{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49126/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49126","id":"gutenberg_49126","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49126","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Providence and government of God"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1832 J. G. & F. Rivington edition by David Price,\nemail ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                                   THE\n                        DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE\n                                  UNDER\n                           DIVINE VISITATIONS.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  BY THE\n                         REV. NEWTON SMART, M.A.\n                      OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n         \u201cWHEN THY JUDGMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH, THE INHABITANTS OF THE\n                       WORLD WILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                    PRINTED FOR J. G. & F. RIVINGTON,\n               ST. PAUL\u2019S CHURCH-YARD, AND WATERLOO-PLACE:\n      AND SOLD BY J. HATCHARD & SON, PICCADILLY; PARKER, & TALBOYS,\n              OXFORD; ANDREWS, DURHAM; CHARNLEY, NEWCASTLE;\n                RENNEY, SUNDERLAND; AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  1832.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                     PRINTED BY GILBERT & RIVINGTON,\n                            ST. JOHN\u2019S SQUARE.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                    TO\n                            THE REVERED MEMORY\n                                    OF\n                 ONE OF THE KINDEST AND BEST OF MOTHERS,\n                                   WHO\n         RECEIVED HER CHILDREN AS A GIFT THAT COMETH OF THE LORD,\n                         AND PRAYED AND LABOURED,\n                   WITH EARNEST AND FAITHFUL DILIGENCE,\n       TO BRING THEM UP IN THE NURTURE AND ADMONITION OF THE LORD,\n                          THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED\n           WITH THE DEEPEST FEELINGS OF FILIAL LOVE, GRATITUDE,\n                             AND VENERATION.\n\n                   \u201cTHE MEMORY OF THE JUST IS BLESSED.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE\nDUTY OF A CHRISTIAN PEOPLE,\n&c.\n\n\n                                _Isaiah_ x. 3.\n\n    \u201cWHAT WILL YE DO IN THE DAY OF VISITATION AND IN THE DESOLATION WHICH\n    SHALL COME FROM FAR?  TO WHOM WILL YE FLEE FOR HELP?\u201d\n\nTHE aspect of the times, upon a careful survey, presents, to the\nthoughtful mind, cause of anxiety for the safety and welfare of the\nempire; and, to the religious mind, ground for apprehension, lest the\nAlmighty should be about to visit, for the sins of the nations, by\n\u201cpouring upon them the vials of His wrath.\u201d {3a}  In the emphatic\nlanguage of our Lord\u2019s prediction of the latter days; there is,\nthroughout Europe, \u201cdistress of nations with perplexity; men\u2019s hearts\nfailing them for fear; and for looking after those things which are\ncoming upon the earth.\u201d {3b}  In this country, to an alarming state of\npopular excitement, there has supervened a new cause of dread, so great,\nas almost to absorb, for the present, all subjects of merely temporal\ninterest.  A fearful and most fatal pestilence, which had extended far\nand wide in Asia, has been gradually spreading throughout Europe, and\nsteadily advancing towards our shores: there exists a difference of\nopinion as to whether or not it has reached them; but thus much is\ncertain; an epidemic, similar in character, and hardly less malignant and\nfatal, has broken out in one of the seaports of the kingdom, and extended\nto some of the neighbouring towns and villages; thus appearing to\nestablish its identity with the Continental disease.\n\nUnder circumstances so calculated to produce general apprehension, and so\nfull of danger to the community at large, it becomes a matter of vital\nimportance to enquire, What is the course a Christian people should\nadopt?  To such an enquiry, the sincere Christian,\u2014who is satisfied, that\nthe safety of nations and of individuals is, at all times, in the\nprotection of the Almighty; and who believes, that the sword, the famine,\nthe earthquake, the tempest, and the pestilence, are but instruments in\nthe hand of God to execute His sovereign and gracious will,\u2014may justly\nreply in the words of a prophet of old, speaking in the name of the Most\nHigh: \u201cTHEREFORE, ALSO, NOW SAITH THE LORD, TURN YE EVEN TO ME, WITH ALL\nYOUR HEART, AND WITH FASTING, AND WITH WEEPING, AND WITH MOURNING.  AND\nREND YOUR HEART, AND NOT YOUR GARMENTS, AND TURN UNTO THE LORD YOUR GOD:\nFOR HE IS GRACIOUS AND MERCIFUL, SLOW TO ANGER, AND OF GREAT KINDNESS,\nAND REPENTETH HIM OF THE EVIL.\u201d {5a}  And how is a whole nation to be\ncalled upon to humble themselves before God in the day of their\nvisitation?  Let the same Prophet return the answer; \u201cBLOW THE TRUMPET IN\nZION, SANCTIFY A FAST, CALL A SOLEMN ASSEMBLY, GATHER THE PEOPLE,\nSANCTIFY THE CONGREGATION, ASSEMBLE THE ELDERS, GATHER THE CHILDREN.  LET\nTHE PRIESTS, THE MINISTERS OF THE LORD, WEEP BETWEEN THE PORCH AND THE\nALTAR, AND LET THEM SAY, SPARE THY PEOPLE, O LORD.\u201d {5b}\n\nAs the Almighty, \u201cwith whom is no variableness, nor shadow of turning,\u201d\n{5c} is \u201cthe same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;\u201d {5d} as \u201cwhatsoever\nthings were written aforetime, were written for our learning; that we,\nthrough patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope:\u201d {5e}\nlet the people of this kingdom, strong in faith, raise, on an appointed\nday, their united voice in prayer; and in the language of sorrow,\nhumiliation, and repentance, cry, O Lord, \u201cwe have sinned with our\nfathers, we have done amiss and dealt wickedly;\u201d {5f} but \u201cThou, Lord,\nart good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them who\ncall upon Thee!\u201d {5g}  Alas! because we see not the \u201coutstretched arm\u201d of\nOmnipotence, which governeth the nations; because we hear not the \u201cmighty\nvoice\u201d which universal Nature obeys; we too often forget that \u201cthe Lord\u2019s\nhand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it\ncannot hear:\u201d {6a} we too often forget that it is \u201cGod that ruleth in\nJacob, and unto the ends of the world.\u201d {6b}\n\nBut is it sufficient to call upon a people, suffering under the\napprehension or infliction of Divine judgments, to assemble in the courts\nof the Lord\u2019s house, to acknowledge the justice of their punishment, and\nto humble themselves before their God?  Let the volume of inspiration\nagain reply, \u201cTo what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto\nme? saith the Lord?\u201d {6c}\u2014\u201cWASH YE, MAKE YOU CLEAN, PUT AWAY THE EVIL OF\nYOUR DOINGS BEFORE MINE EYES; CEASE TO DO EVIL, LEARN TO DO WELL, SEEK\nJUDGMENT, RELIEVE THE OPPRESSED, JUDGE THE FATHERLESS, PLEAD FOR THE\nWIDOW.\u201d {6d}  \u201cBEHOLD, TO OBEY IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE, AND TO HEARKEN\nTHAN THE FAT OF RAMS.\u201d {6e}\n\nMuch has been effected when a nation has been brought to prostrate itself\nbefore God, and, through a deep sense of its guilt, weakness, and misery,\nto flee unto Him, who alone is mighty to save; but incalculably more has\nbeen accomplished, when to the prayer for mercy has been added one for\ngrace; and it has been truly, not less the language of the heart than of\nthe lips, \u201cSanctify to us this thy fatherly correction, that the sense of\nour weakness may add strength to our faith, and seriousness to our\nrepentance.\u201d {7a}  May God, of His great mercy, vouchsafe to the people\nof this land, \u201cto know the time of their visitation;\u201d {7b} to humble\nthemselves before Him, who \u201cin faithfulness has caused them to be\ntroubled;\u201d {7c} to \u201cseek the Lord while He may be found, and to call upon\nHim while He is near;\u201d {7d} and to \u201crepent and turn themselves from all\ntheir transgressions: so iniquity shall not be their ruin.