not suited to the state of the
+     world, 280, 281.
+  -- the charge refuted, 281, 282.
+
+_Sunday_, hints for its employment, 141, 142.
+  -- common modes of unhallowing it, 143-145.
+
+_Supreme_ regard to be set on God, 60. 112-129.
+
+_Swift's_ Tale of a Tub, quoted, 132, 133.
+
+
+T.
+
+_Taste_, votaries of, 127.
+
+_Tempers_, Christian, not cultivated, 136-146.
+  -- respecting human estimation, 165-168.
+  -- respecting calumny and disgrace, 170.
+  -- when too much immersed in worldly business, 201-204.
+
+_Theatres_, Parisian, 223.
+
+_Theatrical_ entertainments prove defective love of God, 222.
+
+_Theatrical_ entertainments prove defective love of our neighbour,
+             230, 231.
+  -- entertainments, illustrated by political analogy, 223.
+
+
+U.
+
+_Unbelievers, half_; a class of them, 346.
+
+_Uncharitableness_, what falsely so called, 312.
+
+_Unitarianism_ often results from same causes as absolute scepticism,
+               343.
+
+_Useful_ lives, discussion concerning, 178.
+  -- substituted for Religion, 179.
+  -- value of, estimated by standard of mere reason, 185.
+  -- real worth of, on Christian principles, 186-188.
+  -- life, the Christian's life the most so, 191.
+  -- Christians urged to, 192.
+  -- its just praise given to, 197.
+  -- apt to mislead us, 198.
+
+
+V.
+
+_Vice_, some one always excused, 308-310.
+
+_Vices_, outgrowing or changing them, mistaken for forsaking all sin,
+         308-310.
+
+_Vulgarity_ in Religion, as to language, to be expected from vulgar
+            men, 56.
+
+
+W.
+
+_Wealth_, votaries of, 125, 126.
+
+_Women_, more disposed than men to Religion, and uses to be made of
+         this, 313.
+  -- exalted office assigned to them, 314.
+
+_Witherspoon_, 275.
+
+
+Y.
+
+_Youth_, simplicity of, mistaken for Religion, 313.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[Footnote 1: It is almost superfluous to name Mr. SOAME JENYNS.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Exempla duo, quæ pravitatis humanæ vim animo meo luculenter
+exhibent, non proferre non possum. Alterum decens ille Virgilius,
+alterum Cicero, probus idem verique studiosus, suppeditat. Virgilius,
+innocuam certe pastorum vitam depicturus, ita incipit.
+
+    "Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim."
+
+Cicero in libro de Officiis primo, ubi de actionibus prout inter se apte
+& convenientes sint, loci, temporis, & agentis ratione habita, disserit,
+argumentum sic illustrat: "Turpe est enim, valdeque vitiosum, in re
+severa, convivio dignum, aut delicatum aliquem inferre sermonem. Bene
+Pericles, quum haberet collegam in prætura Sophoclem poetam, hique de
+communi officio convenissent, & casu formosus puer præteriret,
+dixissetque Sophocles, O pueram pulchrum Pericle! At enim, inquit
+Pericles, prætorem Sophoclem decet non solum manus, sed etiam oculus
+abstinentes habere. Atqui hoc idem Sophocles, si in athletarum
+probatione dixisset, _justa reprehensione caruisset, tanta vis est, &
+loci & temporis_."
+
+Quomodo sese res habuisse necesse est, cum vir antiquorum
+prestantissimis adscribendus, philosophiam, immo mores & officia
+tractans, talia doceret! Qualem sibi ipse virtutis normam proposuerat,
+satis liquet. Vide inter alia, _justa reprehensione_, &c. &c; & _tanta
+vis est_, &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Robertson, Vol. II. p. 130.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Robertson, Book IV. Sect. 2. Head, Condition of Women,
+vol. ii. 8vo. 90, 91.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Job xv. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Job xv. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Psalm xiv. 2, 3.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Prov. xx. 9.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Psalm cxxxix. 3.]
+
+[Footnote 10: I Chron. xxviii. 9.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Prov. i. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Vide Butler's Analogy.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Heb. x. 27.]
+
+[Footnote 14: Philippians, ii. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 15: John, v. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 16: James, i. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 17: 2 Peter, iii. 9.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Ezek. xviii. 23.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Ezek. xviii. 32.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Psalm cxlvii. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Rom. xi. 33.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Psalm xcvii. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Deut. xxix. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Matt. xi. 28]
+
+[Footnote 25: This was the motto on their banner.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Title of Attila king of the Huns, whose desolating ravages
+are well known.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Vide the testimony of West India merchants to the
+Moravians, in the Report of the Privy Council on the Slave Trade.]
+
+[Footnote 28: Rom. xii. 1.]
+
+[Footnote 29: Dr. HORNE.]
+
+[Footnote 30: 2 Cor. viii. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Isaiah, liii. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Philip. ii. 6, 7, 8.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Luke, ii. 10, 11.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Col. i. 12, 13.]
+
+[Footnote 35: Ephes. i. 18.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Col. i. 27.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Heb. xiii. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 38: 1 John, iv. 20.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Dr. ADAM SMITH. Vide Theory of Moral Sentiments.]
+
+[Footnote 40: 1 Pet. i. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 41: Heb. iv. 15.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Isaiah, xl. 11.]
+
+[Footnote 43: Isaiah, xlix. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 44: The word Comfortless is rendered in the margin Orphans.]
+
+[Footnote 45: John, xiv. 18.]
+
+[Footnote 46: 1 Cor. xiii. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 47: Eph. ii. 1. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 48: Col. i. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 49: Ephes. ii. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 50: 2 Cor. vi. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 51: Col. iii. 9, 10.]
+
+[Footnote 52: Ephes. ii. 22.]
+
+[Footnote 53: Vide DR. DODDRIDGE's eight Sermons on Regeneration, a most
+valuable compilation; and McLAURIN's Essay on Divine Grace.]
+
+[Footnote 54: Rom. iv. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 55: Ibid. v. 6-8.]
+
+[Footnote 56: The Writer trusts he cannot be misunderstood to mean that
+any, continuing sinners and ungodly, can, by believing, be accepted or
+finally saved. The following chapter, particularly the latter part of
+it, (Section vi.) would abundantly vindicate him from any such
+misconstruction. Meanwhile, he will only remark, that true faith (in
+which repentance is considered as involved) is in Scripture regarded as
+_the radical principle of holiness_. If the root exist, the proper
+fruits will be brought forth. An attention to this consideration would
+have easily explained and reconciled those passages of St. Paul's and
+St. James's Epistles, which have furnished so much matter of argument
+and criticism. St. James, it may be observed, all along speaks of a man,
+not who _has_ faith, but who _says_ that he has faith.
+Vide James ii. 14. &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 57: Vide Note Ch. iv. Sect. vi.]
+
+[Footnote 58: Gal. vi. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 59: I Cor. i. 30.]
+
+[Footnote 60: Rev. i. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 61: John, vi. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 62: 1 John, iii. 23.]
+
+[Footnote 63: Nec Deus intersit, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 64: Vide Heb. ii. 1, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 65: Any one who wishes to investigate this subject will do
+well to study attentively McLAURIN's Essay on Prejudices against the
+Gospel.--It may not be amiss here to direct the reader's attention to a
+few leading arguments, many of them those of the work just recommended.
+Let him maturely estimate the force of those terms, whereby the Apostle
+in the following passages designates and characterizes the whole of the
+Christian system. "We preach Christ crucified"--"We determined to know
+nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The value of
+this argument will be acknowledged by all who consider, that a system is
+never designated by an immaterial or an inferior part of it, but by that
+which constitutes its prime consideration and essential distinction. The
+conclusion suggested by this remark is confirmed by the Lord's Supper
+being the rite by which our Saviour himself commanded his Disciples to
+keep him in remembrance; and indeed a similar lesson is taught by the
+Sacrament of Baptism, which shadows out our souls being washed and
+purified by the blood of Christ. Observe next the frequency with which
+our Saviour's death and sufferings are introduced, and how often they
+are urged as practical motives.
+
+"The minds of the Apostles seem full of this subject. Every thing put
+them in mind of it; they did not allow themselves to have it long out of
+their view, nor did any other branch of spiritual instruction make them
+lose sight of it." Consider next that part of the Epistle to the Romans,
+wherein St. Paul speaks of some who went about to establish their own
+righteousness, and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of
+God. May not this charge be in some degree urged, and even more strongly
+than in the case of the Jews, against those who satisfy themselves with
+vague, general, occasional thoughts of our Saviour's mediation; and the
+source of whose habitual complacency, as we explained above, is rather
+their being tolerably well satisfied with their own characters and
+conduct? Yet St. Paul declares concerning those of whom he speaks, as
+concerning persons whose sad situation could not be too much lamented,
+that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart, adding
+still more emphatical expressions of deep and bitter regret.
+
+Let the Epistle to the Galatians be also carefully examined and
+considered; and let it be fairly asked, what was the particular in which
+the Judaizing Christians were defective, and the want of which is spoken
+of in such strong terms as these; that it frustrates the grace of God,
+and must debar from all the benefits of the death of Jesus? The
+Judaizing converts were not immoral. They seem to have admitted the
+chief tenets concerning our Saviour. But they appear to have been
+disposed to trust (_not wholly, be it observed also, but only in part_)
+for their acceptance with God, to the Mosaic institutions, instead of
+reposing wholly on the merits of Christ. Here let it be remembered, that
+when a compliance with these institutions was not regarded as conveying
+this inference, the Apostle shewed by his own conduct, that he did not
+deem it criminal; whence, no less than from the words of the Epistle, it
+is clear that the offence of the Judaizing Christians whom he condemned,
+was what we have stated; not their obstinately continuing to adhere to a
+dispensation the ceremonial of which Christianity had abrogated, or
+their trusting to the sacrifices of the Levitical Law, which were in
+their own nature inefficacious for the blotting out of sin.--
+Vide Heb. vii. viii. ix. x.]
+
+[Footnote 66: Rev. v. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 67: ib. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 68: 2 Cor. xiii. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 69: 1 John, iii. 17.--Rom. xvi. 18.--Compared with
+Philippians, iii. 19.]
+
+[Footnote 70: 2 Tim. iii. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 71: Matt. x. 37.]
+
+[Footnote 72: Jerem. ix. 23.]
+
+[Footnote 73: It will be remembered by the reader, that it is not the
+object of this work to animadvert on the vices, defects, and erroneous
+opinions of the times, except so far as they are received into the
+prevailing religious system, or are tolerated by it, and are not thought
+sufficient to prevent a man from being esteemed on the whole a very
+tolerable Christian.]
+
+[Footnote 74: Vide Tale of a Tub.]
+
+[Footnote 75: Vide Tale of a Tub.]
+
+[Footnote 76: Isaiah, ii. 11.]
+
+[Footnote 77: Vide Hey's Tract, Rousseau's Eloisa, and many periodical
+Essays and Sermons.]
+
+[Footnote 78: Vide "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath
+committed adultery with her, &c." Matt. v. 28.]
+
+[Footnote 79: The writer cannot omit this opportunity of declaring, that
+he should long ago have brought this subject before the notice of
+Parliament, but for a perfect conviction that he should probably thereby
+only give encouragement to a system he wishes to see at an end. The
+practice has been at different periods nearly stopped by positive laws,
+in various nations on the Continent; and there can be little doubt of
+the efficacy of what has been more than once suggested--a Court of
+Honour; to take cognizance of such offences as would naturally fall
+within its province. The effects of this establishment would doubtless
+require to be enforced by legislative provisions, directly punishing the
+practice; and by discouraging at court, and in the military and naval
+situations, all who should directly or indirectly be guilty of it.]
+
+[Footnote 80: Vide, in particular a paper in the Guardian, by ADDISON,
+on Honour, Vol. ii.]
+
+[Footnote 81: Vide SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]
+
+[Footnote 82: The writer hopes that the work to which he is referring is
+so well known, that he needs scarcely name Mrs. H. More.]
+
+[Footnote 83: See SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]
+
+[Footnote 84: While all are worthy of blame, who, to qualities like
+these, have assigned a more exalted place than to religious and moral
+principle; there is one writer who, eminently culpable in this respect,
+deserves, on another account, still severer reprehension. Really
+possessed of powers to explore and touch the finest strings of the human
+heart, and bound by his sacred profession to devote those powers to the
+service of religion and virtue, he every where discovers a studious
+solicitude to excite indecent ideas. We turn away our eyes with disgust
+from open immodesty: but even this is less mischievous than that more
+measured style, which excites impure images, without shocking us by the
+grossnesses of the language. Never was delicate sensibility proved to be
+more distinct from plain practical benevolence, than in the writings of
+the author to whom I allude. Instead of employing his talents for the
+benefit of his fellow-creatures, they were applied to the pernicious
+purposes of corrupting the national taste, and of lowering the standard
+of manners and morals. The tendency of his writings is to vitiate that
+purity of mind, intended by Providence as the companion and preservative
+of youthful virtue; and to produce, if the expression may be permitted,
+_a morbid sensibility in the perception of indecency_. An imagination
+exercised in this discipline is never _clean_, but seeks for and
+discovers something indelicate in the most common phrases and actions of
+ordinary life. If the general style of writing and conversation were to
+be formed on that model, to which Sterne used his utmost endeavours to
+conciliate the minds of men, there is no estimating the effects which
+would soon be produced on the manners and morals of the age.]
+
+[Footnote 85: Vide SMITH on the Wealth of Nations, Vol. iii.]
+
+[Footnote 86: Vide the Grammarians and Dialecticians on the Diminutives
+of the Italian and other languages.]
+
+[Footnote 87: Many more might be added, such as a good fellow, a good
+companion, a libertine, a little free, a little loose in talk, wild,
+gay, jovial, being no man's enemy but his own, &c. &c. &c. &c; above
+all, _having a good heart_.]
+
+[Footnote 88: Gal. v. 19-21. Col. iii. 5-9.]
+
+[Footnote 89: Job, xxviii. 28. Psalm, cxi. 10. Prov. i. 7.--ix. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 90: 2 Peter, iii. 10, 11.]
+
+[Footnote 91: Col. i. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 92: It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the word is to be
+understood in a large sense, as including the Opera, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 93: Geneva--It is worthy of remark, that the play houses have
+multiplied extremely in Paris since the revolution; and that last winter
+there were twenty open every night, and all crowded. It should not be
+left unobserved, and it is seriously submitted to the consideration of
+those who regard the stage as a school of morals, that the pieces which
+were best composed, best acted, and most warmly and generally applauded,
+were such as abounded in touches of delicate sensibility. The people of
+Paris have never been imagined to be more susceptible, than the
+generality of mankind, of these emotions, and this is not the particular
+period when the Parisians have been commonly conceived most under their
+influence. Vide Journal d'un Voyageur Neutre. The author of the work
+expresses himself as astonished by the phænomenon, and as unable to
+account for it.]
+
+[Footnote 94: The author is almost afraid of using the terms, lest they
+should convey an impression of party feelings, of which he wishes this
+book to exhibit no traces; but he here means by Democrats and Jacobins,
+not persons on whom party violence fastens the epithet, but persons who
+are really and avowedly such.]
+
+[Footnote 95: LORD BACON.]
+
+[Footnote 96: If any one would read a description of this process,
+enlivened and enforced by the powers of the most exquisite poetry, let
+him peruse the middle and latter part of the fifth Book of COWPER'S
+Task. My warm attachment to the exquisitely natural compositions of this
+truly Christian poet may perhaps bias my judgment; but the part of the
+work to which I refer appears to me scarcely surpassed by any thing in
+our language. The honourable epithet of _Christian_ may justly be
+assigned to a poet, whose writings, while they fascinate the reader by
+their manifestly coming from the heart, breathe throughout the spirit of
+that character of Christianity, with which she was announced to the
+world; "Glory to God, peace on earth, good will towards men."]
+
+[Footnote 97: Here again let it be remarked, that faith, where genuine,
+always supposes repentance, abhorrence of sin, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 98: Heb. xii. 1, 2.]
+
+[Footnote 99: It has been well remarked that the word used, where it is
+said, that God "was PLEASED to bruise" and put to grief his only Son for
+us, is the same word as that wherein it was declared by a voice from
+Heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."]
+
+[Footnote 100: Vide Chap. iii. Where these were shewn to be the
+elementary principles of the passion of love.]
+
+[Footnote 101: Rom. v. 9. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 102: John xiii. 13-17. If I then, your Lord and Master, have
+washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 103: Vide Pascal's Thoughts on Religion--A book abounding in
+the deepest views of practical Christianity.]
+
+[Footnote 104: Pope.]
+
+[Footnote 105: The _Hell_, so called, be it observed, not by way of
+reproach, but familiarity, by those who frequent it.]
+
+[Footnote 106: Eph. ii.]
+
+[Footnote 107: The Rev. Matthew Babington of Temple Rothley, in
+Leicestershire, who died lately at Lisbon.]
+
+[Footnote 108: The author must acknowledge himself indebted to Dr. OWEN
+for this illustration.]
+
+[Footnote 109: The author here alludes to what happened within his own
+knowledge; and he has been assured by others, on whose testimony he can
+rely, of several similar instances. But to prevent misconstruction as to
+the incident which mainly gives rise to the remark, he thinks it
+necessary to declare, that the account, which appeared in some of the
+news-papers, of an entertainment having been given by Mr. Pitt on the
+Fast Day, is untrue; and he is glad of the opportunity, which the
+mention of this subject affords him, of contradicting a statement which
+he can positively affirm to have been false. This is one of the many
+instances which should enforce on the readers of news-papers, the _duty_
+of not _hastily_ giving credit to reports to the disadvantage of _any_
+man, of _any_ party. A person in a public station must often acquiesce
+under the grossest calumnies; unless he will undertake the vain and
+endless task of contradicting all the falsehoods which prejudice may
+conceive, and malignity propagate against him.--The writer may perhaps
+express himself with the more feeling on this subject; because he has
+often been, and, indeed, at this very moment is, in the circumstances
+which he has stated.]
+
+[Footnote 110: I must beg leave to class among the brightest ornaments
+of the Church of England, this great man, who with his brethren was so
+shamefully ejected from the church in 1666, in violation of the royal
+word, as well as of the clear principles of justice. With his
+controversial pieces I am little acquainted: but his practical writings,
+in four massy folios, are a treasury of Christian wisdom; and it would
+be a most valuable service to mankind to revise them, and perhaps to
+abridge them, so as to render them more suited to the taste of modern
+readers. This has been already done in the case of his Dying Thoughts, a
+beautiful little piece, and of his Saints' Rest. His Life also, written
+by himself, and in a separate volume, contains much useful matter, and
+many valuable particulars of the history of the times of Charles I.
+Cromwell, &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 111: Let me by no means be understood to censure all the
+sectaries without discrimination. Many of them, and some who by the
+unhappy circumstances of the times became objects of notice in a
+political view, were men of great erudition, deep views of Religion, and
+unquestionable piety: and though the writings of the puritans are
+prolix; and according to the fashion of their age, rendered rather
+perplexed than clear by multiplied divisions and subdivisions; yet they
+are a mine of wealth, in which any one who will submit to some degree of
+labour will find himself well rewarded for his pains. In particular the
+writings of Dr. OWEN, Mr. HOWE, and Mr. FLAVELL, well deserve this
+character: of the first mentioned author, there are two pieces which I
+would especially recommend to the reader's perusal, one, on Heavenly
+Mindedness, abridged by Dr. MAYO; the other, on the Mortification of Sin
+in Believers. While I have been speaking in terms of such high, and, I
+trust, such just eulogium of many of the teachers of the Church of
+England; this may not be an improper place to express the high
+obligations which we owe to the Dissenters, for many excellent
+publications. Of this number are Dr. EVANS'S Sermons on the Christian
+Temper; and that most useful book, the Rise and Progress of Religion in
+the Soul, by Dr. DODDRIDGE; also, his Life, by ORTON, and Letters; and
+two volumes of Sermons, one on Regeneration, the other on the Power and
+Grace of Christ: May the writer be permitted to embrace this opportunity
+of recommending two volumes, published separately, of Sermons, by the
+late Dr. WITHERSPOON, President of the College of New Jersey.]
+
+[Footnote 112: Vide Section vi. of the ivth Chapter, where we have
+expressly and fully treated of this most important truth.]
+
+[Footnote 113: No exceptions have fallen within my own reading, but the
+writings of RICHARDSON.]
+
+[Footnote 114: It is with pain that the author finds himself compelled
+to place so great a writer as Dr. ROBERTSON in this class. But, to say
+nothing of his phlegmatic account of the reformation; a subject which we
+should have thought likely to excite in any one, who united the
+character of a Christian Divine with that of an Historian, some warmth
+of pious gratitude for the good providence of God; to pass over also the
+ambiguity, in which he leaves his readers as to his opinion of the
+authenticity of the Mosaic chronology, in his disquisitions on the trade
+of India; his letters to Mr. GIBBON, lately published, cannot but excite
+emotions of regret and shame in every sincere Christian. The author
+hopes, that he has so far explained his sentiments as to render it
+almost unnecessary to remark, what, however, to prevent misconstruction,
+he must here declare, that so far from approving, he must be understood
+decidedly to condemn, a hot, a contentious, much more an abusive manner
+of opposing or of speaking of the assailants of Christianity. The
+Apostle's direction in this respect cannot be too much attended to. "The
+servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to
+teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if
+God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the
+truth." (2 Timothy, ii. 24, 25.)]
+
+[Footnote 115: Mr. HUME.]
+
+[Footnote 116: Vide Dr. A. Smith's Letter to W. Strahan, Esq.]
+
+[Footnote 117: What is here stated must be acknowledged by all, be their
+political opinions concerning French events what they may; and it makes
+no difference in the writer's view of the subject, whether the state of
+morals was or was not, quite, or nearly, as bad, before the French
+revolution.]
+
+[Footnote 118: SOAME JENYNS.]
+
+[Footnote 119: PALEY'S Evidence.]
+
+[Footnote 120: See especially that great historian, FERGUSON, who, in
+his Essay on Civil Society, endeavours to vindicate the cause of heroism
+from the censure conveyed by the poet:
+
+    "From Macedonia's madman to the Swede."
+
+]
+
+[Footnote 121: Such seems to be the just rendering of the word which our
+Testament translates, "did not like to retain God in their knowledge."]
+
+[Footnote 122: It is a gratification to the writer's personal, as well
+as public feelings, to pay this tribute of respect to the character of
+Lord Chief Justice KENYON.]
+
+[Footnote 123: This is not thrown out rashly, but asserted on the
+writer's own knowledge.]
+
+[Footnote 124: "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my
+God," (says David) "of that which doth cost me nothing."
+2 Sam. xxiv. 24.
+
+"They," (the Apostles) "departed from the presence of the council,
+rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of
+Jesus." Acts v. 41. See also 1 Thess. i. 6.  Heb. x. 34.  James i. 2.
+1 Peter iv. 13, 14.
+
+Such are the marks exhibited in Scripture of a true love to God: and
+though our regard for our common Lord is not put to the same severe
+test, as that of the Apostles and first Christians was; yet, if the same
+principle existed in us also, it would surely dispose us to act in the
+_spirit_ of that conduct; and prompt us rather to be willing to exceed
+in self denials and labours for Christ's sake, than to be so forward as
+we are to complain, whenever we are called upon to perform or to abstain
+from any thing, though in an instance ever so little contrary to our
+inclinations.]
+
+[Footnote 125: It may not be amiss to mention a few useful publications
+of this sort. Walton's Lives, particularly the last edition by Mr.
+Zouch; Gilpin's Lives; the Lives of Bishop Bedell and Bishop Bull; of
+Archbishop Usher; some extracts from Burnet of the Life of the
+incomparable Leighton, prefixed to a volume of the latter's Sermons;
+Passages of the Life of Lord Rochester, by Burnet; the Life of Sir
+Matthew Hale; of the excellent Doddridge, by Orton; of Henry, father and
+son; of Mather; of Halyburton; Hampson's and Whitehead's Life of Wesley;
+Life of Baxter, by himself, &c. &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 126: The author is aware, that he may perhaps be censured for
+conceding this term to the class of persons now in question, since
+orthodox Christians equally contend for the unity of the Divine Nature:
+and it perhaps may hardly be a sufficient excuse, that, it not being his
+object particularly to refute the errors of Unitarianism, he uses the
+term in its popular sense rather than give needless offence. He thus
+guards, however, against any false construction being drawn from his use
+of it.]
+
+[Footnote 127: The author of this treatise has, since its completion,
+perused a work entitled, Calvinism and Socinianism compared, by A.
+FULLER, &c; and, without reference to the peculiarities of Calvinism, he
+is happy to embrace this opportunity of confessing the high obligation
+which, in common with all the friends of true Religion, he owes to the
+author of that highly valuable publication for his masterly defence of
+the doctrines of Christianity, and his acute refutation of the opposite
+errors.]
+
+[Footnote 128: It is almost superfluous to state, that Sir WILLIAM JONES
+is here meant, who, from the testimony borne to his extraordinary
+talents by Sir John Shore, in his first address to the Asiatic Society
+of Calcutta, appears to have been a man of most extraordinary genius and
+astonishing erudition.]
+
+[Footnote 129: Mr. MAURICE.]
+
+[Footnote 130: This argument is pressed with uncommon force in PASCAL'S
+Thoughts on Religion, a work highly valuable, though not in every part
+to be approved; abounding in particular with those deep views of
+Religion, which the name of its author prepares us to expect.]
+
+[Footnote 131: Vide, some exquisitely beautiful lines in the last book
+of Cowper's Task, wherein this sentiment is introduced.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+Page numbers refer to the original text.
+Footnote numbers refer to this transcribed version.
+
+p54: Repeated "a" has been removed.
+
+p83: Comma has been changed to full stop after "Almighty power".
+
+p95: Nested double quotes have been changed to single quotes.
+
+p106: Omitted word "in" has been added to "as it is Heaven".
+
+p350: "the only can feel it" has been changed to "they only can feel
+it".
+
+Fn 65: The footnote at the end of this footnote has been placed inline.
+
+Fn 131: "Some" has been changed to "some".
+
+Index-Affections, religious: - Repeated word "of" has been removed.
+
+Index section "V" preceded "U" in the original. This has been corrected.
+
+All footnotes have been moved to the end of the text and numbered
+sequentially.
+
+Some words were spelt, hyphenated, or had apostrophes placed,
+inconsistently within the text. These have been silently corrected to
+match the form most frequently used in the text.
+
+Where scanned text was unclear, the 1834 edition has been consulted.
+
+Unless due to a clear typographic error, consistent differences from
+modern usage have been retained, such as spellings (e.g. prophane),
+hyphenation (e.g. to-day), and punctuation (e.g. omission of commas
+following full stops in lists and the Index).
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical View of the Prevailing
+Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity., by William Wilberforce
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+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Practical View, &amp;c., by William Wilberforce.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical View of the Prevailing
+Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity., by William Wilberforce
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.
+
+Author: William Wilberforce
+
+Release Date: June 6, 2008 [EBook #25709]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROFESSED CHRISTIANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Shimmin, Nigel Blower, Greg Alethoup
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+</pre>
+
+<div class="notes">
+<p><b>Transcriber&#8217;s Notes:</b></p>
+
+<p>All footnotes have been moved to the end of the text and numbered
+sequentially. Links to the Index and Footnotes sections have been
+added to the Table of Contents.</p>
+
+<p>Some words were spelt, hyphenated, or had apostrophes placed,
+inconsistently within the text. These have been silently corrected
+to match the form most frequently used in the text.</p>
+
+<p>Where scanned text was unclear, the 1834 edition has been consulted.</p>
+
+<p>Unless due to a clear typographic error, consistent differences from
+modern usage have been retained, such as spellings (e.g. prophane),
+hyphenation (e.g. to-day), and punctuation (e.g. omission of commas
+following full stops in lists and the Index).</p>
+
+<p>Inconsistent style of Section headings are as in the original</p>
+
+<p>Pop-up transcriber&#8217;s notes at specific points can also be seen by
+hovering the mouse over text underlined in red,
+<span class="tn" title="Transcriber&#8217;s Note">like this</span>.</p>
+</div>
+
+<h1><span class="small">A</span><br />
+PRACTICAL VIEW<br />
+<span class="small">OF THE</span><br />
+<span class="medium">PREVAILING RELIGIOUS SYSTEM</span><br />
+<span class="small">OF</span><br />
+PROFESSED CHRISTIANS,<br />
+<span class="small">IN THE</span><br />
+<span class="medium">HIGHER AND MIDDLE CLASSES</span><br />
+<span class="small">IN THIS</span><br />
+COUNTRY,<br />
+<span class="small">CONTRASTED WITH</span><br />
+REAL CHRISTIANITY.</h1>
+
+<hr class="titlepage" />
+
+<h4>By WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, Esq;<br />
+<span class="medium">MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE COUNTY OF YORK.</span></h4>
+
+<hr class="titlepage" />
+
+<div style="margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;width: 26em;">
+<br />
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Search the Scriptures!&mdash;&mdash;
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+<span class="smcap">John</span>, v. 39.</span>
+</div></div>
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">How charming is DIVINE PHILOSOPHY!</span>
+<span class="i0">Not harsh, and crabbed, as dull Fools suppose,</span>
+<span class="i0">But Musical as is Apollo&#8217;s lute,</span>
+<span class="i0">And a perpetual feast of nectar&#8217;d sweets,</span>
+<span class="i0">Where no crude surfeit reigns.
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+<span class="smcap">Milton</span>.</span></div></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="titlepage" />
+
+<h4>DUBLIN:<br />
+Printed by Robert Dapper,<br />
+FOR B. DUGDALE, NO. 6, DAME-STREET.</h4>
+
+<hr class="titlepage" />
+
+<h4>M.DCC.XCVII.</h4>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2>
+
+<p>It has been, for several years, the earnest wish of the writer of the
+following pages to address his countrymen on the important subject of
+Religion; but the various duties of his public station, and a
+constitution incapable of much labour, have obstructed the execution of
+his purpose. Long has he been looking forward to some vacant season, in
+which he might devote his whole time and attention to this interesting
+service, free from the interruption of all other concerns; and he has
+the rather wished for this opportunity of undistracted and mature
+reflection, from a desire
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>
+that what he might send into the world might
+thus be rendered less undeserving of the public eye. Meanwhile life is
+wearing away, and he daily becomes more and more convinced, that he
+might wait in vain for this season of complete vacancy. He must,
+therefore, improve such occasional intervals of leisure as may occur to
+him in the course of a busy life, and throw himself on the Reader&#8217;s
+indulgence for the pardon of such imperfections, as the opportunity of
+undiverted and more mature attention might have enabled him to discover
+and correct.</p>
+
+<p>But the plea here suggested is by no means intended as an excuse for the
+opinions which he shall express, if they be found mistaken. Here, if he
+be in an error, it is however a deliberate error. He would indeed
+account himself unpardonable, if he were to intrude his first thoughts
+upon the Public on a question of such importance; and he can truly
+declare, that what he shall offer will be the result
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>
+of much reading, observation, and inquiry, and of long, serious,
+and repeated consideration.</p>
+
+<p>It is not improbable that he may be accused of deviating from his proper
+line, and of impertinently interfering in the concerns of a Profession
+to which he does not belong. If it were necessary, however, to defend
+himself against this charge, he might shelter himself under the
+authority of many most respectable examples. But surely to such an
+accusation it may be sufficient to reply, that it is the duty of every
+man to promote the happiness of his fellow-creatures to the utmost of
+his power; and that he who thinks he sees many around him, whom he
+esteems and loves, labouring under a fatal error, must have a cold
+heart, or a most confined notion of benevolence, if he could refrain
+from endeavouring to set them right, lest in so doing he should be
+accused of stepping out of his proper walk, and expose himself on that
+ground to the imputation of officiousness.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>
+
+But he might also allege as a full justification, not only that Religion
+is the business of every one, but that its advancement or decline in any
+country is so intimately connected with the temporal interests of
+society, as to render it the peculiar concern of a political man; and
+that what he may presume to offer on the subject of Religion may perhaps
+be perused with less jealousy and more candour, from the very
+circumstance of its having been written by a Layman, which must at least
+exclude the idea (an idea sometimes illiberally suggested to take off
+the effect of the works of Ecclesiastics) that it is prompted by motives
+of self-interest, or of professional prejudice.</p>
+
+<p>But if the writer&#8217;s apology be not found in the work itself, and in his
+avowed motive for undertaking it, he would in vain endeavour to satisfy
+his readers by any excuses he might assign; therefore, without farther
+preamble, he will proceed to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>
+statement and execution of his purpose.</p>
+
+<p>The main object which he has in view is, not to convince the Sceptic, or
+to answer the arguments of persons who avowedly oppose the fundamental
+doctrines of our Religion; but to point out the scanty and erroneous
+system of the bulk of those who belong to the class of orthodox
+Christians, and to contrast their defective scheme with a representation
+of what the author apprehends to be real Christianity. Often has it
+filled him with deep concern, to observe in this description of persons,
+scarcely any distinct knowledge of the real nature and principles of the
+religion which they profess. The subject is of infinite importance; let
+it not be driven out of our minds by the bustle or dissipations of life.
+This present scene, and all its cares and all its gaieties, will soon be
+rolled away, and &ldquo;we must stand before the judgment seat of Christ.&rdquo;
+This awful consideration will prompt the writer to express
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span>
+himself
+with greater freedom than he should otherwise be disposed to use. This
+consideration he trusts, also, will justify his frankness, and will
+secure him a serious and patient perusal. But it would be trespassing on
+the indulgence of the reader to detain him with introductory remarks.
+Let it only be farther premised, that if what shall be stated should to
+any appear needlessly austere and rigid, the writer must lay in his
+claim not to be condemned, without a fair inquiry whether or not his
+statements accord with the language of the sacred writings. To that test
+he refers with confidence; and it must be conceded by those who admit
+the authority of Scripture (such only he is addressing) that from the
+decision of the word of God there can be no appeal.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<table style="width:75%;" cellspacing="8" summary="Contents">
+<col span="2" valign="bottom"></col>
+<tr><th>
+&nbsp;
+</th><th>
+Page
+</th></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<h4 class="contentsleft"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">Introduction.</a></h4>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#INTRODUCTION">v</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
+<h4 class="contents"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chap. I.</a></h4>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<i>Inadequate Conceptions of the Importance of Christianity.</i>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
+<h4 class="contents"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chap. II.</a></h4>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<i>Corruption of Human Nature.</i>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">14</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
+<h4 class="contents"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Chap. III.</a></h4>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<i>Chief Defects of the Religious System of the bulk of
+professed Christians, in what regards our Lord
+Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit&mdash;with a Dissertation
+concerning the use of the Passions in Religion.</i>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">43</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
+<h4 class="contents"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Chap. IV.</a></h4>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<i>On the prevailing inadequate Conceptions concerning
+the Nature and the Strictness of Practical Christianity.</i>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">100</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
+<h4 class="contents"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Chap. V.</a></h4>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<i>On the Excellence of Christianity in certain important
+Particulars. Argument which results
+thence in Proof of its Divine Origin.</i>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">252</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span>
+<h4 class="contents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Chap. VI.</a></h4>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<i>Brief Inquiry into the present State of Christianity
+in this Country, with some of the Causes
+which have led to its critical Circumstances. Its
+Importance to us as a political Community, and
+practical Hints for which the foregoing Considerations
+give occasion.</i>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">262</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align="center" colspan="2">
+<h4 class="contents"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Chap. VII.</a></h4>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<i>Practical Hints to various Descriptions of Persons.</i>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">305</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<h4 class="contentsleft"><a href="#INDEX">Index.</a></h4>
+</td><td align="right">
+<a href="#INDEX">355</a>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<h4 class="contentsleft"><a href="#FOOTNOTES">Footnotes.</a></h4>
+</td><td align="right">
+&nbsp;
+</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1><a name="A_PRACTICAL_VIEW_c" id="A_PRACTICAL_VIEW_c"></a>A PRACTICAL VIEW, &amp;c.</h1>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h4>INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY.</h4>
+
+<h5><i>Popular Notions.&mdash;Scripture Account.&mdash;Ignorance in this Case
+criminal.&mdash;Two false Maxims exposed.</i></h5>
+
+<p>Before we proceed to the consideration of any particular defects in the
+religious system of the bulk of professed Christians, it may be proper
+to point out the very inadequate conception which they entertain of the
+importance of Christianity in general, of its peculiar nature, and
+superior excellence. If we listen to their conversation, virtue is
+praised, and vice is censured; piety is perhaps applauded, and
+profaneness condemned. So far all is well. But let any one, who would
+not be deceived, by these &ldquo;barren generalities&rdquo; examine a little more
+closely, and he will find, that not to Christianity in particular, but
+at best to Religion in general, perhaps to mere Morality, their homage
+is intended to be paid. With Christianity, as distinct from
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+these, they
+are little acquainted; their views of it have been so cursory and
+superficial, that far from discerning its characteristic essence, they
+have little more than perceived those exterior circumstances which
+distinguish it from other forms of Religion. There are some few facts,
+and perhaps some leading doctrines and principles, of which they cannot
+be wholly ignorant; but of the consequences, and relations, and
+practical uses of these, they have few ideas, or none at all.</p>
+
+<p>Does this seem too strong? View their plan of life and their ordinary
+conduct; and not to speak at present of their general inattention to
+things of a religious nature, let us ask, wherein can we discern the
+points of discrimination between them and professed unbelievers? In an
+age wherein it is confessed and lamented that infidelity abounds, do we
+observe in them any remarkable care to instruct their children in the
+principles of the faith which they profess, and to furnish them with
+arguments for the defence of it? They would blush, on their child&#8217;s
+coming out into the world, to think him defective in any branch of that
+knowledge, or of those accomplishments which belong to his station in
+life, and accordingly these are cultivated with becoming assiduity. But
+he is left to collect his religion as he may; the study of Christianity
+has formed no part of his education, and his attachment to it (where any
+attachment to it exists at all) is, too often, not the preference of
+sober reason, but merely the result of early prejudice and groundless
+prepossession. He was born in a Christian country, of course he is a
+Christian; his father was a member of the church of England, so is he.
+When <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+such is the hereditary religion handed down from generation to
+generation, it cannot surprise us to observe young men of sense and
+spirit beginning to doubt altogether of the truth of the system in which
+they have been brought up, and ready to abandon a station which they are
+unable to defend. Knowing Christianity chiefly in the difficulties which
+it contains, and in the impossibilities which are falsely imputed to it,
+they fall perhaps into the company of infidels; and, as might be
+expected, they are shaken by frivolous objections and profane cavils,
+which, had they been grounded and bottomed in reason and argument, would
+have passed by them, &ldquo;as the idle wind,&rdquo; and scarcely have seemed worthy
+of serious notice.</p>
+
+<p>Let us beware before it be too late. No one can say into what discredit
+Christianity may hereby grow, at a time when the free and unrestrained
+intercourse, subsisting amongst the several ranks and classes of
+society, so much favours the general diffusion of the sentiments of the
+higher orders. To a similar ignorance is perhaps in no small degree to
+be ascribed the success, with which Christianity has been attacked of
+late years in a neighbouring country. Had she not been wholly unarmed
+for the contest, however she might have been forced from her untenable
+posts, and compelled to disembarrass herself from her load of
+incumbrances, she never could have been driven altogether out of the
+field by her puny assailants, with all their cavils, and gibes, and
+sarcasms; for in these consisted the main strength of their petty
+artillery. Let us beware, lest we also suffer from a like cause; nor let
+it be our crime and our reproach, that in schools, perhaps even in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+Colleges, Christianity is almost if not altogether neglected.</p>
+
+<p>It cannot be expected, that they who are so little attentive to this
+great object in the education of their children, should be more so in
+other parts of their conduct, where less strongly stimulated by
+affection, and less obviously loaded with responsibility. They are of
+course therefore, little regardful of the state of Christianity in their
+own country; and still more indifferent about communicating the light of
+divine truth to the nations which &ldquo;still sit in darkness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But Religion, it may be replied, is not noisy and ostentatious; it is
+modest and private in its nature; it resides in a man&#8217;s own bosom, and
+shuns the observation of the multitude. Be it so.</p>
+
+<p>From the transient and distant view then, which we have been taking of
+these unassuming Christians, let us approach a little nearer, and listen
+to the unreserved conversation of their confidential hours. Here, if any
+where, the interior of the heart is laid open, and we may ascertain the
+true principles of their regards and aversions; the scale by which they
+measure the good and evil of life. Here, however, you will discover few
+or no traces of Christianity. She scarcely finds herself a place amidst
+the many objects of their hopes, and fears, and joys, and sorrows.
+Grateful, perhaps, (as well indeed they may be grateful) for health, and
+talents, and affluence, and other blessings belonging to their persons
+and conditions in life, they scarcely reckon in the number this grand
+distinguishing mark of the bounty of Providence; or if they mention it
+at all, it is noticed coldly and formally, like one of those obsolete
+claims
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+to which, though but of small account in the estimate of our
+wealth or power, we think it as well to put in our title from
+considerations of family decorum or of national usage.</p>
+
+<p>But what more than all the rest establishes the point in question: let
+their conversation take a graver turn: here at length their religion,
+modest and retired as it is, must be expected to disclose itself; here
+however you will look in vain for the religion of Jesus. Their standard
+of right and wrong is not the standard of the gospel: they approve and
+condemn by a different rule; they advance principles and maintain
+opinions altogether opposite to the genius and character of
+Christianity. You would fancy yourself rather amongst the followers of
+the old philosophy; nor is it easy to guess how any one could satisfy
+himself to the contrary, unless, by mentioning the name of some
+acknowledged heretic, he should afford them an occasion of demonstrating
+their zeal for the religion of their country.</p>
+
+<p>The truth is, their opinions on these subjects are not formed from the
+perusal of the word of God. The Bible lies on the shelf unopened; and
+they would be wholly ignorant of its contents, except for what they hear
+occasionally at church, or for the faint traces which their memories may
+still retain of the lessons of their earliest infancy.</p>
+
+<p>How different, nay, in many respects, how contradictory, would be the
+two systems of mere morals, of which the one should be formed from the
+commonly received maxims of the Christian world, and the other from the
+study of the Holy Scriptures! it would be curious to remark in any one,
+who had hitherto satisfied himself
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>
+with the former, the astonishment
+which would be excited on his first introduction to the latter. We are
+not left here to bare conjecture. This was, in fact, the effect produced
+on the mind of a late ingenious writer<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>, of whose little work, though
+it bears perhaps some marks of his customary love of paradox, we must at
+least confess, that it exposes, in a strong point of view, the <i>poverty</i>
+of that superficial religion which has been above condemned; and that it
+every where displays that happy perspicuity, and grace, which so
+eminently characterize all the compositions of its author. But after
+this willing tribute of commendation, we are reluctantly compelled to
+remark, that the work in question discredits the cause which it was
+meant to serve, by many crude and extravagant positions; from which no
+one can be secure who forms a hasty judgment of a deep and comprehensive
+subject, the several bearings and relations of which have been
+imperfectly surveyed; and above all, it must be lamented, that it treats
+the great question which it professes to discuss, rather as a matter of
+mere speculation, than as one wherein our everlasting interests are
+involved. Surely the writer&#8217;s object should have been, to convince his
+readers of their guilt still more than of their ignorance, and to leave
+them impressed rather with a sense of their danger than of their folly.</p>
+
+<p>It were almost a waste of time to multiply arguments in order to prove
+how criminal the voluntary ignorance, of which we have been speaking,
+must appear in the sight of God. It must be confessed by all who believe
+that we are accountable creatures, and to such only the writer
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+is
+addressing himself, that we shall have to answer hereafter to the
+Almighty for all the means and occasions we have here enjoyed of
+improving ourselves, or of promoting the happiness of others. And if,
+when summoned to give an account of our stewardship, we shall be called
+upon to answer for the use which we have made of our bodily organs, and
+of the means of relieving the wants and necessities of our fellow
+creatures; how much more for the exercise of the nobler and more exalted
+faculties of our nature, of invention, and judgment, and memory; and for
+our employment of all the instruments and opportunities of diligent
+application, and serious reflection, and honest decision. And to what
+subject might we in all reason be expected to apply more earnestly, than
+to that wherein our eternal interests are at issue? When God has of his
+goodness vouchsafed to grant us such abundant means of instruction in
+that which we are most concerned to know, how great must be the guilt,
+and how aweful the punishment of voluntary ignorance!</p>
+
+<p>And why, it may be asked, are we in this pursuit alone to expect
+knowledge without inquiry, and success without endeavour? The whole
+analogy of nature inculcates on us a different lesson, and our own
+judgments in matters of temporal interests and worldly policy confirm
+the truth of her suggestions. Bountiful as is the hand of Providence,
+its gifts are not so bestowed as to seduce us into indolence, but to
+rouse us to exertion; and no one expects to attain to the height of
+learning, or arts, or power, or wealth, or military glory, without
+vigorous resolution, and strenuous diligence, and steady perseverance.
+Yet we expect to be Christians
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
+without labour, study, or inquiry. This
+is the more preposterous, because Christianity, being a revelation from
+God, and not the invention of man, discovering to us new relations, with
+their correspondent duties; containing also doctrines, and motives, and
+practical principles, and rules, peculiar to itself, and almost as new
+in their nature as supreme in their excellence, we cannot reasonably
+expect to become proficients in it by the accidental intercourses of
+life, as one might learn insensibly the maxims of worldly policy, or a
+scheme of mere morals.</p>
+
+<p>The diligent perusal of the Holy Scriptures would discover to us our
+past ignorance. We should cease to be deceived by superficial
+appearances, and to confound the Gospel of Christ with the systems of
+philosophers; we should become impressed with that weighty truth, so
+much forgotten, and never to be too strongly insisted on, that
+Christianity calls on us, as we value our immortal souls, not merely in
+<i>general</i>, to be <i>religious</i> and <i>moral</i>, but <i>specially</i> to believe the
+doctrines, and imbibe the principles, and practise the precepts of
+Christ. It might be to run into too great length to confirm this
+position beyond dispute by express quotations from Scripture. And (not
+to anticipate what belongs more properly to a subsequent part of the
+work) it may be sufficient here to remark in general, that Christianity
+is always represented in Scripture as the grand, the unparalleled
+instance of God&#8217;s bounty to mankind. It was graciously held forth in the
+original promise to our first parents; it was predicted by a long
+continued series of prophets; the subject of their prayers, inquiries,
+and longing expectations. In a world, which opposed and persecuted them,
+it was their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+source of peace, and hope, and consolation. At length it
+approached&mdash;the Desire of all Nations&mdash;The long expected Star announced
+its presence&mdash;A multitude of the heavenly host hailed its introduction,
+and proclaimed its character; &ldquo;Glory to God in the highest, on earth
+peace, good will towards men.&rdquo; It is every where represented in
+scripture by such figures as may most deeply impress on us a sense of
+its value; it is spoken of as light from darkness, as release from
+prison, as deliverance from captivity, as life from death. &ldquo;Lord, now
+lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy
+salvation,&rdquo; was the exclamation with which it was welcomed by the pious
+Simeon; and it was universally received and professed among the early
+converts with thankfulness and joy. At one time, the communication of it
+is promised as a reward; at another, the loss of it is threatened as a
+punishment. And, short as is the form of prayer taught us by our blessed
+Saviour, the more general extension of the kingdom of Christ constitutes
+one of its leading petitions.</p>
+
+<p>With what exalted conceptions of the importance of Christianity ought we
+to be filled by such descriptions as these? Yet, in vain have we &ldquo;line
+upon line and precept upon precept.&rdquo;&mdash;Thus predicted, thus prayed and
+longed for, thus announced and characterized and rejoiced in, this
+heavenly treasure poured into our lap in rich abundance we scarce
+accept. We turn from it coldly, or at best possess it negligently, as a
+thing of no account or estimation. But a due sense of its value would be
+assuredly impressed on us by the diligent study of the word of God, that
+blessed repository of divine truth
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>
+and consolation. Thence it is that
+we are to learn our obligations and our duty, what we are to believe and
+what to practise. And, surely, one would think it could not be required
+to press men to the perusal of the sacred volume. Reason dictates,
+Revelation commands; &ldquo;Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
+God.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Search the Scriptures,&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Be ready to give to every one a reason
+of the hope that is in you.&rdquo; Such are the declarations and injunctions
+of the inspired writers; injunctions confirmed by commendations of those
+who obey the admonition. Yet, is it not undeniable that with the Bible
+in our houses, we are ignorant of its contents; and that hence, in a
+great measure, it arises, that the bulk of the Christian world know so
+little, and mistake so greatly, in what regards the religion which they
+profess?</p>
+
+<p>This is not the place for inquiring at large, whence it is that those
+who assent to the position, that the Bible is the word of God, and who
+profess to rest their hopes on the Christian basis, contentedly
+acquiesce in a state of such lamentable ignorance. But it may not be
+improper here to touch on two kindred opinions, from which, in the minds
+of the more thoughtful and serious, this acquiescence appears to derive
+much secret support. The one is, that it signifies little what a man
+believes; <i>look to his practice</i>. The other (of the same family) <i>that
+sincerity is all in all</i>. Let a man&#8217;s opinions and conduct be what they
+may, yet, provided he be sincerely convinced that they are right,
+however the exigencies of civil society may require him to be dealt with
+amongst men, in the sight of God he cannot be criminal.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It would detain us too long fully to set forth the various merits of
+these favourite positions, of which it is surely not the smallest
+excellence, that they are of unbounded application, comprehending within
+their capacious limits, all the errors which have been believed, and
+many of the most desperate crimes which have been perpetrated among men.
+The former of them is founded altogether on that grossly fallacious
+assumption, that a man&#8217;s opinions will not influence his practice. The
+latter proceeds on this groundless supposition, that the Supreme Being
+has not afforded us sufficient means of discriminating truth from
+falsehood, right from wrong: and it implies, that be a man&#8217;s opinions or
+conduct ever so wild and extravagant, we are to presume, that they are
+as much the result of impartial inquiry and honest conviction, as if his
+sentiments and actions had been strictly conformable to the rules of
+reason and sobriety. Never indeed was there a principle more general in
+its use, more sovereign in its potency. How does its beautiful
+simplicity also, and compendious brevity, give it rank before the
+laborious subtleties of Bellarmine! Clement, and Ravaillac, and other
+worthies of a similar stamp, from whose purity of intention the world
+has hitherto withheld its due tribute of applause, would here have found
+a ready plea; and their injured innocence shall now at length receive
+its full though tardy vindication. &ldquo;These however,&rdquo; it may be replied,
+&ldquo;are excepted cases.&rdquo; Certainly they are cases of which any one who
+maintains the opinion in question would be glad to disencumber himself;
+because they clearly expose the unsoundness of his principle.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>
+But it
+will be incumbent on such an one, first to explain with precision why
+they are to be exempted from its operation, and this he will find an
+impossible task; for sincerity, in its popular sense, so shamefully is
+the term misapplied, can be made the criterion of guilt and innocence on
+no grounds, which will not equally serve to justify the assassins who
+have been instanced. The conclusion cannot be eluded; no man was ever
+more fully persuaded of the innocence of any action, than these men
+were, that the horrid deed they were about to perpetrate was not lawful
+merely, but highly meritorious. Thus Clement and Ravaillac being
+unquestionably sincere, they were therefore indubitably innocent. Nay,
+the absurdity of this principle might be shewn to be even greater than
+what has yet been stated. It would not be going too far to assert, that
+whilst it scorns the defence of petty villains, of those who still
+retain the sense of good and evil, it holds forth, like some well
+frequented sanctuary, a secure asylum to those more finished criminals,
+who, from long habits of wickedness, are lost alike to the perception as
+to the practice of virtue; and that it selects a seared conscience and a
+heart become callous to all moral distinctions as the special objects of
+its care. Nor is it only in prophane history that instances like these
+are to be found, of persons committing the greatest crimes with a
+sincere conviction of the rectitude of their conduct. Scripture will
+afford us parallels; and it was surely to guard us against the very
+error which we have been now exposing, that our blessed Saviour
+forewarned his disciples: &ldquo;The time cometh, that whosoever
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
+killeth you
+will think that he doeth God service.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A principle like this must then be abandoned, and the advocates for
+sincerity must be compelled to restore this abused term to its genuine
+signification, and to acknowledge that it must imply honesty of mind,
+and the faithful use of the means of knowledge and of improvement, the
+desire of being instructed, humble inquiry, impartial consideration, and
+unprejudiced judgment. It is to these we would earnestly call you; to
+these (ever to be accompanied with fervent prayers for the divine
+blessing) Scripture every where holds forth the most animating promises.
+&ldquo;Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be
+opened unto you; Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;&rdquo;
+such are the comfortable assurances, such the gracious encouragements to
+the truly sincere inquirer. How deep will be our guilt if we slight all
+these benevolent offers. &ldquo;How many prophets and kings have desired to
+hear the things that we hear, and have not heard them!&rdquo; Great indeed are
+our opportunities, great also is our responsibility. Let us awaken to a
+true sense of our situation. We have every consideration to alarm our
+fears, or to animate our industry. How soon may the brightness of our
+meridian sun be darkened! Or, should the long suffering of God still
+continue to us the mercies which we so much abuse, it will only
+aggravate our crime, and in the end enhance our punishment. The time of
+reckoning will at length arrive. And when finally summoned to the bar of
+God, to give an account of our stewardship, what plea can we have to
+urge in our defence, if we remain willingly and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+obstinately ignorant of
+the way which leads to life, with such transcendent means of knowing it,
+and such urgent motives to its pursuit?</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h4>CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE.</h4>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. I.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Inadequate Conceptions of the Corruption of Human Nature.</i></h5>
+
+<p>After considering the defective notions of the importance of
+Christianity <i>in general</i>, which prevail among the higher orders of the
+Christian world, the particular misconceptions which first come under
+our notice respect the corruption and weakness of human nature. This is
+a topic on which it is possible that many of those, into whose hands the
+present work shall fall, may not have bestowed much attention. If the
+case be so, it may be requisite to intreat them to lend a patient and a
+serious ear. The subject is of the deepest import. We should not go too
+far if we were to assert, that it lies at the very root of all true
+Religion, and still more, that it is eminently the basis and ground-work
+of Christianity.</p>
+
+<p>So far as the writer has had an opportunity of remarking, the generality
+of professed Christians among the higher classes, either altogether
+overlook or deny, or at least greatly extenuate the corruption and
+weakness here in question.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>
+They acknowledge indeed that there is, and
+ever has been in the world, a great portion of vice and wickedness; that
+mankind have been ever prone to sensuality and selfishness, in
+disobedience to the more refined and liberal principles of their nature;
+that in all ages and countries, in public and in private life,
+innumerable instances have been afforded of oppression, of rapacity, of
+cruelty, of fraud, of envy, and of malice. They own that it is too often
+in vain that you inform the understanding, and convince the judgment.
+They admit that you do not thereby reform the hearts of men. Though they
+<i>know</i> their duty, they will not practice it; no not even when you have
+forced them to acknowledge that the path of virtue is that also of real
+interest, and of solid enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>These facts are certain; they cannot be disputed; and they are at the
+same time so obvious, that one would have thought that the celebrated
+apophthegm of the Grecian sage, &ldquo;the majority are wicked,&rdquo; would
+scarcely have established his claim to intellectual superiority.</p>
+
+<p>But though these effects of human depravity are every where acknowledged
+and lamented, we must not expect to find them traced to their true
+origin.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Causa latet, vis est notissima.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Prepare yourself to hear rather of frailty and infirmity, of petty
+transgressions, of occasional failings, of sudden surprisals, and of
+such other qualifying terms as may serve to keep out of view the true
+source of the evil, and without shocking the understanding, may
+administer consolation
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>
+to the pride of human nature. The bulk of
+professed Christians are used to speak of man as of a being, who,
+naturally pure, and inclined to all virtue, is sometimes, almost
+involuntary, drawn out of the right course, or is overpowered by the
+violence of temptation. Vice with them is rather an accidental and
+temporary, than a constitutional and habitual distemper; a noxious
+plant, which, though found to live and even to thrive in the human mind,
+is not the natural growth and production of the soil.</p>
+
+<p>Far different is the humiliating language of Christianity. From it we
+learn that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his high original,
+degraded in his nature, and depraved in his faculties; indisposed to
+good, and disposed to evil; prone to vice, it is natural and easy to
+him; disinclined to virtue, it is difficult and laborious; that he is
+tainted with sin, not slightly and superficially, but radically and to
+the very core. These are truths which, however mortifying to our pride,
+one would think (if this very corruption itself did not warp the
+judgment) none would be hardy enough to attempt to controvert. I know
+not any thing which brings them home so forcibly to my own feelings, as
+the consideration of what still remains to us of our primitive dignity,
+when contrasted with our present state of moral degradation,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">&ldquo;Into what depth thou seest,</span>
+<span class="i0">From what height fallen.&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Examine first with attention the natural powers and faculties of man!
+invention, reason, judgment, memory; a mind &ldquo;of large discourse,&rdquo;
+&ldquo;looking before and after,&rdquo; reviewing the past, and thence determining
+for the present, and anticipating
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+the future; discerning, collecting,
+combining, comparing; capable not merely of apprehending but of admiring
+the beauty of moral excellence: with fear and hope to warn and animate;
+with joy and sorrow to solace and soften; with love to attach, with
+sympathy to harmonize, with courage to attempt, with patience to endure,
+and with the power of conscience, that faithful monitor within the
+breast, to enforce the conclusions of reason, and direct and regulate
+the passions of the soul. Truly we must pronounce him &ldquo;majestic though
+in ruin.&rdquo; &ldquo;Happy, happy world,&rdquo; would be the exclamation of the
+inhabitant of some other planet, on being told of a globe like ours,
+peopled with such creatures as these, and abounding with situations and
+occasions to call forth the multiplied excellencies of their nature.
+&ldquo;Happy, happy world, with what delight must your great Creator and
+Governor witness your conduct, and what large and merited rewards await
+you when your term of probation shall have expired.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto,</span>
+<span class="i0">Grandia laturus meritorum pr&aelig;mia.&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But we have indulged too long in these delightful speculations; a sad
+reverse presents itself on our survey of the <i>actual</i> state of man,
+when, from viewing his <i>natural</i> powers, we follow him into <i>practice</i>,
+and see the uses to which he applies them. Take in the whole of the
+prospect, view him in every age, and climate, and nation, in every
+condition and period of society. Where now do you discover the
+characters of his exalted nature? &ldquo;How is the gold become dim, and the
+fine gold changed?&rdquo; How is his reason clouded, his affections
+perverted;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>
+his conscience stupified! How do anger, and envy, and
+hatred, and revenge, spring up in his wretched bosom! How is he a slave
+to the meanest of his appetites! What fatal propensities does he
+discover to evil! What inaptitude to good!</p>
+
+<p>Dwell awhile on the state of the ancient world; not merely on that
+benighted part of it where all lay buried in brutish ignorance and
+barbarism, but on the seats of civilized and polished nations, on the
+empire of taste, and learning, and philosophy: yet in these chosen
+regions, with whatever lustre the sun of science poured forth its rays,
+the moral darkness was so thick &ldquo;that it might be felt.&rdquo; Behold their
+sottish idolatries, their absurd superstitions, their want of natural
+affection, their brutal excesses, their unfeeling oppression, their
+savage cruelty! Look not to the illiterate and the vulgar, but to the
+learned and refined. Form not your ideas from the conduct of the less
+restrained and more licentious; you will turn away with disgust and
+shame from the allowed and familiar habits of the decent and the moral.
+St. Paul best states the facts, and furnishes the explanation; &ldquo;because
+they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, he gave them over to
+a reprobate mind<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>.&rdquo;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Now direct your view to another quarter, to the inhabitants of a new
+hemisphere, where the baneful practices and contagious example of the
+old world had never travelled. Surely, among these children of nature we
+may expect to find those virtuous tendencies, for which we have hitherto
+looked in vain. Alas! our search will still be fruitless! They are
+represented by the historian of America, whose account is more
+favourable than those of some other great authorities, as being a
+compound of pride, and indolence, and selfishness, and cunning, and
+cruelty<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>; full of a revenge which nothing could satiate, of a ferocity
+which nothing could soften; strangers to the most amiable sensibilities
+of nature<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>. They appeared incapable of conjugal affection, or parental
+fondness, or filial reverence, or social attachments; uniting too with
+their state of barbarism, many of the vices and weaknesses of polished
+society. Their horrid treatment of captives taken in war, on whose
+bodies they feasted, after putting them to death
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+by the most cruel
+tortures, is so well known, that we may spare the disgusting recital. No
+commendable qualities relieve this gloomy picture, except fortitude, and
+perseverance, and zeal for the welfare of their little community; if
+this last quality, exercised and directed as it was, can be thought
+deserving of commendation.</p>
+
+<p>But you give up the heathen nations as indefensible, and wish rather to
+form your estimate of man from a view of countries which have been
+blessed with the light of revelation.&mdash;True it is, and with joy let us
+record the concession, Christianity has set the general tone of morals
+much higher than it was ever found in the Pagan world. She has every
+where improved the character and multiplied the comforts of society,
+particularly to the poor and the weak, whom from the beginning she
+professed to take under her special patronage. Like her divine Author,
+&ldquo;who sends his rain on the evil and on the good,&rdquo; she showers down
+unnumbered blessings on thousands who profit from her bounty, while they
+forget or deny her power, and set at nought her authority. Yet even in
+this more favoured situation we shall discover too many lamentable
+proofs of the depravity of man. Nay, this depravity will now become even
+more apparent and less deniable. For what bars does it not now overleap?
+Over what motives is it not now victorious? Consider well the superior
+light and advantages which we enjoy, and then appreciate the superior
+obligations which are imposed on us. Consider in how many cases our evil
+propensities are now kept from breaking forth, by the superior
+restraints under which vice is laid among us by positive laws, and by
+the amended standard of public opinion; and we
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>
+may be assisted in
+conjecturing what force is to be assigned to these motives, by the
+dreadful proofs which have been lately exhibited in a neighbouring
+country, that when their influence is withdrawn, the most atrocious
+crimes can be perpetrated shamelessly and in the face of day. Consider
+then the superior excellence of our moral code, the new principles of
+obedience furnished by the gospel, and above all, the awful sanction
+which the doctrines and precepts of Christianity derive from the clear
+discovery of a future state of retribution, and from the annunciation of
+that tremendous day, &ldquo;when we shall stand before the judgment seat of
+Christ.&rdquo; Yet, in spite of all our knowledge thus enforced and pressed
+home by this solemn notice, how little has been our progress in virtue?
+It has been by no means such as to prevent the adoption, in our days, of
+various maxims of antiquity, which, when well considered, too clearly
+establish the depravity of man. It may not be amiss to adduce a few
+instances in proof of this assertion. It is now no less acknowledged
+than heretofore, that prosperity hardens the heart: that unlimited power
+is ever abused, instead of being rendered the instrument of diffusing
+happiness: that habits of vice grow up of themselves, whilst those of
+virtue, if to be obtained at all, are of slow and difficult formation;
+that they who draw the finest pictures of virtue, and seem most
+enamoured of her charms, are often the least under her influence, and by
+the merest trifles are drawn aside from that line of conduct, which they
+most strongly and seriously recommend to others, that all this takes
+place, though most of the pleasures of vice are to be found with less
+alloy in the paths of virtue;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+whilst at the same time, these paths
+afford superior and more exquisite delights, peculiar to themselves, and
+are free from the diseases and bitter remorse, at the price of which
+vicious gratifications are so often purchased.</p>
+
+<p>It may suffice to touch very slightly on some other arguments, which it
+would hardly be right to leave altogether unnoticed: one of these (the
+justice of which, however denied by superficial moralists, parents of
+strict principles can abundantly testify) may be drawn from the perverse
+and froward dispositions perceivable in children, which it is the
+business and sometimes the ineffectual attempt of education to reform.
+Another may be drawn from the various deceits we are apt to practice on
+ourselves, to which no one can be a stranger, who has ever contemplated
+the operations of his own mind with serious attention. To the influence
+of this species of corruption it has been in a great degree owing, that
+Christianity itself has been too often disgraced. It has been turned
+into an engine of cruelty, and amidst the bitterness of persecution,
+every trace has disappeared of the mild and beneficent spirit of the
+religion of Jesus. In what degree must the taint have worked itself into
+the frame, and have corrupted the habit, when the most wholesome
+nutriment can be thus converted into the deadliest poison! Wishing
+always to argue from such premises as are not only really sound, but
+from such as cannot even be questioned by those to whom this work is
+addressed, little was said in representing the deplorable state of the
+Heathen world, respecting their defective and unworthy conceptions in
+what regards the Supreme Being, who even then however &ldquo;left not himself
+without witness, but
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>
+gave them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their
+hearts with food and gladness.&rdquo; But surely to any who call themselves
+Christians, it may be justly urged as an astonishing instance of human
+depravity, that we ourselves, who enjoy the full light of revelation; to
+whom God has vouchsafed such clear discoveries of what it concerns us to
+know of his being and attributes; who profess to believe &ldquo;that in him we
+live, and move, and have our being;&rdquo; that to him we owe all the comforts
+we here enjoy, and the offer of eternal Glory purchased for us by the
+atoning blood of his own Son; (&ldquo;thanks be to God for his unspeakable
+gift,&rdquo;) that we, thus loaded with mercies, should every one of us be
+continually chargeable with forgetting his authority, and being
+ungrateful for his benefits; with slighting his gracious proposals, or
+receiving them at best but heartlessly and coldly.</p>
+
+<p>But to put the question concerning the natural depravity of man to the
+severest test: take the best of the human species, the watchful diligent
+self-denying Christian, and let <i>him</i> decide the controversy; and that,
+not by inferences drawn from the practices of a thoughtless and
+dissolute world, but by an appeal to his personal experience. Go with
+him into his closet, ask him <i>his</i> opinion of the corruption of the
+heart, and he will tell you that he is deeply sensible of its power, for
+that he has learned it from much self-observation and long acquaintance
+with the workings of his own mind. He will tell you, that every day
+strengthens this conviction; yea, that hourly he sees fresh reason to
+deplore his want of simplicity in intention, his infirmity of purpose,
+his low views, his selfish unworthy desires, his backwardness to set
+about his duty,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>
+his languor and coldness in performing it: that he
+finds himself obliged continually to confess, that he feels within him
+two opposite principles, and that &ldquo;he cannot do the things that he
+would.&rdquo; He cries out in the language of the excellent Hooker, &ldquo;The
+little fruit which we have in holiness, it is, God knoweth, corrupt and
+unsound: we put no confidence at all in it, we challenge nothing in the
+world for it, we dare not call God to reckoning, as if we had him in our
+debt books; our continual suit to him is, and must be, to bear with our
+infirmities, and pardon our offences.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Such is the moral history, such the condition of man. The figures of the
+piece may vary, and the colouring is sometimes of a darker, sometimes of
+a lighter hue; but the principles of the composition, the grand
+outlines, are every where the same. Wherever we direct our view, we
+discover the melancholy proofs of our depravity; whether we look to
+ancient or modern times, to barbarous or civilized nations, to the
+conduct of the world around us, or to the monitor within the breast;
+whether we read, or hear, or act, or think, or feel, the same
+humiliating lesson is forced upon us,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Juppiter est quodcunque vides, quocunque moveris.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Now when we look back to the picture which was formerly drawn of the
+<i>natural powers</i> of man, and compare this his <i>actual</i> state with that
+for which, from a consideration of those powers, he seems to have been
+originally calculated, how are we to account for the astonishing
+contrast! will frailty or infirmity, or occasional lapses, or sudden
+surprisals, or any such qualifying terms, convey an adequate idea of the
+nature, or point out the cause of the distemper?
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>
+How, on any principles
+of common reasoning, can we account for it, but by conceiving that man,
+since he came out of the hands of his Creator, has contracted a taint,
+and that the venom of this subtle poison has been communicated
+throughout the race of Adam, every where exhibiting incontestible marks
+of its fatal malignity? Hence it has arisen, that the appetites deriving
+new strength, and the powers of reason and conscience being weakened,
+the latter have feebly and impotently pleaded against those forbidden
+indulgences which the former have solicited. Sensual gratifications and
+illicit affections have debased our nobler powers, and indisposed our
+hearts to the discovery of God, and to the consideration of his
+perfections; to a constant willing submission to his authority, and
+obedience to his laws. By a repetition of vicious acts, evil habits have
+been formed within us, and have rivetted the fetters of sin. Left to the
+consequences of our own folly, the understanding has grown darker, and
+the heart more obdurate; reason has at length altogether betrayed her
+trust, and even conscience herself has aided the delusion, till, instead
+of deploring our miserable slavery, we have too often hugged, and even
+gloried in our chains.</p>
+
+<p>Such is the general account of the progress of vice, where it is
+suffered to attain to its full growth in the human heart. The
+circumstances of individuals will be found indeed to differ; the
+servitude of some, if it may be allowed us to continue a figure so
+exactly descriptive of the case, is more rigorous than that of others,
+their bonds more galling, their degradation more complete. Some too (it
+will be remembered that we are speaking of the natural state of man,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>
+without taking Christianity into question) have for a while appeared
+almost to have escaped from their confinement; but none are altogether
+free; all without exception, in a greater or less degree bear about
+them, more visible or more concealed, the ignominious marks of their
+captivity.</p>
+
+<p>Such on a full and fair investigation must be confessed to be the state
+of facts; and how can this be accounted for on any other supposition,
+than that of some original taint, some radical principle of corruption?
+All other solutions are unsatisfactory, whilst the potent cause which
+has been assigned, does abundantly, and can alone sufficiently account
+for the effect. Thus then it appears, that the corruption of human
+nature is proved by the same mode of reasoning, as has been deemed
+conclusive in establishing the existence, and ascertaining the laws of
+the principle of gravitation: that the doctrine rests on the same solid
+basis as the sublime philosophy of Newton: that it is not a mere
+speculation, and therefore an uncertain though perhaps an ingenious
+theory, but the sure result of large and actual experiment; deduced from
+incontestable facts, and still more fully approving its truth by
+harmonizing with the several parts and accounting for the various
+ph&aelig;nomena, jarring otherwise and inexplicable, of the great system of
+the universe.</p>
+
+<p>Revelation, however, here comes in, and sustains the fallible
+conjectures of our unassisted reason. The Holy Scriptures speak of us as
+fallen creatures: in almost every page we shall find something that is
+calculated to abate the loftiness and silence the pretensions of man.
+&ldquo;The imagination of man&#8217;s heart is evil from
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>
+his youth.&rdquo; &ldquo;What is man,
+that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should
+be righteous<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a>.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;How much more abominable and filthy is man, which
+drinketh iniquity like water<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>?&rdquo;
+&ldquo;The Lord looked down from heaven upon
+the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and
+seek God. They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy:
+there is none that doeth good, no not one<a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Who can say, I have made
+my heart clean, I am pure from my sin<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>?&rdquo;
+&ldquo;The <i>heart</i> is deceitful
+above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it.&rdquo; &ldquo;Behold, I
+was shapen in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me.&rdquo; &ldquo;We
+were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, fulfilling the
+desires of the flesh and of the mind.&rdquo; &ldquo;O wretched man that I am, who
+shall deliver me from the body of this death!&rdquo;&mdash;Passages might be
+multiplied upon passages, which speak the same language, and these again
+might be illustrated and confirmed at large by various other
+considerations, drawn from the same sacred source; such as those which
+represent a thorough change, a renovation of our nature, as being
+necessary to our becoming true Christians; or as those also which are
+suggested by observing that holy men refer their good dispositions and
+affections to the immediate agency of the Supreme Being.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Section II.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Evil Spirit.&mdash;Natural State of Man.</i></h5>
+
+<p>But in addition to all which has been yet stated, the word of God
+instructs us that we have to contend not only with our own natural
+depravity, but with the power of darkness, the Evil Spirit, who rules in
+the hearts of the wicked, and whose dominion we learn from Scripture to
+be so general, as to entitle him to the denomination of &ldquo;the Prince of
+this world.&rdquo; There cannot be a stronger proof of the difference which
+exists between the religious system of the Scriptures, and that of the
+bulk of nominal Christians, than the proof which is afforded by the
+subject now in question. The existence and agency of the Evil Spirit,
+though so distinctly and repeatedly affirmed in Scripture, are almost
+universally exploded in a country which professes to admit the authority
+of the sacred volume. Some other Doctrines of Revelation, the force and
+real meaning of which are commonly in a great degree explained away, are
+yet conceded in general terms. But this seems almost by universal
+consent to have been abandoned, as a post no longer tenable. It is
+regarded as an evanescent prejudice, which it would now be a discredit
+to any man of understanding to believe. Like ghosts and witches and
+other phantoms, which haunted the night of superstition, it cannot in
+these more enlightened times stand the test of our severer scrutiny. To
+be suffered to pass away quietly, is as much as it can hope for; and it
+might rather
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>
+expect to be laughed off the stage as a just object of
+contempt and derision.</p>
+
+<p>But although the Scripture doctrine concerning the Evil Spirit is thus
+generally exploded, yet were we to consider the matter seriously and
+fairly, we should probably find ground for believing that there is no
+better reason for its being abandoned, than that many absurd stories,
+concerning spirits and apparitions, have been used to be believed and
+propagated amongst weak and credulous people; and that the Evil Spirit
+not being the object of our bodily eyes, it would be an instance of the
+same weakness to give credit to the doctrine of its existence and
+agency. But to be consistent with ourselves, we might almost as well, on
+the same principle, deny the reality of all other incorporeal beings.
+What is there, in truth, in the doctrine, which is in itself improbable,
+or which is not confirmed by analogy? We see, in fact, that there are
+wicked men, enemies to God, and malignant towards their fellow
+creatures, who take pleasure, and often succeed, in drawing in others to
+the commission of evil. Why then should it be deemed incredible, that
+there may be one or more spiritual intelligences of similar natures and
+propensities, who may in like manner be permitted to tempt men to the
+practice of sin? Surely we may retort upon our opponents the charge of
+absurdity, and justly accuse them of gross inconsistency, in admitting,
+without difficulty, the existence and operation of these qualities in a
+material being, and yet denying them in an immaterial one (in direct
+contradiction to the authority of Scripture, which they allow to be
+conclusive) when they cannot, and will not pretend for a moment, that
+there is any thing
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+belonging to the nature of matter, to which these
+qualities naturally adhere.</p>
+
+<p>But to dilate no farther on a topic which, however it may excite the
+ridicule of the inconsiderate, will suggest matter of furious
+apprehension to all who form their opinions on the authority of the word
+of God: thus brought as we are into captivity, and exposed to danger;
+depraved and weakened within, and tempted from without, it might well
+fill our hearts with anxiety to reflect, &ldquo;that the day will come,&rdquo; when
+&ldquo;the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
+melt with fervent heat;&rdquo; &ldquo;when the dead, small and great, shall stand
+before the tribunal of God;&rdquo; and we shall have to give account of all
+things done in the body. We are naturally prompted to turn over the page
+of revelation with solicitude, in order to discover the qualities and
+character of our Judge, and the probable principles of his
+determination; but this only serves to turn painful apprehension into
+fixed and certain terror.&mdash;First of the qualities of our Judge. As all
+nature bears witness to his irresistible power, so we read in Scripture
+that nothing can escape his observation, or elude his discovery; not our
+actions only, but our most secret cogitations are open to his view. &ldquo;He
+is about our path and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations
+of the thoughts<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;And
+he will bring to light the hidden things of
+darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+Now, hear his description and character and the rule of his award: &ldquo;The
+Lord our God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;He is of purer
+eyes than to behold iniquity.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;The soul that sinneth, it shall
+die.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;The wages of sin is death.&rdquo; These positive declarations are
+enforced by the accounts which, for our warning, we read in sacred
+history, of the terrible vengeance of the Almighty: His punishment &ldquo;the
+angels who kept not their first estate, and whom he hath reserved in
+everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day:&rdquo;
+The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah; the sentence issued against the
+idolatrous nations of Canaan, and of which the execution was assigned to
+the Israelites, by the express command of God, at their own peril in
+case of disobedience: The ruin of Babylon, and of Tyre, and of Nineveh,
+and of Jerusalem, prophetically denounced as the punishment of their
+crimes, and taking place in an exact and terrible accordance with the
+divine predictions. These are indeed matter of awful perusal, sufficient
+surely to confound the fallacious confidence of any who, on the ground
+that our Creator must be aware of our natural weakness, and must be of
+course disposed to allow for it, should alledge that, though unable
+indeed to justify ourselves in the sight of God, we need not give way to
+such gloomy apprehensions, but might throw ourselves, with assured hope,
+on the infinite benevolence of the Supreme Being. It is indeed true,
+that with the threatenings of the word of God, there are mixed many
+gracious declarations of pardon, on repentance, and thorough amendment.
+But, alas! which of us is there, whose conscience
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+must not reproach him
+with having trifled with the long-suffering of God, and with having but
+ill kept the resolutions of amendment, which he had some time or other
+formed in the seasons of recollection and remorse?&mdash;And how is the
+disquietude naturally excited by such a retrospect, confirmed and
+heightened by passages like these? &ldquo;Because I have called, and ye
+refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have
+set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will
+laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh: when your
+fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;
+when distress and anguish cometh upon you: then shall they call upon me,
+but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find
+me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not chuse the fear of the
+Lord<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>.&rdquo; The apprehensions, which must be excited by thus reading the
+recorded judgments and awful language of Scripture, are confirmed to the
+inquisitive and attentive mind, by a close observation of the moral
+constitution of the world. Such a one will find occasion to remark, that
+all, which has been suggested of the final consequences of vice, is in
+strict analogy to what we may observe in the ordinary course of human
+affairs, wherein it will appear, on a careful survey, that God has so
+assigned to things their general tendencies, and established such an
+order of causes and effects, as (however interrupted here below by
+hindrances and obstructions apparently of a temporary nature) loudly
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>
+proclaim the principles of his moral government, and strongly suggest,
+that vice and imprudence will finally terminate in misery<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>. Not that
+this species of proof was wanted; for that which we must acknowledge, on
+weighing the evidence, to be a revelation from God, requires not the aid
+of such a confirmation: but yet, as this accordance might be expected
+between the words and the works, the past and the future ordinations of
+the same Almighty Being, it is no idle speculation to remark, that the
+visible constitution of things in the world around us, falls in with the
+representations here given from Scripture of the dreadful consequences
+of vice, nay even of what is commonly termed inconsiderateness and
+imprudence.</p>
+
+<p>If such then be indeed our sad condition, what is to be done? Is there
+no hope? Nothing left for us, &ldquo;but a fearful looking for of judgment,
+and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a>?&rdquo; Blessed
+be God! we are not shut up irrecoverably in this sad condition: &ldquo;Turn
+you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope;&rdquo; hear one who proclaims
+his designation, &ldquo;to heal the broken-hearted, to preach liberty to the
+captives, and recovering of sight to the blind.&rdquo; They who have formed a
+true notion of their lost and helpless state, will most gladly listen to
+the sound, and most justly estimate the value of such a deliverance. And
+this is the cause, which renders it of such pressing moment not to pass
+cursorily over those important topics of the original and superinduced
+corruption, and weakness of man; a discussion
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>
+painful and humiliating
+to the pride of human nature, to which the mind lends itself with
+difficulty, and hearkens with a mixture of anger and disgust; but well
+suited to our case, and like the distasteful lessons of adversity,
+permanently useful in its consequences. It is here, never let it be
+forgotten, that our foundation must be laid; otherwise our
+superstructure, whatever we may think of it, will one day or other prove
+tottering and insecure. This is therefore no metaphysical speculation,
+but a practical matter: Slight and superficial conceptions of our state
+of natural degradation, and of our insufficiency to recover from it of
+ourselves, fall in too well with our natural inconsiderateness, and
+produce that fatal insensibility to the divine warning to &ldquo;flee from the
+wrath to come,&rdquo; which we cannot but observe to prevail so generally.
+Having no due sense of the malignity of our disease, and of its dreadful
+issue, we do not set ourselves to work in earnest to obtain the remedy,
+as to a business arduous indeed, but indispensable: for it must ever be
+carefully remembered, that this deliverance is not <i>forced on us</i>, but
+<i>offered to us</i>; we are furnished indeed with every help, and are always
+to bear in mind, that we are unable of ourselves to will or to do
+rightly; but we are plainly admonished to &ldquo;work out our own salvation
+with fear and trembling<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>.&rdquo;&mdash;Watchful, for we are encompassed with
+dangers; &ldquo;putting on the whole armour of God,&rdquo; for &ldquo;we are beset with
+enemies.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>May we be enabled to shake off that lethargy which is so apt to creep
+upon us! For this end, a deep practical conviction of our natural
+depravity
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>
+and weakness will be found of eminent advantage. As it is by
+this we must at first be rouzed from our fallacious security, so by this
+we must be kept wakeful and active unto the end. Let us therefore make
+it our business to have this doctrine firmly seated in our
+understandings, and radically worked into our hearts. With a view to the
+former of these objects, we should often seriously and attentively
+consider the firm grounds on which it rests. It is plainly made known to
+us by the light of nature, and irresistibly enforced on us by the
+dictates of our unassisted understandings. But lest there should be any
+so obstinately dull, as not to discern the force of the evidence
+suggested to our reason, and confirmed by all experience, or rather so
+heedless as not to notice it, the authoritative stamp of Revelation is
+superadded, as we have seen, to complete the proof; and we must
+therefore be altogether inexcusable, if we still remain unconvinced by
+such accumulated mass of argument.</p>
+
+<p>But we must not only <i>assent</i> to the doctrine clearly, but <i>feel</i> it
+strongly. To this end, let the power of habit be called in to our aid.
+Let us accustom ourselves to refer to our natural depravity, as to their
+primary cause, the sad instances of vice and folly of which we read, or
+which we see around us, or to which we feel the propensities in our own
+bosoms; ever vigilant and distrustful of ourselves, and looking with an
+eye of kindness and pity on the faults and infirmities of others, whom
+we should learn to regard with the same tender concern as that with
+which the sick are used to sympathize with those who are suffering under
+the same distemper as themselves. This lesson once well acquired, we
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>
+shall feel the benefit of it in all our future progress; and though it
+be a lesson which we are slow to learn, it is one in which study and
+experience, the incidents of every day, and every fresh observation of
+the workings of our own hearts, will gradually concur to perfect us. Let
+it not, after all then, be our reproach, and at length our ruin, that
+these abundant means of instruction are possessed in vain.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h3><span class="smcap">Section III.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Corruption of Human Nature.&mdash;Objection.</i></h5>
+
+<p>But there is one difficulty still behind, more formidable than all the
+rest. The pride of man is loth to be humbled. Forced to abandon the plea
+of innocence, and pressed so closely that he can no longer escape from
+the conclusion to which we would drive him, some more bold objector
+faces about and stands at bay, endeavouring to justify what he cannot
+deny, &ldquo;Whatever I am,&rdquo; he contends, &ldquo;I am what my Creator made me. I
+inherited a nature, you yourself confess, depraved, and prone to evil:
+how then can I withstand the temptations to sin by which I am environed?
+If this plea cannot establish my innocence, it must excuse or at least
+extenuate my guilt. Frail and weak as I am, a Being of infinite justice
+and goodness will never try me by a rule, which however equitable in the
+case of creatures of a higher nature, is altogether disproportionate to
+mine.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Let not my readers be alarmed! The writer is not going to enter into the
+discussion of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>
+grand question concerning the origin of moral evil,
+or to attempt at large to reconcile its existence and consequent
+punishment with the acknowledged attributes and perfections of God.
+These are questions, of which, if one may judge from the little success
+with which the acutest and profoundest reasoners have been ever
+labouring to solve the difficulties they contain, the full and clear
+comprehension is above the intellect of man. Yet, as such an objection
+as that which has been stated is sometimes heard from the mouths of
+professed Christians, it must not be passed by without a few short
+observations.</p>
+
+<p>Were the language in question to be addressed to us by an avowed
+sceptic, though it might not be very difficult to expose to him the
+futility of <i>his</i> reasonings, we should almost despair of satisfying him
+of the soundness of our own. We should perhaps suggest impossibilities,
+which might stand in the way of such a system as he would establish: we
+might indeed point out wherein (arguing from concessions which he would
+freely make) his pre-conceptions concerning the conduct of the Supreme
+Being, had been in fact already contradicted, particularly by the
+existence at all of natural or moral evil: and if thus proved erroneous
+in one instance, why might they not be so likewise in another? But
+though by these and similar arguments we might at length silence our
+objector, we could not much expect to bring him over to our opinions. We
+should probably do better, if we were to endeavour rather to draw him
+off from these dark and slippery regions, (slippery in truth they are to
+every human foot) and to contend with him, where we might tread with
+firmness and freedom, on sure ground, and in the light of day.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>
+Then we
+might fairly lay before him all the various arguments for the truth of
+our holy religion; arguments which have been sufficient to satisfy the
+wisest, and the best, and the ablest of men. We should afterwards
+perhaps insist on the abundant confirmation Christianity receives from
+its being exactly suited to the nature and wants of man; and we might
+conclude, with fairly putting it to him, whether all this weight of
+evidence were to be overbalanced by this one difficulty, on a subject so
+confessedly high and mysterious, considering too that he must allow, we
+see but a part (O how small a part!) of the universal creation of God,
+and that our faculties are wholly incompetent to judge of the schemes of
+his infinite wisdom. This, if the writer may be permitted to offer his
+own judgment, is (at least in general) the best mode, in the case of the
+objection now in question, of dealing with unbelievers; and to adopt the
+contrary plan, seems somewhat like that of any one, who having to
+convince some untutored Indian of the truth of the Copernican system,
+instead of beginning with plain and simple propositions, and leading him
+on to what is more abstruse and remote, should state to him at the
+outset some astonishing problems, to which the understanding can only
+yield its slow assent, when constrained by the decisive force of
+demonstration. The novice, instead of lending himself to such a mistaken
+method of instruction, would turn away in disgust, and be only hardened
+against his preceptor. But it must be remembered, that the present work
+is addressed to those who acknowledge the authority of the holy
+Scriptures. And in order to convince all such that there is somewhere or
+other, a fallacy
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>
+in our objector&#8217;s reasoning, it will be sufficient to
+establish that though the word of God clearly asserts the justice and
+goodness of the Supreme Being, and also the natural depravity of man,
+yet it no less clearly lays down that this natural depravity shall never
+be admitted as an excuse for sin, but that &ldquo;they which have done evil,
+shall rise to the resurrection of damnation<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;That the wicked
+shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God.&rdquo; And it
+is worthy of remark, that, as if for the very purpose of more
+effectually silencing those unbelieving doubts which are ever springing
+up in the human heart, our blessed Saviour, though the messenger of
+peace and good will to man, has again and again repeated these awful
+denunciations.</p>
+
+<p>Nor (it must also be remarked) are the holy Scriptures less clear and
+full in guarding us against supposing our sins, or the dreadful
+consequences of them, to be chargeable on God.&mdash;&ldquo;Let no man say when he
+is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil,
+neither tempteth he any man<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a>:&rdquo; &ldquo;The Lord is not willing that any
+should perish<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>.&rdquo; And again, where the idea is repelled as injurious
+to his character,&mdash;&ldquo;Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should
+die? saith the Lord God; and not that he should return from his ways,
+and live<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>?&rdquo; &ldquo;For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,
+saith the Lord God<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a>.&rdquo; Indeed almost every page of the word of God
+contains some warning or invitation to sinners; and all these,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>
+to a
+considerate mind, must unquestionably be proofs of our present position.</p>
+
+<p>It has been the more necessary not to leave unnoticed the objection
+which we have been now refuting, because, where not admitted to such an
+unqualified extent as altogether to take away the moral responsibility
+of man, and when not avowed in the daring language in which it has been
+above stated; if may frequently be observed to exist in an inferior
+degree: and often, when not distinctly formed into shape, it lurks in
+secret, diffusing a general cloud of doubt or unbelief, or lowering our
+standard of right, or whispering fallacious comfort, and producing a
+ruinous tranquillity. Not to anticipate what will more properly come
+under discussion, when we consider the nature and strictness of
+practical Christianity; let us here, however, remark, that though the
+holy Scriptures so clearly state the natural corruption and weakness of
+man, yet they never, in the most minute degree, countenance, but
+throughout directly oppose, the supposition to which we are often too
+forward to listen, that this corruption and weakness will be admitted as
+lowering the demands of divine justice, and in some sort palliating our
+transgressions of the laws of God. It would not be difficult to shew
+that such a notion is at war with the whole scheme of redemption by the
+atonement of Christ. But perhaps it may be enough when any such
+suggestions as those which we are condemning force themselves into the
+imagination of a Christian, to recommend it to him to silence them by
+what is their best practical answer: that if our natural condition be
+depraved and weak, our temptations numerous, and our Almighty Judge
+infinitely holy; yet that the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>
+offers to penitent sinners of pardon and
+grace, and strength, are universal and unlimited. Let it not however
+surprise us, if in all this there seem to be involved difficulties which
+we cannot fully comprehend. How many such every where present
+themselves! Scarcely is there an object around us, that does not afford
+endless matter of doubt and argument. The meanest reptile which crawls
+on the earth, nay, every herb and flower which we behold, baffles the
+imbecility of our limited inquiries. All nature calls upon us to be
+humble. Can it then be surprising if we are at a loss on this question,
+which respects, not the properties of matter, or of numbers, but the
+counsels and ways of him whose &ldquo;Understanding is infinite<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a>,&rdquo; &ldquo;whose
+judgments are declared to be unsearchable, and his ways past finding
+out<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a>?&rdquo; In this our ignorance however, we may calmly repose ourselves
+on his own declaration, &ldquo;That though clouds and darkness are round about
+him, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his
+throne<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a>.&rdquo; Let it also be remembered, that if in Christianity some
+things are difficult, that which it most concerns us to know, is plain
+and obvious. To this it is true wisdom to attach ourselves, assenting to
+what is revealed where above our faculties, we do not say contradictory
+to them, on the credit of what is clearly discerned, and satisfactorily
+established. In truth, we are all perhaps too apt to plunge into depths,
+which it is beyond our power to fathom; and it was to warn us against
+this very error, that the inspired writer, when he has been threatening
+the people, whom God had selected
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>
+as the objects of his special favour,
+with the most dreadful punishments, if they should forsake the law of
+the Lord, and has introduced surrounding nations as asking the meaning
+of the severe infliction, winds up the whole with this instructive
+admonition; &ldquo;Secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those which
+are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may
+<i>do</i> all the words of this law<a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>To any one who is seriously impressed with a sense of the critical state
+in which we are here placed, a short and uncertain space in which to
+make our peace with God, and then the last judgment, and an eternity of
+unspeakable happiness or misery, it is indeed an awful and an affecting
+spectacle, to see men thus busying themselves in these vain speculations
+of an arrogant curiosity, and trifling with their dearest, their
+everlasting interests. It is but a feeble illustration of this exquisite
+folly, to compare it to the conduct of some convicted rebel, who, when
+brought into the presence of his Sovereign, instead of seizing the
+occasion to sue for mercy, should even neglect and trifle with the
+pardon which should be offered to him, and insolently employ himself in
+prying into his Sovereign&#8217;s designs, and criticising his counsels. Our
+case indeed is, in another point of comparison, but too much like that
+of the convicted rebel. But there is this grand difference&mdash;that at the
+best, his success must be uncertain, ours, if it be not our own fault,
+is sure; and while, on the one hand, our guilt is unspeakably greater
+than that of any rebel against an earthly monarch; so, on
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+the other, we
+know that our Sovereign is &ldquo;Long-suffering, and easy to be intreated;&rdquo;
+more ready to grant, than we to ask, forgiveness. Well then may we adopt
+the language of the poet:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">What better can we do, than - - - prostrate fall</span>
+<span class="i0">Before him reverent; and there confess</span>
+<span class="i0">Humbly our faults, and pardon beg; with tears</span>
+<span class="i0">Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air</span>
+<span class="i0">Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign</span>
+<span class="i0">Of sorrow unfeign&#8217;d, and humiliation meek?</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h5><i>Chief defects of the Religious System of the bulk of professed
+Christians, in what regards our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy
+Spirit&mdash;with a Dissertation concerning the use of the Passions in
+Religion.</i></h5>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. I</span></h3>
+
+<h4>SCRIPTURE DOCTRINES.</h4>
+
+<p>That &ldquo;God so loved the world, as of his tender mercy to give his only
+Son Jesus Christ for our redemption:&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That our blessed Lord willingly left the glory of the Father, and was
+made man;</p>
+
+<p>That &ldquo;he was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and
+acquainted with grief:&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That &ldquo;he was wounded for our transgressions; that he was bruised for our
+iniquities:&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That &ldquo;the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all:&rdquo;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>That at length &ldquo;he humbled himself even to the death of the Cross, for
+us miserable sinners; to the end that all who with hearty repentance and
+true faith, should come to him, might not perish, but have everlasting
+life:&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That he &ldquo;is now at the right hand of God, making intercession&rdquo; for his
+people:</p>
+
+<p>That &ldquo;being reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we may come
+boldly unto the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help
+in time of need:&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That our Heavenly Father &ldquo;will surely give his Holy Spirit to them that
+ask him:&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That &ldquo;the Spirit of God must dwell in us;&rdquo; and that &ldquo;if any man have not
+the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his:&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>That by this divine influence &ldquo;we are to be renewed in knowledge after
+the image of him who created us,&rdquo; and &ldquo;to be filled with the fruits of
+righteousness, to the praise of the glory of his grace;&rdquo;&mdash;that &ldquo;being
+thus made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light,&rdquo; we shall
+sleep in the Lord; and that when the last trumpet shall sound, this
+corruption shall put on incorruption&mdash;and that being at length perfected
+after his likeness, we shall be admitted into his heavenly kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>These are the leading Doctrines concerning our Saviour, and the Holy
+Spirit, which are taught in the Holy Scriptures, and held by the Church
+of England. The truth of them, agreeably to our general plan, will be
+taken for granted. Few of those, who have been used to join in the
+established form of worship, can have been, it is hoped, so inattentive,
+as to be ignorant of these grand truths, which are to be found every
+where dispersed throughout our excellent
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>
+Liturgy. Would to God it could
+be presumed, with equal confidence, that all who assent to them in
+terms, discern their force and excellency in the understanding, and feel
+their power in the affections, and their transforming influence in the
+heart. What lively emotions are they calculated to excite in us of deep
+self-abasement, and abhorrence of our sins; and of humble hope, and firm
+faith, and heavenly joy, and ardent love, and active unceasing
+gratitude!</p>
+
+<p>But here, it is to be feared, will be found the grand defect of the
+religion of the bulk of professed Christians; a defect, like the palsy
+at the heart, which, while in its first attack, it changes but little
+the exterior appearance of the body, extinguishes the internal principle
+of heat and motion, and soon extends its benumbing influence to the
+remotest fibres of the frame. This defect is closely connected with that
+which was the chief subject of the last chapter: &ldquo;they that are whole
+need not a physician, but they that are sick.&rdquo; Had we duly felt the
+burthen of our sins, that they are a load which our own strength is
+wholly unable to support, and that the weight of them must finally sink
+us into perdition, our hearts would have danced at the sound of the
+gracious invitation, &ldquo;Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
+laden, and I will give you rest<a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a>.&rdquo; But in those who have scarcely
+felt their sins as any incumbrance, it would be mere affectation to
+pretend to very exalted conceptions of the value and acceptableness of
+the proffered deliverance. This pretence accordingly, is seldom now kept
+up; and the most superficial observer, comparing the sentiments
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>
+and
+views of the bulk of the Christian world, with the articles still
+retained in their creed, and with the strong language of Scripture, must
+be struck with the amazing disproportion.</p>
+
+<p>To pass over the throng from whose minds Religion is altogether excluded
+by the business or the vanities of life, how is it with the more decent
+and moral? To what criterion shall we appeal? Are their hearts really
+filled with these things, and warmed by the love which they are adapted
+to inspire? Then surely their minds are apt to stray to them almost
+unseasonably; or at least to hasten back to them with eagerness, when
+escaped from the estrangment imposed by the necessary cares and business
+of life. He was a masterly describer of human nature, who thus
+pourtrayed the characters of an undissembled affection;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Unstaid and fickle in all other things,</span>
+<span class="i0">Save in the constant image of the object,</span>
+<span class="i0">That is beloved.&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And how,&rdquo; it may be perhaps replied, &ldquo;do you know, but that the minds
+of these people are thus occupied? Can you look into the bosoms of men?&rdquo;
+Let us appeal to a test to which we resorted in a former instance. &ldquo;Out
+of the abundance of the heart,&rdquo; it has been pronounced, &ldquo;the mouth
+speaketh.&rdquo;&mdash;Take these persons then in some well selected hour, and lead
+the conversation to the subject of Religion. The utmost which can be
+effected is, to bring them to talk of things in the gross. They appear
+lost in generalities; there is nothing precise and determinate, nothing
+which implies a mind used to the contemplation of its object. In vain
+you strive to bring them to speak on
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>
+that topic, which one might expect
+to be ever uppermost in the hearts of redeemed sinners. They elude all
+your endeavours; and if you make mention of it yourself, it is received
+with no very cordial welcome at least, if not with unequivocal disgust;
+it is at the best a forced and formal discussion. The excellence of our
+Saviour&#8217;s moral precepts, the kindness and simplicity, and self-denial
+and unblemished purity of his life, his patience and meekness in the
+hour of death, cannot indeed be spoken of but with admiration, when
+spoken of at all, as they have often extorted unwilling praise from the
+most daring and malignant infidels. But are not these mentioned as
+qualities in the abstract, rather than as the perfections and lineaments
+of our patron and benefactor and friend, &ldquo;who loved us, and gave himself
+for us;&rdquo; of him &ldquo;who died for <i>our</i> offences, and rose again for <i>our</i>
+justification;&rdquo; who is even now at the &ldquo;right hand of God, making
+intercession for <i>us</i>?&rdquo; Who would think that the kindness and humanity,
+and self-denial, and patience in suffering, which we so drily commend,
+had been exerted towards <i>ourselves</i>, in acts of more than finite
+benevolence of which <i>we</i> were to derive the benefit, in condescensions
+and labours submitted to for <i>our</i> sakes, in pain and ignominy, endured
+for <i>our</i> deliverance?</p>
+
+<p>But these grand truths are not suffered to vanish altogether from our
+remembrance. Thanks to the compilers of our Liturgy, more than to too
+many of the occupiers of our pulpits, they are forced upon our notice in
+their just bearings and connections, as often as we attend the service
+of the church. Yet is it too much to affirm, that though there
+entertained with decorum,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>
+as what belong to the day and place, and
+occupation, they are yet too generally heard of with little interest;
+like the legendary tales of some venerable historian, or other
+transactions of great antiquity, if not of doubtful credit, which,
+though important to our ancestors, relate to times and circumstances so
+different from our own, that we cannot be expected to take any great
+concern in them? We hear of them therefore with apparent indifference;
+we repeat them almost as it were by rote, assuming by turns the language
+of the deepest humiliation and of the warmest thankfulness, with a calm
+unaltered composure; and when the service of the day is ended, they are
+dismissed altogether from our thoughts, till on the return of another
+Sunday, a fresh attendance on public worship gives occasion for the
+renewed expressions of our periodical gratitude. In noticing such
+lukewarmness as this, surely the writer were to be pardoned, if he were
+to be betrayed into some warmth of condemnation. The Unitarian and
+Socinian indeed, who deny, or explain away the peculiar doctrines of the
+Gospel, may be allowed to feel, and talk of these grand truths with
+little emotion. But in those who profess a sincere belief in them, this
+coldness is insupportable. The greatest possible services of man to man
+must appear contemptible, when compared with &ldquo;the unspeakable mercies of
+Christ:&rdquo; mercies so dearly bought, so freely bestowed&mdash;A deliverance
+from eternal misery&mdash;The gift of &ldquo;a crown of glory, that fadeth not
+away.&rdquo; Yet, what judgment should we form of such conduct, as is here
+censured, in the case of any one who had received some signal services
+from a fellow creature? True love is an ardent, and an active
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+principle&mdash;a cold, a dormant, a phlegmatic gratitude, are contractions
+in terms. When these generous affections really exist in vigour, are we
+not ever fond of dwelling on the value, and enumerating the merits of
+our benefactor? How are we moved when any thing is asserted to his
+disparagement! How do we delight to tell of his kindness! With what
+pious care do we preserve any memorial of him, which we may happen to
+possess? How gladly do we seize any opportunity of rendering to him, or
+to those who are dear to him, any little good offices, which, though in
+themselves of small intrinsic worth, may testify the sincerity of our
+thankfulness! The very mention of his name will cheer the heart, and
+light up the countenance! And if he be now no more, and if he had made
+it his dying request that, in a way of his own appointment, we would
+occasionally meet to keep the memory of his person, and of his services
+in lively exercise; how should we resent the idea of failing in the
+performance of so sacred an obligation!</p>
+
+<p>Such are the genuine characters, such the natural workings of a lively
+gratitude. And we believe, without doing violence to the most
+established principles of human nature, that where the <i>effects</i> are so
+different, the <i>internal principle</i> is in truth the same?</p>
+
+<p>If the love of Christ be thus languid in the bulk of nominal Christians,
+their joy and trust in him cannot be expected to be very vigorous. Here
+again we find reason to remark, that there is nothing distinct, nothing
+specific, nothing which implies a mind acquainted with the nature, and
+familiarized with the use of the Christian&#8217;s privileges, habitually
+solacing itself with the hopes held out by the Gospel, and animated
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>
+by
+the sense of its high relations, and its glorious reversion.</p>
+
+<p>The doctrine of the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, appears
+to have met with still worse treatment. It would be to convey a very
+inadequate idea of the scantiness of the conceptions on this head, of
+the bulk of the Christian world, to affirm merely, that they are too
+little conscious of the inefficacy of their own unassisted endeavours
+after holiness of heart and life, and that they are not daily employed
+in humbly and diligently using the appointed means for the reception and
+cultivation of the divine assistance. It would hardly be to go beyond
+the truth to assert, that for the most part their notions on this
+subject are so confused and faint, that they can scarcely be said in any
+fair sense to believe the doctrine at all.</p>
+
+<p>The writer of these sheets is by no means unapprized of the objections
+which he may expect from those, whose opinions he has been so freely
+condemning. He is prepared to hear it urged, that often where there have
+been the strongest pretences to the religious affections, of which the
+want has now been censured, there has been little or nothing of the
+reality of them; and that even omitting the instances (which however
+have been but too frequent) of studied hypocrisy, what have assumed to
+themselves the name of religious affections, have been merely the
+flights of a lively imagination, or the working of a heated brain; in
+particular, that this love of our Saviour, which has been so warmly
+recommended, is no better than a vain fervor, which dwells only in the
+disordered mind of the enthusiast. That Religion is of a more steady
+nature; of a more sober and manly quality; and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+that she rejects with
+scorn, the support of a mere feeling, so volatile and indeterminate, so
+trivial and useless, as that with which we would associate her; a
+feeling varying in different men, and even in the same man at different
+times, according to the accidental flow of the animal spirits; a
+feeling, lastly, of which it may perhaps be said, we are from our very
+nature, hardly susceptible towards an invisible Being.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;As to the operations of the Holy Spirit,&rdquo; it may probably be further
+urged, that &ldquo;it is perhaps scarcely worth while to spend much time in
+inquiring into the theory, when, in practice at least, it is manifest,
+that there is no sure criterion whereby any one can ascertain the
+reality of them, even in his own case, much less in that of another. All
+we know is, that pretenders to these extraordinary assistances, have
+never been wanting to abuse the credulity of the vulgar, and to try the
+patience of the wise. From the canting hypocrites and wild fanatics of
+the last century, to their less dangerous, chiefly because less
+successful, descendants of the present day, we hear the same unwarranted
+claims, the same idle tales, the same low cant; and we may discern not
+seldom the same mean artifices and mercenary ends. The doctrine, to say
+the best of it, can only serve to favour the indolence of man, while
+professing to furnish him with a compendious method of becoming wise and
+good, it supersedes the necessity of his own personal labours. Quitting
+therefore all these slothful and chimerical speculations, it is true
+wisdom to attach ourselves to what is more solid and practical; to the
+work which you will not yourself deny to be sufficiently
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>
+difficult to
+find us of itself full employment: the work of rectifying the disorders
+of the passions, and of implanting and cultivating the virtues of the
+moral character.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;It is the service of the understanding which God
+requires of us, which you would degrade into a mere matter of bodily
+temperament, and imaginary impulses. You are contending for that which
+not only is altogether unworthy of our Divine Master, but which, with
+considerate men, has ever brought his religion into suspicion and
+disrepute, and under a shew of honouring him, serves only to injure and
+discredit his cause.&rdquo; Our Objector, warming as he proceeds, will perhaps
+assume a more impatient tone. &ldquo;Have not these doctrines,&rdquo; he may
+exclaim, &ldquo;been ever perverted to purposes the most disgraceful to the
+Religion of Jesus? If you want an instance, look to the standard of the
+inquisition, and behold the pious Dominicans torturing their miserable
+victims for the Love of Christ<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a>. Or would you rather see the effects
+of your principles on a larger scale, and <i>by wholesale</i> (if the phrase
+may be pardoned;) cast your eyes across the Atlantic, and let your zeal
+be edified by the holy activity of Cortez and Pizarro, and their
+apostles of the western hemisphere. To what else have been owing the
+extensive ravages of national persecutions, and religious wars and
+crusades; whereby rapacity, and pride, and cruelty, sheltering
+themselves (sometimes even from the furious bigots themselves) under the
+mask of this specious principle, have so often afflicted the world? The
+Prince of Peace has
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+been made to assume the port of a ferocious
+conqueror, and forgetting the message of good will to men, has issued
+forth like a second Scourge of the Earth<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>, to plague and desolate the
+human species.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<h5><i>Objection discussed.</i></h5>
+
+<p>That the sacred name of Religion has been too often prostituted to the
+most detestable purposes; that furious bigots and bloody persecutors,
+and self-interested hypocrites of all qualities and dimensions, from the
+rapacious leader of an army, to the canting oracle of a congregation,
+have falsely called themselves Christians, are melancholy and
+humiliating truths, which (as none so deeply lament them) none will more
+readily admit, than they who best understand the nature, and are most
+concerned for the honour of Christianity. We are ready to acknowledge
+also without dispute, that the religious affections, and the doctrine of
+divine assistances, have almost at all times been more or less disgraced
+by the false pretences and extravagant conduct of wild fanatics and
+brain-sick enthusiasts. All this, however, is only as it happens in
+other instances, wherein the depravity of man perverts the bounty of
+God. Why is it here only to be made an argument, that there is danger of
+abuse? So is there also in the case of all the potent and operative
+principles, whether in the natural or moral world. Take for an instance
+the powers and properties of matter. These were doubtless designed by
+Providence for our comfort and well-being; yet they are often
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>
+misapplied to trifling purposes, and still more frequently turned into
+so many agents of misery and death. On this fact indeed is founded the
+well-known maxim, not more trite than just, that &ldquo;the best things when
+corrupted become the worst;&rdquo; a maxim which is especially just in the
+instance of Religion. For in this case it is not merely, as in some
+others, that a great power, when mischievously applied, must be hurtful
+in proportion to its strength; but that the very principle on which in
+general we depend for restraining and retarding the progress of evil,
+not only ceases to interpose any kindly check, but is actively operative
+in the opposite direction. But will you therefore discard Religion
+altogether? The experiment was lately tried in
+<span class="tn" title="Original text has repeated &lsquo;a&rsquo;">a</span>
+neighbouring country,
+and professedly on this very ground. The effects however with which it
+was attended, do not much encourage its repetition. But suppose Religion
+were discarded, then Liberty remains to plague the world; a power which
+though when well employed, the dispenser of light and happiness, has
+been often proved, and eminently in this very instance, to be capable
+when abused, of becoming infinitely mischievous. Well then, extinguish
+Liberty. Then what more abused by false pretenders, than Patriotism?
+Well, extinguish Patriotism. But then the wicked career to which we have
+adverted, must have been checked but for Courage. Blot out Courage&mdash;and
+so might you proceed to extinguish one by one, Reason, and Speech, and
+Memory, and all the discriminating prerogatives of man. But perhaps more
+than enough has been already urged in reply to an objection, which
+bottoms on ground so indefensible, as that which would
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>
+equally warrant
+our condemning any physical or moral faculty altogether, on account of
+its being occasionally abused.</p>
+
+<p>As to the position of our Opponent, that there is no way whereby the
+validity of any pretensions to the religious affections may be
+ascertained; it must partly be admitted. Doubtless we are not able
+always to read the hearts of men, and to discover their real characters;
+and hence it is, that we in some measure lie open to the false and
+hypocritical pretences which are brought forward against us so
+triumphantly. But then these pretences no more prove all similar claims
+to be founded in falsehood and hypocrisy, than there having been many
+false and interested pretenders to wisdom and honesty, would prove that
+there can be no such thing as a wise or an honest man. We do not argue
+thus but where our reason is under a corrupt bias. Why should we be so
+much surprised and scandalized, when these importers are detected in the
+church of Christ? It is no more than our blessed Master himself taught
+us to expect; and when the old difficulty is stated, &ldquo;didst thou not sow
+good seed in thy field, whence then hath it tares?&rdquo; his own answer
+furnishes the best solution,&mdash;&ldquo;an enemy hath done this.&rdquo;&mdash;Hypocrisy is
+indeed <i>detestable</i>, and enthusiasm sufficiently mischievous to justify
+our guarding against its approaches with jealous care. Yet it may not be
+improper to take this occasion for observing, that we are now and then
+apt to draw too unfavourable conclusions from unpleasant appearances,
+which may perhaps be chiefly or altogether owing to gross or confused
+conceptions, or to a disgusting formality of demeanor, or to
+indeterminate, low, or improperly familiar
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>
+expressions. The mode and
+language, in which a vulgar man will express himself on the subject of
+Religion, will probably be vulgar, and it is difficult for people of
+literature and refinement not to be unreasonably shocked by such
+vulgarities. But we should at least endeavour to correct the rash
+judgments which we may be disposed to form on these occasions, and
+should learn to recognize and to prize a sound texture and just
+configuration, though disguised beneath a homely or uncouth drapery. It
+was an Apostle who declared that he had come (to the learned and
+accomplished Grecians too) &ldquo;not with excellency of speech, or the wisdom
+of words.&rdquo; From these he had studiously abstained, lest he should have
+seemed to owe his success rather to the graces of oratory, than to the
+efficacy of his doctrines, and to the divine power with which they were
+accompanied. Even in our own times, when, the extraordinary operations
+and miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit having ceased, the necessity of
+study and preparation, and of attention to manner as well as matter, in
+order to qualify men to become teachers of religion, are no longer
+superseded, yet it is no more than an act of justice explicitly to
+remark, that a body of Christians, which from the peculiarly offensive
+grossnesses of language in use among them, had, not without reason,
+excited suspicions of the very worst nature, have since reclaimed their
+character<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>, and have perhaps excelled all mankind in solid and
+unequivocal proofs of the love of Christ, and of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+the most ardent, and
+active, and patient zeal in his service. It is a zeal tempered with
+prudence, softened with meekness, soberly aiming at great ends by the
+gradual operation of well adapted means, supported by a courage which no
+danger can intimidate, and a quiet constancy which no hardships can
+exhaust.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. II.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>On the Admission of the Passions into Religion.</i></h5>
+
+<p>The objection of our Opponent, that by insisting on the obligation of
+making our blessed Saviour the object of our religious affections, we
+are degrading the worship of the understanding, and are substituting and
+raising up a set of mere feelings in its stead, is one which deserves
+our most serious consideration. If it be just, it is decisive; for ours
+must be unquestionably &ldquo;a reasonable service<a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a>.&rdquo;
+The Objector must
+mean, either, that these affections are unreasonable in themselves, or
+that they are misplaced in religion. He can scarcely however intend that
+the affections are in their own nature unreasonable. To suppose him to
+maintain this position, were to suppose him ignorant of what every
+schoolboy knows of the mechanism of the human mind. We shall therefore
+take it for granted, that this cannot be his meaning, and proceed to
+examine the latter part of the alternative. Here also it may either be
+intended, that the affections are misplaced in Religion, <i>generally</i>, or
+that our blessed Saviour is not the proper object of them. The strain of
+our Objector&#8217;s
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>
+language, no less than the objections themselves which
+he has urged, render it evident that (perhaps without excluding the
+latter position) the former is in full possession of his mind.</p>
+
+<p>This notion of the affections being out of place in Religion, is indeed
+an opinion which appears to be generally prevalent. The affections are
+regarded as the strong-holds of enthusiasm. It is therefore judged most
+expedient to act, as prudent generals are used to do, when they raze the
+fortress, or spike up the cannon, which are likely to fall into the
+hands of an enemy. Mankind are apt to be the dupes of misapplied terms;
+and the progress of the persuasion now in question, has been
+considerably aided by an abuse of language, not sufficiently checked in
+its first advances, whereby that species of Religion which is opposite
+to the warm and affectionate kind, has been suffered almost without
+disturbance, to usurp to itself the epithet of <i>rational</i>. But let not
+this claim be too hastily admitted. Let the position in question be
+thoroughly and impartially discussed, and it will appear, if I mistake
+not, to be a gross and pernicious error. If amputation be indeed
+indispensable, we must submit to it; but we may surely expect to be
+heard with patience, or rather with favour and indulgence, while we
+proceed to shew that there is no need to have recourse to so desperate
+an enemy. The discussion will necessarily draw us into length. But our
+prolixity will not be greater than may well be claimed by the importance
+of the subject, especially as it scarcely seems to have hitherto
+sufficiently engaged the attention of writers on the subject of
+Religion.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It cannot methinks but afford a considerable presumption against the
+doctrine which we are about to combat, that it proposes to exclude at
+once from the service of Religion so grand a part of the composition of
+man; that in this our noblest employment it condemns as worse than
+useless, all the most active and operative principles of our nature. One
+cannot but suppose that like the organs of the body, so the elementary
+qualities and original passions of the mind were all given us for
+valuable purposes by our all-wise Creator. It is indeed one of the sad
+evidences of our fallen condition, that they are now perpetually
+tumultuating and rebelling against the powers of reason and conscience,
+to which they should be subject. But even if Revelation had been silent,
+natural reason might have in some degree presumed, that it would be the
+effect of a Religion which should come from God, completely to repair
+the consequences of our superinduced depravity. The schemes of mere
+human wisdom had indeed tacitly confessed, that this was a task beyond
+their strength. Of the two most celebrated systems of philosophy, the
+one expressly confirmed the usurpation of the passions, while the other,
+despairing of being able to regulate, saw nothing left but to extinguish
+them. The former acted like a weak government, which gives independence
+to a rebellious province, which it cannot reduce. The latter formed its
+boasted scheme merely upon the plan of that barbarous policy, which
+composes the troubles of a turbulent land by the extermination of its
+inhabitants. This is the calm, not of order, but of inaction; it is not
+tranquillity, but the stillness of death;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Trucidare falso nomine imperium, &amp; ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant&mdash;</span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p>Christianity, we might hope, would not be driven to any such wretched
+expedients; nor in fact does she condescend to them. They only thus
+undervalue her strength, who mistake her character, and are ignorant of
+her powers. It is her peculiar glory, and her main office, to bring all
+the faculties of our nature into their just subordination and
+dependence; that so the whole man, complete in all his functions, may be
+restored to the true ends of his being, and be devoted, entire and
+harmonious, to the service and glory of God. &ldquo;My son, give me thine
+<i>heart</i>&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy <i>heart</i>:&rdquo;&mdash;Such
+are the direct and comprehensive claims which are made on us in the holy
+Scriptures. We can scarcely indeed look into any part of the sacred
+volume without meeting abundant proofs, that it is the religion of the
+Affections which God particularly requires. Love, Zeal, Gratitude, Joy,
+Hope, Trust, are each of them specified; and are not allowed to us as
+weaknesses, but enjoined on us as our bounden duty, and commended to us
+as our acceptable worship. Where passages are so numerous, there would
+be no end of particular citations. Let it be sufficient therefore, to
+refer the reader to the word of God. There let him observe too, that as
+the lively exercise of the passions towards their legitimate object, is
+always spoken of with praise, so a cold, hard, unfeeling heart is
+represented as highly criminal. Lukewarmness is stated to be the object
+of God&#8217;s disgust and aversion; zeal and love, of his favour and delight;
+and the taking away of the heart of stone and the implanting of a warmer
+and more tender nature in its stead, is specifically promised as the
+effect of his returning favour,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>
+and the work of his renewing grace. It
+is the prayer of an inspired teacher, in behalf of those for whom he was
+most interested, &ldquo;that their love&rdquo; (already acknowledged to be great)
+&ldquo;might abound yet more and more:&rdquo; Those modes of worship are set forth
+and prescribed, which are best calculated to excite the dormant
+affections, and to maintain them in lively exercise; and the aids of
+music and singing are expressly superadded to increase their effect. If
+we look to the most eminent of the Scripture Characters, we shall find
+them warm, zealous, and affectionate. When engaged in their favourite
+work of celebrating the goodness of their Supreme Benefactor, their
+souls appear to burn within them, their hearts kindle into rapture; the
+powers of language are inadequate to the expression of their transports;
+and they call on all nature to swell the chorus, and to unite with them
+in hallelujahs of gratitude, and joy, and praise. The man after God&#8217;s
+own heart most of all abounds in these glowing effusions; and his
+compositions appear to have been given us in order to set the tone, as
+it were, to all succeeding generations. Accordingly (to quote the words
+of a late excellent prelate<a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>, who was himself warmed with the same
+heavenly flame) &ldquo;in the language of this divine book, the praises of the
+church have been offered up to the Throne of Grace from age to age.&rdquo;
+Again, when it pleased God to check the future apostle of the Gentiles
+in his wild career, and to make him a monument of transforming grace;
+was the force of his affections diminished, or was it not only that
+their direction was changed? He brought
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>
+his affections entire and
+unabated into the service of his blessed Master. His zeal now burned
+even with an increase of brightness; and no intenseness, no continuance
+of suffering could allay its ardor, or damp the fervors of his
+triumphant exultations. Finally&mdash;The worship and service of the
+glorified spirits in Heaven, is not represented to us a cold
+intellectual investigation, but as the worship and service of gratitude
+and love. And surely it will not be disputed, that it should be even
+here the humble endeavour of those, who are promised while on earth &ldquo;to
+be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,&rdquo;
+to bring their hearts into a capacity for joining in those everlasting
+praises.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">But</span> it may not be unadvisable for the writer here to guard against a
+mistaken supposition, from which the mind of our Objector by no means
+appears exempt, that the force of the religious affections is to be
+mainly estimated (I had almost said by the thermometer) by the degree of
+mere animal fervor, by ardors, and transports, and raptures, of which,
+from constitutional temperament, a person may be easily susceptible; or
+into which daily experience must convince us, that people of strong
+conceptions and of warm passions may work themselves without much
+difficulty, where their hearts are by no means truly or deeply
+interested. Every tolerable actor can attest the truth of this remark.
+These high degrees of the passions bad men may experience, good men may
+want. They may be affected; they may be genuine; but whether genuine or
+affected, they form not the true standard by which the real nature or
+strength of the religious affections is to be determined. To ascertain
+these points, we must examine, whether they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>
+appear to be grounded in
+knowledge, to have their root in strong and just conceptions of the
+great and manifold excellences of their object, or to be ignorant,
+unmeaning, or vague: whether they are natural and easy, or constrained
+and forced; wakeful and apt to fix on their great objects, delighting in
+their proper nutriment (if the expression may be allowed) the exercises
+of prayer and praise, and religious contemplation; or voluntarily
+omitting offered occasions of receiving it, looking forward to them with
+little expectation, looking back on them with little complacency, and
+being disappointed of them with little regret: by observing whether
+these religious affections are merely occasional visitants, or the
+abiding inmates of the soul: whether they have got the mastery over the
+vicious passions and propensities, with which in their origin, and
+nature, and tendency, they are at open variance; or whether if the
+victory be not yet complete, the war is at least constant, and the
+breach irreconcilable: whether they moderate and regulate all the
+inferior appetites and desires which are culpable only in their excess,
+thus striving to reign in the bosom with a settled undisputed
+predominance: by examining, whether above all they manifest themselves
+by prompting to the active discharge of the duties of life, the
+personal, and domestic, and relative, and professional, and social, and
+civil duties. Here the wideness of their range and the universality of
+their influence, will generally serve to distinguish them from those
+partial efforts of diligence and self-denial, to which mankind are
+prompted by subordinate motives. All proofs other than this deduced from
+conduct, are in some degree ambiguous. This, this only,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+whether we
+argue from Reason or from Scripture, is a sure infallible criterion.
+From the daily incidents of conjugal and domestic life, we learn that a
+heat of affection occasionally vehement, but superficial and transitory,
+may consist too well with a course of conduct, exhibiting incontestable
+proofs of neglect and unkindness. But the passion, which alone the Holy
+Scriptures dignify with the name of Love, is a deep, not a superficial
+feeling; a fixed and permanent, not an occasional emotion. It proves the
+validity of its title, by actions corresponding with its nature, by
+practical endeavours to gratify the wishes and to promote the interests
+of the object of affection. &ldquo;If a man love me, he will keep my sayings.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.&rdquo; This therefore
+is the best standard by which to try the quality, or, the quality being
+ascertained, to estimate the strength of the religious affections.
+Without suffering ourselves to derive too much complacency from
+transient fervors of devotion, we should carefully and frequently prove
+ourselves by this less dubitable test; impartially examining our daily
+conduct; and often comparing our actual, with our possible services, the
+fair amount of our exertions, with our natural or acquired means and
+opportunities of usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>After this large explanation, the prolixity of which will we trust be
+pardoned on account of the importance of the subject, and the danger of
+mistakes both on the right hand and on the left, we are perfectly ready
+to concede to the objector, whose arguments we have so long been
+considering, that the religious affections must be expected to be more
+or less lively in different men, and in the same man at different times,
+in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+proportion to natural tempers, ages, situations, and habits of life.
+But, to found an objection on this ground, would be as unreasonable as
+it were altogether to deny the obligation of the precepts, which command
+us to relieve the necessities of the indigent, because the infinitely
+varying circumstances of mankind must render it impossible to specify
+beforehand the sum which each individual ought on the whole to allot to
+this purpose, or to fix in every particular instance, on any determinate
+measure, and mode of contribution. To the one case no less than to the
+other, we may apply the maxim of an eminent writer; &ldquo;An honest heart is
+the best casuist.&rdquo; He who every where but in Religion is warm and
+animated, there only phlegmatic and cold, can hardly expect (especially
+if this coldness be not the subject of unfeigned humiliation and sorrow)
+that his plea on the ground of natural temper should be admitted; any
+more than that of a person who should urge his poverty as a
+justification of his not relieving the wants of the necessitous, at the
+very time that he should be launching out into expence without
+restraint, on occasions in which he should be really prompted by his
+inclinations. In both cases, &ldquo;it is the <i>willing</i> mind which is
+required.&rdquo; Where that is found &ldquo;every man will be judged according to
+what he hath, and not according to what he hath not<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>After the decisive proofs already adduced from the word of God, of the
+unreasonableness of the objection to the admission of the passions into
+Religion, all farther arguments may appear superfluous to any one who is
+disposed to bow to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>
+scriptural authority. Yet the point is of so much
+importance, and it is to be feared, so little regarded, that it may not
+be amiss to continue the discussion. The best results of our
+understanding will be shewn to fall in with what clearly appears to be
+the authoritative language of revelation; and to call in the aid of the
+affections to the service of Religion, will prove to be not only what
+sober reason may permit, as in some sort allowable; but to be that which
+she clearly and strongly dictates to our deliberate judgments, as being
+what the circumstances of our natural condition indispensably require.
+We have every one of us a work to accomplish, wherein our eternal
+interests are at stake; a work to which we are naturally indisposed. We
+live in a world abounding with objects which distract our attention and
+divert our endeavours; and a deadly enemy is ever at hand to seduce and
+beguile us. If we persevere indeed, success is certain; but our efforts
+must know no remission. There is a call on us for vigorous and continual
+resolution, self-denial, and activity. Now, man is not a being of mere
+intellect.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor,</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>is a complaint which, alas! we all of us might daily utter. The
+slightest solicitation of appetite is often able to draw us to act in
+opposition to our clearest judgment, our highest interests, and most
+resolute determinations. Sickness, poverty, disgrace, and even eternal
+misery itself, sometimes in vain solicit our regards; they are all
+excluded from the view, and thrust as it were beyond the sphere of
+vision, by some poor unsubstantial transient object, so minute and
+contemptible as almost to escape the notice of the eye of reason.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>These observations are more strikingly confirmed in our religious
+concerns than in any other; because in them the interests at stake are
+of transcendant importance: but they hold equally in every instance
+according to its measure, wherein there is a call for laborious,
+painful, and continued exertions, from which any one is likely to be
+deterred by obstacles, or seduced by the solicitations of pleasure. What
+then it to be done in the case of any such arduous and necessary
+undertaking? The answer is obvious&mdash;You should endeavour not only to
+convince the understanding, but also to affect the heart; and for this
+end, you must secure the reinforcement of the passions. This is indeed
+the course which would be naturally followed by every man of common
+understanding, who should know that some one for whom he was deeply
+interested, a child, for instance, or a brother, were about to enter on
+a long, difficult, perilous, and critical adventure, wherein success was
+to be honour and affluence; defeat was to be contempt and ruin. And
+still more, if the parent were convinced that his child possessed
+faculties which, strenuously and unremittingly exerted, would prove
+equal to all the exigences of the enterprize, but knew him also to be
+volatile and inconstant, and had reason to doubt his resolution and his
+vigilance; how would the friendly monitor&#8217;s endeavour be redoubled, so
+to possess his pupil&#8217;s mind with the worth and dignity of the
+undertaking, that there should be no opening for the entrance of any
+inferior consideration!&mdash;&ldquo;Weigh well (he would say) the value of the
+object for which you are about to contend, and contemplate and study its
+various excellences, till your whole soul be on fire
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+for its
+acquisition. Consider too, that, if you fail, misery and infamy are
+united in the alternative which awaits you. Let not the mistaken notion
+of its being a safe and easy service, for a moment beguile you into the
+discontinuance or remission of your efforts. Be aware of your imminent
+danger, and at the same time know your true security. It is a service of
+labour and peril; but one wherein the powers which you possess,
+strenuously and perseveringly exerted, cannot but crown you with
+victory. Accustom yourself to look first to the dreadful consequences of
+failure; then fix your eye on the glorious prize which is before you;
+and when your strength begins to fail, and your spirits are well nigh
+exhausted, let the animating view rekindle your resolution, and call
+forth in renewed vigour the fainting energies of your soul.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It was the remark of an unerring observer, &ldquo;The children of this world
+are wiser in their generation than the children of light.&rdquo; And it is
+indisputably true, that in religion we have to argue and plead with men
+for principles of action, the wisdom and expediency of which are
+universally acknowledged in matters of worldly concern. So it is in the
+instance before us. The case which has been just described, is an exact,
+but a faint representation of our condition in this life. Frail and
+&ldquo;infirm of purpose,&rdquo; we have a business to execute of supreme and
+indispensable necessity. Solicitations to neglect it every where abound:
+the difficulties and dangers are numerous and urgent; and the night of
+death cometh, how soon we know not, &ldquo;when no man can work.&rdquo; All this is
+granted. It seems to be a state of things wherein one
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>
+should look out
+with solicitude for some powerful stimulants. Mere knowledge is
+confessedly too weak. The affections alone remain to supply the
+deficiency. They precisely meet the occasion, and suit the purposes
+intended. Yet, when we propose to fit ourselves for our great
+undertaking, by calling them in to our help, we are to be told that we
+are acting contrary to reason. Is this reasonable, to strip us first of
+our armour of proof, and then to send us to the sharpest of encounters?
+To summon us to the severest labours, but first to rob us of the
+precious cordials which should brace our sinews and recruit our
+strength?</p>
+
+<p>Let these pretended advocates for reason at length then confess their
+folly, and do justice to the superior wisdom as well as goodness of our
+heavenly Instructor, who better understanding our true condition, and
+knowing our frowardness and inadvertency, has most reasonably as well as
+kindly pointed out and enjoined on us the use of those aids which may
+counteract our infirmities; who commanding the effect, has commanded
+also the means whereby it may be accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>And now, if the use of the affections in religion, in <i>general</i>, be at
+length shewn to be conformable to reason, it will not require many words
+to prove that our blessed Saviour is the proper object of them. We know
+that love, gratitude, joy, hope, trust, (the affections in question)
+have all their appropriate objects. Now it must be at once conceded,
+that if these appropriate objects be not exhibited, it is perfectly
+unreasonable to expect that the correspondent passions should be
+excited. If we ask for love, in the case of an object which has no
+excellence or desirableness; for gratitude, where no obligation
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>
+has been conferred; for joy, where there is no just cause of
+self-congratulation; for hope, where nothing is expected; for trust,
+where there exists no ground of reliance; then indeed, we must kiss the
+rod, and patiently submit to correction. This would be indeed Egyptian
+bondage, to demand the effects without the means of producing them. Is
+the case then so? Are we ready to adopt the language of the avowed
+enemies of our adorable Saviour; and again to say of him &ldquo;in whom
+dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,&rdquo; that &ldquo;he hath no form
+nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
+should desire him<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a>?&rdquo; Is it no obligation, that he who &ldquo;thought it not
+robbery to be equal with God,&rdquo; should yet for our sakes &ldquo;make himself of
+no reputation, and take upon him the form of a servant, and be made in
+the likeness of men; and humble himself, and become obedient unto death,
+even the death of the cross<a name="FNanchor_32" id="FNanchor_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a>?&rdquo; Is it no cause of &ldquo;<i>joy</i>, that to us
+is born a Saviour<a name="FNanchor_33" id="FNanchor_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>&rdquo;,
+by whom we may &ldquo;be delivered from the power of
+darkness; and be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
+saints in light<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>?&rdquo;
+Can there be a &ldquo;<i>hope</i> comparable to that of our
+calling<a name="FNanchor_35" id="FNanchor_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Which
+is Christ in us, the hope of glory<a name="FNanchor_36" id="FNanchor_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>?&rdquo;
+Can there be a <i>trust</i> to be preferred to the reliance on &ldquo;Christ Jesus; who is
+the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a>?&rdquo; Surely, if our Opponent
+be not dead to every generous emotion, he cannot look his own objection
+in the face, without a blush of shame and indignation.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Section III.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Consideration of the Reasonableness of Affections towards an invisible
+Being.</i></h5>
+
+<p>But forced at last to retreat from his favourite position, and compelled
+to acknowledge that the religious affections towards our blessed Saviour
+are not unreasonable; he still however maintains the combat, suggesting
+that by the very constitution of our nature, we are not susceptible of
+them towards an invisible Being; in whose case, it will be added, we are
+shut out from all those means of communication and intercourse, which
+knit and cement the union between man and man.</p>
+
+<p>We mean not to deny that there is something in this objection. It might
+even seem to plead the authority of Scripture in its favour&mdash;&ldquo;He that
+loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he
+hath not seen<a name="FNanchor_38" id="FNanchor_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a>?&rdquo;
+And it was indeed no new remark in Horace&#8217;s days,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures,</span>
+<span class="i0">Quam qu&aelig; sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>We receive impressions more readily from visible objects, we feel them
+more strongly, and retain them more durably. But though it must be
+granted that this circumstance makes it a more difficult task to
+preserve the affections in question in a healthful and vigorous state;
+is it thereby rendered impossible? This were indeed a most precipitate
+conclusion; and any one who should be disposed to admit the truth of it,
+might be at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+least induced to hesitate, when he should reflect that the
+argument applies equally against the possibility of the love of God, a
+duty of which the most cursory reader of Scripture, if he admit its
+divine authority, cannot but acknowledge the indispensable obligation.
+But we need only look back to the Scripture proofs which have been
+lately adduced, to be convinced that the religious affections are
+therein inculcated on us, as a matter of high and serious obligation.
+Hence we may be assured that the impossibility stated by our Opponent
+does not exist.</p>
+
+<p>Let us scrutinize this matter, however, a little more minutely, and we
+shall be compelled to acknowledge, though the conclusion may make
+against ourselves, that the objection vanishes when we fairly and
+accurately investigate the circumstances of the case. With this view,
+let us look a little into the nature of the affections of the human
+mind, and endeavour to ascertain whence it is that they derive their
+nutriment, and are found from experience to increase in strength.</p>
+
+<p>The state of man is such, that his feelings are not the obedient
+servants of his reason, prompt at once to follow its dictates, as to
+their direction, and their measure. Excellence is the just object of
+love; good in expectancy, of hope; evil to be apprehended, of fear; our
+fellow creatures&#8217; misfortunes, and sufferings, constitute the just
+objects of pity. Each of these passions, it might be thought, would be
+excited, in proportion to what our reason should inform us were the
+magnitude and consequent claims of its corresponding object. But this is
+by no means the case. Take first for a proof the instance of pity. We
+read of slaughtered thousands with
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>
+less emotion, than we hear the
+particulars of a shocking accident which has happened in the next
+street; the distresses of a novel, which at the same time we know to be
+fictitious, affect us more than the dry narrative of a battle. We become
+so much interested by these incidents of the imagination (aware all the
+while that they are merely such) that we cannot speedily banish them
+from our thoughts, nor recover the tone of our minds; and often, we
+scarcely bring ourselves to lay down our book at the call of real
+misfortune, of which we go perhaps to the relief, on a principle of
+duty, but with little sense of interest or emotion of tenderness. It
+were easy to shew that it is much the same in the case of the other
+affections. Whatever be the cause of this disproportion, which (as
+metaphysics fall not within our province) we shall not stop to examine,
+the fact is undeniable. There appears naturally to be a certain
+strangeness between the passion and its object, which familiarity and
+the power of habit must gradually overcome. You must contrive to bring
+them into <i>close contact</i>; they must be jointed and glued together by
+the particularities of little incidents. Thus in the production of heat
+in the physical world, the flint and the steel produce not the effect
+without collision; the rudest Barbarian will tell us the necessity of
+attrition, and the chemist of mixture. Now, an object, it is admitted,
+is brought into <i>closer contact</i> with its corresponding passion, by
+being seen and conversed with. This we grant is one way; but does it
+follow that there is no other? To assert this, would be something like
+maintaining, in contradiction to universal experience, that objects of
+vision alone are capable of attracting our regard. But nothing can be
+more unfounded
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>
+than such a supposition. It might appear to be too
+nearly approaching to the ludicrous, to suggest as an example to the
+contrary, the metaphysician&#8217;s attachment to his insubstantial
+speculations, or the zeal displayed in the pursuit,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Extra flammantia m&oelig;nia mundi,</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>of abstract sciences, where there is no idea of bringing them &ldquo;within
+the visible diurnal sphere&rdquo; to the vulgarity of practical application.