\u201d {7e}  Oh that\nthe practical infidelity, which exists to such a fearful extent in the\npresent day, may not withhold from a suffering people the deliverance and\nblessing which God alone can bestow!  A neglect and distrust, if not a\ndenial of God\u2019s Providence, in the preservation and government of nations\nand individuals, is one of the most crying sins of the day.  Because the\nnatural eye does not perceive the visible workings of a Divine economy in\nthe course of events, it practically ascribes all to human means, and\nrelies on human aid.  But, as if \u201cthe finger of God\u201d was to be revealed\nas pointing in wrath to this great truth of natural and revealed\nreligion\u2014a Divine providence\u2014one of the most remarkable and terrible\nfeatures of this fatal pestilence, through which so many millions of\nhuman beings have been swept away, is, that whilst human prudence has\nbeen completely baffled in its plans of prevention, human science has\nfailed in its attempts at cure.  What a salutary lesson does this teach,\nin a day when earthly is often elevated above heavenly wisdom in the\nestimation of men, and when the arm of flesh appears more confided in\nthan the arm of Omnipotence, for the accomplishment of events!\n\nMay the great Disposer of events, who, in the dispensations of His\nProvidence, is graciously pleased to educe real good from seeming evil,\nmake this awful visitation productive of religious advantage to this and\nother nations.  May earthly sovereigns learn that the Lord, by whom\n\u201ckings reign, and princes decree justice,\u201d {8a} is their defence, and\n\u201cthe Holy One of Israel, their King:\u201d {8b} may the rulers of the people\nremember, that \u201cexcept the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in\nvain.\u201d {8c}\n\nFor although God\u2019s providence governs all things in heaven and in earth,\nstill the great Sovereign of the universe, \u201cthe King of kings, and Lord\nof lords,\u201d \u201cwaiteth to be gracious,\u201d nor suffers His truth to fail.  He\nshuts not up His loving-kindness in displeasure, but listens to the\nprayers of the meanest of His servants; and in answer to them, He often\nsuspends, and sometimes averts his just judgments.  The guilty cities of\nthe Plain would have been spared for the sake of ten righteous, if that\nnumber of the servants of the true God could have been found amongst the\ninhabitants. {9a}  Nor is the prayer of humble and contrite guilt\ndisregarded.  The judgments impending over Nineveh were suspended, when\nthat mighty capital, at the preaching of a prophet, acknowledged its sin,\nand humbled itself before the Lord. {9b}\n\nLet, then, the prayer of repentance, faith, and submission, arise to the\nthrone of Divine grace, from the united people of the land; and, soon as\nthe merciful object of this visitation is answered, we may humbly trust\nthe command, as of old, will be addressed to the destroying angel, \u201cIT IS\nENOUGH, NOW STAY THINE HAND.\u201d {9c}  For the Almighty has himself\ndeclared, \u201cAt what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and\nconcerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it:\nif that nation, AGAINST WHOM I HAVE PRONOUNCED, TURN FROM THEIR EVIL, I\nWILL REPENT OF THE EVIL THAT I THOUGHT TO DO UNTO THEM.\u201d {9d}\n\nMay, then, this nation receive grace, in this their day of trial, to\n\u201cTURN FROM THEIR EVIL,\u201d before the Lord \u201callow His full displeasure to\narise.\u201d  May they learn and acknowledge, that their only hope of safety\nis in the mercy and long-suffering of God, who alone can preserve them\nfrom \u201cthe pestilence which walketh in darkness, and from the sickness\nwhich destroyeth in the noon-day.\u201d  May they \u201coffer faithfully,\u201d and the\nLord \u201creceive acceptably,\u201d their prayer for deliverance: \u201cHave pity, O\nLord, have pity upon Thy people, both here and abroad; withdraw Thy heavy\nhand from those who are suffering under Thy judgments; and remove from us\nthat grievous calamity, against which, our only security is in Thy\ncompassion!\u201d {10a}  And may our gracious and long-suffering Lord be\npleased to arrest in its course the pestilence, now confined to few\nplaces, and to permit it not to spread dismay and death through the towns\nand villages of the kingdom.\n\nThus far, the duty of a Christian people _collectively_, under Divine\njudgments, has been shewn; it remains to consider their duty\n_individually_; which involves the consideration of what man owes to his\nGod, his country, his neighbour, and himself, under any general\nvisitation of Divine Providence.  The Christian\u2019s duty towards God, when\nHis judgments are abroad, is a recognition of, and submission to, His\nchastening hand: to his country, unwearied exertion for the removal of\nthe evils which appear to have called down the Divine vengeance: to his\nneighbour, friendly assistance, religious exhortation, and spiritual\nconsolation: and to himself, through Divine grace, humiliation,\nrepentance, amendment, and daily preparation for death and judgment.\n\nThese several duties, being all dependent upon each other, and intimately\nblended in their operation, may, perhaps, be not unfitly considered, as\nembraced by the public and private obligations of Christians under\nafflictive dispensations; which may be briefly stated to be\u2014earnest\nprayer and incessant labour to effect a PERSONAL REFORMATION, and, as far\nas in them lies, a NATIONAL REFORMATION; which are proposed to be\nconsidered, as follows, more at large.\n\nLet individuals \u201chumble themselves under the mighty hand of God;\u201d {11}\nlet them acknowledge the extent of their sinfulness, and the justice of\ntheir punishment; let them confide in God\u2019s mercy, and commit themselves\nto His safe keeping; let them seek for grace to reform, in their lives\nand conversation, whatever is at variance with the Gospel; from which,\nand not from the maxims of men, let them learn what is required of\nChristians.\n\nLet them publicly bear testimony at once to the justice and mercy of\nGod\u2019s judgments, and strive earnestly to rouse the nation to a sense of\nits guiltiness, which has exposed it to the Divine displeasure; let them,\nin dependence on the blessing of Heaven, labour to eradicate all infidel\nand heretical opinions; to advance a reformation of public morals; and to\npromote a general diffusion of true religion, sound learning, and useful\nknowledge.\n\nToo justly does the language of Isaiah, addressed to the rebellious and\nguilty house of Judah, apply to our own times: \u201cAh, sinful nation, a\npeople laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are\ncorrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One\nof Israel to anger, they are gone backward.\u201d {12a}  May He, \u201cwho alone\ncan order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men,\u201d and convert\nthem from the evil of their ways, \u201cpour upon all flesh the spirit of\ngrace and supplication;\u201d {12b} that individual may extend, until it\nbecome national repentance, and the whole nation worship before Him.\nThen will the scourge of His wrath prove the harbinger of His mercy, and\nwe shall become a chosen people, a holy nation unto the Lord.  Then may\nour gracious and long-suffering God allow us, without presumption, to\ndraw comfort from those words of favour and forgiveness, spoken to His\npeople when humbled and contrite: \u201cRemember these, O Jacob and Israel;\nfor thou art my servant; I have formed thee, thou art my servant: O\nIsrael, thou shalt not be forgotten of me: I have blotted out as a thick\ncloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins: return unto me, for I\nhave redeemed thee.\u201d {13a}\n\n\n\nI.  The Christian\u2019s duty of personal reformation under Divine judgments.\n\n\nIt is from the volume of inspiration\u2014whence he derives all the light\nwhich he enjoys, as to the providence, beneficence, and love of God;\nwhence he draws all the knowledge he possesses as to the nature of his\nown being, the object of his present existence, and the place of his\nfinal destination;\u2014man must learn his duty under the Divine\ndispensations.  The Holy Scriptures are to the true Christian \u201ca lamp\nunto his feet, and a light unto his paths.\u201d {13b}  When pursuing his\nheavenward journey through this vale of tears, the prospect often appears\nuninviting and gloomy, the sky dark and troubled, and the way, always\nnarrow, becomes sometimes a thorny and tangled path.  Dangers also, more\nor less near and alarming, keep the pilgrim often under apprehension, and\nalways on his guard.  Still, he pursues a straight-forward course, from\nwhich he deviates little\u2014for he possesses a guide more unerring than the\ncompass of the mariner, and that guide is the infallible Word of God.\nWhen darkness obscures, difficulties perplex, and dangers environ his\nroad, in his unfailing \u201clamp\u201d he finds light, guidance, and safety.\n\nAt this moment, a dark cloud hangs over this country:\u2014nay, more, the\nstorm of Divine displeasure has already commenced.  Lest, therefore, it\nshould burst upon us in its full \u201cfury,\u201d let all betake themselves to\nthat blessed light, which, amid the thickest darkness and most appalling\nstorm, can \u201cguide our feet into the way of peace.\u201d {14a}  Let the enquiry\nbe made as to the course to be adopted in the words of a Prophet: \u201c_What\nwill ye do in the day of visitation_, _and in the desolation which shall\ncome from far_?  _To whom will ye flee for help_?\u201d {14b}  Let the same\nProphet reply: \u201cTRUST YE IN THE LORD FOR EVER, FOR IN THE LORD JEHOVAH IS\nEVERLASTING STRENGTH.\u201d {14c}\n\nTrust in God is the necessary fruit of faith, which is the only basis on\nwhich religion can rest: \u201che that cometh to God must believe that He is,\nand that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him:\u201d {14d} thus,\nexcept with one philosophical school of antiquity, a belief in the being\nof a God has, even amongst the Heathen, always been accompanied by a\ntrust in His Providence.  In the Christian scheme, this trust is a fixed,\ngoverning principle.  \u201cTo take notice of the hand of God in every thing\nthat befalls us,\u201d says the learned and excellent Sherlock, \u201cto attribute\nall the evils we suffer, and all the good things, to His sovereign will\nand appointment: this is the foundation of all the other duties which we\nowe to Providence, and the general neglect of this makes us defective in\nall the rest.\u201d {15a}\n\nThis passage supplies a clear view of Christian duty under afflictive\ndispensations.  As faith recognises an Almighty Father\u2019s will in the\nappointment, and His hand in the direction of events, the believer refers\nequally national and individual prosperity and adversity, mercies and\nvisitations, to Him, \u201cwhose power ruleth over all.\u201d  And as he refers all\nevents to the will and appointment of the great Governor of the Universe,\nhe endeavours to receive whatever befalls him, as coming from His hand,\nwith patient submission and humble thankfulness: for he knows how\nimmeasurably his punishment falls short of his deserts; and he is\nassured, that \u201c_God chastens us for our profit_, _that we might be\npartakers of His holiness_.\u201d {15b}  At the same time, therefore, that he\nrelies with firm dependence on the tender mercies, the blessed guidance,\nand sure protection of his Heavenly Father; he seeks for grace to improve\nto the spiritual advancement of himself and others, the divine\nchastisements,\u2014\u201cchastisements which originate in love, and are tempered\nwith mercy:\u201d {15c} \u201c_For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth_, _and\nscourgeth every son whom he receiveth_.\u201d{16a}  He enters, therefore, anew\nupon a careful review of his past life, and again summons before the bar\nof conscience, \u201cthe sins of his youth, and the offences of his riper\nage;\u201d he recalls to mind the warnings he has had, the privileges he has\nenjoyed, and the mercies he has received; and he institutes a rigid\nscrutiny into his present life, which he tries by the unerring test of\nGod\u2019s holy word.  And if he be sincere and honest, and not a dissembler\nwith God, and a deceiver of himself, the language will spontaneously\nburst from his lips; \u201cIt is good for me that I have been in trouble, that\nI may learn Thy statutes.\u201d {16b}  \u201cOh, Lord, my strength and my fortress,\nmy refuge in the day of affliction,\u201d {16c}\u2014\u201cTurn Thee unto me, and have\nmercy upon me, for I am desolate and in misery.  The sorrows of my heart\nare enlarged; oh, bring Thou me out of my troubles; look upon my\nadversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin.\u201d {16d}\n\nNot that probably his life has been stained with deeper or more numerous\noffences than the generality of men: it may be that he has been \u201cbrought\nup in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,\u201d and has never departed\nfrom serving his God; it may be that he has long ranked amongst those who\nstrive to be \u201cblameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in\nthe midst of a crooked and perverse nation, amongst whom they shine as\nlights in the world.\u201d {17a}  But still there lives not the man who has\nnot much to repent of, and to humble himself for, before the Lord.  And\nwhen the sorrows of life, the judgments of God, or the approach of death,\nloosen the hold of earthly ties upon the affections, and the attention\nbecomes intently fixed on that invisible world of spirits, whither all\nare hastening: then, even he, who has long sought to serve his God with\ndevout reverence and holy obedience, feels with stronger force, and sees\nwith clearer view, the fearful extent of his omissions of duty and\ncommissions of sin.  When he considers that one moment may suffice to\nusher him into the presence of that Great Being, of infinite purity, in\nwhose sight the heavens are not clean; when he remembers the condemnation\npassed on all sin by a righteous law;\u2014conscious guilt compels him to bow\nbefore the Lord with the deep self-abasement of him who \u201csmote upon his\nbreast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner;\u201d {17b} and conscious\nweakness makes him call to the Saviour, with the imploring voice of him\nwho cried, \u201cLord, save me.\u201d {17c}  For when the conscience is fully\nenlightened, and the heart sanctified by Divine grace, a clear perception\nof the holiness of God\u2019s law, and a deep sense of personal unworthiness,\nare produced in the believer, which at once humble him to the dust, and\nlead him to throw himself entirely on the mercy of God in Christ Jesus\nour Lord.  Then it is that he labours to devote himself more entirely to\nhis Master\u2019s service, \u201cand adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all\nthings:\u201d {18a} then it is he \u201csets his affections on things above:\u201d {18b}\n\u201clooking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great\nGod and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might\nredeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,\nzealous of good works.\u201d {18c}  And then it is that he takes for his song\nin the house of his pilgrimage, \u201cI know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are\nright, and that Thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be\nafflicted.\u201d {18d}  \u201cFor which cause we faint not; but though our outward\nman perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  For our light\naffliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more\nexceeding and eternal weight of glory.  While we look not at the things\nwhich are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things\nwhich are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are\neternal.