+The instance of the novel before-mentioned, proves, that we may be
+extremely affected by what we know to be merely ideal incidents and
+beings. By much thinking or talking of any one; by using our minds to
+dwell on his excellences; by placing him in imaginary situations which
+interest and affect us; we find ourselves becoming insensibly more and
+more attached to him: whereas it is the surest expedient for
+extinguishing an attachment which already exists, to engage in such
+occupations or society, as may cause our casual thoughts and more fixed
+meditations to be diverted from the object of it. Ask a mother who has
+been long separated from her child, especially if he has been in
+circumstances of honour, or of danger, to draw her attention to him, and
+to keep it in wakefulness and exercise, and she will tell you, that so
+far from becoming less dear, he appears to have grown more the object of
+her affections. She seems to herself to love him even better than the
+child who has been living under her roof, and has been daily in her
+view. How does she rejoice in his good fortune, and weep over his
+distresses! With what impatience does she anticipate the time of his
+return!</p>
+
+<p>We find therefore that sight and personal intercourse do not seem
+necessary to the production
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>
+or increase of attachment, where the means
+of <i>close contact</i> have been afforded; but on the other hand, if an
+object have been prevented from coming into <i>close contact</i>, sight and
+personal intercourse are not sufficient to give it the power of exciting
+the affections in proportion to its real magnitude. Suppose the case of
+a person whom we have often seen, and may have occasionally conversed
+with, and of whom we have been told in the general, that he possesses
+extraordinary merits. We assent to the assertion. But if we have no
+knowledge of particulars, no close acquaintance with him, nothing in
+short which brings his merits home to us, they interest us less than
+what we know to be a far inferior degree of the very same qualities in
+one of our common associates. A parent has several children, all
+constantly under his eye, and equally dear to him. Yet if any one of
+them be taken ill, it is brought into so much <i>closer contact</i> than
+before, that it seems to absorb and engross the parent&#8217;s whole
+affection. Thus then, though it will not be denied that an object by
+being visible may thereby excite its corresponding affection with more
+facility; yet this is manifestly far from being the prime consideration.
+And so far are we from being the slaves of the sense of vision, that a
+familiar acquaintance with the intrinsic excellences of an object,
+aided, it must be admitted, by the power of habit, will render us almost
+insensible to the impressions which its outward form conveys, and able
+entirely to lose the consciousness of an unsightly exterior.</p>
+
+<p>We may be permitted to remark, that the foregoing observations furnish
+an explanation, less discreditable than that which has been sometimes
+given, of an undoubted ph&aelig;nomenon in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>
+the human mind, that the greatest
+public misfortunes, however the understanding may lecture, are apt
+really to affect our feelings less than the most trivial disaster which
+happens to ourselves. An eminent writer<a name="FNanchor_39" id="FNanchor_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> scarcely overstated the
+point when he observed, &ldquo;that it would occasion a man of humanity more
+real disturbance to know that he was the next morning to lose his little
+finger, than to hear that the great empire of China had been suddenly
+swallowed up by an earthquake. The thoughts of the former, would keep
+him awake all night; in the latter case, after making many melancholy
+reflections on the precariousness of human life, and the vanity of all
+the labours of man which could be thus annihilated in a moment; after a
+little speculation too perhaps on the causes of the disaster, and its
+effects in the political and commercial world; he would pursue his
+business or his pleasure with the same ease and tranquillity as if no
+such accident had happened; and snore at night with the most profound
+serenity over the ruin of a hundred million of his fellow creatures.
+Selfishness is not the cause of this, for the most unfeeling brute on
+earth would surely think nothing of the loss of a finger, if he could
+thereby prevent so dreadful a calamity.&rdquo; This doctrine of <i>contact</i>
+which has been opened above, affords a satisfactory solution; and from
+all which has been said (the writer has reason perhaps to apologize for
+the length of the discussion) the circumstances, by which the affections
+of the mind towards any particular object are generated and
+strengthened,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>
+may be easily collected. The chief of these appear to be,
+whatever tends to give a distinct and lively impression of the object,
+by setting before us its minute parts, and by often drawing towards it
+the thoughts and affections, so as to invest it by degrees with a
+confirmed ascendency: whatever tends to excite and to keep in exercise a
+lively interest in its behalf: in other words; full knowledge, distinct
+and frequent mental entertainment, and pathetic contemplations.
+Supposing these means to have been used in any given degree, it may be
+expected, that they will be more or less efficacious, in proportion as
+the intrinsic qualities of the object afford greater or less scope for
+their operation, and more or fewer materials with which to work. Can it
+then be conceived, that they will be of no avail when steadily practised
+in the case of our Redeemer! If the principles of love, and gratitude,
+and joy, and hope, and trust, are not utterly extinct within us, they
+cannot but be called forth by the various corresponding objects which
+that blessed contemplation would gradually bring forth to our view. Well
+might the language of the apostle be addressed to Christians, &ldquo;Whom
+having <i>not seen</i> ye love; in whom, though now ye <i>see him not</i>, yet
+believing, ye <i>rejoice</i> with joy unspeakable, and full of glory<a name="FNanchor_40" id="FNanchor_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">But</span> fresh considerations pour in to render in this instance, the plea of
+its being impossible to love an invisible being, still more invalid. Our
+blessed Saviour, if we may be permitted so to say, is not removed far
+from us; and the various relations in which we stand towards him, seem
+purposely made known to us, in order to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>
+furnish so many different bonds
+of connection with him, and consequent occasions of continual
+intercourse. He exhibits not himself to us &ldquo;dark with excessive
+brightness,&rdquo; but is let down as it were to the possibilities of human
+converse. We may not think that he is incapable of entering into our
+little concerns, and sympathizing with them; for we are graciously
+assured that he is not one &ldquo;who cannot be touched with the feeling of
+our infirmities, having been in all points tempted like as we are<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>.&rdquo;
+The figures under which he is represented, are such as convey ideas of
+the utmost tenderness. &ldquo;He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he
+shall gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and
+shall gently lead those that are with young<a name="FNanchor_42" id="FNanchor_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a>.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;They shall not
+hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for he
+that hath mercy on them, shall lead them, even by the springs of water
+shall he guide them<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;I will not leave you orphans<a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a>&rdquo; was one of
+his last consolatory declarations<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a>. The children of Christ are here
+separated indeed from the personal view of him; but not from his
+paternal affection and paternal care. Meanwhile let them quicken their
+regards by the animating anticipation of that blessed day, when he &ldquo;who
+is gone to prepare a place for them, will come again to receive them
+unto himself.&rdquo; Then shall they be admitted to his more immediate
+presence: &ldquo;Now we see through a glass darkly;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>
+but then face to face:
+now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as I am known<a name="FNanchor_46" id="FNanchor_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Surely more than enough has been now said to prove that this particular
+case, from its very nature, furnishes the most abundant and powerful
+considerations and means for exciting the feelings; and it might be
+contended, without fear of refutation, that by the diligent and habitual
+use of those considerations and means, we might with confident
+expectation of success, engage in the work of raising our affections
+towards our blessed Saviour to a state of due force and activity. But,
+blessed be God, we have a still better reliance; for the grand
+circumstance of all yet remains behind, which the writer has been led to
+defer, from his wish to contend with his opponents on their own ground.
+This circumstance is, that here, no less than in other particulars, the
+Christian&#8217;s hope is founded, not on the speculations or the strength of
+man, but on the declaration of Him who cannot lie, on the power of
+Omnipotence.</p>
+
+<p>We learn from the Scriptures that it is one main part of the operations
+of the Holy Spirit, to implant these heavenly principles in the human
+mind, and to cherish their growth. We are encouraged to believe that in
+answer to our prayers, this aid from above will give efficacy to our
+earnest endeavours, if used in humble dependence on divine grace. We may
+therefore with confidence take the means which have been suggested. But
+let us, in our turn, be permitted to ask our opponents, have <i>they</i>
+humbly and perseveringly applied for this divine strength? or
+disclaiming that assistance, perhaps as tempting
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>
+them to indolence,
+have they been so much the more strenuous and unwearied in the use of
+their own unaided endeavours? or rather have they not been equally
+negligent of both? Renouncing the one, they have wholly omitted the
+other. But this is far from being all. They even reverse all the methods
+which we have recommended as being calculated to increase regard; and
+exactly follow that course which would be pursued by any one who should
+wish to reduce an excessive affection. Yet thus leaving untried all the
+means, which, whether from Reason or Scripture, we maintain to be
+necessary to the production of the end, nay using such as are of a
+directly opposite nature, these men presume to talk to us of
+impossibilities! We may rather contend that they furnish a fresh proof
+of the soundness of our reasonings. We lay it down as a fundamental
+position, that speculative knowledge alone, that mere superficial
+cursory considerations, will be of no avail. Nothing is to be done
+without the diligent continued use of the appointed method. They
+themselves afford an instance of the truth of our assertions; and while
+they supply no argument against the efficacy of the mode prescribed,
+they acknowledge at least that they are wholly ignorant of any other.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">But</span> let us now turn our eyes to Christians of a higher order, to those
+who have actually proved the truth of our reasonings; who have not only
+assumed the name, but who have possessed the substance, and felt the
+power of Christianity; who though often foiled by their remaining
+corruptions, and shamed and cast down under a sense of their many
+imperfections, have known in their better seasons, what it was to
+experience
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>
+its firm hope, its dignified joy, its unshaken trust, its
+more than human consolations. In their hearts, love also towards their
+Redeemer has glowed; a love not <i>superficial</i> and unmeaning (think not
+that this would be the subject of our praise) but constant and rational,
+resulting from a strong impression of the worth of its object, and
+heightened by an abiding sense of great, unmerited, and continually
+accumulating obligations; ever manifesting itself in acts of diligent
+obedience, or of patient suffering. Such was the religion of the holy
+martyrs of the sixteenth century, the illustrious ornaments of the
+English church. They realized the theory which we have now been faintly
+tracing. Look to their writings, and you will find that their thoughts
+and affections had been much exercised in habitual views of the blessed
+Jesus. Thus they used the required <i>means</i>. What were the <i>effects</i>?
+Persecution and distress, degradation and contempt in vain assailed
+them&mdash;all these evils served but to bring their affections into <i>closer
+contact</i> with their object; and not only did their love feel no
+diminution or abatement, but it rose to all the exigencies of the
+occasion, and burned with an increase of ardor; and when brought forth
+at last to a cruel and ignominious death, they repined not at their
+fate; but rather rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for
+the name of Christ. By the blessing of God the writer might refer to
+still more recent times. But lest his authorities should be disputed,
+let us go to the Apostles of our Lord; and while, on a very cursory
+perusal of their writings, we must acknowledge that they commend and
+even prescribe to us the love of Christ, as one of the chief of the
+Christian graces; so on a more attentive inspection
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>
+of those writings,
+we shall discover abundant proofs that they were themselves bright
+examples of their own precept; that our blessed Saviour was really the
+object of their warmest affection, and what he had done and suffered for
+them the continual matter of their grateful remembrance.</p>
+
+<p>The disposition so prevalent in the bulk of nominal Christians, to form
+a religious system for themselves, instead of taking it from the word of
+God, is strikingly observable in their scarcely admitting, except in the
+most vague and general sense, the doctrine of the influence of the Holy
+Spirit. If we look into the Scriptures for information on this
+particular, we learn a very different lesson. We are in them distinctly
+taught, that &ldquo;of ourselves we can do nothing;&rdquo; that &ldquo;we are by nature
+children of wrath,&rdquo; and under the power of the evil spirit, our
+understandings being naturally dark, and our hearts averse from
+spiritual things; and we are directed to pray for the influence of the
+Holy Spirit to enlighten our understandings, to dissipate our
+prejudices, to purify our corrupt minds, and to renew us after the image
+of our heavenly Father. It is this influence which is represented as
+originally awakening us from slumber, as enlightening us in darkness, as
+&ldquo;quickening us when dead<a name="FNanchor_47" id="FNanchor_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a>,&rdquo; as &ldquo;delivering us from the power of the
+devil,&rdquo; as drawing us to God, as &ldquo;translating us into the kingdom of his
+dear Son<a name="FNanchor_48" id="FNanchor_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>,&rdquo; as &ldquo;creating us anew in Christ Jesus<a name="FNanchor_49" id="FNanchor_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a>,&rdquo; as &ldquo;dwelling
+in us, and walking in us<a name="FNanchor_50" id="FNanchor_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>;&rdquo; so that &ldquo;putting off the old man with his
+deeds,&rdquo; we
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>
+are to consider ourselves as &ldquo;having put on the new man,
+which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
+him<a name="FNanchor_51" id="FNanchor_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a>&rdquo;;
+and as those who are to be &ldquo;an habitation of God through the
+Spirit<a name="FNanchor_52" id="FNanchor_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a>.&rdquo;
+It is by this Divine assistance only that we can grow in
+Grace, and improve in all Holiness. So expressly, particularly, and
+repeatedly does the word of God inculcate these lessons, that one would
+think there were scarcely room for any difference of opinion among those
+who admit its authority. Sometimes
+<a name="FNanchor_53" id="FNanchor_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> the whole of a Christian&#8217;s
+repentance and faith, and consequent holiness, are ascribed <i>generally</i>
+to the Divine influence; sometimes these are spoken of separately, and
+ascribed to the same Almighty
+<span class="tn" title="Original text has &lsquo;power, Sometimes&rsquo;">power. Sometimes</span>
+different particular
+graces of the Christian character, those which respect our duties and
+tempers towards our fellow-creatures, no less than those which have
+reference to the Supreme Being, are particularly traced to this source.
+Sometimes they are all referred collectively to this common root, being
+comprehended under the compendious denomination of &ldquo;the Fruits of the
+Spirit.&rdquo; In exact correspondence with these representations, this aid
+from above is promised in other parts of Scripture for the production of
+those effects; and the withholding or withdrawing of it is occasionally
+threatened as a punishment for the sins of men, and as one of the most
+fatal consequences of the Divine displeasure.</p>
+
+<p>The Liturgy of the church of England strictly agrees with the
+representation, which has been
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>
+here given of the instructions of the
+word of God.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. IV.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Inadequate conceptions entertained by nominal Christians of the terms
+of acceptance with God.</i></h5>
+
+<p>If then it be indeed as so has been now stated; that, in contradiction
+to the plainest dictates of Scripture, and to the ritual of our
+established Church, the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, the
+first fruits of our reconciliation to God, the purchase of our
+Redeemer&#8217;s death, and his best gift to his true disciples, are too
+generally undervalued and slighted; if it be also true, as was formerly
+proved, that our thoughts of the blessed Saviour are confused and faint,
+our affections towards him languid and lukewarm, little proportioned to
+what they, who at such a price have been rescued from ruin, and endowed
+with a title to eternal glory, might be justly expected to feel towards
+the Author of their deliverance; little proportioned to what has been
+felt by others, ransomed from the same ruin, and partakers of the same
+inheritance: if this, let it be repeated, be indeed so, let us not shut
+our eyes against the perception of our real state; but rather endeavour
+to trace the evil to its source. We are loudly called on to <i>examine
+well our foundations</i>. If any thing be <i>there</i> unsound and hollow, the
+superstructure could not be safe, though its exterior were less
+suspicious. Let the question then be asked, and let the answer be
+returned with all the consideration and solemnity which a question so
+important may justly demand,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>
+whether, in the grand concern of all, <i>the
+means of a sinner&#8217;s acceptance with God</i>, there be not reason to
+apprehend, that the nominal Christians whom we have been addressing, too
+generally entertain very superficial, and confused, and (to speak in the
+softest terms) highly dangerous notions? Is there not cause to fear,
+that with little more than an indistinct and nominal reference to Him
+who &ldquo;bore our sins in his own body on the tree,&rdquo; they really rest their
+eternal hopes on a vague, general persuasion of the unqualified mercy of
+the Supreme Being; or that, still more erroneously, they rely in the
+main, on their own negative or positive merits? &ldquo;They can look upon
+their lives with an impartial eye, and congratulate themselves on their
+inoffensiveness in society; on their having been exempt, at least, from
+any gross vice, or if sometimes accidentally betrayed into it, on its
+never having been indulged habitually; or if not even so&rdquo; (for there are
+but few who can say this, if the term vice be explained according to the
+strict requisitions of the Gospel) &ldquo;yet on the balance being in their
+favour, or on the whole, not much against them, when their good and bad
+actions are fairly weighed, and due allowance is made for human
+frailty.&rdquo; These considerations are sufficient for the most part to
+compose their apprehensions; these are the cordials which they find most
+at hand in the moments of serious thought, or of occasional dejection;
+and sometimes perhaps in seasons of less than ordinary self-complacency,
+they call in also to their aid the general persuasion of the unbounded
+mercy and pity of God. Yet persons of this description by no means
+disclaim a Saviour, or avowedly relinquish their title to a share in the
+benefits of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>
+his death. They close their petitions with the name of
+Christ; but if not chiefly from the effect of habit, or out of decent
+conformity to the established faith, yet surely with something of the
+same ambiguity of principle which influenced the expiring philosopher,
+when he ordered the customary mark of homage to be paid to the god of
+medicine.</p>
+
+<p>Others go farther than this; for there are many shades of difference
+between those who flatly renounce, and those who cordially embrace the
+doctrine of Redemption by Christ. This class has a sort of general,
+indeterminate, and ill understood dependence on our blessed Saviour. But
+their hopes, so far as they can be distinctly made out (for their views
+also are very obscure) appear ultimately to bottom on the persuasion
+that they are now, through Christ, become members of a new dispensation,
+wherein they will be tried by a more lenient rule than that to which
+they must have been otherwise subject. &ldquo;God will not now be extreme to
+mark what is done amiss; but will dispense with the rigorous exactions
+of his law, too strict indeed for such frail creatures as we are to hope
+that we can fulfil it. Christianity has moderated the requisitions of
+Divine Justice; and all which is now required of us, is thankfully to
+trust to the merits of Christ for the pardon of our sins, and the
+acceptance of our sincere though imperfect obedience. The frailties and
+infirmities to which our nature is liable, or to which our situation in
+life exposes us, will not be severely judged: and as it is practice that
+really determines the character, we may rest satisfied, that if on the
+whole our lives be tolerably good, we shall escape with little or no
+punishment,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+and through Jesus Christ our Lord, shall be finally
+partakers of heavenly felicity.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We cannot dive into the human heart, and therefore should always speak
+with caution and diffidence, when from external appearances or
+declarations we are affirming the existence of any internal principles
+and feelings; especially as we are liable to be misled by the
+ambiguities of language, or by the inaccuracy with which others may
+express themselves. But it is sometimes not difficult to any one who is
+accustomed, if the phrase may be allowed, to the anatomy of the human
+mind, to discern, that generally speaking, the persons who use the above
+language, rely not so much on the merits of Christ, and on the agency of
+Divine Grace, as on their own power of fulfilling the moderated
+requisitions of Divine Justice. He will hence therefore discover in them
+a disposition rather to extenuate the malignity of their disease, than
+to magnify the excellence of the proffered remedy. He will find them apt
+to palliate in themselves what they cannot fully justify, to enhance the
+merit of what they believe to be their good qualities and commendable
+actions, to set as it were in an account the good against the bad; and
+if the result be not very unfavourable, they conceive that they shall be
+entitled to claim the benefits of our Saviour&#8217;s sufferings as a thing of
+course. They have little idea, so little, that it might almost be
+affirmed that they have no idea at all, of the importance or difficulty
+of the duty of what the Scripture calls &ldquo;submitting ourselves to the
+righteousness of God;&rdquo; or of our proneness rather to justify ourselves
+in his sight, than in the language of imploring penitents to acknowledge
+ourselves guilty and helpless sinners.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>
+They have never summoned
+themselves to this entire and unqualified renunciation of their own
+merits, and their own strength; and therefore they remain strangers to
+the natural loftiness of the human heart, which such a call would have
+awakened into action, and roused to resistance. <span class="smcap">All these their several
+errors naturally result from the mistaken conception entertained of the
+fundamental principles of christianity.</span> They consider not that
+Christianity is a scheme for &ldquo;justifying <i>the ungodly</i><a name="FNanchor_54" id="FNanchor_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>,&rdquo; by Christ&#8217;s
+dying for them &ldquo;<i>when yet sinners</i><a name="FNanchor_55" id="FNanchor_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a><a name="FNanchor_56" id="FNanchor_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>;&rdquo; a scheme &ldquo;for reconciling
+us to God&mdash;<i>when enemies</i>;&rdquo; and for making the fruits of holiness <i>the
+effects<a name="FNanchor_57" id="FNanchor_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a>, not the cause</i>, of our being justified and reconciled:
+that, in short, it opens freely the door of mercy, to the greatest and
+vilest of penitent sinners; that obeying the blessed impulse of the
+grace of God, whereby they had been awakened from the sleep of death,
+and moved to seek for pardon, they might enter in, and through the
+regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit might be enabled to bring
+forth the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
+fruits of Righteousness. But they rather conceive of
+Christianity as opening the door of mercy, that those who on the ground
+of their own merits could not have hoped to justify themselves before
+God, may yet be admitted for Christ&#8217;s sake, on condition of their having
+previously satisfied the moderated requisitions of Divine Justice. In
+speaking to others also of the Gospel scheme, they are apt to talk too
+much of terms and performances on our part, on which we become entitled
+to an interest in the sufferings of Christ; instead of stating the
+benefits of Christ&#8217;s satisfaction as extended to us freely, &ldquo;without
+money and without price.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The <i>practical</i> consequences of these errors are such as might be
+expected. They tend to prevent that sense which we ought to entertain of
+our own natural misery and helplessness; and that deep feeling of
+gratitude for the merits and intercession of Christ, to which we are
+wholly indebted for our reconciliation to God, and for the will and the
+power, from first to last, to work out our own salvation. They consider
+it too much in the light of a contract between two parties, wherein
+each, independently of the other, has his own distinct condition to
+perform; man&mdash;to do his duty; God&mdash;to justify and accept for Christ&#8217;s
+sake: If they fail not in the discharge of their condition, assuredly
+the condition on God&#8217;s part will be faithfully fulfilled. Accordingly,
+we find in fact, that they who represent the Gospel scheme in the manner
+above described, give evidence of the subject with which their hearts
+are most filled, by their proneness to run into merely moral
+disquisitions, either not mentioning at all, or at least but cursorily
+touching on the sufferings and love of their Redeemer;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+and are little
+apt to kindle at their Saviour&#8217;s name, and like the apostles to be
+betrayed by their fervor into what may be almost an untimely descant on
+the riches of his unutterable mercy. In addressing others also whom they
+conceive to be living in habits of sin, and under the wrath of God, they
+rather advise them to amend their ways as a preparation for their coming
+to Christ, than exhort them to throw themselves with deep prostration of
+soul at the foot of the cross, there to obtain pardon and find grace to
+help in time of need.</p>
+
+<p>The great importance of the subject in question will justify our having
+been thus particular. It has arisen from a wish that on a question of
+such magnitude, to mistake our meaning should be impossible. But after
+all which has been said, let it also be remembered, that except so far
+as the instruction of others is concerned, the point of importance is,
+the internal disposition of the mind; <i>where</i> the dependence for pardon,
+and for holiness, is really placed; not what the language is, in which
+men express themselves. And it is to be hoped that he who searches the
+heart, sees the right dispositions in many who use the mistaken and
+dangerous language to which we have objected.</p>
+
+<p>If this so generally prevailing error concerning the nature of the
+Gospel offer be in any considerable degree just; it will then explain
+that so generally prevailing languor in the affections towards our
+blessed Saviour which was formerly remarked, and that inadequate
+impression of the necessity and value of the assistance of the divine
+Spirit. According to the soundest principles of reasoning, it may be
+also adduced as an additional proof of the correctness of our present
+statement,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+that it so exactly falls in with those ph&aelig;nomena, and so
+naturally accounts for them. For even admitting that the persons above
+mentioned, particularly the last class, do at the bottom rely on the
+atonement of Christ; yet on their scheme, it must necessarily happen,
+that the object to which they are most accustomed to look, with which
+their thoughts are chiefly conversant, from which they most habitually
+derive complacency, is rather their own qualified merit and services,
+though confessed to be inadequate, than the sufferings and atoning death
+of a crucified Saviour. The affections towards our blessed Lord
+therefore (according to the theory of the passions formerly laid down)
+cannot be expected to flourish, because they receive not that which was
+shewn to be necessary to their nutriment and growth. If we would love
+him as affectionately, and rejoice in him as triumphantly as the first
+Christians did; we must learn like them to repose our entire trust in
+him, and to adopt the language of the apostle, &ldquo;God forbid that I should
+glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ<a name="FNanchor_58" id="FNanchor_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Who of God is
+made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and
+redemption<a name="FNanchor_59" id="FNanchor_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless there have been too many who, to their eternal ruin, have
+abused the doctrine of Salvation by Grace; and have vainly trusted in
+Christ for pardon and acceptance, when by their vicious lives they have
+plainly proved the groundlessness of their pretensions. The tree is to
+be known by its fruits; and there is too much reason to fear that there
+is no principle of faith, when it does not decidedly evince itself by
+the fruits of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>
+holiness. Dreadful indeed will be the doom, above that of
+all others, of those loose professors of Christianity, to whom at the
+last day our blessed Saviour will address those words, &ldquo;I never knew
+you; depart from me, all ye that work iniquity.&rdquo; But the danger of error
+on this side ought not to render us insensible to the opposite error; an
+error against which in these days it seems particularly necessary to
+guard. It is far from the intention of the writer of this work to enter
+into the niceties of controversy. But surely without danger of being
+thought to violate this design, he may be permitted to contend, that
+they who in the main believe the doctrines of the church of England, are
+bound to allow that our dependence on our blessed Saviour, as alone the
+meritorious cause of our acceptance with God, and as the means of all
+its blessed fruits and glorious consequences, must be not merely formal
+and nominal, but real and substantial: not vague, qualified, and
+partial, but direct, cordial, and entire. &ldquo;Repentance towards God, and
+faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ,&rdquo; was the sum of the apostolical
+instructions. It is not an occasional invocation of the name, or a
+transient recognition of the authority of Christ, that fills up the
+measure of the terms, <i>believing in Jesus</i>. This we shall find no such
+easy task; and if we trust that we do believe, we should all perhaps do
+well to cry out in the words of an imploring suppliant (he supplicated
+not in vain) &ldquo;Lord help thou our unbelief.&rdquo; We must be deeply conscious
+of our guilt and misery, heartily repenting of our sins, and firmly
+resolving to forsake them: and thus penitently &ldquo;fleeing for refuge to
+the hope set before us,&rdquo; we must found altogether on the merit of the
+crucified
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>
+Redeemer our hopes of escape from their deserved punishment,
+and of deliverance from their enslaving power. This must be our first,
+our last, our only plea. We are to surrender ourselves up to him to &ldquo;be
+washed in his blood<a name="FNanchor_60" id="FNanchor_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a>,&rdquo; to be sanctified by his Spirit, resolving to
+receive him for our Lord and Master, to learn in his school, to obey all
+his commandments.</p>
+
+<p>It may perhaps be not unnecessary, after having treated so largely on
+this important topic, to add a few words in order to obviate a charge
+which may be urged against us, that we are insisting on nice and
+abstruse distinctions in what is a matter of general concern; and this
+too in a system, which on its original promulgation was declared to be
+peculiarly intended for the simple and poor. It will be abundantly
+evident however on a little reflection, and experience fully proves the
+position, that what has been required is not the perception of a subtile
+distinction, but a state and condition of heart. To the former, the poor
+and the ignorant must be indeed confessed unequal; but they are far less
+indisposed than the great and the learned, to bow down to that
+&ldquo;preaching of the cross which is to them that perish foolishness, but
+unto them that are saved the power of God, and the wisdom of God.&rdquo; The
+poor are not liable to be puffed up by the intoxicating fumes of
+ambition and worldly grandeur. They are less likely to be kept from
+entering into the strait and narrow way, and when they have entered to
+be drawn back again or to be retarded in their progress, by the cares or
+the pleasures of life. They may express themselves ill; but their views
+may be simple, and their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+hearts humble, penitent, and sincere. It is as
+in other cases; the vulgar are the subjects of ph&aelig;nomena, the learned
+explain them: the former know nothing of the theory of vision or of
+sentiment; but this ignorance hinders not that they see and think, and
+though unable to discourse elaborately on the passions, they can feel
+warmly for their children, their friends, their country.</p>
+
+<p>After this digression, if that be indeed a digression which by removing
+a formidable objection renders the truth of the positions we wish to
+establish more clear and less questionable, we may now resume the thread
+of our argument. Still intreating therefore the attention of those, who
+have not been used to think much of the necessity of this undivided,
+and, if it may be so termed, unadulterated reliance, for which we have
+been contending; we would still more particularly address ourselves to
+others who are disposed to believe that though, in some obscure and
+vague sense, the death of Christ as the satisfaction for our sins, and
+for the purchase of our future happiness, and the sanctifying influence
+of the Holy Spirit, are to be admitted as fundamental articles of our
+creed, yet that these are doctrines so much above us, that they are not
+objects suited to our capacities; and that, turning our eyes therefore
+from these difficult speculations, we should fix them on the practical
+and moral precepts of the Gospel. &ldquo;These it most concerns us to know;
+these therefore let us study. Such is the frailty of our nature, such
+the strength and number of our temptations to evil, that in reducing the
+Gospel morality to practice we shall find full employment: and by
+attending to these moral precepts, rather than to those high mysterious
+doctrines which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>
+you are pressing on us, we shall best prepare to appear
+before God on that tremendous day, when <span class="tn" title="Original text has double quotes">&lsquo;</span>He shall judge every man
+according to his <span class="smcap">works</span>.<span class="tn" title="Original text has double quotes">&rsquo;</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy!&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It will at once destroy this flimsy web, to reply in the words of our
+blessed Saviour, and of his beloved Disciple&mdash;&ldquo;This is the <i>work</i> of
+God, that ye <i>believe</i> in him whom he hath sent<a name="FNanchor_61" id="FNanchor_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a>.&rdquo; &ldquo;This is his
+<i>commandment</i>, that we should <i>believe</i> on the name of his Son Jesus
+Christ<a name="FNanchor_62" id="FNanchor_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a>.&rdquo; In truth, if we consider but for a moment the opinions
+(they scarcely deserve the name of system) of men who argue thus, we
+must be conscious of their absurdity. This may be not inconsistently the
+language of the modern Unitarian; but surely it is in the highest degree
+unreasonable to admit into our scheme all the grand peculiarities of
+Christianity, and having admitted, to neglect and think no more of them!
+&ldquo;Wherefore&rdquo; (might the Socinian say) &ldquo;Wherefore all this costly and
+complicated machinery? It is like the Tychonic astronomy, encumbered and
+self-convicted by its own complicated relations and useless
+perplexities. It is so little like the simplicity of nature, it is so
+unworthy of the divine hand, that it even offends against those rules of
+propriety which we require to be observed in the imperfect compositions
+of the human intellect<a name="FNanchor_63" id="FNanchor_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Well may the Socinian assume this lofty tone, with those whom we are now
+addressing. If these be indeed the doctrines of Revelation, common sense
+suggests to us that from their nature
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+and their magnitude, they deserve
+our most serious regard. It is the very theology of Epicurus to allow
+the existence of these &ldquo;heavenly things,&rdquo; but to deny their connection
+with human concerns, and their influence on human actions. Besides the
+unreasonableness of this conduct, we might strongly urge also in this
+connection the prophaneness of thus treating as matters of subordinate
+consideration those parts of the system of Christianity, which are so
+strongly impressed on our reverence by the dignity of the person to whom
+they relate. This very argument is indeed repeatedly and pointedly
+pressed by the sacred writers<a name="FNanchor_64" id="FNanchor_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Nor is the prophane irreverence of this conduct more striking than its
+ingratitude. When from reading that our Saviour was &ldquo;the brightness of
+his Father&#8217;s glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all
+things by the word of his power,&rdquo; we go on to consider the purpose for
+which he came on earth, and all that he did and suffered for us; surely
+if we have a spark of ingenuousness left within us, we shall condemn
+ourselves as guilty of the blackest ingratitude, in rarely noticing, or
+coldly turning away, on whatever shallow pretences, from the
+contemplation of these miracles of mercy. For those baser minds however
+on which fear alone can operate, that motive is superadded: and we are
+plainly forewarned, both directly and indirectly, by the example of the
+Jewish nation, that God will not hold them guiltless who are thus
+unmindful of his most signal acts of condescension and kindness. But as
+this is a question of pure Revelation, reasonings from probability
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+may
+not be deemed decisive. To Revelation therefore we must appeal; and as
+it might be to trespass on the reader&#8217;s patience fully to discuss this
+most important subject, we must refer him to the sacred Writings
+themselves for complete satisfaction. We would earnestly recommend it to
+him to weigh with the utmost seriousness those passages of Scripture
+wherein the peculiar doctrines of Christianity are expressly mentioned;
+and farther, to attend with due regard to the illustration and
+confirmation, which the conclusions resulting from those passages
+receive incidentally from the word of God. They who maintain the opinion
+which we are combating, will hereby become convinced that their&#8217;s is
+indeed an <i>unscriptural</i> Religion; and will learn instead of turning off
+their eyes from the grand peculiarities of Christianity, to keep these
+ever in view, as the pregnant principles whence all the rest must derive
+their origin, and receive their best support<a name="FNanchor_65" id="FNanchor_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a>.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Let us then each for himself solemnly ask ourselves, whether <i>we</i> have
+fled for refuge to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+appointed hope? And whether we are habitually
+looking to it, as to the only source of consolation? &ldquo;Other foundation
+can no man lay:&rdquo; there is no other ground of dependence, no other plea
+for pardon; but <i>here</i> there <i>is</i> hope, even to the uttermost. Let us
+labour then to affect our hearts with a deep conviction of our need of a
+Redeemer, and of the value of his offered mediation. Let us fall down
+humbly before the throne of God, imploring pity and pardon in the name
+of the Son of his love. Let us beseech him to give us a true spirit of
+repentance, and of hearty undivided faith in the Lord Jesus. Let us not
+be satisfied till the cordiality of our belief be confirmed to us by
+that character of the Apostle, &ldquo;that to as many as believe Christ is
+precious;&rdquo; and let us strive to increase daily in <i>love</i> towards our
+blessed Saviour; and pray earnestly that &ldquo;we may be filled with <i>Joy</i>
+and <i>Peace</i> in believing, that we may abound in <i>Hope</i> through the power
+of the Holy Ghost.&rdquo; Let us diligently put in practice the directions
+formerly given for cherishing and cultivating the principle of the Love
+of Christ. With this view let us labour assiduously to increase in
+knowledge, that ours may be a deeply rooted and rational affection. By
+frequent meditation on the incidents of our Saviour&#8217;s life, and still
+more on the astonishing circumstances of his death; by often calling to
+mind the state from which he proposes to rescue us, and the glories of
+his heavenly kingdom; by continual intercourse with him of prayer and
+praise, of dependence and confidence in dangers, of hope and joy in our
+brighter hours, let us endeavour to keep him constantly present to our
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>
+minds, and to render all our conceptions of him more distinct, lively,
+and intelligent. The title of Christian is a reproach to us, if we
+estrange ourselves from Him after whom we are denominated. The name of
+Jesus is not to be to <i>us</i> like the Allah of the Mahometans, a talisman
+or an amulet to be worn on the arm, as an external badge merely and
+symbol of our profession, and to preserve us from evil by some
+mysterious and unintelligible potency; but it is to be engraven deeply
+on the heart, there written by the finger of God himself in everlasting
+characters. It is our title known and understood to present peace and
+future glory. The assurance which it conveys of a bright reversion, will
+lighten the burthens, and alleviate the sorrows of life; and in some
+happier moments, it will impart to us somewhat of that fulness of joy
+which is at God&#8217;s right hand, enabling us to join even here in the
+heavenly Hosannah, &ldquo;Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power,
+and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
+blessing<a name="FNanchor_66" id="FNanchor_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a>.&rdquo; &ldquo;Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him
+that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever<a name="FNanchor_67" id="FNanchor_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h5><i>On the prevailing inadequate Conceptions concerning the Nature and the
+Strictness of</i> <span class="smcap">practical</span> <i>Christianity.</i></h5>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. I.</span></h3>
+
+<p>One part of this title may perhaps on the first view excite some
+surprise in any one, who may
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>
+have drawn a hasty inference from the
+charges conveyed by the two preceding chapters. Such an one might be
+disposed to expect, that they who have very low conceptions of the
+corruption of human nature, would be proportionably less indulgent to
+human frailty; and that they who lay little stress on Christ&#8217;s
+satisfaction for sin, or on the operations of the Holy Spirit, would be
+more high and rigid in their demands of diligent endeavours after
+universal holiness; since their scheme implies that we must depend
+chiefly on our own exertions and performances for our acceptance with
+God.</p>
+
+<p>But any such expectations as these would be greatly disappointed. There
+is in fact a region of truth, and a region of errors. They who hold the
+fundamental doctrines of Scripture in their due force, hold also in its
+due degree of purity the practical system which Scripture inculcates.
+But they who explain away the former, soften down the latter also, and
+reduce it to the level of their own defective scheme. It is not from any
+confidence in the superior amount of their own performances, or in the
+greater vigour of their own exertions, that they reconcile themselves to
+their low views of the satisfaction of Christ, and of the influence of
+the Spirit; but it should rather seem their plan so to depress the
+required standard of practice, that no man need fall short of it, that
+no superior aid can be wanted for enabling us to attain to it. It
+happens however with respect to their simple method of morality, as in
+the case of the short ways to knowledge, of which some vain pretenders
+have vaunted themselves to be possessed: despising the beaten track in
+which more sober and humble spirits have been content to tread, they
+have indignantly
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+struck into new and untried paths; but these have
+failed of conducting them to the right object, and have issued only in
+ignorance and conceit.</p>
+
+<p>It seems in our days to be the commonly received opinion, that provided
+a man admit in general terms the truth of Christianity, though he know
+not or consider not much concerning the particulars of the system; and
+if he be not habitually guilty of any of the grosser vices against his
+fellow creatures, we have no great reason to be dissatisfied with him,
+or to question the validity of his claim to the name and consequent
+privileges of a Christian. The title implies no more than a sort of
+formal, general assent to Christianity in the gross, and a degree of
+morality in practice, but little if at all superior to that for which we
+look in a good Deist, Mussulman, or Hindoo.</p>
+
+<p>If any one be disposed to deny that this is a fair representation of the
+religion of the bulk of the Christian world, he might be asked, whether
+if it were proved to them beyond dispute that Christianity is a mere
+forgery, would this occasion any great change in their conduct or habits
+of mind? Would any alteration be made in consequence of this discovery,
+except in a few of their speculative opinions, which, when distinct from
+practice, it is a part of their own system, as has been before remarked,
+to think of little consequence, and in their attendance on public
+worship, which however (knowing the good effects of religion upon the
+lower orders of the people) they might still think it better to attend
+occasionally for example&#8217;s sake? Would not their regard for their
+character, their health, their domestic and social comforts, still
+continue
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>
+to restrain them from vicious excesses, and to prompt them to
+persist in the discharge, according to their present measure, of the
+various duties of their stations? Would they find themselves
+dispossessed of what had been to them hitherto the repository of counsel
+and instruction, the rule of their conduct, their habitual source of
+peace, and hope, and consolation?</p>
+
+<p>It were needless to put these questions. They are answered in fact
+already by the lives of many known unbelievers, between whom and these
+professed Christians, even the familiar associates of both, though men
+of discernment and observation, would discover little difference either
+in conduct or temper of mind. How little then does Christianity deserve
+that title to novelty and superiority which has been almost universally
+admitted; that pre-eminence, as a practical code, over all other systems
+of ethics! How unmerited are the praises which have been lavished upon
+it by its friends; praises, in which even its enemies (not in general
+disposed to make concessions in its favour) have so often been unwarily
+drawn in to acquiesce!</p>
+
+<p>Was it then for this, that the Son of God condescended to become our
+instructor and our pattern, leaving us an example that we might tread in
+his steps? Was it for this that the apostles of Christ voluntarily
+submitted to hunger and nakedness and pain, and ignominy and death, when
+forewarned too by their Master that such would be their treatment? That,
+after all, their disciples should attain to no higher a strain of virtue
+than those who rejecting their Divine authority, should still adhere to
+the old philosophy?
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it may perhaps be objected that we are forgetting an observation
+which we ourselves have made, that Christianity has raised the general
+standard of morals; to which therefore Infidelity herself now finds it
+prudent to conform, availing herself of the pure morality of
+Christianity, and sometimes wishing to usurp to herself the credit of
+it, while she stigmatizes the authors with the epithets of ignorant
+dupes or designing impostors!</p>
+
+<p>But let it then be asked, are the motives of Christianity so little
+necessary to the practice of it, its principles to its conclusions, that
+the one may be spared and yet the other remain in undiminished force?
+Still then, its <i>Doctrines</i> are no more than a barren and inapplicable
+or at least an unnecessary theory, the place of which, it may perhaps be
+added, would be well supplied by a more simple and less costly scheme.</p>
+
+<p>But can it be? Is Christianity then reduced to a mere creed? Is its
+practical influence bounded within a few external plausibilities? Does
+its essence consist only in a few speculative opinions, and a few
+useless and unprofitable tenets? And can this be the ground of that
+portentous distinction, which is so unequivocally made by the Evangelist
+between those who accept, and those who reject the Gospel: &ldquo;He that
+believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not
+the Son, shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him?&rdquo; This
+were to run into the very error which the bulk of professed Christians
+would be most forward to condemn, of making an unproductive faith the
+rule of God&#8217;s future judgment, and the ground of an eternal separation.
+Thus not unlike the rival circumnavigators from Spain and Portugal,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>
+who
+setting out in contrary directions, found themselves in company at the
+very time they thought themselves farthest from each other; so the bulk
+of professed Christians arrive, though by a different course, almost at
+the very same point, and occupy nearly the same station as a set of
+enthusiasts, who also rest upon a barren faith, to whom on the first
+view they might be thought the most nearly opposite, and whose tenets
+they with reason profess to hold in peculiar detestation. By what
+pernicious courtesy of language is it, that this wretched system has
+been flattered with the name of Christianity.</p>
+
+<p>The morality of the Gospel is not so slight a fabric. Christianity
+throughout the whole extent exhibits proofs of its Divine original, and
+its practical precepts are no less pure than its doctrines are sublime.
+Can the compass of language furnish injunctions stricter in their
+measure or larger in their comprehension, than those with which the word
+of God abounds; &ldquo;<i>Whatsoever</i> ye do in <i>word</i> or <i>deed</i>, do <i>all</i> in the
+name of the Lord Jesus;&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Be <i>ye</i> holy, <i>for God is holy</i>:&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Be ye
+<i>perfect</i> as your Father which is in Heaven is <i>perfect</i>?&rdquo; We are
+commanded to <i>perfect</i> holiness, to go on unto <i>perfection</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Such are the Scripture admonitions; and surely they to whom such
+admonitions are addressed, may not safely acquiesce in low attainments:
+a conclusion to which also we are led by the force of the expressions by
+which Christians are characterized in Scripture, and by the radical and
+thorough change, which is represented as taking place in any man on his
+becoming a real Christian. &ldquo;Every one,&rdquo; it is said, &ldquo;that hath this
+hope, purifieth himself even as God
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>
+is pure:&rdquo; true Christians are said
+to be &ldquo;partakers of the Divine nature;&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;to be created anew in the
+image of God;&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;to be temples of the Holy Ghost;&rdquo; the effects of which
+must appear &ldquo;in <i>all</i> goodness and righteousness and truth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Great as was the progress which the apostle Paul had made in all virtue,
+he declares of himself that <i>he</i> still presses forward, &ldquo;forgetting the
+things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are
+before.&rdquo; He prays for his beloved disciples, &ldquo;that they may be <i>filled</i>
+with <i>all</i> the fulness of God;&rdquo; that they may be <i>filled</i> &ldquo;with the
+fruits of righteousness:&rdquo; &ldquo;that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto
+<i>all</i> pleasing, being fruitful in <i>every</i> good work.&rdquo; Nor is it a less
+pregnant and comprehensive petition, which, from our blessed Saviour&#8217;s
+inserting it in that form of prayer which he has given as a model for
+our imitation, we may infer ought to be the habitual sentiment of our
+hearts; &ldquo;Thy will be done in Earth <i>as it is
+<span class="tn" title="Original text omits &lsquo;in&rsquo;">in</span> Heaven</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>These few extracts from the word of God will serve abundantly to
+vindicate the <i>strictness</i> of the Christian morality: but this point
+will however be still more fully established, when we proceed to
+investigate the <i>nature</i>, <i>essence</i>, and <i>governing principles</i> of the
+Christian character.</p>
+
+<p>It is the grand essential practical characteristic of true Christians,
+that relying on the promises to repenting sinners of acceptance through
+the Redeemer, they have renounced and abjured all other masters, and
+have cordially and unreservedly devoted themselves to God. This is
+indeed the very figure which baptism daily represents to us: like the
+father of Hannibal, we there
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>
+bring our infant to the altar, we
+consecrate him to the service of <i>his proper owner</i>, and vow <i>in his
+name</i> eternal hostilities against all the enemies of his salvation.
+After the same manner Christians are become the sworn enemies of sin;
+they will henceforth hold no parley with it, they will allow it in no
+shape, they will admit it to no composition; the war which they have
+denounced against it, is cordial, universal, irreconcilable.</p>
+
+<p>But this not all&mdash;It is now their determined purpose to yield themselves
+without reserve to the reasonable service of their rightful Sovereign.
+&ldquo;They are not their own:&rdquo;&mdash;their bodily and mental faculties, their
+natural and acquired endowments, their substance, their authority, their
+time, their influence; all these, they consider as belonging to them,
+not for their own gratification, but as so many instruments to be
+consecrated to the honour and employed in the service of God. This must
+be the master principle to which every other must be subordinate.
+Whatever may have been hitherto their ruling passion; whatever hitherto
+their leading pursuit; whether sensual, or intellectual, of science, of
+taste, of fancy, or of feeling, it must now possess but a secondary
+place; or rather (to speak more correctly) it must exist only at the
+pleasure, and be put altogether under the controul and direction, of its
+true and legitimate superior.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it is the prerogative of Christianity &ldquo;to bring into captivity
+<i>every thought</i> to the obedience of Christ.&rdquo; They who really feel its
+power, are resolved (in the language of Scripture) &ldquo;to live no longer to
+themselves, but to him that died for them;&rdquo; they know indeed their own
+infirmities; they know, that the way on which they have entered is
+strait and difficult, but they
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>
+know too the encouraging assurance,
+&ldquo;They who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;&rdquo; and relying on
+this animating declaration, they deliberately purpose that, so far as
+they may be able, the grand governing maxim of their future lives shall
+be, &ldquo;<i>to do all to the glory of God</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Behold here the seminal principle, which contains within it, as in an
+embryo state, the rudiments of all true virtue; which, striking deep its
+roots, though feeble perhaps and lowly in its beginnings, silently
+progressive; and almost insensibly maturing, yet will shortly, even in
+the bleak and churlish temperature of this world, lift up its head and
+spread abroad its branches, bearing abundant fruits; precious fruits of
+refreshment and consolation, of which the boasted products of philosophy
+are but sickly imitations, void of fragrance and of flavour. But,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Igneus est ollis vigor &amp; <i>c&oelig;lestis</i> origo.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>At length it shall be transplanted into its native region, and enjoy a
+more genial climate, and a kindlier soil; and, bursting forth into full
+luxuriance, with unfading beauty and unexhausted odours, shall flourish
+for ever in the paradise of God.</p>
+
+<p>But while the servants of Christ continue in this life, glorious as is
+the issue of their labours, they receive but too many humiliating
+memorials of their remaining imperfections, and they daily find reason
+to confess, that they cannot do the things that they would. Their
+<i>determination</i>, however, is still unshaken, and it is the fixed desire
+of their hearts to improve in <i>all holiness</i>&mdash;and this, let it be
+observed, on many accounts. Various passions concur to push them
+forward;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>
+they are urged on by the dread of failure, in this arduous but
+necessary work; they trust not, where their all is at stake, to lively
+emotions, or to internal impressions however warm; the example of Christ
+is their pattern, the word of God is their rule; there they read, that
+&ldquo;without holiness no man shall see the Lord.&rdquo; It is the description of
+real Christians, that &ldquo;they are gradually changed into the image of
+their Divine Master;&rdquo; and they dare not allow themselves to believe
+their title sure, except so far as they can discern in themselves the
+growing traces of this blessed resemblance.</p>
+
+<p>It is not merely however the fear of misery, and the desire of
+happiness, by which they are actuated in their endeavours to excel in
+all holiness; they love it for its own sake: nor is it <i>solely</i> by the
+sense of self-interest (this, though often unreasonably condemned, is
+but it must be confessed a principle of an inferior order) that they are
+influenced in their determination to obey the will, and to cultivate the
+favour of God. This determination has its foundations indeed in a deep
+and humiliating sense of his exalted Majesty and infinite power, and of
+their own extreme inferiority and littleness, attended with a settled
+conviction of its being their duty as his creatures, to submit in all
+things to the will of their great Creator. But these awful impressions
+are relieved and ennobled by an admiring sense of the infinite
+perfections and infinite amiableness of the Divine Character; animated
+by a confiding though humble hope of his fatherly kindness and
+protection; and quickened by the grateful recollection of immense and
+continually increasing obligations. This is the Christian love of God! A
+love compounded of admiration, of preference, of hope,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>
+of trust, of
+joy; chastised by reverential awe, and wakeful with continual gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>I would here express myself with caution, lest I should inadvertently
+wound the heart of some weak but sincere believer. The elementary
+principles which have been above enumerated, may exist in various
+degrees and proportions. A difference in natural disposition, in the
+circumstances of the past life, and in numberless other particulars, may
+occasion a great difference in the predominant tempers of different
+Christians. In one the love, in another the fear of God may have the
+ascendency; trust in one, and in another gratitude; but in greater or
+less degrees, a cordial complacency in the sovereignty, an exalted sense
+of the perfections, a grateful impression of the goodness, and a humble
+hope of the favour of the Divine Being, are common to them
+all.&mdash;Common&mdash;the determination to devote themselves without exceptions,
+to the service and glory of God.&mdash;Common&mdash;the desire of holiness and of
+continual progress towards perfection.&mdash;Common&mdash;an abasing consciousness
+of their own unworthiness, and of their many remaining infirmities,
+which interpose so often to corrupt the simplicity of their intentions,
+to thwart the execution of their purer purposes, and frustrate the
+resolutions of their better hours.</p>
+
+<p>But some perhaps, who will not directly and in the gross oppose the
+conclusions for which we have been contending, may endeavour to elude
+them. It may be urged, that to represent them as of general application,
+is going much too far; and however true in the case of some individuals
+of a higher order, it may be asserted they are not applicable to
+ordinary Christians; from these so much will not surely be expected; and
+here
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>
+perhaps there may be a secret reference to that supposed
+mitigation of the requisitions of the divine Law under the Christian
+dispensation, which was formerly noticed. This is so important a point
+that it ought not to be passed over: let us call in the authority of
+Scripture; at the same time, not to tire the patience of our readers,
+but a few passages shall be cited, and we must refer to the word of God
+itself those who wish for fuller satisfaction. The difficulty here is
+not to find proofs, but to select with discretion from the multitude
+which pour in upon us. Here also, as in former instances, the positive
+injunctions of Scripture are confirmed and illustrated by various
+considerations and inferences, suggested by other parts of the sacred
+Writings, all tending to the same infallible conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, the precepts are expressed in the broadest and most
+general terms; there is no hint given, that any persons are at liberty
+to conceive themselves exempted from the obligation of them; and in any
+who are disposed to urge such a plea of exemption, it may well excite
+the most serious apprehension to consider how the plea would be received
+by an earthly tribunal: no weak argument this to any who are acquainted
+with the Scriptures, and who know how often God is there represented as
+reasoning with mankind on the principles, which they have established
+for their dealings with each other.</p>
+
+<p>But in the next place the precepts in question contain within themselves
+abundant proofs of their <i>universal</i> application, inasmuch as they are
+grounded on circumstances and relations common to <i>all</i> Christians, and
+of the benefits of which, even our Objectors themselves (though
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>
+they
+would evade the practical deductions from them) would not be willing to
+relinquish their share. Christians &ldquo;are not their own,&rdquo; because &ldquo;<i>they
+are bought with a price</i>;&rdquo; they are not &ldquo;to live unto themselves, but
+<i>to him that died for them</i>;&rdquo; they are commanded to do the most
+difficult duties, &ldquo;that they may be the children of their Father which
+is in heaven;&rdquo; and &ldquo;except a man <i>be born again of the Spirit</i>&rdquo; (thus
+again becoming one of the sons of God) &ldquo;<i>he cannot enter into the
+kingdom of heaven</i>.&rdquo; It is &ldquo;<i>because they are sons</i>,&rdquo; that God has given
+them what in Scripture language is styled <i>the Spirit of adoption</i>. It
+is only of &ldquo;as many <i>as are led by the Spirit of God</i>,&rdquo; that it is
+declared that &ldquo;they are the sons of God;&rdquo; and we are expressly warned
+(in order as it were to prevent any such loose profession of
+Christianity as that which we are here combating) &ldquo;<i>If any man</i> have not
+the Spirit of Christ, <i>he is none of his</i>.&rdquo; In short, Christians in
+general are every where denominated <i>the servants and the children</i> of
+God, and are required to serve him with that submissive obedience, and
+that affectionate promptitude of duty, which belong to those endearing
+relations.</p>
+
+<p>Estimate next, the force of that well known passage&mdash;&ldquo;Thou shalt love
+the Lord thy God with <i>all</i> thy heart, and with <i>all</i> thy mind, and with
+<i>all</i> thy soul, and with <i>all</i> thy strength!&rdquo; The injunction is
+multiplied on us, as it were, to silence the sophistry of the caviller,
+and to fix the most inconsiderate mind. And though, for the sake of
+argument, we should concede for the present, that, under <i>the
+qualifications formerly suggested</i>, an <i>ardent</i> and <i>vigorous</i> affection
+were not indispensably required of us; yet surely if the words have any
+meaning at all, the least which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>
+can be intended by them is that settled
+predominant esteem and cordial preference for which we are now
+contending. The conclusion which this passage forces on us, is
+strikingly confirmed by other parts of Scripture, wherein the love of
+God is positively commended to the <i>whole</i> of a Christian church<a name="FNanchor_68" id="FNanchor_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a>; or
+wherein the want of it<a name="FNanchor_69" id="FNanchor_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>, or wherein its not being the chief and
+ruling affection, is charged on persons professing themselves
+Christians, as being sufficient to disprove their claim to that
+appellation, or as being equivalent to denying it<a name="FNanchor_70" id="FNanchor_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a>. Let not therefore
+any deceive themselves by imagining, that only an absolute unqualified
+renunciation of the desire of the favour of God is <i>here</i> condemned. God
+will not accept of a <i>divided</i> affection; a <i>single</i> heart, and a
+<i>single</i> eye are in express terms declared to be indispensably required
+of us. We are ordered, under the figure of amassing heavenly treasure,
+to make the favour and service of God our <i>chief</i> pursuit, for this very
+reason, because &ldquo;<i>where our treasure is, there will our hearts be
+also</i>.&rdquo; It is on this principle that in speaking of particular vices,
+such phrases are often used in Scripture, as suggest that their
+criminality mainly consists in drawing away the <span class="smcap">heart</span> from Him who is
+the just object of its preference; and that sins, which we might think
+very different in criminality, are classed together, because they all
+agree in this grand character. Nor is this preference asserted only over
+affections which are vicious in themselves, and to which therefore
+Christianity might well be supposed hostile; but over those also which
+in their just measure are
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>
+not only lawful, but even most strongly
+enjoined on us. &ldquo;He that loveth father and mother more than me,&rdquo; says
+our blessed Saviour, &ldquo;is not worthy of me;&rdquo; &ldquo;and he that loveth son or
+daughter more than me, is not worthy of me<a name="FNanchor_71" id="FNanchor_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a>.&rdquo; The spirit of these
+injunctions harmonizes with many commendations in Scripture of zeal for
+the honour of God; as well as with that strong expression of disgust and
+abhorrence with which the lukewarm, those that are neither cold nor hot,
+are spoken of as being more loathsome and offensive than even open and
+avowed enemies.</p>
+
+<p>Another class of instances tending to the same point is furnished by
+those many passages of Scripture, wherein the promoting of <i>the glory</i>
+of God is commanded as our supreme and universal aim, and wherein the
+honour due unto <i>Him</i> is declared to be that in which He will allow no
+competitor to participate. On this head indeed the Holy Scriptures are,
+if possible, more peremptory than on the former; and at the same time so
+full as to render particular citations unnecessary, in the case of any
+one who has ever so little acquaintance with the word of God.</p>
+
+<p>To put the same thing therefore in another light. All who have read the
+Scriptures must confess that idolatry is the crime against which God&#8217;s
+highest resentment is expressed, and his severest punishment denounced.
+But let us not deceive ourselves. It is not in bowing the knee to idols
+that idolatry consists, so much as in the internal homage of the heart;
+as in the feeling towards them of any of that supreme love, or
+reverence, or gratitude, which God reserves to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>
+himself as his own
+exclusive prerogative. On the same principle, whatever else draws off
+the heart from him, engrosses our prime regard, and holds the chief
+place in our esteem and affections, <i>that</i>, in the estimation of reason,
+is no less an idol to us, than an image of wood or stone would be;
+before which we should fall down and worship. Think not this a strained
+analogy; it is the very language and argument of inspiration. The
+servant of God is commanded not to set up his idol in his <i>Heart</i>; and
+sensuality and covetousness are repeatedly termed <i>Idolatry</i>. The same
+God who declares&mdash;&ldquo;My glory will I not give to another, neither my
+praise <i>to graven images</i>,&rdquo; declares also&mdash;&ldquo;Let not the wise man glory
+in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man <i>glory</i> in his might; let not
+the rich man <i>glory</i> in his riches<a name="FNanchor_72" id="FNanchor_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a>.&rdquo; &ldquo;No flesh may <i>glory</i> in his
+presence;&rdquo; &ldquo;he that <i>glorieth</i>, let him glory in the Lord.&rdquo; The sudden
+vengeance by which the vain-glorious ostentation of Herod was punished,
+when, acquiescing in the servile adulation of an admiring multitude, &ldquo;he
+gave not God the <i>glory</i>,&rdquo; is a dreadful comment on these injunctions.</p>
+
+<p>These awful declarations, it is to be feared, are little regarded. Let
+the Great, and the Wise, and the Learned, and the Successful lay them
+seriously to heart, and labour habitually to consider their superiority,
+whether derived from nature, or study, or fortune, as the unmerited
+bounty of God. This reflection will naturally tend to produce a
+disposition, instead of that proud self complacency so apt to grow upon
+the human heart, in all respects opposite to it; a disposition
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>
+honourable to God, and useful to man, a temper composed of reverence,
+humility, and gratitude, and delighting to be engaged in the praises,
+and employed in the benevolent service of the universal Benefactor.</p>
+
+<p>But, to return to our subject, it only remains to be remarked, that here
+as in the former instances, the characters of the righteous and of the
+wicked, as delineated in Scripture, exactly correspond with the
+representations which have been given of the Scripture injunctions.</p>
+
+<p>The necessity of this cordial unreserved devotedness to the glory and
+service of God, as being indispensable to the character of the true
+Christian, has been insisted on at the greater length, not only on
+account of its own extreme importance, but also because it appears to be
+a duty too generally overlooked. Once well established, it will serve as
+a fundamental principle both for the government of the heart and
+regulation of the conduct; and will prove eminently useful in the
+decision of many practical cases, which it might be difficult to bring
+under the undisputed operation of any subordinate or appropriate rule.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. II.</span></h3>
+
+<p>And now, having endeavoured to establish the strictness, and to
+ascertain the essential character of true practical Christianity, let us
+investigate a little more in detail the practical system of the bulk of
+professed Christians among ourselves<a name="FNanchor_73" id="FNanchor_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a>.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was formerly remarked, that the whole subject of Religion was often
+viewed from such a distance as to be seen only in the gross. We now, it
+is to be feared, shall find too much cause for believing that they who
+approach a little nearer, and do discover in Christianity somewhat of a
+distinct form, yet come not close enough to discern her peculiar
+lineaments and conformation. The writer must not be understood to mean
+that the several misconceptions, which he shall have occasion to point
+out, will be generally found to exist with any thing like precision,
+much less that they are regularly digested into a system; nor will it be
+expected they all should meet in the same person, nor that they will not
+be found in different people, and under different circumstances,
+variously blended, combined, and modified. It will be enough if we
+succeed in tracing out great and general outlines. The human countenance
+may be well described by its general characters, though infinitely
+varied by the peculiarities which belong to different individuals, and
+often by such shades and minutenesses of difference, as though
+abundantly obvious to our perceptions, it would exceed the power of
+definition to discriminate, or even of language to express.</p>
+
+<p>A very erroneous notion appears to prevail concerning the true nature of
+Religion. Religion, agreeably to what has been already stated, (the
+importance of the subject will excuse repetition) may be considered as
+the implantation of a vigorous and active principle; it is seated in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>
+the heart, where its authority is recognized as supreme, whence by
+degrees it expels whatever is opposed to it, and where it gradually
+brings all the affections and desires under its complete controul and
+regulation.</p>
+
+<p>But though the heart be its special residence, it may be said to possess
+in a degree the ubiquity of its Divine Author. Every endeavour and
+pursuit must acknowledge its presence; and whatever does not, or will
+not, or cannot receive its sacred stamp, is to be condemned as
+inherently defective, and is to be at once abstained from or abandoned.
+It is like the principle of vitality, which, animating and informing
+every part, lives throughout the whole of the human body, and
+communicates its kindly influence to the smallest and remotest fibres of
+the frame. But the notion of Religion entertained by many among us seems
+altogether different. They begin indeed, in submission to her clear
+prohibitions, by fencing off from the field of human action, a certain
+district, which, though it in many parts bear fruits on which they cast
+a longing eye, they cannot but confess to be forbidden ground. They next
+assign to Religion a portion, larger or smaller according to whatever
+may be their circumstances and views, in which however she is to possess
+merely a qualified jurisdiction, and having so done, they conceive that
+without let or hindrance they have a right to range at will over the
+spacious remainder. Religion can claim only a stated proportion of their
+thoughts, and time, and fortune, and influence; and of these, or perhaps
+of any of them, if they make her any thing of a liberal allowance, she
+may well be satisfied: the rest is now their own to do what they will
+with; they have paid
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>
+their tythes, say rather their composition, the
+demands of the Church are satisfied, and they may surely be permitted to
+enjoy what she has left without molestation or interference.</p>
+
+<p>It is scarcely possible to state too strongly the mischief which results
+from this fundamental error. At the same time its consequences are so
+natural and obvious, that one would think it scarcely possible not to
+foresee that they must infallibly follow. The greatest part of human
+actions is considered as indifferent. If men are not chargeable with
+actual vices, and are decent in the discharge of their religious duties;
+if they do not stray into the forbidden ground, if they respect the
+rights of the conceded allotment, what more can be expected from them?
+Instead of keeping at a distance from <i>all sin</i>, in which alone consists
+our safety, they will be apt not to care how near they approach what
+they conceive to be the boundary line; if they have not actually passed
+it, there is no harm done, it is no trespass. Thus the free and active
+spirit of Religion is &ldquo;cribbed and hemmed in;&rdquo; she is checked in her
+disposition to expand her territory, and enlarge the circle of her
+influence. She must keep to her prescribed confines, and every attempt
+to extend them will be resisted as an encroachment.</p>
+
+<p>But this is not all. Since whatever can be gained from her allotment, or
+whatever can be taken in from the forbidden ground, will be so much of
+addition to that land of liberty, where men may roam at large, free from
+restraint or molestation, they will of course be constantly, and almost
+insensibly, straitening and pressing upon the limits of the religious
+allotment on the one hand; and on the other, will be removing
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>
+back a
+little farther and farther the fence which abridges them on the side of
+the forbidden ground. If Religion attempt for a time to defend her
+frontier, she by degrees gives way. The space she occupies diminishes
+till it be scarcely discernible; whilst, her spirit extinguished, and
+her force destroyed, she is little more than the nominal possessor even
+of the contracted limits to which she has been avowedly reduced.</p>
+
+<p>This it is to be feared is but too faithful a representation of the
+general state of things among ourselves. The promotion of the glory of
+God, and the possession of his favour, are no longer recognized as the
+objects of our highest regard, and most strenuous endeavours; as
+furnishing to us, a vigorous, habitual, and universal principle of
+action. We set up for ourselves: we are become our own masters. The
+sense of constant homage and continual service is irksome and galling to
+us; and we rejoice in being emancipated from it, as from a state of base
+and servile villainage. Thus the very tenure and condition, by which
+life and all its possessions are held, undergo a total change: our
+faculties and powers are now our own: whatever we have is regarded
+rather as a property than as a trust; or if there still exist the
+remembrance of some paramount claim, we are satisfied with an occasional
+acknowledgment of a nominal right; we pay our pepper corn, and take our
+estates to ourselves in full and free enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>Hence it is that so little sense of responsibility seems attached to the
+possession of high rank, or splendid abilities, or affluent fortunes, or
+other means or instruments of usefulness. The instructive admonitions,
+&ldquo;give an account of thy stewardship,&ldquo;&mdash;&ldquo;occupy till I come;&rdquo; are
+forgotten.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>
+Or if it be acknowledged by some men of larger views than
+ordinary, that a reference is to be had to some principle superior to
+that of our own gratification, it is, at best, to the good of society,
+or to the welfare of our families: and even then the obligations
+resulting from these relations, are seldom enforced on us by any higher
+sanctions than those of family comfort, and of worldly interest or
+estimation. Besides; what multitudes of persons are there, people
+without families, in private stations, or of a retired turn, to whom
+they are scarcely held to apply! and what multitudes of cases to which
+it would be thought unnecessary scrupulosity to extend them! Accordingly
+we find <i>in fact</i>, that the generality of mankind among the higher
+order, in the formation of their schemes, in the selection of their
+studies, in the choice of their place of residence, in the employment
+and distribution of their time, in their thoughts, conversation, and
+amusements, are considered as being at liberty, if there be no actual
+vice, to consult in the main their own gratification.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the generous and wakeful spirit of Christian Benevolence, seeking
+and finding every where occasions for its exercise, is exploded, and a
+system of <i>decent selfishness</i> is avowedly established in its stead; a
+system scarcely more to be abjured for its impiety, than to be abhorred
+for its cold insensibility to the opportunities of diffusing happiness.
+&ldquo;Have we no families, or are they provided for? Are we wealthy, and bred
+to no profession? Are we young and lively, and in the gaiety and vigour
+of youth? Surely we may be allowed to take our pleasure. We neglect no
+duty, we live in no vice, we do nobody any harm, and have a right to
+amuse
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>
+ourselves. We have nothing better to do, we wish we had; our time
+hangs heavy on our hands for want of it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beer-sheba, and cry &ldquo;It is all
+barren.&rdquo; No man has a right to be idle&mdash;Not to speak of that great work
+which we all have to accomplish, and surely the <i>whole</i> attention of a
+short and precarious life is not more than an eternal interest may well
+require; where is it that in such a world as this, health and leisure
+and affluence may not find some ignorance to instruct, some wrong to
+redress, some want to supply, some misery to alleviate? Shall Ambition
+and Avarice never sleep? Shall they never want objects on which to
+fasten? Shall they be so observant to discover, so acute to discern, so
+eager, so patient to pursue, and shall the Benevolence of Christians
+want employment?</p>
+
+<p>Yet thus life rolls away with too many of us in a course of &ldquo;shapeless
+idleness.&rdquo; Its recreations constitute its chief business. Watering
+places&mdash;the sports of the field&mdash;cards! never failing cards!&mdash;the
+assembly&mdash;the theatre&mdash;all contribute their aid&mdash;amusements are
+multiplied, and combined, and varied, &ldquo;to fill up the void of a listless
+and languid life;&rdquo; and by the judicious use of these different
+resources, there is often a kind of sober settled plan of domestic
+dissipation, in which with all imaginable decency year after year wears
+away in unprofitable vacancy. Even old age often finds us pacing in the
+same round of amusements, which our early youth had tracked out.
+Meanwhile, being conscious that we are not giving into any flagrant
+vice, perhaps that we are guilty of no irregularity, and it may be, that
+we are not neglecting
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>
+the offices of Religion, we persuade ourselves
+that we need not be uneasy. In the main we do not fall below the general
+standard of morals, of the class and station to which we belong, we may
+therefore allow ourselves to glide down the stream without apprehension
+of the consequences.</p>
+
+<p>Some, of a character often hardly to be distinguished from the class we
+have been just describing, take up with <i>sensual</i> pleasures. The chief
+happiness of their lives consists in one species or another of animal
+gratification; and these persons perhaps will be found to compose a
+pretty large description. It will be remembered, that it belongs not to
+our purpose to speak of the grossly and scandalously profligate, who
+renounce all pretensions to the name of Christians; but of those who,
+maintaining a certain decency of character, and perhaps being tolerably
+observant of the forms of Religion, may yet be not improperly termed
+<i>sober sensualists</i>. These, though less impetuous and more measured, are
+not less staunch and steady, than the professed votaries of licentious
+pleasure, in the pursuit of their favourite objects. &ldquo;Mortify the flesh,
+with its affections and lusts,&rdquo; is the Christian <i>precept</i>; a soft
+luxurious course of habitual indulgence, is the <i>practice</i> of the bulk
+of modern Christians: and that constant moderation, that wholesome
+discipline of restraint and self-denial, which are requisite to prevent
+the unperceived encroachments of the inferior appetites, seem altogether
+disused, as the exploded austerities of monkish superstition.</p>
+
+<p>Christianity calls her professors to a state of diligent watchfulness
+and active services. But the persons of whom we are now speaking,
+forgetting
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>
+alike the duties they owe to themselves and to their
+fellow-creatures, often act as though their condition were meant to be a
+state of uniform indulgence, and vacant, unprofitable sloth. To multiply
+the comforts of affluence, to provide for the gratification of appetite,
+to be luxurious without diseases, and indolent without lassitude, seems
+the chief study of their lives. Nor can they be clearly exempted from
+this class, who, by a common error, substituting the means for the end,
+make the preservation of health and spirits, not as instruments of
+usefulness, but as sources of pleasure, their great business and
+continual care.</p>
+
+<p>Others again seem more to attach themselves to what have been well
+termed the &lsquo;pomps and vanities of this world.&rsquo; Magnificent houses, grand
+equipages, numerous retinues, splendid entertainments, high and
+fashionable connections, appear to constitute, in their estimation, the
+supreme happiness of life. This class too, if we mistake not, will be
+found numerous in our days; for it must be considered, <i>that it is the
+heart</i>, <i>set on these things</i>, which constitutes the essential
+character. It often happens, that persons, to whose rank and station
+these indulgences most properly belong, are most indifferent to them.
+The undue solicitude about them is more visible in persons of inferior
+conditions and smaller fortunes, in whom it is not rarely detected by
+the studious contrivances of a misapplied ingenuity to reconcile parade
+with &oelig;conomy, and glitter at a cheap rate. But this temper of display
+and competition is a direct contrast to the lowly, modest, unassuming
+carriage of the true Christian: and wherever there is an evident effort
+and struggle to excel in the particulars here
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>
+in question, a manifest
+wish thus to rival superiors, to outstrip equals, to dazzle inferiors;
+it is manifest the great end of life, and of all its possessions, is too
+little kept in view, and it is to be feared that the gratification of a
+vain ostentatious humour is the predominant disposition of the heart.</p>
+
+<p>As there is a sober sensuality, so is there also a sober avarice, and a
+sober ambition. The commercial and the professional world compose the
+chief sphere of their influence. They are often recognized and openly
+avowed as just master principles of action. But where this is not the
+case, they assume such plausible shapes, are called by such specious
+names, and urge such powerful pleas, that they are received with
+cordiality, and suffered to gather strength without suspicion. The
+seducing considerations of diligence in our callings, of success in our
+profession, of making handsome provisions for our children, beguile our
+better judgments. &ldquo;We rise early, and late take rest, and eat the bread
+of carefulness.&rdquo; In our few intervals of leisure, our exhausted spirits
+require refreshment; the serious concerns of our immortal souls, are
+matters of speculation too grave and gloomy to answer the purpose, and
+we fly to something that may better deserve the name of relaxation, till
+we are again summoned to the daily labours of our employment.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile Religion seldom comes in our way, scarcely occurs to our
+thoughts; and when some secret misgivings begin to be felt on this head,
+company soon drowns, amusements dissipate, or habitual occupations
+insensibly displace or smother the rising apprehension. Professional and
+commercial men perhaps, especially when
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>
+they happen to be persons of
+more than ordinary reflection, or of early habits of piety not quite
+worn away, easily quiet their consciences by the plea, that necessary
+attention to their business leaves them no time to think on these
+serious subjects at present. &ldquo;Men of leisure they confess should
+consider them; they themselves will do it hereafter when they retire;
+meanwhile they are usefully or at least innocently employed.&rdquo; Thus
+business and pleasure fill up our time, and the &ldquo;one thing needful,&rdquo; is
+forgotten. Respected by others, and secretly applauding ourselves,
+(perhaps congratulating ourselves that we are not like such an one who
+is a spendthrift or a mere man of pleasure, or such another who is a
+notorious miser) the true principle of action is no less wanting in us,
+and personal advancement or the acquisition of wealth is the object of
+our supreme desires and predominant pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>It would be to presume too much on the reader&#8217;s patience to attempt a
+delineation of the characters of the politician, the metaphysician, the
+scholar, the poet, the virtuoso, the man of taste, in all their
+varieties. Of these and many other classes which might be enumerated,
+suffice it to remark, and to appeal to every man&#8217;s own experience for
+the truth of the observation, that they in like manner are often
+completely engrossed by the objects of their several pursuits. In many
+of these cases indeed a generous spirit surrenders itself wholly up with
+the less reserve, and continues absorbed with the fuller confidence,
+from the consciousness of not being led to its object by self-interested
+motives. Here therefore these men are ardent, active, laborious,
+persevering, and they think, and speak,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>
+and act, as those, the whole
+happiness of whose life turns on the success or failure of their
+endeavours. When such, as we have seen it, is the undisturbed composure
+of mere triflers, it is less wonderful that the votaries of learning and
+of taste, when absorbed in their several pursuits, should be able to
+check still more easily any growing apprehension, silencing it by the
+suggestion, that they are more than harmlessly, that they are
+meritoriously employed. &ldquo;Surely the thanks of mankind are justly paid to
+those more refined spirits who, superior alike to the seductions of
+ease, and the temptations of avarice, devote their time and talents to
+the less gainful labours of increasing the stores of learning or
+enlarging the boundaries of science; who are engaged in raising the
+character and condition of society, by improving the liberal arts, and
+adding to the innocent pleasures or elegant accomplishments of life.&rdquo;
+Let not the writer be so far misunderstood, as to be supposed to
+insinuate that Religion is an enemy to the pursuits of taste, much less
+to those of learning and of science. Let these have their <i>due</i> place in
+the estimation of mankind; but this must not be the <i>highest</i> place. Let
+them know their just <i>subordination</i>. They deserve not to be the
+<i>primary</i> concern, for there is another, to which in importance they
+bear no more proportion than our span of existence to eternity.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the supreme desires of the heart, the center to which they should
+tend, losing its attractive force, are permitted without controul to
+take that course, whatever it may be, which best suits our natural
+temper, or to which they are impelled by our various situations and
+circumstances. Sometimes they manifestly appear to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+be almost entirely
+confined to a single track; but perhaps more frequently the lines in
+which they move are so intermingled and diversified, that it becomes not
+a little difficult, even when we look into ourselves, to ascertain the
+object by which they are chiefly attracted, or to estimate with
+precision the amount of their several forces, in the different
+directions in which they move. &ldquo;Know thyself,&rdquo; is in truth an injunction
+with which the careless and the indolent cannot comply. For this
+compliance, it is requisite, in obedience to the Scripture precept, &ldquo;to
+keep the heart with all diligence.&rdquo; Mankind are in general deplorably
+ignorant of their true state; and there are few perhaps who have any
+adequate conception of the real strength of the ties, by which they are
+bound to the several objects of their attachment, or who are aware how
+small a share of their regard is possessed by those concerns on which it
+ought to be supremely fixed.</p>
+
+<p>But if it be indeed true, that except the affections of the soul be
+supremely fixed on God; that unless it be <i>the leading and governing
+desire and primary pursuit</i> to possess his favour and promote his glory,
+we are considered as having transferred our fealty to an usurper, and as
+being in fact revolters from our lawful sovereign; if this be indeed the
+Scripture doctrine, all the several attachments which have been lately
+enumerated, of the different classes of society, wherever they interest
+the affections, and possess the soul in any such measure of strength as
+deserves to be called <i>predominance</i>, are but so many varied expressions
+of <i>disloyalty</i>. God requires to set up his throne in the heart, and to
+reign in it without a rival: if he be kept out of his right, it matters
+not by what competitor. The revolt may be more
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>
+avowed or more secret;
+it may be the treason of deliberate preference, or of inconsiderate
+levity; we may be the subjects of a more or of a less creditable master;
+we may be employed in services more gross or more refined: but whether
+the slaves of avarice, of sensuality, of dissipation, of sloth, or the
+votaries of ambition, of taste, or of fashion; whether supremely
+governed by vanity and self-love, by the desire of literary fame or of
+military glory, we are alike estranged from the dominion of our rightful
+sovereign. Let not this seem a harsh position; it can appear so only
+from not adverting to what was shewn to be the <i>essential nature</i> of
+true Religion. He who bowed the knee to the god of medicine or of
+eloquence, was no less an idolater than the worshipper of the deified
+patrons of lewdness or of theft. In the several cases which have been
+specified, the <i>external acts</i> indeed are different; but in <i>principle</i>
+the disaffection is the same; and unless we return to our allegiance, we
+must expect the title, and prepare to meet the punishment, of rebels on
+that tremendous day, when all false colours shall be done away, and
+(there being no longer any room for the evasions of worldly sophistry,
+or the smooth plausibilities of worldly language) &ldquo;that which is often
+highly esteemed amongst men, shall appear to have been abomination in
+the sight of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>These fundamental truths seem vanished from the mind, and it follows of
+course, that every thing is viewed less and less through a religious
+medium. To speak no longer of instances wherein <i>we ourselves</i> are
+concerned, and wherein the unconquerable power of indulged appetite may
+be supposed to beguile our better judgment,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>
+or force us on in defiance
+of it; not to insist on the motives by which the conduct of men is
+determined, often avowedly, in what are to <i>themselves</i> the most
+important incidents of life; what are the judgments which they form in
+the case of <i>others</i>? Idleness, profusion, thoughtlessness, and
+dissipation, the misapplication of time or of talents, the trifling away
+of life in frivolous occupations or unprofitable studies; all these
+things we may regret in those around us, in the view of their temporal
+effects; but they are not considered in a religious connection, or
+lamented as endangering everlasting happiness. Excessive vanity and
+inordinate ambition are spoken of as weaknesses rather than as sins;
+even covetousness itself, though a hateful passion, yet, if not extreme,
+scarcely presents the face of <i>Irreligion</i>. Is some friend, or even some
+common acquaintance sick, or has some accident befallen him? How
+solicitously do we inquire after him, how tenderly do we visit him, how
+much perhaps do we regret that he has not better advice, how apt are we
+to prescribe for him, and how should we reproach ourselves, if we were
+to neglect any means in our power of contributing to his recovery! But
+&ldquo;the mind diseased&rdquo; is neglected and forgotten&mdash;&ldquo;<i>that</i> is not our
+affair; we hope (we do not perhaps really believe) that here it is well
+with him.&rdquo; The truth is, we have no solicitude about his spiritual
+interest. Here he is treated like the unfortunate traveller in the
+Gospel; we look upon him; we see but too well his sad condition, but
+(Priest and Levite alike) we pass by on the other side, and leave him to
+the officious tenderness of some poor despised Samaritan.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nay, take the case of our very children, when our hearts being most
+interested to promote their happiness, we must be supposed most desirous
+of determining on right principles, and where therefore the real
+standard of our deliberate judgments may be indisputably ascertained: in
+their education and marriage, in the choice of their professions, in our
+comparative consideration and judgment of the different parts of their
+several characters, how little do we reflect that they are immortal
+beings! Health, learning, credit, the amiable and agreeable qualities,
+above all, fortune and success in life, are taken, and not unjustly
+taken, into the account; but how small a share in forming our opinions
+is allowed to the probable effect which may be produced on their eternal
+interests! Indeed the subjects of our mutual inquiries, and
+congratulations, and condolences, prove but too plainly what
+considerations are in these cases uppermost in our thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>Such are the fatal and widely spreading effects, which but too naturally
+follow from the admission of the grand fundamental error before
+mentioned, that of not considering Religion as a principle of universal
+application and command. Robbed of its best energies, Religion now takes
+the form of a cold compilation of restraints and prohibitions. It is
+looked upon simply as a set of penal statutes; these, though wise and
+reasonable, are however, so far as they extend, abridgments of our
+natural liberty, and nothing which comes to us in this shape is
+extremely acceptable:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Atqui nolint occidere quemquam, posse volunt.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Considering moreover, that the matter of them is not in general very
+palatable, and that the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+partiality of every man where his own cause is
+in question, will be likely to make him construe them liberally in his
+own favour, we might beforehand have formed a tolerable judgment of the
+manner in which they are actually treated. Sometimes we attend to the
+words rather than to the spirit of Scripture injunctions, overlooking
+the principle they involve, which a better acquaintance with the word of
+God would have clearly taught us to infer from them. At others, &ldquo;the
+spirit of an injunction is all;&rdquo; and this we contrive to collect so
+dexterously, as thereby to relax or annul the strictness of the terms.
+&ldquo;Whatever is not expressly forbidden cannot be <i>very</i> criminal; whatever
+is not positively enjoined, cannot be indispensably necessary&mdash;If we do
+not offend against the laws, what more can be expected from us?&mdash;The
+persons to whom the strict precepts of the Gospel were given, were in
+very different circumstances from those in which we are placed. The
+injunctions were drawn rather tighter than is quite necessary, in order
+to allow for a little relaxation in practice. The expressions of the
+sacred Writers are figurative; the Eastern style is confessedly
+hyperbolical.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>By these and other such dishonest shifts (by which however we seldom
+deceive ourselves, except it be in thinking that we deceive others) the
+pure but strong morality of the word of God is explained away, and its
+too rigid canons are softened down, with as much dexterity as is
+exhibited by those who practise a logic of the same complexion, in order
+to escape from the obligations of human statutes. Like Swift&#8217;s
+unfortunate Brothers<a name="FNanchor_74" id="FNanchor_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a>, we are sometimes put to difficulties,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>
+but our
+ingenuity is little inferior to their&#8217;s. If totidem verbis<a name="FNanchor_75" id="FNanchor_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> will not
+serve our turn, try totidem syllabis; if totidem syllabis fail, try
+totidem literis: then there is in our case, as well as in theirs, &ldquo;an
+allegorical sense&rdquo; to be adverted to; and if every other resource fail
+us, we come at last to the same conclusion as the Brothers adopted, that
+after all, those rigorous clauses require some allowance, and a
+favourable interpretation, and ought to be understood &ldquo;cum grano salis.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But when the law both in its spirit and its letter is obstinate and
+incorrigible, what we cannot bend to our purpose we must break&mdash;&ldquo;Our
+sins we hope are of the smaller order; a little harmless gallantry, a
+little innocent jollity, a few foolish expletives which we use from the
+mere force of habit, meaning nothing by them; a little warmth of
+colouring and licence of expression; a few freedoms of speech in the
+gaiety of our hearts, which, though not perhaps strictly correct, none
+but the over-rigid would think of treating any otherwise than as venial
+infirmities, and in which very grave and religious men will often take
+their share, when they may throw off their state, and relax without
+impropriety. We serve an all-merciful Being, who knows the frailty of
+our nature, the number and strength of our temptations, and will not be
+extreme to mark what is done amiss. Even the less lenient judicatures of
+human institution concede somewhat to the weakness of man. It is an
+established maxim&mdash;&lsquo;De minimis non curat lex.&rsquo; We hope we are not worse
+than the generality.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>
+All men are imperfect. We own we have our
+infirmities; we confess it is so; we wish we were better, and trust as
+we grow older we shall become so; we are ready to acknowledge that we
+must be indebted for our admission into a future state of happiness, not
+to our own merit, but to the clemency of God, and the mercy of our
+Redeemer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But let not this language be mistaken for that of true Christian
+humiliation, of which it is the very essence to feel the burden of sin,
+and to long to be released from it: nor let two things be confounded,
+than which none can be more fundamentally different, the allowed want of
+universality in our determination, and our endeavour to obey the will of
+God, and that defective accomplishment of our purposes, which even the
+best of men will too often find reason to deplore. In the persons of
+whom we have been now speaking, the unconcern with which they can amuse
+themselves upon the borders of sin, and the easy familiarity with which
+they can actually dally with it in its less offensive shapes, shew
+plainly that, distinctly from its consequences, it is by no means the
+object of their aversion; that there is no love of holiness as such; no
+endeavour to acquire it, no care to prepare the soul for the reception
+of this divine principle, and to expel or keep under whatever might be
+likely to obstruct its entrance, or dispute its sovereignty.</p>
+
+<p>It is indeed a most lamentable consequence of the practice of regarding
+Religion as a compilation of statutes, and not as an internal principle,
+that it soon comes to be considered as being conversant about <i>external
+actions</i> rather than about <i>habits of mind</i>. This sentiment sometimes
+has
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>
+even the hardiness to insinuate and maintain itself under the guise
+of extraordinary concern for <i>practical Religion</i>; but it soon discovers
+the falsehood of this pretension, and betrays its real nature. The
+expedient indeed of attaining to superiority in practice, by not wasting
+any of the attention on the internal principles from which alone
+practice can flow, is about as reasonable, and will answer about as
+well, as the &oelig;conomy of the architect, who should account it mere
+prodigality to expend any of his materials in laying foundations, from
+an idea that they might be more usefully applied to the raising of the
+superstructure. We know what would be the fate of such an edifice.</p>
+
+<p>It is indeed true, and a truth never to be forgotten, that all
+pretensions to internal principles of holiness are vain when they are
+contradicted by the conduct; but it is no less true, that the only
+effectual way of improving the latter, is by a vigilant attention to the
+former. It was therefore our blessed Saviour&#8217;s injunction, &ldquo;Make the
+tree good&rdquo; as the necessary means of obtaining good fruit; and the holy
+Scriptures abound in admonitions, to let it be our chief business to
+cultivate our hearts with all diligence, to examine into their state
+with impartiality, and watch over them with continual care. Indeed it is
+the <i>Heart</i> which constitutes the <i>Man</i>; and external actions derive
+their whole character and meaning from the motives and dispositions of
+which they are the indications. Human judicatures, it is true, are
+chiefly conversant about the former, but this is only because to our
+limited perceptions the latter can seldom be any otherwise clearly
+ascertained. The real object of inquiry to human judicatures is the
+<i>internal</i> disposition;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>
+it is to this that they adapt the nature, and
+proportion the degree, of their punishments.</p>
+
+<p>Yet though this be a truth so obvious, so established, that to have
+insisted on it may seem almost needless; it is a truth of which we are
+apt to lose sight in the review of our religious Character, and with
+which the <i>habit</i>, of considering Religion as consisting rather in
+external actions, than internal principles, is at direct and open war.
+This mode of judging may well be termed <i>habitual</i>: for though by some
+persons it is advisedly adopted, and openly avowed, yet in many cases
+for want of due watchfulness, it has stolen insensibly upon the mind; it
+exists unsuspected, and is practised, like other habits, without
+consciousness or observation.</p>
+
+<p>In what degree soever this pernicious principle prevails, in that degree
+is the mischief it produces. The vicious affections, like noxious weeds,
+sprout up and increase of themselves but too naturally; while the graces
+of the Christian temper, exotics in the soil of the human heart, like
+the more tender productions of the vegetable world, though the light and
+breath of Heaven must quicken them, require on our part also, in order
+to their being preserved in health and vigour, constant superintendence
+and assiduous care. But so far from their being earnestly sought for, or
+watchfully reared, with unremitted prayers for that Divine Grace,
+without which all our labours must be ineffectual; such is the result of
+the principle we are here condemning, that no endeavours are used for
+their attainment, or they are suffered to droop and die almost without
+an effort to preserve them. The culture of the mind is less and less
+attended to,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>
+and at length perhaps is almost wholly neglected. Way
+being thus made for the unobstructed growth of other tempers, the
+qualities of which are very different, and often directly opposite,
+these naturally overspread and quietly possess the mind; their
+contrariety to the Christian spirit not being discerned, and even
+perhaps their presence being scarcely acknowledged, except when their
+existence and their nature are manifested in the conduct by marks too
+plain to be overlooked or mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the most important branches of the Christian temper, wherein the
+bulk of nominal Christians appear eminently and allowedly defective,
+have been already noticed in this and in the preceding chapter. Many
+others still remain to be particularized.</p>
+
+<p>First then, it is the comprehensive compendium of the character of true
+Christians, that &ldquo;they are walking by faith, and not by sight.&rdquo; By this
+description is meant, not merely that they so firmly believe in the
+doctrine of future rewards and punishments, as to be influenced by that
+persuasion to adhere in the main to the path of duty, though tempted to
+forsake it by present interest, and present gratification; but farther,
+that the great truths revealed in Scripture concerning the unseen world,
+are the ideas for the most part uppermost in their thoughts, and about
+which habitually their hearts are most interested. This state of mind
+contributes, if the expression may be allowed, to rectify the illusions
+of vision, to bring forward into nearer view those eternal things which
+from their remoteness are apt to be either wholly overlooked, or to
+appear but faintly in the utmost bounds of the horizon; and to remove
+backward, and reduce
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>
+to their true comparative dimensions, the objects
+of the present life, which are apt to fill the human eye, assuming a
+false magnitude from their vicinity. The true Christian knows from
+experience however, that the former are apt to fade from the sight, and
+the latter again to swell on it. He makes it therefore his continual
+care to preserve those just and enlightened views, which through Divine
+mercy he has obtained. Not that he will retire from that station in the
+world which Providence seems to have appointed him to fill: he will be
+active in the business of life, and enjoy its comforts with moderation
+and thankfulness; but he will not be &ldquo;totus in illis,&rdquo; he will not give
+up his whole soul to them, they will be habitually subordinate in his
+estimation to objects of more importance. The awful truth has sunk deep
+into his mind, &ldquo;the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
+which are not seen are eternal;&rdquo; and in the tumult and bustle of life,
+he is sobered by the still small voice which whispers to him &ldquo;the
+fashion of this world passes away.&rdquo; This circumstance alone must, it is
+obvious, constitute a vast difference between the habitual temper of his
+mind, and that of the generality of nominal Christians, who are almost
+entirely taken up with the concerns of the present world. They <i>know</i>
+indeed that they are mortal, but they do not <i>feel</i> it. The truth rests
+in their understandings, and cannot gain admission into their hearts.
+This speculative persuasion is altogether different from that strong
+<i>practical</i> impression of the infinite importance of eternal things,
+which attended with a proportionate sense of the shortness and
+uncertainty of all below, while it prompts to activity from a conviction
+that &ldquo;the night cometh
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>
+when no man can work,&rdquo; produces a certain
+firmness of texture, which hardens us against the buffets of fortune,
+and prevents our being very deeply penetrated by the cares and
+interests, the goods or evils, of this transitory state. Thus this just
+impression of the relative value of temporal and eternal things,
+maintains in the soul a dignified composure through all the vicissitudes
+of life. It quickens our diligence, yet moderates our ardour; urges us
+to just pursuits, yet checks any undue solicitude about the success of
+them, and thereby enables us, in the language of Scripture, &ldquo;to use this
+world as not abusing it,&rdquo; rendering us at once beneficial to others and
+comfortable to ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>But this is not all&mdash;besides the distinction between the nominal and the
+real Christian, which results from the impressions produced on them
+respectively by the <i>eternal duration</i> of heavenly things, there is
+another grounded on their <i>nature</i>, no less marked, nor less important.
+They are stated in Scripture, not only as entitling themselves to the
+notice of the true Christian from considerations of interest, but as
+approving themselves to his judgment from a conviction of their
+excellence, and yet farther, as recommending themselves to his feelings,
+by their being suited to the renewed dispositions of his heart. Indeed
+were the case otherwise, did not their qualities correspond with his
+inclinations; however he might endure them on principles of duty, and be
+coldly conscious of their superior worth, he could not lend himself to
+them with cordial complacency, much less look to them as the surest
+source of pleasure. But this is the light in which they are habitually
+regarded by the true Christian. He walks in the ways of Religion,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+not
+by constraint, but willingly; they are to him not only safe, but
+comfortable; &ldquo;ways of pleasantness as well as of peace.&rdquo; Not but that
+here also he is from experience aware of the necessity of constant
+support, and continual watchfulness; without these, his old estimate of
+things is apt to return on him, and the former objects of his affections
+to resume their influence. With earnest prayers, therefore, for the
+Divine Help, with jealous circumspection, and resolute self-denial, he
+guards against, and abstains from, whatever might be likely again to
+darken his <i>enlightened judgment</i>, or to vitiate his reformed taste;
+thus making it his unwearied endeavour to grow in the knowledge and love
+of heavenly things, and to obtain a warmer admiration, and a more
+cordial relish of their excellence.</p>
+
+<p>That this is a just representation of the habitual judgment, and of the
+leading disposition of true Christians, will be abundantly evident, if,
+endeavouring to form ourselves after our proper model, we consult the
+sacred Scripture. But in vain are Christians there represented as having
+set their <i>affections</i> on things above, as <i>cordially rejoicing</i> in the
+service, and delighting in the worship of God. Pleasure and Religion are
+contradictory terms with the bulk of nominal Christians. They may look
+back indeed on their religious offices with something of a secret
+satisfaction, and even feel it during the performance of them, from the
+idea of being engaged in the discharge of a duty; but this is altogether
+different from the pleasure which attends an employment in itself
+acceptable and grateful to us. The writer must here again guard against
+being understood to speak of a deficiency in the <i>warmth</i>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>
+and
+<i>vehemence</i> merely of religious affections. Are the service and worship
+of God <i>pleasant</i> to these persons? it is not asked whether they are
+<i>delightful</i>. Do they diffuse over the soul any thing of that calm
+complacency, that mild and grateful composure, which bespeaks a mind in
+good humour with itself and all around it, and engaged in a service
+suited to its taste, and congenial with its feelings?</p>
+
+<p>Let us appeal to that Day which is especially devoted to the offices of
+Religion: Do they joyfully avail themselves of this blessed opportunity
+of withdrawing from the business and cares of life; when, without being
+disquieted by any doubt whether they are not neglecting the duties of
+their proper callings, they may be allowed to detach their minds from
+earthly things, that by a fuller knowledge of heavenly objects, and a
+more habitual acquaintance with them, their hope may grow more &ldquo;full of
+immortality?&rdquo; Is the day cheerfully devoted to those holy exercises for
+which it was appointed? Do they indeed &ldquo;come into the courts of God with
+gladness?&rdquo; And how are they employed when not engaged in the public
+services of the day? Are they busied in studying the word of God, in
+meditating on his perfections, in tracing his providential
+dispensations, in admiring his works, in revolving his mercies, (above
+all, the transcendent mercies of redeeming love) in singing his praises,
+&ldquo;and speaking good of his name?&rdquo; Do their secret retirements witness the
+earnestness of their prayers and the warmth of their thanksgivings,
+their diligence and impartiality in the necessary work of
+self-examination, their mindfulness of the benevolent duty of
+intercession? Is the kind purpose of the institution of a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>
+Sabbath
+answered by them, in its being made to their servants and dependents a
+season of rest and comfort? Does the instruction of their families, or
+of the more poor and ignorant of their neighbours, possess its due share
+of their time? If blessed with talents or with affluence, are they
+sedulously employing a part of this interval of leisure in relieving the
+indigent, and visiting the sick, and comforting the sorrowful, in
+forming plans for the good of their fellow-creatures, in considering how
+they may promote both the temporal and spiritual benefit of their
+friends and acquaintance: or if their&#8217;s be a larger sphere, in devising
+measures whereby through the Divine blessing, they may become the
+honoured instruments of the more extended diffusion of religious truth?
+In the hours of domestic or social intercourse, does their conversation
+manifest the subject of which their hearts are full? Do their language
+and demeanor shew them to be more than commonly gentle, and kind, and
+friendly, free from rough and irritating passions?</p>
+
+<p>Surely an entire day should not seem long amidst these various
+employments. It might well be deemed a privilege thus to spend it, in
+the more immediate presence of our Heavenly Father, in the exercises of
+humble admiration and grateful homage; of the benevolent, and domestic,
+and social feelings, and of all the best affections of our nature,
+prompted by their true motives, conversant about their proper objects,
+and directed to their noblest end; all sorrows mitigated, all cares
+suspended, all fears repressed, every angry emotion softened, every
+envious or revengeful or malignant passion expelled; and the bosom, thus
+quieted, purified, enlarged,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>
+ennobled, partaking almost of a measure of
+the Heavenly happiness, and become for a while the seat of love, and
+joy, and confidence, and harmony.</p>
+
+<p>The nature, and uses, and proper employments of a Christian Sabbath,
+have been pointed out more particularly, not only because the day will
+be found, when thus employed, eminently conducive, through the Divine
+blessing, to the maintenance of the religious principle in activity and
+vigour; but also because we must all have had occasion often to remark,
+that many persons, of the graver and more decent sort, seem not seldom
+to be nearly destitute of religious resources. The Sunday is with them,
+to say the best of it, a <i>heavy</i> day; and that larger part of it, which
+is not claimed by the public offices of the church, dully drawls on in
+comfortless vacuity, or without improvement is trifled away in vain and
+unprofitable discourse. Not to speak of those who by their more daring
+profanation of this sacred season, openly violate the laws and insult
+the religion of their country, how little do many seem to enter into the
+<i>spirit</i> of the institution, who are not wholly inattentive to its
+exterior decorums! How glad are they to qualify the rigor of their
+religious labours! How hardly do they plead against being compelled to
+devote the <i>whole</i> of the day to Religion, claiming to themselves no
+small merit for giving up to it a part, and purchasing therefore, as
+they hope, a right to spend the remainder more agreeably! How
+dexterously do they avail themselves of any plausible plea for
+introducing some weekday employment into the Sunday, whilst they have
+not the same propensity to introduce any of the Sunday&#8217;s peculiar
+employment into the rest of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>
+the week! How often do they find excuses
+for taking journeys, writing letters, balancing accounts; or in short
+doing something, which by a little management might probably have been
+anticipated, or which, without any material inconvenience, might be
+postponed! Even business itself is recreation, compared with Religion,
+and from the drudgery of this day of Sacred Rest they fly for relief to
+their ordinary occupations.</p>
+
+<p>Others again who would consider business as a prophanation, and who
+still hold out against the encroachments of the card table, get over
+much of the day, and gladly seek for an innocent resource, in the social
+circle or in family visits, where it is not even pretended that the
+conversation turns on such topics as might render it in any way
+conducive to religious instruction, or improvement. Their families
+meanwhile are neglected, their servants robbed of Christian privileges,
+and their example quoted by others, who cannot see that they are
+themselves less religiously employed, while playing an innocent game at
+cards, or relaxing in the concert room.</p>
+
+<p>But all these several artifices, <i>whatever they may be</i>, <i>to unhallow</i>
+the Sunday and to change its character (it might be almost said &ldquo;to
+relax its horrors,&rdquo;) prove but too plainly, however we may be glad to
+take refuge in Religion, when driven to it by the loss of every other
+comfort, and to retain as it were a reversionary interest in an asylum,
+which may receive us when we are forced from the transitory enjoyments
+of our present state; that <i>in itself</i> it wears to us a gloomy and
+forbidding aspect, and not a face of consolation and joy; that the
+worship of God is with us a <i>constrained</i> and not a <i>willing</i> service,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>
+which we are glad therefore to abridge though we dare not omit it.</p>
+
+<p>Some indeed there are who with concern and grief will confess this to be
+their uncomfortable and melancholy state; who humbly pray, and
+diligently endeavour, for an imagination less distracted at devotional
+seasons, for a heart more capable of relishing the excellence of divine
+things; and who carefully guard against whatever has a tendency to chain
+down their affections to earthly enjoyments. Let not such be
+discouraged. It is not they whom we are condemning: but such as knowing
+and even acknowledging this to be their case, yet proceed in a way
+directly contrary: who, scarcely seeming to suspect that any thing is
+wrong with them, voluntarily acquiesce in a state of mind which is
+directly contrary to the positive commands of God, which forms a perfect
+contrast to the representations given us in Scripture of the Christian
+character, and accords but too faithfully in one leading feature with
+the character of those, who are stated to be the objects of Divine
+displeasure in this life, and of Divine punishment in the next.</p>
+
+<p>It is not however only in these essential constituents of a devotional
+frame that the bulk of nominal Christians are defective. This they
+freely declare (secretly feeling perhaps some complacency from the
+frankness of the avowal) to be a higher strain of piety than that to
+which they aspire. Their forgetfulness also of some of the leading
+dispositions of Christianity, is undeniably apparent in their allowed
+want of the spirit of kindness, and meekness, and gentleness, and
+patience, and long suffering; and above all, of that which is the stock
+on which alone these
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>
+dispositions can grow and flourish, that
+<i>humility</i> and <i>lowliness of mind</i>, in which perhaps more than in any
+other quality may be said to consist the true essence and vital
+principle of the Christian temper. These dispositions are not only
+neglected, but even disavowed and exploded, and their opposites, if not
+rising to any great height, are acknowledged and applauded. <i>A just
+pride, a proper and becoming pride</i>, are terms which we daily hear from
+Christian lips. To possess <i>a high spirit</i>, to behave with <i>a proper
+spirit</i> when used ill,&mdash;by which is meant a quick feeling of injuries,
+and a promptness in resenting them,&mdash;entitles to commendation; and a
+meek-spirited disposition, the highest Scripture eulogium, expresses
+ideas of disapprobation and contempt. Vanity and vain glory are suffered
+without interruption to retain their natural possession of the heart.
+But here a topic opens upon us of such importance, and on which so many
+mistakes are to be found both in the writings of respectable authors,
+and in the commonly prevailing opinions of the world, that it may be
+allowed us to discuss it more at large, and for this purpose to treat of
+it in a separate section.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. III.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>On the Desire of human Estimation and Applause&mdash;The generally
+prevailing Opinions contrasted with those of the true Christian.</i></h5>
+
+<p>The desire of human estimation, and distinction, and honour, of the
+admiration and applause
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>
+of our fellow creatures, if we take it in its
+full comprehension, and in all its various modifications, from the
+thirst of glory to the dread of shame, is the passion of which the
+empire is by far the most general, and perhaps the authority the most
+commanding. Though its power be most conspicuous and least controulable
+in the higher classes of society, it seems, like some resistless
+conqueror, to spare neither age, nor sex, nor condition; and taking ten
+thousand shapes, insinuating itself under the most specious pretexts,
+and sheltering itself when necessary under the most artful disguises, it
+winds its way in secret, when it dares not openly avow itself, and mixes
+in all we think, and speak, and do. It is in some instances the
+determined and declared pursuit, and confessedly the main practical
+principle; but where this is not the case, it is not seldom the grand
+spring of action, and in the Beauty and the Author, no less than in the
+Soldier, it is often the master passion of the soul.</p>
+
+<p>This is the principle which parents recognize with joy in their infant
+offspring, which is diligently instilled and nurtured in advancing
+years, which, under the names of honourable ambition and of laudable
+emulation, it is the professed aim of schools and colleges to excite and
+cherish. The writer is well aware that it will be thought he is pushing
+his opinions much too far, when he ventures to assail this great
+principle of human action; &ldquo;a principle,&rdquo; its advocates might perhaps
+exclaim, &ldquo;the extinction of which, if you could succeed in your rash
+attempt, would be like the annihilation in the material world of the
+principle of motion; without it all were torpid and cold and
+comfortless. We grant,&rdquo; they might go on to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>
+observe, &ldquo;that we never
+ought to deviate from the paths of duty in order to procure the applause
+or to avoid the reproaches of men, and we allow that this is a rule too
+little attended to in practice. We grant that the love of praise is in
+some instances a ridiculous, and in others a mischievous passion; that
+to it we owe the breed of coquettes and coxcombs, and, a more serious
+evil, the noxious race of heroes and conquerors. We too are ready, when
+it appears in the shape of vanity, to smile at it as a foible, or in
+that of false glory, to condemn it as a crime. But all these are only
+its perversions; and on account of them to contend against its true
+forms, and its legitimate exercise, were to give into the very error
+which you formerly yourself condemned, of arguing against the use of a
+salutary principle altogether, on account of its being liable to
+occasional abuse. When turned into the right direction, and applied to
+its true purposes, it prompts to every dignified and generous
+enterprise. It is erudition in the portico, skill in the lyc&aelig;um,
+eloquence in the senate, victory in the field. It forces indolence into
+activity, and extorts from vice itself the deeds of generosity and
+virtue. When once the soul is warmed by its generous ardor, no
+difficulties deter, no dangers terrify, no labours tire. It is this
+which, giving by its stamp to what is virtuous and honourable its just
+superiority over the gifts of birth and fortune, rescues the rich from a
+base subjection to the pleasures of sense, and makes them prefer a
+course of toil and hardship to a life of indulgence and ease. It
+prevents the man of rank from acquiescing in his hereditary greatness,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>
+and spurs him forward in pursuit of <i>personal</i> distinction, and of a
+nobility which he may justly term his own. It moderates and qualifies
+the over-great inequalities of human conditions; and reaching to those
+who are above the sphere of laws, and extending to cases which fall not
+within their province, it limits and circumscribes the power of the
+tyrant on his throne, and gives gentleness to war, and to pride,
+humility.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Nor is its influence confined to public life, nor is it known only in
+the great and the splendid. To it is to be ascribed a large portion of
+that courtesy and disposition to please, which naturally producing a
+mutual appearance of good will, and a reciprocation of good offices,
+constitute much of the comfort of private life, and give their choicest
+sweets to social and domestic intercourse. Nay, from the force of habit,
+it follows us even into solitude, and in our most secret retirements we
+often act as if our conduct were subject to human observation, and we
+derive no small complacency from the imaginary applauses of an ideal
+spectator.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So far of the <i>effects</i> of the love of praise and distinction: and if
+after enumerating some of these, you should proceed to investigate its
+<i>nature</i>, &ldquo;We admit,&rdquo; it might be added, &ldquo;that a hasty and misjudging
+world often misapplies commendations and censures: and whilst we
+therefore confess, that the praises of the discerning few are alone
+truly valuable; we acknowledge that it were better if mankind were
+always to act from the sense of right and the love of virtue, without
+reference to the opinions of their fellow-creatures. We even
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>
+allow,
+that independently of consequences, this were perhaps in itself a higher
+strain of virtue; but it is a degree of purity which it would be vain to
+expect from the bulk of mankind. When the <i>intrinsic excellence</i> of this
+principle however is called in question, let it be remembered, that in
+its higher degrees it was styled, by one who meant rather to detract
+from its merits than to aggravate them, &lsquo;the infirmity of <i>noble</i>
+minds;&rsquo; and surely, that in such a soil it most naturally springs up,
+and flourishes, is no mean proof of its exalted origin and generous
+nature.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But were these more dubious, and were it no more than a splendid error;
+yet considering that it works so often in the right direction, it were
+enough to urge in its behalf, that it is a principle of real <i>action</i>,
+and approved energy. That, as much as practice is better than theory,
+and solid realties than empty speculation, so much is it to be preferred
+for general use before those higher principles of morals, which however
+just and excellent in themselves, you would in vain attempt to bring
+home to the &lsquo;business and bosoms of mankind&rsquo; at large. Reject not then a
+principle thus universal in its influence, thus valuable in its effects;
+a principle, which, by whatever name you may please to call it, acts by
+motives and considerations suited to our condition; and which, putting
+it at the very lowest, must be confessed, in our present infirm state,
+to be an habitual aid and an ever present support to the feebleness of
+virtue! In a selfish world it produces the effects of disinterestedness,
+and when public spirit is extinct, it supplies the want of patriotism.
+Let us
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+therefore with gratitude avail ourselves of its help, and not
+relinquish the good which it freely offers, from we know not what vain
+dreams of impracticable purity and unattainable perfection.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>All this and much more might be urged by the advocates of this favourite
+principle. It would be however no difficult task to shew that it by no
+means merits this high eulogium. To say nothing of that larger part of
+the argument of our opponents, which betrays, and even proceeds upon,
+that mischievous notion of the innocence of error, against which we have
+already entered our formal protest, the principle in question is
+manifestly of a most inconstant and variable nature; as inconstant and
+variable as the innumerably diversified modes of fashions, habits, and
+opinions in different periods and societies. What it tolerates in one
+age, it forbids in another; what in one country it prescribes and
+applauds, in another it condemns and stigmatizes! Obviously and openly,
+it often takes vice into its patronage, and sets itself in direct
+opposition to virtue. It is calculated to produce rather the
+<i>appearance</i> than the <i>reality</i> of excellence; and at best not to check
+the <i>love</i> but only the <i>commission</i> of vice. Much of this indeed was
+seen and acknowledged by the philosophers, and even by the poets, of the
+Pagan world. They declaimed against it as a mutable and inconsistent
+principle; they lamented the fatal effects which, under the name of
+false glory, it had produced on the peace and happiness of mankind. They
+condemned the pursuit of it when it led its followers out of the path of
+virtue, and taught that the praise of the wise and of the good only was
+to be desired.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But it was reserved for the page of Scripture to point out to us
+distinctly, wherein it is apt to be essentially defective and vicious,
+and to discover to us more fully its encroaching nature and dangerous
+tendencies; teaching us at the same time, how, being purified from its
+corrupt qualities, and reduced under just subordination, it may be
+brought into legitimate exercise, and be directed to its true end.</p>
+
+<p>In the sacred volume we are throughout reminded, that we are originally
+the creatures of God&#8217;s formation, and continual dependents on his
+bounty. There too we learn the painful lesson of man&#8217;s degradation and
+unworthiness. We learn that humiliation and contrition are the tempers
+of mind best suited to our fallen condition, and most acceptable in the
+sight of our Creator. We learn that these (to the repression and
+extinction of that spirit of arrogance and self-importance, so natural
+to the heart of man) it should be our habitual care to cherish and
+cultivate; studiously maintaining a continual sense, that, not only for
+all the <i>natural</i> advantages over others which we may possess, but that
+for all our <i>moral</i> superiority also, we are altogether indebted to the
+unmerited goodness of God. It might perhaps be said to be the great end
+and purpose of all revelation, and especially to be the design of the
+Gospel, to reclaim us from our natural pride and selfishness, and their
+fatal consequences; to bring us to a just sense of our weakness and
+<i>depravity</i>; and to dispose us, with unfeigned humiliation, to abase
+ourselves, and give glory to God. &ldquo;No flesh may glory in his presence;
+he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;The lofty looks of man
+shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>
+shall be bowed down, and
+the Lord alone shall be exalted<a name="FNanchor_76" id="FNanchor_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>These solemn admonitions are too generally disregarded, and their
+intimate connection with the subject we are now considering, appears to
+have been often entirely overlooked, even by Christian moralists. These
+authors, without reference to the main spring, and internal principle of
+conduct, are apt to speak of the love of human applause, as being
+meritorious or culpable, as being the desire of true or of false glory,
+accordingly as the external actions it produces, and the pursuits to
+which it prompts, are beneficial or mischievous to mankind. But it is
+undeniably manifest, that in the judgment of the word of God, the love
+of worldly admiration and applause is in its <i>nature</i> essentially and
+radically corrupt; so far as it partakes of a disposition to exalt and
+aggrandize ourselves, to pride ourselves on our natural or acquired
+endowments, or to assume to ourselves the merit and credit of our good
+qualities, instead of ascribing all the honour and glory where only they
+are due. Its <i>guilt</i> therefore in these cases, is not to be measured by
+its effects on the happiness of mankind; nor is it to be denominated
+<i>true or false</i> glory, accordingly as the ends to which it is directed
+are beneficial or mischievous, just or unjust objects of pursuit; but it
+is <i>false</i>, because it exalts that which ought to be abased, and
+<i>criminal</i>, because it encroaches on the prerogative of God.</p>
+
+<p>The Scriptures further instruct us, not merely that mankind are liable
+to error, and therefore that the world&#8217;s commendations <i>may be</i>
+sometimes
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>
+mistaken; but that their judgment being darkened and their
+hearts depraved, its applauses and contempt will for the most part be
+systematically misplaced; that though the beneficent and disinterested
+spirit of Christianity, and her obvious tendency to promote domestic
+comfort and general happiness, cannot but extort applause; yet that her
+aspiring after more than ordinary excellence, by exciting secret
+misgivings in others, or a painful sense of inferiority not unmixed with
+envy, cannot fail often to disgust and offend. The word of God teaches
+us, that though such of the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, as
+are coincident with worldly interests and pursuits, and with worldly
+principles and systems, may be professed without offence; yet, that what
+is opposite to these, or even different from them, will be deemed
+needlessly precise and strict, the indulgence of a morose and gloomy
+humour, the symptoms of a contracted and superstitious spirit, the marks
+of a mean, enslaved, or distorted understanding. That for these and
+other reasons, the follower of Christ must not only make up his mind to
+the <i>occasional relinquishment</i> of worldly favour, but that it should
+even afford him matter of holy jealousy and suspicion of himself, when
+it is very lavishly and very generally bestowed.</p>
+
+<p>But though the standard of worldly estimation differed less from that of
+the Gospel; yet since our affections ought to be set on heavenly things,
+and conversant about heavenly objects; and since in particular the love
+and favour of God ought to be the matter of our supreme and habitual
+desire, to which every other should be subordinated; it follows, that
+the love of human applause must be manifestly injurious, so
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>
+far as it
+tends to draw down our regards to earthly concerns, and to bound and
+circumscribe our desires within the narrow limits of this world.
+Particularly, that it is <i>impure</i>, so far as it is tinctured with a
+disposition to estimate too highly, and love too well, the good opinion
+and commendations of man.</p>
+
+<p>But though, by these and other instructions and considerations, the Holy
+Scripture warns us against the inordinate desire or earnest pursuit of
+worldly estimation and honour; though it so greatly reduces their value,
+and prepares us for losing them without surprise, and for relinquishing
+them with little reluctance: yet it teaches us, that Christians in
+general are not only not called upon absolutely and voluntarily to
+renounce or forego them; but that when, without our having solicitously
+sought them, they are bestowed on us for actions intrinsically good, we
+are to accept them as being intended by Providence, to be sometimes,
+even in this disorderly state of things, a present solace, and a reward
+to virtue. Nay more, we are instructed, that in our general deportment,
+that in little particulars of conduct otherwise indifferent, that in the
+<i>circumstances</i> and <i>manner</i> of performing actions in themselves of a
+determined character and indispensable obligation, (guarding however
+against the smallest degree of artifice or deceit) that by watching for
+opportunities of doing little kindnesses, that by avoiding
+singularities, and even humouring prejudices, where it may be done
+without the slightest infringment on truth or duty, we ought to have a
+due respect and regard to the approbation and favour of men. These
+however we should not value, chiefly as they may administer to our own
+gratification, but rather as furnishing means
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>
+and instruments of
+influence, which we may turn to good account, by making them subservient
+to the improvement and happiness of our fellow creatures, and thus
+conducive to the <i>glory of God</i>. The remark is almost superfluous, that
+on occasions like these we must even watch our hearts with the most
+jealous care, lest pride and self love insensibly infuse themselves, and
+corrupt the purity of principles so liable to contract a taint.</p>
+
+<p>Credit and reputation, in the judgment of the true Christian, stand on
+ground not very different from riches; which he is not to prize highly,
+or to desire and pursue with solicitude; but which, when they are
+allotted to him by the hand of Providence, he is to accept with
+thankfulness, and use with moderation; relinquishing them when it
+becomes necessary, without a murmur; guarding most circumspectly, so
+long as they remain with him, against that sensual and selfish temper,
+and no less against that pride and wantonness of heart, which they are
+too apt to produce and cherish; thus considering them as in themselves
+acceptable, but, from the infirmity of his nature, as highly dangerous
+possessions, and valuing them chiefly not as instruments of luxury or
+splendour, but as affording the means of honouring his heavenly
+Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>Christianity however, as was formerly observed, proposes not to
+extinguish our natural desires, but to bring them under just controul,
+and direct them to their true objects. In the case both of riches and of
+honour, she maintains the consistency of her character. While she
+commands us not to set our hearts on <i>earthly</i> treasures, she reminds us
+that &ldquo;we have in <i>Heaven</i>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+a better and more enduring substance&rdquo; than
+this world can bestow; and while she represses our solicitude respecting
+earthly credit, and moderates our attachment to it, she holds forth to
+us, and bids us habitually to aspire after, the splendours of that
+better state, where is true glory, and honour, and immortality; thus
+exciting in us a just ambition, suited to our high origin, and worthy of
+our large capacities, which the little, misplaced, and perishable
+distinctions of this life would in vain attempt to satisfy.</p>
+
+<p>It would be mere waste of time to enter into any laboured argument to
+prove at large, that the light in which worldly credit and estimation
+are regarded, by the bulk of professed Christians, is extremely
+different from that in which they are placed by the page of Scripture.
+The <i>inordinate</i> love of <i>worldly glory</i> indeed, implies a passion,
+which from the nature of things cannot be called into exercise in the
+generality of mankind, because, being conversant about great objects, it
+can but rarely find that field which is requisite for its exertions. But
+we every where discover the same principle reduced to the dimensions of
+common life, and modified and directed according to every one&#8217;s sphere
+of action. We may discover it in a supreme love of distinction, and
+admiration, and praise; in the universal acceptableness of flattery; and
+above all in the excessive valuation of our worldly character, in that
+watchfulness with which it is guarded, in that jealousy when it is
+questioned, in that solicitude when it is in danger, in that hot
+resentment when it is attacked, in that bitterness of suffering when it
+is impaired or lost. All these emotions, as they are too manifest to be
+disputed,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>
+so are they too reputable to be denied. Dishonour, disgrace,
+and shame present images of horror too dreadful to be faced; they are
+evils, which it is thought the mark of a generous spirit to consider as
+excluding every idea of comfort and enjoyment, and to feel, in short, as
+too heavy to be borne.</p>
+
+<p>The consequences of all this are natural and obvious. Though it be not
+openly avowed, that we are to follow after worldly estimation, or to
+escape from worldly disrepute, when they can only be pursued or avoided
+by declining from the path of duty; nay though the contrary be
+recognized as being the just opinion; yet all the effect of this
+speculative concession is soon done away <i>in fact</i>. Estimating worldly
+credit as of the highest intrinsic excellence, and worldly shame as the
+greatest of all possible evils, we sometimes shape and turn the path of
+duty itself from its true direction, so as it may favour our acquisition
+of the one, and avoidance of the other; or when this cannot be done, we
+boldly and openly turn aside from it, declaring the temptation is too
+strong to be resisted.</p>
+
+<p>It were easy to adduce numerous proofs of the truth of these assertions.
+It is proved, indeed, by that general tendency in Religion to conceal
+herself from the view, (for we might hope that in these cases she often
+is by no means altogether extinct) by her being apt to vanish from our
+conversations, and even to give place to a pretended licentiousness of
+sentiments and conduct, and a false shew of infidelity. It is proved, by
+that complying acquiescence and participation in the habits and manners
+of this dissipated age, which, has almost confounded every external
+distinction between the Christian and the Infidel, and has
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>
+made it so
+rare to find any one who dares incur the charge of Christian
+singularity, or who can say with the Apostle that &ldquo;he is not ashamed of
+the Gospel of Christ.&rdquo; It is proved (how can this proof be omitted by
+one to whose lot it has so often fallen to witness and lament, sometimes
+he fears to afford an instance of it?) by that quick resentment, those
+bitter contentions, those angry retorts, those malicious triumphs, that
+impatience of inferiority, that wakeful sense of past defeats, and
+promptness to revenge them, which too often change the character of a
+Christian deliberative Assembly, into that of a stage for prize
+fighters: violating at once the proprieties of public conduct, and the
+rules of social decorum, and renouncing and chasing away all the
+charities of the Religion of Jesus!</p>
+
+<p>But from all lesser proofs, our attention is drawn to one of a still
+larger size, and more determined character. Surely the reader will here
+anticipate our mention of the practice of Duelling: a practice which, to
+the disgrace of a Christian society, has long been suffered to exist
+with little restraint or opposition.</p>
+
+<p>This practice, whilst it powerfully supports, mainly rests on, that
+excessive over-valuation of character, which teaches that worldly credit
+is to be preserved at <i>any</i> rate, and disgrace at <i>any</i> rate to be
+avoided. The <i>unreasonableness</i> of duelling has been often proved, and
+it has often been shewn to be criminal on various principles: sometimes
+it has been opposed on grounds hardly tenable; particularly when it has
+been considered as an indication of malice and revenge<a name="FNanchor_77" id="FNanchor_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a>.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>
+But it
+seems hardly to have been enough noticed in what chiefly consists its
+<i>essential</i> guilt; that it is a deliberate preference of the favour of
+man, before the favour and approbation of God, <i>in articulo mortis</i>, in
+an instance, wherein our own life, and that of a fellow creature are at
+stake, and wherein we run the risk of rushing into the presence of our
+Maker in the very act of offending him. It would detain us too long, and
+it were somewhat beside our present purpose, to enumerate the
+mischievous consequences which result from this practice. They are many
+and great; and if regard be had merely to the temporal interests of men,
+and to the well being of society, they are but poorly counterbalanced by
+the plea, which must be admitted in its behalf by a candid observer of
+human nature, of a courtesy and refinement in our modern manners unknown
+to ancient times.</p>
+
+<p>But there is one observation which must not be omitted, and which seems
+to have been too much overlooked: In the judgment of that Religion which
+requires purity of heart, and of that Being to whom, as was before
+remarked, &ldquo;thought is action,&rdquo; he cannot be esteemed innocent of this
+crime, who lives in a settled habitual determination to commit it, when
+circumstances shall call upon him so to do<a name="FNanchor_78" id="FNanchor_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a>. This is a consideration
+which places the crime of duelling on a different footing from almost
+any other; indeed there is perhaps <span class="smcap">no</span> other, which mankind habitually
+and deliberately resolve to practise whenever the temptation shall
+occur. It shews also that the crime of duelling is far more
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>
+general in
+the higher classes than is commonly supposed, and that the whole sum of
+the guilt which the practice produces is great, beyond what has perhaps
+been ever conceived! It will be the writer&#8217;s comfort to have solemnly
+suggested this consideration, to the consciences of those by whom this
+impious practice might be suppressed: If such there be, which he is
+strongly inclined to believe, their&#8217;s is the crime, and their&#8217;s the
+responsibility of suffering it to continue<a name="FNanchor_79" id="FNanchor_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>In the foregoing observations, it has not been the writer&#8217;s intention to
+discuss completely that copious subject, the love of worldly estimation.
+It would be to exceed the limits of a work like this, fully to
+investigate so large, and at the same time so important a topic. Enough
+however may have perhaps been said, to make it evident that this
+principle is of a character highly <i>questionable</i>; that it should be
+brought under absolute subjection, and watched with the most jealous
+care: That, notwithstanding its lofty pretensions, it often can by no
+means justly boast that high origin and exalted nature, which its
+superficial admirers are disposed to concede to it. What real intrinsic
+essential value, it might
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+be asked, does there appear to be in a
+virtue, which had wholly changed its nature and character, if public
+opinion had been different? But it is in truth of base extraction, and
+ungenerous qualities, springing from selfishness and vanity, and low
+ambition; by these it subsists, and thrives, and acts; and envy, and
+jealousy, and detraction, and hatred, and variance, are its too faithful
+and natural associates. It is, to say the best of it, a root which bears
+fruits of a poisonous as well as of a beneficial quality. If it
+sometimes stimulates to great and generous enterprises, if it urges to
+industry, and sometimes to excellence, if in the more contracted sphere
+it produces courtesy and kindness; yet to its account we must place the
+ambition which desolates nations, and many of the competitions and
+resentments which interrupt the harmony of social life. The former
+indeed has been often laid to its charge, but the latter have not been
+sufficiently attended to; and still less has its <i>noxious</i> influence on
+the vital principle, and distinguishing graces of the Christian
+character, been duly pointed out and enforced.</p>
+
+<p>To read indeed the writings of certain Christian moralists,<a name="FNanchor_80" id="FNanchor_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> and to
+observe how little they seem disposed to call it in question, except
+where it raves in the conqueror, one should be almost tempted to
+suspect; that, considering it as a principle of such potency and
+prevalence, as that they must despair of bringing it into just
+subjection, they were intent only on complimenting it into good humour
+(like those barbarous nations which worship the evil Spirit through
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>
+fear;) or rather, that they were making a sort of composition with an
+enemy they could not master, and were willing, on condition of its
+giving up the trade of war, to suffer it to rule undisturbed, and range
+at pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>But the truth is, that the reasonings of Christian moralists too often
+exhibit but few traces of the genius of Christian morality. Of this
+position, the case before us is an instance. This principle of the
+desire of worldly distinction and applause, is often allowed, and even
+commended, with too few qualifications, and too little reserve. To covet
+wealth is base and sordid, but to covet honour is treated as the mark of
+a generous and exalted nature. These writers scarcely seem to bear in
+mind, that though the principle in question tends to prevent the
+commission of those grosser acts of vice which would injure us in the
+general estimation; yet that it not only stops there, but that it there
+begins to exert almost an equal force in the opposite direction. They do
+not consider how apt this principle is, even in the case of those who
+move in a contracted sphere, to fill us with vain conceits, and vicious
+passions; and above all how it tends to fix the affections on earthly
+things, and to steal away the heart from God. They acknowledge it to be
+criminal when it produces mischievous effects, but forget how apt it is,
+by the substitution of a false and corrupt motive, to vitiate the purity
+of our good actions, depriving them of all which rendered them truly and
+essentially valuable. That, not to be too hastily approved, because it
+takes the side of virtue, it often works her ruin while it asserts her
+cause, and like some vile seducer, pretends affection only the more
+surely to betray.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity not to rest satisfied
+with superficial appearances, but to rectify the <i>motives</i>, and purify
+the <i>heart</i>. The true Christian, in obedience to the lessons of
+Scripture, no where keeps over himself a more resolute and jealous
+guard, than where the desire of human estimation and distinction is in
+question. No where does he more deeply feel the insufficiency of his
+unassisted strength, or more diligently and earnestly pray for divine
+assistance. He may well indeed watch and pray against the encroachments
+of a passion, which, when suffered to transgress its just limits,
+discovers a peculiar hostility to the distinguishing graces of the
+Christian temper; a passion which must insensibly acquire force, because
+it is in continual exercise; to which almost every thing <i>without</i>
+administers nutriment, and the growth of which <i>within</i> is favoured and
+cherished by such powerful auxiliaries as pride and selfishness, the
+natural and perhaps inexterminable inhabitants of the human heart; of
+which the predominance, if established, is thus so pernicious, and which
+possesses so many advantages for effecting its establishment.</p>
+
+<p>Strongly impressed therefore with a sense of the indispensable necessity
+of guarding against the progress of this encroaching principle, in
+humble reliance on superior aid, the true Christian thankfully uses the
+means, and habitually exercises himself in the considerations and
+motives, suggested to him for that purpose by the word of God. He is
+much occupied in searching out, and contemplating his own infirmities.
+He endeavours to acquire and maintain a just conviction of his great
+unworthiness; and to keep in continual remembrance, that whatever
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+distinguishes himself from others, is not properly his own, but that he
+is altogether indebted for it to the undeserved bounty of Heaven. He
+diligently endeavours also, habitually to preserve a <i>just</i> sense of the
+real worth of human distinction and applause, knowing that he shall
+covet them less when he has learned not to over-rate their value. He
+labours to bear in mind, how undeservedly they are often bestowed, how
+precariously they are always possessed. The censures of good men justly
+render him suspicious of himself, and prompt him carefully and
+impartially to examine into those parts of his character, or those
+particulars of his conduct, which have drawn on him their
+animadversions. The favourable opinion and the praises of good men are
+justly acceptable to him, where they accord with the testimony of his
+own heart; that testimony being thereby confirmed and warranted. Those
+praises favour also and strengthen the growth of mutual confidence and
+affection, where it is his delight to form friendships, rich not less in
+use than comfort, and to establish connections which may last for ever.
+But even in the case of the commendations of good men, he suffers not
+himself to be beguiled into an over-valuation of them, lest he should be
+led to substitute them in the place of conscience. He guards against
+this by reflecting how indistinctly we can discern each other&#8217;s motives,
+how little enter into each other&#8217;s circumstances, how mistaken therefore
+may be the judgments formed of us, or of our actions, even by good men,
+and that it is far from improbable, that we may at some time be
+compelled to forfeit their esteem, by adhering to the dictates of our
+own consciences.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But if he endeavours thus to set loose to the favour and applause even
+of good men, much more to those of the world at large; not but that he
+is sensible of their worth as means and instruments of usefulness and
+influence; and under the limitations and for the ends allowed in
+Scripture (these it is needless to repeat) he is glad to possess,
+observant to acquire, and careful to retain them. He considers them
+however, if we may again introduce the metaphor, like the precious
+metals, as having rather an exchangeable than an intrinsic value, as
+desirable not simply in their possession, but in their use. In this
+view, he holds himself to be responsible for that share of them which he
+enjoys, and, to continue the figure, as bound not to let them lie by him
+unemployed, this were hoarding; not to lavish them prodigally, this
+would be waste; not imprudently to misapply them, this were folly and
+caprice: but as under an obligation to regard them as conferred upon him
+that they might be brought into action, and as what therefore he may by
+no means throw away, though ready, if it be required, to relinquish them
+with cheerfulness; and never feeling himself at liberty, in
+consideration of the use he intends to make of them, to acquire or
+retain them unlawfully. He holds it to be his bounden duty to seek
+diligently for occasions of rendering them subservient to their true
+purposes; and when any such occasion is found, to expend them cheerfully
+and liberally, but with discretion and frugality; being no less prudent
+in determining the measure, than in selecting the objects of their
+application, that they may go the farther by being thus managed with
+&oelig;conomy.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Acting therefore on these principles, he will studiously and diligently
+use any degree of worldly credit he may enjoy, in removing or lessening
+prejudices; in conciliating good-will, and thereby making way for the
+less obstructed progress of truth; and in providing for its being
+entertained with candour, or even with favour, by those who would bar
+all access against it in any rougher or more homely form. He will make
+it his business to set on foot and forward benevolent and useful
+schemes; and where they require united efforts, to obtain and preserve
+for them this co-operation. He will endeavour to discountenance vice, to
+bring modest merit into notice; to lend as it were his light to men of
+real worth, but of less creditable name, and perhaps of less
+conciliating qualities and manners; that they may thus shine with a
+reflected lustre, and be useful in their turn, when invested with their
+just estimation. But while by these and various other means he strives
+to render his reputation, so long as he possesses it, subservient to the
+great ends of advancing the cause of Religion and Virtue, and of
+promoting the happiness and comfort of mankind, he will not transgress
+the rule of the Scripture precepts in order to obtain, to cultivate, or
+to preserve it, resolutely disclaiming that dangerous sophistry of
+&ldquo;doing evil that good may come.&rdquo; Ready however to relinquish his
+reputation when required so to do, he will not throw it away; and so far
+as he allowably may, he will cautiously avoid occasions of diminishing
+it, instead of studiously seeking, or needlessly multiplying them, as
+seems sometimes to have been the practice of worthy but imprudent men.
+There will be no capricious humours, no selfish tempers, no moroseness,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>
+no discourtesy, no affected severity of deportment, no peculiarity of
+language, no indolent neglect, or wanton breach, of the ordinary forms
+or fashions of society. His reputation is a possession capable of uses
+too important to be thus sported away; if sacrificed at all, it shall be
+sacrificed at the call of duty. The world shall be constrained to allow
+him to be amiable, as well as respectable in other parts of his
+character; though in what regards Religion, they may account him
+unreasonably precise and strict. In this no less than in other
+particulars, he will endeavour to reduce the enemies of Religion to
+adopt the confession of the accusers of the Jewish ruler, &ldquo;we shall not
+find any fault or occasion against this Daniel&mdash;except concerning the
+law of his God:&rdquo; and even there, if he give offence, it will only be
+where he dares not do otherwise; and if he fall into dis-esteem or
+disgrace it shall not be chargeable to any conduct which is justly
+dishonourable, or even to any unnecessary singularities on his part, but
+to the false standard of estimation of a misjudging world. When his
+character is thus mistaken, or his conduct thus misconstrued, he will
+not wrap himself up in a mysterious sullenness; but will be ready, where
+he thinks any one will listen to him with patience and candour, to clear
+up what has been dubious, to explain what has been imperfectly known,
+and &ldquo;speaking the truth in love&rdquo; to correct, if it may be, the erroneous
+impressions which have been conceived of him. He may sometimes feel it
+his duty publicly to vindicate his character from unjust reproach, and
+to repel the false charges of his enemies; but he will carefully however
+watch against being led away by pride, or being betrayed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>
+into some
+breach of truth or of Christian charity, when he is treading in a path
+so dangerous. At such a time he will also guard, with more than ordinary
+circumspection, against any undue solicitude about his worldly
+reputation for its own sake; and when he has done what duty requires for
+its vindication, he will sit down with a peaceable and quiet mind, and
+it will be matter of no very deep concern to him if his endeavours
+should have been ineffectual. If good men in every age and nation have
+been often unjustly calumniated and disgraced, and if, in such
+circumstances, even the darkness of paganism has been able contentedly
+to repose itself on the consciousness of innocence, shall one who is
+cheered by the Christian&#8217;s hope, who is assured also, that a day will
+shortly come in which whatever is secret shall be made manifest, and the
+mistaken judgments of men, perhaps even of good men, being corrected,
+that &ldquo;he shall then have praise of God;&rdquo; shall such an one, I say, sink?
+shall he even bend or droop under such a trial? They might be more
+excusable in over-valuing human reputation to whom all beyond the grave
+was dark and cheerless. They also might be more easily pardoned for
+pursuing with some degree of eagerness and solicitude that glory which
+might survive them, thus seeking as it were to extend the narrow span of
+their earthly existence: but far different is our case, to whom these
+clouds are rolled away, and &ldquo;life and immortality brought to light by
+the Gospel.&rdquo; Not but that worldly favour and distinction are amongst the
+best things this world has to offer: but the Christian knows it is the
+very condition of his calling, <i>not</i> to have his portion here; and as in
+the case of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>
+any other earthly enjoyments, so in that also of worldly
+honour, he dreads, lest his supreme affections being thereby gratified,
+it should be hereafter said to him &ldquo;remember that thou in thy life time
+receivedst thy good things.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He is required by his holy calling to be victorious over the world; and
+to this victory, the conquest of the dread of its dis-esteem and
+dishonour is essentially and indispensably required. He reflects on
+those holy men who &ldquo;had trial of cruel mockings;&rdquo; he remembers that our
+blessed Saviour himself &ldquo;was despised and rejected of men;&rdquo; and what is
+he, that he should be exempted from the common lot, or think it much to
+bear the scandal of his profession? If therefore he is creditable and
+popular, he considers this, if the phrase may be pardoned, as something
+beyond his bargain; and he watches himself, with double care, lest he
+should grow over-fond of what he may be shortly called upon to
+relinquish. He meditates often on the probability of his being involved
+in such circumstances, as may render it necessary for him to subject
+himself to disgrace and obloquy; thus familiarizing himself with them
+betimes, and preparing himself, that when the trying hour arrives they
+may not take him unawares.</p>
+
+<p>But the cultivation of the desire of &ldquo;that honour which cometh from
+God,&rdquo; he finds the most effectual means of bringing his mind into a
+proper temper, in what regards the love of human approbation. Christian!