\u201d {19a}\n\nSuch is the conduct of the true believer under the chastening hand of the\nLord; such the improvement which, through the Divine blessing, he is\nenabled to make of those afflictive dispensations, which are sent in\nmercy to remind him, that he is only a \u201cstranger and pilgrim upon earth,\u201d\nand must \u201cdesire a better country, that is an heavenly.\u201d {19b}  And when\nGod\u2019s judgments are upon the land, when He has smitten the people with\npestilence, the servant of the Lord rests with firm faith on the\nprotection of Him, who has promised, as \u201cthy days, so shall thy strength\nbe.\u201d {19c}  He knows that whatever happens to him is by the appointment\nof God, without whom even \u201ca sparrow shall not fall on the ground;\u201d {19d}\nhe has further, the blessed assurance, that \u201call things work together for\ngood, to them who love God;\u201d {19e} therefore he has all \u201cthe joy and\npeace in believing\u201d of those, whose minds being \u201cstayed on God,\u201d {19f}\nabound in hope through \u201cthe power of the Holy Ghost.\u201d {19g}  Not that he\nsupposes he will possess a necessary exemption from the power of the\npestilence; this would be to presume on God\u2019s protection: not that\ntrusting to Divine Providence he neglects all human precautions, and\nunnecessarily exposes himself to danger; this would be, in the strong\nlanguage of Scripture, to tempt God: not that he relies on human\nprecautions as supplying any ground of security; this would be to\ndistrust God.  But believing that the pestilence can have no power over\nhim, except by the Divine appointment; and being assured, that, if such\nbe the Divine will, it will prove for his final and eternal welfare; he\nuses, with entire dependence on the Divine blessing, the precautions\nwhich prudence dictates; and commending himself to the safe keeping of\nGod, he faithfully and diligently discharges the duties of his station\nand office, whether of pastor, magistrate, citizen, physician, or\nservant, or, as they may be included in one word, of Christian.  Not that\nthe believer, whilst he \u201cwears this veil of flesh,\u201d is elevated so far\nabove human infirmity, that, through the power of faith, he knows neither\nweakness nor fear in the hour of danger, and in the discharge of duty.\nSt. Paul\u2014in allusion to the marvellous change wrought in the soul, \u201cby\nthe light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus\nChrist,\u201d\u2014says, \u201cbut we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the\nexcellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.  We are troubled on\nevery side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;\npersecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always\nbearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also\nof Jesus might be made manifest in our flesh.\u201d {21a}  Still, they who\nhave learnt, through grace, to confide, with the simplicity of a child,\non the power, care, and love of their heavenly Father, will, amid\ndifficulties and dangers, \u201cprove more than conquerors, through Him who\nloved us, and gave Himself for us;\u201d and will repose, with firm faith,\npious hope, and holy confidence, on His protection, IN WHOSE HANDS ARE\nTHE ISSUES OF LIFE AND DEATH; and who has said, by the mouth of his\nprophets, \u201cTHOU SHALT NOT BE AFRAID FOR ANY TERROR BY NIGHT, NOR FOR THE\nARROW THAT FLIETH BY DAY; FOR THE PESTILENCE WHICH WALKETH IN DARKNESS,\nNOR FOR THE SICKNESS WHICH DESTROYETH IN THE NOON-DAY.  A thousand shall\nfall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not\ncome nigh thee.\u201d {21b}\n\nThere are some sincere Christians, who, from natural timidity of\ndisposition, or from constitutional debility, are peculiarly susceptible\nof fear; and distress themselves by considering such fear a proof that\nthey do not possess the favour of God.  Let them earnestly pray for that\nholy and firm faith, which disarms apprehension under great and imminent\nperil; but if they do not obtain it, let them not despond, but continue\ntheir prayers; it may be a blessing which Heaven has still in store for\nthem.  But if not, _having learnt submission to the Divine will_, let\nthem draw comfort from words which should be so deeply engraved on the\nmemory, as to be ever remembered, and speak peace, in their moments of\ndoubt and alarm, to their troubled souls: \u201cFEAR THOU NOT; FOR I AM WITH\nTHEE: BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM THY GOD: I WILL STRENGTHEN THEE; YEA, I\nWILL HELP THEE; YEA, I WILL UPHOLD THEE WITH THE RIGHT HAND OF MY\nRIGHTEOUSNESS.\u201d {22a}\u2014\u201cThe truth is, the greater our fears and sorrows\nand aversions are, the greater is our submission to God: it may be\nthought a great weakness of nature to be so afraid of our sufferings; but\nit argues the greater strength of faith, and is a more glorious victory\nover self, to make our very fears and aversions submit to the Divine\nwill.  Submission to God does not consist in courage and fortitude of\nmind to bear sufferings, which many have, without any sense of God, and\nwhich the profoundest reverence for God will not always teach us; but he\nsubmits, who receives the bitter cup and drinks it, though with a\ntrembling heart and hand.\u201d {22b}\n\nThus much having been stated, that the timid mind or the sickly frame;\nthe tender plant of grace or \u201cthe bruised reed;\u201d may not sink under a\nweight of obligation, the fulfilment of which is above their present\nstrength; and may not despair, because they fear they can never attain to\nthat measure of faith, \u201cwhich, whilst it kisses with filial reverence the\nrod of correction,\u201d can, in the strong language of St. Paul, \u201c_glory in\ntribulation_ also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and\npatience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed,\nbecause the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost\nwhich is given unto us.\u201d {23a}  Let it be remembered, at the same time,\nthat though none should despond, because they possess not a strength of\nfaith bestowed only on the most highly-advanced Christians; still, all\nmust earnestly seek grace to be enabled to \u201cgo on unto perfection;\u201d {23b}\nby having implanted in their souls that \u201cperfect love, which casteth out\nfear.\u201d {23c}  And, as undoubting faith, unrepining submission, and\nunwearied supplication, are amongst the leading features of the true\nChristian character, they alone can enjoy the consolations of the Gospel\nof peace, who are \u201crejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing\ninstant in prayer.\u201d {23d}\n\nIt is a painful, an awful consideration, how many, in this Christian\nland, \u201ccare for none of these things.\u201d {23e}  I speak not merely of the\nprofane, the scoffer, the sceptic, and the infidel; of those who \u201cmake a\nmock at sin,\u201d and, disputing or disbelieving the truth of Christianity,\n\u201clive without God in the world;\u201d\u2014I speak also of the gay, the\nthoughtless, and the proud; of the worldly, the avaricious, and the\nsensual; of the envious, the malicious, and the censorious; and, with\nshame be it said, of unworthy and false professors and teachers; of the\nunsound in faith and morals; of the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and the\nhypocritical; in short, of all who, declaring a belief in the Christian\nfaith, either mistake its doctrines, disregard its spirit, abuse its\nprivileges, or live unmindful of its strict and holy obligations.\nAgainst all such the Gospel denounces condemnation and woe.  How, then,\nare they prepared to meet the awful dispensation of Divine Providence,\nwhich has fallen upon the nation?  Let the prophet\u2019s enquiry be addressed\nto them:\u2014\u201cWhat will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation\nwhich shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help?\u201d  Will ye dare\nto say, \u201cO Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in the day of\naffliction?\u201d  What! can ye in sickness apply to God for relief, who in\nhealth were \u201clovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?\u201d {24}  Can ye in\naffliction seek comfort of God, who in joy have by your actions denied\nGod?  Can ye in adversity flee to God, who in prosperity had not God in\nall your thoughts? {25}  They who have never really sought, and submitted\nto the guidance of the Gospel, cannot hope to possess its support and\nconsolations in the first hour of need.  How dark, therefore, to such, is\nthe season of sickness, of sorrow, and of adversity: they enjoy no light\nfrom above, no comfort from within, no consolation from without, which\ncan brighten the gloomy mind, cheer the desponding heart, and soothe the\nalarmed conscience.  Faithful and busy memory serves only to supply a\npainful retrospect of opportunities neglected, and warnings despised: and\nconscience, which had long slumbered in a deadly lethargy, often now\ninflicts her sharpest stings upon the wretched sufferer.  And should they\nbe arrested by the sudden stroke of a fatal malady, when living in\nforgetfulness of God, and intently occupied with the pursuit of pleasure,\nhonour, or of gain; how terrible is the approach of death!  How often, as\nthis life is fading from the darkening eye, do the realities of the next\nburst upon the mind, with a distinctness and force never felt before!\nHow often, as the soul is trembling on the fearful verge of eternity, is\na vain wish entertained for the return of a brief portion of that time\nwhich has been spent in sin, folly, or the acquisition of what will not\nprofit in a dying hour!  But is the prayer for mercy, extorted by fear\nand suffering, never heard; is the tardy repentance never accepted?  On\nthe contrary, we believe the prayer of humble and contrite guilt to be\nnever rejected: but, be it remembered, at the same time, that repentance\nis the gift of God, and that those who long trifle with their day of\ngrace, and by silencing the admonitions of conscience, resist the Spirit,\nmay be visited with the fearful punishment of judicial blindness and\nfinal impenitence.  \u201cBecause I have called, and ye refused; I have\nstretched out my hand, and no man regarded: but ye have set at nought all\nmy counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your\ncalamity, and will mock when your fear cometh; _when your fear cometh as\ndesolation_, _and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind_, _when distress\nand anguish cometh upon you_.  _Then shall they call upon me_, _but I\nwill not answer_; _they shall seek me early_, _but they shall not find\nme_: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the\nLord; they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof.\u201d {26}\n\nFrom this fearful denunciation of Divine wrath upon obstinate and\nhardened disobedience, what an awful lesson may be learnt, under the\npresent circumstances of this country.  How descriptive are many of the\nterms employed of that fatal pestilence which has broken out in the land!\nin the suddenness of the seizure, it resembles \u201cTHE WHIRLWIND;\u201d by its\ndestructiveness, it causes \u201cDESOLATION;\u201d and from the intensity of the\nsufferings which it produces, arise \u201cDISTRESS AND ANGUISH.\u201d  God grant\nthat the threatened vengeance be not equally verified;\u2014\u201cTHEN SHALL THEY\nCALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY\nSHALL NOT FIND ME.\u201d  Oh! let not any individual risk incurring such a\nfearful doom by delaying his repentance!  The Lord now calls every one\nwith a voice that all must hear; He has \u201cbared an arm,\u201d which all must\nsee; let not any longer refuse, let not any longer disregard, lest they\nshould fill up the measure of their iniquity, and be swept away by the\nblast of Divine displeasure!  Let not any trust to that, at all times\npresumptuous, if not always fallacious, hope, a death-bed repentance.\nThat man, whose existence hangs upon a thread, which a moment may suffice\nto snap, should defer his preparation for death and judgment, is such an\nact of madness, that nothing but a knowledge of its certainty could make\na religious mind credit the fact.  What! risk an eternity of joy or\nmisery on the chances of a moment! for beyond the present moment, man\npossesses no security of the continuance of life.  And the very\npresumption which leads him to calculate upon long years to come may call\nforth that awful sentence,\u2014\u201cThou fool, this night thy soul shall be\nrequired of thee.\u201d  But if the postponement of turning and calling upon\nGod be, under ordinary circumstances, full of presumption and danger,\nwhat is it now in times of pestilence?  From the many instances of\nmortality which encompass us on every side, \u201cthere comes a voice, which\nsolemn sounding bids the world prepare.\u201d  The judgments of the\nAlmighty,\u2014to those who are living in forgetfulness of Him, and\ndisobedience to His commands, but have not entirely thrown off His\nservice,\u2014speak the language addressed to Jonah, \u201cWhat meanest thou, O\nsleeper?  Arise, and call upon thy God.\u201d {28a}  But to those who refuse\nto turn, who \u201charden their necks against the reproof, and will have none\nof the counsel of God;\u201d they resemble the characters of flame upon the\nwalls of the palace of Belshazzar, which announced the terrible\ndecree,\u2014\u201cTHOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES, AND ART FOUND WANTING.\u201d {28b}\n\nThe Christian writer, judging from the experience of the past, cannot\nclose his eyes to the sad truth, that there are some whom mercy softens\nnot, whom threatening warns not, whom danger alarms not.  Who amidst\nmanifestations of Divine wrath, display hardened unconcern or desperate\nwickedness.  What a striking proof have we here of the effects of sin in\nhardening the heart, and deadening the conscience.  But let not any\nimagine that such men will view the approach of the fatal malady without\nalarm.  The bodily anguish will probably supply no parallel to the mental\nterror, when they find themselves clutched, as it were, in the grasp of\nthe mortal disease which is destroying them.  And in the ordinarily brief\ninterval between seizure and that death, which so often ensues, if\nconscience resume her power, how terrible must be the remorse, how\nunutterable the anguish of the affrighted soul, which sees death, death\neternal in view, and yet cannot pray: or if the cry for pardon and help\nto their long-forgotten God, burst from the quivering lip, it is the\nbitter cry of almost despairing terror.  Sad as are many of the scenes\nwhich human life presents in its passage from the cradle to the tomb; and\nharrowing to the feelings of beholders as is the sight of corporeal\nanguish; how immeasurably do other scenes of human suffering fall short\nof the union of bodily and mental agony, often witnessed on the death-bed\nof terrified guilt! but still, to the religious mind, there are two\ndeath-beds still more fearful, as being more hopeless; and they are, when\ndesperate wickedness, at its last hour, evinces hardened indifference or\nblasphemous despair; when no prayer is offered, or when curses are\nmingled with the prayer.\n\nMay the fear of such death-beds act, through the grace of God, as a\nsalutary warning to those who are living in sin, and neglecting to\nimprove the call to repentance sent in mercy: and let their thoughts\nextend beyond the present life, and draw further instruction from the\nawful truth\u2014that whilst death terminates to impenitent guilt its present\nsufferings, it commences others far more terrible.\n\nWere it permitted to a living man to pass the portals of the dark\nprison-house of disembodied spirits, and witness the punishments of the\ncondemned,\u2014the unceasing gnawing of the undying worm, the unremitting\nburning of the unquenched fire;\u2014what words could express the joy and\nthankfulness of that man, on returning to the land of the living and the\nplace of hope!  