+would thou indeed reduce this affection under just controul&mdash;<i>sursum
+corda!</i> Rise on the wings of contemplation, until the praises and the
+censures of men die away upon the ear, and the still small
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>
+voice of
+conscience is no longer drowned by the din of this nether world. Here
+the sight is apt to be occupied with earthly objects, and the hearing to
+be engrossed with earthly sounds; but there thou shalt come within the
+view of that resplendent and incorruptible crown, which is held forth to
+thy acceptance in the realms of light, and thine ear shall be regaled
+with Heavenly melody! Here we dwell in a variable atmosphere&mdash;the
+prospect is at one time darkened by the gloom of disgrace, and at
+another the eye is dazzled by the gleamings of glory: but thou hast now
+ascended above this inconstant region; no storms agitate, no clouds
+obscure the air, and the lightnings play, and the thunders roll beneath
+thee.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, at chosen seasons, the Christian exercises himself; and when, from
+this elevated region he descends into the plain below, and mixes in the
+bustle of life, he still retains the impressions of his more retired
+hours. By these he realizes to himself the unseen world; he accustoms
+himself to speak and act as in the presence of &ldquo;an innumerable company
+of angels, and of the spirits of just men made perfect, and of God the
+Judge of all;&rdquo; the consciousness of <i>their</i> approbation cheers and
+gladdens his soul, under the scoffs and reproaches of an undiscerning
+world, and to his delighted ear, their united praises form a <i>harmony</i>
+which a few discordant earthly voices cannot interrupt.</p>
+
+<p>But though the Christian be sometimes enabled thus to triumph over the
+inordinate love of human applause, he does not therefore deem himself
+secure from its encroachments. On the contrary, he is aware, so strong
+and active is its principle of vitality, that even where it seems
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>
+extinct, let but circumstances favour its revival, and it will spring
+forth again in renewed vigour. And as his watch must thus during life
+know no termination, because the enemy will ever be at hand; so it must
+be the more close and vigilant, because he is no where free from danger,
+but is on every side open to attack. &ldquo;Sume superbiam qu&aelig;sitam meritis,&rdquo;
+was the maxim of a worldly moralist: but the Christian is aware, that he
+is particularly assailable where he really excels; there he is in
+especial danger, lest his motives, originally pure, being insensibly
+corrupted, he should be betrayed into an anxiety about worldly favour,
+false in principle or excessive in degree, when he is endeavouring to
+render his virtue amiable and respected in the eyes of others, and in
+obedience to the Scripture injunction, is willing to let his &ldquo;light so
+shine before men, that they may see his good works, and glorify his
+Father which is in heaven.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He watches himself also on small as well as on great occasions: the
+latter indeed, in the case of many persons, can hardly ever be expected
+to occur, whereas the former are continually presenting themselves: and
+thus, whilst on the one hand they may be rendered highly useful in
+forming and strengthening a just habit of mind in the particular in
+question; so, on the other, they are the means most at hand for enabling
+us to discover our own real character. Let not this be slightly passed
+over. If any one finds himself shrinking from disrepute or dis-esteem in
+little instances; but apt to solace himself with the persuasion, that
+his spirits being fully called forth to the encounter, he could boldly
+stand the brunt of sharper trials; let him be slow to give entertainment
+to so beguiling a suggestion;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+and let him not forget that these little
+instances, where no credit is to be got, and the vainest can find small
+room for self-complacency, furnish perhaps the truest tests whether we
+are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and are willing, on principles
+really pure, to bear reproach for the name of Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>The Christian too is well aware that the excessive desire of human
+approbation is a passion of so subtile a nature, that there is nothing
+into which it cannot penetrate; and from much experience, learning to
+discover it where it would lurk unseen, and to detect it under its more
+specious disguises, he finds, that elsewhere disallowed and excluded, it
+is apt to insinuate itself into his very religion, where it especially
+delights to dwell, and obstinately maintains its residence. Proud piety
+and ostentatious charity, and all the more open effects it there
+produces, have been often condemned, and we may discover the tendencies
+to them in ourselves, without difficulty. But where it appears not so
+large in bulk, and in shape so unambiguous, let its operation be still
+suspected. Let not the Christian suffer himself to be deceived by any
+external dissimilitudes between himself and the world around him,
+trusting perhaps to the sincerity of the principle to which they
+originally owed their rise; but let him beware lest through the
+insensible encroachments of the subtle usurper, his religion should at
+length have &ldquo;only a name to live,&rdquo; being gradually robbed of its
+vivifying principle; lest he should be mainly preserved in his religious
+course by the dread of incurring the charge of levity, for quitting a
+path on which he had deliberately entered. Or where, on a strict and
+impartial scrutiny of his governing motives, he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+may fairly conclude
+this not to be the case, let him beware lest he be influenced by this
+principle in particular parts of his character, and especially where any
+external singularities are in question; closely scrutinizing his
+apparent motives, lest he should be prompted to his more than ordinary
+religious observances, and be kept from participating in the licentious
+pleasures of a dissipated age, not so much by a vigorous principle of
+internal holiness, as by a fear of lessening himself in the good opinion
+of the stricter circle of his associates, or of suffering even in the
+estimation of the world at large, by violating the proprieties of his
+assumed character.</p>
+
+<p>To those who, in the important particular which we have been so long
+discussing, wish to conform themselves to the injunctions of the word of
+God, we must advise a laborious watchfulness, a jealous guard, a close
+and frequent scrutiny of their own hearts, that they may not mistake
+their real character, and too late find themselves to have been
+mistaken, as to what they had conceived to be their governing motives.
+Above all, let them labour, with humble prayers for the Divine
+assistance, to fix in themselves a deep, habitual, and practical sense
+of the excellence of &ldquo;that honour which cometh from God,&rdquo; and of the
+comparative worthlessness of all earthly estimation and pre-eminence. In
+truth, unless the affections of the soul be thus predominantly engaged
+on the side of heavenly in preference to that of human honour, though we
+may have relinquished the pursuit of fame, we shall not have acquired
+that firm contexture of mind, which can bear disgrace and shame, without
+yielding to the pressure. Between these two states there is a wide
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>
+interval, and he who, on a sober review of his conduct and motives,
+finds reason to believe he has arrived at the one, must not therefore
+conclude he has reached the other. To the one, a little natural
+moderation and quietness of temper may be sufficient to conduct us: but
+to the other, we can only attain by much discipline and slow advances;
+and when we think we have made great way, we shall often find reason to
+confess in the hour of trial, that we had greatly, far too greatly,
+over-rated our progress.</p>
+
+<p>When engaged too in the prosecution of this course, we must be aware of
+the snares which lie in our way, and of the deceits to which we are
+liable: and we must be provided against these impositions, by having
+obtained a full and distinct conception of the temper of mind with
+regard to human favour, which is prescribed to us in Scripture; and by
+continually examining our hearts and lives to ascertain how far they
+correspond with it. This will prevent our substituting contemplation in
+the place of action, and giving ourselves too much up to those religious
+meditations which were formerly recommended, in which we must not
+indulge to the neglect of the common <i>duties</i> of life: this will prevent
+our mistaking the gratification of an indolent temper for the
+Christian&#8217;s disregard of fame; for, never let it be forgotten, we must
+<i>deserve</i> estimation, though we may not <i>possess</i> it, forcing men of the
+<i>world</i> to acknowledge, that we do not want their boasted spring of
+action to set us in motion; but that its place is better supplied to us
+by another, which produces all the good of their&#8217;s without its evil;
+thus demonstrating the superiority of the principle which animates us,
+by the superior utility and excellence of its effects.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>
+This principle,
+in order to be pure and genuine, though nerved with more than mortal
+firmness, must be sweetened by love, and tempered with humility. The
+former of these qualities will render us kind, friendly, and beneficent,
+preventing our being no longer on the watch to promote the happiness or
+comfort of others, than whilst we are stimulated by the desire of their
+applause; the produce of which passion, whatever may be vaunted of its
+effects on social intercourse, is often nothing better than selfishness,
+but ill concealed under a superficial covering of exterior courtesy.</p>
+
+<p>Humility, again, reducing us in our own value, will moderate our claims
+on worldly estimation. It will check our tendency to ostentation and
+display, prompting us rather to avoid, than to attract notice. It will
+dispose us to sit down in quiet obscurity, though, judging ourselves
+impartially, we believe ourselves better entitled to credit, than those
+on whom it is conferred; closing the entrance against a proud, painful,
+and malignant passion, from which, under such circumstances, we can
+otherwise be hardly free, the passion of &ldquo;high disdain from sense of
+injured merit.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Love and humility will concur in producing a frame of mind, not more
+distinct from an ardent thirst of glory, than from that frigid
+disregard, or insolent contempt, or ostentatious renunciation of human
+favour and distinction, which we have sometimes seen opposed to it.
+These latter qualities may not infrequently be traced to a slothful,
+sensual, and selfish temper; to the consciousness of being unequal to
+any great and generous attempts; to the disappointment of schemes of
+ambition or of glory; to a little personal
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>
+experience of the world&#8217;s
+capricious and inconstant humour. The renunciation in these cases,
+however sententious, is often far from sincere; and it is even made not
+unfrequently, with a view to the attainment of that very distinction
+which it affects to disclaim. In some other of these instances, the
+over-valuation and inordinate desire of worldly credit, however
+disavowed, are abundantly evident, from the merit which is assumed for
+relinquishing them; or from that sour and surly humour, which betrays a
+gloomy and a corroded mind, galled and fretting under the irritating
+sense of the want of that which it most wishes to possess.</p>
+
+<p>But the Christian&#8217;s is a far different temper: not a temper of sordid
+sensuality, or lazy apathy, or dogmatizing pride, or disappointed
+ambition: more truly independent of worldly estimation than philosophy
+with all her boasts, it forms a perfect contrast to Epicurean
+selfishness, and to Stoical pride, and to Cynical brutality. It is a
+temper compounded of firmness, and complacency, and peace, and love; and
+manifesting itself in acts of kindness and of courtesy; a kindness, not
+pretended but genuine; a courtesy, not false and superficial, but
+cordial and sincere. In the hour of popularity it is not intoxicated, or
+insolent; in the hour of unpopularity, it is not desponding or morose;
+unshaken in constancy, unwearied in benevolence, firm without roughness,
+and assiduous without servility.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the great importance of the topic which we have been
+investigating, it will require much indulgence on the part of the
+reader, to excuse the disproportionate length into which the discussion
+has been almost insensibly
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>
+drawn out: yet this, it is hoped, may not be
+without its uses, if the writer have in any degree succeeded in his
+endeavour, to point out the dangerous qualities and unchristian
+tendencies of a principle, of such general predominance throughout the
+higher classes of society, and to suggest to the serious inquirer some
+practical hints for its regulation and controul. Since the principle
+too, of which we have been treating, is one of the most ordinary
+modifications of pride; the discussion may also serve in some degree to
+supply a manifest deficiency, a deficiency to be ascribed to the fear of
+trespassing too far on the reader&#8217;s patience, in having but slightly
+touched on the allowed prevalence of that master passion, and on the
+allowed neglect of its opposite, humility.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Section IV.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>The generally prevailing Error, of substituting amiable Tempers and
+useful Lives in the place of Religion, stated and confuted; with Hints
+to real Christians.</i></h5>
+
+<p>There is another practical error very generally prevalent, the effects
+of which are highly injurious to the cause of Religion; and which in
+particular is often brought forward when, upon Christian principles, any
+advocates for Christianity would press the practice of Christian
+virtues. Before we proceed, therefore, to comment upon what remains to
+be discussed, of the misconceptions and defects of the bulk of professed
+Christians, it may not be amiss to dispose of this objection to our
+whole scheme.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The error in question is that of exaggerating the merit of certain
+amiable and useful qualities, and of considering them as of themselves
+sufficient to compensate for the want of the supreme love and fear of
+God.</p>
+
+<p>It seems to be an opinion pretty generally prevalent, that kindness and
+sweetness of temper; sympathizing, and benevolent, and generous
+affections; attention to what in the world&#8217;s estimation are the
+domestic, relative, and social duties; and above all a life of general
+activity and usefulness, may well be allowed, in our imperfect state, to
+make up for the defect of what in strict propriety of speech is termed
+Religion.</p>
+
+<p>Many indeed will unreservedly declare, and more will hint the opinion,
+that &ldquo;the difference between the qualities above-mentioned and Religion,
+is rather a verbal or logical, than a real and essential difference; for
+in truth what are they but Religion in substance if not in name? Is it
+not the great end of Religion, and in particular the glory of
+Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the
+violence, to controul the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of
+man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to
+make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends, and to render us
+active and useful in the discharge of the relative, social, and civil
+duties? We do not deny that in the general mass of society, and
+particularly in the lower orders, such conduct and tempers cannot be
+diffused and maintained by any other medium than that of Religion. But
+if the end be effected, surely it is only unnecessary refinement to
+dispute about the means. It is even to forget your own principles;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>
+and
+to refuse its just place to solid practical virtue, while you assign too
+high a value to speculative opinions.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Thus a fatal distinction is admitted between Morality and Religion: a
+great and desperate error, of which it is the more necessary to take
+notice; because many who would condemn, as too strong, the language in
+which this opinion is sometimes openly avowed, are yet more or less
+tinctured with the notion itself; and under the habitual and almost
+unperceived influence of this beguiling suggestion, are vainly solacing
+their imaginations, and repressing their well-grounded fears concerning
+<i>their own</i> state; and are also quieting their just solicitude
+concerning the spiritual condition of <i>others</i>, and soothing themselves
+in the neglect of friendly endeavours for their improvement.</p>
+
+<p>There can hardly be a stronger proof of the cursory and superficial
+views, with which men are apt to satisfy themselves in religious
+concerns, than the prevalence of the opinion here in question; the
+falsehood and sophistry of which must be acknowledged by any one who,
+admitting the authority of Scripture, will examine it with ever so
+little seriousness and impartiality of mind.</p>
+
+<p>Appealing indeed to a less strict standard, it would not be difficult to
+shew that the moral worth of these sweet and benevolent tempers, and of
+these useful lives, is apt to be greatly over-rated. The former
+involuntarily gain upon our affections and disarm our severer judgments,
+by their kindly, complying, and apparently disinterested nature; by
+their prompting men to flatter instead of mortifying our pride, to
+sympathize either with our joys or our sorrows, to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+abound in obliging
+attentions and offices of courtesy; by their obvious tendency to produce
+and maintain harmony and comfort in social and domestic life. It is not
+however unworthy of remark, that from the commendations which are so
+generally bestowed on these qualities, and their rendering men
+universally acceptable and popular, there is many a false pretender to
+them, who gains a credit for them which he by no means deserves; in whom
+they are no more than the proprieties of his assumed character, or even
+a mask which is worn in public, only the better to conceal an opposite
+temper. Would you see this man of courtesy and sweetness stripped of his
+false covering, follow him unobserved into his family; and you shall
+behold, too plain to be mistaken, selfishness and spleen harassing and
+vexing the wretched subjects of their unmanly tyranny; as if being
+released at length from their confinement, they were making up to
+themselves for the restraint which had been imposed on them in the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>But where the benevolent qualities are genuine, they often deserve the
+name rather of amiable instincts, than of moral virtues. In many cases,
+they imply no mental conflict, no previous discipline: they are apt to
+evaporate in barren sensibilities, and transitory sympathies, and
+indolent wishes, and unproductive declarations: they possess not that
+strength and energy of character, which, in contempt of difficulties and
+dangers, produce alacrity in service, vigour and perseverance in action.
+Destitute of proper firmness, they often encourage that vice and folly
+which it is their especial duty to repress; and it is well if, from
+their soft complying humour, they are not often drawn in to participate
+in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+what is wrong, as well as to connive at it. Thus their possessors
+are frequently, in the eye of truth and reason, bad magistrates, bad
+parents, bad friends; defective in those very qualities, which give to
+each of those several relations its chief and appropriate value. And
+this, let it be also observed, is a defect which might well bring into
+question that freedom from selfishness, which is so often claimed for
+them; inasmuch as there is too great reason to fear, that it often
+arises in us chiefly from indisposition to submit to a painful effort,
+though real good-will commands the sacrifice, or from the fear of
+lessening the regard in which we are held, and the good opinion which is
+entertained of us.</p>
+
+<p>It should farther also be observed concerning these qualities, when they
+are not grounded and rooted in religion, that they are of a sickly and
+short-lived nature, and want that hardy and vigorous temperament, which
+is requisite for enabling them to bear without injury, or even to
+survive, the rude shocks and the variable and churlish seasons, to which
+in such a world as this they must ever be exposed. It is only a
+<i>Christian</i> love of which it is the character, that &ldquo;it suffereth long,
+and yet is kind;&rdquo; &ldquo;that it is not easily provoked, that it beareth all
+things, and endureth all things.&rdquo; In the spring of youth indeed, the
+blood flows freely through the veins; we are flushed with health and
+confidence; hope is young and ardent, our desires are unsated, and
+whatever we see has the grace of novelty; we are the more disposed to be
+good-natured because we are pleased; pleased, because universally well
+received. Wherever we cast our eyes, we see some face of friendship, and
+love, and gratulation: All nature smiles
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+around us. Now the amiable
+tempers of which we have been speaking naturally spring up. The soil
+suits, the climate favours them. They appear to shoot forth vigorously
+and blossom in gay luxuriance. To the superficial eye, all is fair and
+flourishing; we anticipate the fruits of Autumn, and promise ourselves
+an ample produce. But by and by the sun scorches, the frost nips, the
+winds rise, the rains descend; our golden dreams are blasted, all our
+fond expectations are no more. Our youthful efforts let it be supposed
+have been successful; and we rise to wealth or eminence. A kind flexible
+temper and popular manners have produced in us, as they are too apt, a
+youth of easy social dissipation, and unproductive idleness; and we are
+overtaken too late by the consciousness of having wasted that time which
+cannot be recalled, and those opportunities which we cannot now recover.
+We sink into disregard and obscurity when, there being a call for
+qualities of more energy, indolent good nature must fall back. We are
+thrust out of notice by accident or misfortunes. We are left behind by
+those with whom we started on equal terms, and who, originally perhaps
+having less pretensions and fewer advantages, have greatly outstripped
+us in the race of honour: and their having got before us is often the
+more galling, because it appears to us, and perhaps with reason, to have
+been chiefly owing to a generous easy good-natured humour on our part,
+which disposed us to allow them at first to pass by us without jealousy,
+and led us to give place without a struggle to their more lofty
+pretensions. Thus we suffered them quietly to occupy a station to which
+originally we had as fair a claim as they; but, this station being once
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>
+tamely surrendered, we have forfeited it for ever. Our aukward and vain
+endeavours meanwhile to recover it, while they shew that we want
+self-knowledge and composure in our riper years, as much as in our
+younger we had been destitute of exertion, serve only to make our
+inferiority more manifest, and to bring our discontent into the fuller
+notice of an ill-natured world, which however not unjustly condemns and
+ridicules our misplaced ambition.</p>
+
+<p>It may be sufficient to have hinted at a few of the vicissitudes and
+changes of advancing life; let the reader&#8217;s own mind fill up the
+catalogue. Now the bosom is no longer cheerful and placid; and if the
+countenance preserve its exterior character, this is no longer the
+honest expression of the heart. Prosperity and luxury, gradually
+extinguishing sympathy, and puffing up with pride, harden and debase the
+soul. In other instances, shame secretly clouds, and remorse begins to
+sting, and suspicion to corrode, and jealousy and envy to embitter.
+Disappointed hopes, unsuccessful competitions, and frustrated pursuits,
+sour and irritate the temper. A little personal experience of the
+selfishness of mankind, damps our generous warmth and kind affections;
+reproving the prompt sensibility and unsuspecting simplicity of our
+earlier years. Above all, ingratitude sickens the heart, and chills and
+thickens the very life&#8217;s-blood of benevolence: till at length our
+youthful Nero, soft and susceptible, becomes a hard and cruel tyrant;
+and our youthful Timon, the gay, the generous, the beneficent, is
+changed into a cold, sour, silent misanthrope.</p>
+
+<p>And as in the case of amiable tempers, so in that also of what are
+called useful lives, it must be confessed that their intrinsic worth,
+arguing
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>
+still merely on principles of reason, is apt to be greatly
+over-rated. They are often the result of a disposition naturally
+bustling and active, which delights in motion, and finds its labour more
+than repaid, either by the very pleasure which it takes in its
+employments, or by the credit which it derives from them. More than
+this; if it be granted that Religion tends in general to produce
+usefulness, particularly in the lower orders, who compose a vast
+majority of every society; and therefore that these irreligious men of
+useful lives are rather exceptions to the general rule; it must at least
+be confessed that they are so far useless, or even positively
+mischievous, as they either neglect to encourage or actually discourage
+that principle, which is the great operative spring of usefulness in the
+bulk of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it might well perhaps be questioned, estimating these men by their
+own standard, whether the <i>particular</i> good in this case, is not more
+than counterbalanced by the <i>general</i> evil; still more, if their conduct
+being brought to a strict account, they should be charged, as they
+justly ought, with the loss of the good which, if they had manifestly
+and avowedly acted from a higher principle, might have been produced,
+not only directly in themselves, but indirectly and remotely in others,
+from the extended efficacy of a religious example. They may be compared,
+not unaptly, to persons whom some peculiarity of constitution enables to
+set at defiance those established rules of living, which must be
+observed by the world at large. These healthy debauchees, however they
+may plead in their defence that they do themselves no injury, would
+probably, but for their excesses, have both enjoyed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>
+their health
+better, and preserved it longer, as well as have turned it to better
+account; and it may at least be urged against them, that they disparage
+the laws of temperance, and fatally betray others into the breach of
+them, by affording an instance of their being transgressed with
+impunity.</p>
+
+<p>But were the merit of the qualities in question greater than it is, and
+though it were not liable to the exceptions which have been alleged
+against it, yet could they be in no degree admitted, as a compensation
+for the want of the supreme love and fear of God, and of a predominant
+desire to promote his glory. The observance of one commandment, however
+clearly and forcibly enjoined, cannot make up for the neglect of
+another, which is enjoined with equal clearness and equal force. To
+allow this plea in the present instance, would be to permit men to
+abrogate the first table of the law on condition of their obeying the
+second. But Religion suffers not any such <i>composition</i> of duties. It is
+on the very self same miserable principle, that some have thought to
+atone for a life of injustice and rapine by the strictness of their
+religious observances. If the former class of men can plead the diligent
+discharge of their duties to their fellow-creatures, the latter will
+urge that of their&#8217;s to God. We easily see the falsehood of the plea in
+the latter case; and it is only self deceit and partiality which prevent
+its being equally visible in the former. Yet so it is; such is the
+unequal measure, if I may be allowed the expression, which we deal out
+to God, and to each other. It would justly and universally be thought
+false confidence in the religious thief or the religious adulterer, (to
+admit for the sake of argument such a solecism
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>
+in terms) to solace
+himself with the firm persuasion of the Divine favour: but it will, to
+many, appear hard and precise, to deny this firm persuasion of Divine
+approbation to the avowedly irreligious man of social and domestic
+usefulness.</p>
+
+<p>Will it here be urged, that the writer is not doing justice to his
+opponent&#8217;s argument; which is not, that irreligious men of useful lives
+may be excused for neglecting their duties towards God, in consideration
+of their exemplary discharge of their duties towards their
+fellow-creatures; but that in performing the latter they perform the
+former <i>virtually</i>, and <i>substantially</i>, if not in name?</p>
+
+<p>Can then our opponent deny, that the Holy Scriptures are in nothing more
+full, frequent, strong, and unequivocal, than in their injunctions on us
+supremely to love and fear God, and to worship and serve him continually
+with humble and grateful hearts; habitually regarding him as our
+Benefactor, and Sovereign, and Father, and abounding in sentiments of
+gratitude and loyalty, and respectful affection? Can he deny that these
+positive precepts are rendered, if possible, still more clear, and their
+authority still more binding, by illustrations and indirect
+confirmations almost innumerable? And who then is that bold intruder
+into the counsels of infinite wisdom, who, in palpable contempt of these
+precise commands, thus illustrated also and confirmed, will dare to
+maintain that, knowing the intention with which they were primarily
+given and the ends they were ultimately designed to produce, he may
+innocently neglect or violate their plain obligations; on the plea that
+he conforms himself, though in a different manner, to this primary
+intention, and produces, though
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>
+by different means, these real and
+ultimate ends?</p>
+
+<p>This mode of arguing is one, with which, to say nothing of its insolent
+prophaneness, the heart of man, prone to deceive himself and partial in
+his own cause, is not fit to be trusted. Here again, more cautious and
+jealous in the case of our worldly, than of our religious interests, we
+readily discern the fallacy of this reasoning and protest against it,
+when it is attempted to be introduced into the commerce of life. We see
+clearly that it would afford the means of refining away by turns every
+moral obligation. The adulterer might allow himself with a good
+conscience, to violate the bed of his unsuspecting friend, whenever he
+could assure himself that his crime would escape detection; for then,
+where would be the evil and misery, the prevention of which was the real
+ultimate object of the prohibition of adultery? The thief, in like
+manner, and even the murderer, might find abundant room for the
+<i>innocent</i> exercise of their respective occupations, arguing from the
+primary intention and real objects of the commands, by which theft and
+murder were forbidden. There perhaps exists not a crime, to which this
+crooked morality would not furnish some convenient opening.</p>
+
+<p>But this miserable sophistry deserves not that we should spend so much
+time in the refutation of it. To discern its fallaciousness, requires
+not acuteness of understanding, so much as a little common honesty.
+&ldquo;There is indeed no surer mark of a false and hollow heart, than a
+disposition thus to quibble away the clear injunctions of duty and
+conscience<a name="FNanchor_81" id="FNanchor_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a>:&rdquo; It is the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>
+wretched resource of a disingenuous mind,
+endeavouring to escape from convictions before which it cannot stand,
+and to evade obligations which it dares not disavow.</p>
+
+<p>The arguments which have been adduced would surely be sufficient to
+disprove the extravagant pretensions of the qualities under
+consideration, though those qualities were <i>perfect</i> in their <i>nature</i>.
+But they are not perfect. On the contrary, they are radically defective
+and corrupt; they are a body without a soul; they want the vital
+actuating principle, or rather they are animated and actuated by a false
+one. Christianity, let me avail myself of the very words of a friend<a name="FNanchor_82" id="FNanchor_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a>
+in maintaining her argument, is &ldquo;a Religion of Motives.&rdquo; <i>That</i> only is
+Christian practice, which flows from Christian principles; and none else
+will be admitted as such by Him, who will be obeyed as well as
+worshipped &ldquo;in spirit and in truth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This also is a position of which, in our intercourse with our
+fellow-creatures, we clearly discern the justice, and universally admit
+the force. Though we have received a benefit at the hands of any one, we
+scarcely feel grateful, if we do not believe the intention towards us to
+have been friendly. Have we served any one from motives of kindness, and
+is a return of service made to us? We hardly feel ourselves worthily
+requited, except that return be dictated by gratitude. We should think
+ourselves rather injured than obliged by it, if it were merely prompted
+by a proud unwillingness to continue in our debt<a name="FNanchor_83" id="FNanchor_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a>.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>
+What husband, or
+what father, not absolutely dead to every generous feeling, would be
+satisfied with a wife or a child; who, though he could not charge them
+with any actual breach of their respective obligations, should yet
+confessedly perform them from a cold sense of duty, in place of the
+quickening energies of conjugal, and filial affection? What an insult
+would it be to such an one, to tell him gravely that he had no reason to
+complain!</p>
+
+<p>The unfairness, with which we suffer ourselves to reason in matters of
+Religion, is no where more striking than in the instance before us. It
+were perhaps not unnatural to suppose that, as we cannot see into each
+other&#8217;s bosoms, and have no sure way of judging any one&#8217;s internal
+principles but by his external actions, it would have grown into an
+established rule, that when the latter were unobjectionable, the former
+were not to be questioned; and on the other hand, that in reference to a
+Being who searches the heart, our motives, rather than our external
+actions, would be granted to be the just objects of inquiry. But we
+exactly reverse these natural principles of reasoning. In the case of
+our fellow-creatures, the motive is that which we principally inquire
+after and regard. But in the case of our Supreme Judge, from whom no
+secrets are hid, we suffer ourselves to believe that internal principles
+may be dispensed with, if the external action be performed!</p>
+
+<p>Let us not however be supposed ready to concede, in contradiction to
+what has been formerly contended, that where the true motive is wanting,
+the external actions themselves will not generally betray the defect.
+Who is there that will not confess in the instance so lately put, of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>
+a
+wife and a child who should discharge their respective obligations
+merely from a cold sense of duty, that the inferiority of their
+actuating principle would not be confined to its <i>nature</i>, but would be
+discoverable also in its <i>effects</i>? Who is there that does not feel that
+these domestic services, thus robbed of their vital spirit, would be so
+debased and degraded in our estimation, as to become not barely lifeless
+and uninteresting, but even distasteful and loathsome? Who will deny
+that these would be performed in fuller measure, with more wakeful and
+unwearied attention, as well as with more <i>heart</i>; where with the same
+sense of duty the enlivening principle of affection should be also
+associated?</p>
+
+<p>The enemies of Religion are sometimes apt to compare the irreligious
+man, of a temper naturally sweet and amiable, with the religious man of
+natural roughness and severity; the irreligious man of natural activity,
+with the religious man who is naturally indolent; and thence to draw
+their inferences. But this mode of reasoning is surely unjust. If they
+would argue the question fairly, they should make their comparisons
+between persons of similar natural qualities, and not in one or two
+examples, but in a mass of instances. They would then be compelled to
+confess the efficacy of Religion, in heightening the benevolence and
+increasing the usefulness of men: and to admit that, granting the
+occasional but rare existence of genuine and persevering benevolence of
+disposition and usefulness of life, where the religious principle is
+wanting; yet that experience gives us reason to believe, that true
+Religion, while it would have implanted these qualities in persons in
+whom before they had no place, would in general have
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>
+given, to these
+very characters in whom they do exist, additional force in the same
+direction. It would have rendered the amiable more amiable, the useful
+more useful, with fewer inconsistencies, with less abatement.</p>
+
+<p>Let <i>true Christians</i> meanwhile be ever mindful, that <i>they</i> are loudly
+called upon to make this argument still more clear, these positions
+still less questionable. You are every where commanded to be tender and
+sympathetic, diligent and useful; and it is the character of that
+&ldquo;wisdom from above,&rdquo; in which you are to be proficients, that it &ldquo;is
+gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits.&rdquo; Could
+the efficacy of Christianity in softening the heart be denied by those,
+who saw in the instance of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, that it
+was able to transform a bigotted, furious, and cruel persecutor, into an
+almost unequalled example of candour, and gentleness, and universal
+tenderness and love? Could its spirit of active beneficence be denied by
+those, who saw its Divine Author so diligent and unwearied in his
+benevolent labours, as to justify the compendious description which was
+given of him by a personal witness of his exertions, that he &ldquo;went about
+doing good?&rdquo; Imitate these blessed examples: so shall you vindicate the
+honour of your profession, and &ldquo;put to silence the ignorance of foolish
+men:&rdquo; so shall you obey those Divine injunctions of adorning the
+doctrine of Christ, and of &ldquo;letting your light shine before men, that
+they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
+heaven.&rdquo; Beat the world at its own best weapons. Let your love be more
+affectionate, your mildness less open to irritation, your diligence more
+laborious, your
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>
+activity more wakeful and persevering. Consider
+sweetness of temper and activity of mind, if they naturally belong to
+you, as talents of special worth and utility, for which you will have to
+give account. Carefully watch against whatever might impair them,
+cherish them with constant assiduity, keep them in continual exercise,
+and direct them to their noblest ends. The latter of these qualities
+renders it less difficult, and therefore more incumbent on you, to be
+ever abounding in the work of the Lord; and to be copious in the
+production of that species of good fruit, of which mankind in general
+will be most ready to allow the excellence, because they best understand
+its nature. In <i>your</i> instance, the solid substance of Christian
+practice is easily susceptible of that high and beautiful polish, which
+may attract the attention, and extort the admiration of a careless and
+undiscerning world, so slow to notice, and so backward to acknowledge,
+intrinsic worth, when concealed under a less sightly exterior. Know
+then, and value as ye ought, the honourable office which is especially
+devolved on you. Let it be your acceptable service to recommend the
+discredited cause, and sustain the fainting interests of Religion, to
+furnish to her friends matter of sound and obvious argument, and of
+honest triumph; and if your best endeavours cannot conciliate, to refute
+at least, and confound her enemies.</p>
+
+<p>If on the other hand, you are conscious that you are naturally rough and
+austere, that disappointments have soured, or prosperity has elated you,
+or that habits of command have rendered you quick in expression, and
+impatient of contradiction; or if, from whatever other cause, you have
+contracted an unhappy peevishness of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+temper, or asperity of manners, or
+harshness and severity of language, (remember that these defects are by
+no means incompatible with an aptness to perform services of substantial
+kindness); if nature has been confirmed by habit till at length your
+soul seems thoroughly tinctured with these evil dispositions, yet do not
+despair. Remember that the Divine Agency is promised, &ldquo;to take away the
+heart of stone, and give a heart of flesh,&rdquo; of which it is the natural
+property to be tender and susceptible. Pray then earnestly and
+perseveringly, that the blessed aid of Divine Grace may operate
+effectually on your behalf. Beware of acquiescing in the evil tempers in
+question, under the idea that they are the ordinary imperfections of the
+best of men; that they shew themselves only in little instances; that
+they are only occasional, hasty, and transient effusions, when you are
+taken off your guard; the passing shade of your mind, and not the
+settled colour. Beware of excusing or allowing them in yourself, under
+the notion of warm zeal for the cause of Religion and virtue, which you
+perhaps own is now and then apt to carry you into somewhat over-great
+severity of judgment, or sharpness in reproof. Listen not to these, or
+any other such flattering excuses, which your own heart will be but too
+ready to suggest to you. Scrutinize yourself rather with rigorous
+strictness; and where there is so much room for self-deceit, call in the
+aid of some faithful friend, and unbosoming yourself to him without
+concealment, ask his impartial and unreserved opinion of your behaviour
+and condition. Our unwillingness to do this, often betrays to others,
+(not seldom it first discovers to ourselves) that we entertain a secret
+distrust of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>
+our own character and conduct. Instead also of extenuating
+to yourself the criminality of the vicious tempers under consideration,
+strive to impress your mind deeply with a sense of it. For this end,
+often consider seriously, that these rough and churlish tempers are a
+direct contrast to the &ldquo;meekness and gentleness of Christ;&rdquo; and that
+Christians are strongly and repeatedly enjoined to copy after their
+great Model in these particulars, and to be themselves patterns of
+&ldquo;mercy and kindness, and humbleness of mind, and meekness, and long
+suffering.&rdquo; They are to &ldquo;put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
+and clamour, and evil speaking,&rdquo; not only &ldquo;being ready to every good
+work, but being <i>gentle</i> unto <i>all</i> men,&rdquo; &ldquo;shewing <i>all</i> meekness unto
+<i>all</i> men,&rdquo; &ldquo;forbearing, forgiving,&rdquo; tender hearted. Remember the
+Apostle&#8217;s declaration, that &ldquo;if any man bridleth not his tongue, he only
+seemeth to be religious, and deceiveth his own heart;&rdquo; and that it is
+one of the characters of that love, without which all pretensions to the
+name of Christian are but vain, that &ldquo;it doth not behave itself
+unseemly.&rdquo; Consider how much these acrimonious tempers must break in
+upon the peace, and destroy the comfort, of those around you. Remember
+also that the honour of your Christian profession is at stake, and be
+solicitous not to discredit it: justly dreading lest you should disgust
+those whom you ought to conciliate; and by conveying an unfavourable
+impression of your principles and character, should incur the guilt of
+putting an &ldquo;offence in your brother&#8217;s way;&rdquo; thereby &ldquo;hindering the
+Gospel of Christ,&rdquo; the advancement of which should be your daily and
+assiduous care.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Thus having come to the full knowledge of your disease, and to a just
+impression of its malignity, strive against it with incessant
+watchfulness. Guard with the most jealous circumspection against its
+breaking forth into act. Force yourself to abound in little offices of
+courtesy and kindness; and you shall gradually experience in the
+performance of these a pleasure hitherto unknown, and awaken in yourself
+the dormant principles of sensibility. But take not up with external
+amendment; guard against a false shew of sweetness of disposition; and
+remember that the Christian is not to be satisfied with the world&#8217;s
+superficial courtliness of demeanor, but that his &ldquo;Love is to be without
+dissimulation.&rdquo; Examine carefully, whether the unchristian tempers,
+which you would eradicate, are not maintained in vigour by selfishness
+and pride; and strive to subdue them effectually, by extirpating the
+roots from which they derive their nutriment. Accustom yourself to
+endeavour to look attentively upon a careless and inconsiderate world,
+which, while it is in such imminent peril, is so ignorant of its danger.
+Dwell upon this affecting scene, till it has excited your pity; and this
+pity, while it melts the mind to Christian love, shall insensibly
+produce a temper of habitual sympathy and softness. By means like these,
+perseveringly used in constant dependence on Divine aid, you may
+confidentially hope to make continual progress. Among men of the world,
+a youth of softness and sweetness will often, as we formerly remarked,
+harden into insensibility, and sharpen into moroseness. But it is the
+office of Christianity to reverse this order. It is pleasing to witness
+this blessed renovation: to see, as life advances, asperities
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>
+gradually
+smoothing down, and roughnesses mellowing away: while the subject of
+this happy change experiences within, increasing measures of the comfort
+which he diffuses around him; and feeling the genial influences of that
+heavenly flame which can thus give life, and warmth, and action, to what
+had been hitherto rigid and insensible, looks up with gratitude to him
+who has shed abroad this principle of love in his heart;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Let it not be thought that in the foregoing discussion, the amiable and
+useful qualities, where they are not prompted and governed by a
+principle of religion, have been spoken of in too disparaging terms. Nor
+would I be understood as unwilling to concede to those who are living in
+the exercise of them, their proper tribute of commendation: Inest sua
+gratia. Of such persons it must be said, in the language of scripture,
+&ldquo;they have their reward.&rdquo; They have it in the inward complacency, which
+a sweet temper seldom fails to inspire; in the comforts of the domestic
+or social circle; in the pleasure which from the constitution of our
+nature accompanies pursuit and action. They are always beloved in
+private, and generally respected in public life. But when devoid of
+Religion, if the word of God be not a fable, &ldquo;they cannot enter into the
+kingdom of Heaven.&rdquo; True practical Christianity (never let it be
+forgotten) consists in devoting the heart and life to God; in being
+supremely and habitually governed by a desire to know, and a disposition
+to fulfil his will, and in endeavouring under the influence of <i>these
+motives</i> to &ldquo;live to his glory.&rdquo; Where these
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>
+essential requisites are
+wanting, however amiable the character may be, however creditable and
+respectable among men; yet as it possesses not the grand distinguishing
+essence, it must not be complimented with the name, of Christianity.
+This however, when the external decorums of Religion are not violated,
+must commonly be a matter between God and a man&#8217;s own conscience; and we
+ought never to forget how strongly we are enjoined to be candid and
+liberal in judging of the motives of others, while we are strict in
+scrutinizing and severe in questioning our own. And this strict scrutiny
+is no where more necessary, because there is no where more room for the
+operation of self-deceit. We are all extremely prone to lend ourselves
+to the good opinion which, however falsely, is entertained of us by
+others; and though we at first confusedly suspect, or even indubitably
+know, that their esteem is unfounded, and their praises undeserved, and
+that they would have thought and spoken of us very differently, if they
+had discerned our secret motives, or had been accurately acquainted with
+all the circumstances of our conduct; we gradually suffer ourselves to
+adopt their judgment of us, and at length feel that we are in some sort
+injured or denied our due, when these false commendations are
+contradicted or withheld. Without the most constant watchfulness, and
+the most close and impartial self-examination, irreligious people of
+amiable tempers, and still more those of useful lives, from the general
+popularity of their character, will be particularly liable to become the
+dupes of this propensity. Nor is it they only who have here need to be
+on their guard: men of real religion will also do well to watch against
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>
+this delusion. There is however another danger to which these are still
+more exposed, and against which it is the rather necessary to warn them,
+because of our having insisted so strongly on their being bound to be
+diligent in the discharge of the active duties of life. In their
+endeavours to fulfil this obligation, let them specially beware, lest
+setting out on right principles, they insensibly lose them in the course
+of their progress; lest engaging originally in the business and bustle
+of the world, from a sincere and earnest desire to promote the glory of
+God, their minds should become so heated and absorbed in the pursuit of
+their object, as that the true motive of action should either altogether
+cease to be an habitual principle, or should at least lose much of its
+life and vigour; lest their thoughts and affections being engrossed by
+temporal concerns, their sense of the reality of &ldquo;unseen things&rdquo; should
+fade away, and they should lose their relish for the employments and
+offices of Religion.</p>
+
+<p>The Christian&#8217;s path is beset with dangers&mdash;On the one hand, he justly
+dreads an inactive and unprofitable life; on the other, he no less
+justly trembles for the loss of that spiritual-mindedness, which is the
+very essence and power of his profession. This is not quite the place
+for the full discussion of the difficult topic here in question: and if
+it were, the writer of these sheets is too conscious of his own
+incompetencies, not to be desirous of asking rather than of giving
+advice respecting it. Yet, as it is a matter which has often engaged his
+most serious consideration, and has been the frequent subject of his
+anxious inquiry into the writings and opinions of far better
+instructors, he will venture to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>
+deliver a few words on it, offering
+them with unaffected diffidence.</p>
+
+<p>Does then the Christian discover in himself, judging not from accidental
+and occasional feelings, on which little stress is either way to be
+laid, but from the permanent and habitual temper of his mind, a settled,
+and still more a growing, coldness and indisposition towards the
+considerations and offices of Religion? And has he reason to apprehend
+that this coldness and indisposition are owing to his being engaged too
+much or too earnestly in worldly business, or to his being too keen in
+the pursuit of worldly objects? Let him carefully examine the state of
+his own heart, and seriously and impartially survey the circumstances of
+his situation in life; humbly praying to the Father of light and mercy,
+that he may be enabled to see his way clearly in this difficult
+emergency. If he finds himself pursuing wealth, or dignity, or
+reputation, with earnestness and solicitude; if these things engage many
+of his thoughts; if his mind naturally and inadvertently runs out into
+contemplations of them; if success in these respects greatly gladdens,
+and disappointments dispirit and distress his mind; he has but too plain
+grounds for self-condemnation. &ldquo;No man can serve two masters.&rdquo; The world
+is evidently in possession of his heart, and it is no wonder that he
+finds himself dull, or rather dead, to the impression and enjoyment of
+spiritual things.</p>
+
+<p>But though the marks of predominant estimation and regard for earthly
+things be much less clear and determinate; yet if the object which he is
+pursuing be one which, by its attainment, would bring him a considerable
+accession
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+of riches, station, or honour, let him soberly and fairly
+question and examine whether the pursuit be warrantable? here also,
+asking the advice of some judicious friend; his backwardness to do
+which, in instances like these, should justly lead him, as was before
+remarked, to distrust the reasonableness of the schemes which he is
+prosecuting. In such a case as this, we have good cause to distrust
+ourselves. Though the inward hope, that we are chiefly prompted by a
+desire to promote the glory of our Maker, and the happiness of our
+fellow-creatures, by increasing our means of usefulness, may suggest
+itself to allay, yet let it not altogether remove, our suspicions. It is
+not improbable, that beneath this plausible mask we conceal, more
+successfully perhaps from ourselves than from others, an inordinate
+attachment to the pomps and transitory distinctions of this life; and as
+this attachment gains the ascendency, it will ever be found, that our
+perception and feeling of the supreme excellence of heavenly things will
+proportionably subside.</p>
+
+<p>But when the consequences which would follow from the success of our
+worldly pursuits do not render them so questionable, as in the case we
+have been just considering; yet, having such good reason to believe that
+there is somewhere a flaw, could we but discover it, let us carefully
+scrutinize the whole of our conduct, taking that word in its largest
+sense; in order to discover whether we may not be living either in the
+breach or in the omission of some known duty, and whether it may not
+therefore have pleased God to withdraw from us the influence of his Holy
+Spirit; particularly inquiring, whether the duties of self-examination,
+of secret and public
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>
+prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and
+the other prescribed means of Grace, have not been either wholly
+intermitted at their proper seasons, or at least been performed with
+precipitation or distraction? And if we find reason to believe, that the
+allotment of time, which it would be most for our spiritual improvement
+to assign to our religious offices, is often broken in upon and
+curtailed; let us be extremely backward to admit excuses for such
+interruptions and abridgments. It is more than probable, for many
+obvious reasons, that even our worldly affairs themselves will not on
+the long run, go on the better for encroaching upon those hours, which
+ought to be dedicated to the more immediate service of God, and to the
+cultivation of the inward principles of Religion. Our hearts at least
+and our conduct will soon exhibit proofs of the sad effects of this
+fatal negligence. They who in a crazy vessel navigate a sea wherein are
+shoals and currents innumerable, if they would keep their course or
+reach their port in safety, must carefully repair the smallest injuries,
+and often throw out their line and take their observations. In the
+voyage of life also the Christian who would not make shipwreck of his
+faith, while he is habitually watchful and provident, must often make it
+his express business to look into his state, and ascertain his progress.</p>
+
+<p>But to resume my subject; let us when engaged in this important
+scrutiny, impartially examine ourselves whether the worldly objects
+which engross us, are all of them such as properly belong to our
+profession, or station, or circumstances in life; which therefore we
+could not neglect with a good conscience? If they be, let us consider
+whether they do not consume a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>
+larger share of our time than they really
+require; and whether, by not trifling over our work, by deducting
+somewhat which might be spared from our hours of relaxation, or by some
+other little management, we might not fully satisfy their just claims,
+and yet have an increased overplus of leisure, to be devoted to the
+offices of Religion.</p>
+
+<p>But if we deliberately and honestly conclude that we ought not to give
+these worldly objects less of our <i>time</i>, let us endeavour at least to
+give them less of our <i>hearts</i>: striving that the settled frame of our
+<i>desires</i> and affections may be more spiritual; and that in the motley
+intercourses of life we may constantly retain a more lively sense of the
+Divine presence, and a stronger impression of the reality of unseen
+things; thus corresponding with the Scripture description of true
+Christians, &ldquo;walking by faith and not by sight, and having our
+conversation in Heaven.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Above all, let us guard against the temptation, to which we shall
+certainly be exposed, of lowering down our views to our state, instead
+of endeavouring to rise to the level of our views. Let us rather
+determine to know the worst of our case, and strive to be suitably
+affected with it; not forward to speak peace to ourselves, but patiently
+carrying about with us a deep conviction of our backwardness and
+inaptitude to religious duties, and a just sense of our great weakness
+and numerous infirmities. This cannot be an unbecoming temper, in those
+who are commanded to &ldquo;work out their salvation with fear and trembling.&rdquo;
+It prompts to constant and earnest prayer. It produces that sobriety,
+and lowliness and tenderness of mind, that meekness of demeanor and
+circumspection in conduct,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+which are such eminent characteristics of
+the true Christian.</p>
+
+<p>Nor is it a state devoid of consolation&mdash;&ldquo;O tarry thou the Lord&#8217;s
+leisure, be strong and he shall comfort thy heart.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;They that wait on
+the Lord, shall renew their strength.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Blessed are they that mourn,
+for they shall be comforted.&rdquo; These Divine assurances sooth and
+encourage the Christian&#8217;s disturbed and dejected mind, and insensibly
+diffuse a holy composure. The tint may be solemn, nay even melancholy,
+but it is mild and grateful. The tumult of his soul has subsided, and he
+is possessed by complacency, and hope, and love. If a sense of
+undeserved kindness fill his eyes with tears, they are tears of
+reconciliation and joy: while a generous ardour springing up within him
+sends him forth to his worldly labours &ldquo;fervent in spirit;&rdquo; resolving
+through the Divine aid to be henceforth more diligent and exemplary in
+living to the Glory of God, and longing meanwhile for that blessed time,
+when, &ldquo;being freed from the bondage of corruption,&rdquo; he shall be enabled
+to render to his Heavenly Benefactor more pure and acceptable service.</p>
+
+<p>After having discussed so much at large the whole question concerning
+amiable tempers in general, it may be scarcely necessary to dwell upon
+that particular class of them which belongs to the head of generous
+emotions, or of exquisite sensibility. To these almost all which has
+been said above is strictly applicable; to which it may be added, that
+the persons in whom the latter qualities most abound, are often far from
+conducing to the peace and comfort of their nearest connections. These
+qualities indeed may be rendered highly useful instruments, when
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>
+enlisted into the service of Religion. But we ought to except against
+them the more strongly, when not under her controul; because there is
+still greater danger than in the former case, that persons in whom they
+abound, may be flattered into a false opinion of themselves by the
+excessive commendations often paid to them by others, and by the
+beguiling complacencies of their own minds, which are apt to be puffed
+up with a proud though secret consciousness of their own superior
+acuteness and sensibility. But it is the less requisite to enlarge on
+this topic, because it has been well discussed by many, who have
+unfolded the real nature of those fascinating qualities; who have well
+remarked, that though shewy and apt to catch the eye, they are of a
+flimsy and perishable fabric, not of that less gaudy but more
+substantial and durable texture, which, imparting permanent warmth and
+comfort, will long preserve its more sober honours, and stand the wear
+and tear of life, and the vicissitudes of seasons. It has been shewn,
+that these qualities often fail us when most we want their aid; that
+their possessors can solace themselves with their imaginary exertions in
+behalf of ideal misery, and yet shrink from the labours of active
+benevolence, or retire with disgust from the homely forms of real
+poverty and wretchedness. In fine, the superiority of true Christian
+charity and of plain practical beneficence has been ably vindicated; and
+the school of Rousseau has been forced to yield to the school of Christ,
+when the question has been concerning the best means of promoting the
+comfort of family life, or the temporal well-being of society<a name="FNanchor_84" id="FNanchor_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a>.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Section V.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Some other grand defects in the practical system of the Bulk of nominal
+Christians.</i></h5>
+
+<p>In the imperfect sketch which has been drawn of the Religion of the bulk
+of nominal Christians, their fundamental error respecting the essential
+nature of Christianity has been discussed, and traced into some of its
+many mischievous consequences. Several of their particular
+misconceptions and allowed defects have also been pointed out and
+illustrated. It may not be improper to close the survey by noticing
+some
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>
+others, for the existence of which we may now appeal to almost
+every part of the preceding delineation.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, then, there appears throughout, both in the
+principles and allowed conduct of the bulk of nominal Christians, a most
+inadequate idea of the <i>guilt and evil of sin</i>. We every where find
+reason to remark, that, as was formerly observed, Religion is suffered
+to dwindle away into a mere matter of <i>police</i>. Hence the guilt of
+actions is estimated, not by the proportion in which, according to
+Scripture, they are offensive to God, but by that in which they are
+injurious to society. Murder, theft, fraud in all its shapes, and some
+species of lying, are manifestly, and in an eminent degree, injurious to
+social happiness. How different accordingly, in the moral scale, is the
+place they hold, from that which is assigned to idolatry, to general
+irreligion, to swearing, drinking, fornication, lasciviousness,
+sensuality, excessive dissipation; and in particular circumstances, to
+pride, wrath, malice, and revenge!</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, several of the above-mentioned vices are held to be grossly
+criminal in the lower ranks, because manifestly ruinous to their
+temporal interests: but in the higher, they are represented as &ldquo;losing
+half their evil by losing all their grossness,&rdquo; as flowing naturally
+from great prosperity, from the excess of gaiety and good humour; and
+they are accordingly &ldquo;regarded with but a small degree of
+disapprobation, and censured very slightly or not at all<a name="FNanchor_85" id="FNanchor_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a>.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Non
+meus hic sermo est.&rdquo; These are the remarks of authors, who have
+surveyed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>
+the stage of human life with more than ordinary observation;
+one of whom in particular cannot be suspected of having been misled by
+religious prejudices, to form a judgment of the superior orders too
+unfavourable and severe.</p>
+
+<p>Will these positions however be denied? Will it be maintained that there
+is not the difference already stated, in the moral estimation of these
+different classes of vices? Will it be said, that the one class is
+indeed more generally restrained, and more severely punished by human
+laws, because more properly cognizable by human judicatures, and more
+directly at war with the well-being of society; but that when brought
+before the tribunal of internal opinion they are condemned with equal
+rigour?</p>
+
+<p>Facts may be denied, and charges laughed out of countenance: but where
+the general sentiment and feeling of mankind are in question, our common
+language is often the clearest and most impartial witness; and the
+conclusions thus furnished, are not to be parried by wit, or eluded by
+sophistry. In the present case, our ordinary modes of speech furnish
+sufficient matter for the determination of the argument; and abundantly
+prove our disposition to consider as matters of small account, such sins
+as are not held to be injurious to the community. We invent for them
+diminutive and qualifying terms, which, if not, as in the common uses of
+language<a name="FNanchor_86" id="FNanchor_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a>, to be admitted as signs of approbation and good will, must
+at least be confessed to be proofs of our tendency to regard them with
+palliation and indulgence. Free-thinking, gallantry,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>
+jollity<a name="FNanchor_87" id="FNanchor_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a>, and a
+thousand similar phrases might be adduced as instances. But it is worthy
+of remark, that no such soft and qualifying terms are in use, for
+expressing the smaller degrees of theft, or fraud, or forgery, or any
+other of those offences, which are committed by men against their
+fellow-creatures, and in the suppression of which we are interested by
+our regard to our temporal concerns.</p>
+
+<p>The charge which we are urging is indeed undeniable. In the case of any
+question of honour, or of moral honesty, we are sagacious in discerning
+and inexorable in judging the offence. No allowance is made for the
+suddenness of surprise, or the strength of temptations. One single
+failure is presumed to imply the absence of the moral or honourable
+principle. The memory is retentive on these occasions, and the man&#8217;s
+character is blasted for life. Here, even the mere suspicion of having
+once offended can scarcely be got over: &ldquo;There is an aukward story about
+that man, which must be explained before he and I can become
+acquainted.&rdquo; But in the case of sins against God, there is no such
+watchful jealousy, none of this rigorous logic. A man may go on in the
+frequent commission of known sins, yet no such inference is drawn
+respecting the absence of the religious principle. On the contrary, we
+say of him, that &ldquo;though his <i>conduct</i> be a little incorrect, his
+<i>principles</i> are untouched;&rdquo;&mdash;that he has <i>a good heart</i>: and such a man
+may go quietly through life, with the titles of a <i>mighty worthy
+creature</i>, and a <i>very good Christian</i>.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But in the Word of God actions are estimated by a far less accommodating
+standard. There we read of no little sins. Much of our Saviour&#8217;s sermon
+on the mount, which many of the class we are condemning affect highly to
+admire, is expressly pointed against so dangerous a misconception.
+<i>There</i>, no such distinction is made between the rich and the poor. No
+notices are to be traced of one scale of morals for the higher, and of
+another for the lower classes of society. Nay, the former are expressly
+guarded against any such vain imagination; and are distinctly warned,
+that their condition in life is the more dangerous, because of the more
+abundant temptations to which it exposes them. Idolatry, fornication,
+lasciviousness, drunkenness, revellings, inordinate affection, are, by
+the apostle likewise classed with theft and murder, and with what we
+hold in even still greater abomination; and concerning them all it is
+pronounced alike, that &ldquo;they which do such things shall not inherit the
+kingdom of God<a name="FNanchor_88" id="FNanchor_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In truth, the instance which we have lately specified, of the loose
+system of these nominal Christians, betrays a fatal absence of the
+principle which is the very foundation of all Religion. Their slight
+notions of the guilt and evil of sin discover an utter want of all
+suitable reverence for the Divine Majesty. This principle is justly
+termed in Scripture, &ldquo;the beginning of wisdom,&rdquo; and there is perhaps no
+one quality which it is so much the studious endeavour of the sacred
+writers to impress upon the human heart<a name="FNanchor_89" id="FNanchor_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p><p>Sin is considered in Scripture as rebellion against the sovereignty of
+God, and every different act of it equally violates his law, and, if
+persevered in, disclaims his supremacy. To the inconsiderate and the gay
+this doctrine may seem harsh, while, vainly fluttering in the sunshine
+of worldly prosperity, they lull themselves into a fond security. &ldquo;But
+the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the
+Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
+with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall
+be burnt up&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Seeing then, that all these things shall be dissolved,
+what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and
+Godliness?&rdquo;<a name="FNanchor_90" id="FNanchor_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> We are but an atom in the universe.&mdash;Worlds upon worlds
+surround us, all probably full of intelligent creatures, to whom, now or
+hereafter, we may be a spectacle, and afford an example of the Divine
+procedure. Who then shall take upon him to pronounce what might be the
+issue, if sin were suffered to pass unpunished in one corner of this
+universal empire? Who shall say what confusion might be the consequence,
+what disorder it might spread through the creation of God? Be this
+however as it may, the language of Scripture is clear and
+decisive;&mdash;&ldquo;The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people
+that forget God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It should be carefully observed too, that these awful denunciations of
+the future punishment of sin derive additional weight from this
+consideration, that they are represented, not merely as a judicial
+sentence which, without violence to the settled order of things, might
+be remitted
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>
+through the mere mercy of our Almighty Governor, but as
+arising out of the established course of nature; as happening in the way
+of natural consequence, just as a cause is necessarily connected with
+its effect; as resulting from certain connections and relations which
+rendered them suitable and becoming. It is stated, that the kingdom of
+God and the kingdom of Satan are both set up in the world, and that to
+the one or the other of these we must belong. &ldquo;The righteous have
+<i>passed</i> from death unto life&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;they are delivered from the power of
+darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of God&#8217;s dear Son<a name="FNanchor_91" id="FNanchor_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a>.&rdquo;
+They are become &ldquo;the children,&rdquo; and &ldquo;the subjects of God.&rdquo; While on
+earth, they love his day, his service, his people; they &ldquo;speak good of
+his name;&rdquo; they abound in his works. Even here they are in some degree
+possessed of his image, by and by it shall be perfected; they shall
+awake up after his &ldquo;likeness,&rdquo; and being &ldquo;heirs of eternal life,&rdquo; they
+shall receive &ldquo;an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that
+fadeth not away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Of sinners, on the other hand, it is declared, that &ldquo;they are of their
+father the devil;&rdquo; while on earth, they are styled &ldquo;his children,&rdquo; &ldquo;his
+servants;&rdquo; they are said &ldquo;to do his works,&rdquo; &ldquo;to hold of his side,&rdquo; to
+be, &ldquo;subjects of his kingdom:&rdquo; at length &ldquo;they shall partake his
+portion,&rdquo; when the merciful Saviour shall be changed into an avenging
+Judge, and shall pronounce that dreadful sentence, &ldquo;depart from me, ye
+cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.&rdquo;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Is it possible that these declarations should not strike terror, or at
+least excite serious and fearful apprehension in the lightest and most
+inconsiderate mind? But the imaginations of men are fatally prone to
+suggest to them fallacious hopes in the very face of these positive
+declarations. &ldquo;We cannot persuade ourselves that God will in fact prove
+so severe.&rdquo; It was the very delusion to which our first parents
+listened; &ldquo;Ye shall not surely die.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Let me ask these rash men, who are thus disposed to trifle with their
+immortal interests, had they lived in the antediluvian world, would they
+have conceived it possible that God would then execute his predicted
+threatening? Yet the event took place at the appointed time; the flood
+came and swept them all away: and this awful instance of the anger of
+God against sin is related in the inspired writings for our instruction.
+Still more to rouse us to attention, the record is impressed in
+indelible characters on the solid substance of the very globe we
+inhabit; which thus, in every country upon earth, furnishes practical
+attestations to the truth of the sacred writings, and to the actual
+accomplishment of their awful predictions. For myself I must declare,
+that I never can read without awe the passage, in which our Saviour is
+speaking of the state of the world at the time of this memorable event.
+The wickedness of men is represented to have been great and prevalent;
+yet not as we are ready to conceive, such as to interrupt the course,
+and shake the very frame of society. The general face of things was,
+perhaps, not very different from that which is exhibited in many of the
+European nations. It was a selfish, a luxurious, an irreligious, and an
+inconsiderate
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+world. They were called, but they would not hearken; they
+were warned, but they would not believe&mdash;&ldquo;They did eat, they drank, they
+married wives, they were given in marriage:&rdquo; such is the account of one
+of the Evangelists; in that of another it is stated nearly in the same
+words; &ldquo;They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
+and knew not until the flood came and swept them all away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Again, we see throughout, in the system which we have been describing a
+most inadequate conception of the difficulty of becoming true
+Christians; and an utter forgetfulness of its being the great business
+of life to secure our admission into Heaven, and to prepare our hearts
+for its service and enjoyments. The general notion appears to be, that,
+if born in a country of which Christianity is the established religion,
+we are born Christians. We do not therefore look out for positive
+evidence of our really being of that number; but putting the <i>onus
+probandi</i>, (if it may be so expressed) on the wrong side, we conceive
+ourselves such <i>of course</i>, except our title be disproved by positive
+evidence to the contrary. And we are so slow in giving ear to what
+conscience urges to us on this side; so dexterous in justifying what is
+clearly wrong, in palliating what we cannot justify, in magnifying the
+merit of what is fairly commendable, in flattering ourselves that our
+habits of vice are only occasional acts, and in multiplying our single
+acts into habits of virtue, that we must be bad indeed, to be compelled
+to give a verdict against ourselves. Besides, having no suspicion of our
+state, we do not set ourselves in earnest to the work of
+self-examination; but only receive in a confused and hasty way some
+occasional
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>
+notices of our danger, when sickness, or the loss of a
+friend, or the recent commission of some act of vice of greater size
+than ordinary, has awakened in our consciences a more than usual degree
+of sensibility.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, by the generality, it is altogether forgotten, that the Christian
+has a great work to execute; that of forming himself after the pattern
+of his Lord and Master, through the operation of the Holy Spirit of God,
+which is promised to our fervent prayers and diligent endeavours.
+Unconscious of the obstacles which impede, and of the enemies which
+resist their advancement; they are naturally forgetful also of the ample
+provision which is in store, for enabling them to surmount the one, and
+to conquer the other. The scriptural representations of the state of the
+Christian on earth, by the images of &ldquo;a race,&rdquo; and &ldquo;a warfare;&rdquo; of its
+being necessary to rid himself of every encumbrance which might retard
+him in the one, and to furnish himself with the whole armour of God for
+being victorious in the other, are, so far as these nominal Christians
+are concerned, figures of no propriety or meaning. As little (as was
+formerly shewn) have they, in correspondence with the Scripture
+descriptions of the feelings and language of real Christians, any idea
+of acquiring a relish while on earth, for the worship and service of
+Heaven. If the truth must be told, their notion is rather a confused
+idea of future gratification in Heaven, in return for having put a force
+upon their inclinations, and endured so much religion while on earth.</p>
+
+<p>But all this is only <i>nominal</i> Christianity, which exhibits a more
+inadequate image of her real excellencies, than the cold copyings, by
+some
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>
+insipid pencil, convey of the force and grace of Nature, or of
+Raphael. In the language of Scripture, Christianity is not a
+geographical, but a moral term. It is not the being a native of a
+Christian country: it is <i>a condition, a state</i>; the possession of a
+<i>peculiar nature</i>, with the <i>qualities</i> and <i>properties</i> which belong to
+it.</p>
+
+<p>Farther than this, it is a state into which we are not <i>born</i>, but into
+which we must be <i>translated</i>; a nature which we do not <i>inherit</i>, but
+into which we are to be <i>created anew</i>. To the undeserved grace of God,
+which is promised on our use of the appointed means, we must be indebted
+for the attainment of this nature; and, to acquire and make sure of it,
+is that great &ldquo;work of our salvation,&rdquo; which we are commanded to &ldquo;work
+out with fear and trembling.&rdquo; We are every where reminded, that this is
+a matter of labour and difficulty, requiring continual watchfulness, and
+unceasing effort, and unwearied patience. Even to the very last, towards
+the close of a long life consumed in active service, or in cheerful
+suffering, we find St. Paul himself declaring, that he conceived bodily
+self-denial and mental discipline to be indispensably necessary to his
+very safety. Christians, who are really worthy of the name, are
+represented as being &ldquo;made meet for the inheritance of the Saints in
+light;&rdquo; as &ldquo;waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;&rdquo; as
+&ldquo;looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God.&rdquo; It is
+stated as being enough to make them happy, that &ldquo;Christ should receive
+them to himself;&rdquo; and the songs of the blessed spirits in Heaven are
+described to be the same, as those in which the servants of God on earth
+pour forth their gratitude and adoration.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Conscious therefore of the indispensable necessity, and of the arduous
+nature of the service in which he is engaged, the true Christian sets
+himself to the work with vigour, and prosecutes it with diligence. His
+motto is that of the painter; &ldquo;<i>nullus dies sine linea</i>.&rdquo; Fled as it
+were from a country in which the plague is raging, he thinks it not
+enough just to pass the boundary line, but would put out of doubt his
+escape beyond the limbs of infection. Prepared to meet with
+difficulties, he is not discouraged when they occur; warned of his
+numerous adversaries, he is not alarmed on their approach, or unprovided
+for encountering them. He knows that the beginnings of every new course
+may be expected to be rough and painful; but he is assured that the
+paths on which he is entering will ere long seem smoother, and become
+indeed &ldquo;paths of pleasantness and peace.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Now of the state of such an one the expressions of Pilgrim and Stranger
+are a lively description; and all the other figures and images, by which
+Christians are represented in Scripture, have in his case a determinate
+meaning and a just application. There is indeed none, by which the
+Christian&#8217;s state on earth is in the word of God more frequently imaged,
+or more happily illustrated, than by that of a journey: and it may not
+be amiss to pause for a while in order to survey it under that
+resemblance. The Christian is travelling on business through a strange
+country, in which he is commanded to execute his work with diligence,
+and pursue his course homeward with alacrity. The fruits which he sees
+by the way-side he gathers with caution; he drinks of the streams with
+moderation; he is thankful when the sun shines, and his way is
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>
+pleasant; but if it be rough and rainy, he cares not much, he is but a
+traveller. He is prepared for vicissitudes; he knows that he must expect
+to meet with them in the stormy and uncertain climate of this world. But
+he is travelling to &ldquo;a better country,&rdquo; a country of unclouded light and
+undisturbed serenity. He finds also by experience, that when he has had
+the least of external comforts, he has always been least disposed to
+loiter; and if for the time it be a little disagreeable, he can solace
+himself with the idea of his being thereby forwarded in his course. In a
+less unfavourable season, he looks round him with an eye of observation;
+he admires what is beautiful; he examines what is curious; he receives
+with complacency the refreshments which are set before him, and enjoys
+them with thankfulness. Nor does he churlishly refuse to associate with
+the inhabitants of the country through which he is passing; nor, so far
+as he may, to speak their language, and adopt their fashions. But he
+neither suffers pleasure, nor curiosity, nor society, to take up too
+much of his time, and is still intent on transacting the business which
+he has to execute, and on prosecuting the journey which he is ordered to
+pursue. He knows also that, to the very end of life, his journey will be
+through a country in which he has many enemies; that his way is beset
+with snares; that temptations throng around him, to seduce him from his
+course or check his advancement in it; that the very air disposes to
+drowsiness, and that therefore to the very last it will be requisite for
+him to be circumspect and collected. Often therefore he examines
+whereabouts he is, how he has got forward, and whether or not he is
+travelling in the right direction. Sometimes
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>
+he seems to himself to
+make considerable progress, sometimes he advances but slowly, too often
+he finds reason to fear that he has fallen backward in his course. Now
+he is cheered with hope, and gladdened by success; now he is disquieted
+with doubts, and damped by disappointments. Thus while in nominal
+Christians, Religion is a dull uniform thing, and they have no
+conception of the desires and disappointments, the hopes and fears, the
+joys and sorrows, which it is calculated to bring into exercise; in the
+true Christian all is life and motion, and his great work calls forth
+alternately the various passions of the soul. Let it not therefore be
+imagined that his is a state of unenlivened toil and hardship. His very
+labours are &ldquo;the labours of love;&rdquo; if &ldquo;he has need of patience,&rdquo; it is
+&ldquo;the patience of hope;&rdquo; and he is cheered in his work by the constant
+assurance of present support, and of final victory. Let it not be
+forgotten, that this is the very idea given us of happiness by one of
+the ablest examiners of the human mind; &ldquo;a constant employment for a
+desired end, with the consciousness of continual progress.&rdquo; So true is
+the Scripture declaration, that &ldquo;Godliness has the promise of the life
+that now is, as well as of that which is to come.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Our review of the character of the bulk of nominal Christians has
+exhibited abundant proofs of their allowed defectiveness in that great
+constituent of the true Christian character, <i>the love of God</i>. Many
+instances, in proof of this assertion, have been incidentally pointed
+out, and the charge is in itself so obvious, that it were superfluous to
+spend much time in endeavouring to establish it. Put the question fairly
+to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+test. Concerning the proper marks and evidences of affection,
+there can be little dispute. Let the most candid investigator examine
+the character, and conduct, and language of the persons of whom we have
+been speaking; and he will be compelled to acknowledge, that so far as
+love towards the Supreme Being is in question, these marks and evidences
+are no where to be met with. It is in itself a decisive evidence of a
+contrary feeling in those nominal Christians, that they find no pleasure
+in the service and worship of God. Their devotional acts resemble less
+the free-will offerings of a grateful heart, than that constrained and
+reluctant homage, which is exacted by some hard master from his
+oppressed dependents, and paid with cold sullenness, and slavish
+apprehension. It was the very charge brought by God against his
+ungrateful people of old, that, while they called him Sovereign and
+Father, they withheld from him the regards which severally belong to
+those respected and endearing appellations. Thus we likewise think it
+enough to offer to the most excellent and amiable of Beings, to our
+supreme and unwearied Benefactor, a dull, artificial, heartless
+gratitude, of which we should be ashamed in the case of a
+fellow-creature, who had ever so small a claim on our regard and
+thankfulness!</p>
+
+<p>It may be of infinite use to establish in our minds a strong and
+habitual sense of that first and great commandment&mdash;&ldquo;Thou shalt love the
+Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
+soul, and with all thy strength.&rdquo; This passion, operative and vigorous
+in its very nature, like a master spring, would put and maintain in
+action all
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>
+the complicated movements of the human soul. Soon also would
+it terminate many practical questions concerning the allowableness of
+certain compliances; questions which, with other similar difficulties,
+are often only the cold offspring of a spirit of reluctant submission,
+and cannot stand the encounter of this trying principle. If, for
+example, it were disputed, whether or not the law of God were <i>so</i>
+strict as had been stated, in condemning the slightest infraction of its
+precepts; yet, when, from the precise demands of justice, the appeal
+should be made to the more generous principle of love, there would be at
+once an end of the discussion. Fear will deter from acknowledged crimes,
+and self-interest will bribe to laborious services: but it is the
+peculiar glory, and the very characteristic, of this more generous
+passion, to shew itself in ten thousand little and undefinable acts of
+sedulous attention, which love alone can pay, and of which, when paid,
+love alone can estimate the value. Love outruns the deductions of
+reasoning; it scorns the refuge of casuistry; it requires not the slow
+process of laborious and undeniable proof that an action would be
+injurious and offensive, or another beneficial or gratifying, to the
+object of affection. The least hint, the slightest surmise, is
+sufficient to make it start from the former, and fly with eagerness to
+the latter.</p>
+
+<p>I am well aware that I am now about to tread on very tender ground; but
+it would be an improper deference to the opinions and manners of the age
+altogether to avoid it. There has been much argument concerning the
+lawfulness of theatrical amusements<a name="FNanchor_92" id="FNanchor_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a>. Let it be sufficient
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+to
+remark, that the controversy would be short indeed, if the question were
+to be tried by this criterion of love to the Supreme Being. If there
+were any thing of that sensibility for the honour of God, and of that
+zeal in his service, which we shew in behalf of our earthly friends, or
+of our political connections, should we seek our pleasure in that place
+which the debauchee, inflamed with wine, or bent on the gratification of
+other licentious appetites, finds most congenial to his state and temper
+of mind? In that place, from the neighbourhood of which, (how justly
+termed a school of morals might hence alone be inferred) decorum, and
+modesty, and regularity retire, while riot and lewdness are invited to
+the spot, and invariably select it for their chosen residence! where the
+sacred name of God is often prophaned! where sentiments are often heard
+with delight, and motions and gestures often applauded, which would not
+be tolerated in private company, but which may far exceed the utmost
+licence allowed in the social circle, without at all transgressing the
+large bounds of theatrical decorum! where, when moral principles are
+inculcated, they are not such as a Christian ought to cherish in his
+bosom, but such as it must be his daily endeavour to extirpate; not
+those which Scripture warrants, but those which it condemns as false and
+spurious, being founded in pride and ambition, and the over-valuation of
+human favour! where surely, if a Christian should trust himself at all,
+it would be requisite for him to prepare himself with a double portion
+of watchfulness and seriousness of mind, instead of selecting it as the
+place in which he may throw off his guard, and unbend without danger!
+The justness of this
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+last remark, and the general tendency of
+theatrical amusements, is attested by the same well instructed master in
+the science of human life, to whom we had before occasion to refer. By
+him they are recommended as the most efficacious expedient for relaxing,
+among any people, that &ldquo;<i>preciseness and austerity</i> of morals,&rdquo; to use
+his own phrase, which, under the name of holiness, it is the business of
+Scripture to inculcate and enforce. Nor is this position merely
+theoretical. The experiment was tried, and tried successfully, in a city
+upon the continent<a name="FNanchor_93" id="FNanchor_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a>, in which it was wished to corrupt the simple
+morality of purer times.</p>
+
+<p>Let us try the question by a parallel instance.</p>
+
+<p>What judgment should we form of the warmth of that man&#8217;s attachment to
+his Sovereign, who, at seasons of recreation, should seek his pleasures
+in scenes as ill accordant with the principle of loyalty, as those of
+which we have been speaking are with the genius of religion? If for this
+purpose he were to select the place, and frequent the amusements, to
+which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>
+Democrats and Jacobins<a name="FNanchor_94" id="FNanchor_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> should love to resort for
+entertainment, and in which they should find themselves so much at home,
+as invariably to select the spot for their abiding habitation; where
+dialogue, and song, and the intelligible language of gesticulation,
+should be used to convey ideas and sentiments, not perhaps palpably
+treasonable, or directly falling within the strict precision of any
+legal limits, but yet palpably contrary to the spirit of monarchical
+government; which, further, the highest authorities had recommended as
+sovereign specifics for cooling the warmth, and enlarging the narrowness
+of an excessive loyalty! What opinion should we form of the delicacy of
+that friendship, or of the fidelity of that love, which, in relation to
+their respective objects, should exhibit the same contradictions?</p>
+
+<p>In truth, the <i>hard measure</i>, if the phrase may be pardoned, which, as
+has been before remarked, we give to God; and the very different way in
+which we allow ourselves to act, and speak, and feel, where he is
+concerned, from that which we require, or even practise in the case of
+our fellow-creatures, is in itself the most decisive proof that the
+principle of the love of God, if not altogether extinct in us, is at
+least in the lowest possible degree of languor.</p>
+
+<p>From examining the degree in which the bulk of nominal Christians are
+defective in the love of God, if we proceed to inquire concerning
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>
+the
+strength of their love towards their fellow-creatures, the writer is
+well aware of its being generally held, that here at least they may
+rather challenge praise than submit to censure. And the many beneficent
+institutions in which this country abounds, probably above every other,
+whether in ancient or modern times, may be perhaps appealed to in proof
+of the opinion. Much of what might have been otherwise urged in the
+discussion of this topic, has been anticipated in the inquiry into the
+grounds of the extravagant estimation, assigned to amiable tempers and
+useful lives, when unconnected with religious principle. What was then
+stated may serve in many cases to lower, in the present instance, the
+loftiness of the pretensions of these nominal Christians; and we shall
+hereafter have occasion to mention another consideration, of which the
+effect must be, still further to reduce their claims. Meanwhile, let it
+suffice to remark, that we must not rest satisfied with merely
+superficial appearances, if we would form a fair estimate of the degree
+of purity and vigour, in which the principle of good will towards men
+warms the bosoms of the generality of professed Christians in the higher
+and more opulent classes in this country. In a highly polished state of
+society, for instance, we do not expect to find moroseness; and in an
+age of great profusion, though we may reflect with pleasure on those
+numerous charitable institutions, which are justly the honour of Great
+Britain; we are not too hastily to infer a strong principle of internal
+benevolence, from liberal contributions to the relief of indigence and
+misery. When these contributions indeed are equally abundant in frugal
+times, or from individuals personally &oelig;conomical,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+the source from
+which they originate becomes less questionable. But a vigorous principle
+of philanthropy must not be at once conceded, on the ground of liberal
+benefactions to the poor, in the case of one who by his liberality in
+this respect is curtailed in no necessary, is abridged of no luxury, is
+put to no trouble either of thought or of action; who, not to impute a
+desire of being praised for his benevolence, is injured in no man&#8217;s
+estimation; in whom also familiarity with large sums has produced that
+freedom in the expenditure of money, which (thereby affording a fresh
+illustration of the justice of the old proverb, &ldquo;Familiarity breeds
+contempt,&rdquo;) it never fails to operate, except in minds under the
+influence of a strong principle of avarice.</p>
+
+<p>Our conclusion, perhaps, would be less favourable, but not less fair, if
+we were to try the characters in question by those surer tests, which
+are stated by the Apostle to be less ambiguous marks of a real spirit of
+philanthropy. The strength of every passion is to be estimated by its
+victory over passions of an opposite nature. What judgment then shall we
+form of the force of the benevolence of the age, when measured by this
+standard? How does it stand the shock, when it comes into encounter with
+our pride, our vanity, our self-love, our self-interest, our love of
+ease or of pleasure, with our ambition, with our desire of worldly
+estimation? Does it make us self-denying, that we may be liberal in
+relieving others? Does it make us persevere in doing good in spite of
+ingratitude; and only pity the ignorance, or prejudice, or malice, which
+misrepresents our conduct, or misconstrues our motives? Does it make us
+forbear from
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>
+what we conceive may probably prove the occasion of harm
+to a fellow-creature; though the harm should not seem naturally or even
+fairly to flow from our conduct, but to be the result only of his own
+obstinacy or weakness? Are we slow to believe any thing to our
+neighbour&#8217;s disadvantage? and when we cannot but credit it, are we
+disposed rather to cover, and as far as we justly can, to palliate, than
+to divulge or aggravate it? Suppose an opportunity to occur of
+performing a kindness, to one who from pride or vanity should be loth to
+receive, or to be known to receive, a favour from us; should we honestly
+endeavour, so far as we could with truth, to lessen in his own mind and
+in that of others the merit of our good offices, and by so doing dispose
+him to receive them with diminished reluctance, and a less painful
+weight of obligation? This end, however, must be accomplished, if to be
+accomplished at all, by a simple and fair explanation of the
+circumstances, which may render the action in no wise inconvenient to
+ourselves, though highly beneficial to another; not by speeches of
+affected disparagement, which we might easily foresee, and in fact do
+foresee, must produce the contrary effect. Can we, from motives of
+kindness, incur or risk the charge of being deficient in spirit, in
+penetration, or in foresight? Do we tell another of his faults, when the
+communication, though probably beneficial to <i>him</i>, cannot be made
+without embarrassment or pain to ourselves, and may probably lessen his
+regard for our person, or his opinion of our judgment? Can we stifle a
+repartee which would wound another; though the utterance of it would
+gratify our vanity, and the suppression of it may disparage our
+character for wit? If any
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>
+one advance a mistaken proposition, in an
+instance wherein the error may be mischievous to him; can we, to the
+prejudice perhaps of our credit for discernment, forbear to contradict
+him in public, if it be probable that in so doing, by piquing his pride
+we might only harden him in his error? and can we reserve our counsel
+for some more favourable season, the &ldquo;mollia tempora fandi,&rdquo; when it may
+be communicated without offence? If we have recommended to any one a
+particular line of conduct, or have pointed out the probable mischiefs
+of the opposite course, and if our admonitions have been neglected, are
+we <i>really hurt</i> when our predictions of evil are accomplished? Is our
+love superior to envy, and jealousy, and emulation? Are we acute to
+discern and forward to embrace any fair opportunity of promoting the
+interests of another; if it be in a line wherein we ourselves also are
+moving, and in which we think our progress has not been proportioned to
+our desert? Can we take pleasure in bringing his merits into notice, and
+in obviating the prejudices which may have damped his efforts, or in
+removing the obstacles which may have retarded his advancement? If even
+to this extent we should be able to stand the scrutiny, let it be
+farther asked how, in the case of our enemies, do we correspond with the
+Scripture representations of love? Are we meek under provocations, ready
+to forgive, and apt to forget injuries? Can we, with sincerity, &ldquo;bless
+them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them
+which despitefully use us, and persecute us?&rdquo; Do we prove to the
+Searcher of hearts a real spirit of forgiveness, by our forbearing not
+only from avenging an injury when it is in our power, but
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>
+even from
+telling to any one how ill we have been used; and that too when we are
+not kept silent by a consciousness that we should lose credit by
+divulging the circumstance? And lastly, can we not only be content to
+return our enemies good for evil, (for this return, as has been remarked
+by one of the greatest of uninspired authorities,<a name="FNanchor_95" id="FNanchor_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> may be prompted by
+pride and repaid by self-complacency) but, when they are successful or
+unsuccessful without our having contributed to their good or ill
+fortune, can we not only be content, but cordially rejoice in their
+prosperity, or sympathize with their distresses?</p>
+
+<p>These are but a few specimens of the characteristic marks which might be
+stated, of a true predominant benevolence; yet even these may serve to
+convince us how far the bulk of nominal Christians fall short of the
+requisitions of Scripture, even in that particular, which exhibits their
+character in the most favourable point of view. The truth is, we do not
+enough call to mind the exalted tone of Scripture morality; and are
+therefore apt to value ourselves on the heights to which we attain, when
+a better acquaintance with our standard would have convinced us of our
+falling far short of the elevation prescribed to us. It is in the very
+instance of the most difficult of the duties lately specified, the
+forgiveness and love of enemies, that our Saviour points out to our
+imitation the example of our Supreme Benefactor. After stating that, by
+being kind and courteous to those who, even in the world&#8217;s opinion, had
+a title to our good offices and good will, we should in vain set up a
+claim to <i>Christian</i> benevolence, he emphatically
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>
+adds, &ldquo;Be ye
+therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We must here again resort to a topic which was lately touched on, that
+of theatrical amusements; and recommend it to their advocates to
+consider them in connection with the duty, of which we have now been
+exhibiting some of the leading characters.</p>
+
+<p>It is an undeniable fact, for the truth of which we may safely appeal to
+every age and nation, that the situation of the performers, particularly
+of those of the female sex, is remarkably unfavourable to the
+maintenance and growth of the religious and moral principle, and of
+course highly dangerous to their eternal interests. Might it not then be
+fairly asked, how far, in all who confess the truth of this position, it
+is consistent with the sensibility of Christian benevolence, merely for
+the entertainment of an idle hour, to encourage the continuance of any
+of their fellow-creatures in such a way of life, and to take a part in
+tempting any others to enter into it? how far, considering that, by
+their own concession, they are employing whatever they spend in this
+way, in sustaining and advancing the cause of vice, and consequently in
+promoting misery; they are herein bestowing this share of their wealth
+in a manner agreeable to the intentions of their holy and benevolent
+Benefactor? how far also they are not in this instance the rather
+criminal, from there being so many sources of innocent pleasure open to
+their enjoyment? how far they are acting conformably to that golden
+principle of doing to others as we would they should do to us? how far
+they harmonize with the spirit of the Apostle&#8217;s affectionate
+declaration, that he would deny himself for
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>
+his whole life the most
+innocent indulgence, nay, what might seem almost an absolute necessary,
+rather than cause his weak fellow Christian to offend? or lastly, how
+far they are influenced by the solemn language of our Saviour himself;
+&ldquo;It must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the
+offence cometh; it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged
+about his neck, and that he were cast into the depths of the sea?&rdquo; The
+present instance is perhaps another example of our taking greater
+concern in the temporal, than in the spiritual interests of our fellow
+creatures. That man would be deemed, and justly deemed, of an inhuman
+temper, who in these days were to seek his amusement in the combats of
+gladiators and prize fighters: yet <i>Christians</i> appear conscious of no
+inconsistency, in finding their pleasure in spectacles maintained at the
+risk at least, if not the ruin, of the eternal happiness of those who
+perform in them!</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. VI.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Grand defect.&mdash;Neglect of the peculiar Doctrines of Christianity.</i></h5>
+
+<p>But the grand radical defect in the practical system of these nominal
+Christians, is their forgetfulness of all the peculiar doctrines of the
+Religion which they profess&mdash;the corruption of human nature&mdash;the
+atonement of the Saviour&mdash;and the sanctifying influence of the Holy
+Spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Here then we come again to the grand distinction, between the Religion
+of Christ and that of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+the bulk of nominal Christians in the present
+day. The point is of the utmost <i>practical importance</i>, and we would
+therefore trace it into its actual effects.</p>
+
+<p>There are, it is to be apprehended, not a few, who having been for some
+time hurried down the stream of dissipation in the indulgence of all
+their natural appetites, (except, perhaps, that they were restrained
+from very gross vice by a regard to character, or by the yet unsubdued
+voice of conscience); and who, having all the while thought little, or
+scarcely at all about Religion, &ldquo;living,&rdquo; to use the emphatical language
+of Scripture, &ldquo;without God in the world,&rdquo; become in some degree
+impressed with a sense of the infinite importance of Religion. A fit of
+sickness, perhaps, or the loss of some friend or much loved relative, or
+some other stroke of adverse fortune, damps their spirits, awakens them
+to a practical conviction of the precariousness of all human things, and
+turns them to seek for some more stable foundation of happiness than
+this world can afford. Looking into themselves ever so little, they
+become sensible that they must have offended God. They resolve
+accordingly to set about the work of reformation.&mdash;Here it is that we
+shall recognize the fatal effects of the prevailing ignorance of the
+real nature of Christianity, and the general forgetfulness of its grand
+peculiarities. These men <i>wish</i> to reform, but they know neither the
+real <i>nature</i> of their distemper nor its true remedy. They are aware,
+indeed, that they must &ldquo;cease to do evil, and learn to do well;&rdquo; that
+they must relinquish their habits of vice, and attend more or less to
+the duties of Religion: but having no conception of the actual
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>
+malignity of the disease under which they labour, or of the perfect cure
+which the Gospel has provided for it, or of the manner in which that
+cure is to be effected,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;They do but skin and film the ulcerous place,</span>
+<span class="i0">While rank corruption, mining all within,</span>
+<span class="i0">Infects unseen.&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It often happens therefore but too naturally in this case, that where
+they do not soon desist from their attempt at reformation, and relapse
+into their old habits of sin; they take up with a partial and scanty
+amendment, and fondly flatter themselves that it is a thorough change.
+They now conceive that they have a right to take to themselves the
+comforts of Christianity. Not being able to raise their practice up to
+their standard of right, they lower their standard to their practice:
+they sit down for life contented with their present attainments,
+beguiled by the complacencies of their own minds, and by the favourable
+testimony of surrounding friends; and it often happens, particularly
+where there is any degree of strictness in formal and ceremonial
+observances, that there are no people more jealous of their character
+for Religion.</p>
+
+<p>Others perhaps go farther than this. The dread of the wrath to come has
+sunk deeper into their hearts; and for a while they strive with all
+their might to resist their evil propensities, and to walk without
+stumbling in the path of duty. Again and again they resolve; again and
+again they break their resolutions<a name="FNanchor_96" id="FNanchor_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a>: All
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>their endeavours are
+foiled, and they become more and more convinced of their own moral
+weakness, and of the strength of their indwelling corruption. Thus
+groaning under the enslaving power of sin, and experiencing the futility
+of the utmost efforts which they can use for effecting their
+deliverance, they are tempted (sometimes it is to be feared they yield
+to the temptation) to give up all in despair, and to acquiesce under
+their wretched captivity, conceiving it impossible to break their
+chains. Sometimes, probably, it even happens that they are driven to
+seek for refuge from their disquietude in the suggestions of infidelity;
+and to quiet their troublesome consciences by arguments which they
+themselves scarcely believe, at the very moment in which they suffer
+themselves to be lulled asleep by them. In the mean time while this
+conflict has been going on, their walk is sad and comfortless, and their
+couch is nightly watered with tears. These men are pursuing the right
+object, but they mistake the way in which it is to be obtained. <i>The
+path in which they are now treading is not that which the Gospel has
+provided for conducting them to true holiness, nor will they find in it
+any solid peace.</i></p>
+
+<p>Persons under these circumstances naturally seek for religious
+instruction. They turn over
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>
+the works of our modern Religionists, and
+as well as they can collect the advice addressed to men in their
+situation: the substance of it is, at the best, of this sort; &ldquo;Be sorry
+indeed for your sins, and discontinue the practice of them, but do not
+make yourselves so uneasy. Christ died for the sins of the whole world.
+Do your utmost; discharge with fidelity the duties of your stations, not
+neglecting your religious offices; and fear not but that in the end all
+will go well; and that having thus performed the conditions required on
+your part, you will at last obtain forgiveness of our merciful Creator
+through the merits of Jesus Christ, and be aided, where your own
+strength shall be insufficient, by the assistance of his Holy Spirit.
+Meanwhile you cannot do better than read carefully such books of
+practical divinity, as will instruct you in the principles of a
+Christian life. We are excellently furnished with works of this nature;
+and it is by the diligent study of them that you will gradually become a
+proficient in the lessons of the Gospel.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But the holy Scriptures, and with them the Church of England, call upon
+those who are in the circumstances above-stated, to <i>lay afresh the
+whole foundation of their Religion</i>. In concurrence with the Scripture,
+that Church calls upon them, in the first place, gratefully to adore
+that undeserved goodness which has awakened them from the sleep of
+death; to prostrate themselves before the Cross of Christ with humble
+penitence and deep self-abhorrence; solemnly resolving to forsake all
+their sins, but relying on the Grace of God alone for power to keep
+their resolution. Thus, and thus only, she assures
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>
+them that all their
+crimes will be blotted out, and that they will receive from above a new
+living principle of holiness. She produces from the Word of God the
+ground and warrant of her counsel; &ldquo;Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
+and thou shalt be saved.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;No man,&rdquo; says our blessed Saviour, &ldquo;cometh
+unto the Father but by me.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;I am the true Vine. As the branch cannot
+bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
+ye abide in me.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth
+forth much fruit; for without&rdquo; (or severed from) &ldquo;me ye can do
+nothing,&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of
+yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should
+boast: for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
+works.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Let us not be thought tedious, or be accused of running into needless
+repetitions, in pressing this point with so much earnestness. It is in
+fact a point which can never be too much insisted on. It is the cardinal
+point on which the whole of Christianity turns; on which it is
+peculiarly proper in this place to be perfectly distinct. There have
+been some who have imagined that the wrath of God was to be deprecated,
+or his favour conciliated, by austerities and penances, or even by forms
+and ceremonies, and external observances. But all men of enlightened
+understandings, who acknowledge the moral government of God, must also
+acknowledge, that vice must offend and virtue delight him. In short they
+must, more or less, assent to the Scripture declaration, &ldquo;without
+holiness no man shall see the Lord.&rdquo; But the grand distinction, which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+subsists between the true Christian and all other Religionists, (the
+class of persons in particular whom it is our object to address) is
+concerning the <i>nature</i> of this holiness, and the <i>way in which it is to
+be obtained</i>. The views entertained by the latter, of the <i>nature</i> of
+holiness, are of all degrees of inadequateness; and they conceive it is
+to be <i>obtained</i> by their own natural unassisted efforts: or if they
+admit some vague indistinct notion of the assistance of the Holy Spirit,
+it is unquestionably obvious, on conversing with them, that this does
+not constitute the <i>main practical</i> ground of their dependence. <i>But the
+nature of the holiness, to which the desires of the true Christian are
+directed, is no other than the restoration of the image of God: and as
+to the manner of acquiring it, disclaiming with indignation every idea
+of attaining it by his own strength, all his hopes of possessing it rest
+altogether on the divine assurances of the operation of the Holy Spirit,
+in those who cordially embrace the Gospel of Christ. He knows therefore
+that this holiness is not to</i> <span class="smcap">precede</span> <i>his reconciliation to God, and be
+its</i> <span class="smcap">Cause</span>; <i>but to</i> <span class="smcap">follow</span> <i>it, and be its</i> <span class="smcap">Effect</span>. <i>That in short it
+is by</i> <span class="smcap">faith in Christ</span> <i>only<a name="FNanchor_97" id="FNanchor_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> that he is to be justified in the sight
+of God; to be delivered from the condition of a child of wrath, and a
+slave of Satan; to be adopted into the family of God; to become an heir
+of God and a joint heir with Christ, entitled to all the privileges
+which belong to this high relation; here, to the Spirit of Grace, and a
+partial renewal after the image of his Creator; hereafter, to the more
+perfect possession of the Divine likeness, and an inheritance of eternal
+glory.</i>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And as it is in this way, that, in obedience to the dictates of the
+Gospel, the true Christian must originally become possessed of the vital
+spirit and living principle of universal holiness; so, in order to grow
+in grace, he must also study in the same school; finding in the
+consideration of the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, and in the
+contemplation of the life, and character, and sufferings of our blessed
+Saviour, the elements of all practical wisdom, and an inexhaustible
+storehouse of instructions and motives, no otherwise to be so well
+supplied. From the neglect of these peculiar doctrines arise the main
+practical errors of the bulk of professed Christians. These gigantic
+truths retained in view, would put to shame the littleness of their
+dwarfish morality. It would be impossible for them to make these
+harmonize with their low conceptions, of the wretchedness and danger of
+their natural state, which is represented in Scripture as having so
+powerfully called forth the compassion of God, that he sent his only
+begotten Son to rescue us. Where <i>now</i> are their low conceptions of the
+worth of the soul, when means like these were taken to redeem it? Where
+<i>now</i> their inadequate conceptions of the guilt of sin, for which in the
+divine counsels it seemed requisite that an atonement no less costly
+should be made, than that of the blood of the only begotten Son of God?
+How can they reconcile their low standard of Christian practice with the
+representation of our being &ldquo;temples of the Holy Ghost?&rdquo; Their cold
+sense of obligation, and scanty grudged returns of service, with the
+glowing gratitude of those who, having been &ldquo;delivered from the power of
+darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God&#8217;s dear Son,&rdquo; may
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>
+well
+conceive that the labours of a whole life will be but an imperfect
+expression of their thankfulness.</p>
+
+<p>The peculiar doctrines of the Gospel being once admitted, the
+conclusions which have been now suggested are clear and obvious
+deductions of reason. But our neglect of these important truths is still
+less pardonable, because they are distinctly and repeatedly applied in
+Scripture to the very purposes in question, and the whole superstructure
+of Christian morals is grounded on their deep and ample basis. Sometimes
+these truths are represented in Scripture, <i>generally</i>, as furnishing
+Christians with a vigorous and ever present principle of universal
+obedience. And our slowness in learning the lessons of heavenly wisdom
+is still further stimulated, by almost every particular Christian duty
+being occasionally traced to them as to its proper source. They are
+every where represented as warming the hearts of the people of God on
+earth with continual admiration, and thankfulness, and love, and joy; as
+triumphing over the attack of the last great enemy, and as calling forth
+afresh in Heaven the ardent effusions of their unexhausted gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>If then we would indeed be &ldquo;filled with wisdom and spiritual
+understanding;&rdquo; if we would &ldquo;walk worthy of the Lord unto all well
+pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
+knowledge of God;&rdquo; here let us fix our eyes! &ldquo;Laying aside every weight,
+and the sin that does so easily beset us; let us run with patience the
+race that is set before us, <span class="smcap">Looking unto Jesus</span>, the Author and Finisher
+of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the
+cross,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>
+despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
+throne of God<a name="FNanchor_98" id="FNanchor_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Here best we may learn the infinite <i>importance</i> of Christianity. How
+little it can deserve to be treated in that slight and superficial way,
+in which it is in these days regarded by the bulk of nominal Christians,
+who are apt to think it may be enough, and almost equally pleasing to
+God, to be religious <i>in any way</i>, and upon <i>any</i> system. What exquisite
+folly it must be to risk the soul on such a venture, in direct
+contradiction to the dictates of reason, and the express declaration of
+the word of God! &ldquo;How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
+salvation?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<h3>LOOKING UNTO JESUS!</h3>
+
+<p>Here we shall best learn the duty and reasonableness of an absolute and
+unconditional surrender of soul and body to the will and service of
+God.&mdash;&ldquo;We are not our own; for we are bought with a price,&rdquo; and must
+&ldquo;therefore&rdquo; make it our grand concern to &ldquo;glorify God with our bodies
+and our spirits, which are God&#8217;s.&rdquo; Should we be base enough, even if we
+could do it with safety, to make any reserves in our returns of service
+to that gracious Saviour, who &ldquo;gave up <i>himself</i> for us?&rdquo; If we have
+formerly talked of compounding by the performance of some commands for
+the breach of others; can we now bear the mention of a <i>composition</i> of
+duties, or of retaining to ourselves the right of practising <i>little</i>
+sins! The very suggestion of such an idea fills us with indignation and
+shame, if our hearts be not dead to every sense of gratitude.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>LOOKING UNTO JESUS!</h3>
+
+<p>Here we find displayed, in the most lively colours, the guilt of sin,
+and how hateful it must be to the perfect holiness of that Being, &ldquo;who
+is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.&rdquo; When we see that, rather than
+sin should go unpunished, &ldquo;God spared not his own Son,&rdquo; but &ldquo;was
+<i>pleased</i><a name="FNanchor_99" id="FNanchor_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a>, to bruise him and put him to grief&rdquo; for our sakes; how
+vainly must impenitent sinners flatter themselves with the hope of
+escaping the vengeance of Heaven, and buoy themselves up with I know not
+what desperate dreams of the Divine benignity!</p>
+
+<p>Here too we may anticipate the dreadful sufferings of that state, &ldquo;where
+shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth;&rdquo; when rather than that we should
+undergo them, &ldquo;the Son of God&rdquo; himself, who &ldquo;thought it no robbery to be
+equal with God,&rdquo; consented to take upon him our degraded nature with all
+its weaknesses and infirmities; to be &ldquo;a man of sorrows,&rdquo; &ldquo;to hide not
+his face from shame and spitting,&rdquo; &ldquo;to be wounded for our
+transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities,&rdquo; and at length to endure
+the sharpness of death, &ldquo;even the death of the Cross,&rdquo; that he might
+&ldquo;deliver us from the wrath to come,&rdquo; and open the kingdom of Heaven to
+all believers.</p>
+
+<h3>LOOKING UNTO JESUS!</h3>
+
+<p><i>Here</i> best we may learn to grow in the love of God! The certainty of
+his pity and love towards
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>
+repenting sinners, thus irrefragably
+demonstrated, chases away the sense of tormenting fear, and best lays
+the ground in us of a reciprocal affection. And while we steadily
+contemplate this wonderful transaction, and consider in its several
+relations the amazing truth, that &ldquo;God spared not his own Son, but
+delivered him up for us all;&rdquo; if our minds be not utterly dead to every
+impulse of sensibility, the emotions of admiration, of preference, of
+hope, and trust, and joy, cannot but spring up within us, chastened with
+reverential fear, and softened and quickened by overflowing
+gratitude<a name="FNanchor_100" id="FNanchor_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a>. <i>Here</i> we shall become animated by an abiding
+disposition to endeavour to please our great Benefactor; and by a humble
+persuasion, that the weakest endeavours of this nature will not be
+despised by a Being, who has already proved himself so kindly affected
+towards us<a name="FNanchor_101" id="FNanchor_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a>. <i>Here</i> we cannot fail to imbibe an earnest desire of
+possessing his favour, and a conviction, founded on his own declarations
+thus unquestionably confirmed, that the desire shall not be
+disappointed. Whenever we are conscious that we have offended this
+gracious Being, a single thought of the great work of Redemption will be
+enough to fill us with compunction. We shall feel a deep concern, grief
+mingled with indignant shame, for having conducted ourselves so
+unworthily towards one who to us has been infinite in kindness: we shall
+not rest till we have reason to hope that he is reconciled to us; and we
+shall watch over our hearts and conduct in future with a renewed
+jealousy,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>
+lest we should again offend him. To those who are ever so
+little acquainted with the nature of the human mind, it were superfluous
+to remark, that the affections and tempers which have been enumerated,
+are the infallible marks and the constituent properties of Love. Let
+<i>him</i> then who would abound and grow in this Christian principle, be
+much conversant with the great doctrines of the Gospel.</p>
+
+<p>It is obvious, that the attentive and frequent consideration of these
+great doctrines, must have a still more direct tendency to produce and
+cherish in our minds the principle of the love of Christ. But on this
+head, so much was said in a former chapter, as to render any farther
+observations unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>Much also has been already observed concerning the love of our
+fellow-creatures, and it has been distinctly stated to be the
+indispensable, and indeed the characteristic duty of Christians. It
+remains, however to be here farther remarked, that this grace can no
+where be cultivated with more advantage than at the foot of the cross.
+No where can our Saviour&#8217;s dying injunction to the exercise of this
+virtue be recollected with more effect; &ldquo;This is my commandment, that ye
+love one another as I have loved you.&rdquo; No where can the admonition of
+the Apostle more powerfully affect us; &ldquo;Be ye kind one to another,
+tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ&#8217;s sake,
+hath forgiven you.&rdquo; The view of mankind which is here presented to us,
+as having been all involved in one common ruin; and the offer of
+deliverance held out to all, by the Son of God&#8217;s giving of himself up to
+pay the price of our reconciliation, produce that sympathy towards our
+fellow-creatures,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>
+which, by the constitution of our nature, seldom
+fails to result from the consciousness of an identity of interests and a
+similarity of fortunes. Pity for an unthinking world assists this
+impression. Our enmities soften and melt away: we are ashamed of
+thinking much of the <i>petty injuries</i> which we may have suffered, when
+we consider what the Son of God, &ldquo;who did no wrong, neither was guile
+found in his mouth,&rdquo; patiently underwent. Our hearts become tender while
+we contemplate this signal act of loving-kindness. We grow desirous of
+imitating what we cannot but admire. A vigorous principle of enlarged
+and active charity springs up within us; and we go forth with alacrity,
+desirous of treading in the steps of our blessed Master, and of
+manifesting our gratitude for his unmerited goodness, by bearing each
+others burdens, and abounding in the disinterested labours of
+benevolence.</p>
+
+<h3>LOOKING UNTO JESUS!</h3>
+
+<p><i>He</i> was meek and lowly of heart, and from the study of <i>his</i> character
+we shall best learn the lessons of humility. Contemplating the work of
+Redemption, we become more and more impressed with the sense of our
+natural darkness, and helplessness, and misery, from which it was
+requisite to ransom us at such a price; more and more conscious that we
+are utterly unworthy of all the amazing condescension and love which
+have been manifested towards us; ashamed of the callousness of our
+tenderest sensibility, and of the poor returns of our most active
+services. Considerations like these, abating our pride and reducing our
+opinion of <i>ourselves</i>, naturally moderate
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+our pretensions towards
+<i>others</i>. We become less disposed to exact that respect for our persons,
+and that deference for our authority, which we naturally covet; we less
+sensibly feel a slight, and less hotly resent it; we grow less
+irritable, less prone to be dissatisfied; more soft, and meek, and
+courteous, and placable, and condescending. We are not literally
+required to practise the same humiliating submissions, to which our
+blessed Saviour himself was not ashamed to stoop<a name="FNanchor_102" id="FNanchor_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a>; but the <i>spirit</i>
+of the remark applies to us, &ldquo;the servant is not greater than his Lord:&rdquo;
+and we should especially bear this truth in mind, when the occasion
+calls upon us to discharge some duty, or patiently to suffer some ill
+treatment, whereby our pride will be wounded, and we are likely to be in
+some degree degraded from the rank we had possessed in the world&#8217;s
+estimation. At the same time the Sacred Scriptures assuring us, that to
+the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, purchased for us by the
+death of Christ, we must be indebted for the success of all our
+endeavours after improvement in virtue; the conviction of this truth
+tends to render us diffident of our own powers, and to suppress the
+first risings of vanity. Thus, while we are conducted to heights of
+virtue no otherwise attainable, due care is taken to prevent our
+becoming giddy from our elevation<a name="FNanchor_103" id="FNanchor_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a>. It is the Scripture
+characteristic of the Gospel system, that by it all disposition to
+exalt
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>
+ourselves is excluded; and if we really grow in grace, we shall
+grow also in humility.</p>
+
+<h3>LOOKING UNTO JESUS!</h3>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He endured the cross, despising the shame.&rdquo;&mdash;While we steadily
+contemplate this solemn scene, that sober frame of spirit is produced
+within us, which best befits the Christian, militant here on earth. We
+become impressed with a sense of the shortness and uncertainty of time,
+and that it behoves us to be diligent in making provision for eternity.
+In such a temper of mind, the pomps and vanities of life are cast behind
+us as the baubles of children.&mdash;We lose our relish for the frolics of
+gaiety, the race of ambition, or the grosser gratifications of
+voluptuousness. In the case even of those objects, which may more justly
+claim the attention of reasonable and immortal beings; in our family
+arrangements, in our plans of life, in our schemes of business, we
+become, without relinquishing the path of duty, more moderate in
+pursuit, and more indifferent about the issue. Here also we learn to
+correct the world&#8217;s false estimate of things, and to &ldquo;look through the
+shallowness of earthly grandeur<a name="FNanchor_104" id="FNanchor_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a>;&rdquo; to venerate what is truly
+excellent and noble, though under a despised and degraded form; and to
+cultivate within ourselves that true magnanimity, which can make us rise
+superior to the smiles or frowns of this world; that dignified composure
+of soul which no earthly incidents can destroy or ruffle. Instead of
+repining at any of the little occasional inconveniences we may meet with
+in
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+our passage through life; we are almost ashamed of the multiplied
+comforts and enjoyments of our condition, when we think of him, who,
+though &ldquo;the Lord of glory,&rdquo; &ldquo;had not where to lay his head.&rdquo; And if it
+be our lot to undergo evils of more than ordinary magnitude, we are
+animated under them by reflecting, that we are hereby more conformed to
+the example of our blessed Master: though we must ever recollect one
+important difference, that the sufferings of Christ were voluntarily
+borne for <i>our</i> benefit, and were probably far more exquisitely
+agonizing than any which we are called upon to undergo. Besides, it must
+be a solid support to us amidst all our troubles to know, that they do
+not happen to us by chance; that they are not even merely the punishment
+of sin; but that they are the dispensations of a kind Providence, and
+sent on messages of mercy.&mdash;&ldquo;The cup that our Father hath given us,
+shall we not drink it?&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Blessed Saviour! by the bitterness of thy
+pains we may estimate the force of thy love; we are <i>sure</i> of thy
+kindness and compassion; thou wouldst not willingly call on us to
+suffer; thou hast declared unto us, that all things shall finally work
+together for good to them that love thee; and therefore, if thou so
+ordainest it, welcome disappointment and poverty, welcome sickness and
+pain, welcome even shame, and contempt, and calumny. If this be a rough
+and thorny path, it is one in which thou hast gone before us. Where we
+see thy footsteps we cannot repine. Meanwhile, thou wilt support us with
+the consolations of thy grace; and even here thou canst more than
+compensate to us for any temporal sufferings, by the possession of that
+peace,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>
+which the world can neither give nor take away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<h3>LOOKING UNTO JESUS!</h3>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
+before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
+the right hand of God.&rdquo; From the scene of our Saviour&#8217;s weakness and
+degradation, we follow him, in idea, into the realms of glory, where &ldquo;he
+is on the right hand of God; angels, and principalities, and powers
+being made subject unto him.&rdquo;&mdash;But though changed in place, yet not in
+nature, he is still full of sympathy and love; and having died &ldquo;to save
+his people from their sins,&rdquo; &ldquo;he ever <i>liveth</i> to make intercession for
+them.&rdquo; Cheered by this animating view, the Christian&#8217;s fainting spirits
+revive. Under the heaviest burdens he feels his strength recruited; and
+when all around him is dark and stormy, he can lift up an eye to Heaven,
+radiant with hope, and glistening with gratitude. At such a season, no
+dangers can alarm, no opposition can move, no provocations can irritate.
+He may almost adopt, as the language of his sober exultation, what in
+the philosopher was but an idle rant: and, considering that it is only
+the garment of mortality which is subject to the rents of fortune; while
+his spirit, cheered with the divine support, keeps its place within,
+secure and unassailable, he can sometimes almost triumph at the stake,
+or on the scaffold, and cry out amidst the severest buffets of
+adversity, &ldquo;Thou beatest but the case of Anaxarchus.&rdquo; But it is rarely
+that the Christian is elevated with this &ldquo;joy unspeakable and full of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>
+glory:&rdquo; he even lends himself to these views with moderation and
+reserve. Often, alas! emotions of another kind fill him with grief and
+confusion: and conscious of having acted unworthy of his high calling,
+perhaps of having exposed himself to the just censure of a world ready
+enough to spy out his infirmities, he seems to himself almost &ldquo;to have
+crucified the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.&rdquo; But let
+neither his joys intoxicate, nor his sorrows too much depress him. Let
+him still remember that his <i>chief</i> business while on earth is not to
+meditate, but to act; that the seeds of moral corruption are apt to
+spring up within him, and that it is requisite for him to watch over his
+own heart with incessant care; that he is to discharge with fidelity the
+duties of his particular station, and to conduct himself, according to
+his measure, after the example of his blessed Master, whose meat and
+drink it was to do the work of his heavenly Father; that he is
+diligently to cultivate the talents with which God has entrusted him,
+and assiduously to employ them in doing justice and shewing mercy, while
+he guards against the assaults of any internal enemy. In short, he is to
+demean himself, in all the common affairs of life, like an <i>accountable</i>
+creature, who, in correspondence with the Scripture character of
+Christians, is &ldquo;waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.&rdquo; Often
+therefore he questions himself, &ldquo;Am I employing my time, my fortune, my
+bodily and mental powers, so as to be able to &lsquo;render up my account with
+joy, and not with grief?&rsquo; Am I &lsquo;adorning the doctrine of God my Saviour
+in all things;&rsquo; and proving that the servants of Christ, animated by a
+principle
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
+of filial affection, which renders their work a service of
+perfect freedom, are capable of as active and as persevering exertions,
+as the votaries of fame, or the slaves of ambition, or the drudges of
+avarice?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Thus, without interruption to his labours, he may interpose occasional
+thoughts of things unseen; and amidst the many little intervals of
+business, may calmly look upwards to the heavenly Advocate, who is ever
+pleading the cause of his people, and obtaining for them needful
+supplies of grace and consolation. It is these realizing views, which
+give the Christian a relish for the worship and service of the heavenly
+world. And if these blessed images, &ldquo;seen but through a glass darkly,&rdquo;
+can thus refresh the soul: what must be its state, when on the morning
+of the resurrection it shall awake to the unclouded vision of celestial
+glory! when, &ldquo;to them that look for him, the Son of God shall appear a
+second time without sin unto salvation!&rdquo; when &ldquo;sighing and sorrow being
+fled away;&rdquo; when doubts and fears no more disquieting, and the painful
+consciousness of remaining imperfections no longer weighing down the
+spirit, they shall enter upon the fruition of &ldquo;those joys, which eye
+hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of
+man to conceive;&rdquo; and shall bear their part in that blessed
+anthem&mdash;&ldquo;Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto
+the Lamb,&rdquo; for ever and ever!</p>
+
+<p>Thus (never let it be forgotten) the main distinction between real
+Christianity, and the system of the bulk of nominal Christians, chiefly
+consists in the different place which is assigned in the two schemes to
+the peculiar doctrines of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>
+the Gospel. These, in the scheme of nominal
+Christians, if admitted at all, appear but like the stars of the
+firmament to the ordinary eye. Those splendid luminaries draw forth
+perhaps occasionally a transient expression of admiration, when we
+behold their beauty, or hear of their distances, magnitudes, or
+properties: now and then too we are led, perhaps, to muse upon their
+possible uses: but however curious as subjects of speculation, after
+all, it must be confessed, they twinkle to the common observer with a
+vain and &ldquo;idle&rdquo; lustre; and except in the dreams of the astrologer, have
+no influence on human happiness, or any concern with the course and
+order of the world. But to the <i>real</i> Christian, on the contrary, <span class="smcap">these</span>
+<i>peculiar doctrines constitute the center to which he gravitates! the
+very sun of his system! the soul of the world! the origin of all that is
+excellent and lovely! the source of light, and life, and motion, and
+genial warmth, and plastic energy!</i> Dim is the light of reason, and cold
+and comfortless our state, while left to her unassisted guidance. Even
+the Old Testament itself, though a revelation from Heaven, shines but
+with feeble and scanty rays. But the blessed truths of the Gospel are
+now unveiled to <i>our</i> eyes, and <i>we</i> are called upon to behold, and to
+enjoy &ldquo;the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of
+Jesus Christ,&rdquo; in the full radiance of its meridian splendor. The words
+of inspiration best express our highly favoured state: &ldquo;We all, with
+open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
+into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
+Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Thou art the source and center of all minds,</span>
+<span class="i0">Their only point of rest, <span class="smcap">eternal word</span></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">From thee departing, they are lost, and rove</span>
+<span class="i0">At random, without honour, hope, or peace:</span>
+<span class="i0">From thee is all that soothes the life of man;</span>
+<span class="i0">His high endeavour, and his glad success;</span>
+<span class="i0">His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.</span>
+<span class="i0">But O! thou bounteous Giver of all good!</span>
+<span class="i0">Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown:</span>
+<span class="i0">Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor,</span>
+<span class="i0">And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h5><i>On the Excellence of Christianity in certain important Particulars.
+Argument which results thence in Proof of its divine Origin.</i></h5>
+
+<p>The writer of the present work, having now completed a faint delineation
+of the leading features of real Christianity, may be permitted to
+suspend for a few moments the farther execution of his plan, for the
+purpose of pointing out some excellences which she really possesses; but
+which, as they are not to be found in that superficial system which so
+unworthily usurps her name, appear scarcely to have attracted sufficient
+notice. If he should seem to be deviating from the plan which he
+proposed to himself, he would suggest as his excuse; that the
+observations which he is about to offer will furnish a strong argument,
+in favour of the correctness of his preceding delineation of
+Christianity, since she will <i>now</i> appear to exhibit more clearly, than
+as she is usually drawn, the characters of her Divine original.</p>
+
+<p>It holds true, indeed, in the case of Christianity, as in that of all
+the works of God, that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>
+though a superficial and cursory view cannot
+fail to discover to us somewhat of their beauty; yet, when on a more
+careful and accurate scrutiny we become better acquainted with their
+properties, we become also more deeply impressed by a conviction of
+their excellence. We may begin by referring to the last chapter for an
+instance of the truth of this assertion. Therein was pointed out that
+intimate connection, that perfect harmony, between the leading doctrines
+and the practical precepts of Christianity, which is apt to escape the
+attention of the ordinary eye.</p>
+
+<p>It may not be improper also to remark, though the position be so obvious
+as almost to render the statement of it needless, that there is the same
+close connection and perfect harmony in the leading doctrines of
+Christianity among each other. It is self-evident, that the corruption
+of human nature, that our reconciliation to God by the atonement of
+Christ, and that the restoration of our primitive dignity by the
+sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, are all parts of one whole,
+united in close dependence and mutual congruity.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps, however, it has not been sufficiently noticed, that in the
+chief practical precepts of Christianity, there is the same essential
+agreement, the same mutual dependency of one upon another. Let us survey
+this fresh instance of the wisdom of that system, which is the only
+solid foundation of our present or future happiness.</p>
+
+<p>The virtues most strongly and repeatedly enjoined in Scripture, and by
+our progress in which we may best measure our advancement in holiness,
+are the fear and love of God and of Christ; love, kindness, and meekness
+towards our fellow-creatures; indifference to the possessions
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>
+and
+events of this life, in comparison with our concern about eternal
+things; self-denial, and humility.</p>
+
+<p>It has been already pointed out in many particulars, how essentially
+such of these Christian graces as respect the Divine Being are connected
+with those, which have more directly for their objects our
+fellow-creatures and ourselves. But in the case of these two last
+descriptions of Christian graces; the more attentively we consider them
+with reference to the acknowledged principles of human nature, and to
+indisputable facts, the more we shall be convinced that they afford
+mutual aid towards the acquisition of each other; and that when
+acquired, they all harmonize with each other in perfect and essential
+union. This truth may perhaps be sufficiently apparent from what has
+been already remarked; but it may not be useless to dwell on it a little
+more in detail. Take then the instances of loving-kindness and meekness
+towards others; and observe the solid foundation which is laid for them
+in self-denial, in moderation as to the good things of this life, and in
+humility. The chief causes of enmity among men are, pride and
+self-importance, the high opinion which men entertain of themselves, and
+the consequent deference which they exact from others: the
+over-valuation of worldly possessions and of worldly honours, and in
+consequence, a too eager competition for them. The rough edges of one
+man rub against those of another, if the expression may be allowed; and
+the friction is often such as to injure the works, and disturb the just
+arrangements and regular motions of the social machine. But by
+Christianity all these roughnesses are filed down: every wheel rolls
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>
+round smoothly in the performance of its appointed function, and there
+is nothing to retard the several movements, or break in upon the general
+order. The religious system indeed of the bulk of nominal Christians is
+satisfied with some tolerable appearances of virtue: and accordingly,
+while it recommends love and beneficence, it tolerates, as has been
+shewn, pride and vanity in many cases; it even countenances and commends
+the excessive valuation of character; and at least allows a man&#8217;s whole
+soul to be absorbed in the pursuit of the object which he is following,
+be it what it may of personal or professional success. But though these
+latter qualities may, for the most part, fairly enough consist with a
+soft exterior and courtly demeanor, they cannot so well accord with the
+genuine internal principle of love. Some cause of discontent, some
+ground of jealousy or of envy will arise, some suspicion will corrode,
+some disappointment will sour, some slight or calumny will irritate and
+provoke reprisals. In the higher walks of life, indeed, we learn to
+disguise our emotions; but such will be the real inward feelings of the
+soul, and they will frequently betray themselves when we are off our
+guard, or when we are not likely to be disparaged by the discovery. This
+state of the higher orders, in which men are scuffling eagerly for the
+same objects, and wearing all the while such an appearance of sweetness
+and complacency, has often appeared to me to be not ill illustrated by
+the image of a gaming table. There, every man is intent only on his own
+profit; the good success of one is the ill success of another, and
+therefore the general state of mind of the parties engaged may be pretty
+well conjectured. All this, however, does not prevent, in well-bred
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>
+societies, an exterior of perfect gentleness and good humour. But let
+the same employment be carried on among the lower orders, who are not so
+well schooled in the art of disguising their feelings; or in places
+where, by general connivance, people are allowed to give vent to their
+real emotions; and every passion will display itself, by which the
+&ldquo;human face divine&rdquo; can be distorted and deformed. For those who never
+have been present at so humiliating a scene, the pencil of Hogarth has
+provided a representation of it, which is scarcely exaggerated; and the
+horrid name<a name="FNanchor_105" id="FNanchor_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a>, by which it is familiarly known among its frequenters,
+sufficiently attests the fidelity of its resemblance.</p>
+
+<p>But Christianity is not satisfied with producing merely the specious
+guise of virtue. She requires the substantial reality, which may stand
+the scrutinizing eye of that Being &ldquo;who searches the heart.&rdquo; Meaning
+therefore that the Christian should live and breathe; in an atmosphere,
+as it were, of benevolence, she forbids whatever can tend to obstruct
+its diffusion or vitiate its purity. It is on this principle that
+Emulation is forbidden: for, besides that this passion almost insensibly
+degenerates into envy, and that it derives its origin chiefly from pride
+and a desire of self-exaltation; how can we easily love our neighbour as
+ourselves, if we consider him at the same time our rival, and are intent
+upon surpassing him in the pursuit of whatever is the subject of our
+competition?</p>
+
+<p>Christianity, again, teaches us not to set our hearts on earthly
+possessions and earthly honours;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>
+and thereby provides for our really
+loving, or even cordially forgiving, those who have been more successful
+than ourselves in the attainment of them, or who have even designedly
+thwarted us in the pursuit. &ldquo;Let the rich,&rdquo; says the Apostle, &ldquo;rejoice
+in that he is brought low.&rdquo; How can he who means to attempt, in any
+degree, to obey this precept, be irreconcilably hostile towards any one
+who may have been instrumental in his depression?</p>
+
+<p>Christianity also teaches us not to prize human estimation at a very
+high rate; and thereby provides for the practice of her injunction, to
+love from the heart those who, justly or unjustly, may have attacked our
+reputation, and wounded our character. She commands not the shew, but
+the reality of meekness and gentleness; and by thus taking away the
+aliment of anger and the fomenters of discord, she provides for the
+maintenance of peace, and the restoration of good temper among men, when
+it may have sustained a temporary interruption.</p>
+
+<p>It is another capital excellence of Christianity, that she values moral
+attainments at a far higher rate than intellectual acquisitions, and
+proposes to conduct her followers to the heights of virtue rather than
+of knowledge. On the contrary, most of the false religious systems which
+have prevailed in the world, have proposed to reward the labour of their
+votary, by drawing aside the veil which concealed from the vulgar eye
+their hidden mysteries, and by introducing him to the knowledge of their
+deeper and more sacred doctrines.</p>
+
+<p>This is eminently the case in the Hindoo, and in the Mahometan Religion,
+in that of China, and, for the most part, in the various modifications
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>
+of ancient Paganism. In systems which proceed on this principle, it is
+obvious that the bulk of mankind can never make any great proficiency.
+There was accordingly, among the nations of antiquity, one system,
+whatever it was, for the learned, and another for the illiterate. Many
+of the philosophers spoke out, and professed to keep the lower orders in
+ignorance for the general good; plainly suggesting that the bulk of
+mankind was to be considered as almost of an inferior species. Aristotle
+himself countenanced this opinion. An opposite mode of proceeding
+naturally belongs to Christianity, which without distinction professes
+an equal regard for all human beings, and which was characterized by her
+first Promulgator as the messenger of &ldquo;glad tidings to the poor.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But her preference of moral to intellectual excellence is not to be
+praised, only because it is congenial with her general character, and
+suitable to the ends which she professes to have in view. It is the part
+of true wisdom to endeavour to excel there, where we may really attain
+to excellence. This consideration might be alone sufficient to direct
+our efforts to the acquisition of virtue rather than of knowledge.&mdash;How
+limited is the range of the greatest human abilities! how scanty the
+stores of the richest human knowledge! Those who undeniably have held
+the first rank, both for natural and acquired endowments, instead of
+thinking their pre-eminence a just ground of self-exaltation, have
+commonly been the most forward to confess that their views were bounded
+and their attainments moderate. Had they indeed been less candid, this
+is a discovery which we could not have failed to make of ourselves.
+Experience daily furnishes us with examples of weakness, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>
+short-sightedness, and error, in the wisest and the most learned of men,
+which might serve to confound the pride of human wisdom.</p>
+
+<p>Not so in morals.&mdash;Made at first in the likeness of God, and still
+bearing about us some faint traces of our high original, we are offered
+by our blessed Redeemer the means of purifying ourselves from our
+corruptions, and of once more regaining the image of our Heavenly
+Father<a name="FNanchor_106" id="FNanchor_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a>. In love, the compendious expression for almost every
+virtue, in fortitude under all its forms, in justice, in humility, and
+in all the other graces of the Christian character, we are made capable
+of attaining to heights of real elevation: and were we but faithful in
+the use of the means of grace which we enjoy; the operations of the Holy
+Spirit, prompting and aiding our diligent endeavours, would infallibly
+crown our labours with success, and make us partakers of a Divine
+nature. The writer has himself known some who have been instances of the
+truth of this remark. To the memory of one,<a name="FNanchor_107" id="FNanchor_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> now no more, may he be
+permitted to offer the last tribute of respectful friendship? His
+course, short but laborious, has at length terminated in a better world;
+and his luminous tract still shines in the sight, and animates the
+efforts of all who knew him, and &ldquo;marshals them the way&rdquo; to Heavenly
+glory. Let me not be thought to undervalue any of the gifts of God, or
+of the fruits of human exertion: but let not these be prized beyond
+their proper worth. If one of those little industrious reptiles, to
+which we have been well sent for a lesson
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>
+of diligence and foresight,
+were to pride itself upon its strength, because it could carry off a
+larger grain of wheat than any other of its fellow-ants; should we not
+laugh at the vanity which could be highly gratified with such a
+contemptible pre-eminence? And is it far different to the eye of reason,
+when man, weak, short-sighted man, is vain of surpassing others in
+knowledge, in which at best his progress must be so limited; forgetting
+the true dignity of his nature, and the path which would conduct him to
+real excellence?</p>
+
+<p>The unparalleled value of the precepts of Christianity ought not be
+passed over altogether unnoticed in this place, though it be needless to
+dwell on it; since it has been often justly recognized and asserted, and
+has in some points been ably illustrated, and powerfully enforced by the
+masterly pen of a late writer. It is by no means however the design of
+this little work to attempt to trace the various excellencies of
+Christianity; but it may not have been improper to point out a few
+particulars, which, in the course of investigation, have naturally
+fallen under our notice, and hitherto perhaps may scarcely have been
+enough regarded. Every such instance, it should always be remembered, is
+a fresh proof of Christianity being a revelation from God.</p>
+
+<p>It is still less, however, the intention of the writer to attempt to
+vindicate the Divine origin of our Holy Religion. This task has often
+been executed by far abler advocates. In particular, every Christian,
+with whatever reserves his commendations must be disqualified, should be
+forward to confess his obligations <i>on this head</i> to the author before
+alluded to; whose uncommon acuteness has enabled him, in a field already
+so
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+much trodden, to discover arguments which had eluded the observation
+of all by whom he was preceded, and whose unequalled perspicuity puts
+his reader in complete possession of the fruits of his sagacity.
+Anxious, however, in my little measure, to contribute to the support of
+this great cause, may it be permitted me to state one argument, which
+impresses my mind with particular force. This is, the great variety of
+the <i>kinds</i> of evidence which have been adduced in proof of
+Christianity, and the confirmation thereby afforded of its truth:&mdash;the
+proof from prophecy&mdash;from miracles&mdash;from the character of Christ&mdash;from
+that of his Apostles&mdash;from the nature of the doctrines of
+Christianity&mdash;from the nature and excellence of her <i>practical
+precepts</i>&mdash;from the accordance we have lately pointed out between the
+doctrinal and practical system of Christianity, whether considered each
+in itself or in their mutual relation to each other&mdash;from other species
+of internal evidence, afforded in the more abundance in proportion as
+the sacred records have been scrutinized with greater care&mdash;from the
+account of co-temporary or nearly co-temporary writers&mdash;from the
+impossibility of accounting on any other supposition, than that of the
+truth of Christianity, for its promulgation and early prevalence: these
+and other lines of argument have all been brought forward and ably urged
+by different writers, in proportion as they have struck the minds of
+different observers more or less forcibly. Now, granting that some
+obscure and illiterate men, residing in a distant province of the Roman
+empire, had plotted to impose a forgery upon the world; though some
+foundation for the imposture might, and indeed must, have been attempted
+to be laid; it seems, at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+least to my understanding, morally impossible
+that <i>so many different species of proofs</i>, and all so strong, should
+have lent their <i>concurrent</i> aid, and have united their <i>joint</i> force in
+the establishment of the falsehood. It may assist the reader in
+estimating the value of this argument, to consider upon how different a
+footing, in this respect, has rested every other religious system,
+without exception, which was ever proposed to the world; and, indeed,
+every other historical fact, of which the truth has been at all
+contested.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h5><i>Brief Inquiry into the present State of Christianity in this Country,
+with some of the Causes which have led to its critical Circumstances.
+Its Importance to us as a political Community, and practical Hints for
+which the foregoing considerations give occasion.</i></h5>
+
+<p>It may not be altogether improper to remind the reader, that hitherto
+our discussion has been concerning the prevailing Religious opinions
+merely of <i>professed Christians</i>: no longer confining ourselves to
+persons of this description, let us now extend our inquiry, and briefly
+investigate the <i>general</i> state of Christianity in this country.</p>
+
+<p>The tendency of Religion in general to promote the temporal well-being
+of political communities, is a fact which depends on such obvious and
+undeniable principles, and which is so forcibly inculcated by the
+history of all ages, that there can be no necessity for entering into a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
+formal proof of its truth. It has indeed been maintained, not merely by
+Schoolmen and Divines, but by the most celebrated philosophers, and
+moralists, and politicians of every age.</p>
+
+<p>The peculiar excellence in this respect also of Christianity, considered
+independently of its truth or falsehood, has been recognized by many
+writers, who, to say the least, were not disposed to exaggerate its
+merits. Either or both of these propositions being admitted, the state
+of Religion in a country at any given period, not to mention its
+connection with the eternal happiness of the inhabitants, immediately
+becomes a question of great <i>political</i> importance: and in particular it
+must be material to ascertain whether Religion be in an advancing or in
+a declining state; and if the latter be the case, whether there be any
+practicable means for preventing at least its farther declension.</p>
+
+<p>If the representations contained in the preceding chapters, of the state
+of Christianity among the bulk of professed Christians, be not very
+erroneous; they may well excite serious apprehension in the mind of
+every reader, when considered merely in a political view. And this
+apprehension would be encreased, if there should appear reason to
+believe that, for some time past, Religion has been on the decline
+amongst us, and that it continues to decline at the present moment.</p>
+
+<p>When it is proposed, however, to inquire into the actual state of
+Religion in any country, and in particular to compare that state with
+its condition at any former period; there is one preliminary observation
+to be made, if we would not be liable to gross error. There exists,
+established by tacit content, in every country, what may be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
+called a
+general standard or tone of morals, varying in the same community at
+different periods, and different at the same period in different ranks
+and situations in society. Whoever falls below this standard, and, not
+unfrequently, whoever also rises above it, offending against this
+general rule, suffers proportionably in the general estimation. Thus a
+regard for character, which, as was formerly remarked, is commonly the
+grand governing principle among men, becomes to a certain degree, though
+no farther, an incitement to morality and virtue. It follows of course,
+that where the practice does no more than come up to the required level,
+it will be no sufficient evidence of the existence, much less will it
+furnish any just measure of the force, of a real internal principle of
+Religion. Christians, Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics, persons of
+ten thousand different sorts of passions and opinions, being members at
+the same time of the same community, and all conscious that they will be
+examined by this same standard, will regulate their conduct accordingly,
+and, with no great difference, will all adjust themselves to the
+required measure.</p>
+
+<p>It must also be remarked, that the causes which tend to raise or to
+depress this standard, commonly produce their effects by slow and almost
+insensible degrees; and that it often continues for some time nearly the
+same, when the circumstances, by which it was fixed, have materially
+altered.</p>
+
+<p>It is a truth which will hardly be contested, that Christianity,
+whenever it has at all prevailed, has raised the general standard of
+morals to a height before unknown. Some actions, which among the
+ancients were scarcely held to be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>
+blemishes in the most excellent
+characters, have been justly considered by the laws of every Christian
+community, as meriting the severest punishments. In other instances,
+virtues formerly rare have become common; and in particular a merciful
+and courteous temper has softened the rugged manners, and humanized the
+brutal ferocity prevalent among the most polished nations of the heathen
+world. But from what has been recently observed, it is manifest, that,
+so far as external appearances are concerned, these effects, when once
+produced by Christianity, are produced alike in those who deny and in
+those who admit her divine original; I had almost said in those who
+reject and those who cordially embrace the doctrines of the Gospel: and
+these effects might and probably would remain for a while, without any
+great apparent alteration, however her spirit might languish, or even
+her authority decline. The form of the temple, as was once beautifully
+remarked, may continue, when the <i>dii tutelares</i> have left it. When we
+are inquiring therefore into the real state of Christianity at any
+period; if we would not be deceived in this important investigation, it
+becomes us to be so much the more careful not to take up with
+superficial appearances.</p>
+
+<p>It may perhaps help us to ascertain the advancing or declining state of
+Christianity in Great Britain at the present moment; and still more to
+discover some of the causes by which that state has been produced, to
+employ a little time in considering what might naturally be expected to
+be its actual situation; what advantages or disadvantages such a
+religion might be expected
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>
+to derive, from the circumstances in which
+it has been placed among us, and from those in which it still continues.</p>
+
+<p>Experience warrants, and reason justifies and explains the assertion,
+that Persecution generally tends to quicken the vigour and extend the
+prevalence of the opinions which she would eradicate. For the peace of
+mankind, it has grown, at length almost into an axiom, that &ldquo;her
+devilish engine back recoils upon herself.&rdquo; Christianity especially has
+always thriven under persecution. At such a season she has no lukewarm
+professors; no adherents concerning whom it is doubtful to what party
+they belong. The Christian is then reminded at every turn, that his
+Master&#8217;s kingdom is not of this world. When all on earth wears a black
+and threatening aspect, he looks up to heaven for consolation; he learns
+practically to consider himself as a pilgrim and stranger. He then
+cleaves to fundamentals, and examines well his foundation, as at the
+hour of death. When Religion is in a state of external quiet and
+prosperity, the contrary of all this naturally takes place. The soldiers
+of the church militant then forget that they are in a state of warfare.