Would he lose a moment in fleeing to the cross of Christ,\nfor deliverance from sin, and refuge from the wrath to come?  Would he\nstill defer seeking for \u201crepentance towards God, and faith towards our\nLord Jesus Christ?\u201d {30}  The terrible realities he had witnessed of that\nstate of untried being on which the soul enters at death, would doubtless\nhaunt his waking and his sleeping hours, and he would find no rest till\nGod, by his Spirit, had spoken peace to his affrighted soul.  And then,\nlong as life lasted, it would be his daily subject of grateful\nthanksgiving to his gracious long-suffering Lord, that he had borne with\nhis iniquities, and had not cut him off in the midst of his sins: but\nthrough the Divine mercy he was allowed on earth \u201cto praise the Lord with\njoyful lips,\u201d instead of \u201cin hell, lifting up his eyes, being in\ntorments.\u201d {31}\n\nBut such a visit to the place of condemned spirits is not necessary to\nlearn all that in our present state of being it concerns us to know.  The\nvolume of inspiration has revealed the awful truth, that an eternity of\ntorments awaits the condemned in a future world.\n\nWill not, then, this suffice to rouse thoughtless and sinful men to a\nsense of danger?  The judgments of the Almighty now upon the land; death\napproaching many under a fearful form; the presumption and sinfulness of\ntrusting to a late repentance; the danger of the infliction of judicial\nblindness; the horrors of a guilty death-bed; the torments of the damned,\nhave all been urged as so many calls to repentance, and may God accompany\nthem with his grace, that they may not be urged in vain; but all of these\nequal not the awfulness and terribleness of AN ETERNITY OF TORMENT.\nThere is something overpowering in the idea of unmitigated unmitigable\nwoe; it is so terrific, that it astounds, it is so vast, that it\noverwhelms the mind: for the finite faculties of man cannot grasp\neternity: they are lost in the maze of millions of years rolling on in\nendless succession.  But if there be any who have tost, for one night, on\na bed of suffering; any who have experienced, for one hour, the racking\ntorture of intolerable pain; let them ask themselves how they would\nendure, in the immensity of endless time, \u201cthe worm which dieth not, and\nthe fire which is not quenched.\u201d\n\nMay this awful consideration have its due weight upon every reader; may\nthose who have not yet been \u201cturned from darkness to light, and from the\npower of Satan unto God,\u201d obtain grace to seek pardon and peace through\nthe Saviour who brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel;\nthat, through Him they may escape \u201cthe fire prepared for the devil and\nhis angels.\u201d {32a}\n\n\u201cKnowing, therefore, the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men,\u201d {32b}\nsays St. Paul: who afterwards adds, \u201cNow, then, we are ambassadors for\nChrist; as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ\u2019s\nstead, be ye reconciled unto God.\u201d {32c}  It is thus the Christian\nminister declares the denunciations of Divine vengeance, and the\ncertainty and eternity of Divine punishments, that he may prepare the way\nfor a joyful acceptance of the offers of Divine mercy.  This two-fold\nduty of the ministerial office, is beautifully described by Cowper:\n\n    \u201cThere stands the messenger of truth, there stands\n    The legate of the skies!  His theme divine,\n    His office sacred, his credentials clear.\n    By him the violated Law speaks out\n    Its thunders: and by him, in strains as sweet\n    As angels use, the Gospel whispers peace.\u201d {33a}\n\nThe dispensations of the Almighty are at once the inflictions of his\ndispleasure, the warnings of his love, and the invitations of his mercy:\nto every sinner they address the enquiry, \u201cDespisest thou the riches of\nhis goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the\ngoodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?  But after thy hardness and\nimpenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of\nwrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God?\u201d {33b}  May the\nAlmighty give his blessing upon the afflictive visitation He has sent\nupon this land, that sinners may be roused to a sense of their danger,\nand brought to embrace thankfully the offers of pardon and salvation,\nmade through Christ Jesus our Lord!\n\nThe Holy Scriptures present at once the most earnest calls to repentance\nand the most gracious offers of forgiveness.  \u201cAs I live, saith the Lord\nGod, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked\nturn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, for\nwhy will ye die, O house of Israel?\u201d {34a}  \u201cO house of Israel, are not\nmy ways equal, and are not your ways unequal? saith the Lord.  Therefore\nI will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,\nsaith the Lord God.  Repent, and turn yourselves from all your\ntransgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin.  Cast away from you\nall your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a new\nheart, and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? for I\nhave no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God.\nWherefore, turn yourselves, and live ye.\u201d {34b}  \u201cCome now, and let us\nreason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they\nshall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be\nas wool.\u201d {34c}\n\nSuch are some of the invitations of the Holy Scriptures to turning and\ncalling upon God.  Let us, then, suppose the case of one who is alarmed\nby the Divine threatenings; who, conscious of his guilt, sees as it were\nthe gulf of perdition yawning beneath his feet; but is deterred, by a\nsense of the heinousness of his sins, from seeking the pardon which he\ndespairs of obtaining.  How is he to be addressed?  The love and mercy of\nGod, as shewn towards a guilty and perishing world, in the mysterious,\nbut most gracious, plan of redemption, through the Saviour, must be\npointed out, and largely dwelt upon.  Under the severer dispensation of\nthe Law, amid the awful splendours of its promulgation, the Lord was\nproclaimed to be \u201cthe Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,\nlong-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for\nthousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and that will by\nno means clear the guilty.\u201d {35a}  Under the Gospel dispensation, it is\nemphatically said, \u201cGOD IS LOVE:\u201d {35b} that \u201cGod so loved the world,\nthat He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him\nshould not perish, but have everlasting life.\u201d {35c}  Let not, therefore,\nthe heinousness of past sins, and the sense of present unworthiness,\ndeter any from coming to the Saviour: for \u201cGod sent not his Son into the\nworld to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be\nsaved.\u201d {35d}  And that gracious Saviour has authoritatively declared,\nwhat is the sole condition of acceptance, through His infinite merits:\n\u201cVerily, Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting\nlife:\u201d {35e} and has tenderly invited all to flee unto Him who labour\nunder the yoke of sin, or the burden of sorrow; \u201cCome unto me, all ye\nthat labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest: take my yoke\nupon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall\nfind rest unto your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.\u201d\n{36a}  Before the nativity of our blessed Lord, the command was conveyed\nby an angel, \u201cThou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His\npeople from their sins.\u201d {36b}  Agreeably to which, He Himself says, \u201cI\nam not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.\u201d {36c}  And\nSt. Paul prefaces his delivery of the great truth he was commissioned to\nteach, in a manner befitting its importance: \u201cThis is a true saying, and\nworthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world\nto save sinners.