+Their ardour slackens, their zeal languishes. Like a colony long settled
+in a strange country<a name="FNanchor_108" id="FNanchor_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a>, they are gradually assimilated in features,
+and demeanour, and language, to the native inhabitants, till at length
+almost every vestige of peculiarity dies away.</p>
+
+<p>If, in general, persecution and prosperity be productive respectively of
+these opposite effects; this circumstance alone might teach us what
+expectations
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>
+to form concerning the state of Christianity in this
+country, where she has long been embodied in an establishment, which is
+intimately blended, and is generally and justly believed to have a
+common interest with our civil institutions; which is liberally, though
+by no means too liberally, endowed, and, not more favoured in wealth
+than dignity, has been allowed &ldquo;to exalt her mitred front in courts and
+parliaments:&rdquo; an establishment&mdash;the offices in which are extremely
+numerous, and these, not like the priesthood of the Jews, filled up from
+a particular race, or, like that of the Hindoos, held by a separate cast
+in entailed succession; but supplied from every class, and branching by
+its widely extended ramifications into almost every individual family in
+the community: an establishment&mdash;of which the ministers are not, like
+the Roman Catholic clergy, debarred from forming matrimonial ties, but
+are allowed to unite themselves, and multiply their holdings to the
+general mass of the community by the close bonds of family connection;
+not like some of the severer of the religious orders, immured in
+colleges and monasteries, but, both by law and custom, permitted to mix
+without restraint in all the intercourses of society.</p>
+
+<p>Such being the circumstances of the pastors of the church, let the
+community in general be supposed to have been for some time in a rapidly
+improving state of commercial prosperity; let it also be supposed to
+have been making no unequal progress in all those arts, and sciences,
+and literary productions, which have ever been the growth of a polished
+age, and are the sure marks of a highly finished condition of society.
+It is not difficult to anticipate the effects likely to be
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>
+produced on
+<i>vital</i> Religion, both in the clergy and the laity, by such a state of
+external prosperity as has been assigned to them respectively. And these
+effects would be infallibly furthered, where the country in question
+should enjoy a free constitution of government. We formerly had occasion
+to quote the remark of an accurate observer of the stage of human life,
+that a much looser system of morals commonly prevails in the higher,
+than in the middling and lower orders of society. Now, in every country,
+of which the middling classes are daily growing in wealth and
+consequence, by the success of their commercial speculations; and, most
+of all, in a country having such a constitution as our own, where the
+acquisition of riches is the possession also of rank and power; with the
+comforts and refinements, the vices also of the higher orders are
+continually descending, and a mischievous uniformity of sentiments, and
+manners, and morals, gradually diffuses itself throughout the whole
+community. The multiplication of great cities also, and above all, the
+habit, ever increasing with the increasing wealth of the country, of
+frequenting a splendid and luxurious metropolis, would powerfully tend
+to accelerate the discontinuance of the religious habits of a purer age,
+and to accomplish the substitution of a more relaxed morality. And it
+must even be confessed, that the commercial spirit, much as we are
+indebted to it, is not naturally favourable to the maintenance of the
+religious principle in a vigorous and lively state.</p>
+
+<p>In times like these, therefore, the strict precepts and self-denying
+habits of Christianity naturally slide into disuse; and even among the
+better sort of Christians, are likely to be softened,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+so far at least
+as to be rendered less abhorrent from the general disposition to
+relaxation and indulgence. In such prosperous circumstances, men, in
+truth, are apt to think very little about religion. Christianity,
+therefore, seldom occupying the attention of the bulk of nominal
+Christians, and being scarcely at all the object of their study, we
+should expect, of course, to find them extremely unacquainted with its
+tenets. Those doctrines and principles indeed, which it contains in
+common with the law of the land, or which are sanctioned by the general
+standard of morals formerly described, being brought into continual
+notice and mention by the common occurrences of life, might continue to
+be recognized. But whatever she contains peculiar to herself, and which
+should not be habitually brought into recollection by the incidents of
+every day, might be expected to be less and less thought of, till at
+length it should be almost wholly forgotten. Still more might this be
+naturally expected to become the case, if the peculiarities in question
+should be, from their very nature, at war with pride, and luxury, and
+worldly mindedness, the too general concomitants of rapidly increasing
+wealth: and this would particularly happen among the laity; if the
+circumstance of their having been at any time abused to purposes of
+hypocrisy or fanaticism, should have prompted even some of the better
+disposed of the clergy, perhaps from well intentioned though erroneous
+motives, to bring them forward less frequently in their discourses on
+Religion.</p>
+
+<p>When so many should thus have been straying out of the right path, some
+bold reformer might, from time to time, be likely to arise,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>
+who should
+not unjustly charge them with their deviation: but, though right perhaps
+in the main; yet deviating himself also in an opposite direction, and
+creating disgust by his violence, or vulgarity, or absurdities, he might
+fail, except in a few instances, to produce the effect of recalling them
+from their wanderings.</p>
+
+<p>Still, however, the Divine Original of Christianity would not be
+professedly disavowed; partly from a real, and more commonly from a
+political, deference for the established faith, but most of all, from
+the bulk of mankind being not yet prepared, as it were, to throw away
+the scabbard, and to venture their eternal happiness on the issue of its
+falsehood. Some bolder spirits, indeed, might be expected to despise the
+cautious moderation of these timid reasoners, and to pronounce
+decisively, that the Bible was a forgery: while the generality,
+professing to believe it genuine, should, less consistently, be
+satisfied with remaining ignorant of its contents; and when pressed,
+should discover themselves by no means to believe many of the most
+important particulars contained in it.</p>
+
+<p>When, by the operation of causes like these, any country has at length
+grown into the condition which has been here stated; it is but too
+obvious, that, in the bulk of the community, Religion, already sunk very
+low, must be hastening fast to her entire dissolution. Causes, energetic
+and active like these, though accidental hindrances may occasionally
+thwart their operation, will not at once become sluggish and
+unproductive. Their effect is sure; and the time is fast approaching,
+when Christianity will be almost as openly disavowed in the language, as
+in fact it is already supposed to have disappeared
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>
+from the conduct of
+men; when infidelity will be held to be the necessary appendage of a man
+of fashion, and <i>to believe</i> will be deemed the indication of a feeble
+mind and a contracted understanding.</p>
+
+<p>Something like what have been here premised are the conjectures which we
+should naturally be led to form, concerning the state of Christianity in
+this country, and its probable issue, from considering her own nature,
+and the peculiar circumstances in which she has been placed. That her
+real condition differs not much from the result of this reasoning from
+probability, must, with whatever regret, be confessed by all who take a
+careful and impartial survey of the actual situation of things among us.
+But our hypothetical delineation, if just, will have approved itself to
+the reader&#8217;s conviction, as we have gone along, by suggesting its
+archetypes; and we may therefore be spared the painful and invidious
+task of pointing out, in detail, the several particulars wherein our
+statements are justified by facts. Every where we may actually trace the
+effects of increasing wealth and luxury, in banishing one by one the
+habits, and new-modelling the phraseology, of stricter times; and in
+diffusing throughout the middle ranks those relaxed morals and
+dissipated manners, which were formerly confined to the higher classes
+of society. We meet, indeed, with more refinement, and more generally
+with those amiable courtesies which are its proper fruits: those vices
+also have become less frequent, which naturally infest the darkness of a
+ruder and less polished age, and which recede on the approach of light
+and civilization:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Defluxit numerus Saturnius, &amp; grave virus</span>
+<span class="i0">Munditi&aelig; pepulere:</span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p>But with these grossnesses, Religion, on the other hand, has also
+declined; God is forgotten; his providence is exploded; his hand is
+lifted up, but we see it not; he multiplies our comforts, but we are not
+grateful; he visits us with chastisements, but we are not contrite. The
+portion of the week set apart to the service of Religion we give up,
+without reluctance, to vanity and dissipation. And it is much if, on the
+periodical return of a day of national humiliation, having availed
+ourselves of the certainty of an interval from public business to secure
+a meeting for convivial purposes; we do not insult the Majesty of Heaven
+by feasting and jollity, and thus deliberately disclaim our being
+included in the solemn services of this season of penitence and
+recollection<a name="FNanchor_109" id="FNanchor_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>But when there is not this open and shameless disavowal of Religion, few
+traces of it are to be found. Improving in almost every other branch
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>
+of
+knowledge, we have become less and less acquainted with Christianity.
+The preceding chapters have pointed out, among those who believe
+themselves to be orthodox Christians, a deplorable ignorance of the
+Religion they profess, an utter forgetfulness of the peculiar doctrines
+by which it is characterized, a disposition to regard it as a mere
+system of ethics, and, what might seem an inconsistency, at the same
+time a most inadequate idea of the nature and strictness of its
+practical principles. This declension of Christianity into a mere system
+of ethics, may partly be accounted for, as has been lately suggested; by
+considering the corruption of our nature, what Christianity is, and in
+what circumstances she has been placed in this country. But it has also
+been considerably promoted by one peculiar cause, on which, for many
+reasons, it may not be improper to dwell a little more particularly.</p>
+
+<p>Christianity in its best days (for the credit of our representations let
+this be remembered, by those who object to our statement as austere and
+contracted) was such as it has been delineated in the present work. This
+was the Religion of the most eminent Reformers, of those bright
+ornaments of our country who suffered martyrdom under queen Mary; of
+their successors in the times of Elizabeth; in short of all the pillars
+of our Protestant church; of many of its highest dignitaries; of
+Davenant, of Hall, of Reynolds, of Beveridge, of Hooker, of Andrews, of
+Smith, of Leighton, of Usher, of Hopkins, of Baxter<a name="FNanchor_110" id="FNanchor_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a>, and of many
+others of scarcely
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>
+inferior note. In their pages the peculiar doctrines
+of Christianity were every where visible, and on the deep and solid
+basis of these doctrinal truths were laid the foundations of a
+superstructure of morals proportionably broad and exalted. Of this fact
+their writings still extant are a decisive proof: and they who may want
+leisure, or opportunity, or inclination, for the perusal of these
+valuable records, may satisfy themselves of the truth of the assertion,
+that, such as we have stated it, was the Christianity of those times, by
+consulting our Articles and Homilies, or even by carefully examining our
+excellent Liturgy. But from that tendency to deterioration lately
+noticed, these great fundamental truths began to be somewhat less
+prominent in the compositions of many of the leading divines before the
+time of the civil wars. During that period, however, the peculiar
+doctrines of Christianity were grievously abused by many of the
+sectaries, who were foremost in the commotions of those unhappy days;
+who, while they talked copiously of the free grace of Christ, and the
+operations of the Holy Spirit, were by their lives an open scandal to
+the name of Christian<a name="FNanchor_111" id="FNanchor_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a>.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p><p>Towards the close of the last century, the divines of the established
+Church (whether it arose from the obscurity of their own views, or from
+a strong impression of former abuses, and of the evils which had
+resulted from them) began to run into a different error. They professed
+to make it their chief object to inculcate the moral and practical
+precepts of Christianity, which they conceived to have been before too
+much neglected; but without sufficiently maintaining, often even without
+justly laying the grand foundation, of a sinner&#8217;s acceptance with God;
+or pointing out how the practical precepts of Christianity grow out of
+her peculiar doctrines, and are inseparably connected with them<a name="FNanchor_112" id="FNanchor_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a>.
+By
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>
+this fatal error, the very genius and essential nature of
+Christianity imperceptibly underwent a change. She no longer retained
+her peculiar characters, or produced that appropriate frame of spirit by
+which her followers had been characterized. Facilis descensus. The
+example thus set was followed during the present century, and its effect
+was aided by various causes already pointed out. In addition to these,
+it may be proper to mention as a cause of powerful operation; that for
+the last fifty years the press has teemed with moral essays, many of
+them published periodically, and most extensively circulated; which,
+being considered either as works of mere entertainment, or, in which at
+least entertainment was to be blended with instruction, rather than as
+religious pieces, were kept free from whatever might give them the air
+of sermons, or cause them to wear an appearance of seriousness,
+inconsistent with the idea of relaxation. But in this way the fatal
+habit, of considering Christian morals as distinct from Christian
+doctrines, insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of
+Christianity went more and more out of sight; and, as might naturally
+have been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and
+decay, being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and
+nutriment. At length, in our own days, these peculiar doctrines have
+almost altogether vanished from the view. Even in many sermons, as we
+have formerly noticed, scarcely any traces of them are to be found.</p>
+
+<p>But the degree of neglect into which they are really fallen, may perhaps
+be rendered still more manifest by appealing to another criterion. There
+is a certain class of publications, of which
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>
+it is the object to give
+us exact delineations of life and manners: and when these are written by
+authors of accurate observation and deep knowledge of human nature; (and
+many such there have been in our times) they furnish a more faithful
+picture, than can be obtained in any other way, of the prevalent
+opinions and feelings of mankind. It must be obvious that novels are
+here alluded to. A careful perusal of the most celebrated of these
+pieces would furnish a strong confirmation of the apprehension,
+suggested from other considerations, concerning the very low state of
+Religion in this country; but they would still more strikingly
+illustrate the truth of the remark, that the grand peculiarities of
+Christianity are almost vanished from the view. In a sermon, although
+throughout the whole of it there may have been no traces of these
+peculiarities, either directly or indirectly, the preacher closes with
+an ordinary form; which, if one were to assert that they were absolutely
+omitted, would immediately be alledged in contradiction of the
+assertion, and may just serve to protect them from falling into entire
+oblivion. But in novels, the writer is not so tied down. In these,
+people of Religion, and clergymen too, are placed in all possible
+situations, and the sentiments and language deemed suitable to the
+occasion are assigned to them. They are introduced instructing,
+reproving, counselling, comforting. It is often the author&#8217;s intention
+to represent them in a favourable point of view, and accordingly he
+makes them as well informed and as good Christians as he knows how. They
+are painted amiable, benevolent, and forgiving; but it is not too much
+to say, that if all the peculiarities of Christianity had
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>
+never
+existed, or had been proved to be false, the circumstance would scarcely
+create the necessity of altering a single syllable in any of the most
+celebrated of these performances. It is striking to observe the
+difference which there is in this respect in similar works of Mahometan
+authors, wherein the characters, which they mean to represent in a
+favourable light, are drawn vastly more observant of the peculiarities
+of their religion<a name="FNanchor_113" id="FNanchor_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>But to make an end of this discussion, concerning the degree in which
+the peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into neglect, and
+concerning one of the principal of the causes which have produced it: if
+this be the state of things even in the case of sermons, and of the
+compositions of those, whose sphere of information must be supposed
+larger than that of the bulk of mankind; it must excite less wonder,
+that in the world in general, though Christianity be not formally
+denied, people know little about it; and that in fact you find, when you
+come to converse with them, that, admitting in terms the Divine
+Revelation of Scripture, they are far from believing the propositions
+which it contains.</p>
+
+<p>It has also been a melancholy prognostic of the state to which we are
+progressive, that many of the most eminent of the literati of modern
+times have been professed unbelievers: and that others of them have
+discovered such lukewarmness in the cause of Christ, as to treat with
+especial good will, and attention, and respect, those men, who, by their
+avowed publications, were
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>
+openly assailing, or insidiously undermining
+the very foundations of the Christian hope; considering themselves as
+more closely united to them, by literature, than severed from them by
+the widest religious differences<a name="FNanchor_114" id="FNanchor_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a>. Can it then occasion surprise,
+that under all these circumstances, one of the most acute and most
+forward of the professed unbelievers<a name="FNanchor_115" id="FNanchor_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> should appear to anticipate,
+as at no great distance, the more complete triumph of his sceptical
+principles; and that another author of distinguished name<a name="FNanchor_116" id="FNanchor_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a>, not so
+openly professing those infidel opinions, should declare of the writer
+above alluded to, whose great abilities had been systematically
+prostituted to the open attack of every principle of Religion, both
+natural and revealed, &ldquo;that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
+he had always considered him, both in his
+life-time and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a
+perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty
+will permit?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Can there then be a doubt, whither tends the path in which we are
+travelling, and whither at length it must conduct us? If any should
+hesitate, let them take a lesson from experience. In a neighbouring
+country, several of the same causes have been in action; and they have
+at length produced their full effect. Manners corrupted, morals
+depraved, dissipation predominant, above all, Religion discredited, and
+infidelity grown into repute and fashion<a name="FNanchor_117" id="FNanchor_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a>, terminated in the public
+disavowal of every religious principle, which had been used to attract
+the veneration of mankind. The representatives of a whole nation
+publicly witnessing, not only without horror, but, to say the least,
+without disapprobation, an open unqualified denial of the very existence
+of God; and at length, as a body, withdrawing their allegiance from the
+Majesty of Heaven.</p>
+
+<p>There are not a few, perhaps, who may have witnessed with apprehension,
+and may be ready to confess with pain, the gradual declension of
+Religion; but who at the same time may conceive that the writer of this
+tract is disposed to carry things too far. They may even allege, that
+the degree of Religion for which he contends is inconsistent with the
+ordinary business of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>
+life, and with the well-being of society; that if
+it were generally to prevail, people would be wholly engrossed by
+Religion, and all their time occupied by prayer and preaching. Men not
+being sufficiently interested in the pursuit of temporal objects,
+agriculture and commerce would decline, the arts would languish, the
+very duties of common life would be neglected; and, in short, the whole
+machine of civil society would be obstructed, and speedily stopped. An
+opening for this charge is given by an ingenious writer<a name="FNanchor_118" id="FNanchor_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> alluded to
+in an early period of our work; and is even somewhat countenanced by an
+author since referred to, from whom such a sentiment justly excites more
+surprise<a name="FNanchor_119" id="FNanchor_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a>.</p>
+
+<p>In reply to this objection it might be urged, that though we should
+allow it for a moment to be in a considerable degree well founded, yet
+this admission would not warrant the conclusion intended to be drawn
+from it. The question would still remain, whether our representation of
+what Christianity requires be agreeable to the word of God? For if it
+be, surely it must be confessed to be a matter of small account to
+sacrifice a little worldly comfort and prosperity, during the short span
+of our existence in this life, in order to secure a crown of eternal
+glory, and the enjoyment of those pleasures which are at God&#8217;s right
+hand for evermore! It might be added also, that our blessed Saviour had
+fairly declared, that it would often be required of Christians to make
+such a sacrifice; and had forewarned us, that, in order to be able to do
+it with cheerfulness whenever the occasion should arrive, we must
+habitually sit loose to all worldly
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>
+possessions and enjoyments. And it
+might farther be remarked, that though it were even admitted, that the
+<i>general prevalence of vital Christianity</i> should somewhat interfere
+with the views of national wealth and aggrandisement; yet that there is
+too much reason to believe that, do all we can, this general prevalence
+needs not to be apprehended, or, to speak more justly, could not be
+hoped for. But indeed the objection on which we have now been
+commenting, is not only groundless, but the very contrary to it is the
+truth. If Christianity, such as we have represented it, were generally
+to prevail; the world, from being such as it is, would become a scene of
+general peace and prosperity; and abating the chances and calamities
+&ldquo;which flesh is inseparably heir to,&rdquo; would wear one unwearied face of
+complacency and joy.</p>
+
+<p>On the first promulgation of Christianity, it is true, some of her early
+converts seem to have been in danger of so far mistaking the genius of
+the new Religion, as to imagine that in future they were to be
+discharged from an active attendance on their secular affairs. But the
+Apostle most pointedly guarded them against so gross an error, and
+expressly and repeatedly enjoined them to perform the particular duties
+of their several stations with increased alacrity and fidelity, that
+they might thereby do credit to their Christian profession. This he did,
+at the same time that he prescribed to them that predominant love of God
+and of Christ, that heavenly-mindedness, that comparative indifference
+to the things of this world, that earnest endeavour after growth in
+grace and perfection in holiness, which have already been stated as the
+essential characteristics of real Christianity. It cannot
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>
+therefore be
+supposed by any who allow to the Apostle even the claim of a consistent
+instructor, much less by any who admit his Divine authority, that these
+latter precepts are incompatible with the former. Let it be remembered,
+that the grand characteristic mark of the true Christian, which has been
+insisted on, is <i>his desiring to please God in all his thoughts, and
+words, and actions; to take the revealed word to be the rule of his
+belief and practice; to &ldquo;let his light shine before men;&rdquo; and in all
+things to adorn the doctrine which he professes</i>. No calling is
+proscribed, no pursuit is forbidden, no science or art, no pleasure is
+disallowed, which is reconcilable with this principle. It must indeed be
+confessed that Christianity would not favour that vehement and
+inordinate ardour in the pursuit of temporal objects, which tends to the
+acquisition of immense wealth, or of widely spread renown: nor is it
+calculated to gratify the extravagant views of those mistaken
+politicians, the chief object of whose admiration, and the main scope of
+whose endeavours for their country, are, extended dominion, and
+commanding power, and unrivalled affluence, rather than those more solid
+advantages of peace, and comfort, and security. These men would barter
+comfort for greatness. In their vain reveries they forget that a nation
+consists of individuals, and that true national prosperity is no other
+than the multiplication of particular happiness.</p>
+
+<p>But in fact, so far is it from being true that the prevalence of <i>real</i>
+Religion would produce a stagnation in life; that a man, whatever might
+be his employment or pursuit, would be furnished with a new motive to
+prosecute it with alacrity, a motive far more constant and vigorous than
+any human prospects can supply: at the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>
+same time, his solicitude being
+not so much to succeed in whatever he might be engaged in, as to act
+from a pure principle and leave the event to God; he would not be liable
+to the same disappointments, as men who are active and laborious from a
+desire of worldly gain or of human estimation. Thus he would possess the
+true secret of a life at the same time useful and happy. Following peace
+also with all men, and looking upon them as members of the same family,
+entitled not only to the debts of justice, but to the less definite and
+more liberal claims of fraternal kindness; he would naturally be
+respected and beloved by others, and be in himself free from the
+annoyance of those bad passions, by which they who are actuated by
+worldly principles are so commonly corroded. If any country were indeed
+filled with men, each thus diligently discharging the duties of his own
+station without breaking in upon the rights of others, but on the
+contrary endeavouring, so far as he might be able, to forward their
+views and promote their happiness; all would be active and harmonious in
+the goodly frame of human society. There would be no jarrings, no
+discord. The whole machine of civil life would work without obstruction
+or disorder, and the course of its movements would be like the harmony
+of the spheres.</p>
+
+<p>Such would be the happy state of a truly Christian nation within itself.
+Nor would its condition with regard to foreign countries form a contrast
+to this its internal comfort. Such a community, on the contrary,
+peaceful at home, would be respected and beloved abroad. General
+integrity in all its dealings would inspire universal confidence:
+differences between nations
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
+commonly arise from mutual injuries, and
+still more from mutual jealousy and distrust. Of the former there would
+be no longer any ground for complaint; the latter would find nothing to
+attach upon. But if, in spite of all its justice and forbearance, the
+violence of some neighbouring state should force it to resist an
+unprovoked attack, (for hostilities strictly defensive are those only in
+which it would be engaged) its domestic union would double its national
+force; while the consciousness of a good cause, and of the general
+favour of Heaven, would invigorate its arm, and inspirit its efforts.</p>
+
+<p>It is indeed the position of an author, to whom we have had frequent
+occasion to refer, and whose love of paradox has not seldom led him into
+error, that true Christianity is an enemy to patriotism. If by
+patriotism be meant that mischievous and domineering quality, which
+renders men ardent to promote, not the happiness, but the aggrandisement
+of their own country, by the oppression and conquest of every other; to
+such patriotism, so generally applauded in the Heathen world, that
+Religion must be indeed an enemy, whose foundation is justice, and whose
+compendious character is &ldquo;peace,&mdash;and good will towards men.&rdquo; But if by
+patriotism be understood that quality which, without shutting up our
+philanthropy within the narrow bounds of a single kingdom, yet attaches
+us in particular to the country to which we belong; of this true
+patriotism, Christianity is the most copious source, and the surest
+preservative. The contrary opinion can indeed only have arisen from not
+considering the fulness and universality of our Saviour&#8217;s precepts. Not
+like the puny productions of human workmanship, which at
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>
+the best can
+commonly serve but the particular purpose that they are specially
+designed to answer; the moral, as well as the physical, principles of
+the great Author of all things are capable of being applied at once to
+ten thousand different uses; thus, amidst infinite complication,
+preserving a grand simplicity, and therein bearing the unambiguous stamp
+of their Divine Original. Thus, to specify one out of the numberless
+instances which might be adduced; the principle of gravitation, while it
+is subservient to all the mechanical purposes of common life, keeps at
+the same time the stars in their courses, and sustains the harmony of
+worlds.</p>
+
+<p>Thus also in the case before us: society consists of a number of
+different circles of various magnitudes and uses; and that circumstance,
+wherein the principle of patriotism chiefly consists, whereby the duty
+of patriotism is best practised, and the happiest effects to the general
+weal produced, is, that it should be the desire and aim of every
+individual to fill well his own proper circle, as a part and member of
+the whole, with a view to the production of general happiness. This our
+Saviour enjoined when he prescribed the duty of universal love, which is
+but another term for the most exalted patriotism. Benevolence, indeed,
+when not originating from Religion, dispenses but from a scanty and
+precarious fund; and therefore, if it be liberal in the case of some
+objects, it is generally found to be contracted towards others. Men who,
+acting from worldly principles, make the greatest stir about general
+philanthropy or zealous patriotism, are often very deficient in their
+conduct in domestic life; and very neglectful of the opportunities,
+fully within their reach, of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>
+promoting the comfort of those with whom
+they are immediately connected. But true Christian benevolence is always
+occupied in producing happiness to the utmost of its power, and
+according to the extent of its sphere, be it larger or more limited; it
+contracts itself to the measure of the smallest; it can expand itself to
+the amplitude of the largest. It resembles majestic rivers, which are
+poured from an unfailing and abundant source. Silent and peaceful in
+their outset, they begin with dispensing beauty and comfort to every
+cottage by which they pass. In their further progress they fertilize
+provinces and enrich kingdoms. At length they pour themselves into the
+ocean; where, changing their names but not their nature, they visit
+distant nations and other hemispheres, and spread throughout the world
+the expansive tide of their beneficence.</p>
+
+<p>It must be confessed, that many of the good effects, of which Religion
+is productive to political societies, would be produced even by a false
+Religion, which should prescribe good morals, and should be able to
+enforce its precepts by sufficient sanctions. Of this nature are those
+effects, which depend on our calling in the aid of a Being who sees the
+heart, in order to assist the weakness, and in various ways to supply
+the inherent defects of all human jurisprudence. But the superior
+excellence of Christianity in this respect must be acknowledged, both in
+the superiority of her moral code, and in the powerful motives and
+efficacious means which she furnishes for enabling us to practise it;
+and in the tendency of her doctrines to provide for the observance of
+her precepts, by producing tempers of mind which correspond with them.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But, more than all this; it has not perhaps been enough remarked, that
+true Christianity, from her essential nature, appears peculiarly and
+powerfully adapted to promote the preservation and healthfulness of
+political communities. What is in truth their grand malady? The answer
+is short; Selfishness. This is that young disease received at the moment
+of their birth, &ldquo;which grows with their growth, and strengthens with
+their strength;&rdquo; and through which they at length expire, if not cut off
+prematurely by some external shock or intestine convulsion.</p>
+
+<p>The disease of selfishness, indeed, assumes different forms in the
+different classes of society. In the great and the wealthy, it displays
+itself in luxury, in pomp and parade; and in all the frivolities of a
+sickly and depraved imagination, which seeks in vain its own
+gratification, and is dead to the generous and energetic pursuits of an
+enlarged heart. In the lower orders, when not motionless under the
+weight of a superincumbent despotism, it manifests itself in pride, and
+its natural offspring, insubordination in all its modes. But though the
+external effects may vary, the internal principle is the same; a
+disposition in each individual to make self the grand center and end of
+his desires and enjoyments; to over-rate his own merits and importance,
+and of course to magnify his claims on others, and in return to
+under-rate their&#8217;s on him; a disposition to undervalue the advantages,
+and over-state the disadvantages, of his condition in life. Thence
+spring rapacity and venality, and sensuality. Thence imperious nobles,
+and factious leaders; and an unruly commonalty, bearing with difficulty
+the inconveniences of a lower station, and imputing to the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>
+nature or
+administration of their government the evils which necessarily flow from
+the very constitution of our species, or which perhaps are chiefly the
+result of their own vices and follies. The opposite to selfishness is
+public spirit; which may be termed, not unjustly, the grand principle of
+political vitality, the very <i>life&#8217;s breath</i> of states, which tends to
+keep them active and vigorous, and to carry them to greatness and glory.</p>
+
+<p>The tendency of public spirit, and the opposite tendency of selfishness,
+have not escaped the observation of the founders of states, or of the
+writers on government; and various expedients have been resorted to and
+extolled, for cherishing the one, and for repressing the other.
+Sometimes a principle of internal agitation and dissension, resulting
+from the very frame of the government, has been productive of the
+effect. Sparta flourished for more than seven hundred years under the
+civil institutions of Lycurgus; which guarded against the selfish
+principle, by prohibiting commerce, and imposing universal poverty and
+hardship. The Roman commonwealth, in which public spirit was cherished,
+and selfishness checked, by the principle of the love of glory, was also
+of long continuance. This passion naturally operates to produce an
+unbounded spirit of conquest, which, like the ambition of the greatest
+of its own heroes, was never satiated while any other kingdom was left
+it to subdue. The principle of political vitality, when kept alive only
+by means like these, merits the description once given of eloquence:
+&ldquo;Sicut flamma, materia alitur, &amp; motibus excitatur, &amp; urendo clarescit.&rdquo;
+But like eloquence, when no longer called into action by
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>
+external
+causes, or fomented by civil broils, it gradually languishes. Wealth and
+luxury produce stagnation, and stagnation terminates in death.</p>
+
+<p>To provide, however, for the continuance of a state, by the admission of
+internal dissensions, or even by the chilling influence of poverty,
+seems to be in some sort sacrificing the end to the means. Happiness is
+the end for which men unite in civil society; but in societies thus
+constituted, little happiness, comparatively speaking, is to be found.
+The expedient, again, of preserving a state by the spirit of conquest,
+though even this has not wanted its admirers<a name="FNanchor_120" id="FNanchor_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a>, is not to be
+tolerated for a moment, when considered on principles of universal
+justice. Such a state lives, and grows, and thrives, by the misery of
+others, and becomes professedly the general enemy of its neighbours, and
+the scourge of the human race. All these devices are in truth but too
+much like the fabrications of man, when compared with the works of the
+Supreme Being; clumsy, yet weak in the execution of their purpose, and
+full of contradictory principles and jarring movements.</p>
+
+<p>I might here enlarge with pleasure on the unrivalled excellence, in this
+very view, of the constitution under which we live in this happy
+country; and point out how, more perhaps than any which ever existed
+upon earth, it is so framed, as to provide at the same time for keeping
+up a due degree of public spirit, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>
+yet for preserving unimpaired the
+quietness, and comfort, and charities of private life; how it even
+extracts from selfishness itself many of the advantages which, under
+less happily constructed forms of government, public spirit only can
+supply. But such a political discussion, however grateful to a British
+mind, would here be out of place. It is rather our business to remark,
+how much Christianity in every way sets herself in direct hostility to
+selfishness, the mortal distemper of political communities; and
+consequently, how their welfare must be inseparable from her prevalence.
+It might indeed, be almost stated as the main object and chief concern
+of Christianity, to root out our natural selfishness, and to rectify the
+false standard which it imposes on us; with views, however, far higher
+than any which concern merely our temporal and social well-being; to
+bring us to a just estimate of ourselves, and of all around us, and to a
+due impression of the various claims and obligations resulting from the
+different relations in which we stand. Benevolence, enlarged, vigorous,
+operative benevolence, is her master principle. Moderation in temporal
+pursuits and enjoyments, comparative indifference to the issue of
+worldly projects, diligence in the discharge of personal and civil
+duties, resignation to the will of God, and patience under all the
+dispensations of his Providence, are among her daily lessons. Humility
+is one of the essential qualities, which her precepts most directly and
+strongly enjoin, and which all her various doctrines tend to call forth
+and cultivate; and humility, as has been before suggested, lays the
+deepest and surest grounds for benevolence. In whatever class or order
+of society Christianity prevails,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>
+she sets herself to rectify the
+particular faults, or, if we would speak more distinctly, to counteract
+the particular mode of selfishness, to which that class is liable.
+Affluence she teaches to be liberal and beneficent; authority, to bear
+its faculties with meekness, and to consider the various cares and
+obligations belonging to its elevated station, as being conditions on
+which that station is conferred. Thus, softening the glare of wealth,
+and moderating the insolence of power, she renders the inequalities of
+the social state less galling to the lower orders, whom also she
+instructs, in their turn, to be diligent, humble, patient: reminding
+them that their more lowly path has been allotted to them by the hand of
+God; that it is their part faithfully to discharge its duties, and
+contentedly to bear its inconveniences; that the present state of things
+is very short; that the objects, about which worldly men conflict so
+eagerly, are not worth the contest; that the peace of mind, which
+Religion offers to all ranks indiscriminately, affords more true
+satisfaction than all the expensive pleasures which are beyond the poor
+man&#8217;s reach; that in this view, however, the poor have the advantage,
+and that if their superiors enjoy more abundant comforts, they are also
+exposed to many temptations from which the inferior classes are happily
+exempted; that &ldquo;having, food and raiment, they should be therewith
+content,&rdquo; for that their situation in life, with all its evils, is
+better than they have deserved at the hand of God; finally, that all
+human distinctions will soon be done away, and the true followers of
+Christ will all, as children of the same Father, be alike admitted to
+the possession of the same heavenly inheritance.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>
+Such are the blessed
+effects of Christianity on the temporal well-being of political
+communities.</p>
+
+<p>But the Christianity which can produce effects like these, must be real,
+not nominal, deep, not superficial. Such then is the Religion we should
+cultivate, if we would realize these pleasing speculations, and arrest
+the progress of political decay. But in the present circumstances of
+this country, it is a farther reason for endeavouring to cultivate this
+vital Christianity, still considering its effects merely in a political
+view, that, according to all human appearance, we must either have this
+or none: unless the prevalence of this be in some degree restored, we
+are likely, not only to lose all the advantages which we might have
+derived from true Christianity, but to incur all the manifold evils
+which would result from the absence of all religion.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, let it be remarked, that a weakly principle of
+Religion, and even such an one, in a political view, is productive of
+many advantages; though its existence may be prolonged if all external
+circumstances favour its continuance, can hardly be kept alive, when the
+state of things is so unfavourable to vital Religion, as it must be
+confessed to be in our condition of society. Nor is it merely the
+ordinary effects of a state of wealth and prosperity to which we here
+allude. Much also may justly be apprehended, from that change which has
+taken place in our general habits of thinking and feeling, concerning
+the systems and opinions of former times. At a less advanced period of
+society, indeed, the Religion of the state will be generally accepted,
+though it be not felt in its vital power. It was the Religion of our
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>
+forefathers: with the bulk it is on that account entitled to reverence,
+and its authority is admitted without question. The establishment in
+which it subsists pleads the same prescription, and obtains the same
+respect. But in our days, things are very differently circumstanced. Not
+merely the blind prejudice in favour of former times, but even the
+proper respect for them, and the reasonable presumption in their favour,
+has abated. Still less will the idea be endured, of any system being
+kept up, when the imposture is seen through by the higher orders, for
+the sake of retaining the common people in subjection. A system, if not
+supported by a real persuasion of its truth, will fall to the ground.
+Thus it not unfrequently happens, that in a more advanced state of
+society, a religious establishment must be indebted for its support to
+that very Religion, which in earlier times it fostered and protected; as
+the weakness of some aged mother is sustained, and her existence
+lengthened, by the tender assiduities of the child whom she had reared
+in the helplessness of infancy. So in the present instance, unless there
+be reinfused into the mass of our society, something of that principle,
+which animated our ecclesiastical system in its earlier days, it is vain
+for us to hope that the establishment will very long continue: for the
+anomaly will not much longer be borne, of an establishment, the <i>actual</i>
+principles of the bulk of whose members, and even teachers, are so
+extremely different from those which it professes. But in proportion as
+vital Christianity can be revived, in that same proportion the church
+establishment is strengthened; for the revival of vital Christianity is
+the very reinfusion of which we have been speaking.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>
+This is the very
+Christianity on which our establishment is founded; and that which her
+Articles, and Homilies, and Liturgy, teach throughout.</p>
+
+<p>But if, when the reign of prejudice, and even of honest prepossession,
+and of grateful veneration, is no more (for by these almost any system
+may generally be supported, before a state, having passed the period of
+its maturity, is verging to its decline); if there are any who think
+that a dry, unanimated Religion, like that which is now professed by
+nominal Christians, can hold its place; much more that it can be revived
+among the general mass of mankind, it may be affirmed, that, arguing
+merely on human principles, they know little of human nature. The kind
+of Religion which we have recommended, whatever opinion may be
+entertained concerning its truth, and to say nothing of the agency of
+Divine Grace, must at least be conceded to be the only one which is at
+all suited to make impression upon the lower orders, by strongly
+interesting the passions of the human mind. If it be thought that a
+system of ethics may regulate the conduct of the higher classes; such an
+one is altogether unsuitable to the lower, who must be worked upon by
+their affections, or they will not be worked upon at all. The antients
+were wiser than ourselves, and never thought of governing the community
+in general by their lessons of philosophy. These lessons were confined
+to the schools of the learned; while for the million, a system of
+Religion, such as it was, was kept up, as alone adapted to their grosser
+natures. If this reasoning fail to convince, we may safely appeal to
+experience. Let the Socinian and the moral teacher of Christianity come
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>
+forth, and tell us what effects <i>they</i> have produced on the lower
+orders. They themselves will hardly deny the inefficacy of their
+instructions. But, blessed be God, the Religion which we recommend, has
+proved its correspondence with the character originally given of
+Christianity, that it was calculated for the poor; by changing the whole
+condition of the mass of society in many of the most populous districts
+in this and other countries; and by bringing them from being scenes of
+almost unexampled wickedness and barbarism, to be eminent for sobriety,
+decency, industry, and, in short, for whatever can render men useful
+members of civil society.</p>
+
+<p>If indeed, through the blessing of Providence, a principle of true
+Religion should in any considerable degree gain ground, there is no
+estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influence on
+our political welfare. These effects are not merely negative: though it
+would be much, merely to check the farther progress of a gangrene, which
+is eating out the very vital principles of our social and political
+existence. The general standard of morality formerly described, would be
+raised, it would at least be sustained and kept for a while from farther
+depression. The esteem which religious characters would personally
+attract, would extend to the system which they should hold, and to the
+establishment of which they should be members. These are all merely
+natural consequences. But to those who believe in a superintending
+Providence, it may be added, that the blessing of God might be drawn
+down upon our country, and the stroke of his anger be for a while
+suspended.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Let us be spared the painful task of tracing, on the contrary, the fatal
+consequences of the extinction of Religion among us. They are indeed
+such as no man, who is ever so little interested for the welfare of his
+country, can contemplate without the deepest concern. The very loss of
+our church establishment, though, as in all human institutions, some
+defects may be found in it, would in itself be attended with the most
+fatal consequences. No prudent man dares hastily pronounce how far its
+destruction might not greatly endanger our civil institutions. It would
+not be difficult to prove, that the want of it would also be in the
+highest degree injurious to the cause of Christianity; and still more,
+that it would take away what appears from experience to be one of the
+most probable means of its revival. To what a degree might even the
+avowed principles of men, not altogether without Religion, decline, when
+our inestimable Liturgy should no longer remain in use! a Liturgy justly
+inestimable, which continually sets before us a faithful model of the
+Christian&#8217;s belief, and practice, and language; restraining us, as far
+as restraint is possible, from excessive deviations; furnishing us with
+abundant instruction when we would return into the right path; affording
+an advantageous ground of no little value, to such instructors as still
+adhere to the good old principles of the Church of England; in short,
+daily shaming us, by preserving a living representation of the opinions
+and habits of better times, as some historical record, which reproaches
+a degenerate posterity, by exhibiting the worthier deeds of their
+progenitors. In such a state of things, to what a depth public
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>
+morals
+might sink, may be anticipated by those who consider what would then be
+the condition of society; who reflect how bad principles and vicious
+conduct mutually aid each other&#8217;s operation, and how, in particular, the
+former make sure the ground which the latter may have gained; who
+remember, that in the lower orders, the system of honour, and the
+responsibility of character, are wanting, which in the superior classes,
+in some poor degree, supply the place of higher principles. It is well
+for the happiness of mankind, that such a community could not long
+subsist. The cement of society being no more, the slate would soon be
+dissolved into individuality.</p>
+
+<p>Let it not be vainly imagined, that our state of civilization must
+prevent the moral degeneracy here threatened. A neighbouring nation has
+lately furnished a lamentable proof, that superior polish and refinement
+may well consist with a very large measure of depravity. But to appeal
+to a still more decisive instance: it may be seen in the history of the
+latter years of the most celebrated of the Pagan nations, that the
+highest degrees of civilization and refinement are by no means
+inseparable from the most shocking depravity of morals. The fact is
+certain, and the obvious inference with regard to ourselves cannot be
+denied. The cause of this strange ph&aelig;nomenon, (such it really appears to
+our view) for which the natural corruption of man might hardly seem to
+account sufficiently, has been explained by an inspired writer. Speaking
+of the most polished nations of antiquity, he observes; &ldquo;Because when
+they knew God, they glorified him not as God, and were not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>
+<i>solicitous</i><a name="FNanchor_121" id="FNanchor_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> to retain him in their knowledge, he gave them over to
+a reprobate mind.&rdquo; Let us then beware, and take warning from their
+example: let us not suffer our self-love to beguile us: let us not
+vainly persuade ourselves, that although prosperity and wealth may have
+caused us to relax a little too much, in those more serious duties which
+regard our Maker, yet that we shall stop where we are; or, at least,
+that we can never sink into the same state of moral depravation.
+Doubtless we should sink as low, if God were to give us up also to our
+own imaginations. And what ground have we to think he will not? If we
+would reason justly, we should not compare ourselves with the state of
+the Heathen world when at its worst; but with its state at that period,
+when, for its forgetfulness of God, and its ingratitude towards him, it
+was suffered to fall, till at length it reached that worst, its ultimate
+point of depression. The Heathens had only reason and natural conscience
+to direct them: we enjoy, superadded to these, the clear light of Gospel
+revelation, and a distinct declaration of God&#8217;s dealings with them, to
+be a lesson for our instruction. How then can we but believe that if we,
+enjoying advantages so much superior to their&#8217;s, are alike forgetful of
+our kind Benefactor, we also shall be left to ourselves? and if so left,
+what reason can be assigned why we should not fall into the same
+enormities?</p>
+
+<p>What then is to be done? The inquiry is of the first importance, and the
+general answer to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>
+it is not difficult.&mdash;The causes and nature of the
+decay of Religion and morals among us sufficiently indicate the course,
+which, on principles of sound policy, it is in the highest degree
+expedient for us to pursue. The distemper of which, as a community, we
+are sick, should be considered rather as a moral than a political
+malady. How much has this been forgotten by the disputants of modern
+times! and accordingly, how transient may be expected to be the good
+effects of the best of their publications! We should endeavour to tread
+back our steps. Every effort should be used to raise the depressed tone
+of public morals. This is a duty particularly incumbent on all who are
+in the higher walks of life; and it is impossible not to acknowledge the
+obligations, which in this respect we owe as a nation, to those exalted
+characters, whom God in his undeserved mercy to us, still suffers to
+continue on the throne, and who set to their subjects a pattern of
+decency and moderation rarely seen in their elevated station.</p>
+
+<p>But every person of rank, and fortune, and abilities, should endeavour
+in like manner to exhibit a similar example, and recommend it to the
+imitation of the circle in which he moves. It has been the opinion of
+some well-meaning people, that by giving, as far as they possibly could
+with innocence, into the customs and practices of irreligious men, they
+might soften the prejudices too frequently taken up against Religion, of
+its being an austere gloomy service; and thus secure a previous
+favourable impression against any time, when they might have an
+opportunity of explaining or enforcing their sentiments. This is always
+a questionable, and, it is to be feared, a dangerous policy.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>
+Many
+mischievous consequences necessarily resulting from it might easily be
+enumerated. But it is a policy particularly unsuitable to our
+inconsiderate and dissipated times, and to the lengths at which we are
+arrived. In these circumstances, the most likely means of producing the
+<i>revulsion</i> which is required, must be boldly to proclaim the
+distinction between the adherents of &ldquo;God and Baal.&rdquo; The expediency of
+this conduct in our present situation is confirmed by another
+consideration, to which we have before had occasion to refer. It is
+this&mdash;that when men are aware that something of difficulty is to be
+effected, their spirits rise to the level of the encounter; they make up
+their minds to bear hardships and brave dangers, and to persevere in
+spite of fatigue and opposition: whereas in a matter which is regarded
+as of easy and ordinary operation, they are apt to slumber over their
+work, and to fail in what a small effort might have been sufficient to
+accomplish, for want of having called up the requisite degree of energy
+and spirit. Conformably to the principle which is hereby suggested, in
+the circumstances in which we are placed, the line of demarcation
+between the friends and the enemies of Religion should now be made
+clear; the separation should be broad and obvious. Let him then, who
+wishes well to his country, no longer hesitate what course of conduct to
+pursue. The question now is not, in what liberties he might warrantably
+indulge himself in another situation? but what are the restraints on
+himself which the exigencies of the present times render it adviseable
+for him to impose? Circumstanced as we now are, it is more than ever
+obvious, that <i>the best man is the truest patriot</i>.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nor is it only by their personal conduct, (though this mode will always
+be the most efficacious) that men of authority and influence may promote
+the cause of good morals. Let them in their several stations encourage
+virtue and discountenance vice in others. Let them enforce the laws by
+which the wisdom of our forefathers has guarded against the grosser
+infractions of morals; and congratulate themselves, that in a leading
+situation on the bench of justice there is placed a man who, to his
+honour be it spoken, is well disposed to assist their efforts<a name="FNanchor_122" id="FNanchor_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a>. Let
+them favour and take part in any plans which may be formed for the
+advancement of morality. Above all things, let them endeavour to
+instruct and improve the rising generation; that, if it be possible, an
+antidote may be provided for the malignity of that venom, which is
+storing up in a neighbouring country. This has long been to my mind the
+most formidable feature of the present state of things in France; where,
+it is to be feared, a brood of moral vipers, as it were, is now
+hatching, which, when they shall have attained to their mischievous
+maturity, will go forth to poison the world. But fruitless will be all
+attempts to sustain, much more to revive, the fainting cause of morals,
+unless you can in some degree restore the prevalence of Evangelical
+Christianity. It is in morals as in physics; unless the source of
+practical principles be elevated, it will be in vain to attempt to make
+them flow on a high level in their future course. You may force them for
+a
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>
+while into some constrained position, but they will soon drop to
+their natural point of depression. By all, therefore, who are studious
+of their country&#8217;s welfare, more particularly by all who desire to
+support our ecclesiastical establishment, every effort should be used to
+revive the Christianity of our better days. The attempt should
+especially be made in the case of the pastors of the Church, whose
+situation must render the principles which they hold a matter of
+supereminent importance. Wherever these teachers have steadily and
+zealously inculcated the true doctrines of the Church of England, the
+happiest effects have commonly rewarded their labours. And it is worth
+observing, in the view which we are now taking, that these men, as might
+naturally be expected, are, perhaps without exception, friendly to our
+ecclesiastical and civil establishments<a name="FNanchor_123" id="FNanchor_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a>; and consequently, that
+their instructions and influence tend <i>directly</i>, as well as
+<i>indirectly</i>, to the maintenance of the cause of order and good
+government. Nor should it be forgotten by any who, judging with the
+abstract coldness of mere politicians, might doubt whether, by adopting
+the measures here recommended, a religious warmth would not be called
+into action, which might break out into mischievous irregularities; that
+experience proves that an establishment affords, from its very nature,
+the happy means of exciting a considerable degree of fervour and
+animation, and at the same time of restraining them within due bounds.
+The duty of encouraging vital Religion in the Church particularly
+devolves on all
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>who have the disposal of ecclesiastical preferment, and
+more especially on the dignitaries of the sacred order. Some of these
+have already sounded the alarm; justly censuring the practice of
+suffering Christianity to degenerate into a mere system of ethics, and
+recommending more attention to the peculiar doctrines of our Religion.
+In our schools, in our universities, let the study be encouraged of the
+writings of those venerable divines, who flourished in the purer times
+of Christianity. Let even a considerable proficiency in their writings
+be required of candidates for ordination. Let our churches no longer
+witness that unseemly discordance, which has too much prevailed, between
+the prayers which precede, and the sermon which follows.</p>
+
+<p>But it may be enough to have briefly hinted at the course of conduct,
+which, in the present circumstances of this country, motives merely
+political should prompt us to pursue. To all who have at heart the
+national welfare, the above suggestions are solemnly submitted. They
+have not been urged altogether without misgivings, lest it should
+appear, as though the concern of Eternity were melted down into a mere
+matter of temporal advantage, or political expediency. But since it has
+graciously pleased the Supreme Being so to arrange the constitution of
+things, as to render the prevalence of true Religion and of pure
+morality conducive to the well-being of states, and the preservation of
+civil order; and since these subordinate inducements are not
+unfrequently held forth, even by the sacred writers; it seemed not
+improper, and scarcely liable to misconstruction, to suggest inferior
+motives to readers, who might be less disposed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>
+to listen to
+considerations of a higher order.</p>
+
+<p>Would to God that the course of conduct here suggested might be fairly
+pursued! Would to God that the happy consequences, which would result
+from the principles we have recommended, could be realized; and above
+all, that the influence of true Religion could be extensively diffused!
+It is the best wish which can be formed for his country, by one who is
+deeply anxious for its welfare:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Lucem redde tuam, dux bone, patri&aelig;!</span>
+<span class="i0">Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus</span>
+<span class="i0">Affulsit populo, gratior it dies,</span>
+<span class="i2">Et soles melius nitent.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h5><i>Practical Hints to various Descriptions of Persons.</i></h5>
+
+<p>Thus have we endeavoured to trace the chief defects of the religious
+system of the bulk of professed Christians in this country. We have
+pointed out their low idea of the importance of Christianity in general;
+their inadequate conceptions of all its leading doctrines, and the
+effect hereby naturally produced in relaxing the strictness of its
+practical system; more than all, we have remarked their grand
+fundamental misconception of its genius and essential nature. Let not
+therefore the difference between them and true believers be considered
+as a minute difference; as a question of forms or opinions. The question
+is of the very substance of Religion;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>
+the difference is of the most
+serious and momentous amount. We must speak out. <i>Their Christianity is
+not Christianity.</i> It wants the radical principle. It is mainly
+defective in all the grand constituents. Let them no longer then be
+deceived by names in a matter of infinite importance: but with humble
+prayer to the Source of all wisdom, that he would enlighten their
+understandings, and clear their hearts from prejudice; let them
+seriously examine by the Scripture standard their real belief and
+allowed practice, and they will become sensible of the shallowness of
+their scanty system.</p>
+
+<p>If through the blessing of Providence on any thing which may have been
+here written, there should be any whom it has disposed to this important
+duty of self-inquiry; let me previously warn them to be well aware of
+our natural proneness to think too favourably of ourselves. Selfishness
+is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it
+is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our good qualities,
+and to overlook or extenuate our defects. The corruption of human nature
+therefore being admitted, it follows undeniably, that in all our
+reckonings, if we would form a just estimate of our character, we must
+make an allowance for the effects of selfishness. It is also another
+effect of the corruption of human nature, to cloud our moral sight, and
+blunt our moral sensibility. Something must therefore be allowed for
+this effect likewise. Doubtless, the perfect purity of the Supreme Being
+makes him see in us stains, far more in number and deeper in dye; than
+we ourselves can discover. Nor should another awful consideration be
+forgotten. When we look into ourselves, those sins only,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>
+into which we
+have lately fallen, are commonly apt to excite any lively impression.
+Many individual acts of vice, or a continued course of vicious or
+dissipated conduct, which, when recent, may have smitten us with deep
+remorse, after a few months or years leave but very faint traces in our
+recollection; at least, those acts alone continue to strike us strongly,
+which were of very extraordinary magnitude. But the strong impressions
+which they at first excited, not the faded images which they
+subsequently present to us, furnish the true measure of their guilt: and
+to the pure eyes of God, this guilt must always have appeared far
+greater than to us. Now to the Supreme Being we must believe that there
+is no past or future; as whatever <i>will be</i>, so whatever <i>has been</i>, is
+retained by him in present and unvarying contemplation, continuing
+always to appear just the same as at the first moment of its happening.
+Well may it then humble us in the sight of that Being &ldquo;who is of purer
+eyes than to behold iniquity;&rdquo; to call to mind that, unless our offences
+have been blotted out by our obtaining an interest in the satisfaction
+of Christ, through true repentance and lively faith, we appear before
+him clothed with the sins of our whole lives, in all their original
+depth of colouring, and with all the aggravations which we no longer
+particularly remember, but which, in general, we, perhaps, may recollect
+to have once filled us with shame and confusion of face. The writer is
+the rather desirous of enforcing this reflection; because he can truly
+declare, that he has found no consideration so efficacious in producing
+in his own mind the deepest self-abasement.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In treating of the sources of the erroneous estimates which we form of
+our religious and moral character, it may not, perhaps, be without its
+uses to take this occasion of pointing out some other common springs of
+self-deception. Many persons, as was formerly hinted, are misled by the
+favourable opinions entertained of them by others; many, it is to be
+feared, mistake a hot zeal for orthodoxy, for a cordial acceptance of
+the great truths of the Gospel; and almost all of us, at one time or
+other, are more or less misled by confounding the suggestions of the
+understanding with the impulses of the will, the assent which our
+judgment gives to religious and moral truths, with a hearty belief and
+approbation of them.</p>
+
+<p>There is another frequent source of self-deception, which is productive
+of so much mischief in life, that, though it may appear to lead to some
+degree of repetition, it would be highly improper to omit the mention of
+it in this place. That we may be the better understood, it may be proper
+to premise, that certain particular vices, and likewise that certain
+particular good and amiable qualities, seem naturally to belong to
+certain particular periods and conditions of life. Now, if we would
+reason fairly in estimating our moral character, we ought to examine
+ourselves with reference to that particular &ldquo;sin which does most easily
+beset us,&rdquo; not to some other sin to which we are not nearly so much
+liable. And in like manner, on the other hand, we ought not to account
+it matter of much self-complacency, if we find in ourselves that good
+and amiable quality which naturally belongs to our period or condition;
+but rather look for some less ambiguous sign of a real internal
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>
+principle of virtue. But we are very apt to reverse these rules of
+judging: we are very apt, on the one hand, both in ourselves and in
+others, to excuse &ldquo;the besetting sin,&rdquo; taking and giving credit for
+being exempt from others, to which we or they are less liable; and on
+the other hand, to value ourselves extremely on our possession of the
+good or amiable quality which naturally belongs to us, and to require no
+more satisfactory evidence of the <i>sufficiency</i> at least of our moral
+character. The bad effects of this partiality are aggravated by the
+practice, to which we are sadly prone, of being contented, when we take
+a hasty view of ourselves, with negative evidences of our state;
+thinking it very well if we are not shocked by some great actual
+transgression, instead of looking for the positive signs of a true
+Christian, as laid down in the holy Scripture.</p>
+
+<p>But the source of self-deception, which it is more particularly our
+present object to point out, is a disposition to consider as a conquest
+of any particular vice, our merely forsaking it on our quitting the
+period or condition of life to which that vice belongs; when perhaps
+also we substitute for it the vice of the new period or condition on
+which we are entering. We thus mistake our merely outgrowing our vices,
+or our relinquishing them from some change in our worldly circumstances,
+for a thorough, or at least for a sufficient, reformation.</p>
+
+<p>But this topic deserves to be viewed a little more closely. Young people
+may, without much offence, be inconsiderate and dissipated; the youth of
+one sex may indulge occasionally in licentious excesses; those of the
+other may be supremely given up to vanity and pleasure:
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>
+yet, provided
+that they are sweet tempered, and open, and not disobedient to their
+parents or other superiors, the former are deemed <i>good hearted</i> young
+men, the latter, <i>innocent</i> young women. Those who love them best have
+no solicitude about their spiritual interests: and it would be deemed
+strangely strict in themselves, or in others, to doubt of their becoming
+more religious as they advance in life; to speak of them as being
+actually under the divine displeasure; or, if their lives should be in
+danger, to entertain any apprehensions concerning their future destiny.</p>
+
+<p>They grow older, and marry. The same licentiousness, which was formerly
+considered in young men as a venial frailty, is now no longer regarded
+in the husband and the father as compatible with the character of a
+decently religious man. The language is of this sort; &ldquo;they have sown
+their wild oats, they must now reform, and be regular.&rdquo; Nor perhaps is
+the same manifest predominance of vanity and dissipation deemed innocent
+in the matron: but if they are kind respectively in their conjugal and
+parental relations, and are tolerably regular and decent, they pass for
+<i>mighty good sort of people</i>; and it would be altogether unnecessary
+scrupulosity in them to doubt of their coming up to the requisitions of
+the divine law, as far as in the present state of the world can be
+expected from human frailty. Their hearts, however, are perhaps no more
+than before supremely set on the great work of their salvation, but are
+chiefly bent on increasing their fortunes, or raising their families.
+Meanwhile they congratulate themselves on their having amended from
+vices, which they are no longer strongly tempted to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>
+commit, or their
+abstaining from which ought not to be too confidently assumed as a test
+of the strength of the religious principle, since the commission of them
+would prejudice their characters, and perhaps injure their fortune in
+life.</p>
+
+<p>Old age has at length made its advances. Now, if ever, we might expect
+that it would be deemed high time to make eternal things the <i>main</i>
+object of attention. No such thing! There is still an appropriate good
+quality, the presence of which calms the disquietude, and satisfies the
+requisitions both of themselves and of those around them. It is now
+required of them that they should be good natured and cheerful,
+indulgent to the frailties and follies of the young; remembering, that
+when young themselves they gave into the same practices. How opposite
+this to that dread of sin, which is the sure characteristic of the true
+Christian; which causes him to look back upon the vices of his own
+youthful days with shame and sorrow; and which, instead of conceding to
+young people to be wild and thoughtless, as a privilege belonging to
+their age and circumstances, prompts him to warn them against what had
+proved to himself matter of such bitter retrospection! Thus, throughout
+the whole of life, some means or other are devised for stifling the
+voice of conscience. &ldquo;We cry peace while there is no peace;&rdquo; and both to
+ourselves and others that complacency is furnished, which ought only to
+proceed from a consciousness of being reconciled to God, and a humble
+hope of our possessing his favour.</p>
+
+<p>I know that these sentiments will be termed uncharitable; but I must not
+be deterred by such an imputation. It is time to have done
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>
+with that
+senseless cant of charity, which insults the understandings, and trifles
+with the feelings, of those who are really concerned for the happiness
+of their fellow-creatures. What matter of keen remorse and of bitter
+self-reproaches are they storing up for their future torment, who are
+themselves its miserable dupes; or who, being charged with the office of
+watching over the eternal interests of their children or relations,
+suffer themselves to be lulled asleep, or beguiled by such shallow
+reasonings into sparing themselves the momentary pain of executing their
+important duty! Charity, indeed, is partial to the object of her regard;
+and where actions are of a doubtful quality, this partiality disposes
+her to refer them to a good, rather than to a bad, motive. She is apt
+also somewhat to exaggerate merits, and to see amiable qualities in a
+light more favourable than that which strictly belongs to them. But true
+charity is wakeful, fervent, full of solicitude, full of good offices,
+not so easily satisfied, not so ready to believe that every thing is
+going on well as a matter of course; but jealous of mischief, apt to
+suspect danger, and prompt to extend relief. These are the symptoms by
+which genuine regard will manifest itself in a wife or a mother, in the
+case of the <i>bodily</i> health of the object of her affections. And where
+there is any real concern for the <i>spiritual</i> interests of others, it is
+characterized by the same infallible marks. That wretched quality, by
+which the sacred name of charity is now so generally and so falsely
+usurped, is no other than indifference; which, against the plainest
+evidence, or at least where there is strong ground of apprehension, is
+easily contented to believe that all goes well,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>
+because it has no
+anxieties to allay, no fears to repress. It undergoes no alternation of
+passions; it is not at one time flushed with hope, nor at another
+chilled by disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>To a considerate and feeling mind, there is something deeply afflicting,
+in seeing the engaging cheerfulness and cloudless gaiety incident to
+youth, welcomed as a sufficient indication of internal purity by the
+delighted parents; who, knowing the deceitfulness of these flattering
+appearances, should eagerly avail themselves of this period, when once
+wasted never to be regained, of good humoured acquiescence and dutiful
+docility: a period when the soft and ductile temper of the mind renders
+it more easily susceptible of the impressions we desire; and when,
+therefore, habits should be formed, which may assist our natural
+weakness to resist the temptations to which we shall be exposed in the
+commerce of maturer life. This is more especially affecting in the
+female sex, because that sex seems, by the very constitution of its
+nature, to be more favourably disposed than ours to the feelings and
+offices of Religion; being thus fitted by the bounty of Providence, the
+better to execute the important task which devolves on it, of the
+education of our earliest youth. Doubtless, this more favourable
+disposition to Religion in the female sex, was graciously designed also
+to make women doubly valuable in the wedded state: and it seems to
+afford to the married man the means of rendering an active share in the
+business of life more compatible, than it would otherwise be, with the
+liveliest devotional feelings; that when the husband should return to
+his family, worn and harassed by worldly cares or professional labours,
+the wife, habitually preserving
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>
+a warmer and more unimpaired spirit of
+devotion, than is perhaps consistent with being immersed in the bustle
+of life, might revive his languid piety; and that the religious
+impressions of both might derive new force and tenderness from the
+animating sympathies of conjugal affection. Can a more pleasing image be
+presented to a considerate mind, than that of a couple, happy in each
+other and in the pledges of their mutual love, uniting in an act of
+grateful adoration to the author of all their mercies; recommending each
+other, and the objects of their common care, to the divine protection;
+and repressing the solicitude of conjugal and parental tenderness by a
+confiding hope, that, through all the changes of this uncertain life,
+the Disposer of all things will assuredly cause all to work together for
+the good of them that love and put their trust in him; and that, after
+this uncertain state shall have passed away, they shall be admitted to a
+joint participation of never ending happiness. It is surely no mean or
+ignoble office which we would allot to the female sex, when we would
+thus commit to them the charge of maintaining in lively exercise
+whatever emotions most dignify and adorn human nature; when we would
+make them as it were the medium of our intercourse with the heavenly
+world, the faithful repositories of the religious principle, for the
+benefit both of the present and of the rising generation. Must it not
+then excite our grief and indignation, when we behold mothers, forgetful
+at once of their own peculiar duties, and of the high office which
+Providence designed their daughters to fulfil; exciting, instead of
+endeavoring to moderate in them, the natural sanguineness and
+inconsiderateness of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>
+youth; hurrying them night after night to the
+resorts of dissipation; thus teaching them to despise the <i>common</i>
+comforts of the family circle; and, instead of striving to raise their
+views, and to direct their affections to their true object, acting as if
+with the express design studiously to extinguish every spark of a
+devotional spirit, and to kindle in its stead an excessive love of
+pleasure, and, perhaps, a principle of extravagant vanity, and ardent
+emulation!</p>
+
+<p><i>Innocent young women! Good hearted young men!</i> Wherein does this
+<i>goodness of heart</i> and this <i>innocence</i> appear? Remember that we are
+fallen creatures, born in sin, and naturally depraved. Christianity
+recognises no <i>innocence</i> or <i>goodness of heart</i>, but in the remission
+of sin, and in the effects of the operation of divine grace. Do we find
+in these young persons the characters, which the holy Scriptures lay
+down as the only satisfactory evidences of a safe state? Do we not on
+the other hand discover the specified marks of a state of alienation
+from God? Can the blindest partiality persuade itself that <i>they</i> are
+loving, or striving &ldquo;to love God with all their hearts, and minds, and
+souls, and strength?&rdquo; Are <i>they</i> &ldquo;seeking first the kingdom of God, and
+his righteousness?&rdquo; Are <i>they</i> &ldquo;working out their salvation with fear
+and trembling?&rdquo; Are <i>they</i> &ldquo;clothed with humility?&rdquo; Are <i>they</i> not, on
+the contrary, supremely given up to self-indulgence? Are <i>they</i> not at
+least &ldquo;lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?&rdquo; Are the offices of
+Religion <i>their</i> solace or <i>their</i> task? Do <i>they</i> not come to these
+sacred services with reluctance, continue in them by constraint, and
+quit them with gladness? And of how many of <i>these</i> persons may it not
+be affirmed in the spirit of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>
+the prophet&#8217;s language: &ldquo;The harp, and the
+viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they
+regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his
+hands?&rdquo; Are not the youth of one sex often actually committing, and
+still more often wishing for the opportunity to commit, those sins of
+which the Scripture says expressly, &ldquo;that they which do such things
+<i>shall not</i> inherit the kingdom of God?&rdquo; Are not the youth of the other
+mainly intent on the gratification of vanity; and looking for their
+chief happiness to the resorts of gaiety and fashion, to all the
+multiplied pleasures which public places, or the still higher
+gratifications of more refined circles, can supply?</p>
+
+<p>And then, when the first ebullitions of youthful warmth are over, what
+is their boasted reformation? They may be decent, sober, useful,
+respectable, as members of the community, or amiable in the relations of
+domestic life. But is <i>this</i> the change of which the Scripture speaks?
+Hear the expressions which it uses, and judge for yourselves&mdash;&ldquo;Except a
+man be <i>born again</i>, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;The
+<i>old man</i>&mdash;is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;&rdquo; an expression
+but too descriptive of the vain delirium of youthful dissipation, and of
+the false dreams of pleasure which it inspires; but &ldquo;the <i>new man</i>&rdquo; is
+awakened from this fallacious estimate of happiness; &ldquo;<i>he</i> is renewed in
+knowledge after the image of him that created him&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;He is created
+<i>after God</i> in righteousness and true holiness.&rdquo; The persons of whom we
+are speaking are no longer, indeed, so thoughtless, and wild, and
+dissipated, as formerly; so negligent in their attention to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>
+objects of
+real value; so eager in the pursuit of pleasure; so prone to yield to
+the impulse of appetite. But this is no more than the change of which a
+writer of no very strict cast speaks, as naturally belonging to their
+riper age:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Conversis studiis, &aelig;tas animusque virilis</span>
+<span class="i0">Qu&aelig;rit opus, &amp; amicitias: inservit honori:</span>
+<span class="i0">Commisisse cavet, quod mox mutare laboret.</span>
+<span class="poet"><span class="smcap">Hor.</span></span></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>This is a point of infinite importance: let it not be thought tedious to
+spend even yet a few more moments in the discussion of it. Put the
+question to another issue, and try it, by appealing to the principle of
+life being a state of probation; (a proposition, indeed, true in a
+certain sense, though not exactly in that which is sometimes assigned to
+it,) and you will still be led to no very different conclusion.
+Probation implies resisting, in obedience to the dictates of Religion,
+appetites which we are naturally prompted to gratify. Young people are
+not tempted to be churlish, interested, covetous; but to be
+inconsiderate and dissipated, &ldquo;lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
+God.&rdquo; People again in middle age are not so strongly tempted to be
+thoughtless, and idle, and licentious. From excesses of this sort they
+are sufficiently withheld, particularly when happily settled in domestic
+life, by a regard to their characters, by the restraints of family
+connections, and by a sense of what is due to the decencies of the
+married state. <i>Their</i> probation is of another sort; <i>they</i> are tempted
+to be supremely engrossed by worldly cares, by family interests, by
+professional objects, by the pursuit of wealth or of ambition. Thus
+occupied, they are tempted to &ldquo;mind earthly rather
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>
+than heavenly
+things,&rdquo; forgetting &ldquo;the one thing needful;&rdquo; to &ldquo;set their affections&rdquo;
+on temporal rather than eternal concerns, and to take up with &ldquo;a form of
+godliness,&rdquo; instead of seeking to experience the power thereof: the
+foundations of this nominal Religion being laid, as was formerly
+explained more at large, in the forgetfulness, if not in the ignorance,
+of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity. These are the <i>ready-made</i>
+Christians formerly spoken of, who consider Christianity as a
+geographical term, properly applicable to all those who have been born
+and educated in a country wherein Christianity is professed; not as
+indicating a renewed nature, as expressive of a peculiar character, with
+its appropriate desires and aversions, and hopes, and fears, and joys,
+and sorrows. To people of this description, the solemn admonition of
+Christ is addressed; &ldquo;I know thy works; that thou hast a name that thou
+livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which
+remain that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect
+before God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>If there be any who is inclined to listen to this solemn warning, who is
+awakened from his dream of false security, and is disposed to be not
+only <i>almost</i> but <i>altogether</i> a Christian&mdash;O! let him not stifle or
+dissipate these beginnings of seriousness, but sedulously cherish them
+as the &ldquo;workings of the Divine Spirit,&rdquo; which would draw him from the
+&ldquo;broad&rdquo; and crowded &ldquo;road of destruction into the narrow&rdquo; and thinly
+peopled path &ldquo;that leadeth to life.&rdquo; Let him retire from the
+multitude&mdash;Let him enter into his closet, and on his bended knees
+implore, for Christ&#8217;s sake and in reliance on his mediation,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>
+that God
+would &ldquo;take away from him the heart of stone, and give him a heart of
+flesh;&rdquo; that the Father of light would open his eyes to his true
+condition, and clear his heart from the clouds of prejudice, and
+dissipate the deceitful medium of self-love. Then let him carefully
+examine his past life, and his present course of conduct, comparing
+himself with God&#8217;s word: and considering how any one might reasonably
+have been expected to conduct himself, to whom the Holy Scriptures had
+been always open, and who had been used to acknowledge them to be the
+revelation of the will of his Creator, and Governor, and Supreme
+Benefactor; let him there peruse the awful denunciations against
+impenitent sinners; let him labour to become more and more deeply
+impressed with a sense of his own radical blindness and corruption;
+above all, let him steadily contemplate, in all its bearings and
+connections, that stupendous truth, <i>the incarnation and crucifixion of
+the only begotten Son of God, and the message of mercy proclaimed from
+the cross to repenting sinners</i>.&mdash;&ldquo;Be ye reconciled unto God.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Believe
+in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>When he fairly estimates the guilt of sin by the costly satisfaction
+which was required to atone for it, and the worth of his soul by the
+price which was paid for its redemption, and contrasts both of these
+with his own sottish inconsiderateness; when he reflects on the amazing
+love and pity of Christ, and on the cold and formal acknowledgments with
+which he has hitherto returned this infinite obligation, making light of
+the precious blood of the Son of God, and trifling with the gracious
+invitations of his Redeemer: surely, if he be not lost to sensibility,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>
+mixed emotions of guilt, and fear, and shame, and remorse, and sorrow,
+will nearly overwhelm his soul; he will smite upon his breast, and cry
+out in the language of the publican, &ldquo;God be merciful to me a sinner.&rdquo;
+But, blessed be God, such an one needs not despair&mdash;it is to persons in
+this very situation, and with these very feelings, that the offers of
+the Gospel are held forth, and its promises assured; &ldquo;to the weary and
+heavy laden&rdquo; under the burden of their sins; to them who thirst for the
+water of life; to them who feel themselves &ldquo;tied and bound by the chain
+of their sins;&rdquo; who abhor their captivity, and long earnestly for
+deliverance. Happy, happy souls! which the grace of God has visited,
+&ldquo;has brought out of darkness into his marvellous light,&rdquo; and &ldquo;from the
+power of Satan unto God.&rdquo; Cast yourselves then on his undeserved mercy;
+he is full of love, and will not spurn you: surrender yourselves into
+his hands, and solemnly resolve, through his Grace, to dedicate
+henceforth all your faculties and powers to his service.</p>
+
+<p>It is your&#8217;s now &ldquo;to work out your own salvation with fear and
+trembling,&rdquo; relying on the fidelity of him who has promised to &ldquo;work in
+you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.&rdquo; Ever look to him for
+help: your only safety consists in a deep and abiding sense of your own
+weakness, and in a firm reliance on his strength. If you &ldquo;give all
+diligence,&rdquo; his power is armed for your protection, his truth is pledged
+for your security. You are enlisted under the banner of Christ&mdash;Fear
+not, though the world, and the flesh, and the devil are set in array
+against you.&mdash;&ldquo;Faithful is he that hath promised;&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;be ye also faithful
+unto death,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>
+and he will give you a crown of life.&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;He that endureth
+to the end, the same shall be saved.&rdquo; In such a world as this, in such a
+state of society as ours, especially if in the higher walks of life, you
+must be prepared to meet with many difficulties:&mdash;arm yourselves,
+therefore, in the first place, with a determined resolution not to rate
+human estimation beyond its true value; not to dread the charge of
+particularity, when it shall be necessary to incur it; but as was before
+recommended, let it be your constant endeavour to retain before your
+mental eye, that bright assemblage of invisible spectators, who are the
+witnesses of your daily conduct, and &ldquo;to seek that honour which cometh
+from God.&rdquo; You cannot advance a single step, till you are in some good
+measure possessed of this comparative indifference to the favour of men.
+We have before explained ourselves too clearly to render it necessary to
+declare, that no one should needlessly affect singularity: but to aim at
+incompatible advantages, to seek to please God and the world, where
+their commands are really at variance, is the way to be neither
+respectable, nor good, nor happy. Continue to be ever aware of your own
+radical corruption and habitual weakness. Indeed, if your eyes be really
+opened, and your heart truly softened, &ldquo;hungering and thirsting after
+righteousness,&rdquo; rising in your ideas of true holiness, and proving the
+genuineness of your hope by desiring &ldquo;to purify yourself even as God is
+pure;&rdquo; you will become daily more and more sensible of your own defeats,
+and wants, and weaknesses; and more and more impressed by a sense of the
+mercy and long suffering of that gracious Saviour,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>
+&ldquo;who forgiveth all your sin, and healeth all your infirmities.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This is the solution of what to a man of the world might seem a strange
+paradox, that in proportion as the Christian grows in grace, he grows
+also in humility. Humility is indeed the vital principle of
+Christianity; that principle by which from first to last she lives and
+thrives, and in proportion to the growth or decline of which she must
+decay or flourish. <i>This</i> first disposes the sinner in deep
+self-abasement to accept the others of the Gospel; <i>this</i>, during his
+whole progress, is the very ground and basis of his feelings and
+conduct, both in relation to God, his fellow creatures, and himself; and
+when at length he shall be translated into the realms of glory, <i>this</i>
+principle shall still subsist in undiminished force: He shall &ldquo;fall
+down; and cast his crown before the Lamb; and ascribe blessing, and
+honour, and glory, and power, to him that sitteth upon the throne, and
+to the Lamb for ever and ever.&rdquo; The <i>practical</i> benefits of this
+habitual lowliness of spirit are too numerous, and at the same time too
+obvious; to require enumeration. It will lead you to dread the
+beginnings, and fly from the occasions of sin; as that man would shun
+some infectious distemper, who should know that he was pre-disposed to
+take the contagion. It will prevent a thousand difficulties, and decide
+a thousand questions, concerning worldly compliances; by which those
+persons are apt to be embarrassed, who are not duly sensible of their
+own exceeding frailty, whose views of the Christian character are not
+sufficiently elevated, and who are not enough possessed with a continual
+fear of &ldquo;grieving the Holy Spirit of God,&rdquo; and of thus provoking
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+him to
+withdraw his gracious influence. But if you are really such as we have
+been describing, you need not be urged to set the standard of practice
+high, and to strive after universal holiness. It is the desire of your
+hearts to act in all things with a single eye to the favour of God, and
+thus the most ordinary actions of life are raised into offices of
+Religion. This is the purifying, the transmuting principle, which
+realizes the fabled touch, which changes all to gold. But it belongs to
+this desire of pleasing God, that we should be continually solicitous to
+discover the path of duty; that we should not indolently wait, satisfied
+with not refusing occasions of glorifying God, when they are forced upon
+us; but that we should pray to God for wisdom and spiritual
+understanding, that we may be, acute in discerning opportunities of
+serving him in the world, and judicious in selecting and wise in
+improving them. Guard indeed against the distraction of worldly cares;
+and cultivate heavenly mindedness, and a spirit of continual prayer, and
+neglect not to watch incessantly over the workings of your deceitful
+heart: but be active also, and useful. Let not your precious time be
+wasted &ldquo;in shapeless idleness;&rdquo; an admonition which, in our days, is
+rendered but too necessary by the relaxed habits of persons even of real
+piety: but wisely husband and improve this fleeting treasure. Never be
+satisfied with your present attainments; but &ldquo;forgetting the things
+which are behind,&rdquo; labour still to &ldquo;press forward&rdquo; with undiminished
+energy, and to run the race that is set before you without flagging in
+your course.</p>
+
+<p>Above all, measure your progress by your improvement in love to God and
+man. &ldquo;God is
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>
+Love.&rdquo; This is the sacred principle, which warms and
+enlightens the heavenly world, that blessed feat of God&#8217;s visible
+presence. There it shines with unclouded radiance. Some scattered beams
+of it are graciously lent to us on earth, or we had been benighted and
+left in darkness and misery; but a larger portion of it is infused into
+the hearts of the servants of God, who thus &ldquo;are renewed in the divine
+likeness,&rdquo; and even here exhibit some faint traces of the image of their
+heavenly Father. It is the principle of love which disposes them to
+yield themselves up without reserve to the service of him, &ldquo;who has
+bought them with the price of his own blood.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Servile, and base, and mercenary, is the notion of Christian practice
+among the bulk of nominal Christians. They give no more than they <i>dare</i>
+not with-hold; they abstain from nothing but what they <i>must</i> not
+practise. When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and
+the consequent obligation to desist from it, they reply to you in the
+very spirit of Shylock, &ldquo;they cannot find it in the bond.&rdquo; In short,
+they know Christianity only as a system of restraints. She is despoiled
+of every liberal and generous principle: she is rendered almost unfit
+for the social intercourses of life, and is only suited to the gloomy
+walls of that cloister, in which they would confine her. But <i>true
+Christians</i> consider themselves not as satisfying some rigorous
+creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude. Their&#8217;s is accordingly
+not the stinted return of a constrained obedience, but the large and
+liberal measure of a voluntary service. This principle, therefore, as
+was formerly remarked, and has been recently observed of true Christian
+humility,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>
+prevents a thousand <i>practical</i> embarrassments, by which they
+are continually harassed, who act from a less generous motive; and who
+require it to be clearly ascertained to them, that any gratification or
+worldly compliance, which may be in question, is beyond the allowed
+boundary line of Christian practice<a name="FNanchor_124" id="FNanchor_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a>. <i>This</i> principle regulates the
+true Christian&#8217;s choice of companions and friends, where he is at
+liberty to make an option; <i>this</i> fills him with the desire of promoting
+the temporal well-being of all around him, and still more with pity and
+love, and anxious solicitude for their spiritual welfare. Indifference
+indeed in this respect is one of the surest signs of a low or declining
+state in Religion. <i>This</i> animating principle it is, which in the true
+Christian&#8217;s happier hour inspirits his devotions, and causes him to
+delight in the worship of God; which fills him with consolation, and
+peace, and gladness, and sometimes even enables him &ldquo;to rejoice with joy
+unspeakable and full of glory.&rdquo;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But this world is not his resting place: here, to the very last, he must
+be a pilgrim and a stranger; a soldier, whose warfare ends only with
+life, ever struggling and combating with the powers of darkness, and
+with the temptations of the world around him, and the still more
+dangerous hostilities of internal depravity. The perpetual vicissitudes
+of this uncertain state, the peculiar trials and difficulties with which
+the life of a Christian is chequered, and still more, the painful and
+humiliating remembrance of his own infirmities, teach him to look
+forward, almost with outstretched neck, to that promised day, when he
+shall be completely delivered from the bondage of corruption, and sorrow
+and sighing shall flee away. In the anticipation of that blessed period,
+and comparing this churlish and turbulent world, where competition, and
+envy, and anger, and revenge, so vex and agitate the sons of men, with
+that blissful region where Love shall reign without disturbance, and
+where all being knit together in bonds of indissoluble friendship, shall
+unite in one harmonious song of praise to the Author of their common
+happiness, the true Christian triumphs over the fear of death: he longs
+to realize these cheering images, and to obtain admission into that
+blessed company.&mdash;With far more justice than it was originally used, he
+may adopt the beautiful exclamation&mdash;&ldquo;O pr&aelig;clarum illum diem, cum ad
+illud divinum animorum concilium c&oelig;tumque proficiscar, atque ex hac
+turba et colluvione discedam!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What has been now as well as formerly remarked, concerning the habitual
+feelings of the real believer, may suggest a reply to an objection
+common in the mouths of nominal Christians,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>
+that we would deny men the
+innocent amusements and gratifications of life; thus causing our
+Religion to wear a gloomy forbidding aspect, instead of her true and
+natural face of cheerfulness and joy. This is a charge of so serious a
+nature, that although it lead into a digression, it may not be improper
+to take some notice of it.</p>
+
+<p>In the first place, Religion prohibits no amusement or gratification
+which is <i>really</i> innocent. The question, however, of its innocence,
+must not be tried by the loose maxims of worldly morality, but by the
+spirit of the injunctions of the word of God; and by the indulgence
+being conformable or not conformable to the genius of Christianity, and
+to the tempers and dispositions of mind enjoined on its professors.
+There can be no dispute concerning the true end of recreations. They are
+intended to refresh our exhausted bodily or mental powers, and to
+restore us, with renewed vigour, to the more serious occupations of
+life. Whatever, therefore, fatigues either body or mind, instead of
+refreshing them, is not fitted to answer the designed purpose. Whatever
+consumes more time, or money, or thought, than it is expedient (I might
+say <i>necessary</i>) to allot to mere amusement, can hardly be approved by
+any one who considers these talents as precious deposits for the
+expenditure of which he will have to give account. Whatever directly or
+indirectly must be likely to injure the welfare of a fellow creature,
+can scarcely be a suitable <i>recreation</i> for a Christian, who is &ldquo;to love
+his neighbour as himself;&rdquo; or a very consistent <i>diversion</i> for any one,
+the business of whose life is to diffuse happiness.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>But does a Christian never relax? Let us not so wrong and vilify the
+bounty of Providence, as to allow for a moment that the sources of
+innocent amusement are so rare, that men must be driven, almost by
+constraint, to such as are of a doubtful quality. On the contrary, such
+has been the Creator&#8217;s goodness, that almost every one, both of our
+physical and intellectual, and moral faculties (and the same may be said
+of the whole creation which we see around us) is not only calculated to
+answer the proper end of its being, by its subserviency to some purpose
+of solid usefulness, but to be the instrument of administering pleasure.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i22">Not content</span>
+<span class="i0">With every food of life to nourish man,</span>
+<span class="i0">Thou mak&#8217;st all nature beauty to his eye</span>
+<span class="i0">And music to his ear.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Our Maker also, in his kindness, has so constructed us, that even mere
+vicissitude is grateful and refreshing&mdash;a consideration which should
+prompt us often to seek, from a prudent <i>variation</i> of <i>useful
+pursuits</i>, that recreation, for which we are apt to resort to what is
+altogether, <i>unproductive</i> and <i>unfruitful</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Yet rich and multiplied are the springs of innocent relaxation. The
+Christian relaxes in the temperate use of all the gifts of Providence.
+Imagination, and taste, and genius, and the beauties of creation, and
+the works of art, lie open to him. He relaxes in the feast of reason, in
+the intercourses of society, in the sweets of friendship, in the
+endearments of love, in the exercise of hope, of confidence, of joy, of
+gratitude, of universal good will, of all the benevolent and generous
+affections; which, by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>
+gracious ordination of our Creator, while
+they disinterestedly intend only happiness to others, are most surely
+productive to ourselves of complacency and peace. O! little do they know
+of the true measure of enjoyment, who can compare these delightful
+complacencies with the frivolous pleasures of dissipation, or the coarse
+gratifications of sensuality. It is no wonder, however, that the nominal
+Christian should reluctantly give up, one by one, the pleasures of the
+world; and look back upon them, when relinquished, with eyes of
+wistfulness and regret: because he knows not the sweetness of the
+delights with which true Christianity repays those trifling sacrifices,
+and is greatly unacquainted with the <i>nature</i> of that pleasantness which
+is to be found in the ways of Religion.</p>
+
+<p>It is indeed true, that when any one, who has long been going on in the
+gross and unrestrained practice of vice, is checked in his career, and
+enters at first on a religious course, he has much to undergo. Fear,
+guilt, remorse, shame, and various other passions, struggle and conflict
+within him. His appetites are clamorous for their accustomed
+gratification, and inveterate habits are scarcely to be denied. He is
+weighed down by a load of guilt, and almost overwhelmed by the sense of
+his unworthiness. But all this ought in fairness to be charged to the
+account of his past sins, and not to that of his present repentance. It
+rarely happens, however, that this state of suffering continues very
+long. When the mental gloom is the blackest, a ray of heavenly light
+occasionally breaks in, and suggests the hope of better days. Even in
+this life it commonly holds true, &ldquo;They that sow in tears shall reap in
+joy.&rdquo;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Neither, when we maintain, that the ways of Religion are ways of
+pleasantness, do we mean to deny that the Christian&#8217;s internal state is,
+through the whole of his life, a state of discipline and warfare.
+Several of the causes which contribute to render it such have been
+already pointed out, together with the workings of his mind in relation
+to them: but if he has solicitudes and griefs peculiar to himself, he
+has &ldquo;joys also with which a stranger intermeddles not.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Drink deep,&rdquo; however, &ldquo;or taste not,&rdquo; is a direction full as applicable
+to Religion, if we would find it a source of pleasure, as it is to
+knowledge. A little Religion is, it must be confessed, apt to make men
+gloomy, as a little knowledge to render them vain: hence the unjust
+imputation often brought upon Religion by those, whose degree of
+Religion is just sufficient, by condemning their course of conduct, to
+render them uneasy: enough merely to impair the sweetness of the
+pleasures of sin, and not enough to compensate for the relinquishment of
+them by its own peculiar comforts. Thus these men bring up, as it were,
+an ill report of that land of promise, which, in truth, abounds with
+whatever, in our journey through life, can best refresh and strengthen
+us.</p>
+
+<p>We have enumerated some sources of pleasure which men of the world may
+understand, and must acknowledge to belong to the true Christian; but
+there are others, and those of a still higher class, to which they must
+confess themselves strangers. To say nothing of a qualified, I dare not
+say an entire, exemption from those distracting passions and corroding
+cares, by which he must naturally be harassed, whose treasure is within
+the reach of mortal accidents; there is
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>
+the humble quiet-giving hope of
+being reconciled to God, and of enjoying his favour; with that solid
+peace of mind, which the world can neither give nor take away, that
+results from a firm confidence in the infinite wisdom and goodness of
+God, and in the unceasing care and kindness of a generous Saviour: and
+there is the persuasion of the truth of the divine assurance, that all
+things shall work together for good.</p>
+
+<p>When the pulse indeed beats high, and we are flushed with youth, and
+health, and vigour; when all goes on prosperously, and success seems
+almost to anticipate our wishes; then we feel not the want of the
+consolations of Religion: but when fortune frowns, or friends forsake
+us; when sorrow, or sickness, or old age, comes upon us, then it is,
+that the superiority of the pleasures of Religion is established over
+those of dissipation and vanity, which are ever apt to fly from us when
+we are most in want of their aid. There is scarcely a more melancholy
+sight to a considerate mind, than that of an old man, who is a stranger
+to those only true sources of satisfaction. How affecting, and at the
+same time how disgusting, is it to see such an one awkwardly catching at
+the pleasures of his younger years, which are now beyond his reach; or
+feebly attempting to retain them, while they mock his endeavours and
+elude his grasp! To such an one, <i>gloomily</i> indeed does the evening of
+life set in! All is sour and cheerless. He can neither look backward
+with complacency nor forward with hope: while the aged Christian,
+relying on the assured mercy of his Redeemer, can calmly reflect that
+his dismission is at hand; that his redemption draweth nigh:
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>
+while his
+strength declines, and his faculties decay, he can quietly repose
+himself on the fidelity of God: and at the very entrance of the valley
+of the shadow of death, he can lift up an eye, dim, perhaps, and feeble,
+yet occasionally sparkling with hope, and confidently looking forward to
+the near possession of his heavenly inheritance, &ldquo;to those joys which
+eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart
+of man to conceive.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Never were there times which inculcated more forcibly than those in
+which we live, the wisdom of seeking a happiness beyond the reach of
+human vicissitudes. What striking lessons have <i>we</i> had of the
+precarious tenure of all sublunary possessions! Wealth, and power, and
+prosperity, how peculiarly transitory and uncertain! But Religion
+dispenses her choicest cordials in the seasons of exigence, in poverty,
+in exile, in sickness, and in death. The essential superiority of that
+support which is derived from Religion is less felt, at least it is less
+apparent, when the Christian is in full possession of riches, and
+splendour, and rank, and all the gifts of nature and fortune. But when
+all these are swept away by the rude hand of time, or the rough blasts
+of adversity, the true Christian stands, like the glory of the forest,
+erect and vigorous; stripped indeed of his summer foliage, but more than
+ever discovering to the observing eye the solid strength of his
+substantial texture:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Pondere fixa suo est, nudosque per aera ramos</span>
+<span class="i0">Attollens, trunco non frondibus efficit umbram.</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Section II.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Advice to some who profess their full Assent to the fundamental
+Doctrines of the Gospel.</i></h5>
+
+<p>In a former chapter we largely insisted on what may be termed the
+fundamental practical error of the bulk of professed Christians in our
+days; their either overlooking or misconceiving the peculiar method,
+which the Gospel has provided for the renovation of our corrupted
+nature, and for the attainment of every Christian grace.</p>
+
+<p>But there are mistakes on the right hand and on the left; and our
+general proneness, when we are flying from one extreme to run into an
+opposite error, renders it necessary to superadd another admonition. The
+generally prevailing error of the present day, indeed, is that
+fundamental one which was formerly pointed out. But while we attend, in
+the first place, to this; and, on the warrant both of Scripture and
+experience, prescribe hearty repentance and lively faith, as the only
+root and foundation of all true holiness; we must at the same time guard
+against a practical mistake of another kind. They who, with penitent
+hearts, have humbled themselves before the cross of Christ; and who,
+pleading his merits as their only ground of pardon and acceptance with
+God, have resolved henceforth, through the help of his Spirit, to bring
+forth the fruits of righteousness, are sometimes apt to conduct
+themselves as if they considered their work as now done; or at least as
+if this were the whole they had to do, as often as, by falling afresh
+into sin, another act of repentance
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>
+and faith may seem to have become
+necessary. There are not a few in our relaxed age, who thus satisfy
+themselves with what may be termed <i>general</i> Christianity; who feel
+<i>general</i> penitence and humiliation from a sense of their sinfulness <i>in
+general</i>, and <i>general</i> desires of universal holiness; but who neglect
+that vigilant and jealous care, with which they should labour to
+extirpate every <i>particular</i> corruption, by studying its nature, its
+root, its ramifications, and thus becoming acquainted with its secret
+movements, with the means whereby it gains strength, and with the most
+effectual methods of resisting it. In like manner, they are far from
+striving with persevering alacrity for the acquisition and improvement
+of every Christian grace. Nor is it unusual for ministers, who preach
+the truths of the Gospel with fidelity, ability, and success, to be
+themselves also liable to the charge of dwelling altogether in their
+instructions on this <i>general</i> Religion: instead of tracing and laying
+open all the secret motions of inward corruption, and instructing their
+hearers how best to conduct themselves in every distinct part of the
+Christian warfare; how best to strive against each particular vice, and
+to cultivate each grace of the Christian character. Hence it is, that in
+too many persons, concerning the sincerity of whose general professions
+of Religion we should be sorry to entertain a doubt, we yet see little
+progress made in the regulation of their tempers, in the improvement of
+their time, in the reform of their plan of life, or inability to resist
+the temptation to which they are particularly exposed. They will confess
+themselves, in general terms, to be &ldquo;<i>miserable sinners</i>:&rdquo; this is a
+tenet of their creed, and they feel even proud in avowing it. They
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>
+will
+occasionally also lament particular failings: but this confession is
+sometimes obviously made, in order to draw forth a compliment for the
+very opposite virtue: and where this is not the case, it is often not
+difficult to detect, under this false guise of contrition, a secret
+self-complacency, arising from the manifestations which they have
+afforded of their acuteness or candour in discovering the infirmity in
+question, or of their frankness or humility in acknowledging it. This
+will scarcely seem an illiberal suspicion to any one, who either watches
+the workings of his own heart, or who observes, that the faults
+confessed in these instances are very seldom those, with which the
+person is most clearly and strongly chargeable.</p>
+
+<p><i>We must plainly warn these men</i>, and the consideration is seriously
+pressed on their instructors also, <i>that they are in danger of deceiving
+themselves. Let them beware lest they be nominal Christians of another
+sort.</i> These persons require to be reminded, that there is no <i>short
+compendious method of holiness</i>: but that it must be the business of
+their whole lives to grow in grace, and continually adding one virtue to
+another, as far as may be, &ldquo;to go on towards perfection.&rdquo; &ldquo;He only that
+doeth righteousness is righteous.&rdquo; Unless &ldquo;they bring forth the fruits
+of the Spirit,&rdquo; they can have no sufficient evidence that they have
+received that &ldquo;Spirit of Christ, without which they are none of his.&rdquo;
+But where, on the whole, our unwillingness to pass an unfavourable
+judgment may lead us to indulge a hope, that &ldquo;the root of the matter is
+found in them;&rdquo; yet we must at least declare to them, that instead of
+adorning the doctrine of Christ, they disparage and discredit it. The
+world sees
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>
+not their secret humiliation, not the exercises of their
+closets, but it is acute in discerning practical weaknesses: and if it
+observe that they have the same eagerness in the pursuit of wealth or
+ambition, the same vain taste for ostentation and display, the same
+ungoverned tempers, which are found in the generality of mankind; it
+will treat with contempt their pretences to superior sanctity and
+indifference to worldly things, and will be hardened in its prejudices
+against the only mode, which God has provided for our escaping the wrath
+to come, and obtaining eternal happiness.</p>
+
+<p>Let him then, who would be indeed a Christian, watch over his ways and
+over his heart with unceasing circumspection. Let him endeavour to
+learn, both from men and books, particularly from the lives of eminent
+Christians<a name="FNanchor_125" id="FNanchor_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a>, what methods have been actually found most effectual
+for the conquest of every particular vice, and for improvement in every
+branch of holiness. Thus studying his own character, and observing the
+most secret workings of his own mind, and of our common nature; the
+knowledge which he will acquire of the human heart in general, and
+especially of his own, will be of the highest utility, in enabling him
+to avoid or to guard against the occasions
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>
+of evil: and it will also
+tend, above all things, to the growth of humility, and to the
+maintenance of that sobriety of spirit and tenderness of conscience,
+which are eminently characteristic of the true Christian. It is by this
+unceasing diligence, as the Apostle declares, that the servants of
+Christ must make their calling sure. Their labour will not be thrown
+away; for &ldquo;an entrance shall&rdquo; at length &ldquo;be ministered unto them
+abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Sect. III.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Brief Observations addressed to Sceptics and Unitarians.</i></h5>
+
+<p>There is another class of men, an increasing class, it is to be feared,
+in this country, that of absolute unbelievers, with which this little
+work has properly no concern: but may the writer, sincerely pitying
+their melancholy state, be permitted to ask them one plain question? If
+Christianity be not in their estimation true, yet is there not at least
+a presumption in its favour, sufficient to entitle it to a serious
+examination; from its having been embraced, and that not blindly and
+implicitly, but upon full inquiry and deep consideration, by Bacon, and
+Milton, and Locke, and Newton, and much the greater part of those, who,
+by the reach of their understandings, or the extent of their knowledge,
+and by the freedom too of their minds, and their daring to combat
+existing prejudices, have called
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>
+forth the respect and admiration of
+mankind? It might be deemed scarcely fair to insist on Churchmen, though
+some of them are among the greatest names this country has ever known.
+Can the sceptic in general say with truth, that he has either prosecuted
+an examination into the evidences of Revelation at all, or at least with
+a seriousness and diligence in any degree proportioned to the importance
+of the subject? The fact is, and it is a fact which redounds to the
+honour of Christianity, that infidelity is not the result of sober
+inquiry and deliberate preference. It is rather the slow production of a
+careless and irreligious life, operating together with prejudices and
+erroneous conceptions, concerning the nature of the leading doctrines
+and fundamental tenets of Christianity.</p>
+
+<p>Take the case of young men of condition, bred up by what we have termed
+nominal Christians. When children, they are carried to church, and
+thence they become acquainted with such parts of Scripture as are
+contained in our public service. If their parents preserve still more of
+the customs of better times, they are taught their Catechism, and
+furnished with a little farther religious knowledge. After a while, they
+go from under the eyes of their parents; they enter into the world, and
+move forward in the path of life, whatever it may be, which has been
+assigned to them. They yield to the temptations which assail them, and
+become, more or less, dissipated and licentious. At least they neglect
+to look into their Bible; they do not enlarge the sphere of their
+religious acquisitions; they do not even endeavour, by reflection and
+study, to turn into what may deserve the name of knowledge and rational
+conviction, the opinions
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>
+which, in their childhood, they had taken on
+trust.</p>
+
+<p>They travel, perhaps, into foreign countries; a proceeding which
+naturally tends to weaken their nursery, prejudice in favour of the
+Religion in which they were bred, and by removing them from all means of
+public worship, to relax their practical habits of Religion. They return
+home, and commonly are either hurried round in the vortex of
+dissipation, or engage with the ardour of youthful minds in some public
+or professional pursuit. If they read or hear any thing about
+Christianity, it is commonly only about those tenets which are subjects
+of controversy: and what reaches their ears of the Bible, from their
+occasional attendance at church; though it may sometimes impress them
+with an idea of the purity of Christian morality, contains much which,
+coming thus detached, perplexes and offends them, and suggests various
+doubts and startling objections, which a farther acquaintance with the
+Scripture would remove. Thus growing more and more to know Christianity
+only by the difficulties it contains; sometimes tempted by the ambition
+of shewing themselves superior to vulgar prejudice, and always prompted
+by the natural pride of the human heart to cast off their subjection to
+dogmas imposed on them; disgusted, perhaps, by the immoral lives of some
+professed Christians, by the weaknesses and absurdities of others, and
+by what they observe to be the implicit belief of numbers, whom they see
+and know to be equally ignorant with themselves, many doubts and
+suspicions of greater or less extent spring up within them. These doubts
+enter into the mind at first almost imperceptibly: they exist only as
+vague indistinct surmises, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>
+by no means take the precise shape or
+the substance of a formed opinion. At first, probably, they even offend
+and startle by their intrusion: but by degrees the unpleasant sensations
+which they once excited wear off: the mind grows more familiar with
+them. A confused sense (for such it is, rather than a formed idea) of
+its being desirable that their doubts should prove well founded, and of
+the comfort and enlargement which would be afforded by that proof, lends
+them much secret aid. The impression becomes deeper; not in consequence
+of being reinforced by fresh arguments, but merely by dint of having
+longer rested in the mind; and as they increase in force, they creep on
+and extend themselves. At length they diffuse themselves over the whole
+of Religion, and possess the mind in undisturbed occupancy.</p>
+
+<p>It is by no means meant that this is universally the process. But,
+speaking generally, this might be termed, perhaps not unjustly, the
+<i>natural history</i> of scepticism. It approves itself to the experience of
+those who have with any care watched the progress of infidelity in
+persons around them; and it is confirmed by the written lives of some of
+the most eminent unbelievers. It is curious to read their own accounts
+of themselves, the rather as they accord so exactly with the result of
+our own observation.&mdash;We find that they once perhaps gave a sort of
+implicit hereditary assent to the truth of Christianity, and were what,
+by a mischievous perversion of language, the world denominates
+<i>believers</i>. How were they then awakened from their sleep of ignorance?
+At what moment did the light of truth beam in upon them, and dissipate
+the darkness in which they had been involved? The period
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>
+of their
+infidelity is marked by no such determinate boundary. Reason, and
+thought, and inquiry had little or nothing to do with it. Having for
+many years lived careless and irreligious lives, and associated with
+companions equally careless and irreligious; not by force of study and
+reflection, but rather by the lapse of time, they at length attained to
+their infidel maturity. It is worthy of remark, that where any are
+reclaimed from infidelity, it is generally by a process much more
+rational than that which has been here described. Something awakens them
+to reflection. They examine, they consider, and at length yield their
+assent to Christianity on what they deem sufficient grounds.</p>
+
+<p>From the account here given, it appears plainly that infidelity is
+generally the offspring of prejudice, and that its success is mainly to
+be ascribed to the depravity of the moral character. This fact is
+confirmed by the undeniable truth, that in <i>societies</i>, which consist of
+individuals, infidelity is the natural fruit, not so much of a studious
+and disputatious, as of a dissipated and vicious age. It diffuses itself
+in proportion as the general morals decline; and it is embraced with
+less apprehension, when every infidel is kept in spirits, by seeing many
+around him who are sharing fortunes with himself.</p>
+
+<p>To any fair mind this consideration alone might be offered, as
+suggesting a strong argument against infidelity, and in favour of
+Revelation. And the friends of Christianity might justly retort the
+charge, which their opponents often urge with no little affectation of
+superior wisdom; that we implicitly surrender ourselves to the influence
+of prejudice, instead of examining
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>
+dispassionately the ground of our
+faith, and yielding our assent only according to the degree of evidence.</p>
+
+<p>In our own days, when it is but too clear that infidelity increases, it
+is not in consequence of the reasonings of the infidel writers having
+been much studied, but from the progress of luxury, and the decay of
+morals: and, so far as this increase may be traced at all to the works
+of sceptical writers; it has been produced, not by argument and
+discussion, but by sarcasms and points of wit, which have operated on
+weak minds, or on nominal Christians, by bringing gradually into
+contempt, opinions which, in their case, had only rested on the basis of
+blind respect and the prejudices of education. It may therefore be laid
+down as an axiom, that <i>infidelity is in general a disease of the heart
+more than of the understanding</i>. If Revelation were assailed only by
+reason and argument, it would have little to fear. The literary opposers
+of Christianity, from Herbert to Hume, have been seldom read. They made
+some stir in their day: during their span of existence they were noisy
+and noxious; but like the locusts of the east, which for a while obscure
+the air, and destroy the verdure, they were soon swept away and
+forgotten. Their very names would be scarcely found, if Leland had not
+preserved them from oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>The account which has been given, of the secret, but grand, source of
+infidelity, may perhaps justly be extended, as being not seldom true in
+the case of those who deny the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel.</p>
+
+<p>In the course which we lately traced from nominal orthodoxy to absolute
+infidelity,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>
+Unitarianism<a name="FNanchor_126" id="FNanchor_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> is indeed, a sort of half-way house, if
+the expression may be pardoned; a stage on the journey, where sometimes
+a person indeed finally stops, but where, not unfrequently, he only
+pauses for a while, and then pursues his progress.</p>
+
+<p>The Unitarian teachers by no means profess to absolve their followers
+from the unbending strictness of Christian morality. They prescribe the
+predominant love of God, and an habitual spirit of devotion: but it is
+an unquestionable fact; a fact which they themselves almost admit, that
+this class of religionists is not in general distinguished for superior
+purity of life; and still less for that frame of mind, which, by the
+injunction &ldquo;to be spiritually, not carnally, minded,&rdquo; the word of God
+prescribes to us, as one of the surest tests of our experiencing the
+vital power of Christianity. On the contrary, in point of fact,
+<i>Unitarianism</i> seems to be resorted to, not merely by those who are
+disgusted with the peculiar doctrines of Christianity; but by those also
+who are seeking a refuge from the strictness of her practical precepts;
+and who, more particularly, would escape from the obligation which she
+imposes on her adherents, rather to incur the dreaded charge of
+singularity, than fall in with the declining manners of a dissipated
+age.</p>
+
+<p>Unitarianism, where it may be supposed to proceed from the understanding
+rather than
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>
+from the heart, is not unfrequently produced by a confused
+idea of the difficulties, or, as they are termed, the impossibilities
+which orthodox Christianity is supposed to involve. It is not our
+intention to enter into the controversy:<a name="FNanchor_127" id="FNanchor_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> but it may not be improper
+to make one remark as a guard to persons in whose way the arguments of
+the Unitarians may be likely to fall; namely, that one great advantage
+possessed by Deists, and perhaps in a still greater degree by
+Unitarians, in their warfare with the Christian system, results from the
+very circumstances of their being the assailants. They urge what they
+state to be powerful arguments against the truth of the fundamental
+doctrines of Christianity, and then call upon men to abandon them as
+posts no longer tenable. But they, who are disposed to yield to this
+assault, should call to mind, that it has pleased God so to establish
+the constitution of all things, that perplexing difficulties and
+plausible objections may be adduced against the most established truths;
+such, for instance, as the being of a God, and many others both physical
+and moral. In all cases, therefore, it becomes us, not on a partial view
+to reject any proposition, because it is attended with difficulties; but
+to compare the difficulties which it involves, with those which attend
+the alternative proposition which must be embraced on its rejection.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>
+We
+should put to the proof the alternative proposition in its turn, and see
+whether it be not still less tenable than that which we are summoned to
+abandon. In short, we should examine circumspectly on all sides; and
+abide by that opinion which, on carefully balancing all considerations,
+appears fairly entitled to our preference. Experience, however, will
+have convinced the attentive observer of those around him, that it has
+been for want of adverting to this just and obvious principle, that the
+Unitarians in particular have gained most of their proselytes from the
+Church, so far as argument has contributed to their success. If the
+Unitarians, or even the Deists, were considered in their turn as masters
+of the field; and were in their turn attacked, both by arguments tending
+to disprove their system directly, and to disprove it indirectly, by
+shewing the high probability of the truth of Christianity, and of its
+leading and peculiar doctrines, it is most likely that they would soon
+appear wholly unable to keep their ground. In short, reasoning fairly,
+there is no medium between absolute <i>Pyrrhonism</i> and true Christianity:
+and if we reject the latter on account of its difficulties, we shall be
+still more loudly called upon to reject every other system which has
+been offered to the acceptance of mankind. This consideration might,
+perhaps, with advantage be more attended to than it has been, by those
+who take upon them to vindicate the truth of our holy religion: as many,
+who from inconsideration, or any other cause, are disposed to give up
+the great fundamentals of Christianity, would be startled by the idea,
+that on the same principle on which they did this, they must give up the
+hope of finding any rest for the sole of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>
+their foot on any ground of
+Religion, and not stop short of unqualified Atheism.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the class of those who professedly reject revelation, there is
+another, and that also, it is to be feared, an increasing one, which may
+be called the class of half-unbelievers, who are to be found in various
+degrees of approximation to a state of absolute infidelity. The system,
+if it deserve the name, of these men, is grossly irrational. Hearing
+many who assert and many who deny the truth of Christianity, and not
+reflecting seriously enough to consider that it must be either true or
+false, they take up a strange sort of middle opinion of its qualified
+truth. They conceive that there must be something in it, though by no
+means to the extent to which it is pushed by orthodox Christians. They
+grant the reality of future punishment, and even that they themselves
+cannot altogether expect to escape it; yet, &ldquo;they trust it will not go
+so hard with them as the churchmen state:&rdquo; and, as was formerly hinted,
+though disbelieving almost every material doctrine which Christianity
+contains; yet, even in their own minds, they by no means conceive
+themselves to be inlisted under the banners of infidelity, or to have
+much cause for any great apprehension lest Christianity should prove
+true.</p>
+
+<p>But let these men be reminded, that there is no middle way. If they can
+be prevailed on to look into their Bible, and do not make up their minds
+absolutely to reject its authority; they must admit that there is no
+ground whatever for this vain hope, which they suffer themselves to
+indulge, of escaping but with a slight measure of punishment. Nor let
+them think their guilt inconsiderable.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>
+Is it not grossly criminal to
+trifle with the long-suffering of God, to despise alike his invitations
+and his threatenings, and the offer of his Spirit of grace, and the
+precious blood of the Redeemer? Far different is the Scripture estimate;
+&ldquo;How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?&rdquo; &ldquo;It shall be
+more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment,&rdquo; than for
+them, who voluntarily shut their eyes against that full light, which the
+bounty of Heaven has poured out upon them. These half-unbelievers are
+even more reprehensible than downright sceptics, for remaining in this
+state of careless uncertainty, without endeavouring to ascertain the
+truth or falsehood of revelation. The probability which they admit, that
+it may be true, imposes on them an additional and an undeniable
+obligation to inquiry. But both to them and to decided sceptics it must
+be plainly declared, that they are in these days less excusable than
+ever, for not looking into the grounds and proofs on which is rested the
+truth of Christianity; for never before were these proofs so <i>plainly,
+and at so easy a rate</i>, offered to the consideration of mankind. Through
+the bounty of Providence, the more widely spreading poison of infidelity
+has in our days been met with more numerous and more powerful antidotes.
+One of these has been already pointed out: and it should be matter of
+farther gratitude to every real Christian, that in the very place on
+which modern infidelity had displayed the standard of victory, a warrior
+in the service of Religion, a man of the most acute discernment and
+profound research, has been raised up by Providence to quell their
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>
+triumph<a name="FNanchor_128" id="FNanchor_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a>. He was soon taken from us; but happily for him and for
+ourselves, not till he had announced, that, like the Magi of old, he had
+seen the star of Christ in the East, and had fallen down and worshipped
+him. Another should be mentioned with honour, who is pursuing the track
+which that great man had pointed out<a name="FNanchor_129" id="FNanchor_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a>. Henceforth let all objectors
+against Christianity, on the ground of its being disproved by the
+oriental records, be put to silence. The strength of their cause
+consisted in their ignorance, and in our own, of oriental learning. They
+availed themselves for a while of our being in a state of darkness; but
+the light of day has at length broken in and exposed to deserved
+contempt their superficial speculations.</p>
+
+<p>The infatuation of these unbelievers upon trust would be less striking,
+if they were able altogether to decline Christianity; and were at
+liberty to relinquish their pretensions to its rewards, on condition of
+being exempted from its punishments. But that is not the case; they must
+stand the risk of the encounter, and their eternal happiness or misery
+is suspended upon the issue<a name="FNanchor_130" id="FNanchor_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a>. What must be the emotions of these
+men, on first opening their eyes in the world of spirits, and being
+convinced, too late,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span>
+of the awful reality of their impending ruin? May
+the mercy and the power of God awaken them from their desperate slumber,
+while life is yet spared, and there is yet space for repentance!</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Section IV.</span></h3>
+
+<h5><i>Advice suggested by the state of the times to true Christians.</i></h5>
+
+<p>To those, who really deserve the appellation of true Christians, much
+has been said incidentally in the course of the present work. It has
+been maintained, and the proposition will not be disputed by any sound
+or experienced politician, that they are always most important members
+of the community. But we may boldly assert, that there never was a
+period wherein, more justly than in the present, this could be affirmed
+of them; whether the situation, in all its circumstances, of our own
+country be attentively considered, or the general state of society in
+Europe. Let them on their part seriously weigh the important station
+which they fill, and the various duties which it now peculiarly enforces
+on them. If we consult the most intelligent accounts of foreign
+countries, which have been recently published, and compare them with the
+reports of former travellers; we must be convinced, that Religion and
+the standard of morals are every where declining, abroad even more
+rapidly than in our own country. But still, the progress of irreligion,
+and the decay of morals at home, are such as to alarm every considerate
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>
+mind, and to forebode the worst consequences, unless some remedy can be
+applied to the growing evil. We can depend only upon true <i>Christians</i>
+for effecting, in any degree, this important service. Their system, as
+was formerly stated, is that of our national church: and in proportion,
+therefore, as their system prevails, or as it increases in respect and
+estimation, from the manifest good conduct of its followers; in that
+very proportion the church is strengthened in the foundations, on which
+alone it can be much longer supported, the esteem and attachment of its
+members, and of the nation at large. Zeal is required in the cause of
+Religion; <span class="tn" title="Original text reads &lsquo;the&rsquo;">they</span>
+only can feel it. The charge of singularity must be
+incurred; they only will dare to encounter it. Uniformity of conduct,
+and perseverance in exertion, will be requisite; among no others can we
+look for those qualities.</p>
+
+<p>Let true Christians then, with becoming earnestness, strive in all
+things to recommend their profession, and to put to silence the vain
+scoffs of ignorant objectors. Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ
+in an age when so many, who bear the name of Christians, are ashamed of
+Him: and let them consider as devolved on Them the important duty of
+suspending for a while the fall of their country, and, perhaps, of
+performing a still more extensive service to society at large; not by
+busy interference in politics, in which it cannot but be confessed there
+is much uncertainty; but rather by that sure and radical benefit of
+restoring the influence of Religion, and of raising the standard of
+morality.</p>
+
+<p>Let them be active, useful, generous towards others; manifestly moderate
+and self-denying in themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>
+as
+they would be of the most acknowledged sin. When Providence blesses them
+with affluence, let them withdraw from the competition of vanity; and,
+without sordidness or absurdity, shew by their modest demeanour, and by
+their retiring from display, that, without affecting singularity, they
+are not slaves to fashion; that they consider it as their duty to set an
+example of moderation and sobriety, and to reserve for nobler and more
+disinterested purposes, that money, which others selfishly waste in
+parade, and dress, and equipage. Let them evince, in short, a manifest
+moderation in all temporal things; as becomes those whose affections are
+set on higher objects than any which this world affords, and who
+possess, within their own bosoms, a fund of satisfaction and comfort,
+which the world seeks in vanity and dissipation. Let them cultivate a
+catholic spirit of universal good will, and of amicable fellowship
+towards all those, of whatever sect or denomination, who, differing from
+them in non-essentials, agree with them in the grand fundamentals of
+Religion. Let them countenance men of real piety wherever they are
+found; and encourage in others every attempt to repress the progress of
+vice, and to revive and diffuse the influence of Religion and virtue.
+Let their earnest prayers be constantly offered, that such endeavours
+may be successful, and that the abused long-suffering of God may still
+continue to us the invaluable privilege of vital Christianity.</p>
+
+<p>Let them pray continually for their country in this season of national
+difficulty. We bear upon us but too plainly the marks of a declining
+empire. Who can say but that the Governor of the universe, who declares
+himself to be a God
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>
+who hears the prayers of his servants, may, in
+answer to their intercessions, for a while avert our ruin, and continue
+to us the fulness of those temporal blessings, which in such abundant
+measure we have hitherto enjoyed<a name="FNanchor_131" id="FNanchor_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a>. Men of the world, indeed, however
+they may admit the natural operation of natural causes, and may
+therefore confess the effects of Religion and morality in promoting the
+well being of the community; may yet, according to their humour, with a
+smile of complacent pity, or a sneer of supercilious contempt, read of
+the service which real Christians may render to their country, by
+conciliating the favour and calling down the blessing of Providence. It
+may appear in their eyes an instance of the same superstitious weakness,
+as that which prompts the terrified inhabitant of Sicily to bring for
+the image of his tutelar saint, in order to stop the destructive ravages
+of &AElig;tna. We are, however, sure, if we believe the Scripture, that God
+will be disposed to favour the nation to which his servants belong; and
+that, in fact, such as They, have often been the unknown and unhonoured
+instruments of drawing down on their country the blessings of safety and
+prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>But it would be an instance in myself of that very false shame which I
+have condemned in others, if I were not boldly to avow my firm
+persuasion, that <i>to the decline of Religion and morality our national
+difficulties must both directly and indirectly be chiefly ascribed; and
+that my only solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend not so
+much on her fleets and armies, not so much on the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>
+wisdom of her rulers,
+or the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still
+contains many, who, in a degenerate age, love and obey the Gospel of
+Christ; on the humble trust that the intercession of these may still be
+prevalent, that for the sake of these, Heaven may still look upon us
+with an eye of favour.</i></p>
+
+<p>Let the prayers of the Christian reader be also offered up for the
+success of this feeble endeavour in the service of true Religion. God
+can give effect to the weakest effort; and the writer will feel himself
+too much honoured, if by that which he has now been making, but a single
+fellow creature should be awakened from a false security, or a single
+Christian, who deserves the name, be animated to more extensive
+usefulness. He may seem to have assumed to himself a task which he was
+ill qualified to execute. He fears he may be reproached with arrogance
+and presumption for taking upon him the office of a teacher. Yet, as he
+formerly suggested, it cannot be denied, that it belongs to his public
+situation to investigate the state of the national Religion and morals;
+and that it is the part of a real patriot to endeavour to retard their
+decline, and promote their revival. But if the office, in which he has
+been engaged, were less intimately connected with the duties of his
+particular station, the candid and the liberal mind would not be
+indisposed to pardon him. Let him be allowed to offer in his excuse a
+desire not only to discharge a duty to his country, but to acquit
+himself of what he deems a solemn and indispensable obligation to his
+acquaintance and his friends. Let him allege the unaffected solicitude
+which he feels for the welfare of his fellow creatures. Let him urge the
+fond wish
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span>
+he gladly would encourage; that, while, in so large a part of
+Europe, a false philosophy having been preferred before the lessons of
+revelation, Infidelity has lifted up her head without shame, and walked
+abroad boldly and in the face of day; while the practical consequences
+are such as might be expected, and licentiousness and vice prevail
+without restraint: here at least there might be a sanctuary, a land of
+Religion and piety, where the blessings of Christianity might be still
+enjoyed, where the name of the Redeemer might still be honoured; where
+mankind might be able to see what is, in truth, the Religion of Jesus,
+and what are its blessed effects; and whence, if the mercy of God should
+so ordain it, the means of religious instruction and consolation might
+be again extended to surrounding countries and to the world at large.</p>
+
+<h3>FINIS.</h3>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</h2>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">A.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Abuse</i> of things, unfairness of arguing from it against their use, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.<br />
+<i>Acceptance</i> with God, commonly prevailing notions respecting it, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_88'>88</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Scripture, and Church of England, doctrine respecting it, <a href='#Page_88'>88</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_92'>92</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; practical consequences, of common notions respecting it, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true doctrine vindicated from objection, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Addison</i>, quoted, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.<br />
+<i>Affections</i>, of their admission into Religion, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; their admission into Religion reasonable, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true test and measure of them in Religion, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_65'>65</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; in Religion, not barely allowable, but highly necessary, <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_69'>69</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; our Saviour the just object of them, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; objection, that they are impossible towards an invisible Being, discussed, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; little excited by public misfortunes, and why, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; towards our Saviour, special grounds for them, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; divine aid promised for exciting them, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; our statements respecting them in Religion verified by facts, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; religious, St. Paul a striking instance
+<span class="tn" title="Original text repeats &lsquo;of&rsquo;">of</span> them, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Ambition</i>, votaries of, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>.<br />
+<i>Amiable</i> tempers, discussion respecting, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_198'>198</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; substituted for Religion, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; value of, estimated by the standard of mere reason, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; false pretenders to them, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; real nature, when not grounded on Religion, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; precarious nature, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_184'>184</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; value of, on Christian principles, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; life, Christian&#8217;s most so, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Christians urged to this, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; its just praise, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; apt to deceive us, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Applause</i>, desire of, universal, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">B.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Babington</i>, the reverend Matthew, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.<br />
+<i>Benevolence</i>, true Christian, its exalted nature, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>.<br />
+<i>Bacon</i>, Lord, quoted, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">C.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Calumny</i>, considerations which reconcile the Christian to it, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>.<br />
+<i>Charity</i>, true, what, and its marks, <a href='#Page_311'>311</a>, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a>.<br />
+<i>Christianity</i>, vital revival of, would invigorate church establishment, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; vital, alone suited to lower orders, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; the common system, falsely so called, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; the truest patriotism, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_292'>292</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of the world, its base nature, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; not a gloomy service, <a href='#Page_326'>326</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; relaxations compatible with, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>, <a href='#Page_328'>328</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; its solid texture, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; general, what so called, <a href='#Page_334'>334</a>, <a href='#Page_335'>335</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true, requires incessant watchfulness and care, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; state in which it finds us, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_33'>33</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; its present critical circumstances, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_272'>272</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; reduced to a system of ethics, proofs of this, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; causes, which have tended to produce neglect of her peculiar doctrines, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>, <a href='#Page_270'>270</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_276'>276</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; peculiar doctrines of, taught by the oldest divines and highest dignitaries of the English church, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; peculiar doctrines gradually fallen into neglect, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_278'>278</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; sad symptoms of its low state among us, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; objection, that our system of it too strict, stated and answered, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_283'>283</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; vital, its happy influence on temporal well-being of communities, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_285'>285</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; not hostile to patriotism, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; from its essential nature, peculiarly adapted to well-being of communities, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_292'>292</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; vital, can alone produce these effects, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; excellence of it, in some particulars not commonly noticed, <a href='#Page_252'>252</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; general state of, in England, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; its tendency to promote the well-being of political communities, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_288'>288</a>, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>, <a href='#Page_293'>293</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; has raised the general standard of practice, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; sickens in prosperity and flourishes under persecution, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; peculiarities of, naturally slide into disuse, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Christians</i>, true, duties especially incumbent on them in these times, <a href='#Page_350'>350</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_353'>353</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; should pray for their country, <a href='#Page_351'>351</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; their prayers intreated for the success of this work, <a href='#Page_353'>353</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; ready made, who esteemed such, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; real, how different from nominal, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; life, illustrated by figure of a traveller, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_219'>219</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Commons</i>, House of, proves inordinate love of worldly glory, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>.<br />
+<i>Consistency</i> between Christianity&#8217;s leading doctrines and practical precepts, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_252'>252</a>, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; between Christianity&#8217;s leading doctrines amongst each other, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; between Christianity&#8217;s practical precepts amongst each other, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_257'>257</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Contact</i>, necessary to produce any interest in our affections, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.<br />
+<i>Corruption</i> of human nature, common notions of it, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of human nature, Scripture account of it, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of human nature, arguments suggested in proof of it, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of Heathen world, and striking instance of it, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of savage life, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; proof of it, furnished by the state of the Christian world, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; by the experience of the true Christian, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; human, its general effects, when suffered to operate without restraint, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; human, firm grounds on which it rests, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; human, practical uses of the doctrine, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Cowper&#8217;s Task</i>, recommended, <a href='#Page_234'>234</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_352'>352</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; quoted, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">D.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Defective</i>, conceptions generally prevailing concerning importance of Christianity, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_5'>5</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions concerning human corruption, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions concerning the evil spirit, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions concerning the doctrines, which respect our Saviour and the Holy Spirit, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_45'>45</a>, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions concerning the means of acceptance with God, <a href='#Page_84'>84</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_91'>91</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions prevailing concerning practical Christianity, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_104'>104</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_205'>205</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions of guilt and evil of sin, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_210'>210</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; fear of God, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; sense of the difficulty of getting to heaven, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; love of God in nominal Christians, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_221'>221</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; love of God, proofs of it in nominal Christians, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_224'>224</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions general, concerning peculiar doctrines of Christianity, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; conceptions of peculiarities of Christianity, practical mischiefs from them, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Depths</i>, of the things of God; and our proneness to plunge into them, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_43'>43</a>.<br />
+<i>Devotedness</i> to God, duty of it, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_110'>110</a>, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.<br />
+<i>Dissipated</i> and indolent, class of, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.<br />
+<i>Dissipation</i>, seems to have prevailed in the antediluvian world, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.<br />
+<i>Doddridge&#8217;s</i> Sermons on Regeneration, referred to, note, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span><i>Duelling</i>, its guilt, &amp;c. <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">E.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Error</i>, innocence of, considered, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.<br />
+<i>Establishment</i>, religious, in England, how circumstanced, <a href='#Page_267'>267</a>.<br />
+<i>Estimation</i>, desire of, universal, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>, <a href='#Page_147'>147</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; common language concerning it, the effects of the love of it, and the nature of the passion, <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_150'>150</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; commendations of it questioned, <a href='#Page_151'>151</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; essential defects of inordinate love of it, explained, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; love of, Scripture lessons concerning, <a href='#Page_152'>152</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_156'>156</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; value of, analogous to riches, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; love of, common notions respecting it, <a href='#Page_157'>157</a>, <a href='#Page_158'>158</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; proofs of our statements respecting it from House of Commons, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; proofs of our statements respecting it from duelling, <a href='#Page_159'>159</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; real nature of inordinate love of it, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true Christian&#8217;s conduct respecting love of it, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_173'>173</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true modes of guarding against excessive love of it, <a href='#Page_171'>171</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; advice to the true Christian respecting love of it, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; love of, best moderated by humility and charity, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true Christian&#8217;s temper respecting it, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Evil</i> spirit, the existence and agency not contrary to reason, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>.<br />
+<i>External</i> actions substituted for habits of mind, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">F.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>
+<i>Faith</i>, Christian&#8217;s life, a life of, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>.<br />
+<i>Families</i>, two, the righteous and the wicked, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>.<br />
+<i>Ferguson</i>, the historian, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a>.<br />
+<i>Fuller&#8217;s</i> Calvinism and Socinianism compared, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>.<br />
+<i>Fundamental</i> practical distinction between systems of nominal and real Christians, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">G.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>General</i> tone of morals, Christianity has raised it, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; established by consent in every country, <a href='#Page_263'>263</a>, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Geneva</i>, the effect of theatres, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.<br />
+<i>Gloomy</i> service, false charge that we make Christianity such, <a href='#Page_327'>327</a>.<br />
+<i>Glory</i>, true and false, what properly so called, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Mistakes concerning it, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Good hearted</i> young men, term misapplied, <a href='#Page_310'>310</a>.<br />
+<i>Good hearted</i> young men, the title disproved, <a href='#Page_315'>315</a>.<br />
+<i>Gratitude</i>, true signs of, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">H.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Habits</i>, of mind forgotten in Religion, <a href='#Page_134'>134</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_146'>146</a>.<br />
+<i>Heavenly mindedness</i>, best promoted by being much conversant with peculiar doctrines of Christianity, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>.<br />
+<i>Holy Spirit</i>, Scripture doctrine concerning, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; popular notions concerning, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Honour</i>, false notions respecting it, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>, <a href='#Page_163'>163</a>.<br />
+<i>Horne</i>, Dr. quoted, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.<br />
+<i>Humility</i>, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of Christianity, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; the ground of Christian graces, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; excellent practical effects of, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">I.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Ignorance</i> of Christianity, common, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; criminal, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Importance</i> of Christianity, inadequate conceptions generally entertained of it, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of Christianity, proofs of the inadequate ideas generally entertained of it, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_5'>5</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of Christianity, ideas of it given by the Holy Scriptures, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of Christianity, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of Christianity, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Inconsistency</i> of the world&#8217;s practical system, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.<br />
+<i>Indifference</i> about Christianity generally prevalent, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; general towards our Saviour, proofs of, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Infidelity</i>, common progress of it, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_342'>342</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; a disease of the heart more than of the understanding, <a href='#Page_342'>342</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Innocent</i> young women, term how misapplied, <a href='#Page_310'>310</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; young women, the title disproved, <a href='#Page_315'>315</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Intellectual</i> attainments, rated below moral by Christianity, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_260'>260</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; low degree of excellence within our reach, <a href='#Page_258'>258</a>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">J.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Jones</i>, Sir William, a champion for Christianity, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">K.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Kenyon</i>, Lord Chief Justice, commendations of, <a href='#Page_302'>302</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">L.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span><i>Language</i>, common, concerning the importance of Christianity, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; concerning human corruption, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; concerning affections towards our Saviour, and Holy Spirit&#8217;s operations, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; concerning terms of acceptance with God, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; concerning mode of relaxing the strictness of Christian precept, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; concerning human judicatures, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; concerning amiable tempers and useful lives, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; common to people desirous of repenting, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Learning</i>, votaries of, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.<br />
+<i>Life</i>, Christian, illustrated under figure of a traveller, <a href='#Page_217'>217</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_219'>219</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Christian&#8217;s, a life of faith, <a href='#Page_137'>137</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_140'>140</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Liturgy</i>, bad effects to be feared from its disuse, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>.<br />
+<i>Lives</i>, several mentioned, <a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.<br />
+<i>Love</i>, true signs of it, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of God, its essential characters, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of Christ, justly to be expected of us, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_78'>78</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; means of exciting it, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of God, defective in nominal Christians, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of God, proofs of its being defective, <a href='#Page_220'>220</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_224'>224</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of fellow-creatures, nominal Christians defective in, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of fellow-creatures, true marks of, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_229'>229</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of God, best enforced by Christianity&#8217;s peculiarities, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Christians to cultivate this grace above all others, <a href='#Page_324'>324</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; its excellent effects in the true Christian, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of fellow-creatures best enforced by peculiar doctrines, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Low</i> standard of practice generally prevailing, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_135'>135</a>.<br />
+<i>Lower</i> classes, not unfit that true doctrine of acceptance should be stated to them, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">M.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>McLaurin</i>, his essays and sermons referred to, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.<br />
+<i>Maurice</i>, Mr. a defender of Christianity, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a>.<br />
+<i>Maxims</i>, which prove human corruption, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.<br />
+<i>Medium</i>, religious, almost lost, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.<br />
+<i>Milton</i>, quoted, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>.<br />
+<i>Moral</i>, attainments rated above intellectual, by Christianity, <a href='#Page_257'>257</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; attainments, how much more we can excel in them than in intellectual ones, <a href='#Page_259'>259</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Moravians</i>, commendation of, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">N.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Natural</i> condition of man without Christianity, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_33'>33</a>.<br />
+<i>Nature</i>, essential, of true practical Christianity, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>.<br />
+<i>Necessity</i>, excuse on the plea of, stated, and answered, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; opponent on the ground of, how best opposed, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Nominal</i> and real Christian, distinction between them most important, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>.<br />
+<i>Novels</i>, prove how peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into neglect, <a href='#Page_277'>277</a>, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">O.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span><i>Objections</i> against the religious affections towards Christ, and against the operations of the Holy Spirit, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_53'>53</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; against human accountableness, discussed, <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; against the religious affections towards Christ, and against the operations of the Holy Spirit, discussed, <a href='#Page_53'>53</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Outgrowing</i> vices mistaken for forsaking them, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>.<br />
+<i>Owen</i>, Dr. referred to, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">P.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Paley</i>, Mr. his defence of Christianity noticed, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>.<br />
+<i>Partiality</i> in the religious views of nominal Christians, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.<br />
+<i>Particular</i>, Christians must not fear to be so when required by duty, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>.<br />
+<i>Pascal&#8217;s</i> thoughts referred to, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; thoughts recommended, <a href='#Page_348'>348</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Peculiar</i>, doctrines, use, in promoting humility, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>, <a href='#Page_245'>245</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; in promoting moderation in earthly pursuits, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; in promoting cheerfulness in suffering, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; in promoting confidence in danger, and patience in suffering, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; in promoting heavenly mindedness, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; doctrines, demand our utmost attention, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_97'>97</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; doctrines, use of, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; doctrines, use of, in enforcing importance of Christianity, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; doctrines, use of, in enforcing entire surrender to God, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; doctrines, use of, in enforcing guilt of sin, and dread of punishment, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; in promoting love of God, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>, <a href='#Page_242'>242</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash;in promoting love of fellow-creatures, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Philosophy</i>, epicurism and stoicism, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.<br />
+<i>Pitt</i>, Mr. slander respecting him refuted&mdash;Note <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>.<br />
+<i>Pleasure</i>, the true Christian finds in Religion, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>, <a href='#Page_140'>140</a>.<br />
+<i>Pleasures</i> of true Religion, <a href='#Page_325'>325</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.<br />
+<i>Policy</i>, mistaken, of compromise with immorality, <a href='#Page_301'>301</a>.<br />
+<i>Polished</i> state of society no security against progress of immorality, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>, <a href='#Page_299'>299</a>.<br />
+<i>Political</i>, good effects from the prevalence of Christianity, as above described, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_295'>295</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; good effects from revival of vital Christianity, <a href='#Page_296'>296</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; bad effects from its farther decline, <a href='#Page_297'>297</a>, <a href='#Page_298'>298</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; happiness of a Christian nation, <a href='#Page_283'>283</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Pomp</i> and parade, votaries of, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.<br />
+<i>Poor</i> the, more favourably circumstanced as to Religion, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>.<br />
+<i>Pope</i>, the Poet, referred to, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.<br />
+<i>Popular</i> notions concerning our Saviour and the Holy Spirit, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.<br />
+<i>Practical</i> hints, on importance of Christianity, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; on human corruption, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; on mode of dealing with a certain description of infidels, <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>, <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; on the means of exciting our affections towards our Saviour, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; respecting love of estimation, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; respecting amiable tempers and useful lives, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to naturally sweet tempered, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>.</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to naturally rough and austere, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_199'>199</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to true Christian, when engaged in hurry of worldly affairs, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_204'>204</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to persons desirous of repenting, <a href='#Page_235'>235</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; respecting uses of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; for revival of Religion, <a href='#Page_300'>300</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_304'>304</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to various descriptions, <a href='#Page_305'>305</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_318'>318</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to such as, having been hitherto careless, wish to become true Christians, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to some who profess their full assent to fundamental doctrines of Christianity, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_336'>336</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to Sceptics and Unitarians, <a href='#Page_337'>337</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_345'>345</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to half-unbelievers, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_348'>348</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; to true Christians, from state of times, <a href='#Page_349'>349</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_354'>354</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Christianity, chapter on, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; prevailing low views of it, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Christianity, its real strictness, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; its true nature, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; charged on all without exception in its full strictness, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_115'>115</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; mischiefs of neglect of peculiarities of Christianity, <a href='#Page_232'>232</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; distinction, fundamental, between systems of nominal and real Christians, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_234'>234</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; precepts of Christianity, most excellent, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; use of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Prevailing</i>, low views of practical Christianity, proofs of them, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; inadequate sense of peculiar doctrines of Christians, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>, &amp;c.</span><br />
+<i>Probation</i>, notion of, disproves prevailing system of Religion, <a href='#Page_317'>317</a>.<br />
+<i>Proof</i> of Christianity&#8217;s divine origin, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_262'>262</a>.<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span><i>Puritans</i>, many of their writings commended, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">R.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Religion</i>, practical hints for its revival, <a href='#Page_300'>300</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_305'>305</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; the only true support in trouble and peril, <a href='#Page_332'>332</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Repentance</i>, advice for such as are disposed to, <a href='#Page_318'>318</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_324'>324</a>.<br />
+<i>Reputation</i>, true Christian&#8217;s conduct respecting it, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true Christian preserves, without over-valuing it, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_170'>170</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Richardson</i>, mentioned, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>.<br />
+<i>Robertson</i>, Dr. censured, <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>.<br />
+<i>Rousseau</i>, school of, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a>, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">S.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Scepticism</i>, natural history of it, <a href='#Page_338'>338</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_340'>340</a>.<br />
+<i>Sceptics</i> and Unitarians, advantage they have in attacking Christianity, <a href='#Page_344'>344</a>, <a href='#Page_345'>345</a>.<br />
+<i>Scripture</i> doctrine, importance of, to Christianity, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; doctrine, concerning human corruption, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; doctrine, concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>, <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Self-deception</i>, frequent sources of, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_318'>318</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; another common kind, <a href='#Page_333'>333</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_335'>335</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Self-examination</i>, helps in, <a href='#Page_306'>306</a>.<br />
+<i>Selfishness</i> of common practical Religion, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; the disease of political societies, <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; peculiarly counteracted by Christianity, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>, <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Sensibility</i>, exquisite, how little truly valuable, and how different from true practical benevolence, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a>, <a href='#Page_205'>205</a>.<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>
+<i>Sensualists</i> class of, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.<br />
+<i>Sin</i>, how spoken of in Scripture, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; defective conceptions of, <a href='#Page_207'>207</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Sincerity</i>, false notion of it, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; true what, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Sins</i>, no little ones, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; little, what accounted such, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Smith</i>, Dr. <i>Adam</i>, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>. <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>. <a href='#Page_279'>279</a>.<br />
+<i>Soame Jenyns</i>, his View of the Internal Evidence of Christianity referred to, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>. <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>.<br />
+<i>Sophistry</i>, with which Religion is explained away, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.<br />
+<i>Stage</i> the, proof from its being frequented by nominal Christians of their defective love of God, <a href='#Page_221'>221</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_224'>224</a>. <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; proof from, illustrated by political analogy, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Statutes</i>, Religion made a set of, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>.<br />
+<i>Sterne</i> strongly censured, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>.<br />
+<i>Strictness</i> of true practical Christianity, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>, <a href='#Page_106'>106</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; of our system, objected to, as not suited to the state of the world, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; the charge refuted, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Sunday</i>, hints for its employment, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; common modes of unhallowing it, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Supreme</i> regard to be set on God, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>. <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_129'>129</a>.<br />
+<i>Swift&#8217;s</i> Tale of a Tub, quoted, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">T.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Taste</i>, votaries of, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.<br />
+<i>Tempers</i>, Christian, not cultivated, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_146'>146</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; respecting human estimation, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_168'>168</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; respecting calumny and disgrace, <a href='#Page_170'>170</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; when too much immersed in worldly business, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_204'>204</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Theatres</i>, Parisian, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span><i>Theatrical</i> entertainments prove defective love of God, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.<br />
+<i>Theatrical</i> entertainments prove defective love of our neighbour, <a href='#Page_230'>230</a>, <a href='#Page_231'>231</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; entertainments, illustrated by political analogy, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft"><span class="tn" title="Original text has &lsquo;V&rsquo; before &lsquo;U&rsquo;">U.</span></h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Unbelievers, half</i>; a class of them, <a href='#Page_346'>346</a>.<br />
+<i>Uncharitableness</i>, what falsely so called, <a href='#Page_312'>312</a>.<br />
+<i>Unitarianism</i> often results from same causes as absolute scepticism, <a href='#Page_343'>343</a>.<br />
+<i>Useful</i> lives, discussion concerning, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; substituted for Religion, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; value of, estimated by standard of mere reason, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; real worth of, on Christian principles, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_188'>188</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; life, the Christian&#8217;s life the most so, <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; Christians urged to, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; its just praise given to, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>.</span><br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; apt to mislead us, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft"><span class="tn" title="Original text has &lsquo;V&rsquo; before &lsquo;U&rsquo;">V.</span></h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Vice</i>, some one always excused, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_310'>310</a>.<br />
+<i>Vices</i>, outgrowing or changing them, mistaken for forsaking all sin, <a href='#Page_308'>308</a>&mdash;<a href='#Page_310'>310</a>.<br />
+<i>Vulgarity</i> in Religion, as to language, to be expected from vulgar men, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">W.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Wealth</i>, votaries of, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>.<br />
+<i>Women</i>, more disposed than men to Religion, and uses to be made of this, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>.<br />
+<span class="indexsub">&mdash; exalted office assigned to them, <a href='#Page_314'>314</a>.</span><br />
+<i>Witherspoon</i>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h4 class="indexleft">Y.</h4>
+
+<p>
+<i>Youth</i>, simplicity of, mistaken for Religion, <a href='#Page_313'>313</a>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES.</h2>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a>
+It is almost superfluous to name Mr. <span class="smcap">Soame Jenyns</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a>
+Exempla duo, qu&aelig; pravitatis human&aelig; vim animo meo luculenter
+exhibent, non proferre non possum. Alterum decens ille Virgilius,
+alterum Cicero, probus idem verique studiosus, suppeditat. Virgilius,
+innocuam certe pastorum vitam depicturus, ita incipit.
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim.&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>
+Cicero in libro de Officiis primo, ubi de actionibus prout inter se apte
+&amp; convenientes sint, loci, temporis, &amp; agentis ratione habita, disserit,
+argumentum sic illustrat: &ldquo;Turpe est enim, valdeque vitiosum, in re
+severa, convivio dignum, aut delicatum aliquem inferre sermonem. Bene
+Pericles, quum haberet collegam in pr&aelig;tura Sophoclem poetam, hique de
+communi officio convenissent, &amp; casu formosus puer pr&aelig;teriret,
+dixissetque Sophocles, O pueram pulchrum Pericle! At enim, inquit
+Pericles, pr&aelig;torem Sophoclem decet non solum manus, sed etiam oculus
+abstinentes habere. Atqui hoc idem Sophocles, si in athletarum
+probatione dixisset, <i>justa reprehensione caruisset, tanta vis est, &amp;
+loci &amp; temporis</i>.&rdquo;
+</p><p>
+Quomodo sese res habuisse necesse est, cum vir antiquorum
+prestantissimis adscribendus, philosophiam, immo mores &amp; officia
+tractans, talia doceret! Qualem sibi ipse virtutis normam proposuerat,
+satis liquet. Vide inter alia, <i>justa reprehensione</i>, &amp;c. &amp;c; &amp; <i>tanta
+vis est</i>, &amp;c. &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a>
+Robertson, Vol. II. p. 130.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a>
+Robertson, Book IV. Sect. 2. Head, Condition of Women, vol.
+ii. 8vo. 90, 91.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Job xv. 14.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Job xv. 16.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Psalm xiv. 2, 3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Prov. xx. 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Psalm cxxxix. 3.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> I Chron. xxviii. 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a>
+Prov. i. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Vide Butler&#8217;s Analogy.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Heb. x. 27.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Philippians, ii. 12.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> John, v. 29.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> James, i. 13.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> 2 Peter, iii. 9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Ezek. xviii. 23.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Ezek. xviii. 32.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Psalm cxlvii. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Rom. xi. 33.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Psalm xcvii. 2.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Deut. xxix. 29.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Matt. xi. 28</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a>
+This was the motto on their banner.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a>
+Title of Attila king of the Huns, whose desolating ravages
+are well known.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a>
+Vide the testimony of West India merchants to the
+Moravians, in the Report of the Privy Council on the Slave Trade.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Rom. xii. 1.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a>
+Dr. <span class="smcap">Horne</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> 2 Cor. viii. 12.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Isaiah, liii. 2.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32" id="Footnote_32"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Philip. ii. 6, 7, 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33" id="Footnote_33"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Luke, ii. 10, 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34" id="Footnote_34"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Col. i. 12, 13.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35" id="Footnote_35"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Ephes. i. 18.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36" id="Footnote_36"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Col. i. 27.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37" id="Footnote_37"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Heb. xiii. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38" id="Footnote_38"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> 1 John, iv. 20.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39" id="Footnote_39"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a>
+Dr. <span class="smcap">Adam Smith</span>. Vide Theory of Moral Sentiments.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40" id="Footnote_40"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> 1 Pet. i. 8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41" id="Footnote_41"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Heb. iv. 15.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42" id="Footnote_42"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Isaiah, xl. 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43" id="Footnote_43"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Isaiah, xlix. 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44" id="Footnote_44"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a>
+The word Comfortless is rendered in the margin Orphans.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45" id="Footnote_45"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> John, xiv. 18.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46" id="Footnote_46"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> 1 Cor. xiii. 12.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47" id="Footnote_47"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Eph. ii. 1. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48" id="Footnote_48"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Col. i. 13.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49" id="Footnote_49"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Ephes. ii. 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50" id="Footnote_50"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> 2 Cor. vi. 16.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51" id="Footnote_51"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Col. iii. 9, 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52" id="Footnote_52"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Ephes. ii. 22.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53" id="Footnote_53"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a>
+Vide <span class="smcap">Dr. Doddridge</span>&#8217;s eight Sermons on Regeneration, a most
+valuable compilation; and <span class="smcap">McLaurin</span>&#8217;s Essay on Divine Grace.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54" id="Footnote_54"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Rom. iv. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55" id="Footnote_55"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Ibid. v. 6-8.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56" id="Footnote_56"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a>
+The Writer trusts he cannot be misunderstood to mean that
+any, continuing sinners and ungodly, can, by believing, be accepted or
+finally saved. The following chapter, particularly the latter part of
+it, (Section vi.) would abundantly vindicate him from any such
+misconstruction. Meanwhile, he will only remark, that true faith (in
+which repentance is considered as involved) is in Scripture regarded as
+<i>the radical principle of holiness</i>. If the root exist, the proper
+fruits will be brought forth. An attention to this consideration would
+have easily explained and reconciled those passages of St. Paul&#8217;s and
+St. James&#8217;s Epistles, which have furnished so much matter of argument
+and criticism. St. James, it may be observed, all along speaks of a man,
+not who <i>has</i> faith, but who <i>says</i> that he has faith. Vide James ii.
+14. &amp;c. &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57" id="Footnote_57"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a>
+Vide Note Ch. iv. Sect. vi.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58" id="Footnote_58"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Gal. vi. 14.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59" id="Footnote_59"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> I Cor. i. 30.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60" id="Footnote_60"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Rev. i. 5.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61" id="Footnote_61"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> John, vi. 29.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62" id="Footnote_62"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> 1 John, iii. 23.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63" id="Footnote_63"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a>
+Nec Deus intersit, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64" id="Footnote_64"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Vide Heb. ii. 1, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65" id="Footnote_65"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a>
+Any one who wishes to investigate this subject will do
+well to study attentively <span class="smcap">McLaurin</span>&#8217;s Essay on Prejudices against the
+Gospel.&mdash;It may not be amiss here to direct the reader&#8217;s attention to a
+few leading arguments, many of them those of the work just recommended.
+Let him maturely estimate the force of those terms, whereby the Apostle
+in the following passages designates and characterizes the whole of the
+Christian system. &ldquo;We preach Christ crucified&ldquo;&mdash;&ldquo;We determined to know
+nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.&rdquo; The value of
+this argument will be acknowledged by all who consider, that a system is
+never designated by an immaterial or an inferior part of it, but by that
+which constitutes its prime consideration and essential distinction. The
+conclusion suggested by this remark is confirmed by the Lord&#8217;s Supper
+being the rite by which our Saviour himself commanded his Disciples to
+keep him in remembrance; and indeed a similar lesson is taught by the
+Sacrament of Baptism, which shadows out our souls being washed and
+purified by the blood of Christ. Observe next the frequency with which
+our Saviour&#8217;s death and sufferings are introduced, and how often they
+are urged as practical motives.
+</p><p>
+&ldquo;The minds of the Apostles seem full of this subject. Every thing put
+them in mind of it; they did not allow themselves to have it long out of
+their view, nor did any other branch of spiritual instruction make them
+lose sight of it.&rdquo; Consider next that part of the Epistle to the Romans,
+wherein St. Paul speaks of some who went about to establish their own
+righteousness, and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of
+God. May not this charge be in some degree urged, and even more strongly
+than in the case of the Jews, against those who satisfy themselves with
+vague, general, occasional thoughts of our Saviour&#8217;s mediation; and the
+source of whose habitual complacency, as we explained above, is rather
+their being tolerably well satisfied with their own characters and
+conduct? Yet St. Paul declares concerning those of whom he speaks, as
+concerning persons whose sad situation could not be too much lamented,
+that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart, adding
+still more emphatical expressions of deep and bitter regret.
+</p><p>
+Let the Epistle to the Galatians be also carefully examined and
+considered; and let it be fairly asked, what was the particular in which
+the Judaizing Christians were defective, and the want of which is spoken
+of in such strong terms as these; that it frustrates the grace of God,
+and must debar from all the benefits of the death of Jesus? The
+Judaizing converts were not immoral. They seem to have admitted the
+chief tenets concerning our Saviour. But they appear to have been
+disposed to trust (<i>not wholly, be it observed also, but only in part</i>)
+for their acceptance with God, to the Mosaic institutions, instead of
+reposing wholly on the merits of Christ. Here let it be remembered, that
+when a compliance with these institutions was not regarded as conveying
+this inference, the Apostle shewed by his own conduct, that he did not
+deem it criminal; whence, no less than from the words of the Epistle, it
+is clear that the offence of the Judaizing Christians whom he condemned,
+was what we have stated; not their obstinately continuing to adhere to a
+dispensation the ceremonial of which Christianity had abrogated, or
+their trusting to the sacrifices of the Levitical Law, which were in
+their own nature inefficacious for the blotting out of
+sin.&mdash;<span class="tn" title="Original text has this as a footnote to the footnote">Vide
+Heb. vii. viii. ix. x.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66" id="Footnote_66"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Rev. v. 12.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67" id="Footnote_67"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> ib. 13.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68" id="Footnote_68"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> 2 Cor. xiii. 14.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69" id="Footnote_69"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a>
+1 John, iii. 17.&mdash;Rom. xvi. 18.&mdash;Compared with
+Philippians, iii. 19.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70" id="Footnote_70"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> 2 Tim. iii. 4.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71" id="Footnote_71"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Matt. x. 37.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72" id="Footnote_72"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Jerem. ix. 23.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73" id="Footnote_73"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a>
+It will be remembered by the reader, that it is not the
+object of this work to animadvert on the vices, defects, and erroneous
+opinions of the times, except so far as they are received into the
+prevailing religious system, or are tolerated by it, and are not thought
+sufficient to prevent a man from being esteemed on the whole a very
+tolerable Christian.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74" id="Footnote_74"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Vide Tale of a Tub.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75" id="Footnote_75"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Vide Tale of a Tub.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76" id="Footnote_76"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Isaiah, ii. 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77" id="Footnote_77"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a>
+Vide Hey&#8217;s Tract, Rousseau&#8217;s Eloisa, and many periodical
+Essays and Sermons.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78" id="Footnote_78"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a>
+Vide &ldquo;Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath
+committed adultery with her, &amp;c.&rdquo; Matt. v. 28.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79" id="Footnote_79"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a>
+The writer cannot omit this opportunity of declaring, that
+he should long ago have brought this subject before the notice of
+Parliament, but for a perfect conviction that he should probably thereby
+only give encouragement to a system he wishes to see at an end. The
+practice has been at different periods nearly stopped by positive laws,
+in various nations on the Continent; and there can be little doubt of
+the efficacy of what has been more than once suggested&mdash;a Court of
+Honour; to take cognizance of such offences as would naturally fall
+within its province. The effects of this establishment would doubtless
+require to be enforced by legislative provisions, directly punishing the
+practice; and by discouraging at court, and in the military and naval
+situations, all who should directly or indirectly be guilty of it.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80" id="Footnote_80"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a>
+Vide, in particular a paper in the Guardian, by <span class="smcap">Addison</span>,
+on Honour, Vol. ii.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81" id="Footnote_81"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a>
+Vide <span class="smcap">Smith&#8217;s</span> Theory of Moral Sentiments.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82" id="Footnote_82"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a>
+The writer hopes that the work to which he is referring is
+so well known, that he needs scarcely name Mrs. H. More.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83" id="Footnote_83"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a>
+See <span class="smcap">Smith&#8217;s</span> Theory of Moral Sentiments.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84" id="Footnote_84"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a>
+While all are worthy of blame, who, to qualities like
+these, have assigned a more exalted place than to religious and moral
+principle; there is one writer who, eminently culpable in this respect,
+deserves, on another account, still severer reprehension. Really
+possessed of powers to explore and touch the finest strings of the human
+heart, and bound by his sacred profession to devote those powers to the
+service of religion and virtue, he every where discovers a studious
+solicitude to excite indecent ideas. We turn away our eyes with disgust
+from open immodesty: but even this is less mischievous than that more
+measured style, which excites impure images, without shocking us by the
+grossnesses of the language. Never was delicate sensibility proved to be
+more distinct from plain practical benevolence, than in the writings of
+the author to whom I allude. Instead of employing his talents for the
+benefit of his fellow-creatures, they were applied to the pernicious
+purposes of corrupting the national taste, and of lowering the standard
+of manners and morals. The tendency of his writings is to vitiate that
+purity of mind, intended by Providence as the companion and preservative
+of youthful virtue; and to produce, if the expression may be permitted,
+<i>a morbid sensibility in the perception of indecency</i>. An imagination
+exercised in this discipline is never <i>clean</i>, but seeks for and
+discovers something indelicate in the most common phrases and actions of
+ordinary life. If the general style of writing and conversation were to
+be formed on that model, to which Sterne used his utmost endeavours to
+conciliate the minds of men, there is no estimating the effects which
+would soon be produced on the manners and morals of the age.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85" id="Footnote_85"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a>
+Vide <span class="smcap">Smith</span> on the Wealth of Nations, Vol. iii.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86" id="Footnote_86"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a>
+Vide the Grammarians and Dialecticians on the Diminutives
+of the Italian and other languages.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87" id="Footnote_87"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a>
+Many more might be added, such as a good fellow, a good
+companion, a libertine, a little free, a little loose in talk, wild,
+gay, jovial, being no man&#8217;s enemy but his own, &amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c; above
+all, <i>having a good heart</i>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88" id="Footnote_88"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a>
+Gal. v. 19-21. Col. iii. 5-9.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89" id="Footnote_89"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a>
+Job, xxviii. 28. Psalm, cxi. 10. Prov. i. 7.&mdash;ix. 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90" id="Footnote_90"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> 2 Peter, iii. 10, 11.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91" id="Footnote_91"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Col. i. 13.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92" id="Footnote_92"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a>
+It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the word is to be
+understood in a large sense, as including the Opera, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93" id="Footnote_93"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a>
+Geneva&mdash;It is worthy of remark, that the play houses have
+multiplied extremely in Paris since the revolution; and that last winter
+there were twenty open every night, and all crowded. It should not be
+left unobserved, and it is seriously submitted to the consideration of
+those who regard the stage as a school of morals, that the pieces which
+were best composed, best acted, and most warmly and generally applauded,
+were such as abounded in touches of delicate sensibility. The people of
+Paris have never been imagined to be more susceptible, than the
+generality of mankind, of these emotions, and this is not the particular
+period when the Parisians have been commonly conceived most under their
+influence. Vide Journal d&#8217;un Voyageur Neutre. The author of the work
+expresses himself as astonished by the ph&aelig;nomenon, and as unable to
+account for it.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94" id="Footnote_94"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a>
+The author is almost afraid of using the terms, lest they
+should convey an impression of party feelings, of which he wishes this
+book to exhibit no traces; but he here means by Democrats and Jacobins,
+not persons on whom party violence fastens the epithet, but persons who
+are really and avowedly such.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95" id="Footnote_95"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a>
+<span class="smcap">Lord Bacon.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96" id="Footnote_96"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a>
+If any one would read a description of this process,
+enlivened and enforced by the powers of the most exquisite poetry, let
+him peruse the middle and latter part of the fifth Book of <span class="smcap">Cowper&#8217;s</span>
+Task. My warm attachment to the exquisitely natural compositions of this
+truly Christian poet may perhaps bias my judgment; but the part of the
+work to which I refer appears to me scarcely surpassed by any thing in
+our language. The honourable epithet of <i>Christian</i> may justly be
+assigned to a poet, whose writings, while they fascinate the reader by
+their manifestly coming from the heart, breathe throughout the spirit of
+that character of Christianity, with which she was announced to the
+world; &ldquo;Glory to God, peace on earth, good will towards men.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97" id="Footnote_97"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a>
+Here again let it be remarked, that faith, where genuine,
+always supposes repentance, abhorrence of sin, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98" id="Footnote_98"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Heb. xii. 1, 2.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99" id="Footnote_99"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a>
+It has been well remarked that the word used, where it is
+said, that God &ldquo;was <span class="smcap">pleased</span> to bruise&rdquo; and put to grief his only Son for
+us, is the same word as that wherein it was declared by a voice from
+Heaven, &ldquo;This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100" id="Footnote_100"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a>
+Vide Chap. iii. Where these were shewn to be the
+elementary principles of the passion of love.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101" id="Footnote_101"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Rom. v. 9. 10.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102" id="Footnote_102"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a>
+John xiii. 13-17. If I then, your Lord and Master, have
+washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another&#8217;s feet, &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103" id="Footnote_103"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a>
+Vide Pascal&#8217;s Thoughts on Religion&mdash;A book abounding in
+the deepest views of practical Christianity.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104" id="Footnote_104"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Pope.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105" id="Footnote_105"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a>
+The <i>Hell</i>, so called, be it observed, not by way of
+reproach, but familiarity, by those who frequent it.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106" id="Footnote_106"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Eph. ii.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107" id="Footnote_107"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a>
+The Rev. Matthew Babington of Temple Rothley, in
+Leicestershire, who died lately at Lisbon.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108" id="Footnote_108"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a>
+The author must acknowledge himself indebted to Dr. <span class="smcap">Owen</span>
+for this illustration.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109" id="Footnote_109"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a>
+The author here alludes to what happened within his own
+knowledge; and he has been assured by others, on whose testimony he can
+rely, of several similar instances. But to prevent misconstruction as to
+the incident which mainly gives rise to the remark, he thinks it
+necessary to declare, that the account, which appeared in some of the
+news-papers, of an entertainment having been given by Mr. Pitt on the
+Fast Day, is untrue; and he is glad of the opportunity, which the
+mention of this subject affords him, of contradicting a statement which
+he can positively affirm to have been false. This is one of the many
+instances which should enforce on the readers of news-papers, the <i>duty</i>
+of not <i>hastily</i> giving credit to reports to the disadvantage of <i>any</i>
+man, of <i>any</i> party. A person in a public station must often acquiesce
+under the grossest calumnies; unless he will undertake the vain and
+endless task of contradicting all the falsehoods which prejudice may
+conceive, and malignity propagate against him.&mdash;The writer may perhaps
+express himself with the more feeling on this subject; because he has
+often been, and, indeed, at this very moment is, in the circumstances
+which he has stated.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110" id="Footnote_110"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a>
+I must beg leave to class among the brightest ornaments
+of the Church of England, this great man, who with his brethren was so
+shamefully ejected from the church in 1666, in violation of the royal
+word, as well as of the clear principles of justice. With his
+controversial pieces I am little acquainted: but his practical writings,
+in four massy folios, are a treasury of Christian wisdom; and it would
+be a most valuable service to mankind to revise them, and perhaps to
+abridge them, so as to render them more suited to the taste of modern
+readers. This has been already done in the case of his Dying Thoughts, a
+beautiful little piece, and of his Saints&#8217; Rest. His Life also, written
+by himself, and in a separate volume, contains much useful matter, and
+many valuable particulars of the history of the times of Charles I.
+Cromwell, &amp;c. &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111" id="Footnote_111"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a>
+Let me by no means be understood to censure all the
+sectaries without discrimination. Many of them, and some who by the
+unhappy circumstances of the times became objects of notice in a
+political view, were men of great erudition, deep views of Religion, and
+unquestionable piety: and though the writings of the puritans are
+prolix; and according to the fashion of their age, rendered rather
+perplexed than clear by multiplied divisions and subdivisions; yet they
+are a mine of wealth, in which any one who will submit to some degree of
+labour will find himself well rewarded for his pains. In particular the
+writings of Dr. <span class="smcap">Owen</span>, Mr. <span class="smcap">Howe</span>, and Mr. <span class="smcap">Flavell</span>, well deserve this
+character: of the first mentioned author, there are two pieces which I
+would especially recommend to the reader&#8217;s perusal, one, on Heavenly
+Mindedness, abridged by Dr. <span class="smcap">Mayo</span>; the other, on the Mortification of Sin
+in Believers. While I have been speaking in terms of such high, and, I
+trust, such just eulogium of many of the teachers of the Church of
+England; this may not be an improper place to express the high
+obligations which we owe to the Dissenters, for many excellent
+publications. Of this number are Dr. <span class="smcap">Evans&#8217;s</span> Sermons on the Christian
+Temper; and that most useful book, the Rise and Progress of Religion in
+the Soul, by Dr. <span class="smcap">Doddridge</span>; also, his Life, by <span class="smcap">Orton</span>, and Letters; and
+two volumes of Sermons, one on Regeneration, the other on the Power and
+Grace of Christ: May the writer be permitted to embrace this opportunity
+of recommending two volumes, published separately, of Sermons, by the
+late Dr. <span class="smcap">Witherspoon</span>, President of the College of New Jersey.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112" id="Footnote_112"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a>
+Vide Section vi. of the ivth Chapter, where we have
+expressly and fully treated of this most important truth.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113" id="Footnote_113"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a>
+No exceptions have fallen within my own reading, but the
+writings of <span class="smcap">Richardson</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114" id="Footnote_114"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a>
+It is with pain that the author finds himself compelled
+to place so great a writer as Dr. <span class="smcap">Robertson</span> in this class. But, to say
+nothing of his phlegmatic account of the reformation; a subject which we
+should have thought likely to excite in any one, who united the
+character of a Christian Divine with that of an Historian, some warmth
+of pious gratitude for the good providence of God; to pass over also the
+ambiguity, in which he leaves his readers as to his opinion of the
+authenticity of the Mosaic chronology, in his disquisitions on the trade
+of India; his letters to Mr. <span class="smcap">Gibbon</span>, lately published, cannot but excite
+emotions of regret and shame in every sincere Christian. The author
+hopes, that he has so far explained his sentiments as to render it
+almost unnecessary to remark, what, however, to prevent misconstruction,
+he must here declare, that so far from approving, he must be understood
+decidedly to condemn, a hot, a contentious, much more an abusive manner
+of opposing or of speaking of the assailants of Christianity. The
+Apostle&#8217;s direction in this respect cannot be too much attended to. &ldquo;The
+servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to
+teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if
+God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the
+truth.&rdquo; (2 Timothy, ii. 24, 25.)</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115" id="Footnote_115"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a>
+Mr. <span class="smcap">Hume</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116" id="Footnote_116"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a>
+Vide Dr. A. Smith&#8217;s Letter to W. Strahan, Esq.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117" id="Footnote_117"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a>
+What is here stated must be acknowledged by all, be their
+political opinions concerning French events what they may; and it makes
+no difference in the writer&#8217;s view of the subject, whether the state of
+morals was or was not, quite, or nearly, as bad, before the French
+revolution.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118" id="Footnote_118"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a>
+<span class="smcap">Soame Jenyns.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119" id="Footnote_119"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a>
+<span class="smcap">Paley&#8217;s</span> Evidence.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120" id="Footnote_120"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a>
+See especially that great historian, <span class="smcap">Ferguson</span>, who, in
+his Essay on Civil Society, endeavours to vindicate the cause of heroism
+from the censure conveyed by the poet:
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;From Macedonia&#8217;s madman to the Swede.&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121" id="Footnote_121"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a>
+Such seems to be the just rendering of the word which our
+Testament translates, &ldquo;did not like to retain God in their knowledge.&rdquo;</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122" id="Footnote_122"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a>
+It is a gratification to the writer&#8217;s personal, as well
+as public feelings, to pay this tribute of respect to the character of
+Lord Chief Justice <span class="smcap">Kenyon</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123" id="Footnote_123"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a>
+This is not thrown out rashly, but asserted on the
+writer&#8217;s own knowledge.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124" id="Footnote_124"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a>
+&ldquo;Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my
+God,&rdquo; (says David) &ldquo;of that which doth cost me nothing.&rdquo; 2 Sam. xxiv.
+24.
+</p><p>
+&ldquo;They,&rdquo; (the Apostles) &ldquo;departed from the presence of the council,
+rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of
+Jesus.&rdquo; Acts v. 41. See also 1 Thess. i. 6. &nbsp; Heb. x. 34. &nbsp; James i. 2. &nbsp;
+1 Peter iv. 13, 14.
+</p><p>
+Such are the marks exhibited in Scripture of a true love to God: and
+though our regard for our common Lord is not put to the same severe
+test, as that of the Apostles and first Christians was; yet, if the same
+principle existed in us also, it would surely dispose us to act in the
+<i>spirit</i> of that conduct; and prompt us rather to be willing to exceed
+in self denials and labours for Christ&#8217;s sake, than to be so forward as
+we are to complain, whenever we are called upon to perform or to abstain
+from any thing, though in an instance ever so little contrary to our
+inclinations.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125" id="Footnote_125"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a>
+It may not be amiss to mention a few useful publications
+of this sort. Walton&#8217;s Lives, particularly the last edition by Mr.
+Zouch; Gilpin&#8217;s Lives; the Lives of Bishop Bedell and Bishop Bull; of
+Archbishop Usher; some extracts from Burnet of the Life of the
+incomparable Leighton, prefixed to a volume of the latter&#8217;s Sermons;
+Passages of the Life of Lord Rochester, by Burnet; the Life of Sir
+Matthew Hale; of the excellent Doddridge, by Orton; of Henry, father and
+son; of Mather; of Halyburton; Hampson&#8217;s and Whitehead&#8217;s Life of Wesley;
+Life of Baxter, by himself, &amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126" id="Footnote_126"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a>
+The author is aware, that he may perhaps be censured for
+conceding this term to the class of persons now in question, since
+orthodox Christians equally contend for the unity of the Divine Nature:
+and it perhaps may hardly be a sufficient excuse, that, it not being his
+object particularly to refute the errors of Unitarianism, he uses the
+term in its popular sense rather than give needless offence. He thus
+guards, however, against any false construction being drawn from his use
+of it.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127" id="Footnote_127"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a>
+The author of this treatise has, since its completion,
+perused a work entitled, Calvinism and Socinianism compared, by <span class="smcap">A.
+Fuller</span>, &amp;c; and, without reference to the peculiarities of Calvinism, he
+is happy to embrace this opportunity of confessing the high obligation
+which, in common with all the friends of true Religion, he owes to the
+author of that highly valuable publication for his masterly defence of
+the doctrines of Christianity, and his acute refutation of the opposite
+errors.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128" id="Footnote_128"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a>
+It is almost superfluous to state, that Sir <span class="smcap">William Jones</span>
+is here meant, who, from the testimony borne to his extraordinary
+talents by Sir John Shore, in his first address to the Asiatic Society
+of Calcutta, appears to have been a man of most extraordinary genius and
+astonishing erudition.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129" id="Footnote_129"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a>
+Mr. <span class="smcap">Maurice</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130" id="Footnote_130"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a>
+This argument is pressed with uncommon force in <span class="smcap">Pascal&#8217;s</span>
+Thoughts on Religion, a work highly valuable, though not in every part
+to be approved; abounding in particular with those deep views of
+Religion, which the name of its author prepares us to expect.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131" id="Footnote_131"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a>
+<span class="tn" title="Original text has &lsquo;Vide, Some&rsquo;">Vide, some</span>
+exquisitely beautiful lines in the last book
+of Cowper&#8217;s Task, wherein this sentiment is introduced.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical View of the Prevailing
+Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity., by William Wilberforce
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+</body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical View of the Prevailing
+Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity., by William Wilberforce
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity.
+
+Author: William Wilberforce
+
+Release Date: June 6, 2008 [EBook #25709]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PROFESSED CHRISTIANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Robert Shimmin, Nigel Blower, Greg Alethoup
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                      A
+               PRACTICAL VIEW
+                   OF THE
+         PREVAILING RELIGIOUS SYSTEM
+                     OF
+            PROFESSED CHRISTIANS,
+                   IN THE
+          HIGHER AND MIDDLE CLASSES
+                  IN THIS
+                  COUNTRY,
+              CONTRASTED WITH
+             REAL CHRISTIANITY.
+
+
+        By WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, Esq;
+Member of Parliament for the County of York.
+
+
+Search the Scriptures!----          JOHN, v. 39.
+
+    How charming is DIVINE PHILOSOPHY!
+Not harsh, and crabbed, as dull Fools suppose,
+But Musical as is Apollo's lute,
+And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets,
+Where no crude surfeit reigns.           MILTON.
+
+
+                  DUBLIN:
+         Printed by Robert Dapper,
+    FOR B. DUGDALE, NO. 6, DAME-STREET.
+
+                M.DCC.XCVII.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+It has been, for several years, the earnest wish of the writer of the
+following pages to address his countrymen on the important subject of
+Religion; but the various duties of his public station, and a
+constitution incapable of much labour, have obstructed the execution of
+his purpose. Long has he been looking forward to some vacant season, in
+which he might devote his whole time and attention to this interesting
+service, free from the interruption of all other concerns; and he has
+the rather wished for this opportunity of undistracted and mature
+reflection, from a desire that what he might send into the world might
+thus be rendered less undeserving of the public eye. Meanwhile life is
+wearing away, and he daily becomes more and more convinced, that he
+might wait in vain for this season of complete vacancy. He must,
+therefore, improve such occasional intervals of leisure as may occur to
+him in the course of a busy life, and throw himself on the Reader's
+indulgence for the pardon of such imperfections, as the opportunity of
+undiverted and more mature attention might have enabled him to discover
+and correct.
+
+But the plea here suggested is by no means intended as an excuse for the
+opinions which he shall express, if they be found mistaken. Here, if he
+be in an error, it is however a deliberate error. He would indeed
+account himself unpardonable, if he were to intrude his first thoughts
+upon the Public on a question of such importance; and he can truly
+declare, that what he shall offer will be the result of much reading,
+observation, and inquiry, and of long, serious, and repeated
+consideration.
+
+It is not improbable that he may be accused of deviating from his proper
+line, and of impertinently interfering in the concerns of a Profession
+to which he does not belong. If it were necessary, however, to defend
+himself against this charge, he might shelter himself under the
+authority of many most respectable examples. But surely to such an
+accusation it may be sufficient to reply, that it is the duty of every
+man to promote the happiness of his fellow-creatures to the utmost of
+his power; and that he who thinks he sees many around him, whom he
+esteems and loves, labouring under a fatal error, must have a cold
+heart, or a most confined notion of benevolence, if he could refrain
+from endeavouring to set them right, lest in so doing he should be
+accused of stepping out of his proper walk, and expose himself on that
+ground to the imputation of officiousness.
+
+But he might also allege as a full justification, not only that Religion
+is the business of every one, but that its advancement or decline in any
+country is so intimately connected with the temporal interests of
+society, as to render it the peculiar concern of a political man; and
+that what he may presume to offer on the subject of Religion may perhaps
+be perused with less jealousy and more candour, from the very
+circumstance of its having been written by a Layman, which must at least
+exclude the idea (an idea sometimes illiberally suggested to take off
+the effect of the works of Ecclesiastics) that it is prompted by motives
+of self-interest, or of professional prejudice.
+
+But if the writer's apology be not found in the work itself, and in his
+avowed motive for undertaking it, he would in vain endeavour to satisfy
+his readers by any excuses he might assign; therefore, without farther
+preamble, he will proceed to the statement and execution of his
+purpose.
+
+The main object which he has in view is, not to convince the Sceptic, or
+to answer the arguments of persons who avowedly oppose the fundamental
+doctrines of our Religion; but to point out the scanty and erroneous
+system of the bulk of those who belong to the class of orthodox
+Christians, and to contrast their defective scheme with a representation
+of what the author apprehends to be real Christianity. Often has it
+filled him with deep concern, to observe in this description of persons,
+scarcely any distinct knowledge of the real nature and principles of the
+religion which they profess. The subject is of infinite importance; let
+it not be driven out of our minds by the bustle or dissipations of life.
+This present scene, and all its cares and all its gaieties, will soon be
+rolled away, and "we must stand before the judgment seat of Christ."
+This awful consideration will prompt the writer to express himself with
+greater freedom than he should otherwise be disposed to use. This
+consideration he trusts, also, will justify his frankness, and will
+secure him a serious and patient perusal. But it would be trespassing on
+the indulgence of the reader to detain him with introductory remarks.
+Let it only be farther premised, that if what shall be stated should to
+any appear needlessly austere and rigid, the writer must lay in his
+claim not to be condemned, without a fair inquiry whether or not his
+statements accord with the language of the sacred writings. To that test
+he refers with confidence; and it must be conceded by those who admit
+the authority of Scripture (such only he is addressing) that from the
+decision of the word of God there can be no appeal.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                                              Page
+
+INTRODUCTION.                                                    v
+
+CHAP. I.
+_Inadequate Conceptions of the Importance of Christianity._      1
+
+CHAP. II.
+_Corruption of Human Nature._                                   14
+
+CHAP. III.
+_Chief Defects of the Religious System of the bulk of
+professed Christians, in what regards our Lord Jesus Christ,
+and the Holy Spirit--with a Dissertation concerning the use
+of the Passions in Religion._                                   43
+
+CHAP. IV.
+_On the prevailing inadequate Conceptions concerning the
+Nature and the Strictness of Practical Christianity._          100
+
+CHAP. V.
+_On the Excellence of Christianity in certain important
+Particulars. Argument which results thence in Proof of its
+Divine Origin._                                                252
+
+CHAP. VI.
+_Brief Inquiry into the present State of Christianity in
+this Country, with some of the Causes which have led to its
+critical Circumstances. Its Importance to us as a political
+Community, and practical Hints for which the foregoing
+Considerations give occasion._                                 262
+
+CHAP. VII.
+_Practical Hints to various Descriptions of Persons._          305
+
+
+
+
+A PRACTICAL VIEW, &c.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIANITY.
+
+_Popular Notions.--Scripture Account.--Ignorance in this Case
+criminal.--Two false Maxims exposed._
+
+
+Before we proceed to the consideration of any particular defects in the
+religious system of the bulk of professed Christians, it may be proper
+to point out the very inadequate conception which they entertain of the
+importance of Christianity in general, of its peculiar nature, and
+superior excellence. If we listen to their conversation, virtue is
+praised, and vice is censured; piety is perhaps applauded, and
+profaneness condemned. So far all is well. But let any one, who would
+not be deceived, by these "barren generalities" examine a little more
+closely, and he will find, that not to Christianity in particular, but
+at best to Religion in general, perhaps to mere Morality, their homage
+is intended to be paid. With Christianity, as distinct from these, they
+are little acquainted; their views of it have been so cursory and
+superficial, that far from discerning its characteristic essence, they
+have little more than perceived those exterior circumstances which
+distinguish it from other forms of Religion. There are some few facts,
+and perhaps some leading doctrines and principles, of which they cannot
+be wholly ignorant; but of the consequences, and relations, and
+practical uses of these, they have few ideas, or none at all.
+
+Does this seem too strong? View their plan of life and their ordinary
+conduct; and not to speak at present of their general inattention to
+things of a religious nature, let us ask, wherein can we discern the
+points of discrimination between them and professed unbelievers? In an
+age wherein it is confessed and lamented that infidelity abounds, do we
+observe in them any remarkable care to instruct their children in the
+principles of the faith which they profess, and to furnish them with
+arguments for the defence of it? They would blush, on their child's
+coming out into the world, to think him defective in any branch of that
+knowledge, or of those accomplishments which belong to his station in
+life, and accordingly these are cultivated with becoming assiduity. But
+he is left to collect his religion as he may; the study of Christianity
+has formed no part of his education, and his attachment to it (where any
+attachment to it exists at all) is, too often, not the preference of
+sober reason, but merely the result of early prejudice and groundless
+prepossession. He was born in a Christian country, of course he is a
+Christian; his father was a member of the church of England, so is he.
+When such is the hereditary religion handed down from generation to
+generation, it cannot surprise us to observe young men of sense and
+spirit beginning to doubt altogether of the truth of the system in which
+they have been brought up, and ready to abandon a station which they are
+unable to defend. Knowing Christianity chiefly in the difficulties which
+it contains, and in the impossibilities which are falsely imputed to it,
+they fall perhaps into the company of infidels; and, as might be
+expected, they are shaken by frivolous objections and profane cavils,
+which, had they been grounded and bottomed in reason and argument, would
+have passed by them, "as the idle wind," and scarcely have seemed worthy
+of serious notice.
+
+Let us beware before it be too late. No one can say into what discredit
+Christianity may hereby grow, at a time when the free and unrestrained
+intercourse, subsisting amongst the several ranks and classes of
+society, so much favours the general diffusion of the sentiments of the
+higher orders. To a similar ignorance is perhaps in no small degree to
+be ascribed the success, with which Christianity has been attacked of
+late years in a neighbouring country. Had she not been wholly unarmed
+for the contest, however she might have been forced from her untenable
+posts, and compelled to disembarrass herself from her load of
+incumbrances, she never could have been driven altogether out of the
+field by her puny assailants, with all their cavils, and gibes, and
+sarcasms; for in these consisted the main strength of their petty
+artillery. Let us beware, lest we also suffer from a like cause; nor let
+it be our crime and our reproach, that in schools, perhaps even in
+Colleges, Christianity is almost if not altogether neglected.
+
+It cannot be expected, that they who are so little attentive to this
+great object in the education of their children, should be more so in
+other parts of their conduct, where less strongly stimulated by
+affection, and less obviously loaded with responsibility. They are of
+course therefore, little regardful of the state of Christianity in their
+own country; and still more indifferent about communicating the light of
+divine truth to the nations which "still sit in darkness."
+
+But Religion, it may be replied, is not noisy and ostentatious; it is
+modest and private in its nature; it resides in a man's own bosom, and
+shuns the observation of the multitude. Be it so.
+
+From the transient and distant view then, which we have been taking of
+these unassuming Christians, let us approach a little nearer, and listen
+to the unreserved conversation of their confidential hours. Here, if any
+where, the interior of the heart is laid open, and we may ascertain the
+true principles of their regards and aversions; the scale by which they
+measure the good and evil of life. Here, however, you will discover few
+or no traces of Christianity. She scarcely finds herself a place amidst
+the many objects of their hopes, and fears, and joys, and sorrows.
+Grateful, perhaps, (as well indeed they may be grateful) for health, and
+talents, and affluence, and other blessings belonging to their persons
+and conditions in life, they scarcely reckon in the number this grand
+distinguishing mark of the bounty of Providence; or if they mention it
+at all, it is noticed coldly and formally, like one of those obsolete
+claims to which, though but of small account in the estimate of our
+wealth or power, we think it as well to put in our title from
+considerations of family decorum or of national usage.
+
+But what more than all the rest establishes the point in question: let
+their conversation take a graver turn: here at length their religion,
+modest and retired as it is, must be expected to disclose itself; here
+however you will look in vain for the religion of Jesus. Their standard
+of right and wrong is not the standard of the gospel: they approve and
+condemn by a different rule; they advance principles and maintain
+opinions altogether opposite to the genius and character of
+Christianity. You would fancy yourself rather amongst the followers of
+the old philosophy; nor is it easy to guess how any one could satisfy
+himself to the contrary, unless, by mentioning the name of some
+acknowledged heretic, he should afford them an occasion of demonstrating
+their zeal for the religion of their country.
+
+The truth is, their opinions on these subjects are not formed from the
+perusal of the word of God. The Bible lies on the shelf unopened; and
+they would be wholly ignorant of its contents, except for what they hear
+occasionally at church, or for the faint traces which their memories may
+still retain of the lessons of their earliest infancy.
+
+How different, nay, in many respects, how contradictory, would be the
+two systems of mere morals, of which the one should be formed from the
+commonly received maxims of the Christian world, and the other from the
+study of the Holy Scriptures! it would be curious to remark in any one,
+who had hitherto satisfied himself with the former, the astonishment
+which would be excited on his first introduction to the latter. We are
+not left here to bare conjecture. This was, in fact, the effect produced
+on the mind of a late ingenious writer[1], of whose little work, though
+it bears perhaps some marks of his customary love of paradox, we must at
+least confess, that it exposes, in a strong point of view, the _poverty_
+of that superficial religion which has been above condemned; and that it
+every where displays that happy perspicuity, and grace, which so
+eminently characterize all the compositions of its author. But after
+this willing tribute of commendation, we are reluctantly compelled to
+remark, that the work in question discredits the cause which it was
+meant to serve, by many crude and extravagant positions; from which no
+one can be secure who forms a hasty judgment of a deep and comprehensive
+subject, the several bearings and relations of which have been
+imperfectly surveyed; and above all, it must be lamented, that it treats
+the great question which it professes to discuss, rather as a matter of
+mere speculation, than as one wherein our everlasting interests are
+involved. Surely the writer's object should have been, to convince his
+readers of their guilt still more than of their ignorance, and to leave
+them impressed rather with a sense of their danger than of their folly.
+
+It were almost a waste of time to multiply arguments in order to prove
+how criminal the voluntary ignorance, of which we have been speaking,
+must appear in the sight of God. It must be confessed by all who believe
+that we are accountable creatures, and to such only the writer is
+addressing himself, that we shall have to answer hereafter to the
+Almighty for all the means and occasions we have here enjoyed of
+improving ourselves, or of promoting the happiness of others. And if,
+when summoned to give an account of our stewardship, we shall be called
+upon to answer for the use which we have made of our bodily organs, and
+of the means of relieving the wants and necessities of our fellow
+creatures; how much more for the exercise of the nobler and more exalted
+faculties of our nature, of invention, and judgment, and memory; and for
+our employment of all the instruments and opportunities of diligent
+application, and serious reflection, and honest decision. And to what
+subject might we in all reason be expected to apply more earnestly, than
+to that wherein our eternal interests are at issue? When God has of his
+goodness vouchsafed to grant us such abundant means of instruction in
+that which we are most concerned to know, how great must be the guilt,
+and how aweful the punishment of voluntary ignorance!
+
+And why, it may be asked, are we in this pursuit alone to expect
+knowledge without inquiry, and success without endeavour? The whole
+analogy of nature inculcates on us a different lesson, and our own
+judgments in matters of temporal interests and worldly policy confirm
+the truth of her suggestions. Bountiful as is the hand of Providence,
+its gifts are not so bestowed as to seduce us into indolence, but to
+rouse us to exertion; and no one expects to attain to the height of
+learning, or arts, or power, or wealth, or military glory, without
+vigorous resolution, and strenuous diligence, and steady perseverance.
+Yet we expect to be Christians without labour, study, or inquiry. This
+is the more preposterous, because Christianity, being a revelation from
+God, and not the invention of man, discovering to us new relations, with
+their correspondent duties; containing also doctrines, and motives, and
+practical principles, and rules, peculiar to itself, and almost as new
+in their nature as supreme in their excellence, we cannot reasonably
+expect to become proficients in it by the accidental intercourses of
+life, as one might learn insensibly the maxims of worldly policy, or a
+scheme of mere morals.
+
+The diligent perusal of the Holy Scriptures would discover to us our
+past ignorance. We should cease to be deceived by superficial
+appearances, and to confound the Gospel of Christ with the systems of
+philosophers; we should become impressed with that weighty truth, so
+much forgotten, and never to be too strongly insisted on, that
+Christianity calls on us, as we value our immortal souls, not merely in
+_general_, to be _religious_ and _moral_, but _specially_ to believe the
+doctrines, and imbibe the principles, and practise the precepts of
+Christ. It might be to run into too great length to confirm this
+position beyond dispute by express quotations from Scripture. And (not
+to anticipate what belongs more properly to a subsequent part of the
+work) it may be sufficient here to remark in general, that Christianity
+is always represented in Scripture as the grand, the unparalleled
+instance of God's bounty to mankind. It was graciously held forth in the
+original promise to our first parents; it was predicted by a long
+continued series of prophets; the subject of their prayers, inquiries,
+and longing expectations. In a world, which opposed and persecuted them,
+it was their source of peace, and hope, and consolation. At length it
+approached--the Desire of all Nations--The long expected Star announced
+its presence--A multitude of the heavenly host hailed its introduction,
+and proclaimed its character; "Glory to God in the highest, on earth
+peace, good will towards men." It is every where represented in
+scripture by such figures as may most deeply impress on us a sense of
+its value; it is spoken of as light from darkness, as release from
+prison, as deliverance from captivity, as life from death. "Lord, now
+lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy
+salvation," was the exclamation with which it was welcomed by the pious
+Simeon; and it was universally received and professed among the early
+converts with thankfulness and joy. At one time, the communication of it
+is promised as a reward; at another, the loss of it is threatened as a
+punishment. And, short as is the form of prayer taught us by our blessed
+Saviour, the more general extension of the kingdom of Christ constitutes
+one of its leading petitions.
+
+With what exalted conceptions of the importance of Christianity ought we
+to be filled by such descriptions as these? Yet, in vain have we "line
+upon line and precept upon precept."--Thus predicted, thus prayed and
+longed for, thus announced and characterized and rejoiced in, this
+heavenly treasure poured into our lap in rich abundance we scarce
+accept. We turn from it coldly, or at best possess it negligently, as a
+thing of no account or estimation. But a due sense of its value would be
+assuredly impressed on us by the diligent study of the word of God, that
+blessed repository of divine truth and consolation. Thence it is that
+we are to learn our obligations and our duty, what we are to believe and
+what to practise. And, surely, one would think it could not be required
+to press men to the perusal of the sacred volume. Reason dictates,
+Revelation commands; "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
+God."--"Search the Scriptures,"--"Be ready to give to every one a reason
+of the hope that is in you." Such are the declarations and injunctions
+of the inspired writers; injunctions confirmed by commendations of those
+who obey the admonition. Yet, is it not undeniable that with the Bible
+in our houses, we are ignorant of its contents; and that hence, in a
+great measure, it arises, that the bulk of the Christian world know so
+little, and mistake so greatly, in what regards the religion which they
+profess?
+
+This is not the place for inquiring at large, whence it is that those
+who assent to the position, that the Bible is the word of God, and who
+profess to rest their hopes on the Christian basis, contentedly
+acquiesce in a state of such lamentable ignorance. But it may not be
+improper here to touch on two kindred opinions, from which, in the minds
+of the more thoughtful and serious, this acquiescence appears to derive
+much secret support. The one is, that it signifies little what a man
+believes; _look to his practice_. The other (of the same family) _that
+sincerity is all in all_. Let a man's opinions and conduct be what they
+may, yet, provided he be sincerely convinced that they are right,
+however the exigencies of civil society may require him to be dealt with
+amongst men, in the sight of God he cannot be criminal.
+
+It would detain us too long fully to set forth the various merits of
+these favourite positions, of which it is surely not the smallest
+excellence, that they are of unbounded application, comprehending within
+their capacious limits, all the errors which have been believed, and
+many of the most desperate crimes which have been perpetrated among men.
+The former of them is founded altogether on that grossly fallacious
+assumption, that a man's opinions will not influence his practice. The
+latter proceeds on this groundless supposition, that the Supreme Being
+has not afforded us sufficient means of discriminating truth from
+falsehood, right from wrong: and it implies, that be a man's opinions or
+conduct ever so wild and extravagant, we are to presume, that they are
+as much the result of impartial inquiry and honest conviction, as if his
+sentiments and actions had been strictly conformable to the rules of
+reason and sobriety. Never indeed was there a principle more general in
+its use, more sovereign in its potency. How does its beautiful
+simplicity also, and compendious brevity, give it rank before the
+laborious subtleties of Bellarmine! Clement, and Ravaillac, and other
+worthies of a similar stamp, from whose purity of intention the world
+has hitherto withheld its due tribute of applause, would here have found
+a ready plea; and their injured innocence shall now at length receive
+its full though tardy vindication. "These however," it may be replied,
+"are excepted cases." Certainly they are cases of which any one who
+maintains the opinion in question would be glad to disencumber himself;
+because they clearly expose the unsoundness of his principle. But it
+will be incumbent on such an one, first to explain with precision why
+they are to be exempted from its operation, and this he will find an
+impossible task; for sincerity, in its popular sense, so shamefully is
+the term misapplied, can be made the criterion of guilt and innocence on
+no grounds, which will not equally serve to justify the assassins who
+have been instanced. The conclusion cannot be eluded; no man was ever
+more fully persuaded of the innocence of any action, than these men
+were, that the horrid deed they were about to perpetrate was not lawful
+merely, but highly meritorious. Thus Clement and Ravaillac being
+unquestionably sincere, they were therefore indubitably innocent. Nay,
+the absurdity of this principle might be shewn to be even greater than
+what has yet been stated. It would not be going too far to assert, that
+whilst it scorns the defence of petty villains, of those who still
+retain the sense of good and evil, it holds forth, like some well
+frequented sanctuary, a secure asylum to those more finished criminals,
+who, from long habits of wickedness, are lost alike to the perception as
+to the practice of virtue; and that it selects a seared conscience and a
+heart become callous to all moral distinctions as the special objects of
+its care. Nor is it only in prophane history that instances like these
+are to be found, of persons committing the greatest crimes with a
+sincere conviction of the rectitude of their conduct. Scripture will
+afford us parallels; and it was surely to guard us against the very
+error which we have been now exposing, that our blessed Saviour
+forewarned his disciples: "The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you
+will think that he doeth God service."
+
+A principle like this must then be abandoned, and the advocates for
+sincerity must be compelled to restore this abused term to its genuine
+signification, and to acknowledge that it must imply honesty of mind,
+and the faithful use of the means of knowledge and of improvement, the
+desire of being instructed, humble inquiry, impartial consideration, and
+unprejudiced judgment. It is to these we would earnestly call you; to
+these (ever to be accompanied with fervent prayers for the divine
+blessing) Scripture every where holds forth the most animating promises.
+"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be
+opened unto you; Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;"
+such are the comfortable assurances, such the gracious encouragements to
+the truly sincere inquirer. How deep will be our guilt if we slight all
+these benevolent offers. "How many prophets and kings have desired to
+hear the things that we hear, and have not heard them!" Great indeed are
+our opportunities, great also is our responsibility. Let us awaken to a
+true sense of our situation. We have every consideration to alarm our
+fears, or to animate our industry. How soon may the brightness of our
+meridian sun be darkened! Or, should the long suffering of God still
+continue to us the mercies which we so much abuse, it will only
+aggravate our crime, and in the end enhance our punishment. The time of
+reckoning will at length arrive. And when finally summoned to the bar of
+God, to give an account of our stewardship, what plea can we have to
+urge in our defence, if we remain willingly and obstinately ignorant of
+the way which leads to life, with such transcendent means of knowing it,
+and such urgent motives to its pursuit?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE.
+
+
+SECT. I.
+
+_Inadequate Conceptions of the Corruption of Human Nature._
+
+After considering the defective notions of the importance of
+Christianity _in general_, which prevail among the higher orders of the
+Christian world, the particular misconceptions which first come under
+our notice respect the corruption and weakness of human nature. This is
+a topic on which it is possible that many of those, into whose hands the
+present work shall fall, may not have bestowed much attention. If the
+case be so, it may be requisite to intreat them to lend a patient and a
+serious ear. The subject is of the deepest import. We should not go too
+far if we were to assert, that it lies at the very root of all true
+Religion, and still more, that it is eminently the basis and ground-work
+of Christianity.
+
+So far as the writer has had an opportunity of remarking, the generality
+of professed Christians among the higher classes, either altogether
+overlook or deny, or at least greatly extenuate the corruption and
+weakness here in question. They acknowledge indeed that there is, and
+ever has been in the world, a great portion of vice and wickedness; that
+mankind have been ever prone to sensuality and selfishness, in
+disobedience to the more refined and liberal principles of their nature;
+that in all ages and countries, in public and in private life,
+innumerable instances have been afforded of oppression, of rapacity, of
+cruelty, of fraud, of envy, and of malice. They own that it is too often
+in vain that you inform the understanding, and convince the judgment.
+They admit that you do not thereby reform the hearts of men. Though they
+_know_ their duty, they will not practice it; no not even when you have
+forced them to acknowledge that the path of virtue is that also of real
+interest, and of solid enjoyment.
+
+These facts are certain; they cannot be disputed; and they are at the
+same time so obvious, that one would have thought that the celebrated
+apophthegm of the Grecian sage, "the majority are wicked," would
+scarcely have established his claim to intellectual superiority.
+
+But though these effects of human depravity are every where acknowledged
+and lamented, we must not expect to find them traced to their true
+origin.
+
+    Causa latet, vis est notissima.
+
+Prepare yourself to hear rather of frailty and infirmity, of petty
+transgressions, of occasional failings, of sudden surprisals, and of
+such other qualifying terms as may serve to keep out of view the true
+source of the evil, and without shocking the understanding, may
+administer consolation to the pride of human nature. The bulk of
+professed Christians are used to speak of man as of a being, who,
+naturally pure, and inclined to all virtue, is sometimes, almost
+involuntary, drawn out of the right course, or is overpowered by the
+violence of temptation. Vice with them is rather an accidental and
+temporary, than a constitutional and habitual distemper; a noxious
+plant, which, though found to live and even to thrive in the human mind,
+is not the natural growth and production of the soil.
+
+Far different is the humiliating language of Christianity. From it we
+learn that man is an apostate creature, fallen from his high original,
+degraded in his nature, and depraved in his faculties; indisposed to
+good, and disposed to evil; prone to vice, it is natural and easy to
+him; disinclined to virtue, it is difficult and laborious; that he is
+tainted with sin, not slightly and superficially, but radically and to
+the very core. These are truths which, however mortifying to our pride,
+one would think (if this very corruption itself did not warp the
+judgment) none would be hardy enough to attempt to controvert. I know
+not any thing which brings them home so forcibly to my own feelings, as
+the consideration of what still remains to us of our primitive dignity,
+when contrasted with our present state of moral degradation,
+
+        "Into what depth thou seest,
+    From what height fallen."
+
+Examine first with attention the natural powers and faculties of man!
+invention, reason, judgment, memory; a mind "of large discourse,"
+"looking before and after," reviewing the past, and thence determining
+for the present, and anticipating the future; discerning, collecting,
+combining, comparing; capable not merely of apprehending but of admiring
+the beauty of moral excellence: with fear and hope to warn and animate;
+with joy and sorrow to solace and soften; with love to attach, with
+sympathy to harmonize, with courage to attempt, with patience to endure,
+and with the power of conscience, that faithful monitor within the
+breast, to enforce the conclusions of reason, and direct and regulate
+the passions of the soul. Truly we must pronounce him "majestic though
+in ruin." "Happy, happy world," would be the exclamation of the
+inhabitant of some other planet, on being told of a globe like ours,
+peopled with such creatures as these, and abounding with situations and
+occasions to call forth the multiplied excellencies of their nature.
+"Happy, happy world, with what delight must your great Creator and
+Governor witness your conduct, and what large and merited rewards await
+you when your term of probation shall have expired.
+
+    "I, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto,
+    Grandia laturus meritorum praemia."
+
+But we have indulged too long in these delightful speculations; a sad
+reverse presents itself on our survey of the _actual_ state of man,
+when, from viewing his _natural_ powers, we follow him into _practice_,
+and see the uses to which he applies them. Take in the whole of the
+prospect, view him in every age, and climate, and nation, in every
+condition and period of society. Where now do you discover the
+characters of his exalted nature? "How is the gold become dim, and the
+fine gold changed?" How is his reason clouded, his affections
+perverted; his conscience stupified! How do anger, and envy, and
+hatred, and revenge, spring up in his wretched bosom! How is he a slave
+to the meanest of his appetites! What fatal propensities does he
+discover to evil! What inaptitude to good!
+
+Dwell awhile on the state of the ancient world; not merely on that
+benighted part of it where all lay buried in brutish ignorance and
+barbarism, but on the seats of civilized and polished nations, on the
+empire of taste, and learning, and philosophy: yet in these chosen
+regions, with whatever lustre the sun of science poured forth its rays,
+the moral darkness was so thick "that it might be felt." Behold their
+sottish idolatries, their absurd superstitions, their want of natural
+affection, their brutal excesses, their unfeeling oppression, their
+savage cruelty! Look not to the illiterate and the vulgar, but to the
+learned and refined. Form not your ideas from the conduct of the less
+restrained and more licentious; you will turn away with disgust and
+shame from the allowed and familiar habits of the decent and the moral.
+St. Paul best states the facts, and furnishes the explanation; "because
+they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, he gave them over to
+a reprobate mind[2]."
+
+Now direct your view to another quarter, to the inhabitants of a new
+hemisphere, where the baneful practices and contagious example of the
+old world had never travelled. Surely, among these children of nature we
+may expect to find those virtuous tendencies, for which we have hitherto
+looked in vain. Alas! our search will still be fruitless! They are
+represented by the historian of America, whose account is more
+favourable than those of some other great authorities, as being a
+compound of pride, and indolence, and selfishness, and cunning, and
+cruelty[3]; full of a revenge which nothing could satiate, of a ferocity
+which nothing could soften; strangers to the most amiable sensibilities
+of nature[4]. They appeared incapable of conjugal affection, or parental
+fondness, or filial reverence, or social attachments; uniting too with
+their state of barbarism, many of the vices and weaknesses of polished
+society. Their horrid treatment of captives taken in war, on whose
+bodies they feasted, after putting them to death by the most cruel
+tortures, is so well known, that we may spare the disgusting recital. No
+commendable qualities relieve this gloomy picture, except fortitude, and
+perseverance, and zeal for the welfare of their little community; if
+this last quality, exercised and directed as it was, can be thought
+deserving of commendation.
+
+But you give up the heathen nations as indefensible, and wish rather to
+form your estimate of man from a view of countries which have been
+blessed with the light of revelation.--True it is, and with joy let us
+record the concession, Christianity has set the general tone of morals
+much higher than it was ever found in the Pagan world. She has every
+where improved the character and multiplied the comforts of society,
+particularly to the poor and the weak, whom from the beginning she
+professed to take under her special patronage. Like her divine Author,
+"who sends his rain on the evil and on the good," she showers down
+unnumbered blessings on thousands who profit from her bounty, while they
+forget or deny her power, and set at nought her authority. Yet even in
+this more favoured situation we shall discover too many lamentable
+proofs of the depravity of man. Nay, this depravity will now become even
+more apparent and less deniable. For what bars does it not now overleap?
+Over what motives is it not now victorious? Consider well the superior
+light and advantages which we enjoy, and then appreciate the superior
+obligations which are imposed on us. Consider in how many cases our evil
+propensities are now kept from breaking forth, by the superior
+restraints under which vice is laid among us by positive laws, and by
+the amended standard of public opinion; and we may be assisted in
+conjecturing what force is to be assigned to these motives, by the
+dreadful proofs which have been lately exhibited in a neighbouring
+country, that when their influence is withdrawn, the most atrocious
+crimes can be perpetrated shamelessly and in the face of day. Consider
+then the superior excellence of our moral code, the new principles of
+obedience furnished by the gospel, and above all, the awful sanction
+which the doctrines and precepts of Christianity derive from the clear
+discovery of a future state of retribution, and from the annunciation of
+that tremendous day, "when we shall stand before the judgment seat of
+Christ." Yet, in spite of all our knowledge thus enforced and pressed
+home by this solemn notice, how little has been our progress in virtue?
+It has been by no means such as to prevent the adoption, in our days, of
+various maxims of antiquity, which, when well considered, too clearly
+establish the depravity of man. It may not be amiss to adduce a few
+instances in proof of this assertion. It is now no less acknowledged
+than heretofore, that prosperity hardens the heart: that unlimited power
+is ever abused, instead of being rendered the instrument of diffusing
+happiness: that habits of vice grow up of themselves, whilst those of
+virtue, if to be obtained at all, are of slow and difficult formation;
+that they who draw the finest pictures of virtue, and seem most
+enamoured of her charms, are often the least under her influence, and by
+the merest trifles are drawn aside from that line of conduct, which they
+most strongly and seriously recommend to others, that all this takes
+place, though most of the pleasures of vice are to be found with less
+alloy in the paths of virtue; whilst at the same time, these paths
+afford superior and more exquisite delights, peculiar to themselves, and
+are free from the diseases and bitter remorse, at the price of which
+vicious gratifications are so often purchased.
+
+It may suffice to touch very slightly on some other arguments, which it
+would hardly be right to leave altogether unnoticed: one of these (the
+justice of which, however denied by superficial moralists, parents of
+strict principles can abundantly testify) may be drawn from the perverse
+and froward dispositions perceivable in children, which it is the
+business and sometimes the ineffectual attempt of education to reform.
+Another may be drawn from the various deceits we are apt to practice on
+ourselves, to which no one can be a stranger, who has ever contemplated
+the operations of his own mind with serious attention. To the influence
+of this species of corruption it has been in a great degree owing, that
+Christianity itself has been too often disgraced. It has been turned
+into an engine of cruelty, and amidst the bitterness of persecution,
+every trace has disappeared of the mild and beneficent spirit of the
+religion of Jesus. In what degree must the taint have worked itself into
+the frame, and have corrupted the habit, when the most wholesome
+nutriment can be thus converted into the deadliest poison! Wishing
+always to argue from such premises as are not only really sound, but
+from such as cannot even be questioned by those to whom this work is
+addressed, little was said in representing the deplorable state of the
+Heathen world, respecting their defective and unworthy conceptions in
+what regards the Supreme Being, who even then however "left not himself
+without witness, but gave them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their
+hearts with food and gladness." But surely to any who call themselves
+Christians, it may be justly urged as an astonishing instance of human
+depravity, that we ourselves, who enjoy the full light of revelation; to
+whom God has vouchsafed such clear discoveries of what it concerns us to
+know of his being and attributes; who profess to believe "that in him we
+live, and move, and have our being;" that to him we owe all the comforts
+we here enjoy, and the offer of eternal Glory purchased for us by the
+atoning blood of his own Son; ("thanks be to God for his unspeakable
+gift,") that we, thus loaded with mercies, should every one of us be
+continually chargeable with forgetting his authority, and being
+ungrateful for his benefits; with slighting his gracious proposals, or
+receiving them at best but heartlessly and coldly.
+
+But to put the question concerning the natural depravity of man to the
+severest test: take the best of the human species, the watchful diligent
+self-denying Christian, and let _him_ decide the controversy; and that,
+not by inferences drawn from the practices of a thoughtless and
+dissolute world, but by an appeal to his personal experience. Go with
+him into his closet, ask him _his_ opinion of the corruption of the
+heart, and he will tell you that he is deeply sensible of its power, for
+that he has learned it from much self-observation and long acquaintance
+with the workings of his own mind. He will tell you, that every day
+strengthens this conviction; yea, that hourly he sees fresh reason to
+deplore his want of simplicity in intention, his infirmity of purpose,
+his low views, his selfish unworthy desires, his backwardness to set
+about his duty, his languor and coldness in performing it: that he
+finds himself obliged continually to confess, that he feels within him
+two opposite principles, and that "he cannot do the things that he
+would." He cries out in the language of the excellent Hooker, "The
+little fruit which we have in holiness, it is, God knoweth, corrupt and
+unsound: we put no confidence at all in it, we challenge nothing in the
+world for it, we dare not call God to reckoning, as if we had him in our
+debt books; our continual suit to him is, and must be, to bear with our
+infirmities, and pardon our offences."
+
+Such is the moral history, such the condition of man. The figures of the
+piece may vary, and the colouring is sometimes of a darker, sometimes of
+a lighter hue; but the principles of the composition, the grand
+outlines, are every where the same. Wherever we direct our view, we
+discover the melancholy proofs of our depravity; whether we look to
+ancient or modern times, to barbarous or civilized nations, to the
+conduct of the world around us, or to the monitor within the breast;
+whether we read, or hear, or act, or think, or feel, the same
+humiliating lesson is forced upon us,
+
+    Juppiter est quodcunque vides, quocunque moveris.
+
+Now when we look back to the picture which was formerly drawn of the
+_natural powers_ of man, and compare this his _actual_ state with that
+for which, from a consideration of those powers, he seems to have been
+originally calculated, how are we to account for the astonishing
+contrast! will frailty or infirmity, or occasional lapses, or sudden
+surprisals, or any such qualifying terms, convey an adequate idea of the
+nature, or point out the cause of the distemper? How, on any principles
+of common reasoning, can we account for it, but by conceiving that man,
+since he came out of the hands of his Creator, has contracted a taint,
+and that the venom of this subtle poison has been communicated
+throughout the race of Adam, every where exhibiting incontestible marks
+of its fatal malignity? Hence it has arisen, that the appetites deriving
+new strength, and the powers of reason and conscience being weakened,
+the latter have feebly and impotently pleaded against those forbidden
+indulgences which the former have solicited. Sensual gratifications and
+illicit affections have debased our nobler powers, and indisposed our
+hearts to the discovery of God, and to the consideration of his
+perfections; to a constant willing submission to his authority, and
+obedience to his laws. By a repetition of vicious acts, evil habits have
+been formed within us, and have rivetted the fetters of sin. Left to the
+consequences of our own folly, the understanding has grown darker, and
+the heart more obdurate; reason has at length altogether betrayed her
+trust, and even conscience herself has aided the delusion, till, instead
+of deploring our miserable slavery, we have too often hugged, and even
+gloried in our chains.
+
+Such is the general account of the progress of vice, where it is
+suffered to attain to its full growth in the human heart. The
+circumstances of individuals will be found indeed to differ; the
+servitude of some, if it may be allowed us to continue a figure so
+exactly descriptive of the case, is more rigorous than that of others,
+their bonds more galling, their degradation more complete. Some too (it
+will be remembered that we are speaking of the natural state of man,
+without taking Christianity into question) have for a while appeared
+almost to have escaped from their confinement; but none are altogether
+free; all without exception, in a greater or less degree bear about
+them, more visible or more concealed, the ignominious marks of their
+captivity.
+
+Such on a full and fair investigation must be confessed to be the state
+of facts; and how can this be accounted for on any other supposition,
+than that of some original taint, some radical principle of corruption?
+All other solutions are unsatisfactory, whilst the potent cause which
+has been assigned, does abundantly, and can alone sufficiently account
+for the effect. Thus then it appears, that the corruption of human
+nature is proved by the same mode of reasoning, as has been deemed
+conclusive in establishing the existence, and ascertaining the laws of
+the principle of gravitation: that the doctrine rests on the same solid
+basis as the sublime philosophy of Newton: that it is not a mere
+speculation, and therefore an uncertain though perhaps an ingenious
+theory, but the sure result of large and actual experiment; deduced from
+incontestable facts, and still more fully approving its truth by
+harmonizing with the several parts and accounting for the various
+phaenomena, jarring otherwise and inexplicable, of the great system of
+the universe.
+
+Revelation, however, here comes in, and sustains the fallible
+conjectures of our unassisted reason. The Holy Scriptures speak of us as
+fallen creatures: in almost every page we shall find something that is
+calculated to abate the loftiness and silence the pretensions of man.
+"The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." "What is man,
+that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should
+be righteous[5]." "How much more abominable and filthy is man, which
+drinketh iniquity like water[6]?" "The Lord looked down from heaven upon
+the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and
+seek God. They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy:
+there is none that doeth good, no not one[7]." "Who can say, I have made
+my heart clean, I am pure from my sin[8]?" "The _heart_ is deceitful
+above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it." "Behold, I
+was shapen in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me." "We
+were by nature the children of wrath, even as others, fulfilling the
+desires of the flesh and of the mind." "O wretched man that I am, who
+shall deliver me from the body of this death!"--Passages might be
+multiplied upon passages, which speak the same language, and these again
+might be illustrated and confirmed at large by various other
+considerations, drawn from the same sacred source; such as those which
+represent a thorough change, a renovation of our nature, as being
+necessary to our becoming true Christians; or as those also which are
+suggested by observing that holy men refer their good dispositions and
+affections to the immediate agency of the Supreme Being.
+
+
+SECTION II.
+
+_Evil Spirit.--Natural State of Man._
+
+But in addition to all which has been yet stated, the word of God
+instructs us that we have to contend not only with our own natural
+depravity, but with the power of darkness, the Evil Spirit, who rules in
+the hearts of the wicked, and whose dominion we learn from Scripture to
+be so general, as to entitle him to the denomination of "the Prince of
+this world." There cannot be a stronger proof of the difference which
+exists between the religious system of the Scriptures, and that of the
+bulk of nominal Christians, than the proof which is afforded by the
+subject now in question. The existence and agency of the Evil Spirit,
+though so distinctly and repeatedly affirmed in Scripture, are almost
+universally exploded in a country which professes to admit the authority
+of the sacred volume. Some other Doctrines of Revelation, the force and
+real meaning of which are commonly in a great degree explained away, are
+yet conceded in general terms. But this seems almost by universal
+consent to have been abandoned, as a post no longer tenable. It is
+regarded as an evanescent prejudice, which it would now be a discredit
+to any man of understanding to believe. Like ghosts and witches and
+other phantoms, which haunted the night of superstition, it cannot in
+these more enlightened times stand the test of our severer scrutiny. To
+be suffered to pass away quietly, is as much as it can hope for; and it
+might rather expect to be laughed off the stage as a just object of
+contempt and derision.
+
+But although the Scripture doctrine concerning the Evil Spirit is thus
+generally exploded, yet were we to consider the matter seriously and
+fairly, we should probably find ground for believing that there is no
+better reason for its being abandoned, than that many absurd stories,
+concerning spirits and apparitions, have been used to be believed and
+propagated amongst weak and credulous people; and that the Evil Spirit
+not being the object of our bodily eyes, it would be an instance of the
+same weakness to give credit to the doctrine of its existence and
+agency. But to be consistent with ourselves, we might almost as well, on
+the same principle, deny the reality of all other incorporeal beings.
+What is there, in truth, in the doctrine, which is in itself improbable,
+or which is not confirmed by analogy? We see, in fact, that there are
+wicked men, enemies to God, and malignant towards their fellow
+creatures, who take pleasure, and often succeed, in drawing in others to
+the commission of evil. Why then should it be deemed incredible, that
+there may be one or more spiritual intelligences of similar natures and
+propensities, who may in like manner be permitted to tempt men to the
+practice of sin? Surely we may retort upon our opponents the charge of
+absurdity, and justly accuse them of gross inconsistency, in admitting,
+without difficulty, the existence and operation of these qualities in a
+material being, and yet denying them in an immaterial one (in direct
+contradiction to the authority of Scripture, which they allow to be
+conclusive) when they cannot, and will not pretend for a moment, that
+there is any thing belonging to the nature of matter, to which these
+qualities naturally adhere.
+
+But to dilate no farther on a topic which, however it may excite the
+ridicule of the inconsiderate, will suggest matter of furious
+apprehension to all who form their opinions on the authority of the word
+of God: thus brought as we are into captivity, and exposed to danger;
+depraved and weakened within, and tempted from without, it might well
+fill our hearts with anxiety to reflect, "that the day will come," when
+"the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall
+melt with fervent heat;" "when the dead, small and great, shall stand
+before the tribunal of God;" and we shall have to give account of all
+things done in the body. We are naturally prompted to turn over the page
+of revelation with solicitude, in order to discover the qualities and
+character of our Judge, and the probable principles of his
+determination; but this only serves to turn painful apprehension into
+fixed and certain terror.--First of the qualities of our Judge. As all
+nature bears witness to his irresistible power, so we read in Scripture
+that nothing can escape his observation, or elude his discovery; not our
+actions only, but our most secret cogitations are open to his view. "He
+is about our path and about our bed, and spieth out all our ways[9]."
+"The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations
+of the thoughts[10]."--"And he will bring to light the hidden things of
+darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart."
+
+Now, hear his description and character and the rule of his award: "The
+Lord our God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."--"He is of purer
+eyes than to behold iniquity."--"The soul that sinneth, it shall
+die."--"The wages of sin is death." These positive declarations are
+enforced by the accounts which, for our warning, we read in sacred
+history, of the terrible vengeance of the Almighty: His punishment "the
+angels who kept not their first estate, and whom he hath reserved in
+everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day:"
+The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah; the sentence issued against the
+idolatrous nations of Canaan, and of which the execution was assigned to
+the Israelites, by the express command of God, at their own peril in
+case of disobedience: The ruin of Babylon, and of Tyre, and of Nineveh,
+and of Jerusalem, prophetically denounced as the punishment of their
+crimes, and taking place in an exact and terrible accordance with the
+divine predictions. These are indeed matter of awful perusal, sufficient
+surely to confound the fallacious confidence of any who, on the ground
+that our Creator must be aware of our natural weakness, and must be of
+course disposed to allow for it, should alledge that, though unable
+indeed to justify ourselves in the sight of God, we need not give way to
+such gloomy apprehensions, but might throw ourselves, with assured hope,
+on the infinite benevolence of the Supreme Being. It is indeed true,
+that with the threatenings of the word of God, there are mixed many
+gracious declarations of pardon, on repentance, and thorough amendment.
+But, alas! which of us is there, whose conscience must not reproach him
+with having trifled with the long-suffering of God, and with having but
+ill kept the resolutions of amendment, which he had some time or other
+formed in the seasons of recollection and remorse?--And how is the
+disquietude naturally excited by such a retrospect, confirmed and
+heightened by passages like these? "Because I have called, and ye
+refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have
+set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will
+laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh: when your
+fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;
+when distress and anguish cometh upon you: then shall they call upon me,
+but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find
+me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not chuse the fear of the
+Lord[11]." The apprehensions, which must be excited by thus reading the
+recorded judgments and awful language of Scripture, are confirmed to the
+inquisitive and attentive mind, by a close observation of the moral
+constitution of the world. Such a one will find occasion to remark, that
+all, which has been suggested of the final consequences of vice, is in
+strict analogy to what we may observe in the ordinary course of human
+affairs, wherein it will appear, on a careful survey, that God has so
+assigned to things their general tendencies, and established such an
+order of causes and effects, as (however interrupted here below by
+hindrances and obstructions apparently of a temporary nature) loudly
+proclaim the principles of his moral government, and strongly suggest,
+that vice and imprudence will finally terminate in misery[12]. Not that
+this species of proof was wanted; for that which we must acknowledge, on
+weighing the evidence, to be a revelation from God, requires not the aid
+of such a confirmation: but yet, as this accordance might be expected
+between the words and the works, the past and the future ordinations of
+the same Almighty Being, it is no idle speculation to remark, that the
+visible constitution of things in the world around us, falls in with the
+representations here given from Scripture of the dreadful consequences
+of vice, nay even of what is commonly termed inconsiderateness and
+imprudence.
+
+If such then be indeed our sad condition, what is to be done? Is there
+no hope? Nothing left for us, "but a fearful looking for of judgment,
+and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries[13]?" Blessed
+be God! we are not shut up irrecoverably in this sad condition: "Turn
+you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope;" hear one who proclaims
+his designation, "to heal the broken-hearted, to preach liberty to the
+captives, and recovering of sight to the blind." They who have formed a
+true notion of their lost and helpless state, will most gladly listen to
+the sound, and most justly estimate the value of such a deliverance. And
+this is the cause, which renders it of such pressing moment not to pass
+cursorily over those important topics of the original and superinduced
+corruption, and weakness of man; a discussion painful and humiliating
+to the pride of human nature, to which the mind lends itself with
+difficulty, and hearkens with a mixture of anger and disgust; but well
+suited to our case, and like the distasteful lessons of adversity,
+permanently useful in its consequences. It is here, never let it be
+forgotten, that our foundation must be laid; otherwise our
+superstructure, whatever we may think of it, will one day or other prove
+tottering and insecure. This is therefore no metaphysical speculation,
+but a practical matter: Slight and superficial conceptions of our state
+of natural degradation, and of our insufficiency to recover from it of
+ourselves, fall in too well with our natural inconsiderateness, and
+produce that fatal insensibility to the divine warning to "flee from the
+wrath to come," which we cannot but observe to prevail so generally.
+Having no due sense of the malignity of our disease, and of its dreadful
+issue, we do not set ourselves to work in earnest to obtain the remedy,
+as to a business arduous indeed, but indispensable: for it must ever be
+carefully remembered, that this deliverance is not _forced on us_, but
+_offered to us_; we are furnished indeed with every help, and are always
+to bear in mind, that we are unable of ourselves to will or to do
+rightly; but we are plainly admonished to "work out our own salvation
+with fear and trembling[14]."--Watchful, for we are encompassed with
+dangers; "putting on the whole armour of God," for "we are beset with
+enemies."
+
+May we be enabled to shake off that lethargy which is so apt to creep
+upon us! For this end, a deep practical conviction of our natural
+depravity and weakness will be found of eminent advantage. As it is by
+this we must at first be rouzed from our fallacious security, so by this
+we must be kept wakeful and active unto the end. Let us therefore make
+it our business to have this doctrine firmly seated in our
+understandings, and radically worked into our hearts. With a view to the
+former of these objects, we should often seriously and attentively
+consider the firm grounds on which it rests. It is plainly made known to
+us by the light of nature, and irresistibly enforced on us by the
+dictates of our unassisted understandings. But lest there should be any
+so obstinately dull, as not to discern the force of the evidence
+suggested to our reason, and confirmed by all experience, or rather so
+heedless as not to notice it, the authoritative stamp of Revelation is
+superadded, as we have seen, to complete the proof; and we must
+therefore be altogether inexcusable, if we still remain unconvinced by
+such accumulated mass of argument.
+
+But we must not only _assent_ to the doctrine clearly, but _feel_ it
+strongly. To this end, let the power of habit be called in to our aid.
+Let us accustom ourselves to refer to our natural depravity, as to their
+primary cause, the sad instances of vice and folly of which we read, or
+which we see around us, or to which we feel the propensities in our own
+bosoms; ever vigilant and distrustful of ourselves, and looking with an
+eye of kindness and pity on the faults and infirmities of others, whom
+we should learn to regard with the same tender concern as that with
+which the sick are used to sympathize with those who are suffering under
+the same distemper as themselves. This lesson once well acquired, we
+shall feel the benefit of it in all our future progress; and though it
+be a lesson which we are slow to learn, it is one in which study and
+experience, the incidents of every day, and every fresh observation of
+the workings of our own hearts, will gradually concur to perfect us. Let
+it not, after all then, be our reproach, and at length our ruin, that
+these abundant means of instruction are possessed in vain.
+
+
+SECTION III.
+
+_Corruption of Human Nature.--Objection._
+
+But there is one difficulty still behind, more formidable than all the
+rest. The pride of man is loth to be humbled. Forced to abandon the plea
+of innocence, and pressed so closely that he can no longer escape from
+the conclusion to which we would drive him, some more bold objector
+faces about and stands at bay, endeavouring to justify what he cannot
+deny, "Whatever I am," he contends, "I am what my Creator made me. I
+inherited a nature, you yourself confess, depraved, and prone to evil:
+how then can I withstand the temptations to sin by which I am environed?
+If this plea cannot establish my innocence, it must excuse or at least
+extenuate my guilt. Frail and weak as I am, a Being of infinite justice
+and goodness will never try me by a rule, which however equitable in the
+case of creatures of a higher nature, is altogether disproportionate to
+mine."
+
+Let not my readers be alarmed! The writer is not going to enter into the
+discussion of the grand question concerning the origin of moral evil,
+or to attempt at large to reconcile its existence and consequent
+punishment with the acknowledged attributes and perfections of God.
+These are questions, of which, if one may judge from the little success
+with which the acutest and profoundest reasoners have been ever
+labouring to solve the difficulties they contain, the full and clear
+comprehension is above the intellect of man. Yet, as such an objection
+as that which has been stated is sometimes heard from the mouths of
+professed Christians, it must not be passed by without a few short
+observations.
+
+Were the language in question to be addressed to us by an avowed
+sceptic, though it might not be very difficult to expose to him the
+futility of _his_ reasonings, we should almost despair of satisfying him
+of the soundness of our own. We should perhaps suggest impossibilities,
+which might stand in the way of such a system as he would establish: we
+might indeed point out wherein (arguing from concessions which he would
+freely make) his pre-conceptions concerning the conduct of the Supreme
+Being, had been in fact already contradicted, particularly by the
+existence at all of natural or moral evil: and if thus proved erroneous
+in one instance, why might they not be so likewise in another? But
+though by these and similar arguments we might at length silence our
+objector, we could not much expect to bring him over to our opinions. We
+should probably do better, if we were to endeavour rather to draw him
+off from these dark and slippery regions, (slippery in truth they are to
+every human foot) and to contend with him, where we might tread with
+firmness and freedom, on sure ground, and in the light of day. Then we
+might fairly lay before him all the various arguments for the truth of
+our holy religion; arguments which have been sufficient to satisfy the
+wisest, and the best, and the ablest of men. We should afterwards
+perhaps insist on the abundant confirmation Christianity receives from
+its being exactly suited to the nature and wants of man; and we might
+conclude, with fairly putting it to him, whether all this weight of
+evidence were to be overbalanced by this one difficulty, on a subject so
+confessedly high and mysterious, considering too that he must allow, we
+see but a part (O how small a part!) of the universal creation of God,
+and that our faculties are wholly incompetent to judge of the schemes of
+his infinite wisdom. This, if the writer may be permitted to offer his
+own judgment, is (at least in general) the best mode, in the case of the
+objection now in question, of dealing with unbelievers; and to adopt the
+contrary plan, seems somewhat like that of any one, who having to
+convince some untutored Indian of the truth of the Copernican system,
+instead of beginning with plain and simple propositions, and leading him
+on to what is more abstruse and remote, should state to him at the
+outset some astonishing problems, to which the understanding can only
+yield its slow assent, when constrained by the decisive force of
+demonstration. The novice, instead of lending himself to such a mistaken
+method of instruction, would turn away in disgust, and be only hardened
+against his preceptor. But it must be remembered, that the present work
+is addressed to those who acknowledge the authority of the holy
+Scriptures. And in order to convince all such that there is somewhere or
+other, a fallacy in our objector's reasoning, it will be sufficient to
+establish that though the word of God clearly asserts the justice and
+goodness of the Supreme Being, and also the natural depravity of man,
+yet it no less clearly lays down that this natural depravity shall never
+be admitted as an excuse for sin, but that "they which have done evil,
+shall rise to the resurrection of damnation[15]."--"That the wicked
+shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God." And it
+is worthy of remark, that, as if for the very purpose of more
+effectually silencing those unbelieving doubts which are ever springing
+up in the human heart, our blessed Saviour, though the messenger of
+peace and good will to man, has again and again repeated these awful
+denunciations.
+
+Nor (it must also be remarked) are the holy Scriptures less clear and
+full in guarding us against supposing our sins, or the dreadful
+consequences of them, to be chargeable on God.--"Let no man say when he
+is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil,
+neither tempteth he any man[16]:" "The Lord is not willing that any
+should perish[17]." And again, where the idea is repelled as injurious
+to his character,--"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should
+die? saith the Lord God; and not that he should return from his ways,
+and live[18]?" "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,
+saith the Lord God[19]." Indeed almost every page of the word of God
+contains some warning or invitation to sinners; and all these, to a
+considerate mind, must unquestionably be proofs of our present position.
+
+It has been the more necessary not to leave unnoticed the objection
+which we have been now refuting, because, where not admitted to such an
+unqualified extent as altogether to take away the moral responsibility
+of man, and when not avowed in the daring language in which it has been
+above stated; if may frequently be observed to exist in an inferior
+degree: and often, when not distinctly formed into shape, it lurks in
+secret, diffusing a general cloud of doubt or unbelief, or lowering our
+standard of right, or whispering fallacious comfort, and producing a
+ruinous tranquillity. Not to anticipate what will more properly come
+under discussion, when we consider the nature and strictness of
+practical Christianity; let us here, however, remark, that though the
+holy Scriptures so clearly state the natural corruption and weakness of
+man, yet they never, in the most minute degree, countenance, but
+throughout directly oppose, the supposition to which we are often too
+forward to listen, that this corruption and weakness will be admitted as
+lowering the demands of divine justice, and in some sort palliating our
+transgressions of the laws of God. It would not be difficult to shew
+that such a notion is at war with the whole scheme of redemption by the
+atonement of Christ. But perhaps it may be enough when any such
+suggestions as those which we are condemning force themselves into the
+imagination of a Christian, to recommend it to him to silence them by
+what is their best practical answer: that if our natural condition be
+depraved and weak, our temptations numerous, and our Almighty Judge
+infinitely holy; yet that the offers to penitent sinners of pardon and
+grace, and strength, are universal and unlimited. Let it not however
+surprise us, if in all this there seem to be involved difficulties which
+we cannot fully comprehend. How many such every where present
+themselves! Scarcely is there an object around us, that does not afford
+endless matter of doubt and argument. The meanest reptile which crawls
+on the earth, nay, every herb and flower which we behold, baffles the
+imbecility of our limited inquiries. All nature calls upon us to be
+humble. Can it then be surprising if we are at a loss on this question,
+which respects, not the properties of matter, or of numbers, but the
+counsels and ways of him whose "Understanding is infinite[20]," "whose
+judgments are declared to be unsearchable, and his ways past finding
+out[21]?" In this our ignorance however, we may calmly repose ourselves
+on his own declaration, "That though clouds and darkness are round about
+him, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his
+throne[22]." Let it also be remembered, that if in Christianity some
+things are difficult, that which it most concerns us to know, is plain
+and obvious. To this it is true wisdom to attach ourselves, assenting to
+what is revealed where above our faculties, we do not say contradictory
+to them, on the credit of what is clearly discerned, and satisfactorily
+established. In truth, we are all perhaps too apt to plunge into depths,
+which it is beyond our power to fathom; and it was to warn us against
+this very error, that the inspired writer, when he has been threatening
+the people, whom God had selected as the objects of his special favour,
+with the most dreadful punishments, if they should forsake the law of
+the Lord, and has introduced surrounding nations as asking the meaning
+of the severe infliction, winds up the whole with this instructive
+admonition; "Secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those which
+are revealed belong unto us, and to our children for ever, that we may
+_do_ all the words of this law[23]."
+
+To any one who is seriously impressed with a sense of the critical state
+in which we are here placed, a short and uncertain space in which to
+make our peace with God, and then the last judgment, and an eternity of
+unspeakable happiness or misery, it is indeed an awful and an affecting
+spectacle, to see men thus busying themselves in these vain speculations
+of an arrogant curiosity, and trifling with their dearest, their
+everlasting interests. It is but a feeble illustration of this exquisite
+folly, to compare it to the conduct of some convicted rebel, who, when
+brought into the presence of his Sovereign, instead of seizing the
+occasion to sue for mercy, should even neglect and trifle with the
+pardon which should be offered to him, and insolently employ himself in
+prying into his Sovereign's designs, and criticising his counsels. Our
+case indeed is, in another point of comparison, but too much like that
+of the convicted rebel. But there is this grand difference--that at the
+best, his success must be uncertain, ours, if it be not our own fault,
+is sure; and while, on the one hand, our guilt is unspeakably greater
+than that of any rebel against an earthly monarch; so, on the other, we
+know that our Sovereign is "Long-suffering, and easy to be intreated;"
+more ready to grant, than we to ask, forgiveness. Well then may we adopt
+the language of the poet:
+
+    What better can we do, than - - - prostrate fall
+    Before him reverent; and there confess
+    Humbly our faults, and pardon beg; with tears
+    Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air
+    Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign
+    Of sorrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+_Chief defects of the Religious System of the bulk of professed
+Christians, in what regards our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy
+Spirit--with a Dissertation concerning the use of the Passions in
+Religion._
+
+
+SECT. I
+
+SCRIPTURE DOCTRINES.
+
+That "God so loved the world, as of his tender mercy to give his only
+Son Jesus Christ for our redemption:"
+
+That our blessed Lord willingly left the glory of the Father, and was
+made man;
+
+That "he was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and
+acquainted with grief:"
+
+That "he was wounded for our transgressions; that he was bruised for our
+iniquities:"
+
+That "the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all:"
+
+That at length "he humbled himself even to the death of the Cross, for
+us miserable sinners; to the end that all who with hearty repentance and
+true faith, should come to him, might not perish, but have everlasting
+life:"
+
+That he "is now at the right hand of God, making intercession" for his
+people:
+
+That "being reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we may come
+boldly unto the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help
+in time of need:"
+
+That our Heavenly Father "will surely give his Holy Spirit to them that
+ask him:"
+
+That "the Spirit of God must dwell in us;" and that "if any man have not
+the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his:"
+
+That by this divine influence "we are to be renewed in knowledge after
+the image of him who created us," and "to be filled with the fruits of
+righteousness, to the praise of the glory of his grace;"--that "being
+thus made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light," we shall
+sleep in the Lord; and that when the last trumpet shall sound, this
+corruption shall put on incorruption--and that being at length perfected
+after his likeness, we shall be admitted into his heavenly kingdom.
+
+These are the leading Doctrines concerning our Saviour, and the Holy
+Spirit, which are taught in the Holy Scriptures, and held by the Church
+of England. The truth of them, agreeably to our general plan, will be
+taken for granted. Few of those, who have been used to join in the
+established form of worship, can have been, it is hoped, so inattentive,
+as to be ignorant of these grand truths, which are to be found every
+where dispersed throughout our excellent Liturgy. Would to God it could
+be presumed, with equal confidence, that all who assent to them in
+terms, discern their force and excellency in the understanding, and feel
+their power in the affections, and their transforming influence in the
+heart. What lively emotions are they calculated to excite in us of deep
+self-abasement, and abhorrence of our sins; and of humble hope, and firm
+faith, and heavenly joy, and ardent love, and active unceasing
+gratitude!
+
+But here, it is to be feared, will be found the grand defect of the
+religion of the bulk of professed Christians; a defect, like the palsy
+at the heart, which, while in its first attack, it changes but little
+the exterior appearance of the body, extinguishes the internal principle
+of heat and motion, and soon extends its benumbing influence to the
+remotest fibres of the frame. This defect is closely connected with that
+which was the chief subject of the last chapter: "they that are whole
+need not a physician, but they that are sick." Had we duly felt the
+burthen of our sins, that they are a load which our own strength is
+wholly unable to support, and that the weight of them must finally sink
+us into perdition, our hearts would have danced at the sound of the
+gracious invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
+laden, and I will give you rest[24]." But in those who have scarcely
+felt their sins as any incumbrance, it would be mere affectation to
+pretend to very exalted conceptions of the value and acceptableness of
+the proffered deliverance. This pretence accordingly, is seldom now kept
+up; and the most superficial observer, comparing the sentiments and
+views of the bulk of the Christian world, with the articles still
+retained in their creed, and with the strong language of Scripture, must
+be struck with the amazing disproportion.
+
+To pass over the throng from whose minds Religion is altogether excluded
+by the business or the vanities of life, how is it with the more decent
+and moral? To what criterion shall we appeal? Are their hearts really
+filled with these things, and warmed by the love which they are adapted
+to inspire? Then surely their minds are apt to stray to them almost
+unseasonably; or at least to hasten back to them with eagerness, when
+escaped from the estrangment imposed by the necessary cares and business
+of life. He was a masterly describer of human nature, who thus
+pourtrayed the characters of an undissembled affection;
+
+    "Unstaid and fickle in all other things,
+    Save in the constant image of the object,
+    That is beloved."
+
+"And how," it may be perhaps replied, "do you know, but that the minds
+of these people are thus occupied? Can you look into the bosoms of men?"
+Let us appeal to a test to which we resorted in a former instance. "Out
+of the abundance of the heart," it has been pronounced, "the mouth
+speaketh."--Take these persons then in some well selected hour, and lead
+the conversation to the subject of Religion. The utmost which can be
+effected is, to bring them to talk of things in the gross. They appear
+lost in generalities; there is nothing precise and determinate, nothing
+which implies a mind used to the contemplation of its object. In vain
+you strive to bring them to speak on that topic, which one might expect
+to be ever uppermost in the hearts of redeemed sinners. They elude all
+your endeavours; and if you make mention of it yourself, it is received
+with no very cordial welcome at least, if not with unequivocal disgust;
+it is at the best a forced and formal discussion. The excellence of our
+Saviour's moral precepts, the kindness and simplicity, and self-denial
+and unblemished purity of his life, his patience and meekness in the
+hour of death, cannot indeed be spoken of but with admiration, when
+spoken of at all, as they have often extorted unwilling praise from the
+most daring and malignant infidels. But are not these mentioned as
+qualities in the abstract, rather than as the perfections and lineaments
+of our patron and benefactor and friend, "who loved us, and gave himself
+for us;" of him "who died for _our_ offences, and rose again for _our_
+justification;" who is even now at the "right hand of God, making
+intercession for _us_?" Who would think that the kindness and humanity,
+and self-denial, and patience in suffering, which we so drily commend,
+had been exerted towards _ourselves_, in acts of more than finite
+benevolence of which _we_ were to derive the benefit, in condescensions
+and labours submitted to for _our_ sakes, in pain and ignominy, endured
+for _our_ deliverance?
+
+But these grand truths are not suffered to vanish altogether from our
+remembrance. Thanks to the compilers of our Liturgy, more than to too
+many of the occupiers of our pulpits, they are forced upon our notice in
+their just bearings and connections, as often as we attend the service
+of the church. Yet is it too much to affirm, that though there
+entertained with decorum, as what belong to the day and place, and
+occupation, they are yet too generally heard of with little interest;
+like the legendary tales of some venerable historian, or other
+transactions of great antiquity, if not of doubtful credit, which,
+though important to our ancestors, relate to times and circumstances so
+different from our own, that we cannot be expected to take any great
+concern in them? We hear of them therefore with apparent indifference;
+we repeat them almost as it were by rote, assuming by turns the language
+of the deepest humiliation and of the warmest thankfulness, with a calm
+unaltered composure; and when the service of the day is ended, they are
+dismissed altogether from our thoughts, till on the return of another
+Sunday, a fresh attendance on public worship gives occasion for the
+renewed expressions of our periodical gratitude. In noticing such
+lukewarmness as this, surely the writer were to be pardoned, if he were
+to be betrayed into some warmth of condemnation. The Unitarian and
+Socinian indeed, who deny, or explain away the peculiar doctrines of the
+Gospel, may be allowed to feel, and talk of these grand truths with
+little emotion. But in those who profess a sincere belief in them, this
+coldness is insupportable. The greatest possible services of man to man
+must appear contemptible, when compared with "the unspeakable mercies of
+Christ:" mercies so dearly bought, so freely bestowed--A deliverance
+from eternal misery--The gift of "a crown of glory, that fadeth not
+away." Yet, what judgment should we form of such conduct, as is here
+censured, in the case of any one who had received some signal services
+from a fellow creature? True love is an ardent, and an active
+principle--a cold, a dormant, a phlegmatic gratitude, are contractions
+in terms. When these generous affections really exist in vigour, are we
+not ever fond of dwelling on the value, and enumerating the merits of
+our benefactor? How are we moved when any thing is asserted to his
+disparagement! How do we delight to tell of his kindness! With what
+pious care do we preserve any memorial of him, which we may happen to
+possess? How gladly do we seize any opportunity of rendering to him, or
+to those who are dear to him, any little good offices, which, though in
+themselves of small intrinsic worth, may testify the sincerity of our
+thankfulness! The very mention of his name will cheer the heart, and
+light up the countenance! And if he be now no more, and if he had made
+it his dying request that, in a way of his own appointment, we would
+occasionally meet to keep the memory of his person, and of his services
+in lively exercise; how should we resent the idea of failing in the
+performance of so sacred an obligation!
+
+Such are the genuine characters, such the natural workings of a lively
+gratitude. And we believe, without doing violence to the most
+established principles of human nature, that where the _effects_ are so
+different, the _internal principle_ is in truth the same?
+
+If the love of Christ be thus languid in the bulk of nominal Christians,
+their joy and trust in him cannot be expected to be very vigorous. Here
+again we find reason to remark, that there is nothing distinct, nothing
+specific, nothing which implies a mind acquainted with the nature, and
+familiarized with the use of the Christian's privileges, habitually
+solacing itself with the hopes held out by the Gospel, and animated by
+the sense of its high relations, and its glorious reversion.
+
+The doctrine of the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, appears
+to have met with still worse treatment. It would be to convey a very
+inadequate idea of the scantiness of the conceptions on this head, of
+the bulk of the Christian world, to affirm merely, that they are too
+little conscious of the inefficacy of their own unassisted endeavours
+after holiness of heart and life, and that they are not daily employed
+in humbly and diligently using the appointed means for the reception and
+cultivation of the divine assistance. It would hardly be to go beyond
+the truth to assert, that for the most part their notions on this
+subject are so confused and faint, that they can scarcely be said in any
+fair sense to believe the doctrine at all.
+
+The writer of these sheets is by no means unapprized of the objections
+which he may expect from those, whose opinions he has been so freely
+condemning. He is prepared to hear it urged, that often where there have
+been the strongest pretences to the religious affections, of which the
+want has now been censured, there has been little or nothing of the
+reality of them; and that even omitting the instances (which however
+have been but too frequent) of studied hypocrisy, what have assumed to
+themselves the name of religious affections, have been merely the
+flights of a lively imagination, or the working of a heated brain; in
+particular, that this love of our Saviour, which has been so warmly
+recommended, is no better than a vain fervor, which dwells only in the
+disordered mind of the enthusiast. That Religion is of a more steady
+nature; of a more sober and manly quality; and that she rejects with
+scorn, the support of a mere feeling, so volatile and indeterminate, so
+trivial and useless, as that with which we would associate her; a
+feeling varying in different men, and even in the same man at different
+times, according to the accidental flow of the animal spirits; a
+feeling, lastly, of which it may perhaps be said, we are from our very
+nature, hardly susceptible towards an invisible Being.
+
+"As to the operations of the Holy Spirit," it may probably be further
+urged, that "it is perhaps scarcely worth while to spend much time in
+inquiring into the theory, when, in practice at least, it is manifest,
+that there is no sure criterion whereby any one can ascertain the
+reality of them, even in his own case, much less in that of another. All
+we know is, that pretenders to these extraordinary assistances, have
+never been wanting to abuse the credulity of the vulgar, and to try the
+patience of the wise. From the canting hypocrites and wild fanatics of
+the last century, to their less dangerous, chiefly because less
+successful, descendants of the present day, we hear the same unwarranted
+claims, the same idle tales, the same low cant; and we may discern not
+seldom the same mean artifices and mercenary ends. The doctrine, to say
+the best of it, can only serve to favour the indolence of man, while
+professing to furnish him with a compendious method of becoming wise and
+good, it supersedes the necessity of his own personal labours. Quitting
+therefore all these slothful and chimerical speculations, it is true
+wisdom to attach ourselves to what is more solid and practical; to the
+work which you will not yourself deny to be sufficiently difficult to
+find us of itself full employment: the work of rectifying the disorders
+of the passions, and of implanting and cultivating the virtues of the
+moral character."--"It is the service of the understanding which God
+requires of us, which you would degrade into a mere matter of bodily
+temperament, and imaginary impulses. You are contending for that which
+not only is altogether unworthy of our Divine Master, but which, with
+considerate men, has ever brought his religion into suspicion and
+disrepute, and under a shew of honouring him, serves only to injure and
+discredit his cause." Our Objector, warming as he proceeds, will perhaps
+assume a more impatient tone. "Have not these doctrines," he may
+exclaim, "been ever perverted to purposes the most disgraceful to the
+Religion of Jesus? If you want an instance, look to the standard of the
+inquisition, and behold the pious Dominicans torturing their miserable
+victims for the Love of Christ[25]. Or would you rather see the effects
+of your principles on a larger scale, and _by wholesale_ (if the phrase
+may be pardoned;) cast your eyes across the Atlantic, and let your zeal
+be edified by the holy activity of Cortez and Pizarro, and their
+apostles of the western hemisphere. To what else have been owing the
+extensive ravages of national persecutions, and religious wars and
+crusades; whereby rapacity, and pride, and cruelty, sheltering
+themselves (sometimes even from the furious bigots themselves) under the
+mask of this specious principle, have so often afflicted the world? The
+Prince of Peace has been made to assume the port of a ferocious
+conqueror, and forgetting the message of good will to men, has issued
+forth like a second Scourge of the Earth[26], to plague and desolate the
+human species."
+
+
+_Objection discussed._
+
+That the sacred name of Religion has been too often prostituted to the
+most detestable purposes; that furious bigots and bloody persecutors,
+and self-interested hypocrites of all qualities and dimensions, from the
+rapacious leader of an army, to the canting oracle of a congregation,
+have falsely called themselves Christians, are melancholy and
+humiliating truths, which (as none so deeply lament them) none will more
+readily admit, than they who best understand the nature, and are most
+concerned for the honour of Christianity. We are ready to acknowledge
+also without dispute, that the religious affections, and the doctrine of
+divine assistances, have almost at all times been more or less disgraced
+by the false pretences and extravagant conduct of wild fanatics and
+brain-sick enthusiasts. All this, however, is only as it happens in
+other instances, wherein the depravity of man perverts the bounty of
+God. Why is it here only to be made an argument, that there is danger of
+abuse? So is there also in the case of all the potent and operative
+principles, whether in the natural or moral world. Take for an instance
+the powers and properties of matter. These were doubtless designed by
+Providence for our comfort and well-being; yet they are often
+misapplied to trifling purposes, and still more frequently turned into
+so many agents of misery and death. On this fact indeed is founded the
+well-known maxim, not more trite than just, that "the best things when
+corrupted become the worst;" a maxim which is especially just in the
+instance of Religion. For in this case it is not merely, as in some
+others, that a great power, when mischievously applied, must be hurtful
+in proportion to its strength; but that the very principle on which in
+general we depend for restraining and retarding the progress of evil,
+not only ceases to interpose any kindly check, but is actively operative
+in the opposite direction. But will you therefore discard Religion
+altogether? The experiment was lately tried in a neighbouring country,
+and professedly on this very ground. The effects however with which it
+was attended, do not much encourage its repetition. But suppose Religion
+were discarded, then Liberty remains to plague the world; a power which
+though when well employed, the dispenser of light and happiness, has
+been often proved, and eminently in this very instance, to be capable
+when abused, of becoming infinitely mischievous. Well then, extinguish
+Liberty. Then what more abused by false pretenders, than Patriotism?
+Well, extinguish Patriotism. But then the wicked career to which we have
+adverted, must have been checked but for Courage. Blot out Courage--and
+so might you proceed to extinguish one by one, Reason, and Speech, and
+Memory, and all the discriminating prerogatives of man. But perhaps more
+than enough has been already urged in reply to an objection, which
+bottoms on ground so indefensible, as that which would equally warrant
+our condemning any physical or moral faculty altogether, on account of
+its being occasionally abused.
+
+As to the position of our Opponent, that there is no way whereby the
+validity of any pretensions to the religious affections may be
+ascertained; it must partly be admitted. Doubtless we are not able
+always to read the hearts of men, and to discover their real characters;
+and hence it is, that we in some measure lie open to the false and
+hypocritical pretences which are brought forward against us so
+triumphantly. But then these pretences no more prove all similar claims
+to be founded in falsehood and hypocrisy, than there having been many
+false and interested pretenders to wisdom and honesty, would prove that
+there can be no such thing as a wise or an honest man. We do not argue
+thus but where our reason is under a corrupt bias. Why should we be so
+much surprised and scandalized, when these importers are detected in the
+church of Christ? It is no more than our blessed Master himself taught
+us to expect; and when the old difficulty is stated, "didst thou not sow
+good seed in thy field, whence then hath it tares?" his own answer
+furnishes the best solution,--"an enemy hath done this."--Hypocrisy is
+indeed _detestable_, and enthusiasm sufficiently mischievous to justify
+our guarding against its approaches with jealous care. Yet it may not be
+improper to take this occasion for observing, that we are now and then
+apt to draw too unfavourable conclusions from unpleasant appearances,
+which may perhaps be chiefly or altogether owing to gross or confused
+conceptions, or to a disgusting formality of demeanor, or to
+indeterminate, low, or improperly familiar expressions. The mode and
+language, in which a vulgar man will express himself on the subject of
+Religion, will probably be vulgar, and it is difficult for people of
+literature and refinement not to be unreasonably shocked by such
+vulgarities. But we should at least endeavour to correct the rash
+judgments which we may be disposed to form on these occasions, and
+should learn to recognize and to prize a sound texture and just
+configuration, though disguised beneath a homely or uncouth drapery. It
+was an Apostle who declared that he had come (to the learned and
+accomplished Grecians too) "not with excellency of speech, or the wisdom
+of words." From these he had studiously abstained, lest he should have
+seemed to owe his success rather to the graces of oratory, than to the
+efficacy of his doctrines, and to the divine power with which they were
+accompanied. Even in our own times, when, the extraordinary operations
+and miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit having ceased, the necessity of
+study and preparation, and of attention to manner as well as matter, in
+order to qualify men to become teachers of religion, are no longer
+superseded, yet it is no more than an act of justice explicitly to
+remark, that a body of Christians, which from the peculiarly offensive
+grossnesses of language in use among them, had, not without reason,
+excited suspicions of the very worst nature, have since reclaimed their
+character[27], and have perhaps excelled all mankind in solid and
+unequivocal proofs of the love of Christ, and of the most ardent, and
+active, and patient zeal in his service. It is a zeal tempered with
+prudence, softened with meekness, soberly aiming at great ends by the
+gradual operation of well adapted means, supported by a courage which no
+danger can intimidate, and a quiet constancy which no hardships can
+exhaust.
+
+
+SECT. II.
+
+_On the Admission of the Passions into Religion._
+
+The objection of our Opponent, that by insisting on the obligation of
+making our blessed Saviour the object of our religious affections, we
+are degrading the worship of the understanding, and are substituting and
+raising up a set of mere feelings in its stead, is one which deserves
+our most serious consideration. If it be just, it is decisive; for ours
+must be unquestionably "a reasonable service[28]." The Objector must
+mean, either, that these affections are unreasonable in themselves, or
+that they are misplaced in religion. He can scarcely however intend that
+the affections are in their own nature unreasonable. To suppose him to
+maintain this position, were to suppose him ignorant of what every
+schoolboy knows of the mechanism of the human mind. We shall therefore
+take it for granted, that this cannot be his meaning, and proceed to
+examine the latter part of the alternative. Here also it may either be
+intended, that the affections are misplaced in Religion, _generally_, or
+that our blessed Saviour is not the proper object of them. The strain of
+our Objector's language, no less than the objections themselves which
+he has urged, render it evident that (perhaps without excluding the
+latter position) the former is in full possession of his mind.
+
+This notion of the affections being out of place in Religion, is indeed
+an opinion which appears to be generally prevalent. The affections are
+regarded as the strong-holds of enthusiasm. It is therefore judged most
+expedient to act, as prudent generals are used to do, when they raze the
+fortress, or spike up the cannon, which are likely to fall into the
+hands of an enemy. Mankind are apt to be the dupes of misapplied terms;
+and the progress of the persuasion now in question, has been
+considerably aided by an abuse of language, not sufficiently checked in
+its first advances, whereby that species of Religion which is opposite
+to the warm and affectionate kind, has been suffered almost without
+disturbance, to usurp to itself the epithet of _rational_. But let not
+this claim be too hastily admitted. Let the position in question be
+thoroughly and impartially discussed, and it will appear, if I mistake
+not, to be a gross and pernicious error. If amputation be indeed
+indispensable, we must submit to it; but we may surely expect to be
+heard with patience, or rather with favour and indulgence, while we
+proceed to shew that there is no need to have recourse to so desperate
+an enemy. The discussion will necessarily draw us into length. But our
+prolixity will not be greater than may well be claimed by the importance
+of the subject, especially as it scarcely seems to have hitherto
+sufficiently engaged the attention of writers on the subject of
+Religion.
+
+It cannot methinks but afford a considerable presumption against the
+doctrine which we are about to combat, that it proposes to exclude at
+once from the service of Religion so grand a part of the composition of
+man; that in this our noblest employment it condemns as worse than
+useless, all the most active and operative principles of our nature. One
+cannot but suppose that like the organs of the body, so the elementary
+qualities and original passions of the mind were all given us for
+valuable purposes by our all-wise Creator. It is indeed one of the sad
+evidences of our fallen condition, that they are now perpetually
+tumultuating and rebelling against the powers of reason and conscience,
+to which they should be subject. But even if Revelation had been silent,
+natural reason might have in some degree presumed, that it would be the
+effect of a Religion which should come from God, completely to repair
+the consequences of our superinduced depravity. The schemes of mere
+human wisdom had indeed tacitly confessed, that this was a task beyond
+their strength. Of the two most celebrated systems of philosophy, the
+one expressly confirmed the usurpation of the passions, while the other,
+despairing of being able to regulate, saw nothing left but to extinguish
+them. The former acted like a weak government, which gives independence
+to a rebellious province, which it cannot reduce. The latter formed its
+boasted scheme merely upon the plan of that barbarous policy, which
+composes the troubles of a turbulent land by the extermination of its
+inhabitants. This is the calm, not of order, but of inaction; it is not
+tranquillity, but the stillness of death;
+
+    Trucidare falso nomine imperium, & ubi solitudinem faciunt,
+    pacem appellant--
+
+Christianity, we might hope, would not be driven to any such wretched
+expedients; nor in fact does she condescend to them. They only thus
+undervalue her strength, who mistake her character, and are ignorant of
+her powers. It is her peculiar glory, and her main office, to bring all
+the faculties of our nature into their just subordination and
+dependence; that so the whole man, complete in all his functions, may be
+restored to the true ends of his being, and be devoted, entire and
+harmonious, to the service and glory of God. "My son, give me thine
+_heart_"--"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy _heart_:"--Such
+are the direct and comprehensive claims which are made on us in the holy
+Scriptures. We can scarcely indeed look into any part of the sacred
+volume without meeting abundant proofs, that it is the religion of the
+Affections which God particularly requires. Love, Zeal, Gratitude, Joy,
+Hope, Trust, are each of them specified; and are not allowed to us as
+weaknesses, but enjoined on us as our bounden duty, and commended to us
+as our acceptable worship. Where passages are so numerous, there would
+be no end of particular citations. Let it be sufficient therefore, to
+refer the reader to the word of God. There let him observe too, that as
+the lively exercise of the passions towards their legitimate object, is
+always spoken of with praise, so a cold, hard, unfeeling heart is
+represented as highly criminal. Lukewarmness is stated to be the object
+of God's disgust and aversion; zeal and love, of his favour and delight;
+and the taking away of the heart of stone and the implanting of a warmer
+and more tender nature in its stead, is specifically promised as the
+effect of his returning favour, and the work of his renewing grace. It
+is the prayer of an inspired teacher, in behalf of those for whom he was
+most interested, "that their love" (already acknowledged to be great)
+"might abound yet more and more:" Those modes of worship are set forth
+and prescribed, which are best calculated to excite the dormant
+affections, and to maintain them in lively exercise; and the aids of
+music and singing are expressly superadded to increase their effect. If
+we look to the most eminent of the Scripture Characters, we shall find
+them warm, zealous, and affectionate. When engaged in their favourite
+work of celebrating the goodness of their Supreme Benefactor, their
+souls appear to burn within them, their hearts kindle into rapture; the
+powers of language are inadequate to the expression of their transports;
+and they call on all nature to swell the chorus, and to unite with them
+in hallelujahs of gratitude, and joy, and praise. The man after God's
+own heart most of all abounds in these glowing effusions; and his
+compositions appear to have been given us in order to set the tone, as
+it were, to all succeeding generations. Accordingly (to quote the words
+of a late excellent prelate[29], who was himself warmed with the same
+heavenly flame) "in the language of this divine book, the praises of the
+church have been offered up to the Throne of Grace from age to age."
+Again, when it pleased God to check the future apostle of the Gentiles
+in his wild career, and to make him a monument of transforming grace;
+was the force of his affections diminished, or was it not only that
+their direction was changed? He brought his affections entire and
+unabated into the service of his blessed Master. His zeal now burned
+even with an increase of brightness; and no intenseness, no continuance
+of suffering could allay its ardor, or damp the fervors of his
+triumphant exultations. Finally--The worship and service of the
+glorified spirits in Heaven, is not represented to us a cold
+intellectual investigation, but as the worship and service of gratitude
+and love. And surely it will not be disputed, that it should be even
+here the humble endeavour of those, who are promised while on earth "to
+be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light,"
+to bring their hearts into a capacity for joining in those everlasting
+praises.
+
+BUT it may not be unadvisable for the writer here to guard against a
+mistaken supposition, from which the mind of our Objector by no means
+appears exempt, that the force of the religious affections is to be
+mainly estimated (I had almost said by the thermometer) by the degree of
+mere animal fervor, by ardors, and transports, and raptures, of which,
+from constitutional temperament, a person may be easily susceptible; or
+into which daily experience must convince us, that people of strong
+conceptions and of warm passions may work themselves without much
+difficulty, where their hearts are by no means truly or deeply
+interested. Every tolerable actor can attest the truth of this remark.
+These high degrees of the passions bad men may experience, good men may
+want. They may be affected; they may be genuine; but whether genuine or
+affected, they form not the true standard by which the real nature or
+strength of the religious affections is to be determined. To ascertain
+these points, we must examine, whether they appear to be grounded in
+knowledge, to have their root in strong and just conceptions of the
+great and manifold excellences of their object, or to be ignorant,
+unmeaning, or vague: whether they are natural and easy, or constrained
+and forced; wakeful and apt to fix on their great objects, delighting in
+their proper nutriment (if the expression may be allowed) the exercises
+of prayer and praise, and religious contemplation; or voluntarily
+omitting offered occasions of receiving it, looking forward to them with
+little expectation, looking back on them with little complacency, and
+being disappointed of them with little regret: by observing whether
+these religious affections are merely occasional visitants, or the
+abiding inmates of the soul: whether they have got the mastery over the
+vicious passions and propensities, with which in their origin, and
+nature, and tendency, they are at open variance; or whether if the
+victory be not yet complete, the war is at least constant, and the
+breach irreconcilable: whether they moderate and regulate all the
+inferior appetites and desires which are culpable only in their excess,
+thus striving to reign in the bosom with a settled undisputed
+predominance: by examining, whether above all they manifest themselves
+by prompting to the active discharge of the duties of life, the
+personal, and domestic, and relative, and professional, and social, and
+civil duties. Here the wideness of their range and the universality of
+their influence, will generally serve to distinguish them from those
+partial efforts of diligence and self-denial, to which mankind are
+prompted by subordinate motives. All proofs other than this deduced from
+conduct, are in some degree ambiguous. This, this only, whether we
+argue from Reason or from Scripture, is a sure infallible criterion.
+From the daily incidents of conjugal and domestic life, we learn that a
+heat of affection occasionally vehement, but superficial and transitory,
+may consist too well with a course of conduct, exhibiting incontestable
+proofs of neglect and unkindness. But the passion, which alone the Holy
+Scriptures dignify with the name of Love, is a deep, not a superficial
+feeling; a fixed and permanent, not an occasional emotion. It proves the
+validity of its title, by actions corresponding with its nature, by
+practical endeavours to gratify the wishes and to promote the interests
+of the object of affection. "If a man love me, he will keep my sayings."
+"This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." This therefore
+is the best standard by which to try the quality, or, the quality being
+ascertained, to estimate the strength of the religious affections.
+Without suffering ourselves to derive too much complacency from
+transient fervors of devotion, we should carefully and frequently prove
+ourselves by this less dubitable test; impartially examining our daily
+conduct; and often comparing our actual, with our possible services, the
+fair amount of our exertions, with our natural or acquired means and
+opportunities of usefulness.
+
+After this large explanation, the prolixity of which will we trust be
+pardoned on account of the importance of the subject, and the danger of
+mistakes both on the right hand and on the left, we are perfectly ready
+to concede to the objector, whose arguments we have so long been
+considering, that the religious affections must be expected to be more
+or less lively in different men, and in the same man at different times,
+in proportion to natural tempers, ages, situations, and habits of life.
+But, to found an objection on this ground, would be as unreasonable as
+it were altogether to deny the obligation of the precepts, which command
+us to relieve the necessities of the indigent, because the infinitely
+varying circumstances of mankind must render it impossible to specify
+beforehand the sum which each individual ought on the whole to allot to
+this purpose, or to fix in every particular instance, on any determinate
+measure, and mode of contribution. To the one case no less than to the
+other, we may apply the maxim of an eminent writer; "An honest heart is
+the best casuist." He who every where but in Religion is warm and
+animated, there only phlegmatic and cold, can hardly expect (especially
+if this coldness be not the subject of unfeigned humiliation and sorrow)
+that his plea on the ground of natural temper should be admitted; any
+more than that of a person who should urge his poverty as a
+justification of his not relieving the wants of the necessitous, at the
+very time that he should be launching out into expence without
+restraint, on occasions in which he should be really prompted by his
+inclinations. In both cases, "it is the _willing_ mind which is
+required." Where that is found "every man will be judged according to
+what he hath, and not according to what he hath not[30]."
+
+After the decisive proofs already adduced from the word of God, of the
+unreasonableness of the objection to the admission of the passions into
+Religion, all farther arguments may appear superfluous to any one who is
+disposed to bow to scriptural authority. Yet the point is of so much
+importance, and it is to be feared, so little regarded, that it may not
+be amiss to continue the discussion. The best results of our
+understanding will be shewn to fall in with what clearly appears to be
+the authoritative language of revelation; and to call in the aid of the
+affections to the service of Religion, will prove to be not only what
+sober reason may permit, as in some sort allowable; but to be that which
+she clearly and strongly dictates to our deliberate judgments, as being
+what the circumstances of our natural condition indispensably require.
+We have every one of us a work to accomplish, wherein our eternal
+interests are at stake; a work to which we are naturally indisposed. We
+live in a world abounding with objects which distract our attention and
+divert our endeavours; and a deadly enemy is ever at hand to seduce and
+beguile us. If we persevere indeed, success is certain; but our efforts
+must know no remission. There is a call on us for vigorous and continual
+resolution, self-denial, and activity. Now, man is not a being of mere
+intellect.
+
+    Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor,
+
+is a complaint which, alas! we all of us might daily utter. The
+slightest solicitation of appetite is often able to draw us to act in
+opposition to our clearest judgment, our highest interests, and most
+resolute determinations. Sickness, poverty, disgrace, and even eternal
+misery itself, sometimes in vain solicit our regards; they are all
+excluded from the view, and thrust as it were beyond the sphere of
+vision, by some poor unsubstantial transient object, so minute and
+contemptible as almost to escape the notice of the eye of reason.
+
+These observations are more strikingly confirmed in our religious
+concerns than in any other; because in them the interests at stake are
+of transcendant importance: but they hold equally in every instance
+according to its measure, wherein there is a call for laborious,
+painful, and continued exertions, from which any one is likely to be
+deterred by obstacles, or seduced by the solicitations of pleasure. What
+then it to be done in the case of any such arduous and necessary
+undertaking? The answer is obvious--You should endeavour not only to
+convince the understanding, but also to affect the heart; and for this
+end, you must secure the reinforcement of the passions. This is indeed
+the course which would be naturally followed by every man of common
+understanding, who should know that some one for whom he was deeply
+interested, a child, for instance, or a brother, were about to enter on
+a long, difficult, perilous, and critical adventure, wherein success was
+to be honour and affluence; defeat was to be contempt and ruin. And
+still more, if the parent were convinced that his child possessed
+faculties which, strenuously and unremittingly exerted, would prove
+equal to all the exigences of the enterprize, but knew him also to be
+volatile and inconstant, and had reason to doubt his resolution and his
+vigilance; how would the friendly monitor's endeavour be redoubled, so
+to possess his pupil's mind with the worth and dignity of the
+undertaking, that there should be no opening for the entrance of any
+inferior consideration!--"Weigh well (he would say) the value of the
+object for which you are about to contend, and contemplate and study its
+various excellences, till your whole soul be on fire for its
+acquisition. Consider too, that, if you fail, misery and infamy are
+united in the alternative which awaits you. Let not the mistaken notion
+of its being a safe and easy service, for a moment beguile you into the
+discontinuance or remission of your efforts. Be aware of your imminent
+danger, and at the same time know your true security. It is a service of
+labour and peril; but one wherein the powers which you possess,
+strenuously and perseveringly exerted, cannot but crown you with
+victory. Accustom yourself to look first to the dreadful consequences of
+failure; then fix your eye on the glorious prize which is before you;
+and when your strength begins to fail, and your spirits are well nigh
+exhausted, let the animating view rekindle your resolution, and call
+forth in renewed vigour the fainting energies of your soul."
+
+It was the remark of an unerring observer, "The children of this world
+are wiser in their generation than the children of light." And it is
+indisputably true, that in religion we have to argue and plead with men
+for principles of action, the wisdom and expediency of which are
+universally acknowledged in matters of worldly concern. So it is in the
+instance before us. The case which has been just described, is an exact,
+but a faint representation of our condition in this life. Frail and
+"infirm of purpose," we have a business to execute of supreme and
+indispensable necessity. Solicitations to neglect it every where abound:
+the difficulties and dangers are numerous and urgent; and the night of
+death cometh, how soon we know not, "when no man can work." All this is
+granted. It seems to be a state of things wherein one should look out
+with solicitude for some powerful stimulants. Mere knowledge is
+confessedly too weak. The affections alone remain to supply the
+deficiency. They precisely meet the occasion, and suit the purposes
+intended. Yet, when we propose to fit ourselves for our great
+undertaking, by calling them in to our help, we are to be told that we
+are acting contrary to reason. Is this reasonable, to strip us first of
+our armour of proof, and then to send us to the sharpest of encounters?
+To summon us to the severest labours, but first to rob us of the
+precious cordials which should brace our sinews and recruit our
+strength?
+
+Let these pretended advocates for reason at length then confess their
+folly, and do justice to the superior wisdom as well as goodness of our
+heavenly Instructor, who better understanding our true condition, and
+knowing our frowardness and inadvertency, has most reasonably as well as
+kindly pointed out and enjoined on us the use of those aids which may
+counteract our infirmities; who commanding the effect, has commanded
+also the means whereby it may be accomplished.
+
+And now, if the use of the affections in religion, in _general_, be at
+length shewn to be conformable to reason, it will not require many words
+to prove that our blessed Saviour is the proper object of them. We know
+that love, gratitude, joy, hope, trust, (the affections in question)
+have all their appropriate objects. Now it must be at once conceded,
+that if these appropriate objects be not exhibited, it is perfectly
+unreasonable to expect that the correspondent passions should be
+excited. If we ask for love, in the case of an object which has no
+excellence or desirableness; for gratitude, where no obligation has
+been conferred; for joy, where there is no just cause of
+self-congratulation; for hope, where nothing is expected; for trust,
+where there exists no ground of reliance; then indeed, we must kiss the
+rod, and patiently submit to correction. This would be indeed Egyptian
+bondage, to demand the effects without the means of producing them. Is
+the case then so? Are we ready to adopt the language of the avowed
+enemies of our adorable Saviour; and again to say of him "in whom
+dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," that "he hath no form
+nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
+should desire him[31]?" Is it no obligation, that he who "thought it not
+robbery to be equal with God," should yet for our sakes "make himself of
+no reputation, and take upon him the form of a servant, and be made in
+the likeness of men; and humble himself, and become obedient unto death,
+even the death of the cross[32]?" Is it no cause of "_joy_, that to us
+is born a Saviour[33]", by whom we may "be delivered from the power of
+darkness; and be made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the
+saints in light[34]?" Can there be a "_hope_ comparable to that of our
+calling[35]"--"Which is Christ in us, the hope of glory[36]?" Can there
+be a _trust_ to be preferred to the reliance on "Christ Jesus; who is
+the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever[37]?" Surely, if our Opponent
+be not dead to every generous emotion, he cannot look his own objection
+in the face, without a blush of shame and indignation.
+
+
+SECTION III.
+
+_Consideration of the Reasonableness of Affections towards an invisible
+Being._
+
+But forced at last to retreat from his favourite position, and compelled
+to acknowledge that the religious affections towards our blessed Saviour
+are not unreasonable; he still however maintains the combat, suggesting
+that by the very constitution of our nature, we are not susceptible of
+them towards an invisible Being; in whose case, it will be added, we are
+shut out from all those means of communication and intercourse, which
+knit and cement the union between man and man.
+
+We mean not to deny that there is something in this objection. It might
+even seem to plead the authority of Scripture in its favour--"He that
+loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he
+hath not seen[38]?" And it was indeed no new remark in Horace's days,
+
+    Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures,
+    Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus.
+
+We receive impressions more readily from visible objects, we feel them
+more strongly, and retain them more durably. But though it must be
+granted that this circumstance makes it a more difficult task to
+preserve the affections in question in a healthful and vigorous state;
+is it thereby rendered impossible? This were indeed a most precipitate
+conclusion; and any one who should be disposed to admit the truth of it,
+might be at least induced to hesitate, when he should reflect that the
+argument applies equally against the possibility of the love of God, a
+duty of which the most cursory reader of Scripture, if he admit its
+divine authority, cannot but acknowledge the indispensable obligation.
+But we need only look back to the Scripture proofs which have been
+lately adduced, to be convinced that the religious affections are
+therein inculcated on us, as a matter of high and serious obligation.
+Hence we may be assured that the impossibility stated by our Opponent
+does not exist.
+
+Let us scrutinize this matter, however, a little more minutely, and we
+shall be compelled to acknowledge, though the conclusion may make
+against ourselves, that the objection vanishes when we fairly and
+accurately investigate the circumstances of the case. With this view,
+let us look a little into the nature of the affections of the human
+mind, and endeavour to ascertain whence it is that they derive their
+nutriment, and are found from experience to increase in strength.
+
+The state of man is such, that his feelings are not the obedient
+servants of his reason, prompt at once to follow its dictates, as to
+their direction, and their measure. Excellence is the just object of
+love; good in expectancy, of hope; evil to be apprehended, of fear; our
+fellow creatures' misfortunes, and sufferings, constitute the just
+objects of pity. Each of these passions, it might be thought, would be
+excited, in proportion to what our reason should inform us were the
+magnitude and consequent claims of its corresponding object. But this is
+by no means the case. Take first for a proof the instance of pity. We
+read of slaughtered thousands with less emotion, than we hear the
+particulars of a shocking accident which has happened in the next
+street; the distresses of a novel, which at the same time we know to be
+fictitious, affect us more than the dry narrative of a battle. We become
+so much interested by these incidents of the imagination (aware all the
+while that they are merely such) that we cannot speedily banish them
+from our thoughts, nor recover the tone of our minds; and often, we
+scarcely bring ourselves to lay down our book at the call of real
+misfortune, of which we go perhaps to the relief, on a principle of
+duty, but with little sense of interest or emotion of tenderness. It
+were easy to shew that it is much the same in the case of the other
+affections. Whatever be the cause of this disproportion, which (as
+metaphysics fall not within our province) we shall not stop to examine,
+the fact is undeniable. There appears naturally to be a certain
+strangeness between the passion and its object, which familiarity and
+the power of habit must gradually overcome. You must contrive to bring
+them into _close contact_; they must be jointed and glued together by
+the particularities of little incidents. Thus in the production of heat
+in the physical world, the flint and the steel produce not the effect
+without collision; the rudest Barbarian will tell us the necessity of
+attrition, and the chemist of mixture. Now, an object, it is admitted,
+is brought into _closer contact_ with its corresponding passion, by
+being seen and conversed with. This we grant is one way; but does it
+follow that there is no other? To assert this, would be something like
+maintaining, in contradiction to universal experience, that objects of
+vision alone are capable of attracting our regard. But nothing can be
+more unfounded than such a supposition. It might appear to be too
+nearly approaching to the ludicrous, to suggest as an example to the
+contrary, the metaphysician's attachment to his insubstantial
+speculations, or the zeal displayed in the pursuit,
+
+    Extra flammantia moenia mundi,
+
+of abstract sciences, where there is no idea of bringing them "within
+the visible diurnal sphere" to the vulgarity of practical application.
+The instance of the novel before-mentioned, proves, that we may be
+extremely affected by what we know to be merely ideal incidents and
+beings. By much thinking or talking of any one; by using our minds to
+dwell on his excellences; by placing him in imaginary situations which
+interest and affect us; we find ourselves becoming insensibly more and
+more attached to him: whereas it is the surest expedient for
+extinguishing an attachment which already exists, to engage in such
+occupations or society, as may cause our casual thoughts and more fixed
+meditations to be diverted from the object of it. Ask a mother who has
+been long separated from her child, especially if he has been in
+circumstances of honour, or of danger, to draw her attention to him, and
+to keep it in wakefulness and exercise, and she will tell you, that so
+far from becoming less dear, he appears to have grown more the object of
+her affections. She seems to herself to love him even better than the
+child who has been living under her roof, and has been daily in her
+view. How does she rejoice in his good fortune, and weep over his
+distresses! With what impatience does she anticipate the time of his
+return!
+
+We find therefore that sight and personal intercourse do not seem
+necessary to the production or increase of attachment, where the means
+of _close contact_ have been afforded; but on the other hand, if an
+object have been prevented from coming into _close contact_, sight and
+personal intercourse are not sufficient to give it the power of exciting
+the affections in proportion to its real magnitude. Suppose the case of
+a person whom we have often seen, and may have occasionally conversed
+with, and of whom we have been told in the general, that he possesses
+extraordinary merits. We assent to the assertion. But if we have no
+knowledge of particulars, no close acquaintance with him, nothing in
+short which brings his merits home to us, they interest us less than
+what we know to be a far inferior degree of the very same qualities in
+one of our common associates. A parent has several children, all
+constantly under his eye, and equally dear to him. Yet if any one of
+them be taken ill, it is brought into so much _closer contact_ than
+before, that it seems to absorb and engross the parent's whole
+affection. Thus then, though it will not be denied that an object by
+being visible may thereby excite its corresponding affection with more
+facility; yet this is manifestly far from being the prime consideration.
+And so far are we from being the slaves of the sense of vision, that a
+familiar acquaintance with the intrinsic excellences of an object,
+aided, it must be admitted, by the power of habit, will render us almost
+insensible to the impressions which its outward form conveys, and able
+entirely to lose the consciousness of an unsightly exterior.
+
+We may be permitted to remark, that the foregoing observations furnish
+an explanation, less discreditable than that which has been sometimes
+given, of an undoubted phaenomenon in the human mind, that the greatest
+public misfortunes, however the understanding may lecture, are apt
+really to affect our feelings less than the most trivial disaster which
+happens to ourselves. An eminent writer[39] scarcely overstated the
+point when he observed, "that it would occasion a man of humanity more
+real disturbance to know that he was the next morning to lose his little
+finger, than to hear that the great empire of China had been suddenly
+swallowed up by an earthquake. The thoughts of the former, would keep
+him awake all night; in the latter case, after making many melancholy
+reflections on the precariousness of human life, and the vanity of all
+the labours of man which could be thus annihilated in a moment; after a
+little speculation too perhaps on the causes of the disaster, and its
+effects in the political and commercial world; he would pursue his
+business or his pleasure with the same ease and tranquillity as if no
+such accident had happened; and snore at night with the most profound
+serenity over the ruin of a hundred million of his fellow creatures.
+Selfishness is not the cause of this, for the most unfeeling brute on
+earth would surely think nothing of the loss of a finger, if he could
+thereby prevent so dreadful a calamity." This doctrine of _contact_
+which has been opened above, affords a satisfactory solution; and from
+all which has been said (the writer has reason perhaps to apologize for
+the length of the discussion) the circumstances, by which the affections
+of the mind towards any particular object are generated and
+strengthened, may be easily collected. The chief of these appear to be,
+whatever tends to give a distinct and lively impression of the object,
+by setting before us its minute parts, and by often drawing towards it
+the thoughts and affections, so as to invest it by degrees with a
+confirmed ascendency: whatever tends to excite and to keep in exercise a
+lively interest in its behalf: in other words; full knowledge, distinct
+and frequent mental entertainment, and pathetic contemplations.
+Supposing these means to have been used in any given degree, it may be
+expected, that they will be more or less efficacious, in proportion as
+the intrinsic qualities of the object afford greater or less scope for
+their operation, and more or fewer materials with which to work. Can it
+then be conceived, that they will be of no avail when steadily practised
+in the case of our Redeemer! If the principles of love, and gratitude,
+and joy, and hope, and trust, are not utterly extinct within us, they
+cannot but be called forth by the various corresponding objects which
+that blessed contemplation would gradually bring forth to our view. Well
+might the language of the apostle be addressed to Christians, "Whom
+having _not seen_ ye love; in whom, though now ye _see him not_, yet
+believing, ye _rejoice_ with joy unspeakable, and full of glory[40]."