\u201d {36d}  If the Gospel did not contain a free pardon for\nsin, little would it be in accordance either with its name, _good news_,\nor with the proclamation of the heavenly host, which heralded the birth\nof the Messiah: \u201cBehold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which\nshall be _to all people_, for unto you is born this day in the city of\nDavid, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.\u201d {36e}  To every penitent the\npromise is addressed\u2014\u201cHim that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out.\u201d\n{36f}  The Divine mercy towards repentant sinners knows no restrictions;\nthe cleansing power of the Saviour\u2019s blood, no limitations.\n\nIf there be any self-convicted and self-condemned sinner, still\nhesitating to throw himself upon the mercy of God in Christ, let him hear\nthe Psalmist, who has represented under the most striking and affecting\nimages, the love of God towards man: \u201cThe Lord is full of compassion and\nmercy; long-suffering and of great goodness.  He will not always be\nchiding, neither keepeth He his anger for ever.  He hath not dealt with\nus after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses.  For\nlook how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth, so great is His\nmercy also toward them that fear Him.  Look how wide also the east is\nfrom the west, so far hath He set our sins from Him.  _Yea_, _like as a\nfather pitieth his own children_, _even so is the Lord merciful unto them\nwho fear Him_.  For He knoweth whereof we are made, He remembereth that\nwe are but dust.\u201d {37a}  Let him hear St. John, who has stated the full\nextent of Christ\u2019s atoning and mediatorial power: \u201cIf _any man sin_, we\nhave an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is\nthe propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the\nsins of the whole world.\u201d {37b}  Let him hear St. Paul, who has supplied\na sure ground of unfailing trust in God: \u201c_He that spared not His own\nSon_, but delivered Him up for us all, how _shall He not with Him also\nfreely give us all things_?\u201d {37c}  Should any one still hesitate to come\nunto Christ as their Saviour, let him hear His merciful expostulation,\n\u201c_Ye will not come to me that ye might have life_.\u201d {38a}  Let him listen\nto His gracious enquiry, \u201c_Wilt thou be made whole_?\u201d  And if he still\ncannot persuade himself, that there is mercy in store for such a sinner\nas himself, let him at last draw comfort from the assurance, that \u201cthe\n_Son of Man is come to save that which is lost_,\u201d {38b} and seeks after\nperishing sinners, as the faithful shepherd after the sheep which have\nwandered from the fold.  Nor is this all: not only does our gracious Lord\n_seek after guilty and lost sinners_, but \u201c_likewise there is joy in the\npresence of the angels of God over_ ONE SINNER _that repenteth_.\u201d {38c}\nWhat a proof have we here of the value of the soul in the sight of God!\nHis incarnate Son dying to redeem it from eternal misery; when restored\nto His Father\u2019s right hand, watching over it with constant care; and\nseeking, with tender gentleness, to bring back the wanderers from the\nfold of grace: and when the slave of sin breaks his fetters, and through\ngrace given unto him, falls repentant and humbled at the foot of the\ncross, then joy is felt in the court of heaven, and the seraphic choir\ngive praise, and honour, and glory, to \u201cHim who sitteth on the throne,\nand the Lamb;\u201d {38d} because a poor sinner has been turned, by the\nmarvellous grace of the Gospel, \u201cfrom darkness to light, and from the\npower of Satan unto God; that he may receive forgiveness of sins, and\ninheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Christ\nJesus.\u201d {39a}\n\nThe gracious and unmerited invitations of Divine mercy are addressed to\nall sinners by \u201cGod our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and\nto come unto the knowledge of the truth.\u201d {39b}  Let not therefore any\none say, my sins are too great to be forgiven; this is to limit the\natoning efficacy of Christ\u2019s blood, which is illimitable: let not any one\nsay, I am not yet fit to come unto Christ; this is to mistake the nature\nof the Gospel, which is designed to remedy man\u2019s natural unfitness: but\nlet all betake themselves to Christ for pardon of past sins, through His\nblood; and for strength against future temptations, through His grace.\nNor let it be thought that these observations apply only to gross\nsinners.  One description of man\u2019s natural condition, and only one,\napplies to the whole human race;\u2014\u201cAll have sinned and come short of the\nglory of God:\u201d and one means of restoration to the lost favour of God,\nand only one, is offered to the whole human race;\u2014the \u201cbeing justified\nfreely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom\nGod has set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood, to\ndeclare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,\nthrough the forbearance of God.\u201d {40a}  Those who refuse to come unto\nChrist as sinners, stand self-excluded from all benefit of His atonement.\nTo such the Saviour addresses the words,\u2014\u201cBecause thou sayest I am rich,\nand increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and _knowest not that\nthou art wretched_, _and miserable_, _and poor_, _and blind_, _and\nnaked_.  _I counsel thee to buy of_ ME gold tried in the fire, that thou\nmayest be rich; and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that\nthe shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with\neye-salve that thou mayest see.\u201d {40b}  Man\u2019s natural weakness and\nsinfulness is the fundamental truth on which the Christian plan of\nredemption is built; for if he had possessed inherent power to overcome\nhis natural depravity, and keep the commandments of God, the sacrifice of\nChrist would not have been necessary for the atonement of his sins, and\nfor his escape from eternal condemnation.  Did we not know that pride,\nbased upon a poor and defective system of morality, generally shows the\nmost decided hostility to the humbling doctrines of the Gospel, it would\nhardly be believed that any would refuse to come to Christ as sinners.\nHow much at variance are such self-righteous feelings with the spirit of\nthe confession of our Church, in which, under the appropriate and\naffecting figure of sheep wandered from the fold, we are accustomed to\nentreat the pity, protection, and guidance, of the great \u201cShepherd of our\nsouls.\u201d  There are two considerations, however, which may, with the\nDivine blessing, if duly weighed, bring such persons to the foot of the\ncross with deep self-abasement and acknowledgment of sin: one is, that in\nthe Gospel the motive determines the value of an action; and the\nChristian\u2019s motive is, to do all to the glory of God: the other is, that\nman is accountable, not only for his actions, but for his omissions; not\nonly for every idle word, but for every sinful wish; nay, more, for every\nimpure thought indulged and cherished.  Let those who think their\nfailings few and venial, their merits great, and deserving of reward,\napply to their lives these two great tests of Christian holiness\u2014praying,\nat the same time, to \u201cthe Father of lights,\u201d for grace and knowledge: and\nif they be not brought to admit, that \u201cin many things we offend all;\u201d\n{41} if it be not the language of their hearts, \u201cWe acknowledge and\nbewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time,\nmost grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy\nDivine Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against\nus;\u201d\u2014they are ignorant of the spirit of the Gospel, and far from the\nkingdom of God.  