+
+BUT fresh considerations pour in to render in this instance, the plea of
+its being impossible to love an invisible being, still more invalid. Our
+blessed Saviour, if we may be permitted so to say, is not removed far
+from us; and the various relations in which we stand towards him, seem
+purposely made known to us, in order to furnish so many different bonds
+of connection with him, and consequent occasions of continual
+intercourse. He exhibits not himself to us "dark with excessive
+brightness," but is let down as it were to the possibilities of human
+converse. We may not think that he is incapable of entering into our
+little concerns, and sympathizing with them; for we are graciously
+assured that he is not one "who cannot be touched with the feeling of
+our infirmities, having been in all points tempted like as we are[41]."
+The figures under which he is represented, are such as convey ideas of
+the utmost tenderness. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he
+shall gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and
+shall gently lead those that are with young[42]."--"They shall not
+hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them; for he
+that hath mercy on them, shall lead them, even by the springs of water
+shall he guide them[43]." "I will not leave you orphans[44]" was one of
+his last consolatory declarations[45]. The children of Christ are here
+separated indeed from the personal view of him; but not from his
+paternal affection and paternal care. Meanwhile let them quicken their
+regards by the animating anticipation of that blessed day, when he "who
+is gone to prepare a place for them, will come again to receive them
+unto himself." Then shall they be admitted to his more immediate
+presence: "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face:
+now I know in part; but then shall I know, even as I am known[46]."
+
+Surely more than enough has been now said to prove that this particular
+case, from its very nature, furnishes the most abundant and powerful
+considerations and means for exciting the feelings; and it might be
+contended, without fear of refutation, that by the diligent and habitual
+use of those considerations and means, we might with confident
+expectation of success, engage in the work of raising our affections
+towards our blessed Saviour to a state of due force and activity. But,
+blessed be God, we have a still better reliance; for the grand
+circumstance of all yet remains behind, which the writer has been led to
+defer, from his wish to contend with his opponents on their own ground.
+This circumstance is, that here, no less than in other particulars, the
+Christian's hope is founded, not on the speculations or the strength of
+man, but on the declaration of Him who cannot lie, on the power of
+Omnipotence.
+
+We learn from the Scriptures that it is one main part of the operations
+of the Holy Spirit, to implant these heavenly principles in the human
+mind, and to cherish their growth. We are encouraged to believe that in
+answer to our prayers, this aid from above will give efficacy to our
+earnest endeavours, if used in humble dependence on divine grace. We may
+therefore with confidence take the means which have been suggested. But
+let us, in our turn, be permitted to ask our opponents, have _they_
+humbly and perseveringly applied for this divine strength? or
+disclaiming that assistance, perhaps as tempting them to indolence,
+have they been so much the more strenuous and unwearied in the use of
+their own unaided endeavours? or rather have they not been equally
+negligent of both? Renouncing the one, they have wholly omitted the
+other. But this is far from being all. They even reverse all the methods
+which we have recommended as being calculated to increase regard; and
+exactly follow that course which would be pursued by any one who should
+wish to reduce an excessive affection. Yet thus leaving untried all the
+means, which, whether from Reason or Scripture, we maintain to be
+necessary to the production of the end, nay using such as are of a
+directly opposite nature, these men presume to talk to us of
+impossibilities! We may rather contend that they furnish a fresh proof
+of the soundness of our reasonings. We lay it down as a fundamental
+position, that speculative knowledge alone, that mere superficial
+cursory considerations, will be of no avail. Nothing is to be done
+without the diligent continued use of the appointed method. They
+themselves afford an instance of the truth of our assertions; and while
+they supply no argument against the efficacy of the mode prescribed,
+they acknowledge at least that they are wholly ignorant of any other.
+
+BUT let us now turn our eyes to Christians of a higher order, to those
+who have actually proved the truth of our reasonings; who have not only
+assumed the name, but who have possessed the substance, and felt the
+power of Christianity; who though often foiled by their remaining
+corruptions, and shamed and cast down under a sense of their many
+imperfections, have known in their better seasons, what it was to
+experience its firm hope, its dignified joy, its unshaken trust, its
+more than human consolations. In their hearts, love also towards their
+Redeemer has glowed; a love not _superficial_ and unmeaning (think not
+that this would be the subject of our praise) but constant and rational,
+resulting from a strong impression of the worth of its object, and
+heightened by an abiding sense of great, unmerited, and continually
+accumulating obligations; ever manifesting itself in acts of diligent
+obedience, or of patient suffering. Such was the religion of the holy
+martyrs of the sixteenth century, the illustrious ornaments of the
+English church. They realized the theory which we have now been faintly
+tracing. Look to their writings, and you will find that their thoughts
+and affections had been much exercised in habitual views of the blessed
+Jesus. Thus they used the required _means_. What were the _effects_?
+Persecution and distress, degradation and contempt in vain assailed
+them--all these evils served but to bring their affections into _closer
+contact_ with their object; and not only did their love feel no
+diminution or abatement, but it rose to all the exigencies of the
+occasion, and burned with an increase of ardor; and when brought forth
+at last to a cruel and ignominious death, they repined not at their
+fate; but rather rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for
+the name of Christ. By the blessing of God the writer might refer to
+still more recent times. But lest his authorities should be disputed,
+let us go to the Apostles of our Lord; and while, on a very cursory
+perusal of their writings, we must acknowledge that they commend and
+even prescribe to us the love of Christ, as one of the chief of the
+Christian graces; so on a more attentive inspection of those writings,
+we shall discover abundant proofs that they were themselves bright
+examples of their own precept; that our blessed Saviour was really the
+object of their warmest affection, and what he had done and suffered for
+them the continual matter of their grateful remembrance.
+
+The disposition so prevalent in the bulk of nominal Christians, to form
+a religious system for themselves, instead of taking it from the word of
+God, is strikingly observable in their scarcely admitting, except in the
+most vague and general sense, the doctrine of the influence of the Holy
+Spirit. If we look into the Scriptures for information on this
+particular, we learn a very different lesson. We are in them distinctly
+taught, that "of ourselves we can do nothing;" that "we are by nature
+children of wrath," and under the power of the evil spirit, our
+understandings being naturally dark, and our hearts averse from
+spiritual things; and we are directed to pray for the influence of the
+Holy Spirit to enlighten our understandings, to dissipate our
+prejudices, to purify our corrupt minds, and to renew us after the image
+of our heavenly Father. It is this influence which is represented as
+originally awakening us from slumber, as enlightening us in darkness, as
+"quickening us when dead[47]," as "delivering us from the power of the
+devil," as drawing us to God, as "translating us into the kingdom of his
+dear Son[48]," as "creating us anew in Christ Jesus[49]," as "dwelling
+in us, and walking in us[50];" so that "putting off the old man with his
+deeds," we are to consider ourselves as "having put on the new man,
+which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
+him[51]"; and as those who are to be "an habitation of God through the
+Spirit[52]." It is by this Divine assistance only that we can grow in
+Grace, and improve in all Holiness. So expressly, particularly, and
+repeatedly does the word of God inculcate these lessons, that one would
+think there were scarcely room for any difference of opinion among those
+who admit its authority. Sometimes[53] the whole of a Christian's
+repentance and faith, and consequent holiness, are ascribed _generally_
+to the Divine influence; sometimes these are spoken of separately, and
+ascribed to the same Almighty power. Sometimes different particular
+graces of the Christian character, those which respect our duties and
+tempers towards our fellow-creatures, no less than those which have
+reference to the Supreme Being, are particularly traced to this source.
+Sometimes they are all referred collectively to this common root, being
+comprehended under the compendious denomination of "the Fruits of the
+Spirit." In exact correspondence with these representations, this aid
+from above is promised in other parts of Scripture for the production of
+those effects; and the withholding or withdrawing of it is occasionally
+threatened as a punishment for the sins of men, and as one of the most
+fatal consequences of the Divine displeasure.
+
+The Liturgy of the church of England strictly agrees with the
+representation, which has been here given of the instructions of the
+word of God.
+
+
+SECT. IV.
+
+_Inadequate conceptions entertained by nominal Christians of the terms
+of acceptance with God._
+
+If then it be indeed as so has been now stated; that, in contradiction
+to the plainest dictates of Scripture, and to the ritual of our
+established Church, the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, the
+first fruits of our reconciliation to God, the purchase of our
+Redeemer's death, and his best gift to his true disciples, are too
+generally undervalued and slighted; if it be also true, as was formerly
+proved, that our thoughts of the blessed Saviour are confused and faint,
+our affections towards him languid and lukewarm, little proportioned to
+what they, who at such a price have been rescued from ruin, and endowed
+with a title to eternal glory, might be justly expected to feel towards
+the Author of their deliverance; little proportioned to what has been
+felt by others, ransomed from the same ruin, and partakers of the same
+inheritance: if this, let it be repeated, be indeed so, let us not shut
+our eyes against the perception of our real state; but rather endeavour
+to trace the evil to its source. We are loudly called on to _examine
+well our foundations_. If any thing be _there_ unsound and hollow, the
+superstructure could not be safe, though its exterior were less
+suspicious. Let the question then be asked, and let the answer be
+returned with all the consideration and solemnity which a question so
+important may justly demand, whether, in the grand concern of all, _the
+means of a sinner's acceptance with God_, there be not reason to
+apprehend, that the nominal Christians whom we have been addressing, too
+generally entertain very superficial, and confused, and (to speak in the
+softest terms) highly dangerous notions? Is there not cause to fear,
+that with little more than an indistinct and nominal reference to Him
+who "bore our sins in his own body on the tree," they really rest their
+eternal hopes on a vague, general persuasion of the unqualified mercy of
+the Supreme Being; or that, still more erroneously, they rely in the
+main, on their own negative or positive merits? "They can look upon
+their lives with an impartial eye, and congratulate themselves on their
+inoffensiveness in society; on their having been exempt, at least, from
+any gross vice, or if sometimes accidentally betrayed into it, on its
+never having been indulged habitually; or if not even so" (for there are
+but few who can say this, if the term vice be explained according to the
+strict requisitions of the Gospel) "yet on the balance being in their
+favour, or on the whole, not much against them, when their good and bad
+actions are fairly weighed, and due allowance is made for human
+frailty." These considerations are sufficient for the most part to
+compose their apprehensions; these are the cordials which they find most
+at hand in the moments of serious thought, or of occasional dejection;
+and sometimes perhaps in seasons of less than ordinary self-complacency,
+they call in also to their aid the general persuasion of the unbounded
+mercy and pity of God. Yet persons of this description by no means
+disclaim a Saviour, or avowedly relinquish their title to a share in the
+benefits of his death. They close their petitions with the name of
+Christ; but if not chiefly from the effect of habit, or out of decent
+conformity to the established faith, yet surely with something of the
+same ambiguity of principle which influenced the expiring philosopher,
+when he ordered the customary mark of homage to be paid to the god of
+medicine.
+
+Others go farther than this; for there are many shades of difference
+between those who flatly renounce, and those who cordially embrace the
+doctrine of Redemption by Christ. This class has a sort of general,
+indeterminate, and ill understood dependence on our blessed Saviour. But
+their hopes, so far as they can be distinctly made out (for their views
+also are very obscure) appear ultimately to bottom on the persuasion
+that they are now, through Christ, become members of a new dispensation,
+wherein they will be tried by a more lenient rule than that to which
+they must have been otherwise subject. "God will not now be extreme to
+mark what is done amiss; but will dispense with the rigorous exactions
+of his law, too strict indeed for such frail creatures as we are to hope
+that we can fulfil it. Christianity has moderated the requisitions of
+Divine Justice; and all which is now required of us, is thankfully to
+trust to the merits of Christ for the pardon of our sins, and the
+acceptance of our sincere though imperfect obedience. The frailties and
+infirmities to which our nature is liable, or to which our situation in
+life exposes us, will not be severely judged: and as it is practice that
+really determines the character, we may rest satisfied, that if on the
+whole our lives be tolerably good, we shall escape with little or no
+punishment, and through Jesus Christ our Lord, shall be finally
+partakers of heavenly felicity."
+
+We cannot dive into the human heart, and therefore should always speak
+with caution and diffidence, when from external appearances or
+declarations we are affirming the existence of any internal principles
+and feelings; especially as we are liable to be misled by the
+ambiguities of language, or by the inaccuracy with which others may
+express themselves. But it is sometimes not difficult to any one who is
+accustomed, if the phrase may be allowed, to the anatomy of the human
+mind, to discern, that generally speaking, the persons who use the above
+language, rely not so much on the merits of Christ, and on the agency of
+Divine Grace, as on their own power of fulfilling the moderated
+requisitions of Divine Justice. He will hence therefore discover in them
+a disposition rather to extenuate the malignity of their disease, than
+to magnify the excellence of the proffered remedy. He will find them apt
+to palliate in themselves what they cannot fully justify, to enhance the
+merit of what they believe to be their good qualities and commendable
+actions, to set as it were in an account the good against the bad; and
+if the result be not very unfavourable, they conceive that they shall be
+entitled to claim the benefits of our Saviour's sufferings as a thing of
+course. They have little idea, so little, that it might almost be
+affirmed that they have no idea at all, of the importance or difficulty
+of the duty of what the Scripture calls "submitting ourselves to the
+righteousness of God;" or of our proneness rather to justify ourselves
+in his sight, than in the language of imploring penitents to acknowledge
+ourselves guilty and helpless sinners. They have never summoned
+themselves to this entire and unqualified renunciation of their own
+merits, and their own strength; and therefore they remain strangers to
+the natural loftiness of the human heart, which such a call would have
+awakened into action, and roused to resistance. ALL THESE THEIR SEVERAL
+ERRORS NATURALLY RESULT FROM THE MISTAKEN CONCEPTION ENTERTAINED OF THE
+FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIANITY. They consider not that
+Christianity is a scheme for "justifying _the ungodly_[54]," by Christ's
+dying for them "_when yet sinners_[55][56];" a scheme "for reconciling
+us to God--_when enemies_;" and for making the fruits of holiness _the
+effects[57], not the cause_, of our being justified and reconciled:
+that, in short, it opens freely the door of mercy, to the greatest and
+vilest of penitent sinners; that obeying the blessed impulse of the
+grace of God, whereby they had been awakened from the sleep of death,
+and moved to seek for pardon, they might enter in, and through the
+regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit might be enabled to bring
+forth the fruits of Righteousness. But they rather conceive of
+Christianity as opening the door of mercy, that those who on the ground
+of their own merits could not have hoped to justify themselves before
+God, may yet be admitted for Christ's sake, on condition of their having
+previously satisfied the moderated requisitions of Divine Justice. In
+speaking to others also of the Gospel scheme, they are apt to talk too
+much of terms and performances on our part, on which we become entitled
+to an interest in the sufferings of Christ; instead of stating the
+benefits of Christ's satisfaction as extended to us freely, "without
+money and without price."
+
+THE _practical_ consequences of these errors are such as might be
+expected. They tend to prevent that sense which we ought to entertain of
+our own natural misery and helplessness; and that deep feeling of
+gratitude for the merits and intercession of Christ, to which we are
+wholly indebted for our reconciliation to God, and for the will and the
+power, from first to last, to work out our own salvation. They consider
+it too much in the light of a contract between two parties, wherein
+each, independently of the other, has his own distinct condition to
+perform; man--to do his duty; God--to justify and accept for Christ's
+sake: If they fail not in the discharge of their condition, assuredly
+the condition on God's part will be faithfully fulfilled. Accordingly,
+we find in fact, that they who represent the Gospel scheme in the manner
+above described, give evidence of the subject with which their hearts
+are most filled, by their proneness to run into merely moral
+disquisitions, either not mentioning at all, or at least but cursorily
+touching on the sufferings and love of their Redeemer; and are little
+apt to kindle at their Saviour's name, and like the apostles to be
+betrayed by their fervor into what may be almost an untimely descant on
+the riches of his unutterable mercy. In addressing others also whom they
+conceive to be living in habits of sin, and under the wrath of God, they
+rather advise them to amend their ways as a preparation for their coming
+to Christ, than exhort them to throw themselves with deep prostration of
+soul at the foot of the cross, there to obtain pardon and find grace to
+help in time of need.
+
+The great importance of the subject in question will justify our having
+been thus particular. It has arisen from a wish that on a question of
+such magnitude, to mistake our meaning should be impossible. But after
+all which has been said, let it also be remembered, that except so far
+as the instruction of others is concerned, the point of importance is,
+the internal disposition of the mind; _where_ the dependence for pardon,
+and for holiness, is really placed; not what the language is, in which
+men express themselves. And it is to be hoped that he who searches the
+heart, sees the right dispositions in many who use the mistaken and
+dangerous language to which we have objected.
+
+If this so generally prevailing error concerning the nature of the
+Gospel offer be in any considerable degree just; it will then explain
+that so generally prevailing languor in the affections towards our
+blessed Saviour which was formerly remarked, and that inadequate
+impression of the necessity and value of the assistance of the divine
+Spirit. According to the soundest principles of reasoning, it may be
+also adduced as an additional proof of the correctness of our present
+statement, that it so exactly falls in with those phaenomena, and so
+naturally accounts for them. For even admitting that the persons above
+mentioned, particularly the last class, do at the bottom rely on the
+atonement of Christ; yet on their scheme, it must necessarily happen,
+that the object to which they are most accustomed to look, with which
+their thoughts are chiefly conversant, from which they most habitually
+derive complacency, is rather their own qualified merit and services,
+though confessed to be inadequate, than the sufferings and atoning death
+of a crucified Saviour. The affections towards our blessed Lord
+therefore (according to the theory of the passions formerly laid down)
+cannot be expected to flourish, because they receive not that which was
+shewn to be necessary to their nutriment and growth. If we would love
+him as affectionately, and rejoice in him as triumphantly as the first
+Christians did; we must learn like them to repose our entire trust in
+him, and to adopt the language of the apostle, "God forbid that I should
+glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ[58]"--"Who of God is
+made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and
+redemption[59]."
+
+Doubtless there have been too many who, to their eternal ruin, have
+abused the doctrine of Salvation by Grace; and have vainly trusted in
+Christ for pardon and acceptance, when by their vicious lives they have
+plainly proved the groundlessness of their pretensions. The tree is to
+be known by its fruits; and there is too much reason to fear that there
+is no principle of faith, when it does not decidedly evince itself by
+the fruits of holiness. Dreadful indeed will be the doom, above that of
+all others, of those loose professors of Christianity, to whom at the
+last day our blessed Saviour will address those words, "I never knew
+you; depart from me, all ye that work iniquity." But the danger of error
+on this side ought not to render us insensible to the opposite error; an
+error against which in these days it seems particularly necessary to
+guard. It is far from the intention of the writer of this work to enter
+into the niceties of controversy. But surely without danger of being
+thought to violate this design, he may be permitted to contend, that
+they who in the main believe the doctrines of the church of England, are
+bound to allow that our dependence on our blessed Saviour, as alone the
+meritorious cause of our acceptance with God, and as the means of all
+its blessed fruits and glorious consequences, must be not merely formal
+and nominal, but real and substantial: not vague, qualified, and
+partial, but direct, cordial, and entire. "Repentance towards God, and
+faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ," was the sum of the apostolical
+instructions. It is not an occasional invocation of the name, or a
+transient recognition of the authority of Christ, that fills up the
+measure of the terms, _believing in Jesus_. This we shall find no such
+easy task; and if we trust that we do believe, we should all perhaps do
+well to cry out in the words of an imploring suppliant (he supplicated
+not in vain) "Lord help thou our unbelief." We must be deeply conscious
+of our guilt and misery, heartily repenting of our sins, and firmly
+resolving to forsake them: and thus penitently "fleeing for refuge to
+the hope set before us," we must found altogether on the merit of the
+crucified Redeemer our hopes of escape from their deserved punishment,
+and of deliverance from their enslaving power. This must be our first,
+our last, our only plea. We are to surrender ourselves up to him to "be
+washed in his blood[60]," to be sanctified by his Spirit, resolving to
+receive him for our Lord and Master, to learn in his school, to obey all
+his commandments.
+
+It may perhaps be not unnecessary, after having treated so largely on
+this important topic, to add a few words in order to obviate a charge
+which may be urged against us, that we are insisting on nice and
+abstruse distinctions in what is a matter of general concern; and this
+too in a system, which on its original promulgation was declared to be
+peculiarly intended for the simple and poor. It will be abundantly
+evident however on a little reflection, and experience fully proves the
+position, that what has been required is not the perception of a subtile
+distinction, but a state and condition of heart. To the former, the poor
+and the ignorant must be indeed confessed unequal; but they are far less
+indisposed than the great and the learned, to bow down to that
+"preaching of the cross which is to them that perish foolishness, but
+unto them that are saved the power of God, and the wisdom of God." The
+poor are not liable to be puffed up by the intoxicating fumes of
+ambition and worldly grandeur. They are less likely to be kept from
+entering into the strait and narrow way, and when they have entered to
+be drawn back again or to be retarded in their progress, by the cares or
+the pleasures of life. They may express themselves ill; but their views
+may be simple, and their hearts humble, penitent, and sincere. It is as
+in other cases; the vulgar are the subjects of phaenomena, the learned
+explain them: the former know nothing of the theory of vision or of
+sentiment; but this ignorance hinders not that they see and think, and
+though unable to discourse elaborately on the passions, they can feel
+warmly for their children, their friends, their country.
+
+After this digression, if that be indeed a digression which by removing
+a formidable objection renders the truth of the positions we wish to
+establish more clear and less questionable, we may now resume the thread
+of our argument. Still intreating therefore the attention of those, who
+have not been used to think much of the necessity of this undivided,
+and, if it may be so termed, unadulterated reliance, for which we have
+been contending; we would still more particularly address ourselves to
+others who are disposed to believe that though, in some obscure and
+vague sense, the death of Christ as the satisfaction for our sins, and
+for the purchase of our future happiness, and the sanctifying influence
+of the Holy Spirit, are to be admitted as fundamental articles of our
+creed, yet that these are doctrines so much above us, that they are not
+objects suited to our capacities; and that, turning our eyes therefore
+from these difficult speculations, we should fix them on the practical
+and moral precepts of the Gospel. "These it most concerns us to know;
+these therefore let us study. Such is the frailty of our nature, such
+the strength and number of our temptations to evil, that in reducing the
+Gospel morality to practice we shall find full employment: and by
+attending to these moral precepts, rather than to those high mysterious
+doctrines which you are pressing on us, we shall best prepare to appear
+before God on that tremendous day, when 'He shall judge every man
+according to his WORKS.'"
+
+    "Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy!"
+
+It will at once destroy this flimsy web, to reply in the words of our
+blessed Saviour, and of his beloved Disciple--"This is the _work_ of
+God, that ye _believe_ in him whom he hath sent[61]." "This is his
+_commandment_, that we should _believe_ on the name of his Son Jesus
+Christ[62]." In truth, if we consider but for a moment the opinions
+(they scarcely deserve the name of system) of men who argue thus, we
+must be conscious of their absurdity. This may be not inconsistently the
+language of the modern Unitarian; but surely it is in the highest degree
+unreasonable to admit into our scheme all the grand peculiarities of
+Christianity, and having admitted, to neglect and think no more of them!
+"Wherefore" (might the Socinian say) "Wherefore all this costly and
+complicated machinery? It is like the Tychonic astronomy, encumbered and
+self-convicted by its own complicated relations and useless
+perplexities. It is so little like the simplicity of nature, it is so
+unworthy of the divine hand, that it even offends against those rules of
+propriety which we require to be observed in the imperfect compositions
+of the human intellect[63]."
+
+Well may the Socinian assume this lofty tone, with those whom we are now
+addressing. If these be indeed the doctrines of Revelation, common sense
+suggests to us that from their nature and their magnitude, they deserve
+our most serious regard. It is the very theology of Epicurus to allow
+the existence of these "heavenly things," but to deny their connection
+with human concerns, and their influence on human actions. Besides the
+unreasonableness of this conduct, we might strongly urge also in this
+connection the prophaneness of thus treating as matters of subordinate
+consideration those parts of the system of Christianity, which are so
+strongly impressed on our reverence by the dignity of the person to whom
+they relate. This very argument is indeed repeatedly and pointedly
+pressed by the sacred writers[64].
+
+Nor is the prophane irreverence of this conduct more striking than its
+ingratitude. When from reading that our Saviour was "the brightness of
+his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all
+things by the word of his power," we go on to consider the purpose for
+which he came on earth, and all that he did and suffered for us; surely
+if we have a spark of ingenuousness left within us, we shall condemn
+ourselves as guilty of the blackest ingratitude, in rarely noticing, or
+coldly turning away, on whatever shallow pretences, from the
+contemplation of these miracles of mercy. For those baser minds however
+on which fear alone can operate, that motive is superadded: and we are
+plainly forewarned, both directly and indirectly, by the example of the
+Jewish nation, that God will not hold them guiltless who are thus
+unmindful of his most signal acts of condescension and kindness. But as
+this is a question of pure Revelation, reasonings from probability may
+not be deemed decisive. To Revelation therefore we must appeal; and as
+it might be to trespass on the reader's patience fully to discuss this
+most important subject, we must refer him to the sacred Writings
+themselves for complete satisfaction. We would earnestly recommend it to
+him to weigh with the utmost seriousness those passages of Scripture
+wherein the peculiar doctrines of Christianity are expressly mentioned;
+and farther, to attend with due regard to the illustration and
+confirmation, which the conclusions resulting from those passages
+receive incidentally from the word of God. They who maintain the opinion
+which we are combating, will hereby become convinced that their's is
+indeed an _unscriptural_ Religion; and will learn instead of turning off
+their eyes from the grand peculiarities of Christianity, to keep these
+ever in view, as the pregnant principles whence all the rest must derive
+their origin, and receive their best support[65].
+
+Let us then each for himself solemnly ask ourselves, whether _we_ have
+fled for refuge to the appointed hope? And whether we are habitually
+looking to it, as to the only source of consolation? "Other foundation
+can no man lay:" there is no other ground of dependence, no other plea
+for pardon; but _here_ there _is_ hope, even to the uttermost. Let us
+labour then to affect our hearts with a deep conviction of our need of a
+Redeemer, and of the value of his offered mediation. Let us fall down
+humbly before the throne of God, imploring pity and pardon in the name
+of the Son of his love. Let us beseech him to give us a true spirit of
+repentance, and of hearty undivided faith in the Lord Jesus. Let us not
+be satisfied till the cordiality of our belief be confirmed to us by
+that character of the Apostle, "that to as many as believe Christ is
+precious;" and let us strive to increase daily in _love_ towards our
+blessed Saviour; and pray earnestly that "we may be filled with _Joy_
+and _Peace_ in believing, that we may abound in _Hope_ through the power
+of the Holy Ghost." Let us diligently put in practice the directions
+formerly given for cherishing and cultivating the principle of the Love
+of Christ. With this view let us labour assiduously to increase in
+knowledge, that ours may be a deeply rooted and rational affection. By
+frequent meditation on the incidents of our Saviour's life, and still
+more on the astonishing circumstances of his death; by often calling to
+mind the state from which he proposes to rescue us, and the glories of
+his heavenly kingdom; by continual intercourse with him of prayer and
+praise, of dependence and confidence in dangers, of hope and joy in our
+brighter hours, let us endeavour to keep him constantly present to our
+minds, and to render all our conceptions of him more distinct, lively,
+and intelligent. The title of Christian is a reproach to us, if we
+estrange ourselves from Him after whom we are denominated. The name of
+Jesus is not to be to _us_ like the Allah of the Mahometans, a talisman
+or an amulet to be worn on the arm, as an external badge merely and
+symbol of our profession, and to preserve us from evil by some
+mysterious and unintelligible potency; but it is to be engraven deeply
+on the heart, there written by the finger of God himself in everlasting
+characters. It is our title known and understood to present peace and
+future glory. The assurance which it conveys of a bright reversion, will
+lighten the burthens, and alleviate the sorrows of life; and in some
+happier moments, it will impart to us somewhat of that fulness of joy
+which is at God's right hand, enabling us to join even here in the
+heavenly Hosannah, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power,
+and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
+blessing[66]." "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him
+that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever[67]."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+_On the prevailing inadequate Conceptions concerning the Nature and the
+Strictness of_ PRACTICAL _Christianity._
+
+
+SECT. I.
+
+One part of this title may perhaps on the first view excite some
+surprise in any one, who may have drawn a hasty inference from the
+charges conveyed by the two preceding chapters. Such an one might be
+disposed to expect, that they who have very low conceptions of the
+corruption of human nature, would be proportionably less indulgent to
+human frailty; and that they who lay little stress on Christ's
+satisfaction for sin, or on the operations of the Holy Spirit, would be
+more high and rigid in their demands of diligent endeavours after
+universal holiness; since their scheme implies that we must depend
+chiefly on our own exertions and performances for our acceptance with
+God.
+
+But any such expectations as these would be greatly disappointed. There
+is in fact a region of truth, and a region of errors. They who hold the
+fundamental doctrines of Scripture in their due force, hold also in its
+due degree of purity the practical system which Scripture inculcates.
+But they who explain away the former, soften down the latter also, and
+reduce it to the level of their own defective scheme. It is not from any
+confidence in the superior amount of their own performances, or in the
+greater vigour of their own exertions, that they reconcile themselves to
+their low views of the satisfaction of Christ, and of the influence of
+the Spirit; but it should rather seem their plan so to depress the
+required standard of practice, that no man need fall short of it, that
+no superior aid can be wanted for enabling us to attain to it. It
+happens however with respect to their simple method of morality, as in
+the case of the short ways to knowledge, of which some vain pretenders
+have vaunted themselves to be possessed: despising the beaten track in
+which more sober and humble spirits have been content to tread, they
+have indignantly struck into new and untried paths; but these have
+failed of conducting them to the right object, and have issued only in
+ignorance and conceit.
+
+It seems in our days to be the commonly received opinion, that provided
+a man admit in general terms the truth of Christianity, though he know
+not or consider not much concerning the particulars of the system; and
+if he be not habitually guilty of any of the grosser vices against his
+fellow creatures, we have no great reason to be dissatisfied with him,
+or to question the validity of his claim to the name and consequent
+privileges of a Christian. The title implies no more than a sort of
+formal, general assent to Christianity in the gross, and a degree of
+morality in practice, but little if at all superior to that for which we
+look in a good Deist, Mussulman, or Hindoo.
+
+If any one be disposed to deny that this is a fair representation of the
+religion of the bulk of the Christian world, he might be asked, whether
+if it were proved to them beyond dispute that Christianity is a mere
+forgery, would this occasion any great change in their conduct or habits
+of mind? Would any alteration be made in consequence of this discovery,
+except in a few of their speculative opinions, which, when distinct from
+practice, it is a part of their own system, as has been before remarked,
+to think of little consequence, and in their attendance on public
+worship, which however (knowing the good effects of religion upon the
+lower orders of the people) they might still think it better to attend
+occasionally for example's sake? Would not their regard for their
+character, their health, their domestic and social comforts, still
+continue to restrain them from vicious excesses, and to prompt them to
+persist in the discharge, according to their present measure, of the
+various duties of their stations? Would they find themselves
+dispossessed of what had been to them hitherto the repository of counsel
+and instruction, the rule of their conduct, their habitual source of
+peace, and hope, and consolation?
+
+It were needless to put these questions. They are answered in fact
+already by the lives of many known unbelievers, between whom and these
+professed Christians, even the familiar associates of both, though men
+of discernment and observation, would discover little difference either
+in conduct or temper of mind. How little then does Christianity deserve
+that title to novelty and superiority which has been almost universally
+admitted; that pre-eminence, as a practical code, over all other systems
+of ethics! How unmerited are the praises which have been lavished upon
+it by its friends; praises, in which even its enemies (not in general
+disposed to make concessions in its favour) have so often been unwarily
+drawn in to acquiesce!
+
+Was it then for this, that the Son of God condescended to become our
+instructor and our pattern, leaving us an example that we might tread in
+his steps? Was it for this that the apostles of Christ voluntarily
+submitted to hunger and nakedness and pain, and ignominy and death, when
+forewarned too by their Master that such would be their treatment? That,
+after all, their disciples should attain to no higher a strain of virtue
+than those who rejecting their Divine authority, should still adhere to
+the old philosophy?
+
+But it may perhaps be objected that we are forgetting an observation
+which we ourselves have made, that Christianity has raised the general
+standard of morals; to which therefore Infidelity herself now finds it
+prudent to conform, availing herself of the pure morality of
+Christianity, and sometimes wishing to usurp to herself the credit of
+it, while she stigmatizes the authors with the epithets of ignorant
+dupes or designing impostors!
+
+But let it then be asked, are the motives of Christianity so little
+necessary to the practice of it, its principles to its conclusions, that
+the one may be spared and yet the other remain in undiminished force?
+Still then, its _Doctrines_ are no more than a barren and inapplicable
+or at least an unnecessary theory, the place of which, it may perhaps be
+added, would be well supplied by a more simple and less costly scheme.
+
+But can it be? Is Christianity then reduced to a mere creed? Is its
+practical influence bounded within a few external plausibilities? Does
+its essence consist only in a few speculative opinions, and a few
+useless and unprofitable tenets? And can this be the ground of that
+portentous distinction, which is so unequivocally made by the Evangelist
+between those who accept, and those who reject the Gospel: "He that
+believeth on the Son, hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not
+the Son, shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him?" This
+were to run into the very error which the bulk of professed Christians
+would be most forward to condemn, of making an unproductive faith the
+rule of God's future judgment, and the ground of an eternal separation.
+Thus not unlike the rival circumnavigators from Spain and Portugal, who
+setting out in contrary directions, found themselves in company at the
+very time they thought themselves farthest from each other; so the bulk
+of professed Christians arrive, though by a different course, almost at
+the very same point, and occupy nearly the same station as a set of
+enthusiasts, who also rest upon a barren faith, to whom on the first
+view they might be thought the most nearly opposite, and whose tenets
+they with reason profess to hold in peculiar detestation. By what
+pernicious courtesy of language is it, that this wretched system has
+been flattered with the name of Christianity.
+
+The morality of the Gospel is not so slight a fabric. Christianity
+throughout the whole extent exhibits proofs of its Divine original, and
+its practical precepts are no less pure than its doctrines are sublime.
+Can the compass of language furnish injunctions stricter in their
+measure or larger in their comprehension, than those with which the word
+of God abounds; "_Whatsoever_ ye do in _word_ or _deed_, do _all_ in the
+name of the Lord Jesus;"--"Be _ye_ holy, _for God is holy_:"--"Be ye
+_perfect_ as your Father which is in Heaven is _perfect_?" We are
+commanded to _perfect_ holiness, to go on unto _perfection_.
+
+Such are the Scripture admonitions; and surely they to whom such
+admonitions are addressed, may not safely acquiesce in low attainments:
+a conclusion to which also we are led by the force of the expressions by
+which Christians are characterized in Scripture, and by the radical and
+thorough change, which is represented as taking place in any man on his
+becoming a real Christian. "Every one," it is said, "that hath this
+hope, purifieth himself even as God is pure:" true Christians are said
+to be "partakers of the Divine nature;"--"to be created anew in the
+image of God;"--"to be temples of the Holy Ghost;" the effects of which
+must appear "in _all_ goodness and righteousness and truth."
+
+Great as was the progress which the apostle Paul had made in all virtue,
+he declares of himself that _he_ still presses forward, "forgetting the
+things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are
+before." He prays for his beloved disciples, "that they may be _filled_
+with _all_ the fulness of God;" that they may be _filled_ "with the
+fruits of righteousness:" "that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto
+_all_ pleasing, being fruitful in _every_ good work." Nor is it a less
+pregnant and comprehensive petition, which, from our blessed Saviour's
+inserting it in that form of prayer which he has given as a model for
+our imitation, we may infer ought to be the habitual sentiment of our
+hearts; "Thy will be done in Earth _as it is in Heaven_."
+
+These few extracts from the word of God will serve abundantly to
+vindicate the _strictness_ of the Christian morality: but this point
+will however be still more fully established, when we proceed to
+investigate the _nature_, _essence_, and _governing principles_ of the
+Christian character.
+
+It is the grand essential practical characteristic of true Christians,
+that relying on the promises to repenting sinners of acceptance through
+the Redeemer, they have renounced and abjured all other masters, and
+have cordially and unreservedly devoted themselves to God. This is
+indeed the very figure which baptism daily represents to us: like the
+father of Hannibal, we there bring our infant to the altar, we
+consecrate him to the service of _his proper owner_, and vow _in his
+name_ eternal hostilities against all the enemies of his salvation.
+After the same manner Christians are become the sworn enemies of sin;
+they will henceforth hold no parley with it, they will allow it in no
+shape, they will admit it to no composition; the war which they have
+denounced against it, is cordial, universal, irreconcilable.
+
+But this not all--It is now their determined purpose to yield themselves
+without reserve to the reasonable service of their rightful Sovereign.
+"They are not their own:"--their bodily and mental faculties, their
+natural and acquired endowments, their substance, their authority, their
+time, their influence; all these, they consider as belonging to them,
+not for their own gratification, but as so many instruments to be
+consecrated to the honour and employed in the service of God. This must
+be the master principle to which every other must be subordinate.
+Whatever may have been hitherto their ruling passion; whatever hitherto
+their leading pursuit; whether sensual, or intellectual, of science, of
+taste, of fancy, or of feeling, it must now possess but a secondary
+place; or rather (to speak more correctly) it must exist only at the
+pleasure, and be put altogether under the controul and direction, of its
+true and legitimate superior.
+
+Thus it is the prerogative of Christianity "to bring into captivity
+_every thought_ to the obedience of Christ." They who really feel its
+power, are resolved (in the language of Scripture) "to live no longer to
+themselves, but to him that died for them;" they know indeed their own
+infirmities; they know, that the way on which they have entered is
+strait and difficult, but they know too the encouraging assurance,
+"They who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;" and relying on
+this animating declaration, they deliberately purpose that, so far as
+they may be able, the grand governing maxim of their future lives shall
+be, "_to do all to the glory of God_."
+
+Behold here the seminal principle, which contains within it, as in an
+embryo state, the rudiments of all true virtue; which, striking deep its
+roots, though feeble perhaps and lowly in its beginnings, silently
+progressive; and almost insensibly maturing, yet will shortly, even in
+the bleak and churlish temperature of this world, lift up its head and
+spread abroad its branches, bearing abundant fruits; precious fruits of
+refreshment and consolation, of which the boasted products of philosophy
+are but sickly imitations, void of fragrance and of flavour. But,
+
+    Igneus est ollis vigor & _coelestis_ origo.
+
+At length it shall be transplanted into its native region, and enjoy a
+more genial climate, and a kindlier soil; and, bursting forth into full
+luxuriance, with unfading beauty and unexhausted odours, shall flourish
+for ever in the paradise of God.
+
+But while the servants of Christ continue in this life, glorious as is
+the issue of their labours, they receive but too many humiliating
+memorials of their remaining imperfections, and they daily find reason
+to confess, that they cannot do the things that they would. Their
+_determination_, however, is still unshaken, and it is the fixed desire
+of their hearts to improve in _all holiness_--and this, let it be
+observed, on many accounts. Various passions concur to push them
+forward; they are urged on by the dread of failure, in this arduous but
+necessary work; they trust not, where their all is at stake, to lively
+emotions, or to internal impressions however warm; the example of Christ
+is their pattern, the word of God is their rule; there they read, that
+"without holiness no man shall see the Lord." It is the description of
+real Christians, that "they are gradually changed into the image of
+their Divine Master;" and they dare not allow themselves to believe
+their title sure, except so far as they can discern in themselves the
+growing traces of this blessed resemblance.
+
+It is not merely however the fear of misery, and the desire of
+happiness, by which they are actuated in their endeavours to excel in
+all holiness; they love it for its own sake: nor is it _solely_ by the
+sense of self-interest (this, though often unreasonably condemned, is
+but it must be confessed a principle of an inferior order) that they are
+influenced in their determination to obey the will, and to cultivate the
+favour of God. This determination has its foundations indeed in a deep
+and humiliating sense of his exalted Majesty and infinite power, and of
+their own extreme inferiority and littleness, attended with a settled
+conviction of its being their duty as his creatures, to submit in all
+things to the will of their great Creator. But these awful impressions
+are relieved and ennobled by an admiring sense of the infinite
+perfections and infinite amiableness of the Divine Character; animated
+by a confiding though humble hope of his fatherly kindness and
+protection; and quickened by the grateful recollection of immense and
+continually increasing obligations. This is the Christian love of God! A
+love compounded of admiration, of preference, of hope, of trust, of
+joy; chastised by reverential awe, and wakeful with continual gratitude.
+
+I would here express myself with caution, lest I should inadvertently
+wound the heart of some weak but sincere believer. The elementary
+principles which have been above enumerated, may exist in various
+degrees and proportions. A difference in natural disposition, in the
+circumstances of the past life, and in numberless other particulars, may
+occasion a great difference in the predominant tempers of different
+Christians. In one the love, in another the fear of God may have the
+ascendency; trust in one, and in another gratitude; but in greater or
+less degrees, a cordial complacency in the sovereignty, an exalted sense
+of the perfections, a grateful impression of the goodness, and a humble
+hope of the favour of the Divine Being, are common to them
+all.--Common--the determination to devote themselves without exceptions,
+to the service and glory of God.--Common--the desire of holiness and of
+continual progress towards perfection.--Common--an abasing consciousness
+of their own unworthiness, and of their many remaining infirmities,
+which interpose so often to corrupt the simplicity of their intentions,
+to thwart the execution of their purer purposes, and frustrate the
+resolutions of their better hours.
+
+But some perhaps, who will not directly and in the gross oppose the
+conclusions for which we have been contending, may endeavour to elude
+them. It may be urged, that to represent them as of general application,
+is going much too far; and however true in the case of some individuals
+of a higher order, it may be asserted they are not applicable to
+ordinary Christians; from these so much will not surely be expected; and
+here perhaps there may be a secret reference to that supposed
+mitigation of the requisitions of the divine Law under the Christian
+dispensation, which was formerly noticed. This is so important a point
+that it ought not to be passed over: let us call in the authority of
+Scripture; at the same time, not to tire the patience of our readers,
+but a few passages shall be cited, and we must refer to the word of God
+itself those who wish for fuller satisfaction. The difficulty here is
+not to find proofs, but to select with discretion from the multitude
+which pour in upon us. Here also, as in former instances, the positive
+injunctions of Scripture are confirmed and illustrated by various
+considerations and inferences, suggested by other parts of the sacred
+Writings, all tending to the same infallible conclusion.
+
+In the first place, the precepts are expressed in the broadest and most
+general terms; there is no hint given, that any persons are at liberty
+to conceive themselves exempted from the obligation of them; and in any
+who are disposed to urge such a plea of exemption, it may well excite
+the most serious apprehension to consider how the plea would be received
+by an earthly tribunal: no weak argument this to any who are acquainted
+with the Scriptures, and who know how often God is there represented as
+reasoning with mankind on the principles, which they have established
+for their dealings with each other.
+
+But in the next place the precepts in question contain within themselves
+abundant proofs of their _universal_ application, inasmuch as they are
+grounded on circumstances and relations common to _all_ Christians, and
+of the benefits of which, even our Objectors themselves (though they
+would evade the practical deductions from them) would not be willing to
+relinquish their share. Christians "are not their own," because "_they
+are bought with a price_;" they are not "to live unto themselves, but
+_to him that died for them_;" they are commanded to do the most
+difficult duties, "that they may be the children of their Father which
+is in heaven;" and "except a man _be born again of the Spirit_" (thus
+again becoming one of the sons of God) "_he cannot enter into the
+kingdom of heaven_." It is "_because they are sons_," that God has given
+them what in Scripture language is styled _the Spirit of adoption_. It
+is only of "as many _as are led by the Spirit of God_," that it is
+declared that "they are the sons of God;" and we are expressly warned
+(in order as it were to prevent any such loose profession of
+Christianity as that which we are here combating) "_If any man_ have not
+the Spirit of Christ, _he is none of his_." In short, Christians in
+general are every where denominated _the servants and the children_ of
+God, and are required to serve him with that submissive obedience, and
+that affectionate promptitude of duty, which belong to those endearing
+relations.
+
+Estimate next, the force of that well known passage--"Thou shalt love
+the Lord thy God with _all_ thy heart, and with _all_ thy mind, and with
+_all_ thy soul, and with _all_ thy strength!" The injunction is
+multiplied on us, as it were, to silence the sophistry of the caviller,
+and to fix the most inconsiderate mind. And though, for the sake of
+argument, we should concede for the present, that, under _the
+qualifications formerly suggested_, an _ardent_ and _vigorous_ affection
+were not indispensably required of us; yet surely if the words have any
+meaning at all, the least which can be intended by them is that settled
+predominant esteem and cordial preference for which we are now
+contending. The conclusion which this passage forces on us, is
+strikingly confirmed by other parts of Scripture, wherein the love of
+God is positively commended to the _whole_ of a Christian church[68]; or
+wherein the want of it[69], or wherein its not being the chief and
+ruling affection, is charged on persons professing themselves
+Christians, as being sufficient to disprove their claim to that
+appellation, or as being equivalent to denying it[70]. Let not therefore
+any deceive themselves by imagining, that only an absolute unqualified
+renunciation of the desire of the favour of God is _here_ condemned. God
+will not accept of a _divided_ affection; a _single_ heart, and a
+_single_ eye are in express terms declared to be indispensably required
+of us. We are ordered, under the figure of amassing heavenly treasure,
+to make the favour and service of God our _chief_ pursuit, for this very
+reason, because "_where our treasure is, there will our hearts be
+also_." It is on this principle that in speaking of particular vices,
+such phrases are often used in Scripture, as suggest that their
+criminality mainly consists in drawing away the HEART from Him who is
+the just object of its preference; and that sins, which we might think
+very different in criminality, are classed together, because they all
+agree in this grand character. Nor is this preference asserted only over
+affections which are vicious in themselves, and to which therefore
+Christianity might well be supposed hostile; but over those also which
+in their just measure are not only lawful, but even most strongly
+enjoined on us. "He that loveth father and mother more than me," says
+our blessed Saviour, "is not worthy of me;" "and he that loveth son or
+daughter more than me, is not worthy of me[71]." The spirit of these
+injunctions harmonizes with many commendations in Scripture of zeal for
+the honour of God; as well as with that strong expression of disgust and
+abhorrence with which the lukewarm, those that are neither cold nor hot,
+are spoken of as being more loathsome and offensive than even open and
+avowed enemies.
+
+Another class of instances tending to the same point is furnished by
+those many passages of Scripture, wherein the promoting of _the glory_
+of God is commanded as our supreme and universal aim, and wherein the
+honour due unto _Him_ is declared to be that in which He will allow no
+competitor to participate. On this head indeed the Holy Scriptures are,
+if possible, more peremptory than on the former; and at the same time so
+full as to render particular citations unnecessary, in the case of any
+one who has ever so little acquaintance with the word of God.
+
+To put the same thing therefore in another light. All who have read the
+Scriptures must confess that idolatry is the crime against which God's
+highest resentment is expressed, and his severest punishment denounced.
+But let us not deceive ourselves. It is not in bowing the knee to idols
+that idolatry consists, so much as in the internal homage of the heart;
+as in the feeling towards them of any of that supreme love, or
+reverence, or gratitude, which God reserves to himself as his own
+exclusive prerogative. On the same principle, whatever else draws off
+the heart from him, engrosses our prime regard, and holds the chief
+place in our esteem and affections, _that_, in the estimation of reason,
+is no less an idol to us, than an image of wood or stone would be;
+before which we should fall down and worship. Think not this a strained
+analogy; it is the very language and argument of inspiration. The
+servant of God is commanded not to set up his idol in his _Heart_; and
+sensuality and covetousness are repeatedly termed _Idolatry_. The same
+God who declares--"My glory will I not give to another, neither my
+praise _to graven images_," declares also--"Let not the wise man glory
+in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man _glory_ in his might; let not
+the rich man _glory_ in his riches[72]." "No flesh may _glory_ in his
+presence;" "he that _glorieth_, let him glory in the Lord." The sudden
+vengeance by which the vain-glorious ostentation of Herod was punished,
+when, acquiescing in the servile adulation of an admiring multitude, "he
+gave not God the _glory_," is a dreadful comment on these injunctions.
+
+These awful declarations, it is to be feared, are little regarded. Let
+the Great, and the Wise, and the Learned, and the Successful lay them
+seriously to heart, and labour habitually to consider their superiority,
+whether derived from nature, or study, or fortune, as the unmerited
+bounty of God. This reflection will naturally tend to produce a
+disposition, instead of that proud self complacency so apt to grow upon
+the human heart, in all respects opposite to it; a disposition
+honourable to God, and useful to man, a temper composed of reverence,
+humility, and gratitude, and delighting to be engaged in the praises,
+and employed in the benevolent service of the universal Benefactor.
+
+But, to return to our subject, it only remains to be remarked, that here
+as in the former instances, the characters of the righteous and of the
+wicked, as delineated in Scripture, exactly correspond with the
+representations which have been given of the Scripture injunctions.
+
+The necessity of this cordial unreserved devotedness to the glory and
+service of God, as being indispensable to the character of the true
+Christian, has been insisted on at the greater length, not only on
+account of its own extreme importance, but also because it appears to be
+a duty too generally overlooked. Once well established, it will serve as
+a fundamental principle both for the government of the heart and
+regulation of the conduct; and will prove eminently useful in the
+decision of many practical cases, which it might be difficult to bring
+under the undisputed operation of any subordinate or appropriate rule.
+
+
+SECT. II.
+
+And now, having endeavoured to establish the strictness, and to
+ascertain the essential character of true practical Christianity, let us
+investigate a little more in detail the practical system of the bulk of
+professed Christians among ourselves[73].
+
+It was formerly remarked, that the whole subject of Religion was often
+viewed from such a distance as to be seen only in the gross. We now, it
+is to be feared, shall find too much cause for believing that they who
+approach a little nearer, and do discover in Christianity somewhat of a
+distinct form, yet come not close enough to discern her peculiar
+lineaments and conformation. The writer must not be understood to mean
+that the several misconceptions, which he shall have occasion to point
+out, will be generally found to exist with any thing like precision,
+much less that they are regularly digested into a system; nor will it be
+expected they all should meet in the same person, nor that they will not
+be found in different people, and under different circumstances,
+variously blended, combined, and modified. It will be enough if we
+succeed in tracing out great and general outlines. The human countenance
+may be well described by its general characters, though infinitely
+varied by the peculiarities which belong to different individuals, and
+often by such shades and minutenesses of difference, as though
+abundantly obvious to our perceptions, it would exceed the power of
+definition to discriminate, or even of language to express.
+
+A very erroneous notion appears to prevail concerning the true nature of
+Religion. Religion, agreeably to what has been already stated, (the
+importance of the subject will excuse repetition) may be considered as
+the implantation of a vigorous and active principle; it is seated in
+the heart, where its authority is recognized as supreme, whence by
+degrees it expels whatever is opposed to it, and where it gradually
+brings all the affections and desires under its complete controul and
+regulation.
+
+But though the heart be its special residence, it may be said to possess
+in a degree the ubiquity of its Divine Author. Every endeavour and
+pursuit must acknowledge its presence; and whatever does not, or will
+not, or cannot receive its sacred stamp, is to be condemned as
+inherently defective, and is to be at once abstained from or abandoned.
+It is like the principle of vitality, which, animating and informing
+every part, lives throughout the whole of the human body, and
+communicates its kindly influence to the smallest and remotest fibres of
+the frame. But the notion of Religion entertained by many among us seems
+altogether different. They begin indeed, in submission to her clear
+prohibitions, by fencing off from the field of human action, a certain
+district, which, though it in many parts bear fruits on which they cast
+a longing eye, they cannot but confess to be forbidden ground. They next
+assign to Religion a portion, larger or smaller according to whatever
+may be their circumstances and views, in which however she is to possess
+merely a qualified jurisdiction, and having so done, they conceive that
+without let or hindrance they have a right to range at will over the
+spacious remainder. Religion can claim only a stated proportion of their
+thoughts, and time, and fortune, and influence; and of these, or perhaps
+of any of them, if they make her any thing of a liberal allowance, she
+may well be satisfied: the rest is now their own to do what they will
+with; they have paid their tythes, say rather their composition, the
+demands of the Church are satisfied, and they may surely be permitted to
+enjoy what she has left without molestation or interference.
+
+It is scarcely possible to state too strongly the mischief which results
+from this fundamental error. At the same time its consequences are so
+natural and obvious, that one would think it scarcely possible not to
+foresee that they must infallibly follow. The greatest part of human
+actions is considered as indifferent. If men are not chargeable with
+actual vices, and are decent in the discharge of their religious duties;
+if they do not stray into the forbidden ground, if they respect the
+rights of the conceded allotment, what more can be expected from them?
+Instead of keeping at a distance from _all sin_, in which alone consists
+our safety, they will be apt not to care how near they approach what
+they conceive to be the boundary line; if they have not actually passed
+it, there is no harm done, it is no trespass. Thus the free and active
+spirit of Religion is "cribbed and hemmed in;" she is checked in her
+disposition to expand her territory, and enlarge the circle of her
+influence. She must keep to her prescribed confines, and every attempt
+to extend them will be resisted as an encroachment.
+
+But this is not all. Since whatever can be gained from her allotment, or
+whatever can be taken in from the forbidden ground, will be so much of
+addition to that land of liberty, where men may roam at large, free from
+restraint or molestation, they will of course be constantly, and almost
+insensibly, straitening and pressing upon the limits of the religious
+allotment on the one hand; and on the other, will be removing back a
+little farther and farther the fence which abridges them on the side of
+the forbidden ground. If Religion attempt for a time to defend her
+frontier, she by degrees gives way. The space she occupies diminishes
+till it be scarcely discernible; whilst, her spirit extinguished, and
+her force destroyed, she is little more than the nominal possessor even
+of the contracted limits to which she has been avowedly reduced.
+
+This it is to be feared is but too faithful a representation of the
+general state of things among ourselves. The promotion of the glory of
+God, and the possession of his favour, are no longer recognized as the
+objects of our highest regard, and most strenuous endeavours; as
+furnishing to us, a vigorous, habitual, and universal principle of
+action. We set up for ourselves: we are become our own masters. The
+sense of constant homage and continual service is irksome and galling to
+us; and we rejoice in being emancipated from it, as from a state of base
+and servile villainage. Thus the very tenure and condition, by which
+life and all its possessions are held, undergo a total change: our
+faculties and powers are now our own: whatever we have is regarded
+rather as a property than as a trust; or if there still exist the
+remembrance of some paramount claim, we are satisfied with an occasional
+acknowledgment of a nominal right; we pay our pepper corn, and take our
+estates to ourselves in full and free enjoyment.
+
+Hence it is that so little sense of responsibility seems attached to the
+possession of high rank, or splendid abilities, or affluent fortunes, or
+other means or instruments of usefulness. The instructive admonitions,
+"give an account of thy stewardship,"--"occupy till I come;" are
+forgotten. Or if it be acknowledged by some men of larger views than
+ordinary, that a reference is to be had to some principle superior to
+that of our own gratification, it is, at best, to the good of society,
+or to the welfare of our families: and even then the obligations
+resulting from these relations, are seldom enforced on us by any higher
+sanctions than those of family comfort, and of worldly interest or
+estimation. Besides; what multitudes of persons are there, people
+without families, in private stations, or of a retired turn, to whom
+they are scarcely held to apply! and what multitudes of cases to which
+it would be thought unnecessary scrupulosity to extend them! Accordingly
+we find _in fact_, that the generality of mankind among the higher
+order, in the formation of their schemes, in the selection of their
+studies, in the choice of their place of residence, in the employment
+and distribution of their time, in their thoughts, conversation, and
+amusements, are considered as being at liberty, if there be no actual
+vice, to consult in the main their own gratification.
+
+Thus the generous and wakeful spirit of Christian Benevolence, seeking
+and finding every where occasions for its exercise, is exploded, and a
+system of _decent selfishness_ is avowedly established in its stead; a
+system scarcely more to be abjured for its impiety, than to be abhorred
+for its cold insensibility to the opportunities of diffusing happiness.
+"Have we no families, or are they provided for? Are we wealthy, and bred
+to no profession? Are we young and lively, and in the gaiety and vigour
+of youth? Surely we may be allowed to take our pleasure. We neglect no
+duty, we live in no vice, we do nobody any harm, and have a right to
+amuse ourselves. We have nothing better to do, we wish we had; our time
+hangs heavy on our hands for want of it."
+
+I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beer-sheba, and cry "It is all
+barren." No man has a right to be idle--Not to speak of that great work
+which we all have to accomplish, and surely the _whole_ attention of a
+short and precarious life is not more than an eternal interest may well
+require; where is it that in such a world as this, health and leisure
+and affluence may not find some ignorance to instruct, some wrong to
+redress, some want to supply, some misery to alleviate? Shall Ambition
+and Avarice never sleep? Shall they never want objects on which to
+fasten? Shall they be so observant to discover, so acute to discern, so
+eager, so patient to pursue, and shall the Benevolence of Christians
+want employment?
+
+Yet thus life rolls away with too many of us in a course of "shapeless
+idleness." Its recreations constitute its chief business. Watering
+places--the sports of the field--cards! never failing cards!--the
+assembly--the theatre--all contribute their aid--amusements are
+multiplied, and combined, and varied, "to fill up the void of a listless
+and languid life;" and by the judicious use of these different
+resources, there is often a kind of sober settled plan of domestic
+dissipation, in which with all imaginable decency year after year wears
+away in unprofitable vacancy. Even old age often finds us pacing in the
+same round of amusements, which our early youth had tracked out.
+Meanwhile, being conscious that we are not giving into any flagrant
+vice, perhaps that we are guilty of no irregularity, and it may be, that
+we are not neglecting the offices of Religion, we persuade ourselves
+that we need not be uneasy. In the main we do not fall below the general
+standard of morals, of the class and station to which we belong, we may
+therefore allow ourselves to glide down the stream without apprehension
+of the consequences.
+
+Some, of a character often hardly to be distinguished from the class we
+have been just describing, take up with _sensual_ pleasures. The chief
+happiness of their lives consists in one species or another of animal
+gratification; and these persons perhaps will be found to compose a
+pretty large description. It will be remembered, that it belongs not to
+our purpose to speak of the grossly and scandalously profligate, who
+renounce all pretensions to the name of Christians; but of those who,
+maintaining a certain decency of character, and perhaps being tolerably
+observant of the forms of Religion, may yet be not improperly termed
+_sober sensualists_. These, though less impetuous and more measured, are
+not less staunch and steady, than the professed votaries of licentious
+pleasure, in the pursuit of their favourite objects. "Mortify the flesh,
+with its affections and lusts," is the Christian _precept_; a soft
+luxurious course of habitual indulgence, is the _practice_ of the bulk
+of modern Christians: and that constant moderation, that wholesome
+discipline of restraint and self-denial, which are requisite to prevent
+the unperceived encroachments of the inferior appetites, seem altogether
+disused, as the exploded austerities of monkish superstition.
+
+Christianity calls her professors to a state of diligent watchfulness
+and active services. But the persons of whom we are now speaking,
+forgetting alike the duties they owe to themselves and to their
+fellow-creatures, often act as though their condition were meant to be a
+state of uniform indulgence, and vacant, unprofitable sloth. To multiply
+the comforts of affluence, to provide for the gratification of appetite,
+to be luxurious without diseases, and indolent without lassitude, seems
+the chief study of their lives. Nor can they be clearly exempted from
+this class, who, by a common error, substituting the means for the end,
+make the preservation of health and spirits, not as instruments of
+usefulness, but as sources of pleasure, their great business and
+continual care.
+
+Others again seem more to attach themselves to what have been well
+termed the 'pomps and vanities of this world.' Magnificent houses, grand
+equipages, numerous retinues, splendid entertainments, high and
+fashionable connections, appear to constitute, in their estimation, the
+supreme happiness of life. This class too, if we mistake not, will be
+found numerous in our days; for it must be considered, _that it is the
+heart_, _set on these things_, which constitutes the essential
+character. It often happens, that persons, to whose rank and station
+these indulgences most properly belong, are most indifferent to them.
+The undue solicitude about them is more visible in persons of inferior
+conditions and smaller fortunes, in whom it is not rarely detected by
+the studious contrivances of a misapplied ingenuity to reconcile parade
+with oeconomy, and glitter at a cheap rate. But this temper of display
+and competition is a direct contrast to the lowly, modest, unassuming
+carriage of the true Christian: and wherever there is an evident effort
+and struggle to excel in the particulars here in question, a manifest
+wish thus to rival superiors, to outstrip equals, to dazzle inferiors;
+it is manifest the great end of life, and of all its possessions, is too
+little kept in view, and it is to be feared that the gratification of a
+vain ostentatious humour is the predominant disposition of the heart.
+
+As there is a sober sensuality, so is there also a sober avarice, and a
+sober ambition. The commercial and the professional world compose the
+chief sphere of their influence. They are often recognized and openly
+avowed as just master principles of action. But where this is not the
+case, they assume such plausible shapes, are called by such specious
+names, and urge such powerful pleas, that they are received with
+cordiality, and suffered to gather strength without suspicion. The
+seducing considerations of diligence in our callings, of success in our
+profession, of making handsome provisions for our children, beguile our
+better judgments. "We rise early, and late take rest, and eat the bread
+of carefulness." In our few intervals of leisure, our exhausted spirits
+require refreshment; the serious concerns of our immortal souls, are
+matters of speculation too grave and gloomy to answer the purpose, and
+we fly to something that may better deserve the name of relaxation, till
+we are again summoned to the daily labours of our employment.
+
+Meanwhile Religion seldom comes in our way, scarcely occurs to our
+thoughts; and when some secret misgivings begin to be felt on this head,
+company soon drowns, amusements dissipate, or habitual occupations
+insensibly displace or smother the rising apprehension. Professional and
+commercial men perhaps, especially when they happen to be persons of
+more than ordinary reflection, or of early habits of piety not quite
+worn away, easily quiet their consciences by the plea, that necessary
+attention to their business leaves them no time to think on these
+serious subjects at present. "Men of leisure they confess should
+consider them; they themselves will do it hereafter when they retire;
+meanwhile they are usefully or at least innocently employed." Thus
+business and pleasure fill up our time, and the "one thing needful," is
+forgotten. Respected by others, and secretly applauding ourselves,
+(perhaps congratulating ourselves that we are not like such an one who
+is a spendthrift or a mere man of pleasure, or such another who is a
+notorious miser) the true principle of action is no less wanting in us,
+and personal advancement or the acquisition of wealth is the object of
+our supreme desires and predominant pursuit.
+
+It would be to presume too much on the reader's patience to attempt a
+delineation of the characters of the politician, the metaphysician, the
+scholar, the poet, the virtuoso, the man of taste, in all their
+varieties. Of these and many other classes which might be enumerated,
+suffice it to remark, and to appeal to every man's own experience for
+the truth of the observation, that they in like manner are often
+completely engrossed by the objects of their several pursuits. In many
+of these cases indeed a generous spirit surrenders itself wholly up with
+the less reserve, and continues absorbed with the fuller confidence,
+from the consciousness of not being led to its object by self-interested
+motives. Here therefore these men are ardent, active, laborious,
+persevering, and they think, and speak, and act, as those, the whole
+happiness of whose life turns on the success or failure of their
+endeavours. When such, as we have seen it, is the undisturbed composure
+of mere triflers, it is less wonderful that the votaries of learning and
+of taste, when absorbed in their several pursuits, should be able to
+check still more easily any growing apprehension, silencing it by the
+suggestion, that they are more than harmlessly, that they are
+meritoriously employed. "Surely the thanks of mankind are justly paid to
+those more refined spirits who, superior alike to the seductions of
+ease, and the temptations of avarice, devote their time and talents to
+the less gainful labours of increasing the stores of learning or
+enlarging the boundaries of science; who are engaged in raising the
+character and condition of society, by improving the liberal arts, and
+adding to the innocent pleasures or elegant accomplishments of life."
+Let not the writer be so far misunderstood, as to be supposed to
+insinuate that Religion is an enemy to the pursuits of taste, much less
+to those of learning and of science. Let these have their _due_ place in
+the estimation of mankind; but this must not be the _highest_ place. Let
+them know their just _subordination_. They deserve not to be the
+_primary_ concern, for there is another, to which in importance they
+bear no more proportion than our span of existence to eternity.
+
+Thus the supreme desires of the heart, the center to which they should
+tend, losing its attractive force, are permitted without controul to
+take that course, whatever it may be, which best suits our natural
+temper, or to which they are impelled by our various situations and
+circumstances. Sometimes they manifestly appear to be almost entirely
+confined to a single track; but perhaps more frequently the lines in
+which they move are so intermingled and diversified, that it becomes not
+a little difficult, even when we look into ourselves, to ascertain the
+object by which they are chiefly attracted, or to estimate with
+precision the amount of their several forces, in the different
+directions in which they move. "Know thyself," is in truth an injunction
+with which the careless and the indolent cannot comply. For this
+compliance, it is requisite, in obedience to the Scripture precept, "to
+keep the heart with all diligence." Mankind are in general deplorably
+ignorant of their true state; and there are few perhaps who have any
+adequate conception of the real strength of the ties, by which they are
+bound to the several objects of their attachment, or who are aware how
+small a share of their regard is possessed by those concerns on which it
+ought to be supremely fixed.
+
+But if it be indeed true, that except the affections of the soul be
+supremely fixed on God; that unless it be _the leading and governing
+desire and primary pursuit_ to possess his favour and promote his glory,
+we are considered as having transferred our fealty to an usurper, and as
+being in fact revolters from our lawful sovereign; if this be indeed the
+Scripture doctrine, all the several attachments which have been lately
+enumerated, of the different classes of society, wherever they interest
+the affections, and possess the soul in any such measure of strength as
+deserves to be called _predominance_, are but so many varied expressions
+of _disloyalty_. God requires to set up his throne in the heart, and to
+reign in it without a rival: if he be kept out of his right, it matters
+not by what competitor. The revolt may be more avowed or more secret;
+it may be the treason of deliberate preference, or of inconsiderate
+levity; we may be the subjects of a more or of a less creditable master;
+we may be employed in services more gross or more refined: but whether
+the slaves of avarice, of sensuality, of dissipation, of sloth, or the
+votaries of ambition, of taste, or of fashion; whether supremely
+governed by vanity and self-love, by the desire of literary fame or of
+military glory, we are alike estranged from the dominion of our rightful
+sovereign. Let not this seem a harsh position; it can appear so only
+from not adverting to what was shewn to be the _essential nature_ of
+true Religion. He who bowed the knee to the god of medicine or of
+eloquence, was no less an idolater than the worshipper of the deified
+patrons of lewdness or of theft. In the several cases which have been
+specified, the _external acts_ indeed are different; but in _principle_
+the disaffection is the same; and unless we return to our allegiance, we
+must expect the title, and prepare to meet the punishment, of rebels on
+that tremendous day, when all false colours shall be done away, and
+(there being no longer any room for the evasions of worldly sophistry,
+or the smooth plausibilities of worldly language) "that which is often
+highly esteemed amongst men, shall appear to have been abomination in
+the sight of God."
+
+These fundamental truths seem vanished from the mind, and it follows of
+course, that every thing is viewed less and less through a religious
+medium. To speak no longer of instances wherein _we ourselves_ are
+concerned, and wherein the unconquerable power of indulged appetite may
+be supposed to beguile our better judgment, or force us on in defiance
+of it; not to insist on the motives by which the conduct of men is
+determined, often avowedly, in what are to _themselves_ the most
+important incidents of life; what are the judgments which they form in
+the case of _others_? Idleness, profusion, thoughtlessness, and
+dissipation, the misapplication of time or of talents, the trifling away
+of life in frivolous occupations or unprofitable studies; all these
+things we may regret in those around us, in the view of their temporal
+effects; but they are not considered in a religious connection, or
+lamented as endangering everlasting happiness. Excessive vanity and
+inordinate ambition are spoken of as weaknesses rather than as sins;
+even covetousness itself, though a hateful passion, yet, if not extreme,
+scarcely presents the face of _Irreligion_. Is some friend, or even some
+common acquaintance sick, or has some accident befallen him? How
+solicitously do we inquire after him, how tenderly do we visit him, how
+much perhaps do we regret that he has not better advice, how apt are we
+to prescribe for him, and how should we reproach ourselves, if we were
+to neglect any means in our power of contributing to his recovery! But
+"the mind diseased" is neglected and forgotten--"_that_ is not our
+affair; we hope (we do not perhaps really believe) that here it is well
+with him." The truth is, we have no solicitude about his spiritual
+interest. Here he is treated like the unfortunate traveller in the
+Gospel; we look upon him; we see but too well his sad condition, but
+(Priest and Levite alike) we pass by on the other side, and leave him to
+the officious tenderness of some poor despised Samaritan.
+
+Nay, take the case of our very children, when our hearts being most
+interested to promote their happiness, we must be supposed most desirous
+of determining on right principles, and where therefore the real
+standard of our deliberate judgments may be indisputably ascertained: in
+their education and marriage, in the choice of their professions, in our
+comparative consideration and judgment of the different parts of their
+several characters, how little do we reflect that they are immortal
+beings! Health, learning, credit, the amiable and agreeable qualities,
+above all, fortune and success in life, are taken, and not unjustly
+taken, into the account; but how small a share in forming our opinions
+is allowed to the probable effect which may be produced on their eternal
+interests! Indeed the subjects of our mutual inquiries, and
+congratulations, and condolences, prove but too plainly what
+considerations are in these cases uppermost in our thoughts.
+
+Such are the fatal and widely spreading effects, which but too naturally
+follow from the admission of the grand fundamental error before
+mentioned, that of not considering Religion as a principle of universal
+application and command. Robbed of its best energies, Religion now takes
+the form of a cold compilation of restraints and prohibitions. It is
+looked upon simply as a set of penal statutes; these, though wise and
+reasonable, are however, so far as they extend, abridgments of our
+natural liberty, and nothing which comes to us in this shape is
+extremely acceptable:
+
+    Atqui nolint occidere quemquam, posse volunt.
+
+Considering moreover, that the matter of them is not in general very
+palatable, and that the partiality of every man where his own cause is
+in question, will be likely to make him construe them liberally in his
+own favour, we might beforehand have formed a tolerable judgment of the
+manner in which they are actually treated. Sometimes we attend to the
+words rather than to the spirit of Scripture injunctions, overlooking
+the principle they involve, which a better acquaintance with the word of
+God would have clearly taught us to infer from them. At others, "the
+spirit of an injunction is all;" and this we contrive to collect so
+dexterously, as thereby to relax or annul the strictness of the terms.
+"Whatever is not expressly forbidden cannot be _very_ criminal; whatever
+is not positively enjoined, cannot be indispensably necessary--If we do
+not offend against the laws, what more can be expected from us?--The
+persons to whom the strict precepts of the Gospel were given, were in
+very different circumstances from those in which we are placed. The
+injunctions were drawn rather tighter than is quite necessary, in order
+to allow for a little relaxation in practice. The expressions of the
+sacred Writers are figurative; the Eastern style is confessedly
+hyperbolical."
+
+By these and other such dishonest shifts (by which however we seldom
+deceive ourselves, except it be in thinking that we deceive others) the
+pure but strong morality of the word of God is explained away, and its
+too rigid canons are softened down, with as much dexterity as is
+exhibited by those who practise a logic of the same complexion, in order
+to escape from the obligations of human statutes. Like Swift's
+unfortunate Brothers[74], we are sometimes put to difficulties, but our
+ingenuity is little inferior to their's. If totidem verbis[75] will not
+serve our turn, try totidem syllabis; if totidem syllabis fail, try
+totidem literis: then there is in our case, as well as in theirs, "an
+allegorical sense" to be adverted to; and if every other resource fail
+us, we come at last to the same conclusion as the Brothers adopted, that
+after all, those rigorous clauses require some allowance, and a
+favourable interpretation, and ought to be understood "cum grano salis."
+
+But when the law both in its spirit and its letter is obstinate and
+incorrigible, what we cannot bend to our purpose we must break--"Our
+sins we hope are of the smaller order; a little harmless gallantry, a
+little innocent jollity, a few foolish expletives which we use from the
+mere force of habit, meaning nothing by them; a little warmth of
+colouring and licence of expression; a few freedoms of speech in the
+gaiety of our hearts, which, though not perhaps strictly correct, none
+but the over-rigid would think of treating any otherwise than as venial
+infirmities, and in which very grave and religious men will often take
+their share, when they may throw off their state, and relax without
+impropriety. We serve an all-merciful Being, who knows the frailty of
+our nature, the number and strength of our temptations, and will not be
+extreme to mark what is done amiss. Even the less lenient judicatures of
+human institution concede somewhat to the weakness of man. It is an
+established maxim--'De minimis non curat lex.' We hope we are not worse
+than the generality. All men are imperfect. We own we have our
+infirmities; we confess it is so; we wish we were better, and trust as
+we grow older we shall become so; we are ready to acknowledge that we
+must be indebted for our admission into a future state of happiness, not
+to our own merit, but to the clemency of God, and the mercy of our
+Redeemer."
+
+But let not this language be mistaken for that of true Christian
+humiliation, of which it is the very essence to feel the burden of sin,
+and to long to be released from it: nor let two things be confounded,
+than which none can be more fundamentally different, the allowed want of
+universality in our determination, and our endeavour to obey the will of
+God, and that defective accomplishment of our purposes, which even the
+best of men will too often find reason to deplore. In the persons of
+whom we have been now speaking, the unconcern with which they can amuse
+themselves upon the borders of sin, and the easy familiarity with which
+they can actually dally with it in its less offensive shapes, shew
+plainly that, distinctly from its consequences, it is by no means the
+object of their aversion; that there is no love of holiness as such; no
+endeavour to acquire it, no care to prepare the soul for the reception
+of this divine principle, and to expel or keep under whatever might be
+likely to obstruct its entrance, or dispute its sovereignty.
+
+It is indeed a most lamentable consequence of the practice of regarding
+Religion as a compilation of statutes, and not as an internal principle,
+that it soon comes to be considered as being conversant about _external
+actions_ rather than about _habits of mind_. This sentiment sometimes
+has even the hardiness to insinuate and maintain itself under the guise
+of extraordinary concern for _practical Religion_; but it soon discovers
+the falsehood of this pretension, and betrays its real nature. The
+expedient indeed of attaining to superiority in practice, by not wasting
+any of the attention on the internal principles from which alone
+practice can flow, is about as reasonable, and will answer about as
+well, as the oeconomy of the architect, who should account it mere
+prodigality to expend any of his materials in laying foundations, from
+an idea that they might be more usefully applied to the raising of the
+superstructure. We know what would be the fate of such an edifice.
+
+It is indeed true, and a truth never to be forgotten, that all
+pretensions to internal principles of holiness are vain when they are
+contradicted by the conduct; but it is no less true, that the only
+effectual way of improving the latter, is by a vigilant attention to the
+former. It was therefore our blessed Saviour's injunction, "Make the
+tree good" as the necessary means of obtaining good fruit; and the holy
+Scriptures abound in admonitions, to let it be our chief business to
+cultivate our hearts with all diligence, to examine into their state
+with impartiality, and watch over them with continual care. Indeed it is
+the _Heart_ which constitutes the _Man_; and external actions derive
+their whole character and meaning from the motives and dispositions of
+which they are the indications. Human judicatures, it is true, are
+chiefly conversant about the former, but this is only because to our
+limited perceptions the latter can seldom be any otherwise clearly
+ascertained. The real object of inquiry to human judicatures is the
+_internal_ disposition; it is to this that they adapt the nature, and
+proportion the degree, of their punishments.
+
+Yet though this be a truth so obvious, so established, that to have
+insisted on it may seem almost needless; it is a truth of which we are
+apt to lose sight in the review of our religious Character, and with
+which the _habit_, of considering Religion as consisting rather in
+external actions, than internal principles, is at direct and open war.
+This mode of judging may well be termed _habitual_: for though by some
+persons it is advisedly adopted, and openly avowed, yet in many cases
+for want of due watchfulness, it has stolen insensibly upon the mind; it
+exists unsuspected, and is practised, like other habits, without
+consciousness or observation.
+
+In what degree soever this pernicious principle prevails, in that degree
+is the mischief it produces. The vicious affections, like noxious weeds,
+sprout up and increase of themselves but too naturally; while the graces
+of the Christian temper, exotics in the soil of the human heart, like
+the more tender productions of the vegetable world, though the light and
+breath of Heaven must quicken them, require on our part also, in order
+to their being preserved in health and vigour, constant superintendence
+and assiduous care. But so far from their being earnestly sought for, or
+watchfully reared, with unremitted prayers for that Divine Grace,
+without which all our labours must be ineffectual; such is the result of
+the principle we are here condemning, that no endeavours are used for
+their attainment, or they are suffered to droop and die almost without
+an effort to preserve them. The culture of the mind is less and less
+attended to, and at length perhaps is almost wholly neglected. Way
+being thus made for the unobstructed growth of other tempers, the
+qualities of which are very different, and often directly opposite,
+these naturally overspread and quietly possess the mind; their
+contrariety to the Christian spirit not being discerned, and even
+perhaps their presence being scarcely acknowledged, except when their
+existence and their nature are manifested in the conduct by marks too
+plain to be overlooked or mistaken.
+
+Some of the most important branches of the Christian temper, wherein the
+bulk of nominal Christians appear eminently and allowedly defective,
+have been already noticed in this and in the preceding chapter. Many
+others still remain to be particularized.
+
+First then, it is the comprehensive compendium of the character of true
+Christians, that "they are walking by faith, and not by sight." By this
+description is meant, not merely that they so firmly believe in the
+doctrine of future rewards and punishments, as to be influenced by that
+persuasion to adhere in the main to the path of duty, though tempted to
+forsake it by present interest, and present gratification; but farther,
+that the great truths revealed in Scripture concerning the unseen world,
+are the ideas for the most part uppermost in their thoughts, and about
+which habitually their hearts are most interested. This state of mind
+contributes, if the expression may be allowed, to rectify the illusions
+of vision, to bring forward into nearer view those eternal things which
+from their remoteness are apt to be either wholly overlooked, or to
+appear but faintly in the utmost bounds of the horizon; and to remove
+backward, and reduce to their true comparative dimensions, the objects
+of the present life, which are apt to fill the human eye, assuming a
+false magnitude from their vicinity. The true Christian knows from
+experience however, that the former are apt to fade from the sight, and
+the latter again to swell on it. He makes it therefore his continual
+care to preserve those just and enlightened views, which through Divine
+mercy he has obtained. Not that he will retire from that station in the
+world which Providence seems to have appointed him to fill: he will be
+active in the business of life, and enjoy its comforts with moderation
+and thankfulness; but he will not be "totus in illis," he will not give
+up his whole soul to them, they will be habitually subordinate in his
+estimation to objects of more importance. The awful truth has sunk deep
+into his mind, "the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
+which are not seen are eternal;" and in the tumult and bustle of life,
+he is sobered by the still small voice which whispers to him "the
+fashion of this world passes away." This circumstance alone must, it is
+obvious, constitute a vast difference between the habitual temper of his
+mind, and that of the generality of nominal Christians, who are almost
+entirely taken up with the concerns of the present world. They _know_
+indeed that they are mortal, but they do not _feel_ it. The truth rests
+in their understandings, and cannot gain admission into their hearts.
+This speculative persuasion is altogether different from that strong
+_practical_ impression of the infinite importance of eternal things,
+which attended with a proportionate sense of the shortness and
+uncertainty of all below, while it prompts to activity from a conviction
+that "the night cometh when no man can work," produces a certain
+firmness of texture, which hardens us against the buffets of fortune,
+and prevents our being very deeply penetrated by the cares and
+interests, the goods or evils, of this transitory state. Thus this just
+impression of the relative value of temporal and eternal things,
+maintains in the soul a dignified composure through all the vicissitudes
+of life. It quickens our diligence, yet moderates our ardour; urges us
+to just pursuits, yet checks any undue solicitude about the success of
+them, and thereby enables us, in the language of Scripture, "to use this
+world as not abusing it," rendering us at once beneficial to others and
+comfortable to ourselves.
+
+But this is not all--besides the distinction between the nominal and the
+real Christian, which results from the impressions produced on them
+respectively by the _eternal duration_ of heavenly things, there is
+another grounded on their _nature_, no less marked, nor less important.
+They are stated in Scripture, not only as entitling themselves to the
+notice of the true Christian from considerations of interest, but as
+approving themselves to his judgment from a conviction of their
+excellence, and yet farther, as recommending themselves to his feelings,
+by their being suited to the renewed dispositions of his heart. Indeed
+were the case otherwise, did not their qualities correspond with his
+inclinations; however he might endure them on principles of duty, and be
+coldly conscious of their superior worth, he could not lend himself to
+them with cordial complacency, much less look to them as the surest
+source of pleasure. But this is the light in which they are habitually
+regarded by the true Christian. He walks in the ways of Religion, not
+by constraint, but willingly; they are to him not only safe, but
+comfortable; "ways of pleasantness as well as of peace." Not but that
+here also he is from experience aware of the necessity of constant
+support, and continual watchfulness; without these, his old estimate of
+things is apt to return on him, and the former objects of his affections
+to resume their influence. With earnest prayers, therefore, for the
+Divine Help, with jealous circumspection, and resolute self-denial, he
+guards against, and abstains from, whatever might be likely again to
+darken his _enlightened judgment_, or to vitiate his reformed taste;
+thus making it his unwearied endeavour to grow in the knowledge and love
+of heavenly things, and to obtain a warmer admiration, and a more
+cordial relish of their excellence.
+
+That this is a just representation of the habitual judgment, and of the
+leading disposition of true Christians, will be abundantly evident, if,
+endeavouring to form ourselves after our proper model, we consult the
+sacred Scripture. But in vain are Christians there represented as having
+set their _affections_ on things above, as _cordially rejoicing_ in the
+service, and delighting in the worship of God. Pleasure and Religion are
+contradictory terms with the bulk of nominal Christians. They may look
+back indeed on their religious offices with something of a secret
+satisfaction, and even feel it during the performance of them, from the
+idea of being engaged in the discharge of a duty; but this is altogether
+different from the pleasure which attends an employment in itself
+acceptable and grateful to us. The writer must here again guard against
+being understood to speak of a deficiency in the _warmth_ and
+_vehemence_ merely of religious affections. Are the service and worship
+of God _pleasant_ to these persons? it is not asked whether they are
+_delightful_. Do they diffuse over the soul any thing of that calm
+complacency, that mild and grateful composure, which bespeaks a mind in
+good humour with itself and all around it, and engaged in a service
+suited to its taste, and congenial with its feelings?
+
+Let us appeal to that Day which is especially devoted to the offices of
+Religion: Do they joyfully avail themselves of this blessed opportunity
+of withdrawing from the business and cares of life; when, without being
+disquieted by any doubt whether they are not neglecting the duties of
+their proper callings, they may be allowed to detach their minds from
+earthly things, that by a fuller knowledge of heavenly objects, and a
+more habitual acquaintance with them, their hope may grow more "full of
+immortality?" Is the day cheerfully devoted to those holy exercises for
+which it was appointed? Do they indeed "come into the courts of God with
+gladness?" And how are they employed when not engaged in the public
+services of the day? Are they busied in studying the word of God, in
+meditating on his perfections, in tracing his providential
+dispensations, in admiring his works, in revolving his mercies, (above
+all, the transcendent mercies of redeeming love) in singing his praises,
+"and speaking good of his name?" Do their secret retirements witness the
+earnestness of their prayers and the warmth of their thanksgivings,
+their diligence and impartiality in the necessary work of
+self-examination, their mindfulness of the benevolent duty of
+intercession? Is the kind purpose of the institution of a Sabbath
+answered by them, in its being made to their servants and dependents a
+season of rest and comfort? Does the instruction of their families, or
+of the more poor and ignorant of their neighbours, possess its due share
+of their time? If blessed with talents or with affluence, are they
+sedulously employing a part of this interval of leisure in relieving the
+indigent, and visiting the sick, and comforting the sorrowful, in
+forming plans for the good of their fellow-creatures, in considering how
+they may promote both the temporal and spiritual benefit of their
+friends and acquaintance: or if their's be a larger sphere, in devising
+measures whereby through the Divine blessing, they may become the
+honoured instruments of the more extended diffusion of religious truth?
+In the hours of domestic or social intercourse, does their conversation
+manifest the subject of which their hearts are full? Do their language
+and demeanor shew them to be more than commonly gentle, and kind, and
+friendly, free from rough and irritating passions?
+
+Surely an entire day should not seem long amidst these various
+employments. It might well be deemed a privilege thus to spend it, in
+the more immediate presence of our Heavenly Father, in the exercises of
+humble admiration and grateful homage; of the benevolent, and domestic,
+and social feelings, and of all the best affections of our nature,
+prompted by their true motives, conversant about their proper objects,
+and directed to their noblest end; all sorrows mitigated, all cares
+suspended, all fears repressed, every angry emotion softened, every
+envious or revengeful or malignant passion expelled; and the bosom, thus
+quieted, purified, enlarged, ennobled, partaking almost of a measure of
+the Heavenly happiness, and become for a while the seat of love, and
+joy, and confidence, and harmony.
+
+The nature, and uses, and proper employments of a Christian Sabbath,
+have been pointed out more particularly, not only because the day will
+be found, when thus employed, eminently conducive, through the Divine
+blessing, to the maintenance of the religious principle in activity and
+vigour; but also because we must all have had occasion often to remark,
+that many persons, of the graver and more decent sort, seem not seldom
+to be nearly destitute of religious resources. The Sunday is with them,
+to say the best of it, a _heavy_ day; and that larger part of it, which
+is not claimed by the public offices of the church, dully drawls on in
+comfortless vacuity, or without improvement is trifled away in vain and
+unprofitable discourse. Not to speak of those who by their more daring
+profanation of this sacred season, openly violate the laws and insult
+the religion of their country, how little do many seem to enter into the
+_spirit_ of the institution, who are not wholly inattentive to its
+exterior decorums! How glad are they to qualify the rigor of their
+religious labours! How hardly do they plead against being compelled to
+devote the _whole_ of the day to Religion, claiming to themselves no
+small merit for giving up to it a part, and purchasing therefore, as
+they hope, a right to spend the remainder more agreeably! How
+dexterously do they avail themselves of any plausible plea for
+introducing some weekday employment into the Sunday, whilst they have
+not the same propensity to introduce any of the Sunday's peculiar
+employment into the rest of the week! How often do they find excuses
+for taking journeys, writing letters, balancing accounts; or in short
+doing something, which by a little management might probably have been
+anticipated, or which, without any material inconvenience, might be
+postponed! Even business itself is recreation, compared with Religion,
+and from the drudgery of this day of Sacred Rest they fly for relief to
+their ordinary occupations.
+
+Others again who would consider business as a prophanation, and who
+still hold out against the encroachments of the card table, get over
+much of the day, and gladly seek for an innocent resource, in the social
+circle or in family visits, where it is not even pretended that the
+conversation turns on such topics as might render it in any way
+conducive to religious instruction, or improvement. Their families
+meanwhile are neglected, their servants robbed of Christian privileges,
+and their example quoted by others, who cannot see that they are
+themselves less religiously employed, while playing an innocent game at
+cards, or relaxing in the concert room.
+
+But all these several artifices, _whatever they may be_, _to unhallow_
+the Sunday and to change its character (it might be almost said "to
+relax its horrors,") prove but too plainly, however we may be glad to
+take refuge in Religion, when driven to it by the loss of every other
+comfort, and to retain as it were a reversionary interest in an asylum,
+which may receive us when we are forced from the transitory enjoyments
+of our present state; that _in itself_ it wears to us a gloomy and
+forbidding aspect, and not a face of consolation and joy; that the
+worship of God is with us a _constrained_ and not a _willing_ service,
+which we are glad therefore to abridge though we dare not omit it.
+
+Some indeed there are who with concern and grief will confess this to be
+their uncomfortable and melancholy state; who humbly pray, and
+diligently endeavour, for an imagination less distracted at devotional
+seasons, for a heart more capable of relishing the excellence of divine
+things; and who carefully guard against whatever has a tendency to chain
+down their affections to earthly enjoyments. Let not such be
+discouraged. It is not they whom we are condemning: but such as knowing
+and even acknowledging this to be their case, yet proceed in a way
+directly contrary: who, scarcely seeming to suspect that any thing is
+wrong with them, voluntarily acquiesce in a state of mind which is
+directly contrary to the positive commands of God, which forms a perfect
+contrast to the representations given us in Scripture of the Christian
+character, and accords but too faithfully in one leading feature with
+the character of those, who are stated to be the objects of Divine
+displeasure in this life, and of Divine punishment in the next.
+
+It is not however only in these essential constituents of a devotional
+frame that the bulk of nominal Christians are defective. This they
+freely declare (secretly feeling perhaps some complacency from the
+frankness of the avowal) to be a higher strain of piety than that to
+which they aspire. Their forgetfulness also of some of the leading
+dispositions of Christianity, is undeniably apparent in their allowed
+want of the spirit of kindness, and meekness, and gentleness, and
+patience, and long suffering; and above all, of that which is the stock
+on which alone these dispositions can grow and flourish, that
+_humility_ and _lowliness of mind_, in which perhaps more than in any
+other quality may be said to consist the true essence and vital
+principle of the Christian temper. These dispositions are not only
+neglected, but even disavowed and exploded, and their opposites, if not
+rising to any great height, are acknowledged and applauded. _A just
+pride, a proper and becoming pride_, are terms which we daily hear from
+Christian lips. To possess _a high spirit_, to behave with _a proper
+spirit_ when used ill,--by which is meant a quick feeling of injuries,
+and a promptness in resenting them,--entitles to commendation; and a
+meek-spirited disposition, the highest Scripture eulogium, expresses
+ideas of disapprobation and contempt. Vanity and vain glory are suffered
+without interruption to retain their natural possession of the heart.
+But here a topic opens upon us of such importance, and on which so many
+mistakes are to be found both in the writings of respectable authors,
+and in the commonly prevailing opinions of the world, that it may be
+allowed us to discuss it more at large, and for this purpose to treat of
+it in a separate section.
+
+
+SECTION III.
+
+_On the Desire of human Estimation and Applause--The generally
+prevailing Opinions contrasted with those of the true Christian._
+
+The desire of human estimation, and distinction, and honour, of the
+admiration and applause of our fellow creatures, if we take it in its
+full comprehension, and in all its various modifications, from the
+thirst of glory to the dread of shame, is the passion of which the
+empire is by far the most general, and perhaps the authority the most
+commanding. Though its power be most conspicuous and least controulable
+in the higher classes of society, it seems, like some resistless
+conqueror, to spare neither age, nor sex, nor condition; and taking ten
+thousand shapes, insinuating itself under the most specious pretexts,
+and sheltering itself when necessary under the most artful disguises, it
+winds its way in secret, when it dares not openly avow itself, and mixes
+in all we think, and speak, and do. It is in some instances the
+determined and declared pursuit, and confessedly the main practical
+principle; but where this is not the case, it is not seldom the grand
+spring of action, and in the Beauty and the Author, no less than in the
+Soldier, it is often the master passion of the soul.
+
+This is the principle which parents recognize with joy in their infant
+offspring, which is diligently instilled and nurtured in advancing
+years, which, under the names of honourable ambition and of laudable
+emulation, it is the professed aim of schools and colleges to excite and
+cherish. The writer is well aware that it will be thought he is pushing
+his opinions much too far, when he ventures to assail this great
+principle of human action; "a principle," its advocates might perhaps
+exclaim, "the extinction of which, if you could succeed in your rash
+attempt, would be like the annihilation in the material world of the
+principle of motion; without it all were torpid and cold and
+comfortless. We grant," they might go on to observe, "that we never
+ought to deviate from the paths of duty in order to procure the applause
+or to avoid the reproaches of men, and we allow that this is a rule too
+little attended to in practice. We grant that the love of praise is in
+some instances a ridiculous, and in others a mischievous passion; that
+to it we owe the breed of coquettes and coxcombs, and, a more serious
+evil, the noxious race of heroes and conquerors. We too are ready, when
+it appears in the shape of vanity, to smile at it as a foible, or in
+that of false glory, to condemn it as a crime. But all these are only
+its perversions; and on account of them to contend against its true
+forms, and its legitimate exercise, were to give into the very error
+which you formerly yourself condemned, of arguing against the use of a
+salutary principle altogether, on account of its being liable to
+occasional abuse. When turned into the right direction, and applied to
+its true purposes, it prompts to every dignified and generous
+enterprise. It is erudition in the portico, skill in the lycaeum,
+eloquence in the senate, victory in the field. It forces indolence into
+activity, and extorts from vice itself the deeds of generosity and
+virtue. When once the soul is warmed by its generous ardor, no
+difficulties deter, no dangers terrify, no labours tire. It is this
+which, giving by its stamp to what is virtuous and honourable its just
+superiority over the gifts of birth and fortune, rescues the rich from a
+base subjection to the pleasures of sense, and makes them prefer a
+course of toil and hardship to a life of indulgence and ease. It
+prevents the man of rank from acquiescing in his hereditary greatness,
+and spurs him forward in pursuit of _personal_ distinction, and of a
+nobility which he may justly term his own. It moderates and qualifies
+the over-great inequalities of human conditions; and reaching to those
+who are above the sphere of laws, and extending to cases which fall not
+within their province, it limits and circumscribes the power of the
+tyrant on his throne, and gives gentleness to war, and to pride,
+humility.
+
+"Nor is its influence confined to public life, nor is it known only in
+the great and the splendid. To it is to be ascribed a large portion of
+that courtesy and disposition to please, which naturally producing a
+mutual appearance of good will, and a reciprocation of good offices,
+constitute much of the comfort of private life, and give their choicest
+sweets to social and domestic intercourse. Nay, from the force of habit,
+it follows us even into solitude, and in our most secret retirements we
+often act as if our conduct were subject to human observation, and we
+derive no small complacency from the imaginary applauses of an ideal
+spectator."
+
+So far of the _effects_ of the love of praise and distinction: and if
+after enumerating some of these, you should proceed to investigate its
+_nature_, "We admit," it might be added, "that a hasty and misjudging
+world often misapplies commendations and censures: and whilst we
+therefore confess, that the praises of the discerning few are alone
+truly valuable; we acknowledge that it were better if mankind were
+always to act from the sense of right and the love of virtue, without
+reference to the opinions of their fellow-creatures. We even allow,
+that independently of consequences, this were perhaps in itself a higher
+strain of virtue; but it is a degree of purity which it would be vain to
+expect from the bulk of mankind. When the _intrinsic excellence_ of this
+principle however is called in question, let it be remembered, that in
+its higher degrees it was styled, by one who meant rather to detract
+from its merits than to aggravate them, 'the infirmity of _noble_
+minds;' and surely, that in such a soil it most naturally springs up,
+and flourishes, is no mean proof of its exalted origin and generous
+nature.
+
+"But were these more dubious, and were it no more than a splendid error;
+yet considering that it works so often in the right direction, it were
+enough to urge in its behalf, that it is a principle of real _action_,
+and approved energy. That, as much as practice is better than theory,
+and solid realties than empty speculation, so much is it to be preferred
+for general use before those higher principles of morals, which however
+just and excellent in themselves, you would in vain attempt to bring
+home to the 'business and bosoms of mankind' at large. Reject not then a
+principle thus universal in its influence, thus valuable in its effects;
+a principle, which, by whatever name you may please to call it, acts by
+motives and considerations suited to our condition; and which, putting
+it at the very lowest, must be confessed, in our present infirm state,
+to be an habitual aid and an ever present support to the feebleness of
+virtue! In a selfish world it produces the effects of disinterestedness,
+and when public spirit is extinct, it supplies the want of patriotism.
+Let us therefore with gratitude avail ourselves of its help, and not
+relinquish the good which it freely offers, from we know not what vain
+dreams of impracticable purity and unattainable perfection."
+
+All this and much more might be urged by the advocates of this favourite
+principle. It would be however no difficult task to shew that it by no
+means merits this high eulogium. To say nothing of that larger part of
+the argument of our opponents, which betrays, and even proceeds upon,
+that mischievous notion of the innocence of error, against which we have
+already entered our formal protest, the principle in question is
+manifestly of a most inconstant and variable nature; as inconstant and
+variable as the innumerably diversified modes of fashions, habits, and
+opinions in different periods and societies. What it tolerates in one
+age, it forbids in another; what in one country it prescribes and
+applauds, in another it condemns and stigmatizes! Obviously and openly,
+it often takes vice into its patronage, and sets itself in direct
+opposition to virtue. It is calculated to produce rather the
+_appearance_ than the _reality_ of excellence; and at best not to check
+the _love_ but only the _commission_ of vice. Much of this indeed was
+seen and acknowledged by the philosophers, and even by the poets, of the
+Pagan world. They declaimed against it as a mutable and inconsistent
+principle; they lamented the fatal effects which, under the name of
+false glory, it had produced on the peace and happiness of mankind. They
+condemned the pursuit of it when it led its followers out of the path of
+virtue, and taught that the praise of the wise and of the good only was
+to be desired.
+
+But it was reserved for the page of Scripture to point out to us
+distinctly, wherein it is apt to be essentially defective and vicious,
+and to discover to us more fully its encroaching nature and dangerous
+tendencies; teaching us at the same time, how, being purified from its
+corrupt qualities, and reduced under just subordination, it may be
+brought into legitimate exercise, and be directed to its true end.
+
+In the sacred volume we are throughout reminded, that we are originally
+the creatures of God's formation, and continual dependents on his
+bounty. There too we learn the painful lesson of man's degradation and
+unworthiness. We learn that humiliation and contrition are the tempers
+of mind best suited to our fallen condition, and most acceptable in the
+sight of our Creator. We learn that these (to the repression and
+extinction of that spirit of arrogance and self-importance, so natural
+to the heart of man) it should be our habitual care to cherish and
+cultivate; studiously maintaining a continual sense, that, not only for
+all the _natural_ advantages over others which we may possess, but that
+for all our _moral_ superiority also, we are altogether indebted to the
+unmerited goodness of God. It might perhaps be said to be the great end
+and purpose of all revelation, and especially to be the design of the
+Gospel, to reclaim us from our natural pride and selfishness, and their
+fatal consequences; to bring us to a just sense of our weakness and
+_depravity_; and to dispose us, with unfeigned humiliation, to abase
+ourselves, and give glory to God. "No flesh may glory in his presence;
+he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord"--"The lofty looks of man
+shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and
+the Lord alone shall be exalted[76]."
+
+These solemn admonitions are too generally disregarded, and their
+intimate connection with the subject we are now considering, appears to
+have been often entirely overlooked, even by Christian moralists. These
+authors, without reference to the main spring, and internal principle of
+conduct, are apt to speak of the love of human applause, as being
+meritorious or culpable, as being the desire of true or of false glory,
+accordingly as the external actions it produces, and the pursuits to
+which it prompts, are beneficial or mischievous to mankind. But it is
+undeniably manifest, that in the judgment of the word of God, the love
+of worldly admiration and applause is in its _nature_ essentially and
+radically corrupt; so far as it partakes of a disposition to exalt and
+aggrandize ourselves, to pride ourselves on our natural or acquired
+endowments, or to assume to ourselves the merit and credit of our good
+qualities, instead of ascribing all the honour and glory where only they
+are due. Its _guilt_ therefore in these cases, is not to be measured by
+its effects on the happiness of mankind; nor is it to be denominated
+_true or false_ glory, accordingly as the ends to which it is directed
+are beneficial or mischievous, just or unjust objects of pursuit; but it
+is _false_, because it exalts that which ought to be abased, and
+_criminal_, because it encroaches on the prerogative of God.
+
+The Scriptures further instruct us, not merely that mankind are liable
+to error, and therefore that the world's commendations _may be_
+sometimes mistaken; but that their judgment being darkened and their
+hearts depraved, its applauses and contempt will for the most part be
+systematically misplaced; that though the beneficent and disinterested
+spirit of Christianity, and her obvious tendency to promote domestic
+comfort and general happiness, cannot but extort applause; yet that her
+aspiring after more than ordinary excellence, by exciting secret
+misgivings in others, or a painful sense of inferiority not unmixed with
+envy, cannot fail often to disgust and offend. The word of God teaches
+us, that though such of the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, as
+are coincident with worldly interests and pursuits, and with worldly
+principles and systems, may be professed without offence; yet, that what
+is opposite to these, or even different from them, will be deemed
+needlessly precise and strict, the indulgence of a morose and gloomy
+humour, the symptoms of a contracted and superstitious spirit, the marks
+of a mean, enslaved, or distorted understanding. That for these and
+other reasons, the follower of Christ must not only make up his mind to
+the _occasional relinquishment_ of worldly favour, but that it should
+even afford him matter of holy jealousy and suspicion of himself, when
+it is very lavishly and very generally bestowed.
+
+But though the standard of worldly estimation differed less from that of
+the Gospel; yet since our affections ought to be set on heavenly things,
+and conversant about heavenly objects; and since in particular the love
+and favour of God ought to be the matter of our supreme and habitual
+desire, to which every other should be subordinated; it follows, that
+the love of human applause must be manifestly injurious, so far as it
+tends to draw down our regards to earthly concerns, and to bound and
+circumscribe our desires within the narrow limits of this world.
+Particularly, that it is _impure_, so far as it is tinctured with a
+disposition to estimate too highly, and love too well, the good opinion
+and commendations of man.
+
+But though, by these and other instructions and considerations, the Holy
+Scripture warns us against the inordinate desire or earnest pursuit of
+worldly estimation and honour; though it so greatly reduces their value,
+and prepares us for losing them without surprise, and for relinquishing
+them with little reluctance: yet it teaches us, that Christians in
+general are not only not called upon absolutely and voluntarily to
+renounce or forego them; but that when, without our having solicitously
+sought them, they are bestowed on us for actions intrinsically good, we
+are to accept them as being intended by Providence, to be sometimes,
+even in this disorderly state of things, a present solace, and a reward
+to virtue. Nay more, we are instructed, that in our general deportment,
+that in little particulars of conduct otherwise indifferent, that in the
+_circumstances_ and _manner_ of performing actions in themselves of a
+determined character and indispensable obligation, (guarding however
+against the smallest degree of artifice or deceit) that by watching for
+opportunities of doing little kindnesses, that by avoiding
+singularities, and even humouring prejudices, where it may be done
+without the slightest infringment on truth or duty, we ought to have a
+due respect and regard to the approbation and favour of men. These
+however we should not value, chiefly as they may administer to our own
+gratification, but rather as furnishing means and instruments of
+influence, which we may turn to good account, by making them subservient
+to the improvement and happiness of our fellow creatures, and thus
+conducive to the _glory of God_. The remark is almost superfluous, that
+on occasions like these we must even watch our hearts with the most
+jealous care, lest pride and self love insensibly infuse themselves, and
+corrupt the purity of principles so liable to contract a taint.
+
+Credit and reputation, in the judgment of the true Christian, stand on
+ground not very different from riches; which he is not to prize highly,
+or to desire and pursue with solicitude; but which, when they are
+allotted to him by the hand of Providence, he is to accept with
+thankfulness, and use with moderation; relinquishing them when it
+becomes necessary, without a murmur; guarding most circumspectly, so
+long as they remain with him, against that sensual and selfish temper,
+and no less against that pride and wantonness of heart, which they are
+too apt to produce and cherish; thus considering them as in themselves
+acceptable, but, from the infirmity of his nature, as highly dangerous
+possessions, and valuing them chiefly not as instruments of luxury or
+splendour, but as affording the means of honouring his heavenly
+Benefactor, and lessening the miseries of mankind.
+
+Christianity however, as was formerly observed, proposes not to
+extinguish our natural desires, but to bring them under just controul,
+and direct them to their true objects. In the case both of riches and of
+honour, she maintains the consistency of her character. While she
+commands us not to set our hearts on _earthly_ treasures, she reminds us
+that "we have in _Heaven_ a better and more enduring substance" than
+this world can bestow; and while she represses our solicitude respecting
+earthly credit, and moderates our attachment to it, she holds forth to
+us, and bids us habitually to aspire after, the splendours of that
+better state, where is true glory, and honour, and immortality; thus
+exciting in us a just ambition, suited to our high origin, and worthy of
+our large capacities, which the little, misplaced, and perishable
+distinctions of this life would in vain attempt to satisfy.
+
+It would be mere waste of time to enter into any laboured argument to
+prove at large, that the light in which worldly credit and estimation
+are regarded, by the bulk of professed Christians, is extremely
+different from that in which they are placed by the page of Scripture.
+The _inordinate_ love of _worldly glory_ indeed, implies a passion,
+which from the nature of things cannot be called into exercise in the
+generality of mankind, because, being conversant about great objects, it
+can but rarely find that field which is requisite for its exertions. But
+we every where discover the same principle reduced to the dimensions of
+common life, and modified and directed according to every one's sphere
+of action. We may discover it in a supreme love of distinction, and
+admiration, and praise; in the universal acceptableness of flattery; and
+above all in the excessive valuation of our worldly character, in that
+watchfulness with which it is guarded, in that jealousy when it is
+questioned, in that solicitude when it is in danger, in that hot
+resentment when it is attacked, in that bitterness of suffering when it
+is impaired or lost. All these emotions, as they are too manifest to be
+disputed, so are they too reputable to be denied. Dishonour, disgrace,
+and shame present images of horror too dreadful to be faced; they are
+evils, which it is thought the mark of a generous spirit to consider as
+excluding every idea of comfort and enjoyment, and to feel, in short, as
+too heavy to be borne.
+
+The consequences of all this are natural and obvious. Though it be not
+openly avowed, that we are to follow after worldly estimation, or to
+escape from worldly disrepute, when they can only be pursued or avoided
+by declining from the path of duty; nay though the contrary be
+recognized as being the just opinion; yet all the effect of this
+speculative concession is soon done away _in fact_. Estimating worldly
+credit as of the highest intrinsic excellence, and worldly shame as the
+greatest of all possible evils, we sometimes shape and turn the path of
+duty itself from its true direction, so as it may favour our acquisition
+of the one, and avoidance of the other; or when this cannot be done, we
+boldly and openly turn aside from it, declaring the temptation is too
+strong to be resisted.
+
+It were easy to adduce numerous proofs of the truth of these assertions.
+It is proved, indeed, by that general tendency in Religion to conceal
+herself from the view, (for we might hope that in these cases she often
+is by no means altogether extinct) by her being apt to vanish from our
+conversations, and even to give place to a pretended licentiousness of
+sentiments and conduct, and a false shew of infidelity. It is proved, by
+that complying acquiescence and participation in the habits and manners
+of this dissipated age, which, has almost confounded every external
+distinction between the Christian and the Infidel, and has made it so
+rare to find any one who dares incur the charge of Christian
+singularity, or who can say with the Apostle that "he is not ashamed of
+the Gospel of Christ." It is proved (how can this proof be omitted by
+one to whose lot it has so often fallen to witness and lament, sometimes
+he fears to afford an instance of it?) by that quick resentment, those
+bitter contentions, those angry retorts, those malicious triumphs, that
+impatience of inferiority, that wakeful sense of past defeats, and
+promptness to revenge them, which too often change the character of a
+Christian deliberative Assembly, into that of a stage for prize
+fighters: violating at once the proprieties of public conduct, and the
+rules of social decorum, and renouncing and chasing away all the
+charities of the Religion of Jesus!
+
+But from all lesser proofs, our attention is drawn to one of a still
+larger size, and more determined character. Surely the reader will here
+anticipate our mention of the practice of Duelling: a practice which, to
+the disgrace of a Christian society, has long been suffered to exist
+with little restraint or opposition.
+
+This practice, whilst it powerfully supports, mainly rests on, that
+excessive over-valuation of character, which teaches that worldly credit
+is to be preserved at _any_ rate, and disgrace at _any_ rate to be
+avoided. The _unreasonableness_ of duelling has been often proved, and
+it has often been shewn to be criminal on various principles: sometimes
+it has been opposed on grounds hardly tenable; particularly when it has
+been considered as an indication of malice and revenge[77]. But it
+seems hardly to have been enough noticed in what chiefly consists its
+_essential_ guilt; that it is a deliberate preference of the favour of
+man, before the favour and approbation of God, _in articulo mortis_, in
+an instance, wherein our own life, and that of a fellow creature are at
+stake, and wherein we run the risk of rushing into the presence of our
+Maker in the very act of offending him. It would detain us too long, and
+it were somewhat beside our present purpose, to enumerate the
+mischievous consequences which result from this practice. They are many
+and great; and if regard be had merely to the temporal interests of men,
+and to the well being of society, they are but poorly counterbalanced by
+the plea, which must be admitted in its behalf by a candid observer of
+human nature, of a courtesy and refinement in our modern manners unknown
+to ancient times.
+
+But there is one observation which must not be omitted, and which seems
+to have been too much overlooked: In the judgment of that Religion which
+requires purity of heart, and of that Being to whom, as was before
+remarked, "thought is action," he cannot be esteemed innocent of this
+crime, who lives in a settled habitual determination to commit it, when
+circumstances shall call upon him so to do[78]. This is a consideration
+which places the crime of duelling on a different footing from almost
+any other; indeed there is perhaps NO other, which mankind habitually
+and deliberately resolve to practise whenever the temptation shall
+occur. It shews also that the crime of duelling is far more general in
+the higher classes than is commonly supposed, and that the whole sum of
+the guilt which the practice produces is great, beyond what has perhaps
+been ever conceived! It will be the writer's comfort to have solemnly
+suggested this consideration, to the consciences of those by whom this
+impious practice might be suppressed: If such there be, which he is
+strongly inclined to believe, their's is the crime, and their's the
+responsibility of suffering it to continue[79].
+
+In the foregoing observations, it has not been the writer's intention to
+discuss completely that copious subject, the love of worldly estimation.
+It would be to exceed the limits of a work like this, fully to
+investigate so large, and at the same time so important a topic. Enough
+however may have perhaps been said, to make it evident that this
+principle is of a character highly _questionable_; that it should be
+brought under absolute subjection, and watched with the most jealous
+care: That, notwithstanding its lofty pretensions, it often can by no
+means justly boast that high origin and exalted nature, which its
+superficial admirers are disposed to concede to it. What real intrinsic
+essential value, it might be asked, does there appear to be in a
+virtue, which had wholly changed its nature and character, if public
+opinion had been different? But it is in truth of base extraction, and
+ungenerous qualities, springing from selfishness and vanity, and low
+ambition; by these it subsists, and thrives, and acts; and envy, and
+jealousy, and detraction, and hatred, and variance, are its too faithful
+and natural associates. It is, to say the best of it, a root which bears
+fruits of a poisonous as well as of a beneficial quality. If it
+sometimes stimulates to great and generous enterprises, if it urges to
+industry, and sometimes to excellence, if in the more contracted sphere
+it produces courtesy and kindness; yet to its account we must place the
+ambition which desolates nations, and many of the competitions and
+resentments which interrupt the harmony of social life. The former
+indeed has been often laid to its charge, but the latter have not been
+sufficiently attended to; and still less has its _noxious_ influence on
+the vital principle, and distinguishing graces of the Christian
+character, been duly pointed out and enforced.
+
+To read indeed the writings of certain Christian moralists,[80] and to
+observe how little they seem disposed to call it in question, except
+where it raves in the conqueror, one should be almost tempted to
+suspect; that, considering it as a principle of such potency and
+prevalence, as that they must despair of bringing it into just
+subjection, they were intent only on complimenting it into good humour
+(like those barbarous nations which worship the evil Spirit through
+fear;) or rather, that they were making a sort of composition with an
+enemy they could not master, and were willing, on condition of its
+giving up the trade of war, to suffer it to rule undisturbed, and range
+at pleasure.
+
+But the truth is, that the reasonings of Christian moralists too often
+exhibit but few traces of the genius of Christian morality. Of this
+position, the case before us is an instance. This principle of the
+desire of worldly distinction and applause, is often allowed, and even
+commended, with too few qualifications, and too little reserve. To covet
+wealth is base and sordid, but to covet honour is treated as the mark of
+a generous and exalted nature. These writers scarcely seem to bear in
+mind, that though the principle in question tends to prevent the
+commission of those grosser acts of vice which would injure us in the
+general estimation; yet that it not only stops there, but that it there
+begins to exert almost an equal force in the opposite direction. They do
+not consider how apt this principle is, even in the case of those who
+move in a contracted sphere, to fill us with vain conceits, and vicious
+passions; and above all how it tends to fix the affections on earthly
+things, and to steal away the heart from God. They acknowledge it to be
+criminal when it produces mischievous effects, but forget how apt it is,
+by the substitution of a false and corrupt motive, to vitiate the purity
+of our good actions, depriving them of all which rendered them truly and
+essentially valuable. That, not to be too hastily approved, because it
+takes the side of virtue, it often works her ruin while it asserts her
+cause, and like some vile seducer, pretends affection only the more
+surely to betray.
+
+It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity not to rest satisfied
+with superficial appearances, but to rectify the _motives_, and purify
+the _heart_. The true Christian, in obedience to the lessons of
+Scripture, no where keeps over himself a more resolute and jealous
+guard, than where the desire of human estimation and distinction is in
+question. No where does he more deeply feel the insufficiency of his
+unassisted strength, or more diligently and earnestly pray for divine
+assistance. He may well indeed watch and pray against the encroachments
+of a passion, which, when suffered to transgress its just limits,
+discovers a peculiar hostility to the distinguishing graces of the
+Christian temper; a passion which must insensibly acquire force, because
+it is in continual exercise; to which almost every thing _without_
+administers nutriment, and the growth of which _within_ is favoured and
+cherished by such powerful auxiliaries as pride and selfishness, the
+natural and perhaps inexterminable inhabitants of the human heart; of
+which the predominance, if established, is thus so pernicious, and which
+possesses so many advantages for effecting its establishment.
+
+Strongly impressed therefore with a sense of the indispensable necessity
+of guarding against the progress of this encroaching principle, in
+humble reliance on superior aid, the true Christian thankfully uses the
+means, and habitually exercises himself in the considerations and
+motives, suggested to him for that purpose by the word of God. He is
+much occupied in searching out, and contemplating his own infirmities.
+He endeavours to acquire and maintain a just conviction of his great
+unworthiness; and to keep in continual remembrance, that whatever
+distinguishes himself from others, is not properly his own, but that he
+is altogether indebted for it to the undeserved bounty of Heaven. He
+diligently endeavours also, habitually to preserve a _just_ sense of the
+real worth of human distinction and applause, knowing that he shall
+covet them less when he has learned not to over-rate their value. He
+labours to bear in mind, how undeservedly they are often bestowed, how
+precariously they are always possessed. The censures of good men justly
+render him suspicious of himself, and prompt him carefully and
+impartially to examine into those parts of his character, or those
+particulars of his conduct, which have drawn on him their
+animadversions. The favourable opinion and the praises of good men are
+justly acceptable to him, where they accord with the testimony of his
+own heart; that testimony being thereby confirmed and warranted. Those
+praises favour also and strengthen the growth of mutual confidence and
+affection, where it is his delight to form friendships, rich not less in
+use than comfort, and to establish connections which may last for ever.
+But even in the case of the commendations of good men, he suffers not
+himself to be beguiled into an over-valuation of them, lest he should be
+led to substitute them in the place of conscience. He guards against
+this by reflecting how indistinctly we can discern each other's motives,
+how little enter into each other's circumstances, how mistaken therefore
+may be the judgments formed of us, or of our actions, even by good men,
+and that it is far from improbable, that we may at some time be
+compelled to forfeit their esteem, by adhering to the dictates of our
+own consciences.
+
+But if he endeavours thus to set loose to the favour and applause even
+of good men, much more to those of the world at large; not but that he
+is sensible of their worth as means and instruments of usefulness and
+influence; and under the limitations and for the ends allowed in
+Scripture (these it is needless to repeat) he is glad to possess,
+observant to acquire, and careful to retain them. He considers them
+however, if we may again introduce the metaphor, like the precious
+metals, as having rather an exchangeable than an intrinsic value, as
+desirable not simply in their possession, but in their use. In this
+view, he holds himself to be responsible for that share of them which he
+enjoys, and, to continue the figure, as bound not to let them lie by him
+unemployed, this were hoarding; not to lavish them prodigally, this
+would be waste; not imprudently to misapply them, this were folly and
+caprice: but as under an obligation to regard them as conferred upon him
+that they might be brought into action, and as what therefore he may by
+no means throw away, though ready, if it be required, to relinquish them
+with cheerfulness; and never feeling himself at liberty, in
+consideration of the use he intends to make of them, to acquire or
+retain them unlawfully. He holds it to be his bounden duty to seek
+diligently for occasions of rendering them subservient to their true
+purposes; and when any such occasion is found, to expend them cheerfully
+and liberally, but with discretion and frugality; being no less prudent
+in determining the measure, than in selecting the objects of their
+application, that they may go the farther by being thus managed with
+oeconomy.
+
+Acting therefore on these principles, he will studiously and diligently
+use any degree of worldly credit he may enjoy, in removing or lessening
+prejudices; in conciliating good-will, and thereby making way for the
+less obstructed progress of truth; and in providing for its being
+entertained with candour, or even with favour, by those who would bar
+all access against it in any rougher or more homely form. He will make
+it his business to set on foot and forward benevolent and useful
+schemes; and where they require united efforts, to obtain and preserve
+for them this co-operation. He will endeavour to discountenance vice, to
+bring modest merit into notice; to lend as it were his light to men of
+real worth, but of less creditable name, and perhaps of less
+conciliating qualities and manners; that they may thus shine with a
+reflected lustre, and be useful in their turn, when invested with their
+just estimation. But while by these and various other means he strives
+to render his reputation, so long as he possesses it, subservient to the
+great ends of advancing the cause of Religion and Virtue, and of
+promoting the happiness and comfort of mankind, he will not transgress
+the rule of the Scripture precepts in order to obtain, to cultivate, or
+to preserve it, resolutely disclaiming that dangerous sophistry of
+"doing evil that good may come." Ready however to relinquish his
+reputation when required so to do, he will not throw it away; and so far
+as he allowably may, he will cautiously avoid occasions of diminishing
+it, instead of studiously seeking, or needlessly multiplying them, as
+seems sometimes to have been the practice of worthy but imprudent men.
+There will be no capricious humours, no selfish tempers, no moroseness,
+no discourtesy, no affected severity of deportment, no peculiarity of
+language, no indolent neglect, or wanton breach, of the ordinary forms
+or fashions of society. His reputation is a possession capable of uses
+too important to be thus sported away; if sacrificed at all, it shall be
+sacrificed at the call of duty. The world shall be constrained to allow
+him to be amiable, as well as respectable in other parts of his
+character; though in what regards Religion, they may account him
+unreasonably precise and strict. In this no less than in other
+particulars, he will endeavour to reduce the enemies of Religion to
+adopt the confession of the accusers of the Jewish ruler, "we shall not
+find any fault or occasion against this Daniel--except concerning the
+law of his God:" and even there, if he give offence, it will only be
+where he dares not do otherwise; and if he fall into dis-esteem or
+disgrace it shall not be chargeable to any conduct which is justly
+dishonourable, or even to any unnecessary singularities on his part, but
+to the false standard of estimation of a misjudging world. When his
+character is thus mistaken, or his conduct thus misconstrued, he will
+not wrap himself up in a mysterious sullenness; but will be ready, where
+he thinks any one will listen to him with patience and candour, to clear
+up what has been dubious, to explain what has been imperfectly known,
+and "speaking the truth in love" to correct, if it may be, the erroneous
+impressions which have been conceived of him. He may sometimes feel it
+his duty publicly to vindicate his character from unjust reproach, and
+to repel the false charges of his enemies; but he will carefully however
+watch against being led away by pride, or being betrayed into some
+breach of truth or of Christian charity, when he is treading in a path
+so dangerous. At such a time he will also guard, with more than ordinary
+circumspection, against any undue solicitude about his worldly
+reputation for its own sake; and when he has done what duty requires for
+its vindication, he will sit down with a peaceable and quiet mind, and
+it will be matter of no very deep concern to him if his endeavours
+should have been ineffectual. If good men in every age and nation have
+been often unjustly calumniated and disgraced, and if, in such
+circumstances, even the darkness of paganism has been able contentedly
+to repose itself on the consciousness of innocence, shall one who is
+cheered by the Christian's hope, who is assured also, that a day will
+shortly come in which whatever is secret shall be made manifest, and the
+mistaken judgments of men, perhaps even of good men, being corrected,
+that "he shall then have praise of God;" shall such an one, I say, sink?
+shall he even bend or droop under such a trial? They might be more
+excusable in over-valuing human reputation to whom all beyond the grave
+was dark and cheerless. They also might be more easily pardoned for
+pursuing with some degree of eagerness and solicitude that glory which
+might survive them, thus seeking as it were to extend the narrow span of
+their earthly existence: but far different is our case, to whom these
+clouds are rolled away, and "life and immortality brought to light by
+the Gospel." Not but that worldly favour and distinction are amongst the
+best things this world has to offer: but the Christian knows it is the
+very condition of his calling, _not_ to have his portion here; and as in
+the case of any other earthly enjoyments, so in that also of worldly
+honour, he dreads, lest his supreme affections being thereby gratified,
+it should be hereafter said to him "remember that thou in thy life time
+receivedst thy good things."
+
+He is required by his holy calling to be victorious over the world; and
+to this victory, the conquest of the dread of its dis-esteem and
+dishonour is essentially and indispensably required. He reflects on
+those holy men who "had trial of cruel mockings;" he remembers that our
+blessed Saviour himself "was despised and rejected of men;" and what is
+he, that he should be exempted from the common lot, or think it much to
+bear the scandal of his profession? If therefore he is creditable and
+popular, he considers this, if the phrase may be pardoned, as something
+beyond his bargain; and he watches himself, with double care, lest he
+should grow over-fond of what he may be shortly called upon to
+relinquish. He meditates often on the probability of his being involved
+in such circumstances, as may render it necessary for him to subject
+himself to disgrace and obloquy; thus familiarizing himself with them
+betimes, and preparing himself, that when the trying hour arrives they
+may not take him unawares.
+
+But the cultivation of the desire of "that honour which cometh from
+God," he finds the most effectual means of bringing his mind into a
+proper temper, in what regards the love of human approbation. Christian!
+would thou indeed reduce this affection under just controul--_sursum
+corda!_ Rise on the wings of contemplation, until the praises and the
+censures of men die away upon the ear, and the still small voice of
+conscience is no longer drowned by the din of this nether world. Here
+the sight is apt to be occupied with earthly objects, and the hearing to
+be engrossed with earthly sounds; but there thou shalt come within the
+view of that resplendent and incorruptible crown, which is held forth to
+thy acceptance in the realms of light, and thine ear shall be regaled
+with Heavenly melody! Here we dwell in a variable atmosphere--the
+prospect is at one time darkened by the gloom of disgrace, and at
+another the eye is dazzled by the gleamings of glory: but thou hast now
+ascended above this inconstant region; no storms agitate, no clouds
+obscure the air, and the lightnings play, and the thunders roll beneath
+thee.
+
+Thus, at chosen seasons, the Christian exercises himself; and when, from
+this elevated region he descends into the plain below, and mixes in the
+bustle of life, he still retains the impressions of his more retired
+hours. By these he realizes to himself the unseen world; he accustoms
+himself to speak and act as in the presence of "an innumerable company
+of angels, and of the spirits of just men made perfect, and of God the
+Judge of all;" the consciousness of _their_ approbation cheers and
+gladdens his soul, under the scoffs and reproaches of an undiscerning
+world, and to his delighted ear, their united praises form a _harmony_
+which a few discordant earthly voices cannot interrupt.
+
+But though the Christian be sometimes enabled thus to triumph over the
+inordinate love of human applause, he does not therefore deem himself
+secure from its encroachments. On the contrary, he is aware, so strong
+and active is its principle of vitality, that even where it seems
+extinct, let but circumstances favour its revival, and it will spring
+forth again in renewed vigour. And as his watch must thus during life
+know no termination, because the enemy will ever be at hand; so it must
+be the more close and vigilant, because he is no where free from danger,
+but is on every side open to attack. "Sume superbiam quaesitam meritis,"
+was the maxim of a worldly moralist: but the Christian is aware, that he
+is particularly assailable where he really excels; there he is in
+especial danger, lest his motives, originally pure, being insensibly
+corrupted, he should be betrayed into an anxiety about worldly favour,
+false in principle or excessive in degree, when he is endeavouring to
+render his virtue amiable and respected in the eyes of others, and in
+obedience to the Scripture injunction, is willing to let his "light so
+shine before men, that they may see his good works, and glorify his
+Father which is in heaven."
+
+He watches himself also on small as well as on great occasions: the
+latter indeed, in the case of many persons, can hardly ever be expected
+to occur, whereas the former are continually presenting themselves: and
+thus, whilst on the one hand they may be rendered highly useful in
+forming and strengthening a just habit of mind in the particular in
+question; so, on the other, they are the means most at hand for enabling
+us to discover our own real character. Let not this be slightly passed
+over. If any one finds himself shrinking from disrepute or dis-esteem in
+little instances; but apt to solace himself with the persuasion, that
+his spirits being fully called forth to the encounter, he could boldly
+stand the brunt of sharper trials; let him be slow to give entertainment
+to so beguiling a suggestion; and let him not forget that these little
+instances, where no credit is to be got, and the vainest can find small
+room for self-complacency, furnish perhaps the truest tests whether we
+are ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, and are willing, on principles
+really pure, to bear reproach for the name of Jesus.
+
+The Christian too is well aware that the excessive desire of human
+approbation is a passion of so subtile a nature, that there is nothing
+into which it cannot penetrate; and from much experience, learning to
+discover it where it would lurk unseen, and to detect it under its more
+specious disguises, he finds, that elsewhere disallowed and excluded, it
+is apt to insinuate itself into his very religion, where it especially
+delights to dwell, and obstinately maintains its residence. Proud piety
+and ostentatious charity, and all the more open effects it there
+produces, have been often condemned, and we may discover the tendencies
+to them in ourselves, without difficulty. But where it appears not so
+large in bulk, and in shape so unambiguous, let its operation be still
+suspected. Let not the Christian suffer himself to be deceived by any
+external dissimilitudes between himself and the world around him,
+trusting perhaps to the sincerity of the principle to which they
+originally owed their rise; but let him beware lest through the
+insensible encroachments of the subtle usurper, his religion should at
+length have "only a name to live," being gradually robbed of its
+vivifying principle; lest he should be mainly preserved in his religious
+course by the dread of incurring the charge of levity, for quitting a
+path on which he had deliberately entered. Or where, on a strict and
+impartial scrutiny of his governing motives, he may fairly conclude
+this not to be the case, let him beware lest he be influenced by this
+principle in particular parts of his character, and especially where any
+external singularities are in question; closely scrutinizing his
+apparent motives, lest he should be prompted to his more than ordinary
+religious observances, and be kept from participating in the licentious
+pleasures of a dissipated age, not so much by a vigorous principle of
+internal holiness, as by a fear of lessening himself in the good opinion
+of the stricter circle of his associates, or of suffering even in the
+estimation of the world at large, by violating the proprieties of his
+assumed character.
+
+To those who, in the important particular which we have been so long
+discussing, wish to conform themselves to the injunctions of the word of
+God, we must advise a laborious watchfulness, a jealous guard, a close
+and frequent scrutiny of their own hearts, that they may not mistake
+their real character, and too late find themselves to have been
+mistaken, as to what they had conceived to be their governing motives.
+Above all, let them labour, with humble prayers for the Divine
+assistance, to fix in themselves a deep, habitual, and practical sense
+of the excellence of "that honour which cometh from God," and of the
+comparative worthlessness of all earthly estimation and pre-eminence. In
+truth, unless the affections of the soul be thus predominantly engaged
+on the side of heavenly in preference to that of human honour, though we
+may have relinquished the pursuit of fame, we shall not have acquired
+that firm contexture of mind, which can bear disgrace and shame, without
+yielding to the pressure. Between these two states there is a wide
+interval, and he who, on a sober review of his conduct and motives,
+finds reason to believe he has arrived at the one, must not therefore
+conclude he has reached the other. To the one, a little natural
+moderation and quietness of temper may be sufficient to conduct us: but
+to the other, we can only attain by much discipline and slow advances;
+and when we think we have made great way, we shall often find reason to
+confess in the hour of trial, that we had greatly, far too greatly,
+over-rated our progress.
+
+When engaged too in the prosecution of this course, we must be aware of
+the snares which lie in our way, and of the deceits to which we are
+liable: and we must be provided against these impositions, by having
+obtained a full and distinct conception of the temper of mind with
+regard to human favour, which is prescribed to us in Scripture; and by
+continually examining our hearts and lives to ascertain how far they
+correspond with it. This will prevent our substituting contemplation in
+the place of action, and giving ourselves too much up to those religious
+meditations which were formerly recommended, in which we must not
+indulge to the neglect of the common _duties_ of life: this will prevent
+our mistaking the gratification of an indolent temper for the
+Christian's disregard of fame; for, never let it be forgotten, we must
+_deserve_ estimation, though we may not _possess_ it, forcing men of the
+_world_ to acknowledge, that we do not want their boasted spring of
+action to set us in motion; but that its place is better supplied to us
+by another, which produces all the good of their's without its evil;
+thus demonstrating the superiority of the principle which animates us,
+by the superior utility and excellence of its effects. This principle,
+in order to be pure and genuine, though nerved with more than mortal
+firmness, must be sweetened by love, and tempered with humility. The
+former of these qualities will render us kind, friendly, and beneficent,
+preventing our being no longer on the watch to promote the happiness or
+comfort of others, than whilst we are stimulated by the desire of their
+applause; the produce of which passion, whatever may be vaunted of its
+effects on social intercourse, is often nothing better than selfishness,
+but ill concealed under a superficial covering of exterior courtesy.
+
+Humility, again, reducing us in our own value, will moderate our claims
+on worldly estimation. It will check our tendency to ostentation and
+display, prompting us rather to avoid, than to attract notice. It will
+dispose us to sit down in quiet obscurity, though, judging ourselves
+impartially, we believe ourselves better entitled to credit, than those
+on whom it is conferred; closing the entrance against a proud, painful,
+and malignant passion, from which, under such circumstances, we can
+otherwise be hardly free, the passion of "high disdain from sense of
+injured merit."
+
+Love and humility will concur in producing a frame of mind, not more
+distinct from an ardent thirst of glory, than from that frigid
+disregard, or insolent contempt, or ostentatious renunciation of human
+favour and distinction, which we have sometimes seen opposed to it.
+These latter qualities may not infrequently be traced to a slothful,
+sensual, and selfish temper; to the consciousness of being unequal to
+any great and generous attempts; to the disappointment of schemes of
+ambition or of glory; to a little personal experience of the world's
+capricious and inconstant humour. The renunciation in these cases,
+however sententious, is often far from sincere; and it is even made not
+unfrequently, with a view to the attainment of that very distinction
+which it affects to disclaim. In some other of these instances, the
+over-valuation and inordinate desire of worldly credit, however
+disavowed, are abundantly evident, from the merit which is assumed for
+relinquishing them; or from that sour and surly humour, which betrays a
+gloomy and a corroded mind, galled and fretting under the irritating
+sense of the want of that which it most wishes to possess.
+
+But the Christian's is a far different temper: not a temper of sordid
+sensuality, or lazy apathy, or dogmatizing pride, or disappointed
+ambition: more truly independent of worldly estimation than philosophy
+with all her boasts, it forms a perfect contrast to Epicurean
+selfishness, and to Stoical pride, and to Cynical brutality. It is a
+temper compounded of firmness, and complacency, and peace, and love; and
+manifesting itself in acts of kindness and of courtesy; a kindness, not
+pretended but genuine; a courtesy, not false and superficial, but
+cordial and sincere. In the hour of popularity it is not intoxicated, or
+insolent; in the hour of unpopularity, it is not desponding or morose;
+unshaken in constancy, unwearied in benevolence, firm without roughness,
+and assiduous without servility.
+
+Notwithstanding the great importance of the topic which we have been
+investigating, it will require much indulgence on the part of the
+reader, to excuse the disproportionate length into which the discussion
+has been almost insensibly drawn out: yet this, it is hoped, may not be
+without its uses, if the writer have in any degree succeeded in his
+endeavour, to point out the dangerous qualities and unchristian
+tendencies of a principle, of such general predominance throughout the
+higher classes of society, and to suggest to the serious inquirer some
+practical hints for its regulation and controul. Since the principle
+too, of which we have been treating, is one of the most ordinary
+modifications of pride; the discussion may also serve in some degree to
+supply a manifest deficiency, a deficiency to be ascribed to the fear of
+trespassing too far on the reader's patience, in having but slightly
+touched on the allowed prevalence of that master passion, and on the
+allowed neglect of its opposite, humility.
+
+
+SECTION IV.
+
+_The generally prevailing Error, of substituting amiable Tempers and
+useful Lives in the place of Religion, stated and confuted; with Hints
+to real Christians._
+
+There is another practical error very generally prevalent, the effects
+of which are highly injurious to the cause of Religion; and which in
+particular is often brought forward when, upon Christian principles, any
+advocates for Christianity would press the practice of Christian
+virtues. Before we proceed, therefore, to comment upon what remains to
+be discussed, of the misconceptions and defects of the bulk of professed
+Christians, it may not be amiss to dispose of this objection to our
+whole scheme.
+
+The error in question is that of exaggerating the merit of certain
+amiable and useful qualities, and of considering them as of themselves
+sufficient to compensate for the want of the supreme love and fear of
+God.
+
+It seems to be an opinion pretty generally prevalent, that kindness and
+sweetness of temper; sympathizing, and benevolent, and generous
+affections; attention to what in the world's estimation are the
+domestic, relative, and social duties; and above all a life of general
+activity and usefulness, may well be allowed, in our imperfect state, to
+make up for the defect of what in strict propriety of speech is termed
+Religion.
+
+Many indeed will unreservedly declare, and more will hint the opinion,
+that "the difference between the qualities above-mentioned and Religion,
+is rather a verbal or logical, than a real and essential difference; for
+in truth what are they but Religion in substance if not in name? Is it
+not the great end of Religion, and in particular the glory of
+Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the
+violence, to controul the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of
+man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to
+make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends, and to render us
+active and useful in the discharge of the relative, social, and civil
+duties? We do not deny that in the general mass of society, and
+particularly in the lower orders, such conduct and tempers cannot be
+diffused and maintained by any other medium than that of Religion. But
+if the end be effected, surely it is only unnecessary refinement to
+dispute about the means. It is even to forget your own principles; and
+to refuse its just place to solid practical virtue, while you assign too
+high a value to speculative opinions."
+
+Thus a fatal distinction is admitted between Morality and Religion: a
+great and desperate error, of which it is the more necessary to take
+notice; because many who would condemn, as too strong, the language in
+which this opinion is sometimes openly avowed, are yet more or less
+tinctured with the notion itself; and under the habitual and almost
+unperceived influence of this beguiling suggestion, are vainly solacing
+their imaginations, and repressing their well-grounded fears concerning
+_their own_ state; and are also quieting their just solicitude
+concerning the spiritual condition of _others_, and soothing themselves
+in the neglect of friendly endeavours for their improvement.
+
+There can hardly be a stronger proof of the cursory and superficial
+views, with which men are apt to satisfy themselves in religious
+concerns, than the prevalence of the opinion here in question; the
+falsehood and sophistry of which must be acknowledged by any one who,
+admitting the authority of Scripture, will examine it with ever so
+little seriousness and impartiality of mind.
+
+Appealing indeed to a less strict standard, it would not be difficult to
+shew that the moral worth of these sweet and benevolent tempers, and of
+these useful lives, is apt to be greatly over-rated. The former
+involuntarily gain upon our affections and disarm our severer judgments,
+by their kindly, complying, and apparently disinterested nature; by
+their prompting men to flatter instead of mortifying our pride, to
+sympathize either with our joys or our sorrows, to abound in obliging
+attentions and offices of courtesy; by their obvious tendency to produce
+and maintain harmony and comfort in social and domestic life. It is not
+however unworthy of remark, that from the commendations which are so
+generally bestowed on these qualities, and their rendering men
+universally acceptable and popular, there is many a false pretender to
+them, who gains a credit for them which he by no means deserves; in whom
+they are no more than the proprieties of his assumed character, or even
+a mask which is worn in public, only the better to conceal an opposite
+temper. Would you see this man of courtesy and sweetness stripped of his
+false covering, follow him unobserved into his family; and you shall
+behold, too plain to be mistaken, selfishness and spleen harassing and
+vexing the wretched subjects of their unmanly tyranny; as if being
+released at length from their confinement, they were making up to
+themselves for the restraint which had been imposed on them in the
+world.
+
+But where the benevolent qualities are genuine, they often deserve the
+name rather of amiable instincts, than of moral virtues. In many cases,
+they imply no mental conflict, no previous discipline: they are apt to
+evaporate in barren sensibilities, and transitory sympathies, and
+indolent wishes, and unproductive declarations: they possess not that
+strength and energy of character, which, in contempt of difficulties and
+dangers, produce alacrity in service, vigour and perseverance in action.
+Destitute of proper firmness, they often encourage that vice and folly
+which it is their especial duty to repress; and it is well if, from
+their soft complying humour, they are not often drawn in to participate
+in what is wrong, as well as to connive at it. Thus their possessors
+are frequently, in the eye of truth and reason, bad magistrates, bad
+parents, bad friends; defective in those very qualities, which give to
+each of those several relations its chief and appropriate value. And
+this, let it be also observed, is a defect which might well bring into
+question that freedom from selfishness, which is so often claimed for
+them; inasmuch as there is too great reason to fear, that it often
+arises in us chiefly from indisposition to submit to a painful effort,
+though real good-will commands the sacrifice, or from the fear of
+lessening the regard in which we are held, and the good opinion which is
+entertained of us.
+
+It should farther also be observed concerning these qualities, when they
+are not grounded and rooted in religion, that they are of a sickly and
+short-lived nature, and want that hardy and vigorous temperament, which
+is requisite for enabling them to bear without injury, or even to
+survive, the rude shocks and the variable and churlish seasons, to which
+in such a world as this they must ever be exposed. It is only a
+_Christian_ love of which it is the character, that "it suffereth long,
+and yet is kind;" "that it is not easily provoked, that it beareth all
+things, and endureth all things." In the spring of youth indeed, the
+blood flows freely through the veins; we are flushed with health and
+confidence; hope is young and ardent, our desires are unsated, and
+whatever we see has the grace of novelty; we are the more disposed to be
+good-natured because we are pleased; pleased, because universally well
+received. Wherever we cast our eyes, we see some face of friendship, and
+love, and gratulation: All nature smiles around us. Now the amiable
+tempers of which we have been speaking naturally spring up. The soil
+suits, the climate favours them. They appear to shoot forth vigorously
+and blossom in gay luxuriance. To the superficial eye, all is fair and
+flourishing; we anticipate the fruits of Autumn, and promise ourselves
+an ample produce. But by and by the sun scorches, the frost nips, the
+winds rise, the rains descend; our golden dreams are blasted, all our
+fond expectations are no more. Our youthful efforts let it be supposed
+have been successful; and we rise to wealth or eminence. A kind flexible
+temper and popular manners have produced in us, as they are too apt, a
+youth of easy social dissipation, and unproductive idleness; and we are
+overtaken too late by the consciousness of having wasted that time which
+cannot be recalled, and those opportunities which we cannot now recover.
+We sink into disregard and obscurity when, there being a call for
+qualities of more energy, indolent good nature must fall back. We are
+thrust out of notice by accident or misfortunes. We are left behind by
+those with whom we started on equal terms, and who, originally perhaps
+having less pretensions and fewer advantages, have greatly outstripped
+us in the race of honour: and their having got before us is often the
+more galling, because it appears to us, and perhaps with reason, to have
+been chiefly owing to a generous easy good-natured humour on our part,
+which disposed us to allow them at first to pass by us without jealousy,
+and led us to give place without a struggle to their more lofty
+pretensions. Thus we suffered them quietly to occupy a station to which
+originally we had as fair a claim as they; but, this station being once
+tamely surrendered, we have forfeited it for ever. Our aukward and vain
+endeavours meanwhile to recover it, while they shew that we want
+self-knowledge and composure in our riper years, as much as in our
+younger we had been destitute of exertion, serve only to make our
+inferiority more manifest, and to bring our discontent into the fuller
+notice of an ill-natured world, which however not unjustly condemns and
+ridicules our misplaced ambition.
+
+It may be sufficient to have hinted at a few of the vicissitudes and
+changes of advancing life; let the reader's own mind fill up the
+catalogue. Now the bosom is no longer cheerful and placid; and if the
+countenance preserve its exterior character, this is no longer the
+honest expression of the heart. Prosperity and luxury, gradually
+extinguishing sympathy, and puffing up with pride, harden and debase the
+soul. In other instances, shame secretly clouds, and remorse begins to
+sting, and suspicion to corrode, and jealousy and envy to embitter.
+Disappointed hopes, unsuccessful competitions, and frustrated pursuits,
+sour and irritate the temper. A little personal experience of the
+selfishness of mankind, damps our generous warmth and kind affections;
+reproving the prompt sensibility and unsuspecting simplicity of our
+earlier years. Above all, ingratitude sickens the heart, and chills and
+thickens the very life's-blood of benevolence: till at length our
+youthful Nero, soft and susceptible, becomes a hard and cruel tyrant;
+and our youthful Timon, the gay, the generous, the beneficent, is
+changed into a cold, sour, silent misanthrope.
+
+And as in the case of amiable tempers, so in that also of what are
+called useful lives, it must be confessed that their intrinsic worth,
+arguing still merely on principles of reason, is apt to be greatly
+over-rated. They are often the result of a disposition naturally
+bustling and active, which delights in motion, and finds its labour more
+than repaid, either by the very pleasure which it takes in its
+employments, or by the credit which it derives from them. More than
+this; if it be granted that Religion tends in general to produce
+usefulness, particularly in the lower orders, who compose a vast
+majority of every society; and therefore that these irreligious men of
+useful lives are rather exceptions to the general rule; it must at least
+be confessed that they are so far useless, or even positively
+mischievous, as they either neglect to encourage or actually discourage
+that principle, which is the great operative spring of usefulness in the
+bulk of mankind.
+
+Thus it might well perhaps be questioned, estimating these men by their
+own standard, whether the _particular_ good in this case, is not more
+than counterbalanced by the _general_ evil; still more, if their conduct
+being brought to a strict account, they should be charged, as they
+justly ought, with the loss of the good which, if they had manifestly
+and avowedly acted from a higher principle, might have been produced,
+not only directly in themselves, but indirectly and remotely in others,
+from the extended efficacy of a religious example. They may be compared,
+not unaptly, to persons whom some peculiarity of constitution enables to
+set at defiance those established rules of living, which must be
+observed by the world at large. These healthy debauchees, however they
+may plead in their defence that they do themselves no injury, would
+probably, but for their excesses, have both enjoyed their health
+better, and preserved it longer, as well as have turned it to better
+account; and it may at least be urged against them, that they disparage
+the laws of temperance, and fatally betray others into the breach of
+them, by affording an instance of their being transgressed with
+impunity.
+
+But were the merit of the qualities in question greater than it is, and
+though it were not liable to the exceptions which have been alleged
+against it, yet could they be in no degree admitted, as a compensation
+for the want of the supreme love and fear of God, and of a predominant
+desire to promote his glory. The observance of one commandment, however
+clearly and forcibly enjoined, cannot make up for the neglect of
+another, which is enjoined with equal clearness and equal force. To
+allow this plea in the present instance, would be to permit men to
+abrogate the first table of the law on condition of their obeying the
+second. But Religion suffers not any such _composition_ of duties. It is
+on the very self same miserable principle, that some have thought to
+atone for a life of injustice and rapine by the strictness of their
+religious observances. If the former class of men can plead the diligent
+discharge of their duties to their fellow-creatures, the latter will
+urge that of their's to God. We easily see the falsehood of the plea in
+the latter case; and it is only self deceit and partiality which prevent
+its being equally visible in the former. Yet so it is; such is the
+unequal measure, if I may be allowed the expression, which we deal out
+to God, and to each other. It would justly and universally be thought
+false confidence in the religious thief or the religious adulterer, (to
+admit for the sake of argument such a solecism in terms) to solace
+himself with the firm persuasion of the Divine favour: but it will, to
+many, appear hard and precise, to deny this firm persuasion of Divine
+approbation to the avowedly irreligious man of social and domestic
+usefulness.
+
+Will it here be urged, that the writer is not doing justice to his
+opponent's argument; which is not, that irreligious men of useful lives
+may be excused for neglecting their duties towards God, in consideration
+of their exemplary discharge of their duties towards their
+fellow-creatures; but that in performing the latter they perform the
+former _virtually_, and _substantially_, if not in name?
+
+Can then our opponent deny, that the Holy Scriptures are in nothing more
+full, frequent, strong, and unequivocal, than in their injunctions on us
+supremely to love and fear God, and to worship and serve him continually
+with humble and grateful hearts; habitually regarding him as our
+Benefactor, and Sovereign, and Father, and abounding in sentiments of
+gratitude and loyalty, and respectful affection? Can he deny that these
+positive precepts are rendered, if possible, still more clear, and their
+authority still more binding, by illustrations and indirect
+confirmations almost innumerable? And who then is that bold intruder
+into the counsels of infinite wisdom, who, in palpable contempt of these
+precise commands, thus illustrated also and confirmed, will dare to
+maintain that, knowing the intention with which they were primarily
+given and the ends they were ultimately designed to produce, he may
+innocently neglect or violate their plain obligations; on the plea that
+he conforms himself, though in a different manner, to this primary
+intention, and produces, though by different means, these real and
+ultimate ends?
+
+This mode of arguing is one, with which, to say nothing of its insolent
+prophaneness, the heart of man, prone to deceive himself and partial in
+his own cause, is not fit to be trusted. Here again, more cautious and
+jealous in the case of our worldly, than of our religious interests, we
+readily discern the fallacy of this reasoning and protest against it,
+when it is attempted to be introduced into the commerce of life. We see
+clearly that it would afford the means of refining away by turns every
+moral obligation. The adulterer might allow himself with a good
+conscience, to violate the bed of his unsuspecting friend, whenever he
+could assure himself that his crime would escape detection; for then,
+where would be the evil and misery, the prevention of which was the real
+ultimate object of the prohibition of adultery? The thief, in like
+manner, and even the murderer, might find abundant room for the
+_innocent_ exercise of their respective occupations, arguing from the
+primary intention and real objects of the commands, by which theft and
+murder were forbidden. There perhaps exists not a crime, to which this
+crooked morality would not furnish some convenient opening.
+
+But this miserable sophistry deserves not that we should spend so much
+time in the refutation of it. To discern its fallaciousness, requires
+not acuteness of understanding, so much as a little common honesty.
+"There is indeed no surer mark of a false and hollow heart, than a
+disposition thus to quibble away the clear injunctions of duty and
+conscience[81]:" It is the wretched resource of a disingenuous mind,
+endeavouring to escape from convictions before which it cannot stand,
+and to evade obligations which it dares not disavow.
+
+The arguments which have been adduced would surely be sufficient to
+disprove the extravagant pretensions of the qualities under
+consideration, though those qualities were _perfect_ in their _nature_.
+But they are not perfect. On the contrary, they are radically defective
+and corrupt; they are a body without a soul; they want the vital
+actuating principle, or rather they are animated and actuated by a false
+one. Christianity, let me avail myself of the very words of a friend[82]
+in maintaining her argument, is "a Religion of Motives." _That_ only is
+Christian practice, which flows from Christian principles; and none else
+will be admitted as such by Him, who will be obeyed as well as
+worshipped "in spirit and in truth."
+
+This also is a position of which, in our intercourse with our
+fellow-creatures, we clearly discern the justice, and universally admit
+the force. Though we have received a benefit at the hands of any one, we
+scarcely feel grateful, if we do not believe the intention towards us to
+have been friendly. Have we served any one from motives of kindness, and
+is a return of service made to us? We hardly feel ourselves worthily
+requited, except that return be dictated by gratitude. We should think
+ourselves rather injured than obliged by it, if it were merely prompted
+by a proud unwillingness to continue in our debt[83]. What husband, or
+what father, not absolutely dead to every generous feeling, would be
+satisfied with a wife or a child; who, though he could not charge them
+with any actual breach of their respective obligations, should yet
+confessedly perform them from a cold sense of duty, in place of the
+quickening energies of conjugal, and filial affection? What an insult
+would it be to such an one, to tell him gravely that he had no reason to
+complain!
+
+The unfairness, with which we suffer ourselves to reason in matters of
+Religion, is no where more striking than in the instance before us. It
+were perhaps not unnatural to suppose that, as we cannot see into each
+other's bosoms, and have no sure way of judging any one's internal
+principles but by his external actions, it would have grown into an
+established rule, that when the latter were unobjectionable, the former
+were not to be questioned; and on the other hand, that in reference to a
+Being who searches the heart, our motives, rather than our external
+actions, would be granted to be the just objects of inquiry. But we
+exactly reverse these natural principles of reasoning. In the case of
+our fellow-creatures, the motive is that which we principally inquire
+after and regard. But in the case of our Supreme Judge, from whom no
+secrets are hid, we suffer ourselves to believe that internal principles
+may be dispensed with, if the external action be performed!
+
+Let us not however be supposed ready to concede, in contradiction to
+what has been formerly contended, that where the true motive is wanting,
+the external actions themselves will not generally betray the defect.
+Who is there that will not confess in the instance so lately put, of a
+wife and a child who should discharge their respective obligations
+merely from a cold sense of duty, that the inferiority of their
+actuating principle would not be confined to its _nature_, but would be
+discoverable also in its _effects_? Who is there that does not feel that
+these domestic services, thus robbed of their vital spirit, would be so
+debased and degraded in our estimation, as to become not barely lifeless
+and uninteresting, but even distasteful and loathsome? Who will deny
+that these would be performed in fuller measure, with more wakeful and
+unwearied attention, as well as with more _heart_; where with the same
+sense of duty the enlivening principle of affection should be also
+associated?
+
+The enemies of Religion are sometimes apt to compare the irreligious
+man, of a temper naturally sweet and amiable, with the religious man of
+natural roughness and severity; the irreligious man of natural activity,
+with the religious man who is naturally indolent; and thence to draw
+their inferences. But this mode of reasoning is surely unjust. If they
+would argue the question fairly, they should make their comparisons
+between persons of similar natural qualities, and not in one or two
+examples, but in a mass of instances. They would then be compelled to
+confess the efficacy of Religion, in heightening the benevolence and
+increasing the usefulness of men: and to admit that, granting the
+occasional but rare existence of genuine and persevering benevolence of
+disposition and usefulness of life, where the religious principle is
+wanting; yet that experience gives us reason to believe, that true
+Religion, while it would have implanted these qualities in persons in
+whom before they had no place, would in general have given, to these
+very characters in whom they do exist, additional force in the same
+direction. It would have rendered the amiable more amiable, the useful
+more useful, with fewer inconsistencies, with less abatement.
+
+Let _true Christians_ meanwhile be ever mindful, that _they_ are loudly
+called upon to make this argument still more clear, these positions
+still less questionable. You are every where commanded to be tender and
+sympathetic, diligent and useful; and it is the character of that
+"wisdom from above," in which you are to be proficients, that it "is
+gentle and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits." Could
+the efficacy of Christianity in softening the heart be denied by those,
+who saw in the instance of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, that it
+was able to transform a bigotted, furious, and cruel persecutor, into an
+almost unequalled example of candour, and gentleness, and universal
+tenderness and love? Could its spirit of active beneficence be denied by
+those, who saw its Divine Author so diligent and unwearied in his
+benevolent labours, as to justify the compendious description which was
+given of him by a personal witness of his exertions, that he "went about
+doing good?" Imitate these blessed examples: so shall you vindicate the
+honour of your profession, and "put to silence the ignorance of foolish
+men:" so shall you obey those Divine injunctions of adorning the
+doctrine of Christ, and of "letting your light shine before men, that
+they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
+heaven." Beat the world at its own best weapons. Let your love be more
+affectionate, your mildness less open to irritation, your diligence more
+laborious, your activity more wakeful and persevering. Consider
+sweetness of temper and activity of mind, if they naturally belong to
+you, as talents of special worth and utility, for which you will have to
+give account. Carefully watch against whatever might impair them,
+cherish them with constant assiduity, keep them in continual exercise,
+and direct them to their noblest ends. The latter of these qualities
+renders it less difficult, and therefore more incumbent on you, to be
+ever abounding in the work of the Lord; and to be copious in the
+production of that species of good fruit, of which mankind in general
+will be most ready to allow the excellence, because they best understand
+its nature. In _your_ instance, the solid substance of Christian
+practice is easily susceptible of that high and beautiful polish, which
+may attract the attention, and extort the admiration of a careless and
+undiscerning world, so slow to notice, and so backward to acknowledge,
+intrinsic worth, when concealed under a less sightly exterior. Know
+then, and value as ye ought, the honourable office which is especially
+devolved on you. Let it be your acceptable service to recommend the
+discredited cause, and sustain the fainting interests of Religion, to
+furnish to her friends matter of sound and obvious argument, and of
+honest triumph; and if your best endeavours cannot conciliate, to refute
+at least, and confound her enemies.
+
+If on the other hand, you are conscious that you are naturally rough and
+austere, that disappointments have soured, or prosperity has elated you,
+or that habits of command have rendered you quick in expression, and
+impatient of contradiction; or if, from whatever other cause, you have
+contracted an unhappy peevishness of temper, or asperity of manners, or
+harshness and severity of language, (remember that these defects are by
+no means incompatible with an aptness to perform services of substantial
+kindness); if nature has been confirmed by habit till at length your
+soul seems thoroughly tinctured with these evil dispositions, yet do not
+despair. Remember that the Divine Agency is promised, "to take away the
+heart of stone, and give a heart of flesh," of which it is the natural
+property to be tender and susceptible. Pray then earnestly and
+perseveringly, that the blessed aid of Divine Grace may operate
+effectually on your behalf. Beware of acquiescing in the evil tempers in
+question, under the idea that they are the ordinary imperfections of the
+best of men; that they shew themselves only in little instances; that
+they are only occasional, hasty, and transient effusions, when you are
+taken off your guard; the passing shade of your mind, and not the
+settled colour. Beware of excusing or allowing them in yourself, under
+the notion of warm zeal for the cause of Religion and virtue, which you
+perhaps own is now and then apt to carry you into somewhat over-great
+severity of judgment, or sharpness in reproof. Listen not to these, or
+any other such flattering excuses, which your own heart will be but too
+ready to suggest to you. Scrutinize yourself rather with rigorous
+strictness; and where there is so much room for self-deceit, call in the
+aid of some faithful friend, and unbosoming yourself to him without
+concealment, ask his impartial and unreserved opinion of your behaviour
+and condition. Our unwillingness to do this, often betrays to others,
+(not seldom it first discovers to ourselves) that we entertain a secret
+distrust of our own character and conduct. Instead also of extenuating
+to yourself the criminality of the vicious tempers under consideration,
+strive to impress your mind deeply with a sense of it. For this end,
+often consider seriously, that these rough and churlish tempers are a
+direct contrast to the "meekness and gentleness of Christ;" and that
+Christians are strongly and repeatedly enjoined to copy after their
+great Model in these particulars, and to be themselves patterns of
+"mercy and kindness, and humbleness of mind, and meekness, and long
+suffering." They are to "put away all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
+and clamour, and evil speaking," not only "being ready to every good
+work, but being _gentle_ unto _all_ men," "shewing _all_ meekness unto
+_all_ men," "forbearing, forgiving," tender hearted. Remember the
+Apostle's declaration, that "if any man bridleth not his tongue, he only
+seemeth to be religious, and deceiveth his own heart;" and that it is
+one of the characters of that love, without which all pretensions to the
+name of Christian are but vain, that "it doth not behave itself
+unseemly." Consider how much these acrimonious tempers must break in
+upon the peace, and destroy the comfort, of those around you. Remember
+also that the honour of your Christian profession is at stake, and be
+solicitous not to discredit it: justly dreading lest you should disgust
+those whom you ought to conciliate; and by conveying an unfavourable
+impression of your principles and character, should incur the guilt of
+putting an "offence in your brother's way;" thereby "hindering the
+Gospel of Christ," the advancement of which should be your daily and
+assiduous care.
+
+Thus having come to the full knowledge of your disease, and to a just
+impression of its malignity, strive against it with incessant
+watchfulness. Guard with the most jealous circumspection against its
+breaking forth into act. Force yourself to abound in little offices of
+courtesy and kindness; and you shall gradually experience in the
+performance of these a pleasure hitherto unknown, and awaken in yourself
+the dormant principles of sensibility. But take not up with external
+amendment; guard against a false shew of sweetness of disposition; and
+remember that the Christian is not to be satisfied with the world's
+superficial courtliness of demeanor, but that his "Love is to be without
+dissimulation." Examine carefully, whether the unchristian tempers,
+which you would eradicate, are not maintained in vigour by selfishness
+and pride; and strive to subdue them effectually, by extirpating the
+roots from which they derive their nutriment. Accustom yourself to
+endeavour to look attentively upon a careless and inconsiderate world,
+which, while it is in such imminent peril, is so ignorant of its danger.
+Dwell upon this affecting scene, till it has excited your pity; and this
+pity, while it melts the mind to Christian love, shall insensibly
+produce a temper of habitual sympathy and softness. By means like these,
+perseveringly used in constant dependence on Divine aid, you may
+confidentially hope to make continual progress. Among men of the world,
+a youth of softness and sweetness will often, as we formerly remarked,
+harden into insensibility, and sharpen into moroseness. But it is the
+office of Christianity to reverse this order. It is pleasing to witness
+this blessed renovation: to see, as life advances, asperities gradually
+smoothing down, and roughnesses mellowing away: while the subject of
+this happy change experiences within, increasing measures of the comfort
+which he diffuses around him; and feeling the genial influences of that
+heavenly flame which can thus give life, and warmth, and action, to what
+had been hitherto rigid and insensible, looks up with gratitude to him
+who has shed abroad this principle of love in his heart;
+
+    Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma.
+
+Let it not be thought that in the foregoing discussion, the amiable and
+useful qualities, where they are not prompted and governed by a
+principle of religion, have been spoken of in too disparaging terms. Nor
+would I be understood as unwilling to concede to those who are living in
+the exercise of them, their proper tribute of commendation: Inest sua
+gratia. Of such persons it must be said, in the language of scripture,
+"they have their reward." They have it in the inward complacency, which
+a sweet temper seldom fails to inspire; in the comforts of the domestic
+or social circle; in the pleasure which from the constitution of our
+nature accompanies pursuit and action. They are always beloved in
+private, and generally respected in public life. But when devoid of
+Religion, if the word of God be not a fable, "they cannot enter into the
+kingdom of Heaven." True practical Christianity (never let it be
+forgotten) consists in devoting the heart and life to God; in being
+supremely and habitually governed by a desire to know, and a disposition
+to fulfil his will, and in endeavouring under the influence of _these
+motives_ to "live to his glory." Where these essential requisites are
+wanting, however amiable the character may be, however creditable and
+respectable among men; yet as it possesses not the grand distinguishing
+essence, it must not be complimented with the name, of Christianity.
+This however, when the external decorums of Religion are not violated,
+must commonly be a matter between God and a man's own conscience; and we
+ought never to forget how strongly we are enjoined to be candid and
+liberal in judging of the motives of others, while we are strict in
+scrutinizing and severe in questioning our own. And this strict scrutiny
+is no where more necessary, because there is no where more room for the
+operation of self-deceit. We are all extremely prone to lend ourselves
+to the good opinion which, however falsely, is entertained of us by
+others; and though we at first confusedly suspect, or even indubitably
+know, that their esteem is unfounded, and their praises undeserved, and
+that they would have thought and spoken of us very differently, if they
+had discerned our secret motives, or had been accurately acquainted with
+all the circumstances of our conduct; we gradually suffer ourselves to
+adopt their judgment of us, and at length feel that we are in some sort
+injured or denied our due, when these false commendations are
+contradicted or withheld. Without the most constant watchfulness, and
+the most close and impartial self-examination, irreligious people of
+amiable tempers, and still more those of useful lives, from the general
+popularity of their character, will be particularly liable to become the
+dupes of this propensity. Nor is it they only who have here need to be
+on their guard: men of real religion will also do well to watch against
+this delusion. There is however another danger to which these are still
+more exposed, and against which it is the rather necessary to warn them,
+because of our having insisted so strongly on their being bound to be
+diligent in the discharge of the active duties of life. In their
+endeavours to fulfil this obligation, let them specially beware, lest
+setting out on right principles, they insensibly lose them in the course
+of their progress; lest engaging originally in the business and bustle
+of the world, from a sincere and earnest desire to promote the glory of
+God, their minds should become so heated and absorbed in the pursuit of
+their object, as that the true motive of action should either altogether
+cease to be an habitual principle, or should at least lose much of its
+life and vigour; lest their thoughts and affections being engrossed by
+temporal concerns, their sense of the reality of "unseen things" should
+fade away, and they should lose their relish for the employments and
+offices of Religion.
+
+The Christian's path is beset with dangers--On the one hand, he justly
+dreads an inactive and unprofitable life; on the other, he no less
+justly trembles for the loss of that spiritual-mindedness, which is the
+very essence and power of his profession. This is not quite the place
+for the full discussion of the difficult topic here in question: and if
+it were, the writer of these sheets is too conscious of his own
+incompetencies, not to be desirous of asking rather than of giving
+advice respecting it. Yet, as it is a matter which has often engaged his
+most serious consideration, and has been the frequent subject of his
+anxious inquiry into the writings and opinions of far better
+instructors, he will venture to deliver a few words on it, offering
+them with unaffected diffidence.
+
+Does then the Christian discover in himself, judging not from accidental
+and occasional feelings, on which little stress is either way to be
+laid, but from the permanent and habitual temper of his mind, a settled,
+and still more a growing, coldness and indisposition towards the
+considerations and offices of Religion? And has he reason to apprehend
+that this coldness and indisposition are owing to his being engaged too
+much or too earnestly in worldly business, or to his being too keen in
+the pursuit of worldly objects? Let him carefully examine the state of
+his own heart, and seriously and impartially survey the circumstances of
+his situation in life; humbly praying to the Father of light and mercy,
+that he may be enabled to see his way clearly in this difficult
+emergency. If he finds himself pursuing wealth, or dignity, or
+reputation, with earnestness and solicitude; if these things engage many
+of his thoughts; if his mind naturally and inadvertently runs out into
+contemplations of them; if success in these respects greatly gladdens,
+and disappointments dispirit and distress his mind; he has but too plain
+grounds for self-condemnation. "No man can serve two masters." The world
+is evidently in possession of his heart, and it is no wonder that he
+finds himself dull, or rather dead, to the impression and enjoyment of
+spiritual things.
+
+But though the marks of predominant estimation and regard for earthly
+things be much less clear and determinate; yet if the object which he is
+pursuing be one which, by its attainment, would bring him a considerable
+accession of riches, station, or honour, let him soberly and fairly
+question and examine whether the pursuit be warrantable? here also,
+asking the advice of some judicious friend; his backwardness to do
+which, in instances like these, should justly lead him, as was before
+remarked, to distrust the reasonableness of the schemes which he is
+prosecuting. In such a case as this, we have good cause to distrust
+ourselves. Though the inward hope, that we are chiefly prompted by a
+desire to promote the glory of our Maker, and the happiness of our
+fellow-creatures, by increasing our means of usefulness, may suggest
+itself to allay, yet let it not altogether remove, our suspicions. It is
+not improbable, that beneath this plausible mask we conceal, more
+successfully perhaps from ourselves than from others, an inordinate
+attachment to the pomps and transitory distinctions of this life; and as
+this attachment gains the ascendency, it will ever be found, that our
+perception and feeling of the supreme excellence of heavenly things will
+proportionably subside.
+
+But when the consequences which would follow from the success of our
+worldly pursuits do not render them so questionable, as in the case we
+have been just considering; yet, having such good reason to believe that
+there is somewhere a flaw, could we but discover it, let us carefully
+scrutinize the whole of our conduct, taking that word in its largest
+sense; in order to discover whether we may not be living either in the
+breach or in the omission of some known duty, and whether it may not
+therefore have pleased God to withdraw from us the influence of his Holy
+Spirit; particularly inquiring, whether the duties of self-examination,
+of secret and public prayer, the reading of the Holy Scriptures, and
+the other prescribed means of Grace, have not been either wholly
+intermitted at their proper seasons, or at least been performed with
+precipitation or distraction? And if we find reason to believe, that the
+allotment of time, which it would be most for our spiritual improvement
+to assign to our religious offices, is often broken in upon and
+curtailed; let us be extremely backward to admit excuses for such
+interruptions and abridgments. It is more than probable, for many
+obvious reasons, that even our worldly affairs themselves will not on
+the long run, go on the better for encroaching upon those hours, which
+ought to be dedicated to the more immediate service of God, and to the
+cultivation of the inward principles of Religion. Our hearts at least
+and our conduct will soon exhibit proofs of the sad effects of this
+fatal negligence. They who in a crazy vessel navigate a sea wherein are
+shoals and currents innumerable, if they would keep their course or
+reach their port in safety, must carefully repair the smallest injuries,
+and often throw out their line and take their observations. In the
+voyage of life also the Christian who would not make shipwreck of his
+faith, while he is habitually watchful and provident, must often make it
+his express business to look into his state, and ascertain his progress.
+
+But to resume my subject; let us when engaged in this important
+scrutiny, impartially examine ourselves whether the worldly objects
+which engross us, are all of them such as properly belong to our
+profession, or station, or circumstances in life; which therefore we
+could not neglect with a good conscience? If they be, let us consider
+whether they do not consume a larger share of our time than they really
+require; and whether, by not trifling over our work, by deducting
+somewhat which might be spared from our hours of relaxation, or by some
+other little management, we might not fully satisfy their just claims,
+and yet have an increased overplus of leisure, to be devoted to the
+offices of Religion.
+
+But if we deliberately and honestly conclude that we ought not to give
+these worldly objects less of our _time_, let us endeavour at least to
+give them less of our _hearts_: striving that the settled frame of our
+_desires_ and affections may be more spiritual; and that in the motley
+intercourses of life we may constantly retain a more lively sense of the
+Divine presence, and a stronger impression of the reality of unseen
+things; thus corresponding with the Scripture description of true
+Christians, "walking by faith and not by sight, and having our
+conversation in Heaven."
+
+Above all, let us guard against the temptation, to which we shall
+certainly be exposed, of lowering down our views to our state, instead
+of endeavouring to rise to the level of our views. Let us rather
+determine to know the worst of our case, and strive to be suitably
+affected with it; not forward to speak peace to ourselves, but patiently
+carrying about with us a deep conviction of our backwardness and
+inaptitude to religious duties, and a just sense of our great weakness
+and numerous infirmities. This cannot be an unbecoming temper, in those
+who are commanded to "work out their salvation with fear and trembling."
+It prompts to constant and earnest prayer. It produces that sobriety,
+and lowliness and tenderness of mind, that meekness of demeanor and
+circumspection in conduct, which are such eminent characteristics of
+the true Christian.
+
+Nor is it a state devoid of consolation--"O tarry thou the Lord's
+leisure, be strong and he shall comfort thy heart."--"They that wait on
+the Lord, shall renew their strength."--"Blessed are they that mourn,
+for they shall be comforted." These Divine assurances sooth and
+encourage the Christian's disturbed and dejected mind, and insensibly
+diffuse a holy composure. The tint may be solemn, nay even melancholy,
+but it is mild and grateful. The tumult of his soul has subsided, and he
+is possessed by complacency, and hope, and love. If a sense of
+undeserved kindness fill his eyes with tears, they are tears of
+reconciliation and joy: while a generous ardour springing up within him
+sends him forth to his worldly labours "fervent in spirit;" resolving
+through the Divine aid to be henceforth more diligent and exemplary in
+living to the Glory of God, and longing meanwhile for that blessed time,
+when, "being freed from the bondage of corruption," he shall be enabled
+to render to his Heavenly Benefactor more pure and acceptable service.
+
+After having discussed so much at large the whole question concerning
+amiable tempers in general, it may be scarcely necessary to dwell upon
+that particular class of them which belongs to the head of generous
+emotions, or of exquisite sensibility. To these almost all which has
+been said above is strictly applicable; to which it may be added, that
+the persons in whom the latter qualities most abound, are often far from
+conducing to the peace and comfort of their nearest connections. These
+qualities indeed may be rendered highly useful instruments, when
+enlisted into the service of Religion. But we ought to except against
+them the more strongly, when not under her controul; because there is
+still greater danger than in the former case, that persons in whom they
+abound, may be flattered into a false opinion of themselves by the
+excessive commendations often paid to them by others, and by the
+beguiling complacencies of their own minds, which are apt to be puffed
+up with a proud though secret consciousness of their own superior
+acuteness and sensibility. But it is the less requisite to enlarge on
+this topic, because it has been well discussed by many, who have
+unfolded the real nature of those fascinating qualities; who have well
+remarked, that though shewy and apt to catch the eye, they are of a
+flimsy and perishable fabric, not of that less gaudy but more
+substantial and durable texture, which, imparting permanent warmth and
+comfort, will long preserve its more sober honours, and stand the wear
+and tear of life, and the vicissitudes of seasons. It has been shewn,
+that these qualities often fail us when most we want their aid; that
+their possessors can solace themselves with their imaginary exertions in
+behalf of ideal misery, and yet shrink from the labours of active
+benevolence, or retire with disgust from the homely forms of real
+poverty and wretchedness. In fine, the superiority of true Christian
+charity and of plain practical beneficence has been ably vindicated; and
+the school of Rousseau has been forced to yield to the school of Christ,
+when the question has been concerning the best means of promoting the
+comfort of family life, or the temporal well-being of society[84].
+
+
+SECTION V.
+
+_Some other grand defects in the practical system of the Bulk of nominal
+Christians._
+
+In the imperfect sketch which has been drawn of the Religion of the bulk
+of nominal Christians, their fundamental error respecting the essential
+nature of Christianity has been discussed, and traced into some of its
+many mischievous consequences. Several of their particular
+misconceptions and allowed defects have also been pointed out and
+illustrated. It may not be improper to close the survey by noticing
+some others, for the existence of which we may now appeal to almost
+every part of the preceding delineation.
+
+In the first place, then, there appears throughout, both in the
+principles and allowed conduct of the bulk of nominal Christians, a most
+inadequate idea of the _guilt and evil of sin_. We every where find
+reason to remark, that, as was formerly observed, Religion is suffered
+to dwindle away into a mere matter of _police_. Hence the guilt of
+actions is estimated, not by the proportion in which, according to
+Scripture, they are offensive to God, but by that in which they are
+injurious to society. Murder, theft, fraud in all its shapes, and some
+species of lying, are manifestly, and in an eminent degree, injurious to
+social happiness. How different accordingly, in the moral scale, is the
+place they hold, from that which is assigned to idolatry, to general
+irreligion, to swearing, drinking, fornication, lasciviousness,
+sensuality, excessive dissipation; and in particular circumstances, to
+pride, wrath, malice, and revenge!
+
+Indeed, several of the above-mentioned vices are held to be grossly
+criminal in the lower ranks, because manifestly ruinous to their
+temporal interests: but in the higher, they are represented as "losing
+half their evil by losing all their grossness," as flowing naturally
+from great prosperity, from the excess of gaiety and good humour; and
+they are accordingly "regarded with but a small degree of
+disapprobation, and censured very slightly or not at all[85]."--"Non
+meus hic sermo est." These are the remarks of authors, who have
+surveyed the stage of human life with more than ordinary observation;
+one of whom in particular cannot be suspected of having been misled by
+religious prejudices, to form a judgment of the superior orders too
+unfavourable and severe.
+
+Will these positions however be denied? Will it be maintained that there
+is not the difference already stated, in the moral estimation of these
+different classes of vices? Will it be said, that the one class is
+indeed more generally restrained, and more severely punished by human
+laws, because more properly cognizable by human judicatures, and more
+directly at war with the well-being of society; but that when brought
+before the tribunal of internal opinion they are condemned with equal
+rigour?
+
+Facts may be denied, and charges laughed out of countenance: but where
+the general sentiment and feeling of mankind are in question, our common
+language is often the clearest and most impartial witness; and the
+conclusions thus furnished, are not to be parried by wit, or eluded by
+sophistry. In the present case, our ordinary modes of speech furnish
+sufficient matter for the determination of the argument; and abundantly
+prove our disposition to consider as matters of small account, such sins
+as are not held to be injurious to the community. We invent for them
+diminutive and qualifying terms, which, if not, as in the common uses of
+language[86], to be admitted as signs of approbation and good will, must
+at least be confessed to be proofs of our tendency to regard them with
+palliation and indulgence. Free-thinking, gallantry, jollity[87], and a
+thousand similar phrases might be adduced as instances. But it is worthy
+of remark, that no such soft and qualifying terms are in use, for
+expressing the smaller degrees of theft, or fraud, or forgery, or any
+other of those offences, which are committed by men against their
+fellow-creatures, and in the suppression of which we are interested by
+our regard to our temporal concerns.
+
+The charge which we are urging is indeed undeniable. In the case of any
+question of honour, or of moral honesty, we are sagacious in discerning
+and inexorable in judging the offence. No allowance is made for the
+suddenness of surprise, or the strength of temptations. One single
+failure is presumed to imply the absence of the moral or honourable
+principle. The memory is retentive on these occasions, and the man's
+character is blasted for life. Here, even the mere suspicion of having
+once offended can scarcely be got over: "There is an aukward story about
+that man, which must be explained before he and I can become
+acquainted." But in the case of sins against God, there is no such
+watchful jealousy, none of this rigorous logic. A man may go on in the
+frequent commission of known sins, yet no such inference is drawn
+respecting the absence of the religious principle. On the contrary, we
+say of him, that "though his _conduct_ be a little incorrect, his
+_principles_ are untouched;"--that he has _a good heart_: and such a man
+may go quietly through life, with the titles of a _mighty worthy
+creature_, and a _very good Christian_.
+
+But in the Word of God actions are estimated by a far less accommodating
+standard. There we read of no little sins. Much of our Saviour's sermon
+on the mount, which many of the class we are condemning affect highly to
+admire, is expressly pointed against so dangerous a misconception.
+_There_, no such distinction is made between the rich and the poor. No
+notices are to be traced of one scale of morals for the higher, and of
+another for the lower classes of society. Nay, the former are expressly
+guarded against any such vain imagination; and are distinctly warned,
+that their condition in life is the more dangerous, because of the more
+abundant temptations to which it exposes them. Idolatry, fornication,
+lasciviousness, drunkenness, revellings, inordinate affection, are, by
+the apostle likewise classed with theft and murder, and with what we
+hold in even still greater abomination; and concerning them all it is
+pronounced alike, that "they which do such things shall not inherit the
+kingdom of God[88]."
+
+In truth, the instance which we have lately specified, of the loose
+system of these nominal Christians, betrays a fatal absence of the
+principle which is the very foundation of all Religion. Their slight
+notions of the guilt and evil of sin discover an utter want of all
+suitable reverence for the Divine Majesty. This principle is justly
+termed in Scripture, "the beginning of wisdom," and there is perhaps no
+one quality which it is so much the studious endeavour of the sacred
+writers to impress upon the human heart[89].
+
+Sin is considered in Scripture as rebellion against the sovereignty of
+God, and every different act of it equally violates his law, and, if
+persevered in, disclaims his supremacy. To the inconsiderate and the gay
+this doctrine may seem harsh, while, vainly fluttering in the sunshine
+of worldly prosperity, they lull themselves into a fond security. "But
+the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the
+Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
+with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall
+be burnt up"--"Seeing then, that all these things shall be dissolved,
+what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and
+Godliness?"[90] We are but an atom in the universe.--Worlds upon worlds
+surround us, all probably full of intelligent creatures, to whom, now or
+hereafter, we may be a spectacle, and afford an example of the Divine
+procedure. Who then shall take upon him to pronounce what might be the
+issue, if sin were suffered to pass unpunished in one corner of this
+universal empire? Who shall say what confusion might be the consequence,
+what disorder it might spread through the creation of God? Be this
+however as it may, the language of Scripture is clear and
+decisive;--"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people
+that forget God."
+
+It should be carefully observed too, that these awful denunciations of
+the future punishment of sin derive additional weight from this
+consideration, that they are represented, not merely as a judicial
+sentence which, without violence to the settled order of things, might
+be remitted through the mere mercy of our Almighty Governor, but as
+arising out of the established course of nature; as happening in the way
+of natural consequence, just as a cause is necessarily connected with
+its effect; as resulting from certain connections and relations which
+rendered them suitable and becoming. It is stated, that the kingdom of
+God and the kingdom of Satan are both set up in the world, and that to
+the one or the other of these we must belong. "The righteous have
+_passed_ from death unto life"--"they are delivered from the power of
+darkness, and are translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son[91]."
+They are become "the children," and "the subjects of God." While on
+earth, they love his day, his service, his people; they "speak good of
+his name;" they abound in his works. Even here they are in some degree
+possessed of his image, by and by it shall be perfected; they shall
+awake up after his "likeness," and being "heirs of eternal life," they
+shall receive "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that
+fadeth not away."
+
+Of sinners, on the other hand, it is declared, that "they are of their
+father the devil;" while on earth, they are styled "his children," "his
+servants;" they are said "to do his works," "to hold of his side," to
+be, "subjects of his kingdom:" at length "they shall partake his
+portion," when the merciful Saviour shall be changed into an avenging
+Judge, and shall pronounce that dreadful sentence, "depart from me, ye
+cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
+
+Is it possible that these declarations should not strike terror, or at
+least excite serious and fearful apprehension in the lightest and most
+inconsiderate mind? But the imaginations of men are fatally prone to
+suggest to them fallacious hopes in the very face of these positive
+declarations. "We cannot persuade ourselves that God will in fact prove
+so severe." It was the very delusion to which our first parents
+listened; "Ye shall not surely die."
+
+Let me ask these rash men, who are thus disposed to trifle with their
+immortal interests, had they lived in the antediluvian world, would they
+have conceived it possible that God would then execute his predicted
+threatening? Yet the event took place at the appointed time; the flood
+came and swept them all away: and this awful instance of the anger of
+God against sin is related in the inspired writings for our instruction.
+Still more to rouse us to attention, the record is impressed in
+indelible characters on the solid substance of the very globe we
+inhabit; which thus, in every country upon earth, furnishes practical
+attestations to the truth of the sacred writings, and to the actual
+accomplishment of their awful predictions. For myself I must declare,
+that I never can read without awe the passage, in which our Saviour is
+speaking of the state of the world at the time of this memorable event.
+The wickedness of men is represented to have been great and prevalent;
+yet not as we are ready to conceive, such as to interrupt the course,
+and shake the very frame of society. The general face of things was,
+perhaps, not very different from that which is exhibited in many of the
+European nations. It was a selfish, a luxurious, an irreligious, and an
+inconsiderate world. They were called, but they would not hearken; they
+were warned, but they would not believe--"They did eat, they drank, they
+married wives, they were given in marriage:" such is the account of one
+of the Evangelists; in that of another it is stated nearly in the same
+words; "They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
+and knew not until the flood came and swept them all away."
+
+Again, we see throughout, in the system which we have been describing a
+most inadequate conception of the difficulty of becoming true
+Christians; and an utter forgetfulness of its being the great business
+of life to secure our admission into Heaven, and to prepare our hearts
+for its service and enjoyments. The general notion appears to be, that,
+if born in a country of which Christianity is the established religion,
+we are born Christians. We do not therefore look out for positive
+evidence of our really being of that number; but putting the _onus
+probandi_, (if it may be so expressed) on the wrong side, we conceive
+ourselves such _of course_, except our title be disproved by positive
+evidence to the contrary. And we are so slow in giving ear to what
+conscience urges to us on this side; so dexterous in justifying what is
+clearly wrong, in palliating what we cannot justify, in magnifying the
+merit of what is fairly commendable, in flattering ourselves that our
+habits of vice are only occasional acts, and in multiplying our single
+acts into habits of virtue, that we must be bad indeed, to be compelled
+to give a verdict against ourselves. Besides, having no suspicion of our
+state, we do not set ourselves in earnest to the work of
+self-examination; but only receive in a confused and hasty way some
+occasional notices of our danger, when sickness, or the loss of a
+friend, or the recent commission of some act of vice of greater size
+than ordinary, has awakened in our consciences a more than usual degree
+of sensibility.
+
+Thus, by the generality, it is altogether forgotten, that the Christian
+has a great work to execute; that of forming himself after the pattern
+of his Lord and Master, through the operation of the Holy Spirit of God,
+which is promised to our fervent prayers and diligent endeavours.
+Unconscious of the obstacles which impede, and of the enemies which
+resist their advancement; they are naturally forgetful also of the ample
+provision which is in store, for enabling them to surmount the one, and
+to conquer the other. The scriptural representations of the state of the
+Christian on earth, by the images of "a race," and "a warfare;" of its
+being necessary to rid himself of every encumbrance which might retard
+him in the one, and to furnish himself with the whole armour of God for
+being victorious in the other, are, so far as these nominal Christians
+are concerned, figures of no propriety or meaning. As little (as was
+formerly shewn) have they, in correspondence with the Scripture
+descriptions of the feelings and language of real Christians, any idea
+of acquiring a relish while on earth, for the worship and service of
+Heaven. If the truth must be told, their notion is rather a confused
+idea of future gratification in Heaven, in return for having put a force
+upon their inclinations, and endured so much religion while on earth.
+
+But all this is only _nominal_ Christianity, which exhibits a more
+inadequate image of her real excellencies, than the cold copyings, by
+some insipid pencil, convey of the force and grace of Nature, or of
+Raphael. In the language of Scripture, Christianity is not a
+geographical, but a moral term. It is not the being a native of a
+Christian country: it is _a condition, a state_; the possession of a
+_peculiar nature_, with the _qualities_ and _properties_ which belong to
+it.
+
+Farther than this, it is a state into which we are not _born_, but into
+which we must be _translated_; a nature which we do not _inherit_, but
+into which we are to be _created anew_. To the undeserved grace of God,
+which is promised on our use of the appointed means, we must be indebted
+for the attainment of this nature; and, to acquire and make sure of it,
+is that great "work of our salvation," which we are commanded to "work
+out with fear and trembling." We are every where reminded, that this is
+a matter of labour and difficulty, requiring continual watchfulness, and
+unceasing effort, and unwearied patience. Even to the very last, towards
+the close of a long life consumed in active service, or in cheerful
+suffering, we find St. Paul himself declaring, that he conceived bodily
+self-denial and mental discipline to be indispensably necessary to his
+very safety. Christians, who are really worthy of the name, are
+represented as being "made meet for the inheritance of the Saints in
+light;" as "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" as
+"looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God." It is
+stated as being enough to make them happy, that "Christ should receive
+them to himself;" and the songs of the blessed spirits in Heaven are
+described to be the same, as those in which the servants of God on earth
+pour forth their gratitude and adoration.
+
+Conscious therefore of the indispensable necessity, and of the arduous
+nature of the service in which he is engaged, the true Christian sets
+himself to the work with vigour, and prosecutes it with diligence. His
+motto is that of the painter; "_nullus dies sine linea_." Fled as it
+were from a country in which the plague is raging, he thinks it not
+enough just to pass the boundary line, but would put out of doubt his
+escape beyond the limbs of infection. Prepared to meet with
+difficulties, he is not discouraged when they occur; warned of his
+numerous adversaries, he is not alarmed on their approach, or unprovided
+for encountering them. He knows that the beginnings of every new course
+may be expected to be rough and painful; but he is assured that the
+paths on which he is entering will ere long seem smoother, and become
+indeed "paths of pleasantness and peace."
+
+Now of the state of such an one the expressions of Pilgrim and Stranger
+are a lively description; and all the other figures and images, by which
+Christians are represented in Scripture, have in his case a determinate
+meaning and a just application. There is indeed none, by which the
+Christian's state on earth is in the word of God more frequently imaged,
+or more happily illustrated, than by that of a journey: and it may not
+be amiss to pause for a while in order to survey it under that
+resemblance. The Christian is travelling on business through a strange
+country, in which he is commanded to execute his work with diligence,
+and pursue his course homeward with alacrity. The fruits which he sees
+by the way-side he gathers with caution; he drinks of the streams with
+moderation; he is thankful when the sun shines, and his way is
+pleasant; but if it be rough and rainy, he cares not much, he is but a
+traveller. He is prepared for vicissitudes; he knows that he must expect
+to meet with them in the stormy and uncertain climate of this world. But
+he is travelling to "a better country," a country of unclouded light and
+undisturbed serenity. He finds also by experience, that when he has had
+the least of external comforts, he has always been least disposed to
+loiter; and if for the time it be a little disagreeable, he can solace
+himself with the idea of his being thereby forwarded in his course. In a
+less unfavourable season, he looks round him with an eye of observation;
+he admires what is beautiful; he examines what is curious; he receives
+with complacency the refreshments which are set before him, and enjoys
+them with thankfulness. Nor does he churlishly refuse to associate with
+the inhabitants of the country through which he is passing; nor, so far
+as he may, to speak their language, and adopt their fashions. But he
+neither suffers pleasure, nor curiosity, nor society, to take up too
+much of his time, and is still intent on transacting the business which
+he has to execute, and on prosecuting the journey which he is ordered to
+pursue. He knows also that, to the very end of life, his journey will be
+through a country in which he has many enemies; that his way is beset
+with snares; that temptations throng around him, to seduce him from his
+course or check his advancement in it; that the very air disposes to
+drowsiness, and that therefore to the very last it will be requisite for
+him to be circumspect and collected. Often therefore he examines
+whereabouts he is, how he has got forward, and whether or not he is
+travelling in the right direction. Sometimes he seems to himself to
+make considerable progress, sometimes he advances but slowly, too often
+he finds reason to fear that he has fallen backward in his course. Now
+he is cheered with hope, and gladdened by success; now he is disquieted
+with doubts, and damped by disappointments. Thus while in nominal
+Christians, Religion is a dull uniform thing, and they have no
+conception of the desires and disappointments, the hopes and fears, the
+joys and sorrows, which it is calculated to bring into exercise; in the
+true Christian all is life and motion, and his great work calls forth
+alternately the various passions of the soul. Let it not therefore be
+imagined that his is a state of unenlivened toil and hardship. His very
+labours are "the labours of love;" if "he has need of patience," it is
+"the patience of hope;" and he is cheered in his work by the constant
+assurance of present support, and of final victory. Let it not be
+forgotten, that this is the very idea given us of happiness by one of
+the ablest examiners of the human mind; "a constant employment for a
+desired end, with the consciousness of continual progress." So true is
+the Scripture declaration, that "Godliness has the promise of the life
+that now is, as well as of that which is to come."
+
+Our review of the character of the bulk of nominal Christians has
+exhibited abundant proofs of their allowed defectiveness in that great
+constituent of the true Christian character, _the love of God_. Many
+instances, in proof of this assertion, have been incidentally pointed
+out, and the charge is in itself so obvious, that it were superfluous to
+spend much time in endeavouring to establish it. Put the question fairly
+to the test. Concerning the proper marks and evidences of affection,
+there can be little dispute. Let the most candid investigator examine
+the character, and conduct, and language of the persons of whom we have
+been speaking; and he will be compelled to acknowledge, that so far as
+love towards the Supreme Being is in question, these marks and evidences
+are no where to be met with. It is in itself a decisive evidence of a
+contrary feeling in those nominal Christians, that they find no pleasure
+in the service and worship of God. Their devotional acts resemble less
+the free-will offerings of a grateful heart, than that constrained and
+reluctant homage, which is exacted by some hard master from his
+oppressed dependents, and paid with cold sullenness, and slavish
+apprehension. It was the very charge brought by God against his
+ungrateful people of old, that, while they called him Sovereign and
+Father, they withheld from him the regards which severally belong to
+those respected and endearing appellations. Thus we likewise think it
+enough to offer to the most excellent and amiable of Beings, to our
+supreme and unwearied Benefactor, a dull, artificial, heartless
+gratitude, of which we should be ashamed in the case of a
+fellow-creature, who had ever so small a claim on our regard and
+thankfulness!
+
+It may be of infinite use to establish in our minds a strong and
+habitual sense of that first and great commandment--"Thou shalt love the
+Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
+soul, and with all thy strength." This passion, operative and vigorous
+in its very nature, like a master spring, would put and maintain in
+action all the complicated movements of the human soul. Soon also would
+it terminate many practical questions concerning the allowableness of
+certain compliances; questions which, with other similar difficulties,
+are often only the cold offspring of a spirit of reluctant submission,
+and cannot stand the encounter of this trying principle. If, for
+example, it were disputed, whether or not the law of God were _so_
+strict as had been stated, in condemning the slightest infraction of its
+precepts; yet, when, from the precise demands of justice, the appeal
+should be made to the more generous principle of love, there would be at
+once an end of the discussion. Fear will deter from acknowledged crimes,
+and self-interest will bribe to laborious services: but it is the
+peculiar glory, and the very characteristic, of this more generous
+passion, to shew itself in ten thousand little and undefinable acts of
+sedulous attention, which love alone can pay, and of which, when paid,
+love alone can estimate the value. Love outruns the deductions of
+reasoning; it scorns the refuge of casuistry; it requires not the slow
+process of laborious and undeniable proof that an action would be
+injurious and offensive, or another beneficial or gratifying, to the
+object of affection. The least hint, the slightest surmise, is
+sufficient to make it start from the former, and fly with eagerness to
+the latter.
+
+I am well aware that I am now about to tread on very tender ground; but
+it would be an improper deference to the opinions and manners of the age
+altogether to avoid it. There has been much argument concerning the
+lawfulness of theatrical amusements[92]. Let it be sufficient to
+remark, that the controversy would be short indeed, if the question were
+to be tried by this criterion of love to the Supreme Being. If there
+were any thing of that sensibility for the honour of God, and of that
+zeal in his service, which we shew in behalf of our earthly friends, or
+of our political connections, should we seek our pleasure in that place
+which the debauchee, inflamed with wine, or bent on the gratification of
+other licentious appetites, finds most congenial to his state and temper
+of mind? In that place, from the neighbourhood of which, (how justly
+termed a school of morals might hence alone be inferred) decorum, and
+modesty, and regularity retire, while riot and lewdness are invited to
+the spot, and invariably select it for their chosen residence! where the
+sacred name of God is often prophaned! where sentiments are often heard
+with delight, and motions and gestures often applauded, which would not
+be tolerated in private company, but which may far exceed the utmost
+licence allowed in the social circle, without at all transgressing the
+large bounds of theatrical decorum! where, when moral principles are
+inculcated, they are not such as a Christian ought to cherish in his
+bosom, but such as it must be his daily endeavour to extirpate; not
+those which Scripture warrants, but those which it condemns as false and
+spurious, being founded in pride and ambition, and the over-valuation of
+human favour! where surely, if a Christian should trust himself at all,
+it would be requisite for him to prepare himself with a double portion
+of watchfulness and seriousness of mind, instead of selecting it as the
+place in which he may throw off his guard, and unbend without danger!
+The justness of this last remark, and the general tendency of
+theatrical amusements, is attested by the same well instructed master in
+the science of human life, to whom we had before occasion to refer. By
+him they are recommended as the most efficacious expedient for relaxing,
+among any people, that "_preciseness and austerity_ of morals," to use
+his own phrase, which, under the name of holiness, it is the business of
+Scripture to inculcate and enforce. Nor is this position merely
+theoretical. The experiment was tried, and tried successfully, in a city
+upon the continent[93], in which it was wished to corrupt the simple
+morality of purer times.
+
+Let us try the question by a parallel instance.
+
+What judgment should we form of the warmth of that man's attachment to
+his Sovereign, who, at seasons of recreation, should seek his pleasures
+in scenes as ill accordant with the principle of loyalty, as those of
+which we have been speaking are with the genius of religion? If for this
+purpose he were to select the place, and frequent the amusements, to
+which Democrats and Jacobins[94] should love to resort for
+entertainment, and in which they should find themselves so much at home,
+as invariably to select the spot for their abiding habitation; where
+dialogue, and song, and the intelligible language of gesticulation,
+should be used to convey ideas and sentiments, not perhaps palpably
+treasonable, or directly falling within the strict precision of any
+legal limits, but yet palpably contrary to the spirit of monarchical
+government; which, further, the highest authorities had recommended as
+sovereign specifics for cooling the warmth, and enlarging the narrowness
+of an excessive loyalty! What opinion should we form of the delicacy of
+that friendship, or of the fidelity of that love, which, in relation to
+their respective objects, should exhibit the same contradictions?
+
+In truth, the _hard measure_, if the phrase may be pardoned, which, as
+has been before remarked, we give to God; and the very different way in
+which we allow ourselves to act, and speak, and feel, where he is
+concerned, from that which we require, or even practise in the case of
+our fellow-creatures, is in itself the most decisive proof that the
+principle of the love of God, if not altogether extinct in us, is at
+least in the lowest possible degree of languor.
+
+From examining the degree in which the bulk of nominal Christians are
+defective in the love of God, if we proceed to inquire concerning the
+strength of their love towards their fellow-creatures, the writer is
+well aware of its being generally held, that here at least they may
+rather challenge praise than submit to censure. And the many beneficent
+institutions in which this country abounds, probably above every other,
+whether in ancient or modern times, may be perhaps appealed to in proof
+of the opinion. Much of what might have been otherwise urged in the
+discussion of this topic, has been anticipated in the inquiry into the
+grounds of the extravagant estimation, assigned to amiable tempers and
+useful lives, when unconnected with religious principle. What was then
+stated may serve in many cases to lower, in the present instance, the
+loftiness of the pretensions of these nominal Christians; and we shall
+hereafter have occasion to mention another consideration, of which the
+effect must be, still further to reduce their claims. Meanwhile, let it
+suffice to remark, that we must not rest satisfied with merely
+superficial appearances, if we would form a fair estimate of the degree
+of purity and vigour, in which the principle of good will towards men
+warms the bosoms of the generality of professed Christians in the higher
+and more opulent classes in this country. In a highly polished state of
+society, for instance, we do not expect to find moroseness; and in an
+age of great profusion, though we may reflect with pleasure on those
+numerous charitable institutions, which are justly the honour of Great
+Britain; we are not too hastily to infer a strong principle of internal
+benevolence, from liberal contributions to the relief of indigence and
+misery. When these contributions indeed are equally abundant in frugal
+times, or from individuals personally oeconomical, the source from
+which they originate becomes less questionable. But a vigorous principle
+of philanthropy must not be at once conceded, on the ground of liberal
+benefactions to the poor, in the case of one who by his liberality in
+this respect is curtailed in no necessary, is abridged of no luxury, is
+put to no trouble either of thought or of action; who, not to impute a
+desire of being praised for his benevolence, is injured in no man's
+estimation; in whom also familiarity with large sums has produced that
+freedom in the expenditure of money, which (thereby affording a fresh
+illustration of the justice of the old proverb, "Familiarity breeds
+contempt,") it never fails to operate, except in minds under the
+influence of a strong principle of avarice.
+
+Our conclusion, perhaps, would be less favourable, but not less fair, if
+we were to try the characters in question by those surer tests, which
+are stated by the Apostle to be less ambiguous marks of a real spirit of
+philanthropy. The strength of every passion is to be estimated by its
+victory over passions of an opposite nature. What judgment then shall we
+form of the force of the benevolence of the age, when measured by this
+standard? How does it stand the shock, when it comes into encounter with
+our pride, our vanity, our self-love, our self-interest, our love of
+ease or of pleasure, with our ambition, with our desire of worldly
+estimation? Does it make us self-denying, that we may be liberal in
+relieving others? Does it make us persevere in doing good in spite of
+ingratitude; and only pity the ignorance, or prejudice, or malice, which
+misrepresents our conduct, or misconstrues our motives? Does it make us
+forbear from what we conceive may probably prove the occasion of harm
+to a fellow-creature; though the harm should not seem naturally or even
+fairly to flow from our conduct, but to be the result only of his own
+obstinacy or weakness? Are we slow to believe any thing to our
+neighbour's disadvantage? and when we cannot but credit it, are we
+disposed rather to cover, and as far as we justly can, to palliate, than
+to divulge or aggravate it? Suppose an opportunity to occur of
+performing a kindness, to one who from pride or vanity should be loth to
+receive, or to be known to receive, a favour from us; should we honestly
+endeavour, so far as we could with truth, to lessen in his own mind and
+in that of others the merit of our good offices, and by so doing dispose
+him to receive them with diminished reluctance, and a less painful
+weight of obligation? This end, however, must be accomplished, if to be
+accomplished at all, by a simple and fair explanation of the
+circumstances, which may render the action in no wise inconvenient to
+ourselves, though highly beneficial to another; not by speeches of
+affected disparagement, which we might easily foresee, and in fact do
+foresee, must produce the contrary effect. Can we, from motives of
+kindness, incur or risk the charge of being deficient in spirit, in
+penetration, or in foresight? Do we tell another of his faults, when the
+communication, though probably beneficial to _him_, cannot be made
+without embarrassment or pain to ourselves, and may probably lessen his
+regard for our person, or his opinion of our judgment? Can we stifle a
+repartee which would wound another; though the utterance of it would
+gratify our vanity, and the suppression of it may disparage our
+character for wit? If any one advance a mistaken proposition, in an
+instance wherein the error may be mischievous to him; can we, to the
+prejudice perhaps of our credit for discernment, forbear to contradict
+him in public, if it be probable that in so doing, by piquing his pride
+we might only harden him in his error? and can we reserve our counsel
+for some more favourable season, the "mollia tempora fandi," when it may
+be communicated without offence? If we have recommended to any one a
+particular line of conduct, or have pointed out the probable mischiefs
+of the opposite course, and if our admonitions have been neglected, are
+we _really hurt_ when our predictions of evil are accomplished? Is our
+love superior to envy, and jealousy, and emulation? Are we acute to
+discern and forward to embrace any fair opportunity of promoting the
+interests of another; if it be in a line wherein we ourselves also are
+moving, and in which we think our progress has not been proportioned to
+our desert? Can we take pleasure in bringing his merits into notice, and
+in obviating the prejudices which may have damped his efforts, or in
+removing the obstacles which may have retarded his advancement? If even
+to this extent we should be able to stand the scrutiny, let it be
+farther asked how, in the case of our enemies, do we correspond with the
+Scripture representations of love? Are we meek under provocations, ready
+to forgive, and apt to forget injuries? Can we, with sincerity, "bless
+them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them
+which despitefully use us, and persecute us?" Do we prove to the
+Searcher of hearts a real spirit of forgiveness, by our forbearing not
+only from avenging an injury when it is in our power, but even from
+telling to any one how ill we have been used; and that too when we are
+not kept silent by a consciousness that we should lose credit by
+divulging the circumstance? And lastly, can we not only be content to
+return our enemies good for evil, (for this return, as has been remarked
+by one of the greatest of uninspired authorities,[95] may be prompted by
+pride and repaid by self-complacency) but, when they are successful or
+unsuccessful without our having contributed to their good or ill
+fortune, can we not only be content, but cordially rejoice in their
+prosperity, or sympathize with their distresses?
+
+These are but a few specimens of the characteristic marks which might be
+stated, of a true predominant benevolence; yet even these may serve to
+convince us how far the bulk of nominal Christians fall short of the
+requisitions of Scripture, even in that particular, which exhibits their
+character in the most favourable point of view. The truth is, we do not
+enough call to mind the exalted tone of Scripture morality; and are
+therefore apt to value ourselves on the heights to which we attain, when
+a better acquaintance with our standard would have convinced us of our
+falling far short of the elevation prescribed to us. It is in the very
+instance of the most difficult of the duties lately specified, the
+forgiveness and love of enemies, that our Saviour points out to our
+imitation the example of our Supreme Benefactor. After stating that, by
+being kind and courteous to those who, even in the world's opinion, had
+a title to our good offices and good will, we should in vain set up a
+claim to _Christian_ benevolence, he emphatically adds, "Be ye
+therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
+
+We must here again resort to a topic which was lately touched on, that
+of theatrical amusements; and recommend it to their advocates to
+consider them in connection with the duty, of which we have now been
+exhibiting some of the leading characters.
+
+It is an undeniable fact, for the truth of which we may safely appeal to
+every age and nation, that the situation of the performers, particularly
+of those of the female sex, is remarkably unfavourable to the
+maintenance and growth of the religious and moral principle, and of
+course highly dangerous to their eternal interests. Might it not then be
+fairly asked, how far, in all who confess the truth of this position, it
+is consistent with the sensibility of Christian benevolence, merely for
+the entertainment of an idle hour, to encourage the continuance of any
+of their fellow-creatures in such a way of life, and to take a part in
+tempting any others to enter into it? how far, considering that, by
+their own concession, they are employing whatever they spend in this
+way, in sustaining and advancing the cause of vice, and consequently in
+promoting misery; they are herein bestowing this share of their wealth
+in a manner agreeable to the intentions of their holy and benevolent
+Benefactor? how far also they are not in this instance the rather
+criminal, from there being so many sources of innocent pleasure open to
+their enjoyment? how far they are acting conformably to that golden
+principle of doing to others as we would they should do to us? how far
+they harmonize with the spirit of the Apostle's affectionate
+declaration, that he would deny himself for his whole life the most
+innocent indulgence, nay, what might seem almost an absolute necessary,
+rather than cause his weak fellow Christian to offend? or lastly, how
+far they are influenced by the solemn language of our Saviour himself;
+"It must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the
+offence cometh; it were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged
+about his neck, and that he were cast into the depths of the sea?" The
+present instance is perhaps another example of our taking greater
+concern in the temporal, than in the spiritual interests of our fellow
+creatures. That man would be deemed, and justly deemed, of an inhuman
+temper, who in these days were to seek his amusement in the combats of
+gladiators and prize fighters: yet _Christians_ appear conscious of no
+inconsistency, in finding their pleasure in spectacles maintained at the
+risk at least, if not the ruin, of the eternal happiness of those who
+perform in them!
+
+
+SECT. VI.
+
+_Grand defect.--Neglect of the peculiar Doctrines of Christianity._
+
+But the grand radical defect in the practical system of these nominal
+Christians, is their forgetfulness of all the peculiar doctrines of the
+Religion which they profess--the corruption of human nature--the
+atonement of the Saviour--and the sanctifying influence of the Holy
+Spirit.
+
+Here then we come again to the grand distinction, between the Religion
+of Christ and that of the bulk of nominal Christians in the present
+day. The point is of the utmost _practical importance_, and we would
+therefore trace it into its actual effects.
+
+There are, it is to be apprehended, not a few, who having been for some
+time hurried down the stream of dissipation in the indulgence of all
+their natural appetites, (except, perhaps, that they were restrained
+from very gross vice by a regard to character, or by the yet unsubdued
+voice of conscience); and who, having all the while thought little, or
+scarcely at all about Religion, "living," to use the emphatical language
+of Scripture, "without God in the world," become in some degree
+impressed with a sense of the infinite importance of Religion. A fit of
+sickness, perhaps, or the loss of some friend or much loved relative, or
+some other stroke of adverse fortune, damps their spirits, awakens them
+to a practical conviction of the precariousness of all human things, and
+turns them to seek for some more stable foundation of happiness than
+this world can afford. Looking into themselves ever so little, they
+become sensible that they must have offended God. They resolve
+accordingly to set about the work of reformation.--Here it is that we
+shall recognize the fatal effects of the prevailing ignorance of the
+real nature of Christianity, and the general forgetfulness of its grand
+peculiarities. These men _wish_ to reform, but they know neither the
+real _nature_ of their distemper nor its true remedy. They are aware,
+indeed, that they must "cease to do evil, and learn to do well;" that
+they must relinquish their habits of vice, and attend more or less to
+the duties of Religion: but having no conception of the actual
+malignity of the disease under which they labour, or of the perfect cure
+which the Gospel has provided for it, or of the manner in which that
+cure is to be effected,
+
+    "They do but skin and film the ulcerous place,
+    While rank corruption, mining all within,
+    Infects unseen."
+
+It often happens therefore but too naturally in this case, that where
+they do not soon desist from their attempt at reformation, and relapse
+into their old habits of sin; they take up with a partial and scanty
+amendment, and fondly flatter themselves that it is a thorough change.
+They now conceive that they have a right to take to themselves the
+comforts of Christianity. Not being able to raise their practice up to
+their standard of right, they lower their standard to their practice:
+they sit down for life contented with their present attainments,
+beguiled by the complacencies of their own minds, and by the favourable
+testimony of surrounding friends; and it often happens, particularly
+where there is any degree of strictness in formal and ceremonial
+observances, that there are no people more jealous of their character
+for Religion.
+
+Others perhaps go farther than this. The dread of the wrath to come has
+sunk deeper into their hearts; and for a while they strive with all
+their might to resist their evil propensities, and to walk without
+stumbling in the path of duty. Again and again they resolve; again and
+again they break their resolutions[96]: All their endeavours are
+foiled, and they become more and more convinced of their own moral
+weakness, and of the strength of their indwelling corruption. Thus
+groaning under the enslaving power of sin, and experiencing the futility
+of the utmost efforts which they can use for effecting their
+deliverance, they are tempted (sometimes it is to be feared they yield
+to the temptation) to give up all in despair, and to acquiesce under
+their wretched captivity, conceiving it impossible to break their
+chains. Sometimes, probably, it even happens that they are driven to
+seek for refuge from their disquietude in the suggestions of infidelity;
+and to quiet their troublesome consciences by arguments which they
+themselves scarcely believe, at the very moment in which they suffer
+themselves to be lulled asleep by them. In the mean time while this
+conflict has been going on, their walk is sad and comfortless, and their
+couch is nightly watered with tears. These men are pursuing the right
+object, but they mistake the way in which it is to be obtained. _The
+path in which they are now treading is not that which the Gospel has
+provided for conducting them to true holiness, nor will they find in it
+any solid peace._
+
+Persons under these circumstances naturally seek for religious
+instruction. They turn over the works of our modern Religionists, and
+as well as they can collect the advice addressed to men in their
+situation: the substance of it is, at the best, of this sort; "Be sorry
+indeed for your sins, and discontinue the practice of them, but do not
+make yourselves so uneasy. Christ died for the sins of the whole world.
+Do your utmost; discharge with fidelity the duties of your stations, not
+neglecting your religious offices; and fear not but that in the end all
+will go well; and that having thus performed the conditions required on
+your part, you will at last obtain forgiveness of our merciful Creator
+through the merits of Jesus Christ, and be aided, where your own
+strength shall be insufficient, by the assistance of his Holy Spirit.
+Meanwhile you cannot do better than read carefully such books of
+practical divinity, as will instruct you in the principles of a
+Christian life. We are excellently furnished with works of this nature;
+and it is by the diligent study of them that you will gradually become a
+proficient in the lessons of the Gospel."
+
+But the holy Scriptures, and with them the Church of England, call upon
+those who are in the circumstances above-stated, to _lay afresh the
+whole foundation of their Religion_. In concurrence with the Scripture,
+that Church calls upon them, in the first place, gratefully to adore
+that undeserved goodness which has awakened them from the sleep of
+death; to prostrate themselves before the Cross of Christ with humble
+penitence and deep self-abhorrence; solemnly resolving to forsake all
+their sins, but relying on the Grace of God alone for power to keep
+their resolution. Thus, and thus only, she assures them that all their
+crimes will be blotted out, and that they will receive from above a new
+living principle of holiness. She produces from the Word of God the
+ground and warrant of her counsel; "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
+and thou shalt be saved."--"No man," says our blessed Saviour, "cometh
+unto the Father but by me."--"I am the true Vine. As the branch cannot
+bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
+ye abide in me."--"He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth
+forth much fruit; for without" (or severed from) "me ye can do
+nothing,"--"By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of
+yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should
+boast: for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
+works."
+
+Let us not be thought tedious, or be accused of running into needless
+repetitions, in pressing this point with so much earnestness. It is in
+fact a point which can never be too much insisted on. It is the cardinal
+point on which the whole of Christianity turns; on which it is
+peculiarly proper in this place to be perfectly distinct. There have
+been some who have imagined that the wrath of God was to be deprecated,
+or his favour conciliated, by austerities and penances, or even by forms
+and ceremonies, and external observances. But all men of enlightened
+understandings, who acknowledge the moral government of God, must also
+acknowledge, that vice must offend and virtue delight him. In short they
+must, more or less, assent to the Scripture declaration, "without
+holiness no man shall see the Lord." But the grand distinction, which
+subsists between the true Christian and all other Religionists, (the
+class of persons in particular whom it is our object to address) is
+concerning the _nature_ of this holiness, and the _way in which it is to
+be obtained_. The views entertained by the latter, of the _nature_ of
+holiness, are of all degrees of inadequateness; and they conceive it is
+to be _obtained_ by their own natural unassisted efforts: or if they
+admit some vague indistinct notion of the assistance of the Holy Spirit,
+it is unquestionably obvious, on conversing with them, that this does
+not constitute the _main practical_ ground of their dependence. _But the
+nature of the holiness, to which the desires of the true Christian are
+directed, is no other than the restoration of the image of God: and as
+to the manner of acquiring it, disclaiming with indignation every idea
+of attaining it by his own strength, all his hopes of possessing it rest
+altogether on the divine assurances of the operation of the Holy Spirit,
+in those who cordially embrace the Gospel of Christ. He knows therefore
+that this holiness is not to_ PRECEDE _his reconciliation to God, and be
+its_ CAUSE; _but to_ FOLLOW _it, and be its_ EFFECT. _That in short it
+is by_ FAITH IN CHRIST _only[97] that he is to be justified in the sight
+of God; to be delivered from the condition of a child of wrath, and a
+slave of Satan; to be adopted into the family of God; to become an heir
+of God and a joint heir with Christ, entitled to all the privileges
+which belong to this high relation; here, to the Spirit of Grace, and a
+partial renewal after the image of his Creator; hereafter, to the more
+perfect possession of the Divine likeness, and an inheritance of eternal
+glory._
+
+And as it is in this way, that, in obedience to the dictates of the
+Gospel, the true Christian must originally become possessed of the vital
+spirit and living principle of universal holiness; so, in order to grow
+in grace, he must also study in the same school; finding in the
+consideration of the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel, and in the
+contemplation of the life, and character, and sufferings of our blessed
+Saviour, the elements of all practical wisdom, and an inexhaustible
+storehouse of instructions and motives, no otherwise to be so well
+supplied. From the neglect of these peculiar doctrines arise the main
+practical errors of the bulk of professed Christians. These gigantic
+truths retained in view, would put to shame the littleness of their
+dwarfish morality. It would be impossible for them to make these
+harmonize with their low conceptions, of the wretchedness and danger of
+their natural state, which is represented in Scripture as having so
+powerfully called forth the compassion of God, that he sent his only
+begotten Son to rescue us. Where _now_ are their low conceptions of the
+worth of the soul, when means like these were taken to redeem it? Where
+_now_ their inadequate conceptions of the guilt of sin, for which in the
+divine counsels it seemed requisite that an atonement no less costly
+should be made, than that of the blood of the only begotten Son of God?
+How can they reconcile their low standard of Christian practice with the
+representation of our being "temples of the Holy Ghost?" Their cold
+sense of obligation, and scanty grudged returns of service, with the
+glowing gratitude of those who, having been "delivered from the power of
+darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son," may well
+conceive that the labours of a whole life will be but an imperfect
+expression of their thankfulness.
+
+The peculiar doctrines of the Gospel being once admitted, the
+conclusions which have been now suggested are clear and obvious
+deductions of reason. But our neglect of these important truths is still
+less pardonable, because they are distinctly and repeatedly applied in
+Scripture to the very purposes in question, and the whole superstructure
+of Christian morals is grounded on their deep and ample basis. Sometimes
+these truths are represented in Scripture, _generally_, as furnishing
+Christians with a vigorous and ever present principle of universal
+obedience. And our slowness in learning the lessons of heavenly wisdom
+is still further stimulated, by almost every particular Christian duty
+being occasionally traced to them as to its proper source. They are
+every where represented as warming the hearts of the people of God on
+earth with continual admiration, and thankfulness, and love, and joy; as
+triumphing over the attack of the last great enemy, and as calling forth
+afresh in Heaven the ardent effusions of their unexhausted gratitude.
+
+If then we would indeed be "filled with wisdom and spiritual
+understanding;" if we would "walk worthy of the Lord unto all well
+pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
+knowledge of God;" here let us fix our eyes! "Laying aside every weight,
+and the sin that does so easily beset us; let us run with patience the
+race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS, the Author and Finisher
+of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the
+cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
+throne of God[98]."
+
+Here best we may learn the infinite _importance_ of Christianity. How
+little it can deserve to be treated in that slight and superficial way,
+in which it is in these days regarded by the bulk of nominal Christians,
+who are apt to think it may be enough, and almost equally pleasing to
+God, to be religious _in any way_, and upon _any_ system. What exquisite
+folly it must be to risk the soul on such a venture, in direct
+contradiction to the dictates of reason, and the express declaration of
+the word of God! "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
+salvation?"
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+Here we shall best learn the duty and reasonableness of an absolute and
+unconditional surrender of soul and body to the will and service of
+God.--"We are not our own; for we are bought with a price," and must
+"therefore" make it our grand concern to "glorify God with our bodies
+and our spirits, which are God's." Should we be base enough, even if we
+could do it with safety, to make any reserves in our returns of service
+to that gracious Saviour, who "gave up _himself_ for us?" If we have
+formerly talked of compounding by the performance of some commands for
+the breach of others; can we now bear the mention of a _composition_ of
+duties, or of retaining to ourselves the right of practising _little_
+sins! The very suggestion of such an idea fills us with indignation and
+shame, if our hearts be not dead to every sense of gratitude.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+Here we find displayed, in the most lively colours, the guilt of sin,
+and how hateful it must be to the perfect holiness of that Being, "who
+is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." When we see that, rather than
+sin should go unpunished, "God spared not his own Son," but "was
+_pleased_[99], to bruise him and put him to grief" for our sakes; how
+vainly must impenitent sinners flatter themselves with the hope of
+escaping the vengeance of Heaven, and buoy themselves up with I know not
+what desperate dreams of the Divine benignity!
+
+Here too we may anticipate the dreadful sufferings of that state, "where
+shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth;" when rather than that we should
+undergo them, "the Son of God" himself, who "thought it no robbery to be
+equal with God," consented to take upon him our degraded nature with all
+its weaknesses and infirmities; to be "a man of sorrows," "to hide not
+his face from shame and spitting," "to be wounded for our
+transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities," and at length to endure
+the sharpness of death, "even the death of the Cross," that he might
+"deliver us from the wrath to come," and open the kingdom of Heaven to
+all believers.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+_Here_ best we may learn to grow in the love of God! The certainty of
+his pity and love towards repenting sinners, thus irrefragably
+demonstrated, chases away the sense of tormenting fear, and best lays
+the ground in us of a reciprocal affection. And while we steadily
+contemplate this wonderful transaction, and consider in its several
+relations the amazing truth, that "God spared not his own Son, but
+delivered him up for us all;" if our minds be not utterly dead to every
+impulse of sensibility, the emotions of admiration, of preference, of
+hope, and trust, and joy, cannot but spring up within us, chastened with
+reverential fear, and softened and quickened by overflowing
+gratitude[100]. _Here_ we shall become animated by an abiding
+disposition to endeavour to please our great Benefactor; and by a humble
+persuasion, that the weakest endeavours of this nature will not be
+despised by a Being, who has already proved himself so kindly affected
+towards us[101]. _Here_ we cannot fail to imbibe an earnest desire of
+possessing his favour, and a conviction, founded on his own declarations
+thus unquestionably confirmed, that the desire shall not be
+disappointed. Whenever we are conscious that we have offended this
+gracious Being, a single thought of the great work of Redemption will be
+enough to fill us with compunction. We shall feel a deep concern, grief
+mingled with indignant shame, for having conducted ourselves so
+unworthily towards one who to us has been infinite in kindness: we shall
+not rest till we have reason to hope that he is reconciled to us; and we
+shall watch over our hearts and conduct in future with a renewed
+jealousy, lest we should again offend him. To those who are ever so
+little acquainted with the nature of the human mind, it were superfluous
+to remark, that the affections and tempers which have been enumerated,
+are the infallible marks and the constituent properties of Love. Let
+_him_ then who would abound and grow in this Christian principle, be
+much conversant with the great doctrines of the Gospel.
+
+It is obvious, that the attentive and frequent consideration of these
+great doctrines, must have a still more direct tendency to produce and
+cherish in our minds the principle of the love of Christ. But on this
+head, so much was said in a former chapter, as to render any farther
+observations unnecessary.
+
+Much also has been already observed concerning the love of our
+fellow-creatures, and it has been distinctly stated to be the
+indispensable, and indeed the characteristic duty of Christians. It
+remains, however to be here farther remarked, that this grace can no
+where be cultivated with more advantage than at the foot of the cross.
+No where can our Saviour's dying injunction to the exercise of this
+virtue be recollected with more effect; "This is my commandment, that ye
+love one another as I have loved you." No where can the admonition of
+the Apostle more powerfully affect us; "Be ye kind one to another,
+tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake,
+hath forgiven you." The view of mankind which is here presented to us,
+as having been all involved in one common ruin; and the offer of
+deliverance held out to all, by the Son of God's giving of himself up to
+pay the price of our reconciliation, produce that sympathy towards our
+fellow-creatures, which, by the constitution of our nature, seldom
+fails to result from the consciousness of an identity of interests and a
+similarity of fortunes. Pity for an unthinking world assists this
+impression. Our enmities soften and melt away: we are ashamed of
+thinking much of the _petty injuries_ which we may have suffered, when
+we consider what the Son of God, "who did no wrong, neither was guile
+found in his mouth," patiently underwent. Our hearts become tender while
+we contemplate this signal act of loving-kindness. We grow desirous of
+imitating what we cannot but admire. A vigorous principle of enlarged
+and active charity springs up within us; and we go forth with alacrity,
+desirous of treading in the steps of our blessed Master, and of
+manifesting our gratitude for his unmerited goodness, by bearing each
+others burdens, and abounding in the disinterested labours of
+benevolence.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+_He_ was meek and lowly of heart, and from the study of _his_ character
+we shall best learn the lessons of humility. Contemplating the work of
+Redemption, we become more and more impressed with the sense of our
+natural darkness, and helplessness, and misery, from which it was
+requisite to ransom us at such a price; more and more conscious that we
+are utterly unworthy of all the amazing condescension and love which
+have been manifested towards us; ashamed of the callousness of our
+tenderest sensibility, and of the poor returns of our most active
+services. Considerations like these, abating our pride and reducing our
+opinion of _ourselves_, naturally moderate our pretensions towards
+_others_. We become less disposed to exact that respect for our persons,
+and that deference for our authority, which we naturally covet; we less
+sensibly feel a slight, and less hotly resent it; we grow less
+irritable, less prone to be dissatisfied; more soft, and meek, and
+courteous, and placable, and condescending. We are not literally
+required to practise the same humiliating submissions, to which our
+blessed Saviour himself was not ashamed to stoop[102]; but the _spirit_
+of the remark applies to us, "the servant is not greater than his Lord:"
+and we should especially bear this truth in mind, when the occasion
+calls upon us to discharge some duty, or patiently to suffer some ill
+treatment, whereby our pride will be wounded, and we are likely to be in
+some degree degraded from the rank we had possessed in the world's
+estimation. At the same time the Sacred Scriptures assuring us, that to
+the powerful operations of the Holy Spirit, purchased for us by the
+death of Christ, we must be indebted for the success of all our
+endeavours after improvement in virtue; the conviction of this truth
+tends to render us diffident of our own powers, and to suppress the
+first risings of vanity. Thus, while we are conducted to heights of
+virtue no otherwise attainable, due care is taken to prevent our
+becoming giddy from our elevation[103]. It is the Scripture
+characteristic of the Gospel system, that by it all disposition to
+exalt ourselves is excluded; and if we really grow in grace, we shall
+grow also in humility.
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+"He endured the cross, despising the shame."--While we steadily
+contemplate this solemn scene, that sober frame of spirit is produced
+within us, which best befits the Christian, militant here on earth. We
+become impressed with a sense of the shortness and uncertainty of time,
+and that it behoves us to be diligent in making provision for eternity.
+In such a temper of mind, the pomps and vanities of life are cast behind
+us as the baubles of children.--We lose our relish for the frolics of
+gaiety, the race of ambition, or the grosser gratifications of
+voluptuousness. In the case even of those objects, which may more justly
+claim the attention of reasonable and immortal beings; in our family
+arrangements, in our plans of life, in our schemes of business, we
+become, without relinquishing the path of duty, more moderate in
+pursuit, and more indifferent about the issue. Here also we learn to
+correct the world's false estimate of things, and to "look through the
+shallowness of earthly grandeur[104];" to venerate what is truly
+excellent and noble, though under a despised and degraded form; and to
+cultivate within ourselves that true magnanimity, which can make us rise
+superior to the smiles or frowns of this world; that dignified composure
+of soul which no earthly incidents can destroy or ruffle. Instead of
+repining at any of the little occasional inconveniences we may meet with
+in our passage through life; we are almost ashamed of the multiplied
+comforts and enjoyments of our condition, when we think of him, who,
+though "the Lord of glory," "had not where to lay his head." And if it
+be our lot to undergo evils of more than ordinary magnitude, we are
+animated under them by reflecting, that we are hereby more conformed to
+the example of our blessed Master: though we must ever recollect one
+important difference, that the sufferings of Christ were voluntarily
+borne for _our_ benefit, and were probably far more exquisitely
+agonizing than any which we are called upon to undergo. Besides, it must
+be a solid support to us amidst all our troubles to know, that they do
+not happen to us by chance; that they are not even merely the punishment
+of sin; but that they are the dispensations of a kind Providence, and
+sent on messages of mercy.--"The cup that our Father hath given us,
+shall we not drink it?"--"Blessed Saviour! by the bitterness of thy
+pains we may estimate the force of thy love; we are _sure_ of thy
+kindness and compassion; thou wouldst not willingly call on us to
+suffer; thou hast declared unto us, that all things shall finally work
+together for good to them that love thee; and therefore, if thou so
+ordainest it, welcome disappointment and poverty, welcome sickness and
+pain, welcome even shame, and contempt, and calumny. If this be a rough
+and thorny path, it is one in which thou hast gone before us. Where we
+see thy footsteps we cannot repine. Meanwhile, thou wilt support us with
+the consolations of thy grace; and even here thou canst more than
+compensate to us for any temporal sufferings, by the possession of that
+peace, which the world can neither give nor take away."
+
+
+LOOKING UNTO JESUS!
+
+"The Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set
+before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at
+the right hand of God." From the scene of our Saviour's weakness and
+degradation, we follow him, in idea, into the realms of glory, where "he
+is on the right hand of God; angels, and principalities, and powers
+being made subject unto him."--But though changed in place, yet not in
+nature, he is still full of sympathy and love; and having died "to save
+his people from their sins," "he ever _liveth_ to make intercession for
+them." Cheered by this animating view, the Christian's fainting spirits
+revive. Under the heaviest burdens he feels his strength recruited; and
+when all around him is dark and stormy, he can lift up an eye to Heaven,
+radiant with hope, and glistening with gratitude. At such a season, no
+dangers can alarm, no opposition can move, no provocations can irritate.
+He may almost adopt, as the language of his sober exultation, what in
+the philosopher was but an idle rant: and, considering that it is only
+the garment of mortality which is subject to the rents of fortune; while
+his spirit, cheered with the divine support, keeps its place within,
+secure and unassailable, he can sometimes almost triumph at the stake,
+or on the scaffold, and cry out amidst the severest buffets of
+adversity, "Thou beatest but the case of Anaxarchus." But it is rarely
+that the Christian is elevated with this "joy unspeakable and full of
+glory:" he even lends himself to these views with moderation and
+reserve. Often, alas! emotions of another kind fill him with grief and
+confusion: and conscious of having acted unworthy of his high calling,
+perhaps of having exposed himself to the just censure of a world ready
+enough to spy out his infirmities, he seems to himself almost "to have
+crucified the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." But let
+neither his joys intoxicate, nor his sorrows too much depress him. Let
+him still remember that his _chief_ business while on earth is not to
+meditate, but to act; that the seeds of moral corruption are apt to
+spring up within him, and that it is requisite for him to watch over his
+own heart with incessant care; that he is to discharge with fidelity the
+duties of his particular station, and to conduct himself, according to
+his measure, after the example of his blessed Master, whose meat and
+drink it was to do the work of his heavenly Father; that he is
+diligently to cultivate the talents with which God has entrusted him,
+and assiduously to employ them in doing justice and shewing mercy, while
+he guards against the assaults of any internal enemy. In short, he is to
+demean himself, in all the common affairs of life, like an _accountable_
+creature, who, in correspondence with the Scripture character of
+Christians, is "waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." Often
+therefore he questions himself, "Am I employing my time, my fortune, my
+bodily and mental powers, so as to be able to 'render up my account with
+joy, and not with grief?' Am I 'adorning the doctrine of God my Saviour
+in all things;' and proving that the servants of Christ, animated by a
+principle of filial affection, which renders their work a service of
+perfect freedom, are capable of as active and as persevering exertions,
+as the votaries of fame, or the slaves of ambition, or the drudges of
+avarice?"
+
+Thus, without interruption to his labours, he may interpose occasional
+thoughts of things unseen; and amidst the many little intervals of
+business, may calmly look upwards to the heavenly Advocate, who is ever
+pleading the cause of his people, and obtaining for them needful
+supplies of grace and consolation. It is these realizing views, which
+give the Christian a relish for the worship and service of the heavenly
+world. And if these blessed images, "seen but through a glass darkly,"
+can thus refresh the soul: what must be its state, when on the morning
+of the resurrection it shall awake to the unclouded vision of celestial
+glory! when, "to them that look for him, the Son of God shall appear a
+second time without sin unto salvation!" when "sighing and sorrow being
+fled away;" when doubts and fears no more disquieting, and the painful
+consciousness of remaining imperfections no longer weighing down the
+spirit, they shall enter upon the fruition of "those joys, which eye
+hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of
+man to conceive;" and shall bear their part in that blessed
+anthem--"Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto
+the Lamb," for ever and ever!
+
+Thus (never let it be forgotten) the main distinction between real
+Christianity, and the system of the bulk of nominal Christians, chiefly
+consists in the different place which is assigned in the two schemes to
+the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel. These, in the scheme of nominal
+Christians, if admitted at all, appear but like the stars of the
+firmament to the ordinary eye. Those splendid luminaries draw forth
+perhaps occasionally a transient expression of admiration, when we
+behold their beauty, or hear of their distances, magnitudes, or
+properties: now and then too we are led, perhaps, to muse upon their
+possible uses: but however curious as subjects of speculation, after
+all, it must be confessed, they twinkle to the common observer with a
+vain and "idle" lustre; and except in the dreams of the astrologer, have
+no influence on human happiness, or any concern with the course and
+order of the world. But to the _real_ Christian, on the contrary, THESE
+_peculiar doctrines constitute the center to which he gravitates! the
+very sun of his system! the soul of the world! the origin of all that is
+excellent and lovely! the source of light, and life, and motion, and
+genial warmth, and plastic energy!_ Dim is the light of reason, and cold
+and comfortless our state, while left to her unassisted guidance. Even
+the Old Testament itself, though a revelation from Heaven, shines but
+with feeble and scanty rays. But the blessed truths of the Gospel are
+now unveiled to _our_ eyes, and _we_ are called upon to behold, and to
+enjoy "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of
+Jesus Christ," in the full radiance of its meridian splendor. The words
+of inspiration best express our highly favoured state: "We all, with
+open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
+into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
+Lord."
+
+    Thou art the source and center of all minds,
+    Their only point of rest, ETERNAL WORD
+    From thee departing, they are lost, and rove
+    At random, without honour, hope, or peace:
+    From thee is all that soothes the life of man;
+    His high endeavour, and his glad success;
+    His strength to suffer, and his will to serve.
+    But O! thou bounteous Giver of all good!
+    Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown:
+    Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor,
+    And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+_On the Excellence of Christianity in certain important Particulars.
+Argument which results thence in Proof of its divine Origin._
+
+
+The writer of the present work, having now completed a faint delineation
+of the leading features of real Christianity, may be permitted to
+suspend for a few moments the farther execution of his plan, for the
+purpose of pointing out some excellences which she really possesses; but
+which, as they are not to be found in that superficial system which so
+unworthily usurps her name, appear scarcely to have attracted sufficient
+notice. If he should seem to be deviating from the plan which he
+proposed to himself, he would suggest as his excuse; that the
+observations which he is about to offer will furnish a strong argument,
+in favour of the correctness of his preceding delineation of
+Christianity, since she will _now_ appear to exhibit more clearly, than
+as she is usually drawn, the characters of her Divine original.
+
+It holds true, indeed, in the case of Christianity, as in that of all
+the works of God, that though a superficial and cursory view cannot
+fail to discover to us somewhat of their beauty; yet, when on a more
+careful and accurate scrutiny we become better acquainted with their
+properties, we become also more deeply impressed by a conviction of
+their excellence. We may begin by referring to the last chapter for an
+instance of the truth of this assertion. Therein was pointed out that
+intimate connection, that perfect harmony, between the leading doctrines
+and the practical precepts of Christianity, which is apt to escape the
+attention of the ordinary eye.
+
+It may not be improper also to remark, though the position be so obvious
+as almost to render the statement of it needless, that there is the same
+close connection and perfect harmony in the leading doctrines of
+Christianity among each other. It is self-evident, that the corruption
+of human nature, that our reconciliation to God by the atonement of
+Christ, and that the restoration of our primitive dignity by the
+sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, are all parts of one whole,
+united in close dependence and mutual congruity.
+
+Perhaps, however, it has not been sufficiently noticed, that in the
+chief practical precepts of Christianity, there is the same essential
+agreement, the same mutual dependency of one upon another. Let us survey
+this fresh instance of the wisdom of that system, which is the only
+solid foundation of our present or future happiness.
+
+The virtues most strongly and repeatedly enjoined in Scripture, and by
+our progress in which we may best measure our advancement in holiness,
+are the fear and love of God and of Christ; love, kindness, and meekness
+towards our fellow-creatures; indifference to the possessions and
+events of this life, in comparison with our concern about eternal
+things; self-denial, and humility.
+
+It has been already pointed out in many particulars, how essentially
+such of these Christian graces as respect the Divine Being are connected
+with those, which have more directly for their objects our
+fellow-creatures and ourselves. But in the case of these two last
+descriptions of Christian graces; the more attentively we consider them
+with reference to the acknowledged principles of human nature, and to
+indisputable facts, the more we shall be convinced that they afford
+mutual aid towards the acquisition of each other; and that when
+acquired, they all harmonize with each other in perfect and essential
+union. This truth may perhaps be sufficiently apparent from what has
+been already remarked; but it may not be useless to dwell on it a little
+more in detail. Take then the instances of loving-kindness and meekness
+towards others; and observe the solid foundation which is laid for them
+in self-denial, in moderation as to the good things of this life, and in
+humility. The chief causes of enmity among men are, pride and
+self-importance, the high opinion which men entertain of themselves, and
+the consequent deference which they exact from others: the
+over-valuation of worldly possessions and of worldly honours, and in
+consequence, a too eager competition for them. The rough edges of one
+man rub against those of another, if the expression may be allowed; and
+the friction is often such as to injure the works, and disturb the just
+arrangements and regular motions of the social machine. But by
+Christianity all these roughnesses are filed down: every wheel rolls
+round smoothly in the performance of its appointed function, and there
+is nothing to retard the several movements, or break in upon the general
+order. The religious system indeed of the bulk of nominal Christians is
+satisfied with some tolerable appearances of virtue: and accordingly,
+while it recommends love and beneficence, it tolerates, as has been
+shewn, pride and vanity in many cases; it even countenances and commends
+the excessive valuation of character; and at least allows a man's whole
+soul to be absorbed in the pursuit of the object which he is following,
+be it what it may of personal or professional success. But though these
+latter qualities may, for the most part, fairly enough consist with a
+soft exterior and courtly demeanor, they cannot so well accord with the
+genuine internal principle of love. Some cause of discontent, some
+ground of jealousy or of envy will arise, some suspicion will corrode,
+some disappointment will sour, some slight or calumny will irritate and
+provoke reprisals. In the higher walks of life, indeed, we learn to
+disguise our emotions; but such will be the real inward feelings of the
+soul, and they will frequently betray themselves when we are off our
+guard, or when we are not likely to be disparaged by the discovery. This
+state of the higher orders, in which men are scuffling eagerly for the
+same objects, and wearing all the while such an appearance of sweetness
+and complacency, has often appeared to me to be not ill illustrated by
+the image of a gaming table. There, every man is intent only on his own
+profit; the good success of one is the ill success of another, and
+therefore the general state of mind of the parties engaged may be pretty
+well conjectured. All this, however, does not prevent, in well-bred
+societies, an exterior of perfect gentleness and good humour. But let
+the same employment be carried on among the lower orders, who are not so
+well schooled in the art of disguising their feelings; or in places
+where, by general connivance, people are allowed to give vent to their
+real emotions; and every passion will display itself, by which the
+"human face divine" can be distorted and deformed. For those who never
+have been present at so humiliating a scene, the pencil of Hogarth has
+provided a representation of it, which is scarcely exaggerated; and the
+horrid name[105], by which it is familiarly known among its frequenters,
+sufficiently attests the fidelity of its resemblance.
+
+But Christianity is not satisfied with producing merely the specious
+guise of virtue. She requires the substantial reality, which may stand
+the scrutinizing eye of that Being "who searches the heart." Meaning
+therefore that the Christian should live and breathe; in an atmosphere,
+as it were, of benevolence, she forbids whatever can tend to obstruct
+its diffusion or vitiate its purity. It is on this principle that
+Emulation is forbidden: for, besides that this passion almost insensibly
+degenerates into envy, and that it derives its origin chiefly from pride
+and a desire of self-exaltation; how can we easily love our neighbour as
+ourselves, if we consider him at the same time our rival, and are intent
+upon surpassing him in the pursuit of whatever is the subject of our
+competition?
+
+Christianity, again, teaches us not to set our hearts on earthly
+possessions and earthly honours; and thereby provides for our really
+loving, or even cordially forgiving, those who have been more successful
+than ourselves in the attainment of them, or who have even designedly
+thwarted us in the pursuit. "Let the rich," says the Apostle, "rejoice
+in that he is brought low." How can he who means to attempt, in any
+degree, to obey this precept, be irreconcilably hostile towards any one
+who may have been instrumental in his depression?
+
+Christianity also teaches us not to prize human estimation at a very
+high rate; and thereby provides for the practice of her injunction, to
+love from the heart those who, justly or unjustly, may have attacked our
+reputation, and wounded our character. She commands not the shew, but
+the reality of meekness and gentleness; and by thus taking away the
+aliment of anger and the fomenters of discord, she provides for the
+maintenance of peace, and the restoration of good temper among men, when
+it may have sustained a temporary interruption.
+
+It is another capital excellence of Christianity, that she values moral
+attainments at a far higher rate than intellectual acquisitions, and
+proposes to conduct her followers to the heights of virtue rather than
+of knowledge. On the contrary, most of the false religious systems which
+have prevailed in the world, have proposed to reward the labour of their
+votary, by drawing aside the veil which concealed from the vulgar eye
+their hidden mysteries, and by introducing him to the knowledge of their
+deeper and more sacred doctrines.
+
+This is eminently the case in the Hindoo, and in the Mahometan Religion,
+in that of China, and, for the most part, in the various modifications
+of ancient Paganism. In systems which proceed on this principle, it is
+obvious that the bulk of mankind can never make any great proficiency.
+There was accordingly, among the nations of antiquity, one system,
+whatever it was, for the learned, and another for the illiterate. Many
+of the philosophers spoke out, and professed to keep the lower orders in
+ignorance for the general good; plainly suggesting that the bulk of
+mankind was to be considered as almost of an inferior species. Aristotle
+himself countenanced this opinion. An opposite mode of proceeding
+naturally belongs to Christianity, which without distinction professes
+an equal regard for all human beings, and which was characterized by her
+first Promulgator as the messenger of "glad tidings to the poor."
+
+But her preference of moral to intellectual excellence is not to be
+praised, only because it is congenial with her general character, and
+suitable to the ends which she professes to have in view. It is the part
+of true wisdom to endeavour to excel there, where we may really attain
+to excellence. This consideration might be alone sufficient to direct
+our efforts to the acquisition of virtue rather than of knowledge.--How
+limited is the range of the greatest human abilities! how scanty the
+stores of the richest human knowledge! Those who undeniably have held
+the first rank, both for natural and acquired endowments, instead of
+thinking their pre-eminence a just ground of self-exaltation, have
+commonly been the most forward to confess that their views were bounded
+and their attainments moderate. Had they indeed been less candid, this
+is a discovery which we could not have failed to make of ourselves.
+Experience daily furnishes us with examples of weakness, and
+short-sightedness, and error, in the wisest and the most learned of men,
+which might serve to confound the pride of human wisdom.
+
+Not so in morals.--Made at first in the likeness of God, and still
+bearing about us some faint traces of our high original, we are offered
+by our blessed Redeemer the means of purifying ourselves from our
+corruptions, and of once more regaining the image of our Heavenly
+Father[106]. In love, the compendious expression for almost every
+virtue, in fortitude under all its forms, in justice, in humility, and
+in all the other graces of the Christian character, we are made capable
+of attaining to heights of real elevation: and were we but faithful in
+the use of the means of grace which we enjoy; the operations of the Holy
+Spirit, prompting and aiding our diligent endeavours, would infallibly
+crown our labours with success, and make us partakers of a Divine
+nature. The writer has himself known some who have been instances of the
+truth of this remark. To the memory of one,[107] now no more, may he be
+permitted to offer the last tribute of respectful friendship? His
+course, short but laborious, has at length terminated in a better world;
+and his luminous tract still shines in the sight, and animates the
+efforts of all who knew him, and "marshals them the way" to Heavenly
+glory. Let me not be thought to undervalue any of the gifts of God, or
+of the fruits of human exertion: but let not these be prized beyond
+their proper worth. If one of those little industrious reptiles, to
+which we have been well sent for a lesson of diligence and foresight,
+were to pride itself upon its strength, because it could carry off a
+larger grain of wheat than any other of its fellow-ants; should we not
+laugh at the vanity which could be highly gratified with such a
+contemptible pre-eminence? And is it far different to the eye of reason,
+when man, weak, short-sighted man, is vain of surpassing others in
+knowledge, in which at best his progress must be so limited; forgetting
+the true dignity of his nature, and the path which would conduct him to
+real excellence?
+
+The unparalleled value of the precepts of Christianity ought not be
+passed over altogether unnoticed in this place, though it be needless to
+dwell on it; since it has been often justly recognized and asserted, and
+has in some points been ably illustrated, and powerfully enforced by the
+masterly pen of a late writer. It is by no means however the design of
+this little work to attempt to trace the various excellencies of
+Christianity; but it may not have been improper to point out a few
+particulars, which, in the course of investigation, have naturally
+fallen under our notice, and hitherto perhaps may scarcely have been
+enough regarded. Every such instance, it should always be remembered, is
+a fresh proof of Christianity being a revelation from God.
+
+It is still less, however, the intention of the writer to attempt to
+vindicate the Divine origin of our Holy Religion. This task has often
+been executed by far abler advocates. In particular, every Christian,
+with whatever reserves his commendations must be disqualified, should be
+forward to confess his obligations _on this head_ to the author before
+alluded to; whose uncommon acuteness has enabled him, in a field already
+so much trodden, to discover arguments which had eluded the observation
+of all by whom he was preceded, and whose unequalled perspicuity puts
+his reader in complete possession of the fruits of his sagacity.
+Anxious, however, in my little measure, to contribute to the support of
+this great cause, may it be permitted me to state one argument, which
+impresses my mind with particular force. This is, the great variety of
+the _kinds_ of evidence which have been adduced in proof of
+Christianity, and the confirmation thereby afforded of its truth:--the
+proof from prophecy--from miracles--from the character of Christ--from
+that of his Apostles--from the nature of the doctrines of
+Christianity--from the nature and excellence of her _practical
+precepts_--from the accordance we have lately pointed out between the
+doctrinal and practical system of Christianity, whether considered each
+in itself or in their mutual relation to each other--from other species
+of internal evidence, afforded in the more abundance in proportion as
+the sacred records have been scrutinized with greater care--from the
+account of co-temporary or nearly co-temporary writers--from the
+impossibility of accounting on any other supposition, than that of the
+truth of Christianity, for its promulgation and early prevalence: these
+and other lines of argument have all been brought forward and ably urged
+by different writers, in proportion as they have struck the minds of
+different observers more or less forcibly. Now, granting that some
+obscure and illiterate men, residing in a distant province of the Roman
+empire, had plotted to impose a forgery upon the world; though some
+foundation for the imposture might, and indeed must, have been attempted
+to be laid; it seems, at least to my understanding, morally impossible
+that _so many different species of proofs_, and all so strong, should
+have lent their _concurrent_ aid, and have united their _joint_ force in
+the establishment of the falsehood. It may assist the reader in
+estimating the value of this argument, to consider upon how different a
+footing, in this respect, has rested every other religious system,
+without exception, which was ever proposed to the world; and, indeed,
+every other historical fact, of which the truth has been at all
+contested.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+_Brief Inquiry into the present State of Christianity in this Country,
+with some of the Causes which have led to its critical Circumstances.
+Its Importance to us as a political Community, and practical Hints for
+which the foregoing considerations give occasion._
+
+
+It may not be altogether improper to remind the reader, that hitherto
+our discussion has been concerning the prevailing Religious opinions
+merely of _professed Christians_: no longer confining ourselves to
+persons of this description, let us now extend our inquiry, and briefly
+investigate the _general_ state of Christianity in this country.
+
+The tendency of Religion in general to promote the temporal well-being
+of political communities, is a fact which depends on such obvious and
+undeniable principles, and which is so forcibly inculcated by the
+history of all ages, that there can be no necessity for entering into a
+formal proof of its truth. It has indeed been maintained, not merely by
+Schoolmen and Divines, but by the most celebrated philosophers, and
+moralists, and politicians of every age.
+
+The peculiar excellence in this respect also of Christianity, considered
+independently of its truth or falsehood, has been recognized by many
+writers, who, to say the least, were not disposed to exaggerate its
+merits. Either or both of these propositions being admitted, the state
+of Religion in a country at any given period, not to mention its
+connection with the eternal happiness of the inhabitants, immediately
+becomes a question of great _political_ importance: and in particular it
+must be material to ascertain whether Religion be in an advancing or in
+a declining state; and if the latter be the case, whether there be any
+practicable means for preventing at least its farther declension.
+
+If the representations contained in the preceding chapters, of the state
+of Christianity among the bulk of professed Christians, be not very
+erroneous; they may well excite serious apprehension in the mind of
+every reader, when considered merely in a political view. And this
+apprehension would be encreased, if there should appear reason to
+believe that, for some time past, Religion has been on the decline
+amongst us, and that it continues to decline at the present moment.
+
+When it is proposed, however, to inquire into the actual state of
+Religion in any country, and in particular to compare that state with
+its condition at any former period; there is one preliminary observation
+to be made, if we would not be liable to gross error. There exists,
+established by tacit content, in every country, what may be called a
+general standard or tone of morals, varying in the same community at
+different periods, and different at the same period in different ranks
+and situations in society. Whoever falls below this standard, and, not
+unfrequently, whoever also rises above it, offending against this
+general rule, suffers proportionably in the general estimation. Thus a
+regard for character, which, as was formerly remarked, is commonly the
+grand governing principle among men, becomes to a certain degree, though
+no farther, an incitement to morality and virtue. It follows of course,
+that where the practice does no more than come up to the required level,
+it will be no sufficient evidence of the existence, much less will it
+furnish any just measure of the force, of a real internal principle of
+Religion. Christians, Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics, persons of
+ten thousand different sorts of passions and opinions, being members at
+the same time of the same community, and all conscious that they will be
+examined by this same standard, will regulate their conduct accordingly,
+and, with no great difference, will all adjust themselves to the
+required measure.
+
+It must also be remarked, that the causes which tend to raise or to
+depress this standard, commonly produce their effects by slow and almost
+insensible degrees; and that it often continues for some time nearly the
+same, when the circumstances, by which it was fixed, have materially
+altered.
+
+It is a truth which will hardly be contested, that Christianity,
+whenever it has at all prevailed, has raised the general standard of
+morals to a height before unknown. Some actions, which among the
+ancients were scarcely held to be blemishes in the most excellent
+characters, have been justly considered by the laws of every Christian
+community, as meriting the severest punishments. In other instances,
+virtues formerly rare have become common; and in particular a merciful
+and courteous temper has softened the rugged manners, and humanized the
+brutal ferocity prevalent among the most polished nations of the heathen
+world. But from what has been recently observed, it is manifest, that,
+so far as external appearances are concerned, these effects, when once
+produced by Christianity, are produced alike in those who deny and in
+those who admit her divine original; I had almost said in those who
+reject and those who cordially embrace the doctrines of the Gospel: and
+these effects might and probably would remain for a while, without any
+great apparent alteration, however her spirit might languish, or even
+her authority decline. The form of the temple, as was once beautifully
+remarked, may continue, when the _dii tutelares_ have left it. When we
+are inquiring therefore into the real state of Christianity at any
+period; if we would not be deceived in this important investigation, it
+becomes us to be so much the more careful not to take up with
+superficial appearances.
+
+It may perhaps help us to ascertain the advancing or declining state of
+Christianity in Great Britain at the present moment; and still more to
+discover some of the causes by which that state has been produced, to
+employ a little time in considering what might naturally be expected to
+be its actual situation; what advantages or disadvantages such a
+religion might be expected to derive, from the circumstances in which
+it has been placed among us, and from those in which it still continues.
+
+Experience warrants, and reason justifies and explains the assertion,
+that Persecution generally tends to quicken the vigour and extend the
+prevalence of the opinions which she would eradicate. For the peace of
+mankind, it has grown, at length almost into an axiom, that "her
+devilish engine back recoils upon herself." Christianity especially has
+always thriven under persecution. At such a season she has no lukewarm
+professors; no adherents concerning whom it is doubtful to what party
+they belong. The Christian is then reminded at every turn, that his
+Master's kingdom is not of this world. When all on earth wears a black
+and threatening aspect, he looks up to heaven for consolation; he learns
+practically to consider himself as a pilgrim and stranger. He then
+cleaves to fundamentals, and examines well his foundation, as at the
+hour of death. When Religion is in a state of external quiet and
+prosperity, the contrary of all this naturally takes place. The soldiers
+of the church militant then forget that they are in a state of warfare.
+Their ardour slackens, their zeal languishes. Like a colony long settled
+in a strange country[108], they are gradually assimilated in features,
+and demeanour, and language, to the native inhabitants, till at length
+almost every vestige of peculiarity dies away.
+
+If, in general, persecution and prosperity be productive respectively of
+these opposite effects; this circumstance alone might teach us what
+expectations to form concerning the state of Christianity in this
+country, where she has long been embodied in an establishment, which is
+intimately blended, and is generally and justly believed to have a
+common interest with our civil institutions; which is liberally, though
+by no means too liberally, endowed, and, not more favoured in wealth
+than dignity, has been allowed "to exalt her mitred front in courts and
+parliaments:" an establishment--the offices in which are extremely
+numerous, and these, not like the priesthood of the Jews, filled up from
+a particular race, or, like that of the Hindoos, held by a separate cast
+in entailed succession; but supplied from every class, and branching by
+its widely extended ramifications into almost every individual family in
+the community: an establishment--of which the ministers are not, like
+the Roman Catholic clergy, debarred from forming matrimonial ties, but
+are allowed to unite themselves, and multiply their holdings to the
+general mass of the community by the close bonds of family connection;
+not like some of the severer of the religious orders, immured in
+colleges and monasteries, but, both by law and custom, permitted to mix
+without restraint in all the intercourses of society.
+
+Such being the circumstances of the pastors of the church, let the
+community in general be supposed to have been for some time in a rapidly
+improving state of commercial prosperity; let it also be supposed to
+have been making no unequal progress in all those arts, and sciences,
+and literary productions, which have ever been the growth of a polished
+age, and are the sure marks of a highly finished condition of society.
+It is not difficult to anticipate the effects likely to be produced on
+_vital_ Religion, both in the clergy and the laity, by such a state of
+external prosperity as has been assigned to them respectively. And these
+effects would be infallibly furthered, where the country in question
+should enjoy a free constitution of government. We formerly had occasion
+to quote the remark of an accurate observer of the stage of human life,
+that a much looser system of morals commonly prevails in the higher,
+than in the middling and lower orders of society. Now, in every country,
+of which the middling classes are daily growing in wealth and
+consequence, by the success of their commercial speculations; and, most
+of all, in a country having such a constitution as our own, where the
+acquisition of riches is the possession also of rank and power; with the
+comforts and refinements, the vices also of the higher orders are
+continually descending, and a mischievous uniformity of sentiments, and
+manners, and morals, gradually diffuses itself throughout the whole
+community. The multiplication of great cities also, and above all, the
+habit, ever increasing with the increasing wealth of the country, of
+frequenting a splendid and luxurious metropolis, would powerfully tend
+to accelerate the discontinuance of the religious habits of a purer age,
+and to accomplish the substitution of a more relaxed morality. And it
+must even be confessed, that the commercial spirit, much as we are
+indebted to it, is not naturally favourable to the maintenance of the
+religious principle in a vigorous and lively state.
+
+In times like these, therefore, the strict precepts and self-denying
+habits of Christianity naturally slide into disuse; and even among the
+better sort of Christians, are likely to be softened, so far at least
+as to be rendered less abhorrent from the general disposition to
+relaxation and indulgence. In such prosperous circumstances, men, in
+truth, are apt to think very little about religion. Christianity,
+therefore, seldom occupying the attention of the bulk of nominal
+Christians, and being scarcely at all the object of their study, we
+should expect, of course, to find them extremely unacquainted with its
+tenets. Those doctrines and principles indeed, which it contains in
+common with the law of the land, or which are sanctioned by the general
+standard of morals formerly described, being brought into continual
+notice and mention by the common occurrences of life, might continue to
+be recognized. But whatever she contains peculiar to herself, and which
+should not be habitually brought into recollection by the incidents of
+every day, might be expected to be less and less thought of, till at
+length it should be almost wholly forgotten. Still more might this be
+naturally expected to become the case, if the peculiarities in question
+should be, from their very nature, at war with pride, and luxury, and
+worldly mindedness, the too general concomitants of rapidly increasing
+wealth: and this would particularly happen among the laity; if the
+circumstance of their having been at any time abused to purposes of
+hypocrisy or fanaticism, should have prompted even some of the better
+disposed of the clergy, perhaps from well intentioned though erroneous
+motives, to bring them forward less frequently in their discourses on
+Religion.
+
+When so many should thus have been straying out of the right path, some
+bold reformer might, from time to time, be likely to arise, who should
+not unjustly charge them with their deviation: but, though right perhaps
+in the main; yet deviating himself also in an opposite direction, and
+creating disgust by his violence, or vulgarity, or absurdities, he might
+fail, except in a few instances, to produce the effect of recalling them
+from their wanderings.
+
+Still, however, the Divine Original of Christianity would not be
+professedly disavowed; partly from a real, and more commonly from a
+political, deference for the established faith, but most of all, from
+the bulk of mankind being not yet prepared, as it were, to throw away
+the scabbard, and to venture their eternal happiness on the issue of its
+falsehood. Some bolder spirits, indeed, might be expected to despise the
+cautious moderation of these timid reasoners, and to pronounce
+decisively, that the Bible was a forgery: while the generality,
+professing to believe it genuine, should, less consistently, be
+satisfied with remaining ignorant of its contents; and when pressed,
+should discover themselves by no means to believe many of the most
+important particulars contained in it.
+
+When, by the operation of causes like these, any country has at length
+grown into the condition which has been here stated; it is but too
+obvious, that, in the bulk of the community, Religion, already sunk very
+low, must be hastening fast to her entire dissolution. Causes, energetic
+and active like these, though accidental hindrances may occasionally
+thwart their operation, will not at once become sluggish and
+unproductive. Their effect is sure; and the time is fast approaching,
+when Christianity will be almost as openly disavowed in the language, as
+in fact it is already supposed to have disappeared from the conduct of
+men; when infidelity will be held to be the necessary appendage of a man
+of fashion, and _to believe_ will be deemed the indication of a feeble
+mind and a contracted understanding.
+
+Something like what have been here premised are the conjectures which we
+should naturally be led to form, concerning the state of Christianity in
+this country, and its probable issue, from considering her own nature,
+and the peculiar circumstances in which she has been placed. That her
+real condition differs not much from the result of this reasoning from
+probability, must, with whatever regret, be confessed by all who take a
+careful and impartial survey of the actual situation of things among us.
+But our hypothetical delineation, if just, will have approved itself to
+the reader's conviction, as we have gone along, by suggesting its
+archetypes; and we may therefore be spared the painful and invidious
+task of pointing out, in detail, the several particulars wherein our
+statements are justified by facts. Every where we may actually trace the
+effects of increasing wealth and luxury, in banishing one by one the
+habits, and new-modelling the phraseology, of stricter times; and in
+diffusing throughout the middle ranks those relaxed morals and
+dissipated manners, which were formerly confined to the higher classes
+of society. We meet, indeed, with more refinement, and more generally
+with those amiable courtesies which are its proper fruits: those vices
+also have become less frequent, which naturally infest the darkness of a
+ruder and less polished age, and which recede on the approach of light
+and civilization:
+
+    Defluxit numerus Saturnius, & grave virus
+    Munditiae pepulere:
+
+But with these grossnesses, Religion, on the other hand, has also
+declined; God is forgotten; his providence is exploded; his hand is
+lifted up, but we see it not; he multiplies our comforts, but we are not
+grateful; he visits us with chastisements, but we are not contrite. The
+portion of the week set apart to the service of Religion we give up,
+without reluctance, to vanity and dissipation. And it is much if, on the
+periodical return of a day of national humiliation, having availed
+ourselves of the certainty of an interval from public business to secure
+a meeting for convivial purposes; we do not insult the Majesty of Heaven
+by feasting and jollity, and thus deliberately disclaim our being
+included in the solemn services of this season of penitence and
+recollection[109].
+
+But when there is not this open and shameless disavowal of Religion, few
+traces of it are to be found. Improving in almost every other branch of
+knowledge, we have become less and less acquainted with Christianity.
+The preceding chapters have pointed out, among those who believe
+themselves to be orthodox Christians, a deplorable ignorance of the
+Religion they profess, an utter forgetfulness of the peculiar doctrines
+by which it is characterized, a disposition to regard it as a mere
+system of ethics, and, what might seem an inconsistency, at the same
+time a most inadequate idea of the nature and strictness of its
+practical principles. This declension of Christianity into a mere system
+of ethics, may partly be accounted for, as has been lately suggested; by
+considering the corruption of our nature, what Christianity is, and in
+what circumstances she has been placed in this country. But it has also
+been considerably promoted by one peculiar cause, on which, for many
+reasons, it may not be improper to dwell a little more particularly.
+
+Christianity in its best days (for the credit of our representations let
+this be remembered, by those who object to our statement as austere and
+contracted) was such as it has been delineated in the present work. This
+was the Religion of the most eminent Reformers, of those bright
+ornaments of our country who suffered martyrdom under queen Mary; of
+their successors in the times of Elizabeth; in short of all the pillars
+of our Protestant church; of many of its highest dignitaries; of
+Davenant, of Hall, of Reynolds, of Beveridge, of Hooker, of Andrews, of
+Smith, of Leighton, of Usher, of Hopkins, of Baxter[110], and of many
+others of scarcely inferior note. In their pages the peculiar doctrines
+of Christianity were every where visible, and on the deep and solid
+basis of these doctrinal truths were laid the foundations of a
+superstructure of morals proportionably broad and exalted. Of this fact
+their writings still extant are a decisive proof: and they who may want
+leisure, or opportunity, or inclination, for the perusal of these
+valuable records, may satisfy themselves of the truth of the assertion,
+that, such as we have stated it, was the Christianity of those times, by
+consulting our Articles and Homilies, or even by carefully examining our
+excellent Liturgy. But from that tendency to deterioration lately
+noticed, these great fundamental truths began to be somewhat less
+prominent in the compositions of many of the leading divines before the
+time of the civil wars. During that period, however, the peculiar
+doctrines of Christianity were grievously abused by many of the
+sectaries, who were foremost in the commotions of those unhappy days;
+who, while they talked copiously of the free grace of Christ, and the
+operations of the Holy Spirit, were by their lives an open scandal to
+the name of Christian[111].
+
+Towards the close of the last century, the divines of the established
+Church (whether it arose from the obscurity of their own views, or from
+a strong impression of former abuses, and of the evils which had
+resulted from them) began to run into a different error. They professed
+to make it their chief object to inculcate the moral and practical
+precepts of Christianity, which they conceived to have been before too
+much neglected; but without sufficiently maintaining, often even without
+justly laying the grand foundation, of a sinner's acceptance with God;
+or pointing out how the practical precepts of Christianity grow out of
+her peculiar doctrines, and are inseparably connected with them[112].
+By this fatal error, the very genius and essential nature of
+Christianity imperceptibly underwent a change. She no longer retained
+her peculiar characters, or produced that appropriate frame of spirit by
+which her followers had been characterized. Facilis descensus. The
+example thus set was followed during the present century, and its effect
+was aided by various causes already pointed out. In addition to these,
+it may be proper to mention as a cause of powerful operation; that for
+the last fifty years the press has teemed with moral essays, many of
+them published periodically, and most extensively circulated; which,
+being considered either as works of mere entertainment, or, in which at
+least entertainment was to be blended with instruction, rather than as
+religious pieces, were kept free from whatever might give them the air
+of sermons, or cause them to wear an appearance of seriousness,
+inconsistent with the idea of relaxation. But in this way the fatal
+habit, of considering Christian morals as distinct from Christian
+doctrines, insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of
+Christianity went more and more out of sight; and, as might naturally
+have been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and
+decay, being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and
+nutriment. At length, in our own days, these peculiar doctrines have
+almost altogether vanished from the view. Even in many sermons, as we
+have formerly noticed, scarcely any traces of them are to be found.
+
+But the degree of neglect into which they are really fallen, may perhaps
+be rendered still more manifest by appealing to another criterion. There
+is a certain class of publications, of which it is the object to give
+us exact delineations of life and manners: and when these are written by
+authors of accurate observation and deep knowledge of human nature; (and
+many such there have been in our times) they furnish a more faithful
+picture, than can be obtained in any other way, of the prevalent
+opinions and feelings of mankind. It must be obvious that novels are
+here alluded to. A careful perusal of the most celebrated of these
+pieces would furnish a strong confirmation of the apprehension,
+suggested from other considerations, concerning the very low state of
+Religion in this country; but they would still more strikingly
+illustrate the truth of the remark, that the grand peculiarities of
+Christianity are almost vanished from the view. In a sermon, although
+throughout the whole of it there may have been no traces of these
+peculiarities, either directly or indirectly, the preacher closes with
+an ordinary form; which, if one were to assert that they were absolutely
+omitted, would immediately be alledged in contradiction of the
+assertion, and may just serve to protect them from falling into entire
+oblivion. But in novels, the writer is not so tied down. In these,
+people of Religion, and clergymen too, are placed in all possible
+situations, and the sentiments and language deemed suitable to the
+occasion are assigned to them. They are introduced instructing,
+reproving, counselling, comforting. It is often the author's intention
+to represent them in a favourable point of view, and accordingly he
+makes them as well informed and as good Christians as he knows how. They
+are painted amiable, benevolent, and forgiving; but it is not too much
+to say, that if all the peculiarities of Christianity had never
+existed, or had been proved to be false, the circumstance would scarcely
+create the necessity of altering a single syllable in any of the most
+celebrated of these performances. It is striking to observe the
+difference which there is in this respect in similar works of Mahometan
+authors, wherein the characters, which they mean to represent in a
+favourable light, are drawn vastly more observant of the peculiarities
+of their religion[113].
+
+But to make an end of this discussion, concerning the degree in which
+the peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into neglect, and
+concerning one of the principal of the causes which have produced it: if
+this be the state of things even in the case of sermons, and of the
+compositions of those, whose sphere of information must be supposed
+larger than that of the bulk of mankind; it must excite less wonder,
+that in the world in general, though Christianity be not formally
+denied, people know little about it; and that in fact you find, when you
+come to converse with them, that, admitting in terms the Divine
+Revelation of Scripture, they are far from believing the propositions
+which it contains.
+
+It has also been a melancholy prognostic of the state to which we are
+progressive, that many of the most eminent of the literati of modern
+times have been professed unbelievers: and that others of them have
+discovered such lukewarmness in the cause of Christ, as to treat with
+especial good will, and attention, and respect, those men, who, by their
+avowed publications, were openly assailing, or insidiously undermining
+the very foundations of the Christian hope; considering themselves as
+more closely united to them, by literature, than severed from them by
+the widest religious differences[114]. Can it then occasion surprise,
+that under all these circumstances, one of the most acute and most
+forward of the professed unbelievers[115] should appear to anticipate,
+as at no great distance, the more complete triumph of his sceptical
+principles; and that another author of distinguished name[116], not so
+openly professing those infidel opinions, should declare of the writer
+above alluded to, whose great abilities had been systematically
+prostituted to the open attack of every principle of Religion, both
+natural and revealed, "that he had always considered him, both in his
+life-time and since his death, as approaching as nearly to the idea of a
+perfectly wise and virtuous man, as perhaps the nature of human frailty
+will permit?"
+
+Can there then be a doubt, whither tends the path in which we are
+travelling, and whither at length it must conduct us? If any should
+hesitate, let them take a lesson from experience. In a neighbouring
+country, several of the same causes have been in action; and they have
+at length produced their full effect. Manners corrupted, morals
+depraved, dissipation predominant, above all, Religion discredited, and
+infidelity grown into repute and fashion[117], terminated in the public
+disavowal of every religious principle, which had been used to attract
+the veneration of mankind. The representatives of a whole nation
+publicly witnessing, not only without horror, but, to say the least,
+without disapprobation, an open unqualified denial of the very existence
+of God; and at length, as a body, withdrawing their allegiance from the
+Majesty of Heaven.
+
+There are not a few, perhaps, who may have witnessed with apprehension,
+and may be ready to confess with pain, the gradual declension of
+Religion; but who at the same time may conceive that the writer of this
+tract is disposed to carry things too far. They may even allege, that
+the degree of Religion for which he contends is inconsistent with the
+ordinary business of life, and with the well-being of society; that if
+it were generally to prevail, people would be wholly engrossed by
+Religion, and all their time occupied by prayer and preaching. Men not
+being sufficiently interested in the pursuit of temporal objects,
+agriculture and commerce would decline, the arts would languish, the
+very duties of common life would be neglected; and, in short, the whole
+machine of civil society would be obstructed, and speedily stopped. An
+opening for this charge is given by an ingenious writer[118] alluded to
+in an early period of our work; and is even somewhat countenanced by an
+author since referred to, from whom such a sentiment justly excites more
+surprise[119].
+
+In reply to this objection it might be urged, that though we should
+allow it for a moment to be in a considerable degree well founded, yet
+this admission would not warrant the conclusion intended to be drawn
+from it. The question would still remain, whether our representation of
+what Christianity requires be agreeable to the word of God? For if it
+be, surely it must be confessed to be a matter of small account to
+sacrifice a little worldly comfort and prosperity, during the short span
+of our existence in this life, in order to secure a crown of eternal
+glory, and the enjoyment of those pleasures which are at God's right
+hand for evermore! It might be added also, that our blessed Saviour had
+fairly declared, that it would often be required of Christians to make
+such a sacrifice; and had forewarned us, that, in order to be able to do
+it with cheerfulness whenever the occasion should arrive, we must
+habitually sit loose to all worldly possessions and enjoyments. And it
+might farther be remarked, that though it were even admitted, that the
+_general prevalence of vital Christianity_ should somewhat interfere
+with the views of national wealth and aggrandisement; yet that there is
+too much reason to believe that, do all we can, this general prevalence
+needs not to be apprehended, or, to speak more justly, could not be
+hoped for. But indeed the objection on which we have now been
+commenting, is not only groundless, but the very contrary to it is the
+truth. If Christianity, such as we have represented it, were generally
+to prevail; the world, from being such as it is, would become a scene of
+general peace and prosperity; and abating the chances and calamities
+"which flesh is inseparably heir to," would wear one unwearied face of
+complacency and joy.
+
+On the first promulgation of Christianity, it is true, some of her early
+converts seem to have been in danger of so far mistaking the genius of
+the new Religion, as to imagine that in future they were to be
+discharged from an active attendance on their secular affairs. But the
+Apostle most pointedly guarded them against so gross an error, and
+expressly and repeatedly enjoined them to perform the particular duties
+of their several stations with increased alacrity and fidelity, that
+they might thereby do credit to their Christian profession. This he did,
+at the same time that he prescribed to them that predominant love of God
+and of Christ, that heavenly-mindedness, that comparative indifference
+to the things of this world, that earnest endeavour after growth in
+grace and perfection in holiness, which have already been stated as the
+essential characteristics of real Christianity. It cannot therefore be
+supposed by any who allow to the Apostle even the claim of a consistent
+instructor, much less by any who admit his Divine authority, that these
+latter precepts are incompatible with the former. Let it be remembered,
+that the grand characteristic mark of the true Christian, which has been
+insisted on, is _his desiring to please God in all his thoughts, and
+words, and actions; to take the revealed word to be the rule of his
+belief and practice; to "let his light shine before men;" and in all
+things to adorn the doctrine which he professes_. No calling is
+proscribed, no pursuit is forbidden, no science or art, no pleasure is
+disallowed, which is reconcilable with this principle. It must indeed be
+confessed that Christianity would not favour that vehement and
+inordinate ardour in the pursuit of temporal objects, which tends to the
+acquisition of immense wealth, or of widely spread renown: nor is it
+calculated to gratify the extravagant views of those mistaken
+politicians, the chief object of whose admiration, and the main scope of
+whose endeavours for their country, are, extended dominion, and
+commanding power, and unrivalled affluence, rather than those more solid
+advantages of peace, and comfort, and security. These men would barter
+comfort for greatness. In their vain reveries they forget that a nation
+consists of individuals, and that true national prosperity is no other
+than the multiplication of particular happiness.
+
+But in fact, so far is it from being true that the prevalence of _real_
+Religion would produce a stagnation in life; that a man, whatever might
+be his employment or pursuit, would be furnished with a new motive to
+prosecute it with alacrity, a motive far more constant and vigorous than
+any human prospects can supply: at the same time, his solicitude being
+not so much to succeed in whatever he might be engaged in, as to act
+from a pure principle and leave the event to God; he would not be liable
+to the same disappointments, as men who are active and laborious from a
+desire of worldly gain or of human estimation. Thus he would possess the
+true secret of a life at the same time useful and happy. Following peace
+also with all men, and looking upon them as members of the same family,
+entitled not only to the debts of justice, but to the less definite and
+more liberal claims of fraternal kindness; he would naturally be
+respected and beloved by others, and be in himself free from the
+annoyance of those bad passions, by which they who are actuated by
+worldly principles are so commonly corroded. If any country were indeed
+filled with men, each thus diligently discharging the duties of his own
+station without breaking in upon the rights of others, but on the
+contrary endeavouring, so far as he might be able, to forward their
+views and promote their happiness; all would be active and harmonious in
+the goodly frame of human society. There would be no jarrings, no
+discord. The whole machine of civil life would work without obstruction
+or disorder, and the course of its movements would be like the harmony
+of the spheres.
+
+Such would be the happy state of a truly Christian nation within itself.
+Nor would its condition with regard to foreign countries form a contrast
+to this its internal comfort. Such a community, on the contrary,
+peaceful at home, would be respected and beloved abroad. General
+integrity in all its dealings would inspire universal confidence:
+differences between nations commonly arise from mutual injuries, and
+still more from mutual jealousy and distrust. Of the former there would
+be no longer any ground for complaint; the latter would find nothing to
+attach upon. But if, in spite of all its justice and forbearance, the
+violence of some neighbouring state should force it to resist an
+unprovoked attack, (for hostilities strictly defensive are those only in
+which it would be engaged) its domestic union would double its national
+force; while the consciousness of a good cause, and of the general
+favour of Heaven, would invigorate its arm, and inspirit its efforts.
+
+It is indeed the position of an author, to whom we have had frequent
+occasion to refer, and whose love of paradox has not seldom led him into
+error, that true Christianity is an enemy to patriotism. If by
+patriotism be meant that mischievous and domineering quality, which
+renders men ardent to promote, not the happiness, but the aggrandisement
+of their own country, by the oppression and conquest of every other; to
+such patriotism, so generally applauded in the Heathen world, that
+Religion must be indeed an enemy, whose foundation is justice, and whose
+compendious character is "peace,--and good will towards men." But if by
+patriotism be understood that quality which, without shutting up our
+philanthropy within the narrow bounds of a single kingdom, yet attaches
+us in particular to the country to which we belong; of this true
+patriotism, Christianity is the most copious source, and the surest
+preservative. The contrary opinion can indeed only have arisen from not
+considering the fulness and universality of our Saviour's precepts. Not
+like the puny productions of human workmanship, which at the best can
+commonly serve but the particular purpose that they are specially
+designed to answer; the moral, as well as the physical, principles of
+the great Author of all things are capable of being applied at once to
+ten thousand different uses; thus, amidst infinite complication,
+preserving a grand simplicity, and therein bearing the unambiguous stamp
+of their Divine Original. Thus, to specify one out of the numberless
+instances which might be adduced; the principle of gravitation, while it
+is subservient to all the mechanical purposes of common life, keeps at
+the same time the stars in their courses, and sustains the harmony of
+worlds.
+
+Thus also in the case before us: society consists of a number of
+different circles of various magnitudes and uses; and that circumstance,
+wherein the principle of patriotism chiefly consists, whereby the duty
+of patriotism is best practised, and the happiest effects to the general
+weal produced, is, that it should be the desire and aim of every
+individual to fill well his own proper circle, as a part and member of
+the whole, with a view to the production of general happiness. This our
+Saviour enjoined when he prescribed the duty of universal love, which is
+but another term for the most exalted patriotism. Benevolence, indeed,
+when not originating from Religion, dispenses but from a scanty and
+precarious fund; and therefore, if it be liberal in the case of some
+objects, it is generally found to be contracted towards others. Men who,
+acting from worldly principles, make the greatest stir about general
+philanthropy or zealous patriotism, are often very deficient in their
+conduct in domestic life; and very neglectful of the opportunities,
+fully within their reach, of promoting the comfort of those with whom
+they are immediately connected. But true Christian benevolence is always
+occupied in producing happiness to the utmost of its power, and
+according to the extent of its sphere, be it larger or more limited; it
+contracts itself to the measure of the smallest; it can expand itself to
+the amplitude of the largest. It resembles majestic rivers, which are
+poured from an unfailing and abundant source. Silent and peaceful in
+their outset, they begin with dispensing beauty and comfort to every
+cottage by which they pass. In their further progress they fertilize
+provinces and enrich kingdoms. At length they pour themselves into the
+ocean; where, changing their names but not their nature, they visit
+distant nations and other hemispheres, and spread throughout the world
+the expansive tide of their beneficence.
+
+It must be confessed, that many of the good effects, of which Religion
+is productive to political societies, would be produced even by a false
+Religion, which should prescribe good morals, and should be able to
+enforce its precepts by sufficient sanctions. Of this nature are those
+effects, which depend on our calling in the aid of a Being who sees the
+heart, in order to assist the weakness, and in various ways to supply
+the inherent defects of all human jurisprudence. But the superior
+excellence of Christianity in this respect must be acknowledged, both in
+the superiority of her moral code, and in the powerful motives and
+efficacious means which she furnishes for enabling us to practise it;
+and in the tendency of her doctrines to provide for the observance of
+her precepts, by producing tempers of mind which correspond with them.
+
+But, more than all this; it has not perhaps been enough remarked, that
+true Christianity, from her essential nature, appears peculiarly and
+powerfully adapted to promote the preservation and healthfulness of
+political communities. What is in truth their grand malady? The answer
+is short; Selfishness. This is that young disease received at the moment
+of their birth, "which grows with their growth, and strengthens with
+their strength;" and through which they at length expire, if not cut off
+prematurely by some external shock or intestine convulsion.
+
+The disease of selfishness, indeed, assumes different forms in the
+different classes of society. In the great and the wealthy, it displays
+itself in luxury, in pomp and parade; and in all the frivolities of a
+sickly and depraved imagination, which seeks in vain its own
+gratification, and is dead to the generous and energetic pursuits of an
+enlarged heart. In the lower orders, when not motionless under the
+weight of a superincumbent despotism, it manifests itself in pride, and
+its natural offspring, insubordination in all its modes. But though the
+external effects may vary, the internal principle is the same; a
+disposition in each individual to make self the grand center and end of
+his desires and enjoyments; to over-rate his own merits and importance,
+and of course to magnify his claims on others, and in return to
+under-rate their's on him; a disposition to undervalue the advantages,
+and over-state the disadvantages, of his condition in life. Thence
+spring rapacity and venality, and sensuality. Thence imperious nobles,
+and factious leaders; and an unruly commonalty, bearing with difficulty
+the inconveniences of a lower station, and imputing to the nature or
+administration of their government the evils which necessarily flow from
+the very constitution of our species, or which perhaps are chiefly the
+result of their own vices and follies. The opposite to selfishness is
+public spirit; which may be termed, not unjustly, the grand principle of
+political vitality, the very _life's breath_ of states, which tends to
+keep them active and vigorous, and to carry them to greatness and glory.
+
+The tendency of public spirit, and the opposite tendency of selfishness,
+have not escaped the observation of the founders of states, or of the
+writers on government; and various expedients have been resorted to and
+extolled, for cherishing the one, and for repressing the other.
+Sometimes a principle of internal agitation and dissension, resulting
+from the very frame of the government, has been productive of the
+effect. Sparta flourished for more than seven hundred years under the
+civil institutions of Lycurgus; which guarded against the selfish
+principle, by prohibiting commerce, and imposing universal poverty and
+hardship. The Roman commonwealth, in which public spirit was cherished,
+and selfishness checked, by the principle of the love of glory, was also
+of long continuance. This passion naturally operates to produce an
+unbounded spirit of conquest, which, like the ambition of the greatest
+of its own heroes, was never satiated while any other kingdom was left
+it to subdue. The principle of political vitality, when kept alive only
+by means like these, merits the description once given of eloquence:
+"Sicut flamma, materia alitur, & motibus excitatur, & urendo clarescit."
+But like eloquence, when no longer called into action by external
+causes, or fomented by civil broils, it gradually languishes. Wealth and
+luxury produce stagnation, and stagnation terminates in death.
+
+To provide, however, for the continuance of a state, by the admission of
+internal dissensions, or even by the chilling influence of poverty,
+seems to be in some sort sacrificing the end to the means. Happiness is
+the end for which men unite in civil society; but in societies thus
+constituted, little happiness, comparatively speaking, is to be found.
+The expedient, again, of preserving a state by the spirit of conquest,
+though even this has not wanted its admirers[120], is not to be
+tolerated for a moment, when considered on principles of universal
+justice. Such a state lives, and grows, and thrives, by the misery of
+others, and becomes professedly the general enemy of its neighbours, and
+the scourge of the human race. All these devices are in truth but too
+much like the fabrications of man, when compared with the works of the
+Supreme Being; clumsy, yet weak in the execution of their purpose, and
+full of contradictory principles and jarring movements.
+
+I might here enlarge with pleasure on the unrivalled excellence, in this
+very view, of the constitution under which we live in this happy
+country; and point out how, more perhaps than any which ever existed
+upon earth, it is so framed, as to provide at the same time for keeping
+up a due degree of public spirit, and yet for preserving unimpaired the
+quietness, and comfort, and charities of private life; how it even
+extracts from selfishness itself many of the advantages which, under
+less happily constructed forms of government, public spirit only can
+supply. But such a political discussion, however grateful to a British
+mind, would here be out of place. It is rather our business to remark,
+how much Christianity in every way sets herself in direct hostility to
+selfishness, the mortal distemper of political communities; and
+consequently, how their welfare must be inseparable from her prevalence.
+It might indeed, be almost stated as the main object and chief concern
+of Christianity, to root out our natural selfishness, and to rectify the
+false standard which it imposes on us; with views, however, far higher
+than any which concern merely our temporal and social well-being; to
+bring us to a just estimate of ourselves, and of all around us, and to a
+due impression of the various claims and obligations resulting from the
+different relations in which we stand. Benevolence, enlarged, vigorous,
+operative benevolence, is her master principle. Moderation in temporal
+pursuits and enjoyments, comparative indifference to the issue of
+worldly projects, diligence in the discharge of personal and civil
+duties, resignation to the will of God, and patience under all the
+dispensations of his Providence, are among her daily lessons. Humility
+is one of the essential qualities, which her precepts most directly and
+strongly enjoin, and which all her various doctrines tend to call forth
+and cultivate; and humility, as has been before suggested, lays the
+deepest and surest grounds for benevolence. In whatever class or order
+of society Christianity prevails, she sets herself to rectify the
+particular faults, or, if we would speak more distinctly, to counteract
+the particular mode of selfishness, to which that class is liable.
+Affluence she teaches to be liberal and beneficent; authority, to bear
+its faculties with meekness, and to consider the various cares and
+obligations belonging to its elevated station, as being conditions on
+which that station is conferred. Thus, softening the glare of wealth,
+and moderating the insolence of power, she renders the inequalities of
+the social state less galling to the lower orders, whom also she
+instructs, in their turn, to be diligent, humble, patient: reminding
+them that their more lowly path has been allotted to them by the hand of
+God; that it is their part faithfully to discharge its duties, and
+contentedly to bear its inconveniences; that the present state of things
+is very short; that the objects, about which worldly men conflict so
+eagerly, are not worth the contest; that the peace of mind, which
+Religion offers to all ranks indiscriminately, affords more true
+satisfaction than all the expensive pleasures which are beyond the poor
+man's reach; that in this view, however, the poor have the advantage,
+and that if their superiors enjoy more abundant comforts, they are also
+exposed to many temptations from which the inferior classes are happily
+exempted; that "having, food and raiment, they should be therewith
+content," for that their situation in life, with all its evils, is
+better than they have deserved at the hand of God; finally, that all
+human distinctions will soon be done away, and the true followers of
+Christ will all, as children of the same Father, be alike admitted to
+the possession of the same heavenly inheritance. Such are the blessed
+effects of Christianity on the temporal well-being of political
+communities.
+
+But the Christianity which can produce effects like these, must be real,
+not nominal, deep, not superficial. Such then is the Religion we should
+cultivate, if we would realize these pleasing speculations, and arrest
+the progress of political decay. But in the present circumstances of
+this country, it is a farther reason for endeavouring to cultivate this
+vital Christianity, still considering its effects merely in a political
+view, that, according to all human appearance, we must either have this
+or none: unless the prevalence of this be in some degree restored, we
+are likely, not only to lose all the advantages which we might have
+derived from true Christianity, but to incur all the manifold evils
+which would result from the absence of all religion.
+
+In the first place, let it be remarked, that a weakly principle of
+Religion, and even such an one, in a political view, is productive of
+many advantages; though its existence may be prolonged if all external
+circumstances favour its continuance, can hardly be kept alive, when the
+state of things is so unfavourable to vital Religion, as it must be
+confessed to be in our condition of society. Nor is it merely the
+ordinary effects of a state of wealth and prosperity to which we here
+allude. Much also may justly be apprehended, from that change which has
+taken place in our general habits of thinking and feeling, concerning
+the systems and opinions of former times. At a less advanced period of
+society, indeed, the Religion of the state will be generally accepted,
+though it be not felt in its vital power. It was the Religion of our
+forefathers: with the bulk it is on that account entitled to reverence,
+and its authority is admitted without question. The establishment in
+which it subsists pleads the same prescription, and obtains the same
+respect. But in our days, things are very differently circumstanced. Not
+merely the blind prejudice in favour of former times, but even the
+proper respect for them, and the reasonable presumption in their favour,
+has abated. Still less will the idea be endured, of any system being
+kept up, when the imposture is seen through by the higher orders, for
+the sake of retaining the common people in subjection. A system, if not
+supported by a real persuasion of its truth, will fall to the ground.
+Thus it not unfrequently happens, that in a more advanced state of
+society, a religious establishment must be indebted for its support to
+that very Religion, which in earlier times it fostered and protected; as
+the weakness of some aged mother is sustained, and her existence
+lengthened, by the tender assiduities of the child whom she had reared
+in the helplessness of infancy. So in the present instance, unless there
+be reinfused into the mass of our society, something of that principle,
+which animated our ecclesiastical system in its earlier days, it is vain
+for us to hope that the establishment will very long continue: for the
+anomaly will not much longer be borne, of an establishment, the _actual_
+principles of the bulk of whose members, and even teachers, are so
+extremely different from those which it professes. But in proportion as
+vital Christianity can be revived, in that same proportion the church
+establishment is strengthened; for the revival of vital Christianity is
+the very reinfusion of which we have been speaking. This is the very
+Christianity on which our establishment is founded; and that which her
+Articles, and Homilies, and Liturgy, teach throughout.
+
+But if, when the reign of prejudice, and even of honest prepossession,
+and of grateful veneration, is no more (for by these almost any system
+may generally be supported, before a state, having passed the period of
+its maturity, is verging to its decline); if there are any who think
+that a dry, unanimated Religion, like that which is now professed by
+nominal Christians, can hold its place; much more that it can be revived
+among the general mass of mankind, it may be affirmed, that, arguing
+merely on human principles, they know little of human nature. The kind
+of Religion which we have recommended, whatever opinion may be
+entertained concerning its truth, and to say nothing of the agency of
+Divine Grace, must at least be conceded to be the only one which is at
+all suited to make impression upon the lower orders, by strongly
+interesting the passions of the human mind. If it be thought that a
+system of ethics may regulate the conduct of the higher classes; such an
+one is altogether unsuitable to the lower, who must be worked upon by
+their affections, or they will not be worked upon at all. The antients
+were wiser than ourselves, and never thought of governing the community
+in general by their lessons of philosophy. These lessons were confined
+to the schools of the learned; while for the million, a system of
+Religion, such as it was, was kept up, as alone adapted to their grosser
+natures. If this reasoning fail to convince, we may safely appeal to
+experience. Let the Socinian and the moral teacher of Christianity come
+forth, and tell us what effects _they_ have produced on the lower
+orders. They themselves will hardly deny the inefficacy of their
+instructions. But, blessed be God, the Religion which we recommend, has
+proved its correspondence with the character originally given of
+Christianity, that it was calculated for the poor; by changing the whole
+condition of the mass of society in many of the most populous districts
+in this and other countries; and by bringing them from being scenes of
+almost unexampled wickedness and barbarism, to be eminent for sobriety,
+decency, industry, and, in short, for whatever can render men useful
+members of civil society.
+
+If indeed, through the blessing of Providence, a principle of true
+Religion should in any considerable degree gain ground, there is no
+estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influence on
+our political welfare. These effects are not merely negative: though it
+would be much, merely to check the farther progress of a gangrene, which
+is eating out the very vital principles of our social and political
+existence. The general standard of morality formerly described, would be
+raised, it would at least be sustained and kept for a while from farther
+depression. The esteem which religious characters would personally
+attract, would extend to the system which they should hold, and to the
+establishment of which they should be members. These are all merely
+natural consequences. But to those who believe in a superintending
+Providence, it may be added, that the blessing of God might be drawn
+down upon our country, and the stroke of his anger be for a while
+suspended.
+
+Let us be spared the painful task of tracing, on the contrary, the fatal
+consequences of the extinction of Religion among us. They are indeed
+such as no man, who is ever so little interested for the welfare of his
+country, can contemplate without the deepest concern. The very loss of
+our church establishment, though, as in all human institutions, some
+defects may be found in it, would in itself be attended with the most
+fatal consequences. No prudent man dares hastily pronounce how far its
+destruction might not greatly endanger our civil institutions. It would
+not be difficult to prove, that the want of it would also be in the
+highest degree injurious to the cause of Christianity; and still more,
+that it would take away what appears from experience to be one of the
+most probable means of its revival. To what a degree might even the
+avowed principles of men, not altogether without Religion, decline, when
+our inestimable Liturgy should no longer remain in use! a Liturgy justly
+inestimable, which continually sets before us a faithful model of the
+Christian's belief, and practice, and language; restraining us, as far
+as restraint is possible, from excessive deviations; furnishing us with
+abundant instruction when we would return into the right path; affording
+an advantageous ground of no little value, to such instructors as still
+adhere to the good old principles of the Church of England; in short,
+daily shaming us, by preserving a living representation of the opinions
+and habits of better times, as some historical record, which reproaches
+a degenerate posterity, by exhibiting the worthier deeds of their
+progenitors. In such a state of things, to what a depth public morals
+might sink, may be anticipated by those who consider what would then be
+the condition of society; who reflect how bad principles and vicious
+conduct mutually aid each other's operation, and how, in particular, the
+former make sure the ground which the latter may have gained; who
+remember, that in the lower orders, the system of honour, and the
+responsibility of character, are wanting, which in the superior classes,
+in some poor degree, supply the place of higher principles. It is well
+for the happiness of mankind, that such a community could not long
+subsist. The cement of society being no more, the slate would soon be
+dissolved into individuality.
+
+Let it not be vainly imagined, that our state of civilization must
+prevent the moral degeneracy here threatened. A neighbouring nation has
+lately furnished a lamentable proof, that superior polish and refinement
+may well consist with a very large measure of depravity. But to appeal
+to a still more decisive instance: it may be seen in the history of the
+latter years of the most celebrated of the Pagan nations, that the
+highest degrees of civilization and refinement are by no means
+inseparable from the most shocking depravity of morals. The fact is
+certain, and the obvious inference with regard to ourselves cannot be
+denied. The cause of this strange phaenomenon, (such it really appears to
+our view) for which the natural corruption of man might hardly seem to
+account sufficiently, has been explained by an inspired writer. Speaking
+of the most polished nations of antiquity, he observes; "Because when
+they knew God, they glorified him not as God, and were not
+_solicitous_[121] to retain him in their knowledge, he gave them over to
+a reprobate mind." Let us then beware, and take warning from their
+example: let us not suffer our self-love to beguile us: let us not
+vainly persuade ourselves, that although prosperity and wealth may have
+caused us to relax a little too much, in those more serious duties which
+regard our Maker, yet that we shall stop where we are; or, at least,
+that we can never sink into the same state of moral depravation.
+Doubtless we should sink as low, if God were to give us up also to our
+own imaginations. And what ground have we to think he will not? If we
+would reason justly, we should not compare ourselves with the state of
+the Heathen world when at its worst; but with its state at that period,
+when, for its forgetfulness of God, and its ingratitude towards him, it
+was suffered to fall, till at length it reached that worst, its ultimate
+point of depression. The Heathens had only reason and natural conscience
+to direct them: we enjoy, superadded to these, the clear light of Gospel
+revelation, and a distinct declaration of God's dealings with them, to
+be a lesson for our instruction. How then can we but believe that if we,
+enjoying advantages so much superior to their's, are alike forgetful of
+our kind Benefactor, we also shall be left to ourselves? and if so left,
+what reason can be assigned why we should not fall into the same
+enormities?
+
+What then is to be done? The inquiry is of the first importance, and the
+general answer to it is not difficult.--The causes and nature of the
+decay of Religion and morals among us sufficiently indicate the course,
+which, on principles of sound policy, it is in the highest degree
+expedient for us to pursue. The distemper of which, as a community, we
+are sick, should be considered rather as a moral than a political
+malady. How much has this been forgotten by the disputants of modern
+times! and accordingly, how transient may be expected to be the good
+effects of the best of their publications! We should endeavour to tread
+back our steps. Every effort should be used to raise the depressed tone
+of public morals. This is a duty particularly incumbent on all who are
+in the higher walks of life; and it is impossible not to acknowledge the
+obligations, which in this respect we owe as a nation, to those exalted
+characters, whom God in his undeserved mercy to us, still suffers to
+continue on the throne, and who set to their subjects a pattern of
+decency and moderation rarely seen in their elevated station.
+
+But every person of rank, and fortune, and abilities, should endeavour
+in like manner to exhibit a similar example, and recommend it to the
+imitation of the circle in which he moves. It has been the opinion of
+some well-meaning people, that by giving, as far as they possibly could
+with innocence, into the customs and practices of irreligious men, they
+might soften the prejudices too frequently taken up against Religion, of
+its being an austere gloomy service; and thus secure a previous
+favourable impression against any time, when they might have an
+opportunity of explaining or enforcing their sentiments. This is always
+a questionable, and, it is to be feared, a dangerous policy. Many
+mischievous consequences necessarily resulting from it might easily be
+enumerated. But it is a policy particularly unsuitable to our
+inconsiderate and dissipated times, and to the lengths at which we are
+arrived. In these circumstances, the most likely means of producing the
+_revulsion_ which is required, must be boldly to proclaim the
+distinction between the adherents of "God and Baal." The expediency of
+this conduct in our present situation is confirmed by another
+consideration, to which we have before had occasion to refer. It is
+this--that when men are aware that something of difficulty is to be
+effected, their spirits rise to the level of the encounter; they make up
+their minds to bear hardships and brave dangers, and to persevere in
+spite of fatigue and opposition: whereas in a matter which is regarded
+as of easy and ordinary operation, they are apt to slumber over their
+work, and to fail in what a small effort might have been sufficient to
+accomplish, for want of having called up the requisite degree of energy
+and spirit. Conformably to the principle which is hereby suggested, in
+the circumstances in which we are placed, the line of demarcation
+between the friends and the enemies of Religion should now be made
+clear; the separation should be broad and obvious. Let him then, who
+wishes well to his country, no longer hesitate what course of conduct to
+pursue. The question now is not, in what liberties he might warrantably
+indulge himself in another situation? but what are the restraints on
+himself which the exigencies of the present times render it adviseable
+for him to impose? Circumstanced as we now are, it is more than ever
+obvious, that _the best man is the truest patriot_.
+
+Nor is it only by their personal conduct, (though this mode will always
+be the most efficacious) that men of authority and influence may promote
+the cause of good morals. Let them in their several stations encourage
+virtue and discountenance vice in others. Let them enforce the laws by
+which the wisdom of our forefathers has guarded against the grosser
+infractions of morals; and congratulate themselves, that in a leading
+situation on the bench of justice there is placed a man who, to his
+honour be it spoken, is well disposed to assist their efforts[122]. Let
+them favour and take part in any plans which may be formed for the
+advancement of morality. Above all things, let them endeavour to
+instruct and improve the rising generation; that, if it be possible, an
+antidote may be provided for the malignity of that venom, which is
+storing up in a neighbouring country. This has long been to my mind the
+most formidable feature of the present state of things in France; where,
+it is to be feared, a brood of moral vipers, as it were, is now
+hatching, which, when they shall have attained to their mischievous
+maturity, will go forth to poison the world. But fruitless will be all
+attempts to sustain, much more to revive, the fainting cause of morals,
+unless you can in some degree restore the prevalence of Evangelical
+Christianity. It is in morals as in physics; unless the source of
+practical principles be elevated, it will be in vain to attempt to make
+them flow on a high level in their future course. You may force them for
+a while into some constrained position, but they will soon drop to
+their natural point of depression. By all, therefore, who are studious
+of their country's welfare, more particularly by all who desire to
+support our ecclesiastical establishment, every effort should be used to
+revive the Christianity of our better days. The attempt should
+especially be made in the case of the pastors of the Church, whose
+situation must render the principles which they hold a matter of
+supereminent importance. Wherever these teachers have steadily and
+zealously inculcated the true doctrines of the Church of England, the
+happiest effects have commonly rewarded their labours. And it is worth
+observing, in the view which we are now taking, that these men, as might
+naturally be expected, are, perhaps without exception, friendly to our
+ecclesiastical and civil establishments[123]; and consequently, that
+their instructions and influence tend _directly_, as well as
+_indirectly_, to the maintenance of the cause of order and good
+government. Nor should it be forgotten by any who, judging with the
+abstract coldness of mere politicians, might doubt whether, by adopting
+the measures here recommended, a religious warmth would not be called
+into action, which might break out into mischievous irregularities; that
+experience proves that an establishment affords, from its very nature,
+the happy means of exciting a considerable degree of fervour and
+animation, and at the same time of restraining them within due bounds.
+The duty of encouraging vital Religion in the Church particularly
+devolves on all who have the disposal of ecclesiastical preferment, and
+more especially on the dignitaries of the sacred order. Some of these
+have already sounded the alarm; justly censuring the practice of
+suffering Christianity to degenerate into a mere system of ethics, and
+recommending more attention to the peculiar doctrines of our Religion.
+In our schools, in our universities, let the study be encouraged of the
+writings of those venerable divines, who flourished in the purer times
+of Christianity. Let even a considerable proficiency in their writings
+be required of candidates for ordination. Let our churches no longer
+witness that unseemly discordance, which has too much prevailed, between
+the prayers which precede, and the sermon which follows.
+
+But it may be enough to have briefly hinted at the course of conduct,
+which, in the present circumstances of this country, motives merely
+political should prompt us to pursue. To all who have at heart the
+national welfare, the above suggestions are solemnly submitted. They
+have not been urged altogether without misgivings, lest it should
+appear, as though the concern of Eternity were melted down into a mere
+matter of temporal advantage, or political expediency. But since it has
+graciously pleased the Supreme Being so to arrange the constitution of
+things, as to render the prevalence of true Religion and of pure
+morality conducive to the well-being of states, and the preservation of
+civil order; and since these subordinate inducements are not
+unfrequently held forth, even by the sacred writers; it seemed not
+improper, and scarcely liable to misconstruction, to suggest inferior
+motives to readers, who might be less disposed to listen to
+considerations of a higher order.
+
+Would to God that the course of conduct here suggested might be fairly
+pursued! Would to God that the happy consequences, which would result
+from the principles we have recommended, could be realized; and above
+all, that the influence of true Religion could be extensively diffused!
+It is the best wish which can be formed for his country, by one who is
+deeply anxious for its welfare:--
+
+    Lucem redde tuam, dux bone, patriae!
+    Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus
+    Affulsit populo, gratior it dies,
+        Et soles melius nitent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+_Practical Hints to various Descriptions of Persons._
+
+
+Thus have we endeavoured to trace the chief defects of the religious
+system of the bulk of professed Christians in this country. We have
+pointed out their low idea of the importance of Christianity in general;
+their inadequate conceptions of all its leading doctrines, and the
+effect hereby naturally produced in relaxing the strictness of its
+practical system; more than all, we have remarked their grand
+fundamental misconception of its genius and essential nature. Let not
+therefore the difference between them and true believers be considered
+as a minute difference; as a question of forms or opinions. The question
+is of the very substance of Religion; the difference is of the most
+serious and momentous amount. We must speak out. _Their Christianity is
+not Christianity._ It wants the radical principle. It is mainly
+defective in all the grand constituents. Let them no longer then be
+deceived by names in a matter of infinite importance: but with humble
+prayer to the Source of all wisdom, that he would enlighten their
+understandings, and clear their hearts from prejudice; let them
+seriously examine by the Scripture standard their real belief and
+allowed practice, and they will become sensible of the shallowness of
+their scanty system.
+
+If through the blessing of Providence on any thing which may have been
+here written, there should be any whom it has disposed to this important
+duty of self-inquiry; let me previously warn them to be well aware of
+our natural proneness to think too favourably of ourselves. Selfishness
+is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it
+is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our good qualities,
+and to overlook or extenuate our defects. The corruption of human nature
+therefore being admitted, it follows undeniably, that in all our
+reckonings, if we would form a just estimate of our character, we must
+make an allowance for the effects of selfishness. It is also another
+effect of the corruption of human nature, to cloud our moral sight, and
+blunt our moral sensibility. Something must therefore be allowed for
+this effect likewise. Doubtless, the perfect purity of the Supreme Being
+makes him see in us stains, far more in number and deeper in dye; than
+we ourselves can discover. Nor should another awful consideration be
+forgotten. When we look into ourselves, those sins only, into which we
+have lately fallen, are commonly apt to excite any lively impression.
+Many individual acts of vice, or a continued course of vicious or
+dissipated conduct, which, when recent, may have smitten us with deep
+remorse, after a few months or years leave but very faint traces in our
+recollection; at least, those acts alone continue to strike us strongly,
+which were of very extraordinary magnitude. But the strong impressions
+which they at first excited, not the faded images which they
+subsequently present to us, furnish the true measure of their guilt: and
+to the pure eyes of God, this guilt must always have appeared far
+greater than to us. Now to the Supreme Being we must believe that there
+is no past or future; as whatever _will be_, so whatever _has been_, is
+retained by him in present and unvarying contemplation, continuing
+always to appear just the same as at the first moment of its happening.
+Well may it then humble us in the sight of that Being "who is of purer
+eyes than to behold iniquity;" to call to mind that, unless our offences
+have been blotted out by our obtaining an interest in the satisfaction
+of Christ, through true repentance and lively faith, we appear before
+him clothed with the sins of our whole lives, in all their original
+depth of colouring, and with all the aggravations which we no longer
+particularly remember, but which, in general, we, perhaps, may recollect
+to have once filled us with shame and confusion of face. The writer is
+the rather desirous of enforcing this reflection; because he can truly
+declare, that he has found no consideration so efficacious in producing
+in his own mind the deepest self-abasement.
+
+In treating of the sources of the erroneous estimates which we form of
+our religious and moral character, it may not, perhaps, be without its
+uses to take this occasion of pointing out some other common springs of
+self-deception. Many persons, as was formerly hinted, are misled by the
+favourable opinions entertained of them by others; many, it is to be
+feared, mistake a hot zeal for orthodoxy, for a cordial acceptance of
+the great truths of the Gospel; and almost all of us, at one time or
+other, are more or less misled by confounding the suggestions of the
+understanding with the impulses of the will, the assent which our
+judgment gives to religious and moral truths, with a hearty belief and
+approbation of them.
+
+There is another frequent source of self-deception, which is productive
+of so much mischief in life, that, though it may appear to lead to some
+degree of repetition, it would be highly improper to omit the mention of
+it in this place. That we may be the better understood, it may be proper
+to premise, that certain particular vices, and likewise that certain
+particular good and amiable qualities, seem naturally to belong to
+certain particular periods and conditions of life. Now, if we would
+reason fairly in estimating our moral character, we ought to examine
+ourselves with reference to that particular "sin which does most easily
+beset us," not to some other sin to which we are not nearly so much
+liable. And in like manner, on the other hand, we ought not to account
+it matter of much self-complacency, if we find in ourselves that good
+and amiable quality which naturally belongs to our period or condition;
+but rather look for some less ambiguous sign of a real internal
+principle of virtue. But we are very apt to reverse these rules of
+judging: we are very apt, on the one hand, both in ourselves and in
+others, to excuse "the besetting sin," taking and giving credit for
+being exempt from others, to which we or they are less liable; and on
+the other hand, to value ourselves extremely on our possession of the
+good or amiable quality which naturally belongs to us, and to require no
+more satisfactory evidence of the _sufficiency_ at least of our moral
+character. The bad effects of this partiality are aggravated by the
+practice, to which we are sadly prone, of being contented, when we take
+a hasty view of ourselves, with negative evidences of our state;
+thinking it very well if we are not shocked by some great actual
+transgression, instead of looking for the positive signs of a true
+Christian, as laid down in the holy Scripture.
+
+But the source of self-deception, which it is more particularly our
+present object to point out, is a disposition to consider as a conquest
+of any particular vice, our merely forsaking it on our quitting the
+period or condition of life to which that vice belongs; when perhaps
+also we substitute for it the vice of the new period or condition on
+which we are entering. We thus mistake our merely outgrowing our vices,
+or our relinquishing them from some change in our worldly circumstances,
+for a thorough, or at least for a sufficient, reformation.
+
+But this topic deserves to be viewed a little more closely. Young people
+may, without much offence, be inconsiderate and dissipated; the youth of
+one sex may indulge occasionally in licentious excesses; those of the
+other may be supremely given up to vanity and pleasure: yet, provided
+that they are sweet tempered, and open, and not disobedient to their
+parents or other superiors, the former are deemed _good hearted_ young
+men, the latter, _innocent_ young women. Those who love them best have
+no solicitude about their spiritual interests: and it would be deemed
+strangely strict in themselves, or in others, to doubt of their becoming
+more religious as they advance in life; to speak of them as being
+actually under the divine displeasure; or, if their lives should be in
+danger, to entertain any apprehensions concerning their future destiny.
+
+They grow older, and marry. The same licentiousness, which was formerly
+considered in young men as a venial frailty, is now no longer regarded
+in the husband and the father as compatible with the character of a
+decently religious man. The language is of this sort; "they have sown
+their wild oats, they must now reform, and be regular." Nor perhaps is
+the same manifest predominance of vanity and dissipation deemed innocent
+in the matron: but if they are kind respectively in their conjugal and
+parental relations, and are tolerably regular and decent, they pass for
+_mighty good sort of people_; and it would be altogether unnecessary
+scrupulosity in them to doubt of their coming up to the requisitions of
+the divine law, as far as in the present state of the world can be
+expected from human frailty. Their hearts, however, are perhaps no more
+than before supremely set on the great work of their salvation, but are
+chiefly bent on increasing their fortunes, or raising their families.
+Meanwhile they congratulate themselves on their having amended from
+vices, which they are no longer strongly tempted to commit, or their
+abstaining from which ought not to be too confidently assumed as a test
+of the strength of the religious principle, since the commission of them
+would prejudice their characters, and perhaps injure their fortune in
+life.
+
+Old age has at length made its advances. Now, if ever, we might expect
+that it would be deemed high time to make eternal things the _main_
+object of attention. No such thing! There is still an appropriate good
+quality, the presence of which calms the disquietude, and satisfies the
+requisitions both of themselves and of those around them. It is now
+required of them that they should be good natured and cheerful,
+indulgent to the frailties and follies of the young; remembering, that
+when young themselves they gave into the same practices. How opposite
+this to that dread of sin, which is the sure characteristic of the true
+Christian; which causes him to look back upon the vices of his own
+youthful days with shame and sorrow; and which, instead of conceding to
+young people to be wild and thoughtless, as a privilege belonging to
+their age and circumstances, prompts him to warn them against what had
+proved to himself matter of such bitter retrospection! Thus, throughout
+the whole of life, some means or other are devised for stifling the
+voice of conscience. "We cry peace while there is no peace;" and both to
+ourselves and others that complacency is furnished, which ought only to
+proceed from a consciousness of being reconciled to God, and a humble
+hope of our possessing his favour.
+
+I know that these sentiments will be termed uncharitable; but I must not
+be deterred by such an imputation. It is time to have done with that
+senseless cant of charity, which insults the understandings, and trifles
+with the feelings, of those who are really concerned for the happiness
+of their fellow-creatures. What matter of keen remorse and of bitter
+self-reproaches are they storing up for their future torment, who are
+themselves its miserable dupes; or who, being charged with the office of
+watching over the eternal interests of their children or relations,
+suffer themselves to be lulled asleep, or beguiled by such shallow
+reasonings into sparing themselves the momentary pain of executing their
+important duty! Charity, indeed, is partial to the object of her regard;
+and where actions are of a doubtful quality, this partiality disposes
+her to refer them to a good, rather than to a bad, motive. She is apt
+also somewhat to exaggerate merits, and to see amiable qualities in a
+light more favourable than that which strictly belongs to them. But true
+charity is wakeful, fervent, full of solicitude, full of good offices,
+not so easily satisfied, not so ready to believe that every thing is
+going on well as a matter of course; but jealous of mischief, apt to
+suspect danger, and prompt to extend relief. These are the symptoms by
+which genuine regard will manifest itself in a wife or a mother, in the
+case of the _bodily_ health of the object of her affections. And where
+there is any real concern for the _spiritual_ interests of others, it is
+characterized by the same infallible marks. That wretched quality, by
+which the sacred name of charity is now so generally and so falsely
+usurped, is no other than indifference; which, against the plainest
+evidence, or at least where there is strong ground of apprehension, is
+easily contented to believe that all goes well, because it has no
+anxieties to allay, no fears to repress. It undergoes no alternation of
+passions; it is not at one time flushed with hope, nor at another
+chilled by disappointment.
+
+To a considerate and feeling mind, there is something deeply afflicting,
+in seeing the engaging cheerfulness and cloudless gaiety incident to
+youth, welcomed as a sufficient indication of internal purity by the
+delighted parents; who, knowing the deceitfulness of these flattering
+appearances, should eagerly avail themselves of this period, when once
+wasted never to be regained, of good humoured acquiescence and dutiful
+docility: a period when the soft and ductile temper of the mind renders
+it more easily susceptible of the impressions we desire; and when,
+therefore, habits should be formed, which may assist our natural
+weakness to resist the temptations to which we shall be exposed in the
+commerce of maturer life. This is more especially affecting in the
+female sex, because that sex seems, by the very constitution of its
+nature, to be more favourably disposed than ours to the feelings and
+offices of Religion; being thus fitted by the bounty of Providence, the
+better to execute the important task which devolves on it, of the
+education of our earliest youth. Doubtless, this more favourable
+disposition to Religion in the female sex, was graciously designed also
+to make women doubly valuable in the wedded state: and it seems to
+afford to the married man the means of rendering an active share in the
+business of life more compatible, than it would otherwise be, with the
+liveliest devotional feelings; that when the husband should return to
+his family, worn and harassed by worldly cares or professional labours,
+the wife, habitually preserving a warmer and more unimpaired spirit of
+devotion, than is perhaps consistent with being immersed in the bustle
+of life, might revive his languid piety; and that the religious
+impressions of both might derive new force and tenderness from the
+animating sympathies of conjugal affection. Can a more pleasing image be
+presented to a considerate mind, than that of a couple, happy in each
+other and in the pledges of their mutual love, uniting in an act of
+grateful adoration to the author of all their mercies; recommending each
+other, and the objects of their common care, to the divine protection;
+and repressing the solicitude of conjugal and parental tenderness by a
+confiding hope, that, through all the changes of this uncertain life,
+the Disposer of all things will assuredly cause all to work together for
+the good of them that love and put their trust in him; and that, after
+this uncertain state shall have passed away, they shall be admitted to a
+joint participation of never ending happiness. It is surely no mean or
+ignoble office which we would allot to the female sex, when we would
+thus commit to them the charge of maintaining in lively exercise
+whatever emotions most dignify and adorn human nature; when we would
+make them as it were the medium of our intercourse with the heavenly
+world, the faithful repositories of the religious principle, for the
+benefit both of the present and of the rising generation. Must it not
+then excite our grief and indignation, when we behold mothers, forgetful
+at once of their own peculiar duties, and of the high office which
+Providence designed their daughters to fulfil; exciting, instead of
+endeavoring to moderate in them, the natural sanguineness and
+inconsiderateness of youth; hurrying them night after night to the
+resorts of dissipation; thus teaching them to despise the _common_
+comforts of the family circle; and, instead of striving to raise their
+views, and to direct their affections to their true object, acting as if
+with the express design studiously to extinguish every spark of a
+devotional spirit, and to kindle in its stead an excessive love of
+pleasure, and, perhaps, a principle of extravagant vanity, and ardent
+emulation!
+
+_Innocent young women! Good hearted young men!_ Wherein does this
+_goodness of heart_ and this _innocence_ appear? Remember that we are
+fallen creatures, born in sin, and naturally depraved. Christianity
+recognises no _innocence_ or _goodness of heart_, but in the remission
+of sin, and in the effects of the operation of divine grace. Do we find
+in these young persons the characters, which the holy Scriptures lay
+down as the only satisfactory evidences of a safe state? Do we not on
+the other hand discover the specified marks of a state of alienation
+from God? Can the blindest partiality persuade itself that _they_ are
+loving, or striving "to love God with all their hearts, and minds, and
+souls, and strength?" Are _they_ "seeking first the kingdom of God, and
+his righteousness?" Are _they_ "working out their salvation with fear
+and trembling?" Are _they_ "clothed with humility?" Are _they_ not, on
+the contrary, supremely given up to self-indulgence? Are _they_ not at
+least "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?" Are the offices of
+Religion _their_ solace or _their_ task? Do _they_ not come to these
+sacred services with reluctance, continue in them by constraint, and
+quit them with gladness? And of how many of _these_ persons may it not
+be affirmed in the spirit of the prophet's language: "The harp, and the
+viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they
+regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his
+hands?" Are not the youth of one sex often actually committing, and
+still more often wishing for the opportunity to commit, those sins of
+which the Scripture says expressly, "that they which do such things
+_shall not_ inherit the kingdom of God?" Are not the youth of the other
+mainly intent on the gratification of vanity; and looking for their
+chief happiness to the resorts of gaiety and fashion, to all the
+multiplied pleasures which public places, or the still higher
+gratifications of more refined circles, can supply?
+
+And then, when the first ebullitions of youthful warmth are over, what
+is their boasted reformation? They may be decent, sober, useful,
+respectable, as members of the community, or amiable in the relations of
+domestic life. But is _this_ the change of which the Scripture speaks?
+Hear the expressions which it uses, and judge for yourselves--"Except a
+man be _born again_, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."--"The
+_old man_--is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;" an expression
+but too descriptive of the vain delirium of youthful dissipation, and of
+the false dreams of pleasure which it inspires; but "the _new man_" is
+awakened from this fallacious estimate of happiness; "_he_ is renewed in
+knowledge after the image of him that created him"--"He is created
+_after God_ in righteousness and true holiness." The persons of whom we
+are speaking are no longer, indeed, so thoughtless, and wild, and
+dissipated, as formerly; so negligent in their attention to objects of
+real value; so eager in the pursuit of pleasure; so prone to yield to
+the impulse of appetite. But this is no more than the change of which a
+writer of no very strict cast speaks, as naturally belonging to their
+riper age:
+
+    Conversis studiis, aetas animusque virilis
+    Quaerit opus, & amicitias: inservit honori:
+    Commisisse cavet, quod mox mutare laboret.
+                                              HOR.
+
+This is a point of infinite importance: let it not be thought tedious to
+spend even yet a few more moments in the discussion of it. Put the
+question to another issue, and try it, by appealing to the principle of
+life being a state of probation; (a proposition, indeed, true in a
+certain sense, though not exactly in that which is sometimes assigned to
+it,) and you will still be led to no very different conclusion.
+Probation implies resisting, in obedience to the dictates of Religion,
+appetites which we are naturally prompted to gratify. Young people are
+not tempted to be churlish, interested, covetous; but to be
+inconsiderate and dissipated, "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
+God." People again in middle age are not so strongly tempted to be
+thoughtless, and idle, and licentious. From excesses of this sort they
+are sufficiently withheld, particularly when happily settled in domestic
+life, by a regard to their characters, by the restraints of family
+connections, and by a sense of what is due to the decencies of the
+married state. _Their_ probation is of another sort; _they_ are tempted
+to be supremely engrossed by worldly cares, by family interests, by
+professional objects, by the pursuit of wealth or of ambition. Thus
+occupied, they are tempted to "mind earthly rather than heavenly
+things," forgetting "the one thing needful;" to "set their affections"
+on temporal rather than eternal concerns, and to take up with "a form of
+godliness," instead of seeking to experience the power thereof: the
+foundations of this nominal Religion being laid, as was formerly
+explained more at large, in the forgetfulness, if not in the ignorance,
+of the peculiar doctrines of Christianity. These are the _ready-made_
+Christians formerly spoken of, who consider Christianity as a
+geographical term, properly applicable to all those who have been born
+and educated in a country wherein Christianity is professed; not as
+indicating a renewed nature, as expressive of a peculiar character, with
+its appropriate desires and aversions, and hopes, and fears, and joys,
+and sorrows. To people of this description, the solemn admonition of
+Christ is addressed; "I know thy works; that thou hast a name that thou
+livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which
+remain that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect
+before God."
+
+If there be any who is inclined to listen to this solemn warning, who is
+awakened from his dream of false security, and is disposed to be not
+only _almost_ but _altogether_ a Christian--O! let him not stifle or
+dissipate these beginnings of seriousness, but sedulously cherish them
+as the "workings of the Divine Spirit," which would draw him from the
+"broad" and crowded "road of destruction into the narrow" and thinly
+peopled path "that leadeth to life." Let him retire from the
+multitude--Let him enter into his closet, and on his bended knees
+implore, for Christ's sake and in reliance on his mediation, that God
+would "take away from him the heart of stone, and give him a heart of
+flesh;" that the Father of light would open his eyes to his true
+condition, and clear his heart from the clouds of prejudice, and
+dissipate the deceitful medium of self-love. Then let him carefully
+examine his past life, and his present course of conduct, comparing
+himself with God's word: and considering how any one might reasonably
+have been expected to conduct himself, to whom the Holy Scriptures had
+been always open, and who had been used to acknowledge them to be the
+revelation of the will of his Creator, and Governor, and Supreme
+Benefactor; let him there peruse the awful denunciations against
+impenitent sinners; let him labour to become more and more deeply
+impressed with a sense of his own radical blindness and corruption;
+above all, let him steadily contemplate, in all its bearings and
+connections, that stupendous truth, _the incarnation and crucifixion of
+the only begotten Son of God, and the message of mercy proclaimed from
+the cross to repenting sinners_.--"Be ye reconciled unto God."--"Believe
+in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."
+
+When he fairly estimates the guilt of sin by the costly satisfaction
+which was required to atone for it, and the worth of his soul by the
+price which was paid for its redemption, and contrasts both of these
+with his own sottish inconsiderateness; when he reflects on the amazing
+love and pity of Christ, and on the cold and formal acknowledgments with
+which he has hitherto returned this infinite obligation, making light of
+the precious blood of the Son of God, and trifling with the gracious
+invitations of his Redeemer: surely, if he be not lost to sensibility,
+mixed emotions of guilt, and fear, and shame, and remorse, and sorrow,
+will nearly overwhelm his soul; he will smite upon his breast, and cry
+out in the language of the publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
+But, blessed be God, such an one needs not despair--it is to persons in
+this very situation, and with these very feelings, that the offers of
+the Gospel are held forth, and its promises assured; "to the weary and
+heavy laden" under the burden of their sins; to them who thirst for the
+water of life; to them who feel themselves "tied and bound by the chain
+of their sins;" who abhor their captivity, and long earnestly for
+deliverance. Happy, happy souls! which the grace of God has visited,
+"has brought out of darkness into his marvellous light," and "from the
+power of Satan unto God." Cast yourselves then on his undeserved mercy;
+he is full of love, and will not spurn you: surrender yourselves into
+his hands, and solemnly resolve, through his Grace, to dedicate
+henceforth all your faculties and powers to his service.
+
+It is your's now "to work out your own salvation with fear and
+trembling," relying on the fidelity of him who has promised to "work in
+you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Ever look to him for
+help: your only safety consists in a deep and abiding sense of your own
+weakness, and in a firm reliance on his strength. If you "give all
+diligence," his power is armed for your protection, his truth is pledged
+for your security. You are enlisted under the banner of Christ--Fear
+not, though the world, and the flesh, and the devil are set in array
+against you.--"Faithful is he that hath promised;"--"be ye also faithful
+unto death, and he will give you a crown of life."--"He that endureth
+to the end, the same shall be saved." In such a world as this, in such a
+state of society as ours, especially if in the higher walks of life, you
+must be prepared to meet with many difficulties:--arm yourselves,
+therefore, in the first place, with a determined resolution not to rate
+human estimation beyond its true value; not to dread the charge of
+particularity, when it shall be necessary to incur it; but as was before
+recommended, let it be your constant endeavour to retain before your
+mental eye, that bright assemblage of invisible spectators, who are the
+witnesses of your daily conduct, and "to seek that honour which cometh
+from God." You cannot advance a single step, till you are in some good
+measure possessed of this comparative indifference to the favour of men.
+We have before explained ourselves too clearly to render it necessary to
+declare, that no one should needlessly affect singularity: but to aim at
+incompatible advantages, to seek to please God and the world, where
+their commands are really at variance, is the way to be neither
+respectable, nor good, nor happy. Continue to be ever aware of your own
+radical corruption and habitual weakness. Indeed, if your eyes be really
+opened, and your heart truly softened, "hungering and thirsting after
+righteousness," rising in your ideas of true holiness, and proving the
+genuineness of your hope by desiring "to purify yourself even as God is
+pure;" you will become daily more and more sensible of your own defeats,
+and wants, and weaknesses; and more and more impressed by a sense of the
+mercy and long suffering of that gracious Saviour, "who forgiveth all
+your sin, and healeth all your infirmities."
+
+This is the solution of what to a man of the world might seem a strange
+paradox, that in proportion as the Christian grows in grace, he grows
+also in humility. Humility is indeed the vital principle of
+Christianity; that principle by which from first to last she lives and
+thrives, and in proportion to the growth or decline of which she must
+decay or flourish. _This_ first disposes the sinner in deep
+self-abasement to accept the others of the Gospel; _this_, during his
+whole progress, is the very ground and basis of his feelings and
+conduct, both in relation to God, his fellow creatures, and himself; and
+when at length he shall be translated into the realms of glory, _this_
+principle shall still subsist in undiminished force: He shall "fall
+down; and cast his crown before the Lamb; and ascribe blessing, and
+honour, and glory, and power, to him that sitteth upon the throne, and
+to the Lamb for ever and ever." The _practical_ benefits of this
+habitual lowliness of spirit are too numerous, and at the same time too
+obvious; to require enumeration. It will lead you to dread the
+beginnings, and fly from the occasions of sin; as that man would shun
+some infectious distemper, who should know that he was pre-disposed to
+take the contagion. It will prevent a thousand difficulties, and decide
+a thousand questions, concerning worldly compliances; by which those
+persons are apt to be embarrassed, who are not duly sensible of their
+own exceeding frailty, whose views of the Christian character are not
+sufficiently elevated, and who are not enough possessed with a continual
+fear of "grieving the Holy Spirit of God," and of thus provoking him to
+withdraw his gracious influence. But if you are really such as we have
+been describing, you need not be urged to set the standard of practice
+high, and to strive after universal holiness. It is the desire of your
+hearts to act in all things with a single eye to the favour of God, and
+thus the most ordinary actions of life are raised into offices of
+Religion. This is the purifying, the transmuting principle, which
+realizes the fabled touch, which changes all to gold. But it belongs to
+this desire of pleasing God, that we should be continually solicitous to
+discover the path of duty; that we should not indolently wait, satisfied
+with not refusing occasions of glorifying God, when they are forced upon
+us; but that we should pray to God for wisdom and spiritual
+understanding, that we may be, acute in discerning opportunities of
+serving him in the world, and judicious in selecting and wise in
+improving them. Guard indeed against the distraction of worldly cares;
+and cultivate heavenly mindedness, and a spirit of continual prayer, and
+neglect not to watch incessantly over the workings of your deceitful
+heart: but be active also, and useful. Let not your precious time be
+wasted "in shapeless idleness;" an admonition which, in our days, is
+rendered but too necessary by the relaxed habits of persons even of real
+piety: but wisely husband and improve this fleeting treasure. Never be
+satisfied with your present attainments; but "forgetting the things
+which are behind," labour still to "press forward" with undiminished
+energy, and to run the race that is set before you without flagging in
+your course.
+
+Above all, measure your progress by your improvement in love to God and
+man. "God is Love." This is the sacred principle, which warms and
+enlightens the heavenly world, that blessed feat of God's visible
+presence. There it shines with unclouded radiance. Some scattered beams
+of it are graciously lent to us on earth, or we had been benighted and
+left in darkness and misery; but a larger portion of it is infused into
+the hearts of the servants of God, who thus "are renewed in the divine
+likeness," and even here exhibit some faint traces of the image of their
+heavenly Father. It is the principle of love which disposes them to
+yield themselves up without reserve to the service of him, "who has
+bought them with the price of his own blood."
+
+Servile, and base, and mercenary, is the notion of Christian practice
+among the bulk of nominal Christians. They give no more than they _dare_
+not with-hold; they abstain from nothing but what they _must_ not
+practise. When you state to them the doubtful quality of any action, and
+the consequent obligation to desist from it, they reply to you in the
+very spirit of Shylock, "they cannot find it in the bond." In short,
+they know Christianity only as a system of restraints. She is despoiled
+of every liberal and generous principle: she is rendered almost unfit
+for the social intercourses of life, and is only suited to the gloomy
+walls of that cloister, in which they would confine her. But _true
+Christians_ consider themselves not as satisfying some rigorous
+creditor, but as discharging a debt of gratitude. Their's is accordingly
+not the stinted return of a constrained obedience, but the large and
+liberal measure of a voluntary service. This principle, therefore, as
+was formerly remarked, and has been recently observed of true Christian
+humility, prevents a thousand _practical_ embarrassments, by which they
+are continually harassed, who act from a less generous motive; and who
+require it to be clearly ascertained to them, that any gratification or
+worldly compliance, which may be in question, is beyond the allowed
+boundary line of Christian practice[124]. _This_ principle regulates the
+true Christian's choice of companions and friends, where he is at
+liberty to make an option; _this_ fills him with the desire of promoting
+the temporal well-being of all around him, and still more with pity and
+love, and anxious solicitude for their spiritual welfare. Indifference
+indeed in this respect is one of the surest signs of a low or declining
+state in Religion. _This_ animating principle it is, which in the true
+Christian's happier hour inspirits his devotions, and causes him to
+delight in the worship of God; which fills him with consolation, and
+peace, and gladness, and sometimes even enables him "to rejoice with joy
+unspeakable and full of glory."
+
+But this world is not his resting place: here, to the very last, he must
+be a pilgrim and a stranger; a soldier, whose warfare ends only with
+life, ever struggling and combating with the powers of darkness, and
+with the temptations of the world around him, and the still more
+dangerous hostilities of internal depravity. The perpetual vicissitudes
+of this uncertain state, the peculiar trials and difficulties with which
+the life of a Christian is chequered, and still more, the painful and
+humiliating remembrance of his own infirmities, teach him to look
+forward, almost with outstretched neck, to that promised day, when he
+shall be completely delivered from the bondage of corruption, and sorrow
+and sighing shall flee away. In the anticipation of that blessed period,
+and comparing this churlish and turbulent world, where competition, and
+envy, and anger, and revenge, so vex and agitate the sons of men, with
+that blissful region where Love shall reign without disturbance, and
+where all being knit together in bonds of indissoluble friendship, shall
+unite in one harmonious song of praise to the Author of their common
+happiness, the true Christian triumphs over the fear of death: he longs
+to realize these cheering images, and to obtain admission into that
+blessed company.--With far more justice than it was originally used, he
+may adopt the beautiful exclamation--"O praeclarum illum diem, cum ad
+illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar, atque ex hac
+turba et colluvione discedam!"
+
+What has been now as well as formerly remarked, concerning the habitual
+feelings of the real believer, may suggest a reply to an objection
+common in the mouths of nominal Christians, that we would deny men the
+innocent amusements and gratifications of life; thus causing our
+Religion to wear a gloomy forbidding aspect, instead of her true and
+natural face of cheerfulness and joy. This is a charge of so serious a
+nature, that although it lead into a digression, it may not be improper
+to take some notice of it.
+
+In the first place, Religion prohibits no amusement or gratification
+which is _really_ innocent. The question, however, of its innocence,
+must not be tried by the loose maxims of worldly morality, but by the
+spirit of the injunctions of the word of God; and by the indulgence
+being conformable or not conformable to the genius of Christianity, and
+to the tempers and dispositions of mind enjoined on its professors.
+There can be no dispute concerning the true end of recreations. They are
+intended to refresh our exhausted bodily or mental powers, and to
+restore us, with renewed vigour, to the more serious occupations of
+life. Whatever, therefore, fatigues either body or mind, instead of
+refreshing them, is not fitted to answer the designed purpose. Whatever
+consumes more time, or money, or thought, than it is expedient (I might
+say _necessary_) to allot to mere amusement, can hardly be approved by
+any one who considers these talents as precious deposits for the
+expenditure of which he will have to give account. Whatever directly or
+indirectly must be likely to injure the welfare of a fellow creature,
+can scarcely be a suitable _recreation_ for a Christian, who is "to love
+his neighbour as himself;" or a very consistent _diversion_ for any one,
+the business of whose life is to diffuse happiness.
+
+But does a Christian never relax? Let us not so wrong and vilify the
+bounty of Providence, as to allow for a moment that the sources of
+innocent amusement are so rare, that men must be driven, almost by
+constraint, to such as are of a doubtful quality. On the contrary, such
+has been the Creator's goodness, that almost every one, both of our
+physical and intellectual, and moral faculties (and the same may be said
+of the whole creation which we see around us) is not only calculated to
+answer the proper end of its being, by its subserviency to some purpose
+of solid usefulness, but to be the instrument of administering pleasure.
+
+                          Not content
+    With every food of life to nourish man,
+    Thou mak'st all nature beauty to his eye
+    And music to his ear.
+
+Our Maker also, in his kindness, has so constructed us, that even mere
+vicissitude is grateful and refreshing--a consideration which should
+prompt us often to seek, from a prudent _variation_ of _useful
+pursuits_, that recreation, for which we are apt to resort to what is
+altogether, _unproductive_ and _unfruitful_.
+
+Yet rich and multiplied are the springs of innocent relaxation. The
+Christian relaxes in the temperate use of all the gifts of Providence.
+Imagination, and taste, and genius, and the beauties of creation, and
+the works of art, lie open to him. He relaxes in the feast of reason, in
+the intercourses of society, in the sweets of friendship, in the
+endearments of love, in the exercise of hope, of confidence, of joy, of
+gratitude, of universal good will, of all the benevolent and generous
+affections; which, by the gracious ordination of our Creator, while
+they disinterestedly intend only happiness to others, are most surely
+productive to ourselves of complacency and peace. O! little do they know
+of the true measure of enjoyment, who can compare these delightful
+complacencies with the frivolous pleasures of dissipation, or the coarse
+gratifications of sensuality. It is no wonder, however, that the nominal
+Christian should reluctantly give up, one by one, the pleasures of the
+world; and look back upon them, when relinquished, with eyes of
+wistfulness and regret: because he knows not the sweetness of the
+delights with which true Christianity repays those trifling sacrifices,
+and is greatly unacquainted with the _nature_ of that pleasantness which
+is to be found in the ways of Religion.
+
+It is indeed true, that when any one, who has long been going on in the
+gross and unrestrained practice of vice, is checked in his career, and
+enters at first on a religious course, he has much to undergo. Fear,
+guilt, remorse, shame, and various other passions, struggle and conflict
+within him. His appetites are clamorous for their accustomed
+gratification, and inveterate habits are scarcely to be denied. He is
+weighed down by a load of guilt, and almost overwhelmed by the sense of
+his unworthiness. But all this ought in fairness to be charged to the
+account of his past sins, and not to that of his present repentance. It
+rarely happens, however, that this state of suffering continues very
+long. When the mental gloom is the blackest, a ray of heavenly light
+occasionally breaks in, and suggests the hope of better days. Even in
+this life it commonly holds true, "They that sow in tears shall reap in
+joy."
+
+Neither, when we maintain, that the ways of Religion are ways of
+pleasantness, do we mean to deny that the Christian's internal state is,
+through the whole of his life, a state of discipline and warfare.
+Several of the causes which contribute to render it such have been
+already pointed out, together with the workings of his mind in relation
+to them: but if he has solicitudes and griefs peculiar to himself, he
+has "joys also with which a stranger intermeddles not."
+
+"Drink deep," however, "or taste not," is a direction full as applicable
+to Religion, if we would find it a source of pleasure, as it is to
+knowledge. A little Religion is, it must be confessed, apt to make men
+gloomy, as a little knowledge to render them vain: hence the unjust
+imputation often brought upon Religion by those, whose degree of
+Religion is just sufficient, by condemning their course of conduct, to
+render them uneasy: enough merely to impair the sweetness of the
+pleasures of sin, and not enough to compensate for the relinquishment of
+them by its own peculiar comforts. Thus these men bring up, as it were,
+an ill report of that land of promise, which, in truth, abounds with
+whatever, in our journey through life, can best refresh and strengthen
+us.
+
+We have enumerated some sources of pleasure which men of the world may
+understand, and must acknowledge to belong to the true Christian; but
+there are others, and those of a still higher class, to which they must
+confess themselves strangers. To say nothing of a qualified, I dare not
+say an entire, exemption from those distracting passions and corroding
+cares, by which he must naturally be harassed, whose treasure is within
+the reach of mortal accidents; there is the humble quiet-giving hope of
+being reconciled to God, and of enjoying his favour; with that solid
+peace of mind, which the world can neither give nor take away, that
+results from a firm confidence in the infinite wisdom and goodness of
+God, and in the unceasing care and kindness of a generous Saviour: and
+there is the persuasion of the truth of the divine assurance, that all
+things shall work together for good.
+
+When the pulse indeed beats high, and we are flushed with youth, and
+health, and vigour; when all goes on prosperously, and success seems
+almost to anticipate our wishes; then we feel not the want of the
+consolations of Religion: but when fortune frowns, or friends forsake
+us; when sorrow, or sickness, or old age, comes upon us, then it is,
+that the superiority of the pleasures of Religion is established over
+those of dissipation and vanity, which are ever apt to fly from us when
+we are most in want of their aid. There is scarcely a more melancholy
+sight to a considerate mind, than that of an old man, who is a stranger
+to those only true sources of satisfaction. How affecting, and at the
+same time how disgusting, is it to see such an one awkwardly catching at
+the pleasures of his younger years, which are now beyond his reach; or
+feebly attempting to retain them, while they mock his endeavours and
+elude his grasp! To such an one, _gloomily_ indeed does the evening of
+life set in! All is sour and cheerless. He can neither look backward
+with complacency nor forward with hope: while the aged Christian,
+relying on the assured mercy of his Redeemer, can calmly reflect that
+his dismission is at hand; that his redemption draweth nigh: while his
+strength declines, and his faculties decay, he can quietly repose
+himself on the fidelity of God: and at the very entrance of the valley
+of the shadow of death, he can lift up an eye, dim, perhaps, and feeble,
+yet occasionally sparkling with hope, and confidently looking forward to
+the near possession of his heavenly inheritance, "to those joys which
+eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart
+of man to conceive."
+
+Never were there times which inculcated more forcibly than those in
+which we live, the wisdom of seeking a happiness beyond the reach of
+human vicissitudes. What striking lessons have _we_ had of the
+precarious tenure of all sublunary possessions! Wealth, and power, and
+prosperity, how peculiarly transitory and uncertain! But Religion
+dispenses her choicest cordials in the seasons of exigence, in poverty,
+in exile, in sickness, and in death. The essential superiority of that
+support which is derived from Religion is less felt, at least it is less
+apparent, when the Christian is in full possession of riches, and
+splendour, and rank, and all the gifts of nature and fortune. But when
+all these are swept away by the rude hand of time, or the rough blasts
+of adversity, the true Christian stands, like the glory of the forest,
+erect and vigorous; stripped indeed of his summer foliage, but more than
+ever discovering to the observing eye the solid strength of his
+substantial texture:
+
+    Pondere fixa suo est, nudosque per aera ramos
+    Attollens, trunco non frondibus efficit umbram.
+
+
+SECTION II.
+
+_Advice to some who profess their full Assent to the fundamental
+Doctrines of the Gospel._
+
+In a former chapter we largely insisted on what may be termed the
+fundamental practical error of the bulk of professed Christians in our
+days; their either overlooking or misconceiving the peculiar method,
+which the Gospel has provided for the renovation of our corrupted
+nature, and for the attainment of every Christian grace.
+
+But there are mistakes on the right hand and on the left; and our
+general proneness, when we are flying from one extreme to run into an
+opposite error, renders it necessary to superadd another admonition. The
+generally prevailing error of the present day, indeed, is that
+fundamental one which was formerly pointed out. But while we attend, in
+the first place, to this; and, on the warrant both of Scripture and
+experience, prescribe hearty repentance and lively faith, as the only
+root and foundation of all true holiness; we must at the same time guard
+against a practical mistake of another kind. They who, with penitent
+hearts, have humbled themselves before the cross of Christ; and who,
+pleading his merits as their only ground of pardon and acceptance with
+God, have resolved henceforth, through the help of his Spirit, to bring
+forth the fruits of righteousness, are sometimes apt to conduct
+themselves as if they considered their work as now done; or at least as
+if this were the whole they had to do, as often as, by falling afresh
+into sin, another act of repentance and faith may seem to have become
+necessary. There are not a few in our relaxed age, who thus satisfy
+themselves with what may be termed _general_ Christianity; who feel
+_general_ penitence and humiliation from a sense of their sinfulness _in
+general_, and _general_ desires of universal holiness; but who neglect
+that vigilant and jealous care, with which they should labour to
+extirpate every _particular_ corruption, by studying its nature, its
+root, its ramifications, and thus becoming acquainted with its secret
+movements, with the means whereby it gains strength, and with the most
+effectual methods of resisting it. In like manner, they are far from
+striving with persevering alacrity for the acquisition and improvement
+of every Christian grace. Nor is it unusual for ministers, who preach
+the truths of the Gospel with fidelity, ability, and success, to be
+themselves also liable to the charge of dwelling altogether in their
+instructions on this _general_ Religion: instead of tracing and laying
+open all the secret motions of inward corruption, and instructing their
+hearers how best to conduct themselves in every distinct part of the
+Christian warfare; how best to strive against each particular vice, and
+to cultivate each grace of the Christian character. Hence it is, that in
+too many persons, concerning the sincerity of whose general professions
+of Religion we should be sorry to entertain a doubt, we yet see little
+progress made in the regulation of their tempers, in the improvement of
+their time, in the reform of their plan of life, or inability to resist
+the temptation to which they are particularly exposed. They will confess
+themselves, in general terms, to be "_miserable sinners_:" this is a
+tenet of their creed, and they feel even proud in avowing it. They will
+occasionally also lament particular failings: but this confession is
+sometimes obviously made, in order to draw forth a compliment for the
+very opposite virtue: and where this is not the case, it is often not
+difficult to detect, under this false guise of contrition, a secret
+self-complacency, arising from the manifestations which they have
+afforded of their acuteness or candour in discovering the infirmity in
+question, or of their frankness or humility in acknowledging it. This
+will scarcely seem an illiberal suspicion to any one, who either watches
+the workings of his own heart, or who observes, that the faults
+confessed in these instances are very seldom those, with which the
+person is most clearly and strongly chargeable.
+
+_We must plainly warn these men_, and the consideration is seriously
+pressed on their instructors also, _that they are in danger of deceiving
+themselves. Let them beware lest they be nominal Christians of another
+sort._ These persons require to be reminded, that there is no _short
+compendious method of holiness_: but that it must be the business of
+their whole lives to grow in grace, and continually adding one virtue to
+another, as far as may be, "to go on towards perfection." "He only that
+doeth righteousness is righteous." Unless "they bring forth the fruits
+of the Spirit," they can have no sufficient evidence that they have
+received that "Spirit of Christ, without which they are none of his."
+But where, on the whole, our unwillingness to pass an unfavourable
+judgment may lead us to indulge a hope, that "the root of the matter is
+found in them;" yet we must at least declare to them, that instead of
+adorning the doctrine of Christ, they disparage and discredit it. The
+world sees not their secret humiliation, not the exercises of their
+closets, but it is acute in discerning practical weaknesses: and if it
+observe that they have the same eagerness in the pursuit of wealth or
+ambition, the same vain taste for ostentation and display, the same
+ungoverned tempers, which are found in the generality of mankind; it
+will treat with contempt their pretences to superior sanctity and
+indifference to worldly things, and will be hardened in its prejudices
+against the only mode, which God has provided for our escaping the wrath
+to come, and obtaining eternal happiness.
+
+Let him then, who would be indeed a Christian, watch over his ways and
+over his heart with unceasing circumspection. Let him endeavour to
+learn, both from men and books, particularly from the lives of eminent
+Christians[125], what methods have been actually found most effectual
+for the conquest of every particular vice, and for improvement in every
+branch of holiness. Thus studying his own character, and observing the
+most secret workings of his own mind, and of our common nature; the
+knowledge which he will acquire of the human heart in general, and
+especially of his own, will be of the highest utility, in enabling him
+to avoid or to guard against the occasions of evil: and it will also
+tend, above all things, to the growth of humility, and to the
+maintenance of that sobriety of spirit and tenderness of conscience,
+which are eminently characteristic of the true Christian. It is by this
+unceasing diligence, as the Apostle declares, that the servants of
+Christ must make their calling sure. Their labour will not be thrown
+away; for "an entrance shall" at length "be ministered unto them
+abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
+Christ."
+
+
+SECT. III.
+
+_Brief Observations addressed to Sceptics and Unitarians._
+
+There is another class of men, an increasing class, it is to be feared,
+in this country, that of absolute unbelievers, with which this little
+work has properly no concern: but may the writer, sincerely pitying
+their melancholy state, be permitted to ask them one plain question? If
+Christianity be not in their estimation true, yet is there not at least
+a presumption in its favour, sufficient to entitle it to a serious
+examination; from its having been embraced, and that not blindly and
+implicitly, but upon full inquiry and deep consideration, by Bacon, and
+Milton, and Locke, and Newton, and much the greater part of those, who,
+by the reach of their understandings, or the extent of their knowledge,
+and by the freedom too of their minds, and their daring to combat
+existing prejudices, have called forth the respect and admiration of
+mankind? It might be deemed scarcely fair to insist on Churchmen, though
+some of them are among the greatest names this country has ever known.
+Can the sceptic in general say with truth, that he has either prosecuted
+an examination into the evidences of Revelation at all, or at least with
+a seriousness and diligence in any degree proportioned to the importance
+of the subject? The fact is, and it is a fact which redounds to the
+honour of Christianity, that infidelity is not the result of sober
+inquiry and deliberate preference. It is rather the slow production of a
+careless and irreligious life, operating together with prejudices and
+erroneous conceptions, concerning the nature of the leading doctrines
+and fundamental tenets of Christianity.
+
+Take the case of young men of condition, bred up by what we have termed
+nominal Christians. When children, they are carried to church, and
+thence they become acquainted with such parts of Scripture as are
+contained in our public service. If their parents preserve still more of
+the customs of better times, they are taught their Catechism, and
+furnished with a little farther religious knowledge. After a while, they
+go from under the eyes of their parents; they enter into the world, and
+move forward in the path of life, whatever it may be, which has been
+assigned to them. They yield to the temptations which assail them, and
+become, more or less, dissipated and licentious. At least they neglect
+to look into their Bible; they do not enlarge the sphere of their
+religious acquisitions; they do not even endeavour, by reflection and
+study, to turn into what may deserve the name of knowledge and rational
+conviction, the opinions which, in their childhood, they had taken on
+trust.
+
+They travel, perhaps, into foreign countries; a proceeding which
+naturally tends to weaken their nursery, prejudice in favour of the
+Religion in which they were bred, and by removing them from all means of
+public worship, to relax their practical habits of Religion. They return
+home, and commonly are either hurried round in the vortex of
+dissipation, or engage with the ardour of youthful minds in some public
+or professional pursuit. If they read or hear any thing about
+Christianity, it is commonly only about those tenets which are subjects
+of controversy: and what reaches their ears of the Bible, from their
+occasional attendance at church; though it may sometimes impress them
+with an idea of the purity of Christian morality, contains much which,
+coming thus detached, perplexes and offends them, and suggests various
+doubts and startling objections, which a farther acquaintance with the
+Scripture would remove. Thus growing more and more to know Christianity
+only by the difficulties it contains; sometimes tempted by the ambition
+of shewing themselves superior to vulgar prejudice, and always prompted
+by the natural pride of the human heart to cast off their subjection to
+dogmas imposed on them; disgusted, perhaps, by the immoral lives of some
+professed Christians, by the weaknesses and absurdities of others, and
+by what they observe to be the implicit belief of numbers, whom they see
+and know to be equally ignorant with themselves, many doubts and
+suspicions of greater or less extent spring up within them. These doubts
+enter into the mind at first almost imperceptibly: they exist only as
+vague indistinct surmises, and by no means take the precise shape or
+the substance of a formed opinion. At first, probably, they even offend
+and startle by their intrusion: but by degrees the unpleasant sensations
+which they once excited wear off: the mind grows more familiar with
+them. A confused sense (for such it is, rather than a formed idea) of
+its being desirable that their doubts should prove well founded, and of
+the comfort and enlargement which would be afforded by that proof, lends
+them much secret aid. The impression becomes deeper; not in consequence
+of being reinforced by fresh arguments, but merely by dint of having
+longer rested in the mind; and as they increase in force, they creep on
+and extend themselves. At length they diffuse themselves over the whole
+of Religion, and possess the mind in undisturbed occupancy.
+
+It is by no means meant that this is universally the process. But,
+speaking generally, this might be termed, perhaps not unjustly, the
+_natural history_ of scepticism. It approves itself to the experience of
+those who have with any care watched the progress of infidelity in
+persons around them; and it is confirmed by the written lives of some of
+the most eminent unbelievers. It is curious to read their own accounts
+of themselves, the rather as they accord so exactly with the result of
+our own observation.--We find that they once perhaps gave a sort of
+implicit hereditary assent to the truth of Christianity, and were what,
+by a mischievous perversion of language, the world denominates
+_believers_. How were they then awakened from their sleep of ignorance?
+At what moment did the light of truth beam in upon them, and dissipate
+the darkness in which they had been involved? The period of their
+infidelity is marked by no such determinate boundary. Reason, and
+thought, and inquiry had little or nothing to do with it. Having for
+many years lived careless and irreligious lives, and associated with
+companions equally careless and irreligious; not by force of study and
+reflection, but rather by the lapse of time, they at length attained to
+their infidel maturity. It is worthy of remark, that where any are
+reclaimed from infidelity, it is generally by a process much more
+rational than that which has been here described. Something awakens them
+to reflection. They examine, they consider, and at length yield their
+assent to Christianity on what they deem sufficient grounds.
+
+From the account here given, it appears plainly that infidelity is
+generally the offspring of prejudice, and that its success is mainly to
+be ascribed to the depravity of the moral character. This fact is
+confirmed by the undeniable truth, that in _societies_, which consist of
+individuals, infidelity is the natural fruit, not so much of a studious
+and disputatious, as of a dissipated and vicious age. It diffuses itself
+in proportion as the general morals decline; and it is embraced with
+less apprehension, when every infidel is kept in spirits, by seeing many
+around him who are sharing fortunes with himself.
+
+To any fair mind this consideration alone might be offered, as
+suggesting a strong argument against infidelity, and in favour of
+Revelation. And the friends of Christianity might justly retort the
+charge, which their opponents often urge with no little affectation of
+superior wisdom; that we implicitly surrender ourselves to the influence
+of prejudice, instead of examining dispassionately the ground of our
+faith, and yielding our assent only according to the degree of evidence.
+
+In our own days, when it is but too clear that infidelity increases, it
+is not in consequence of the reasonings of the infidel writers having
+been much studied, but from the progress of luxury, and the decay of
+morals: and, so far as this increase may be traced at all to the works
+of sceptical writers; it has been produced, not by argument and
+discussion, but by sarcasms and points of wit, which have operated on
+weak minds, or on nominal Christians, by bringing gradually into
+contempt, opinions which, in their case, had only rested on the basis of
+blind respect and the prejudices of education. It may therefore be laid
+down as an axiom, that _infidelity is in general a disease of the heart
+more than of the understanding_. If Revelation were assailed only by
+reason and argument, it would have little to fear. The literary opposers
+of Christianity, from Herbert to Hume, have been seldom read. They made
+some stir in their day: during their span of existence they were noisy
+and noxious; but like the locusts of the east, which for a while obscure
+the air, and destroy the verdure, they were soon swept away and
+forgotten. Their very names would be scarcely found, if Leland had not
+preserved them from oblivion.
+
+The account which has been given, of the secret, but grand, source of
+infidelity, may perhaps justly be extended, as being not seldom true in
+the case of those who deny the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel.
+
+In the course which we lately traced from nominal orthodoxy to absolute
+infidelity, Unitarianism[126] is indeed, a sort of half-way house, if
+the expression may be pardoned; a stage on the journey, where sometimes
+a person indeed finally stops, but where, not unfrequently, he only
+pauses for a while, and then pursues his progress.
+
+The Unitarian teachers by no means profess to absolve their followers
+from the unbending strictness of Christian morality. They prescribe the
+predominant love of God, and an habitual spirit of devotion: but it is
+an unquestionable fact; a fact which they themselves almost admit, that
+this class of religionists is not in general distinguished for superior
+purity of life; and still less for that frame of mind, which, by the
+injunction "to be spiritually, not carnally, minded," the word of God
+prescribes to us, as one of the surest tests of our experiencing the
+vital power of Christianity. On the contrary, in point of fact,
+_Unitarianism_ seems to be resorted to, not merely by those who are
+disgusted with the peculiar doctrines of Christianity; but by those also
+who are seeking a refuge from the strictness of her practical precepts;
+and who, more particularly, would escape from the obligation which she
+imposes on her adherents, rather to incur the dreaded charge of
+singularity, than fall in with the declining manners of a dissipated
+age.
+
+Unitarianism, where it may be supposed to proceed from the understanding
+rather than from the heart, is not unfrequently produced by a confused
+idea of the difficulties, or, as they are termed, the impossibilities
+which orthodox Christianity is supposed to involve. It is not our
+intention to enter into the controversy:[127] but it may not be improper
+to make one remark as a guard to persons in whose way the arguments of
+the Unitarians may be likely to fall; namely, that one great advantage
+possessed by Deists, and perhaps in a still greater degree by
+Unitarians, in their warfare with the Christian system, results from the
+very circumstances of their being the assailants. They urge what they
+state to be powerful arguments against the truth of the fundamental
+doctrines of Christianity, and then call upon men to abandon them as
+posts no longer tenable. But they, who are disposed to yield to this
+assault, should call to mind, that it has pleased God so to establish
+the constitution of all things, that perplexing difficulties and
+plausible objections may be adduced against the most established truths;
+such, for instance, as the being of a God, and many others both physical
+and moral. In all cases, therefore, it becomes us, not on a partial view
+to reject any proposition, because it is attended with difficulties; but
+to compare the difficulties which it involves, with those which attend
+the alternative proposition which must be embraced on its rejection. We
+should put to the proof the alternative proposition in its turn, and see
+whether it be not still less tenable than that which we are summoned to
+abandon. In short, we should examine circumspectly on all sides; and
+abide by that opinion which, on carefully balancing all considerations,
+appears fairly entitled to our preference. Experience, however, will
+have convinced the attentive observer of those around him, that it has
+been for want of adverting to this just and obvious principle, that the
+Unitarians in particular have gained most of their proselytes from the
+Church, so far as argument has contributed to their success. If the
+Unitarians, or even the Deists, were considered in their turn as masters
+of the field; and were in their turn attacked, both by arguments tending
+to disprove their system directly, and to disprove it indirectly, by
+shewing the high probability of the truth of Christianity, and of its
+leading and peculiar doctrines, it is most likely that they would soon
+appear wholly unable to keep their ground. In short, reasoning fairly,
+there is no medium between absolute _Pyrrhonism_ and true Christianity:
+and if we reject the latter on account of its difficulties, we shall be
+still more loudly called upon to reject every other system which has
+been offered to the acceptance of mankind. This consideration might,
+perhaps, with advantage be more attended to than it has been, by those
+who take upon them to vindicate the truth of our holy religion: as many,
+who from inconsideration, or any other cause, are disposed to give up
+the great fundamentals of Christianity, would be startled by the idea,
+that on the same principle on which they did this, they must give up the
+hope of finding any rest for the sole of their foot on any ground of
+Religion, and not stop short of unqualified Atheism.
+
+Besides the class of those who professedly reject revelation, there is
+another, and that also, it is to be feared, an increasing one, which may
+be called the class of half-unbelievers, who are to be found in various
+degrees of approximation to a state of absolute infidelity. The system,
+if it deserve the name, of these men, is grossly irrational. Hearing
+many who assert and many who deny the truth of Christianity, and not
+reflecting seriously enough to consider that it must be either true or
+false, they take up a strange sort of middle opinion of its qualified
+truth. They conceive that there must be something in it, though by no
+means to the extent to which it is pushed by orthodox Christians. They
+grant the reality of future punishment, and even that they themselves
+cannot altogether expect to escape it; yet, "they trust it will not go
+so hard with them as the churchmen state:" and, as was formerly hinted,
+though disbelieving almost every material doctrine which Christianity
+contains; yet, even in their own minds, they by no means conceive
+themselves to be inlisted under the banners of infidelity, or to have
+much cause for any great apprehension lest Christianity should prove
+true.
+
+But let these men be reminded, that there is no middle way. If they can
+be prevailed on to look into their Bible, and do not make up their minds
+absolutely to reject its authority; they must admit that there is no
+ground whatever for this vain hope, which they suffer themselves to
+indulge, of escaping but with a slight measure of punishment. Nor let
+them think their guilt inconsiderable. Is it not grossly criminal to
+trifle with the long-suffering of God, to despise alike his invitations
+and his threatenings, and the offer of his Spirit of grace, and the
+precious blood of the Redeemer? Far different is the Scripture estimate;
+"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" "It shall be
+more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment," than for
+them, who voluntarily shut their eyes against that full light, which the
+bounty of Heaven has poured out upon them. These half-unbelievers are
+even more reprehensible than downright sceptics, for remaining in this
+state of careless uncertainty, without endeavouring to ascertain the
+truth or falsehood of revelation. The probability which they admit, that
+it may be true, imposes on them an additional and an undeniable
+obligation to inquiry. But both to them and to decided sceptics it must
+be plainly declared, that they are in these days less excusable than
+ever, for not looking into the grounds and proofs on which is rested the
+truth of Christianity; for never before were these proofs so _plainly,
+and at so easy a rate_, offered to the consideration of mankind. Through
+the bounty of Providence, the more widely spreading poison of infidelity
+has in our days been met with more numerous and more powerful antidotes.
+One of these has been already pointed out: and it should be matter of
+farther gratitude to every real Christian, that in the very place on
+which modern infidelity had displayed the standard of victory, a warrior
+in the service of Religion, a man of the most acute discernment and
+profound research, has been raised up by Providence to quell their
+triumph[128]. He was soon taken from us; but happily for him and for
+ourselves, not till he had announced, that, like the Magi of old, he had
+seen the star of Christ in the East, and had fallen down and worshipped
+him. Another should be mentioned with honour, who is pursuing the track
+which that great man had pointed out[129]. Henceforth let all objectors
+against Christianity, on the ground of its being disproved by the
+oriental records, be put to silence. The strength of their cause
+consisted in their ignorance, and in our own, of oriental learning. They
+availed themselves for a while of our being in a state of darkness; but
+the light of day has at length broken in and exposed to deserved
+contempt their superficial speculations.
+
+The infatuation of these unbelievers upon trust would be less striking,
+if they were able altogether to decline Christianity; and were at
+liberty to relinquish their pretensions to its rewards, on condition of
+being exempted from its punishments. But that is not the case; they must
+stand the risk of the encounter, and their eternal happiness or misery
+is suspended upon the issue[130]. What must be the emotions of these
+men, on first opening their eyes in the world of spirits, and being
+convinced, too late, of the awful reality of their impending ruin? May
+the mercy and the power of God awaken them from their desperate slumber,
+while life is yet spared, and there is yet space for repentance!
+
+
+SECTION IV.
+
+_Advice suggested by the state of the times to true Christians._
+
+To those, who really deserve the appellation of true Christians, much
+has been said incidentally in the course of the present work. It has
+been maintained, and the proposition will not be disputed by any sound
+or experienced politician, that they are always most important members
+of the community. But we may boldly assert, that there never was a
+period wherein, more justly than in the present, this could be affirmed
+of them; whether the situation, in all its circumstances, of our own
+country be attentively considered, or the general state of society in
+Europe. Let them on their part seriously weigh the important station
+which they fill, and the various duties which it now peculiarly enforces
+on them. If we consult the most intelligent accounts of foreign
+countries, which have been recently published, and compare them with the
+reports of former travellers; we must be convinced, that Religion and
+the standard of morals are every where declining, abroad even more
+rapidly than in our own country. But still, the progress of irreligion,
+and the decay of morals at home, are such as to alarm every considerate
+mind, and to forebode the worst consequences, unless some remedy can be
+applied to the growing evil. We can depend only upon true _Christians_
+for effecting, in any degree, this important service. Their system, as
+was formerly stated, is that of our national church: and in proportion,
+therefore, as their system prevails, or as it increases in respect and
+estimation, from the manifest good conduct of its followers; in that
+very proportion the church is strengthened in the foundations, on which
+alone it can be much longer supported, the esteem and attachment of its
+members, and of the nation at large. Zeal is required in the cause of
+Religion; they only can feel it. The charge of singularity must be
+incurred; they only will dare to encounter it. Uniformity of conduct,
+and perseverance in exertion, will be requisite; among no others can we
+look for those qualities.
+
+Let true Christians then, with becoming earnestness, strive in all
+things to recommend their profession, and to put to silence the vain
+scoffs of ignorant objectors. Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ
+in an age when so many, who bear the name of Christians, are ashamed of
+Him: and let them consider as devolved on Them the important duty of
+suspending for a while the fall of their country, and, perhaps, of
+performing a still more extensive service to society at large; not by
+busy interference in politics, in which it cannot but be confessed there
+is much uncertainty; but rather by that sure and radical benefit of
+restoring the influence of Religion, and of raising the standard of
+morality.
+
+Let them be active, useful, generous towards others; manifestly moderate
+and self-denying in themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness, as
+they would be of the most acknowledged sin. When Providence blesses them
+with affluence, let them withdraw from the competition of vanity; and,
+without sordidness or absurdity, shew by their modest demeanour, and by
+their retiring from display, that, without affecting singularity, they
+are not slaves to fashion; that they consider it as their duty to set an
+example of moderation and sobriety, and to reserve for nobler and more
+disinterested purposes, that money, which others selfishly waste in
+parade, and dress, and equipage. Let them evince, in short, a manifest
+moderation in all temporal things; as becomes those whose affections are
+set on higher objects than any which this world affords, and who
+possess, within their own bosoms, a fund of satisfaction and comfort,
+which the world seeks in vanity and dissipation. Let them cultivate a
+catholic spirit of universal good will, and of amicable fellowship
+towards all those, of whatever sect or denomination, who, differing from
+them in non-essentials, agree with them in the grand fundamentals of
+Religion. Let them countenance men of real piety wherever they are
+found; and encourage in others every attempt to repress the progress of
+vice, and to revive and diffuse the influence of Religion and virtue.
+Let their earnest prayers be constantly offered, that such endeavours
+may be successful, and that the abused long-suffering of God may still
+continue to us the invaluable privilege of vital Christianity.
+
+Let them pray continually for their country in this season of national
+difficulty. We bear upon us but too plainly the marks of a declining
+empire. Who can say but that the Governor of the universe, who declares
+himself to be a God who hears the prayers of his servants, may, in
+answer to their intercessions, for a while avert our ruin, and continue
+to us the fulness of those temporal blessings, which in such abundant
+measure we have hitherto enjoyed[131]. Men of the world, indeed, however
+they may admit the natural operation of natural causes, and may
+therefore confess the effects of Religion and morality in promoting the
+well being of the community; may yet, according to their humour, with a
+smile of complacent pity, or a sneer of supercilious contempt, read of
+the service which real Christians may render to their country, by
+conciliating the favour and calling down the blessing of Providence. It
+may appear in their eyes an instance of the same superstitious weakness,
+as that which prompts the terrified inhabitant of Sicily to bring for
+the image of his tutelar saint, in order to stop the destructive ravages
+of AEtna. We are, however, sure, if we believe the Scripture, that God
+will be disposed to favour the nation to which his servants belong; and
+that, in fact, such as They, have often been the unknown and unhonoured
+instruments of drawing down on their country the blessings of safety and
+prosperity.
+
+But it would be an instance in myself of that very false shame which I
+have condemned in others, if I were not boldly to avow my firm
+persuasion, that _to the decline of Religion and morality our national
+difficulties must both directly and indirectly be chiefly ascribed; and
+that my only solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend not so
+much on her fleets and armies, not so much on the wisdom of her rulers,
+or the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still
+contains many, who, in a degenerate age, love and obey the Gospel of
+Christ; on the humble trust that the intercession of these may still be
+prevalent, that for the sake of these, Heaven may still look upon us
+with an eye of favour._
+
+Let the prayers of the Christian reader be also offered up for the
+success of this feeble endeavour in the service of true Religion. God
+can give effect to the weakest effort; and the writer will feel himself
+too much honoured, if by that which he has now been making, but a single
+fellow creature should be awakened from a false security, or a single
+Christian, who deserves the name, be animated to more extensive
+usefulness. He may seem to have assumed to himself a task which he was
+ill qualified to execute. He fears he may be reproached with arrogance
+and presumption for taking upon him the office of a teacher. Yet, as he
+formerly suggested, it cannot be denied, that it belongs to his public
+situation to investigate the state of the national Religion and morals;
+and that it is the part of a real patriot to endeavour to retard their
+decline, and promote their revival. But if the office, in which he has
+been engaged, were less intimately connected with the duties of his
+particular station, the candid and the liberal mind would not be
+indisposed to pardon him. Let him be allowed to offer in his excuse a
+desire not only to discharge a duty to his country, but to acquit
+himself of what he deems a solemn and indispensable obligation to his
+acquaintance and his friends. Let him allege the unaffected solicitude
+which he feels for the welfare of his fellow creatures. Let him urge the
+fond wish he gladly would encourage; that, while, in so large a part of
+Europe, a false philosophy having been preferred before the lessons of
+revelation, Infidelity has lifted up her head without shame, and walked
+abroad boldly and in the face of day; while the practical consequences
+are such as might be expected, and licentiousness and vice prevail
+without restraint: here at least there might be a sanctuary, a land of
+Religion and piety, where the blessings of Christianity might be still
+enjoyed, where the name of the Redeemer might still be honoured; where
+mankind might be able to see what is, in truth, the Religion of Jesus,
+and what are its blessed effects; and whence, if the mercy of God should
+so ordain it, the means of religious instruction and consolation might
+be again extended to surrounding countries and to the world at large.
+
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+A
+
+_Abuse_ of things, unfairness of arguing from it against their use, 53.
+
+_Acceptance_ with God, commonly prevailing notions respecting it, 85-88.
+  --Scripture, and Church of England, doctrine respecting it, 88-92.
+  --practical consequences, of common notions respecting it, 89.
+  --true doctrine vindicated from objection, 93-94.
+
+_Addison_, quoted, 162.
+
+_Affections_, of their admission into Religion, 57, 58.
+  --their admission into Religion reasonable, 59-62.
+  --true test and measure of them in Religion, 62-65.
+  --in Religion, not barely allowable, but highly necessary, 66-69.
+  --our Saviour the just object of them, 69, 70.
+  --objection, that they are impossible towards an invisible Being,
+    discussed, 71-77.
+  --little excited by public misfortunes, and why, 75, 76.
+  --towards our Saviour, special grounds for them, 77, 78.
+  --divine aid promised for exciting them, 79, 80.
+  --our statements respecting them in Religion verified by facts,
+    80, 81.
+  --religious, St. Paul a striking instance of them, 61.
+
+_Ambition_, votaries of, 125, 126.
+
+_Amiable_ tempers, discussion respecting, 178-198.
+  --substituted for Religion, 179, 180.
+  --value of, estimated by the standard of mere reason, 180.
+  --false pretenders to them, 181.
+  --real nature, when not grounded on Religion, 181, 182.
+  --precarious nature, 182-184.
+  --value of, on Christian principles, 186.
+  --life, Christian's most so, 190, 191.
+  --Christians urged to this, 192-196.
+  --its just praise, 197, 198.
+  --apt to deceive us, 198.
+
+_Applause_, desire of, universal, 146, 147.
+
+
+B.
+
+_Babington_, the reverend Matthew, 259.
+
+_Benevolence_, true Christian, its exalted nature, 287, 288.
+
+_Bacon_, Lord, quoted, 229.
+
+
+C.
+
+_Calumny_, considerations which reconcile the Christian to it,
+           169, 170.
+
+_Charity_, true, what, and its marks, 311, 312.
+
+_Christianity_, vital revival of, would invigorate church establishment,
+                294.
+  --vital, alone suited to lower orders, 295, 296.
+  --the common system, falsely so called, 305.
+  --the truest patriotism, 287-292.
+  --of the world, its base nature, 324.
+  --not a gloomy service, 326-332.
+  --relaxations compatible with, 327, 328.
+  --its solid texture, 332.
+  --general, what so called, 334, 335.
+  --true, requires incessant watchfulness and care, 336.
+  --state in which it finds us, 30-33.
+  --its present critical circumstances, 265-272.
+  --reduced to a system of ethics, proofs of this, 273, 277, 278.
+  --causes, which have tended to produce neglect of her peculiar
+    doctrines, 269, 270, 274-276.
+  --peculiar doctrines of, taught by the oldest divines and highest
+    dignitaries of the English church, 273, 274.
+  --peculiar doctrines gradually fallen into neglect, 276-278.
+  --sad symptoms of its low state among us, 278-280.
+  --objection, that our system of it too strict, stated and answered,
+    280-283.
+  --vital, its happy influence on temporal well-being of communities,
+    283-285.
+  --not hostile to patriotism, 285-287.
+  --from its essential nature, peculiarly adapted to well-being of
+    communities, 290-292.
+  --vital, can alone produce these effects, 293.
+  --excellence of it, in some particulars not commonly noticed, 252-259.
+  --general state of, in England, 262.
+  --its tendency to promote the well-being of political communities,
+    262-288, 292, 293.
+  --has raised the general standard of practice, 264, 265.
+  --sickens in prosperity and flourishes under persecution, 266, 267.
+  --peculiarities of, naturally slide into disuse, 269.
+
+_Christians_, true, duties especially incumbent on them in these times,
+              350-353.
+  --should pray for their country, 351.
+  --their prayers intreated for the success of this work, 353.
+  --ready made, who esteemed such, 318.
+  --real, how different from nominal, 214, 215.
+  --life, illustrated by figure of a traveller, 217-219.
+
+_Commons_, House of, proves inordinate love of worldly glory, 159.
+
+_Consistency_ between Christianity's leading doctrines and practical
+              precepts, 231-252, 253.
+  --between Christianity's leading doctrines amongst each other, 253.
+  --between Christianity's practical precepts amongst each other,
+    253-257.
+
+_Contact_, necessary to produce any interest in our affections,
+           73-78, 81.
+
+_Corruption_ of human nature, common notions of it, 14-16.
+  --of human nature, Scripture account of it, 16, 26, 27.
+  --of human nature, arguments suggested in proof of it, 16-26.
+  --of Heathen world, and striking instance of it, 18, 19.
+  --of savage life, 19, 20.
+  --proof of it, furnished by the state of the Christian world, 20-24.
+  --by the experience of the true Christian, 24, 25.
+  --human, its general effects, when suffered to operate without
+    restraint, 25, 26.
+  --human, firm grounds on which it rests, 35.
+  --human, practical uses of the doctrine, 36.
+
+_Cowper's Task_, recommended, 234-352.
+  --quoted, 251.
+
+
+D.
+
+_Defective_, conceptions generally prevailing concerning importance of
+             Christianity, 1-5.
+  --conceptions concerning human corruption, 15, 16.
+  --conceptions concerning the evil spirit, 28.
+  --conceptions concerning the doctrines, which respect our Saviour and
+    the Holy Spirit, 70, 71, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50.
+  --conceptions concerning the means of acceptance with God, 84-91.
+  --conceptions prevailing concerning practical Christianity, 102-104,
+    117-205.
+  --conceptions of guilt and evil of sin, 206-210.
+  --fear of God, 210.
+  --sense of the difficulty of getting to heaven, 214, 215.
+  --love of God in nominal Christians, 219-221.
+  --love of God, proofs of it in nominal Christians, 221-224.
+  --conceptions general, concerning peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
+    231.
+  --conceptions of peculiarities of Christianity, practical mischiefs
+    from them, 232.
+
+_Depths_, of the things of God; and our proneness to plunge into them,
+          41-43.
+
+_Devotedness_ to God, duty of it, 107-110, 113, 116, 118.
+
+_Dissipated_ and indolent, class of, 121, 122.
+
+_Dissipation_, seems to have prevailed in the antediluvian world, 213.
+
+_Doddridge's_ Sermons on Regeneration, referred to, note, 83.
+
+_Duelling_, its guilt, &c. 159-161.
+
+
+E.
+
+_Error_, innocence of, considered, 10-12.
+
+_Establishment_, religious, in England, how circumstanced, 267.
+
+_Estimation_, desire of, universal, 146, 147.
+  -- common language concerning it, the effects of the love of it, and
+     the nature of the passion, 148-150.
+  -- commendations of it questioned, 151.
+  -- essential defects of inordinate love of it, explained, 152, 153.
+  -- love of, Scripture lessons concerning, 152-156.
+  -- value of, analogous to riches, 156.
+  -- love of, common notions respecting it, 157, 158.
+  -- proofs of our statements respecting it from House of Commons, 159.
+  -- proofs of our statements respecting it from duelling, 159-161.
+  -- real nature of inordinate love of it, 162, 163.
+  -- true Christian's conduct respecting love of it, 164-173.
+  -- true modes of guarding against excessive love of it, 171, 172.
+  -- advice to the true Christian respecting love of it, 174-178.
+  -- love of, best moderated by humility and charity, 176.
+  -- true Christian's temper respecting it, 177.
+
+_Evil_ spirit, the existence and agency not contrary to reason, 28, 29.
+
+_External_ actions substituted for habits of mind, 134, 135.
+
+
+F.
+
+_Faith_, Christian's life, a life of, 137, 138.
+
+_Families_, two, the righteous and the wicked, 212.
+
+_Ferguson_, the historian, 290.
+
+_Fuller's_ Calvinism and Socinianism compared, 344.
+
+_Fundamental_ practical distinction between systems of nominal and real
+              Christians, 237, 250, 251.
+
+
+G.
+
+_General_ tone of morals, Christianity has raised it, 104.
+  --established by consent in every country, 263, 264.
+
+_Geneva_, the effect of theatres, 223.
+
+_Gloomy_ service, false charge that we make Christianity such, 327.
+
+_Glory_, true and false, what properly so called, 153.
+  --Mistakes concerning it, 153.
+
+_Good hearted_ young men, term misapplied, 310.
+
+_Good hearted_ young men, the title disproved, 315.
+
+_Gratitude_, true signs of, 49.
+
+
+H.
+
+_Habits_, of mind forgotten in Religion, 134-146.
+
+_Heavenly mindedness_, best promoted by being much conversant with
+                       peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 250.
+
+_Holy Spirit_, Scripture doctrine concerning, 44, 82, 83.
+  --popular notions concerning, 50-53.
+
+_Honour_, false notions respecting it, 162, 163.
+
+_Horne_, Dr. quoted, 61.
+
+_Humility_, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
+            244, 245.
+  --the ground of Christian graces, 146.
+  --excellent practical effects of, 176.
+
+
+I.
+
+_Ignorance_ of Christianity, common, 5, 6.
+  --criminal, 6, 7.
+
+_Importance_ of Christianity, inadequate conceptions generally
+                              entertained of it, 1-13.
+  --of Christianity, proofs of the inadequate ideas generally
+                     entertained of it, 2-5.
+  --of Christianity, ideas of it given by the Holy Scriptures, 8-10.
+  --of Christianity, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of
+                     Christianity, 240.
+
+_Inconsistency_ of the world's practical system, 255, 256.
+
+_Indifference_ about Christianity generally prevalent, 9.
+  --general towards our Saviour, proofs of, 46-48.
+
+_Infidelity_, common progress of it, 338-342.
+  --a disease of the heart more than of the understanding, 342.
+
+_Innocent_ young women, term how misapplied, 310.
+  --young women, the title disproved, 315.
+
+_Intellectual_ attainments, rated below moral by Christianity, 257-260.
+  --low degree of excellence within our reach, 258.
+
+
+J.
+
+_Jones_, Sir William, a champion for Christianity, 348.
+
+
+K.
+
+_Kenyon_, Lord Chief Justice, commendations of, 302.
+
+
+L.
+
+_Language_, common, concerning the importance of Christianity, 5.
+  --concerning human corruption, 15.
+  --concerning affections towards our Saviour, and Holy Spirit's
+    operations, 51, 52.
+  --concerning terms of acceptance with God, 85-87.
+  --concerning mode of relaxing the strictness of Christian precept,
+    132, 133.
+  --concerning human judicatures, 133.
+  --concerning amiable tempers and useful lives, 179.
+  --common to people desirous of repenting, 235.
+
+_Learning_, votaries of, 127.
+
+_Life_, Christian, illustrated under figure of a traveller, 217-219.
+  --Christian's, a life of faith, 137-140.
+
+_Liturgy_, bad effects to be feared from its disuse, 297.
+
+_Lives_, several mentioned, 336.
+
+_Love_, true signs of it, 46, 47.
+  --of God, its essential characters, 110.
+  --of Christ, justly to be expected of us, 69, 70, 77, 78, 107, 108.
+  --means of exciting it, 99, 100.
+  --of God, defective in nominal Christians, 219, 220.
+  --of God, proofs of its being defective, 220-224.
+  --of fellow-creatures, nominal Christians defective in, 225.
+  --of fellow-creatures, true marks of, 226-229.
+  --of God, best enforced by Christianity's peculiarities, 242.
+  --Christians to cultivate this grace above all others, 324.
+  --its excellent effects in the true Christian, 325.
+  --of fellow-creatures best enforced by peculiar doctrines, 243, 244.
+
+_Low_ standard of practice generally prevailing, 102, 103, 117-135.
+
+_Lower_ classes, not unfit that true doctrine of acceptance should be
+                 stated to them, 93, 94.
+
+
+M.
+
+_McLaurin_, his essays and sermons referred to, 83, 97.
+
+_Maurice_, Mr. a defender of Christianity, 348.
+
+_Maxims_, which prove human corruption, 21.
+
+_Medium_, religious, almost lost, 130.
+
+_Milton_, quoted, 43.
+
+_Moral_, attainments rated above intellectual, by Christianity, 257.
+  --attainments, how much more we can excel in them than in
+                 intellectual ones, 259.
+
+_Moravians_, commendation of, 56.
+
+
+N.
+
+_Natural_ condition of man without Christianity, 31-33.
+
+_Nature_, essential, of true practical Christianity, 129.
+
+_Necessity_, excuse on the plea of, stated, and answered, 36-42.
+  --opponent on the ground of, how best opposed, 37, 38.
+
+_Nominal_ and real Christian, distinction between them most important,
+                              306.
+
+_Novels_, prove how peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into
+          neglect, 277, 278.
+
+
+O.
+
+_Objections_ against the religious affections towards Christ, and
+             against the operations of the Holy Spirit, 50-53.
+  --against human accountableness, discussed, 36-42.
+  --against the religious affections towards Christ, and against the
+    operations of the Holy Spirit, discussed, 53-83.
+
+_Outgrowing_ vices mistaken for forsaking them, 308, 318.
+
+_Owen_, Dr. referred to, 275.
+
+
+P.
+
+_Paley_, Mr. his defence of Christianity noticed, 260, 281.
+
+_Partiality_ in the religious views of nominal Christians, 119-121.
+
+_Particular_, Christians must not fear to be so when required by duty,
+              167.
+
+_Pascal's_ thoughts referred to, 245.
+  --thoughts recommended, 348.
+
+_Peculiar_, doctrines, use, in promoting humility, 244, 245.
+  --in promoting moderation in earthly pursuits, 246.
+  --in promoting cheerfulness in suffering, 247.
+  --in promoting confidence in danger, and patience in suffering,
+    248, 249.
+  --in promoting heavenly mindedness, 250.
+  --doctrines, demand our utmost attention, 94-97.
+  --doctrines, use of, 239.
+  --doctrines, use of, in enforcing importance of Christianity, 240.
+  --doctrines, use of, in enforcing entire surrender to God, 240.
+  --doctrines, use of, in enforcing guilt of sin, and dread of
+    punishment, 241.
+  --in promoting love of God, 241, 242.
+  --in promoting love of fellow-creatures, 243, 244.
+
+_Philosophy_, epicurism and stoicism, 59.
+
+_Pitt_, Mr. slander respecting him refuted--Note 272.
+
+_Pleasure_, the true Christian finds in Religion, 139, 140.
+
+_Pleasures_ of true Religion, 325-332.
+
+_Policy_, mistaken, of compromise with immorality, 301.
+
+_Polished_ state of society no security against progress of immorality,
+           298, 299.
+
+_Political_, good effects from the prevalence of Christianity, as above
+             described, 283-295.
+  --good effects from revival of vital Christianity, 296.
+  --bad effects from its farther decline, 297, 298.
+  --happiness of a Christian nation, 283-287.
+
+_Pomp_ and parade, votaries of, 124.
+
+_Poor_ the, more favourably circumstanced as to Religion, 93, 292.
+
+_Pope_, the Poet, referred to, 246.
+
+_Popular_ notions concerning our Saviour and the Holy Spirit, 46-48.
+
+_Practical_ hints, on importance of Christianity, 13.
+  --on human corruption, 35.
+  --on mode of dealing with a certain description of infidels, 37, 38.
+  --on the means of exciting our affections towards our Saviour,
+    99, 100.
+  --respecting love of estimation, 174-178.
+  --respecting amiable tempers and useful lives, 192.
+  --to naturally sweet tempered, 193.
+  --to naturally rough and austere, 194-199.
+  --to true Christian, when engaged in hurry of worldly affairs,
+    199-204.
+  --to persons desirous of repenting, 235.
+  --respecting uses of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 240-251.
+  --for revival of Religion, 300-304.
+  --to various descriptions, 305-318.
+  --to such as, having been hitherto careless, wish to become true
+    Christians, 318-332.
+  --to some who profess their full assent to fundamental doctrines
+    of Christianity, 333-336.
+  --to Sceptics and Unitarians, 337-345.
+  --to half-unbelievers, 346-348.
+  --to true Christians, from state of times, 349-354.
+  --Christianity, chapter on, 100-251.
+  --prevailing low views of it, 102-104.
+  --Christianity, its real strictness, 105, 106.
+  --its true nature, 107-110.
+  --charged on all without exception in its full strictness, 111-115.
+  --mischiefs of neglect of peculiarities of Christianity, 232.
+  --distinction, fundamental, between systems of nominal and real
+    Christians, 231-234.
+  --precepts of Christianity, most excellent, 260.
+  --use of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 238.
+
+_Prevailing_, low views of practical Christianity, proofs of them, 104.
+  --inadequate sense of peculiar doctrines of Christians, 231, &c.
+
+_Probation_, notion of, disproves prevailing system of Religion, 317.
+
+_Proof_ of Christianity's divine origin, 260-262.
+
+_Puritans_, many of their writings commended, 275.
+
+
+R.
+
+_Religion_, practical hints for its revival, 300-305.
+  -- the only true support in trouble and peril, 332.
+
+_Repentance_, advice for such as are disposed to, 318-324.
+
+_Reputation_, true Christian's conduct respecting it, 164-178.
+  -- true Christian preserves, without over-valuing it, 167-170.
+
+_Richardson_, mentioned, 278.
+
+_Robertson_, Dr. censured, 279.
+
+_Rousseau_, school of, 204, 205.
+
+
+S.
+
+_Scepticism_, natural history of it, 338-340.
+
+_Sceptics_ and Unitarians, advantage they have in attacking
+                           Christianity, 344, 345.
+
+_Scripture_ doctrine, importance of, to Christianity, 8-10.
+  -- doctrine, concerning human corruption, 14-27.
+  -- doctrine, concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit, 43, 44.
+
+_Self-deception_, frequent sources of, 306-318.
+  -- another common kind, 333-335.
+
+_Self-examination_, helps in, 306.
+
+_Selfishness_ of common practical Religion, 121-127.
+  -- the disease of political societies, 288.
+  -- peculiarly counteracted by Christianity, 291, 292.
+
+_Sensibility_, exquisite, how little truly valuable, and how different
+               from true practical benevolence, 204, 205.
+
+_Sensualists_ class of, 123.
+
+_Sin_, how spoken of in Scripture, 211.
+  -- defective conceptions of, 207.
+
+_Sincerity_, false notion of it, 10-12.
+  -- true what, 13.
+
+_Sins_, no little ones, 210, 211.
+  -- little, what accounted such, 208.
+
+_Smith_, Dr. _Adam_, 76. 188, 189. 279.
+
+_Soame Jenyns_, his View of the Internal Evidence of Christianity
+                referred to, 6. 281.
+
+_Sophistry_, with which Religion is explained away, 133.
+
+_Stage_ the, proof from its being frequented by nominal Christians of
+             their defective love of God, 221-224. 230, 231.
+  -- proof from, illustrated by political analogy, 223.
+
+_Statutes_, Religion made a set of, 131, 132.
+
+_Sterne_ strongly censured, 206.
+
+_Strictness_ of true practical Christianity, 105, 106.
+  -- of our system, objected to, as not suited to the state of the
+     world, 280, 281.
+  -- the charge refuted, 281, 282.
+
+_Sunday_, hints for its employment, 141, 142.
+  -- common modes of unhallowing it, 143-145.
+
+_Supreme_ regard to be set on God, 60. 112-129.
+
+_Swift's_ Tale of a Tub, quoted, 132, 133.
+
+
+T.
+
+_Taste_, votaries of, 127.
+
+_Tempers_, Christian, not cultivated, 136-146.
+  -- respecting human estimation, 165-168.
+  -- respecting calumny and disgrace, 170.
+  -- when too much immersed in worldly business, 201-204.
+
+_Theatres_, Parisian, 223.
+
+_Theatrical_ entertainments prove defective love of God, 222.
+
+_Theatrical_ entertainments prove defective love of our neighbour,
+             230, 231.
+  -- entertainments, illustrated by political analogy, 223.
+
+
+U.
+
+_Unbelievers, half_; a class of them, 346.
+
+_Uncharitableness_, what falsely so called, 312.
+
+_Unitarianism_ often results from same causes as absolute scepticism,
+               343.
+
+_Useful_ lives, discussion concerning, 178.
+  -- substituted for Religion, 179.
+  -- value of, estimated by standard of mere reason, 185.
+  -- real worth of, on Christian principles, 186-188.
+  -- life, the Christian's life the most so, 191.
+  -- Christians urged to, 192.
+  -- its just praise given to, 197.
+  -- apt to mislead us, 198.
+
+
+V.
+
+_Vice_, some one always excused, 308-310.
+
+_Vices_, outgrowing or changing them, mistaken for forsaking all sin,
+         308-310.
+
+_Vulgarity_ in Religion, as to language, to be expected from vulgar
+            men, 56.
+
+
+W.
+
+_Wealth_, votaries of, 125, 126.
+
+_Women_, more disposed than men to Religion, and uses to be made of
+         this, 313.
+  -- exalted office assigned to them, 314.
+
+_Witherspoon_, 275.
+
+
+Y.
+
+_Youth_, simplicity of, mistaken for Religion, 313.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[Footnote 1: It is almost superfluous to name Mr. SOAME JENYNS.]
+
+[Footnote 2: Exempla duo, quae pravitatis humanae vim animo meo luculenter
+exhibent, non proferre non possum. Alterum decens ille Virgilius,
+alterum Cicero, probus idem verique studiosus, suppeditat. Virgilius,
+innocuam certe pastorum vitam depicturus, ita incipit.
+
+    "Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim."
+
+Cicero in libro de Officiis primo, ubi de actionibus prout inter se apte
+& convenientes sint, loci, temporis, & agentis ratione habita, disserit,
+argumentum sic illustrat: "Turpe est enim, valdeque vitiosum, in re
+severa, convivio dignum, aut delicatum aliquem inferre sermonem. Bene
+Pericles, quum haberet collegam in praetura Sophoclem poetam, hique de
+communi officio convenissent, & casu formosus puer praeteriret,
+dixissetque Sophocles, O pueram pulchrum Pericle! At enim, inquit
+Pericles, praetorem Sophoclem decet non solum manus, sed etiam oculus
+abstinentes habere. Atqui hoc idem Sophocles, si in athletarum
+probatione dixisset, _justa reprehensione caruisset, tanta vis est, &
+loci & temporis_."
+
+Quomodo sese res habuisse necesse est, cum vir antiquorum
+prestantissimis adscribendus, philosophiam, immo mores & officia
+tractans, talia doceret! Qualem sibi ipse virtutis normam proposuerat,
+satis liquet. Vide inter alia, _justa reprehensione_, &c. &c; & _tanta
+vis est_, &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 3: Robertson, Vol. II. p. 130.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Robertson, Book IV. Sect. 2. Head, Condition of Women,
+vol. ii. 8vo. 90, 91.]
+
+[Footnote 5: Job xv. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 6: Job xv. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 7: Psalm xiv. 2, 3.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Prov. xx. 9.]
+
+[Footnote 9: Psalm cxxxix. 3.]
+
+[Footnote 10: I Chron. xxviii. 9.]
+
+[Footnote 11: Prov. i. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Vide Butler's Analogy.]
+
+[Footnote 13: Heb. x. 27.]
+
+[Footnote 14: Philippians, ii. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 15: John, v. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 16: James, i. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 17: 2 Peter, iii. 9.]
+
+[Footnote 18: Ezek. xviii. 23.]
+
+[Footnote 19: Ezek. xviii. 32.]
+
+[Footnote 20: Psalm cxlvii. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 21: Rom. xi. 33.]
+
+[Footnote 22: Psalm xcvii. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 23: Deut. xxix. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Matt. xi. 28]
+
+[Footnote 25: This was the motto on their banner.]
+
+[Footnote 26: Title of Attila king of the Huns, whose desolating ravages
+are well known.]
+
+[Footnote 27: Vide the testimony of West India merchants to the
+Moravians, in the Report of the Privy Council on the Slave Trade.]
+
+[Footnote 28: Rom. xii. 1.]
+
+[Footnote 29: Dr. HORNE.]
+
+[Footnote 30: 2 Cor. viii. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 31: Isaiah, liii. 2.]
+
+[Footnote 32: Philip. ii. 6, 7, 8.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Luke, ii. 10, 11.]
+
+[Footnote 34: Col. i. 12, 13.]
+
+[Footnote 35: Ephes. i. 18.]
+
+[Footnote 36: Col. i. 27.]
+
+[Footnote 37: Heb. xiii. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 38: 1 John, iv. 20.]
+
+[Footnote 39: Dr. ADAM SMITH. Vide Theory of Moral Sentiments.]
+
+[Footnote 40: 1 Pet. i. 8.]
+
+[Footnote 41: Heb. iv. 15.]
+
+[Footnote 42: Isaiah, xl. 11.]
+
+[Footnote 43: Isaiah, xlix. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 44: The word Comfortless is rendered in the margin Orphans.]
+
+[Footnote 45: John, xiv. 18.]
+
+[Footnote 46: 1 Cor. xiii. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 47: Eph. ii. 1. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 48: Col. i. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 49: Ephes. ii. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 50: 2 Cor. vi. 16.]
+
+[Footnote 51: Col. iii. 9, 10.]
+
+[Footnote 52: Ephes. ii. 22.]
+
+[Footnote 53: Vide DR. DODDRIDGE's eight Sermons on Regeneration, a most
+valuable compilation; and McLAURIN's Essay on Divine Grace.]
+
+[Footnote 54: Rom. iv. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 55: Ibid. v. 6-8.]
+
+[Footnote 56: The Writer trusts he cannot be misunderstood to mean that
+any, continuing sinners and ungodly, can, by believing, be accepted or
+finally saved. The following chapter, particularly the latter part of
+it, (Section vi.) would abundantly vindicate him from any such
+misconstruction. Meanwhile, he will only remark, that true faith (in
+which repentance is considered as involved) is in Scripture regarded as
+_the radical principle of holiness_. If the root exist, the proper
+fruits will be brought forth. An attention to this consideration would
+have easily explained and reconciled those passages of St. Paul's and
+St. James's Epistles, which have furnished so much matter of argument
+and criticism. St. James, it may be observed, all along speaks of a man,
+not who _has_ faith, but who _says_ that he has faith.
+Vide James ii. 14. &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 57: Vide Note Ch. iv. Sect. vi.]
+
+[Footnote 58: Gal. vi. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 59: I Cor. i. 30.]
+
+[Footnote 60: Rev. i. 5.]
+
+[Footnote 61: John, vi. 29.]
+
+[Footnote 62: 1 John, iii. 23.]
+
+[Footnote 63: Nec Deus intersit, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 64: Vide Heb. ii. 1, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 65: Any one who wishes to investigate this subject will do
+well to study attentively McLAURIN's Essay on Prejudices against the
+Gospel.--It may not be amiss here to direct the reader's attention to a
+few leading arguments, many of them those of the work just recommended.
+Let him maturely estimate the force of those terms, whereby the Apostle
+in the following passages designates and characterizes the whole of the
+Christian system. "We preach Christ crucified"--"We determined to know
+nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The value of
+this argument will be acknowledged by all who consider, that a system is
+never designated by an immaterial or an inferior part of it, but by that
+which constitutes its prime consideration and essential distinction. The
+conclusion suggested by this remark is confirmed by the Lord's Supper
+being the rite by which our Saviour himself commanded his Disciples to
+keep him in remembrance; and indeed a similar lesson is taught by the
+Sacrament of Baptism, which shadows out our souls being washed and
+purified by the blood of Christ. Observe next the frequency with which
+our Saviour's death and sufferings are introduced, and how often they
+are urged as practical motives.
+
+"The minds of the Apostles seem full of this subject. Every thing put
+them in mind of it; they did not allow themselves to have it long out of
+their view, nor did any other branch of spiritual instruction make them
+lose sight of it." Consider next that part of the Epistle to the Romans,
+wherein St. Paul speaks of some who went about to establish their own
+righteousness, and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of
+God. May not this charge be in some degree urged, and even more strongly
+than in the case of the Jews, against those who satisfy themselves with
+vague, general, occasional thoughts of our Saviour's mediation; and the
+source of whose habitual complacency, as we explained above, is rather
+their being tolerably well satisfied with their own characters and
+conduct? Yet St. Paul declares concerning those of whom he speaks, as
+concerning persons whose sad situation could not be too much lamented,
+that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart, adding
+still more emphatical expressions of deep and bitter regret.
+
+Let the Epistle to the Galatians be also carefully examined and
+considered; and let it be fairly asked, what was the particular in which
+the Judaizing Christians were defective, and the want of which is spoken
+of in such strong terms as these; that it frustrates the grace of God,
+and must debar from all the benefits of the death of Jesus? The
+Judaizing converts were not immoral. They seem to have admitted the
+chief tenets concerning our Saviour. But they appear to have been
+disposed to trust (_not wholly, be it observed also, but only in part_)
+for their acceptance with God, to the Mosaic institutions, instead of
+reposing wholly on the merits of Christ. Here let it be remembered, that
+when a compliance with these institutions was not regarded as conveying
+this inference, the Apostle shewed by his own conduct, that he did not
+deem it criminal; whence, no less than from the words of the Epistle, it
+is clear that the offence of the Judaizing Christians whom he condemned,
+was what we have stated; not their obstinately continuing to adhere to a
+dispensation the ceremonial of which Christianity had abrogated, or
+their trusting to the sacrifices of the Levitical Law, which were in
+their own nature inefficacious for the blotting out of sin.--
+Vide Heb. vii. viii. ix. x.]
+
+[Footnote 66: Rev. v. 12.]
+
+[Footnote 67: ib. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 68: 2 Cor. xiii. 14.]
+
+[Footnote 69: 1 John, iii. 17.--Rom. xvi. 18.--Compared with
+Philippians, iii. 19.]
+
+[Footnote 70: 2 Tim. iii. 4.]
+
+[Footnote 71: Matt. x. 37.]
+
+[Footnote 72: Jerem. ix. 23.]
+
+[Footnote 73: It will be remembered by the reader, that it is not the
+object of this work to animadvert on the vices, defects, and erroneous
+opinions of the times, except so far as they are received into the
+prevailing religious system, or are tolerated by it, and are not thought
+sufficient to prevent a man from being esteemed on the whole a very
+tolerable Christian.]
+
+[Footnote 74: Vide Tale of a Tub.]
+
+[Footnote 75: Vide Tale of a Tub.]
+
+[Footnote 76: Isaiah, ii. 11.]
+
+[Footnote 77: Vide Hey's Tract, Rousseau's Eloisa, and many periodical
+Essays and Sermons.]
+
+[Footnote 78: Vide "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath
+committed adultery with her, &c." Matt. v. 28.]
+
+[Footnote 79: The writer cannot omit this opportunity of declaring, that
+he should long ago have brought this subject before the notice of
+Parliament, but for a perfect conviction that he should probably thereby
+only give encouragement to a system he wishes to see at an end. The
+practice has been at different periods nearly stopped by positive laws,
+in various nations on the Continent; and there can be little doubt of
+the efficacy of what has been more than once suggested--a Court of
+Honour; to take cognizance of such offences as would naturally fall
+within its province. The effects of this establishment would doubtless
+require to be enforced by legislative provisions, directly punishing the
+practice; and by discouraging at court, and in the military and naval
+situations, all who should directly or indirectly be guilty of it.]
+
+[Footnote 80: Vide, in particular a paper in the Guardian, by ADDISON,
+on Honour, Vol. ii.]
+
+[Footnote 81: Vide SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]
+
+[Footnote 82: The writer hopes that the work to which he is referring is
+so well known, that he needs scarcely name Mrs. H. More.]
+
+[Footnote 83: See SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]
+
+[Footnote 84: While all are worthy of blame, who, to qualities like
+these, have assigned a more exalted place than to religious and moral
+principle; there is one writer who, eminently culpable in this respect,
+deserves, on another account, still severer reprehension. Really
+possessed of powers to explore and touch the finest strings of the human
+heart, and bound by his sacred profession to devote those powers to the
+service of religion and virtue, he every where discovers a studious
+solicitude to excite indecent ideas. We turn away our eyes with disgust
+from open immodesty: but even this is less mischievous than that more
+measured style, which excites impure images, without shocking us by the
+grossnesses of the language. Never was delicate sensibility proved to be
+more distinct from plain practical benevolence, than in the writings of
+the author to whom I allude. Instead of employing his talents for the
+benefit of his fellow-creatures, they were applied to the pernicious
+purposes of corrupting the national taste, and of lowering the standard
+of manners and morals. The tendency of his writings is to vitiate that
+purity of mind, intended by Providence as the companion and preservative
+of youthful virtue; and to produce, if the expression may be permitted,
+_a morbid sensibility in the perception of indecency_. An imagination
+exercised in this discipline is never _clean_, but seeks for and
+discovers something indelicate in the most common phrases and actions of
+ordinary life. If the general style of writing and conversation were to
+be formed on that model, to which Sterne used his utmost endeavours to
+conciliate the minds of men, there is no estimating the effects which
+would soon be produced on the manners and morals of the age.]
+
+[Footnote 85: Vide SMITH on the Wealth of Nations, Vol. iii.]
+
+[Footnote 86: Vide the Grammarians and Dialecticians on the Diminutives
+of the Italian and other languages.]
+
+[Footnote 87: Many more might be added, such as a good fellow, a good
+companion, a libertine, a little free, a little loose in talk, wild,
+gay, jovial, being no man's enemy but his own, &c. &c. &c. &c; above
+all, _having a good heart_.]
+
+[Footnote 88: Gal. v. 19-21. Col. iii. 5-9.]
+
+[Footnote 89: Job, xxviii. 28. Psalm, cxi. 10. Prov. i. 7.--ix. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 90: 2 Peter, iii. 10, 11.]
+
+[Footnote 91: Col. i. 13.]
+
+[Footnote 92: It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the word is to be
+understood in a large sense, as including the Opera, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 93: Geneva--It is worthy of remark, that the play houses have
+multiplied extremely in Paris since the revolution; and that last winter
+there were twenty open every night, and all crowded. It should not be
+left unobserved, and it is seriously submitted to the consideration of
+those who regard the stage as a school of morals, that the pieces which
+were best composed, best acted, and most warmly and generally applauded,
+were such as abounded in touches of delicate sensibility. The people of
+Paris have never been imagined to be more susceptible, than the
+generality of mankind, of these emotions, and this is not the particular
+period when the Parisians have been commonly conceived most under their
+influence. Vide Journal d'un Voyageur Neutre. The author of the work
+expresses himself as astonished by the phaenomenon, and as unable to
+account for it.]
+
+[Footnote 94: The author is almost afraid of using the terms, lest they
+should convey an impression of party feelings, of which he wishes this
+book to exhibit no traces; but he here means by Democrats and Jacobins,
+not persons on whom party violence fastens the epithet, but persons who
+are really and avowedly such.]
+
+[Footnote 95: LORD BACON.]
+
+[Footnote 96: If any one would read a description of this process,
+enlivened and enforced by the powers of the most exquisite poetry, let
+him peruse the middle and latter part of the fifth Book of COWPER'S
+Task. My warm attachment to the exquisitely natural compositions of this
+truly Christian poet may perhaps bias my judgment; but the part of the
+work to which I refer appears to me scarcely surpassed by any thing in
+our language. The honourable epithet of _Christian_ may justly be
+assigned to a poet, whose writings, while they fascinate the reader by
+their manifestly coming from the heart, breathe throughout the spirit of
+that character of Christianity, with which she was announced to the
+world; "Glory to God, peace on earth, good will towards men."]
+
+[Footnote 97: Here again let it be remarked, that faith, where genuine,
+always supposes repentance, abhorrence of sin, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 98: Heb. xii. 1, 2.]
+
+[Footnote 99: It has been well remarked that the word used, where it is
+said, that God "was PLEASED to bruise" and put to grief his only Son for
+us, is the same word as that wherein it was declared by a voice from
+Heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."]
+
+[Footnote 100: Vide Chap. iii. Where these were shewn to be the
+elementary principles of the passion of love.]
+
+[Footnote 101: Rom. v. 9. 10.]
+
+[Footnote 102: John xiii. 13-17. If I then, your Lord and Master, have
+washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet, &c.]
+
+[Footnote 103: Vide Pascal's Thoughts on Religion--A book abounding in
+the deepest views of practical Christianity.]
+
+[Footnote 104: Pope.]
+
+[Footnote 105: The _Hell_, so called, be it observed, not by way of
+reproach, but familiarity, by those who frequent it.]
+
+[Footnote 106: Eph. ii.]
+
+[Footnote 107: The Rev. Matthew Babington of Temple Rothley, in
+Leicestershire, who died lately at Lisbon.]
+
+[Footnote 108: The author must acknowledge himself indebted to Dr. OWEN
+for this illustration.]
+
+[Footnote 109: The author here alludes to what happened within his own
+knowledge; and he has been assured by others, on whose testimony he can
+rely, of several similar instances. But to prevent misconstruction as to
+the incident which mainly gives rise to the remark, he thinks it
+necessary to declare, that the account, which appeared in some of the
+news-papers, of an entertainment having been given by Mr. Pitt on the
+Fast Day, is untrue; and he is glad of the opportunity, which the
+mention of this subject affords him, of contradicting a statement which
+he can positively affirm to have been false. This is one of the many
+instances which should enforce on the readers of news-papers, the _duty_
+of not _hastily_ giving credit to reports to the disadvantage of _any_
+man, of _any_ party. A person in a public station must often acquiesce
+under the grossest calumnies; unless he will undertake the vain and
+endless task of contradicting all the falsehoods which prejudice may
+conceive, and malignity propagate against him.--The writer may perhaps
+express himself with the more feeling on this subject; because he has
+often been, and, indeed, at this very moment is, in the circumstances
+which he has stated.]
+
+[Footnote 110: I must beg leave to class among the brightest ornaments
+of the Church of England, this great man, who with his brethren was so
+shamefully ejected from the church in 1666, in violation of the royal
+word, as well as of the clear principles of justice. With his
+controversial pieces I am little acquainted: but his practical writings,
+in four massy folios, are a treasury of Christian wisdom; and it would
+be a most valuable service to mankind to revise them, and perhaps to
+abridge them, so as to render them more suited to the taste of modern
+readers. This has been already done in the case of his Dying Thoughts, a
+beautiful little piece, and of his Saints' Rest. His Life also, written
+by himself, and in a separate volume, contains much useful matter, and
+many valuable particulars of the history of the times of Charles I.
+Cromwell, &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 111: Let me by no means be understood to censure all the
+sectaries without discrimination. Many of them, and some who by the
+unhappy circumstances of the times became objects of notice in a
+political view, were men of great erudition, deep views of Religion, and
+unquestionable piety: and though the writings of the puritans are
+prolix; and according to the fashion of their age, rendered rather
+perplexed than clear by multiplied divisions and subdivisions; yet they
+are a mine of wealth, in which any one who will submit to some degree of
+labour will find himself well rewarded for his pains. In particular the
+writings of Dr. OWEN, Mr. HOWE, and Mr. FLAVELL, well deserve this
+character: of the first mentioned author, there are two pieces which I
+would especially recommend to the reader's perusal, one, on Heavenly
+Mindedness, abridged by Dr. MAYO; the other, on the Mortification of Sin
+in Believers. While I have been speaking in terms of such high, and, I
+trust, such just eulogium of many of the teachers of the Church of
+England; this may not be an improper place to express the high
+obligations which we owe to the Dissenters, for many excellent
+publications. Of this number are Dr. EVANS'S Sermons on the Christian
+Temper; and that most useful book, the Rise and Progress of Religion in
+the Soul, by Dr. DODDRIDGE; also, his Life, by ORTON, and Letters; and
+two volumes of Sermons, one on Regeneration, the other on the Power and
+Grace of Christ: May the writer be permitted to embrace this opportunity
+of recommending two volumes, published separately, of Sermons, by the
+late Dr. WITHERSPOON, President of the College of New Jersey.]
+
+[Footnote 112: Vide Section vi. of the ivth Chapter, where we have
+expressly and fully treated of this most important truth.]
+
+[Footnote 113: No exceptions have fallen within my own reading, but the
+writings of RICHARDSON.]
+
+[Footnote 114: It is with pain that the author finds himself compelled
+to place so great a writer as Dr. ROBERTSON in this class. But, to say
+nothing of his phlegmatic account of the reformation; a subject which we
+should have thought likely to excite in any one, who united the
+character of a Christian Divine with that of an Historian, some warmth
+of pious gratitude for the good providence of God; to pass over also the
+ambiguity, in which he leaves his readers as to his opinion of the
+authenticity of the Mosaic chronology, in his disquisitions on the trade
+of India; his letters to Mr. GIBBON, lately published, cannot but excite
+emotions of regret and shame in every sincere Christian. The author
+hopes, that he has so far explained his sentiments as to render it
+almost unnecessary to remark, what, however, to prevent misconstruction,
+he must here declare, that so far from approving, he must be understood
+decidedly to condemn, a hot, a contentious, much more an abusive manner
+of opposing or of speaking of the assailants of Christianity. The
+Apostle's direction in this respect cannot be too much attended to. "The
+servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to
+teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if
+God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the
+truth." (2 Timothy, ii. 24, 25.)]
+
+[Footnote 115: Mr. HUME.]
+
+[Footnote 116: Vide Dr. A. Smith's Letter to W. Strahan, Esq.]
+
+[Footnote 117: What is here stated must be acknowledged by all, be their
+political opinions concerning French events what they may; and it makes
+no difference in the writer's view of the subject, whether the state of
+morals was or was not, quite, or nearly, as bad, before the French
+revolution.]
+
+[Footnote 118: SOAME JENYNS.]
+
+[Footnote 119: PALEY'S Evidence.]
+
+[Footnote 120: See especially that great historian, FERGUSON, who, in
+his Essay on Civil Society, endeavours to vindicate the cause of heroism
+from the censure conveyed by the poet:
+
+    "From Macedonia's madman to the Swede."
+
+]
+
+[Footnote 121: Such seems to be the just rendering of the word which our
+Testament translates, "did not like to retain God in their knowledge."]
+
+[Footnote 122: It is a gratification to the writer's personal, as well
+as public feelings, to pay this tribute of respect to the character of
+Lord Chief Justice KENYON.]
+
+[Footnote 123: This is not thrown out rashly, but asserted on the
+writer's own knowledge.]
+
+[Footnote 124: "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my
+God," (says David) "of that which doth cost me nothing."
+2 Sam. xxiv. 24.
+
+"They," (the Apostles) "departed from the presence of the council,
+rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of
+Jesus." Acts v. 41. See also 1 Thess. i. 6.  Heb. x. 34.  James i. 2.
+1 Peter iv. 13, 14.
+
+Such are the marks exhibited in Scripture of a true love to God: and
+though our regard for our common Lord is not put to the same severe
+test, as that of the Apostles and first Christians was; yet, if the same
+principle existed in us also, it would surely dispose us to act in the
+_spirit_ of that conduct; and prompt us rather to be willing to exceed
+in self denials and labours for Christ's sake, than to be so forward as
+we are to complain, whenever we are called upon to perform or to abstain
+from any thing, though in an instance ever so little contrary to our
+inclinations.]
+
+[Footnote 125: It may not be amiss to mention a few useful publications
+of this sort. Walton's Lives, particularly the last edition by Mr.
+Zouch; Gilpin's Lives; the Lives of Bishop Bedell and Bishop Bull; of
+Archbishop Usher; some extracts from Burnet of the Life of the
+incomparable Leighton, prefixed to a volume of the latter's Sermons;
+Passages of the Life of Lord Rochester, by Burnet; the Life of Sir
+Matthew Hale; of the excellent Doddridge, by Orton; of Henry, father and
+son; of Mather; of Halyburton; Hampson's and Whitehead's Life of Wesley;
+Life of Baxter, by himself, &c. &c. &c.]
+
+[Footnote 126: The author is aware, that he may perhaps be censured for
+conceding this term to the class of persons now in question, since
+orthodox Christians equally contend for the unity of the Divine Nature:
+and it perhaps may hardly be a sufficient excuse, that, it not being his
+object particularly to refute the errors of Unitarianism, he uses the
+term in its popular sense rather than give needless offence. He thus
+guards, however, against any false construction being drawn from his use
+of it.]
+
+[Footnote 127: The author of this treatise has, since its completion,
+perused a work entitled, Calvinism and Socinianism compared, by A.
+FULLER, &c; and, without reference to the peculiarities of Calvinism, he
+is happy to embrace this opportunity of confessing the high obligation
+which, in common with all the friends of true Religion, he owes to the
+author of that highly valuable publication for his masterly defence of
+the doctrines of Christianity, and his acute refutation of the opposite
+errors.]
+
+[Footnote 128: It is almost superfluous to state, that Sir WILLIAM JONES
+is here meant, who, from the testimony borne to his extraordinary
+talents by Sir John Shore, in his first address to the Asiatic Society
+of Calcutta, appears to have been a man of most extraordinary genius and
+astonishing erudition.]
+
+[Footnote 129: Mr. MAURICE.]
+
+[Footnote 130: This argument is pressed with uncommon force in PASCAL'S
+Thoughts on Religion, a work highly valuable, though not in every part
+to be approved; abounding in particular with those deep views of
+Religion, which the name of its author prepares us to expect.]
+
+[Footnote 131: Vide, some exquisitely beautiful lines in the last book
+of Cowper's Task, wherein this sentiment is introduced.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+Page numbers refer to the original text.
+Footnote numbers refer to this transcribed version.
+
+p54: Repeated "a" has been removed.
+
+p83: Comma has been changed to full stop after "Almighty power".
+
+p95: Nested double quotes have been changed to single quotes.
+
+p106: Omitted word "in" has been added to "as it is Heaven".
+
+p350: "the only can feel it" has been changed to "they only can feel
+it".
+
+Fn 65: The footnote at the end of this footnote has been placed inline.
+
+Fn 131: "Some" has been changed to "some".
+
+Index-Affections, religious: - Repeated word "of" has been removed.
+
+Index section "V" preceded "U" in the original. This has been corrected.
+
+All footnotes have been moved to the end of the text and numbered
+sequentially.
+
+Some words were spelt, hyphenated, or had apostrophes placed,
+inconsistently within the text. These have been silently corrected to
+match the form most frequently used in the text.
+
+Where scanned text was unclear, the 1834 edition has been consulted.
+
+Unless due to a clear typographic error, consistent differences from
+modern usage have been retained, such as spellings (e.g. prophane),
+hyphenation (e.g. to-day), and punctuation (e.g. omission of commas
+following full stops in lists and the Index).
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Practical View of the Prevailing
+Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity., by William Wilberforce
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