For, like the Jews of old, \u201cthey have a zeal of God, but\nnot according to knowledge: for they, being ignorant of God\u2019s\nrighteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have\nnot submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.  _For Christ is\nthe end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth_.\u201d {42a}\n\u201cThat no flesh should glory in His presence.  But of Him are ye in Christ\nJesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and\nsanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, he that\nglorieth, let him glory in the Lord.\u201d {42b}\n\nTo true believers, \u201cCHRIST IS ALL IN ALL:\u201d {42c} on His atonement they\nrest for pardon before God; on His grace they rely for strength; and to\nHis merits they trust for salvation.  Their truly Christian hope is built\nupon a lively faith; they believe \u201cthat man is very far gone from\noriginal righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so\nthat the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit, and therefore in\nevery person born into this world, it deserveth God\u2019s wrath and\ndamnation.\u201d {42d}  That \u201cthe condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is\nsuch, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural\nstrength and good works, to faith and calling upon God; wherefore we have\nno power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the\ngrace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and\nworking with us when we have that good will.\u201d {43a}  \u201cThat we are\naccounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works and deservings:\nwherefore that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome\ndoctrine, and very full of comfort.\u201d {43b}  And \u201calbeit that good works,\nwhich are the fruits of faith, and follow after justification, cannot put\naway our sins, and endure the severity of God\u2019s judgments; yet are they\npleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily\nof a true and lively faith; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be\nas evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.\u201d {43c}\n\nSuch are the four Articles of the Church of England which declare man\u2019s\nnatural corruption; his just exposure to Divine condemnation; his means\nof restoration to God\u2019s favour; the meritorious cause of his salvation;\nand the inseparable union of faith and good works.  From which may be\ndrawn these two fundamental principles of the Christian faith\u2014salvation,\nalone through the all-sufficient merits of Christ; and sanctification,\nalone through the renewing power of the Holy Ghost.  Man is, in every\nrespect, a dependent being: the same Almighty Power which formed his body\nfrom the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of\nlife; can alone enlighten, renew, and sanctify his soul.  Thus\nfaith\u2014which is the rock on which the Church of Christ is built, and\nwithout which we shall never believe the promises, accept the offers, or\nattain the salvation of the Gospel\u2014is the gift of God, and wrought in our\nsouls by the Holy Spirit.  United with faith is true repentance, which is\nno less the work of grace; for unless God enlighten the understanding,\nthere will be no just sense of sin; unless He soften the heart, there\nwill be no contrition: and from a true repentance there always springs\nholy obedience, which is also produced by the Spirit: for the same\nblessed Power which enlightens the darkness of the understanding and\nsoftens the hardness of the heart, also rectifies the perversion of the\nwill, and sanctifies the corruption of the affections, that the believer\nmay know, choose, obey, and love, the way of godliness.  And thus we\narrive at that blessed change in the life of a penitent, when he becomes\n\u201ca new creature in Christ Jesus,\u201d when \u201cold things have passed away, and\nbehold all things have become new;\u201d when he has \u201cput on the new man,\nwhich after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.\u201d\n\nThe renewal and sanctification of the soul is the only sure ground on\nwhich the Christian can build his unfailing hope of salvation.  Not that\nany may presume to limit the extent of the Divine mercy, or state a\ndefinite time for the operations of the Holy Spirit.  The first is as\nboundless as it is unsearchable; the second may be as instantaneous as it\nis incomprehensible.  Thus much we know with certainty, that when that\nmost encouraging call to repentance was addressed to the Jewish\npeople,\u2014\u201cLet the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his\nthoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon\nhim; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon;\u201d\u2014there was added,\n\u201cFor my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,\nsaith the Lord: for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my\nways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.\u201d {45}\nStill, all who have time and opportunity must prove the sincerity of\ntheir repentance, and the soundness of their faith by the holiness of\ntheir practice.  Nor can it be too earnestly insisted upon, that it is\nonly by the gift of a new and holier nature, man can rise above the\npleasures of sense and things of time, and set his affections on the joys\nof immortality; and that the new and holier nature is implanted, when the\ngracious promise is fulfilled\u2014\u201cI will give them one heart, and _I will\nput a new spirit within you_; _and I will take the stony heart out of\ntheir flesh_, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in\nmy statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my\npeople, and I will be their God.\u201d {46a}  It is to the use of palliatives\nmuch of the insincere repentance and imperfect reformation of men is to\nbe ascribed.  When their fears are alarmed, they set about correcting\nsome flagrant sins, and it may be, become outwardly moral, and even\nattentive to religious duties; but the renewal of the heart, through\ngrace, and the dedication of its affections to God, are never thought of;\nand yet they are satisfied with this condition.  Such persons are only to\nbe roused by preaching conversion or condemnation.  They must be taught\nto pray, with repentant David, \u201c_Make me a clean heart_, _O God_, _and\nrenew a right spirit within me_.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and\ntake not thy Holy Spirit from me.  O give me the comfort of thy help\nagain, and stablish me with thy free Spirit.\u201d {46b}\n\nThe great work of the renewal and sanctification of the soul is\nordinarily accomplished by a progressive growth in grace; during which,\nthe believer is gradually enabled to obtain the mastery over the corrupt\naffections of his nature, to acquire the graces and perform the duties of\nthe Christian character, and \u201cto set his affections on things above,\u201d\never \u201cpressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God\nin Christ Jesus,\u201d {47a} and endeavouring to \u201ccome in the unity of the\nfaith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto\nthe measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.\u201d {47b}  In the life\nof some of those who have been \u201cbrought up in the nurture and admonition\nof the Lord,\u201d {47c} and have never departed from serving their God, there\nmay be no clearly defined transitions, no strongly-marked shades, in the\nharmoniously-blended colours, in which has been traced the even tenor of\ntheir way.  But such cases are probably rare\u2014for those who attain to a\nvery high degree of spiritual-mindedness, can generally fix upon some\ndefinite period in their religious life, when they obtained clearer views\nof their personal unworthiness, and of the holiness of God\u2019s law; of the\ninsufficiency of the things of earth to minister to the wants of an\nimmortal soul; and of the inestimable value of the \u201ctreasure in heaven,\u201d\nthan they ever possessed before; and when they learnt to rely on their\nLord more confidently, to love Him more devotedly, to advance His cause\nmore zealously, and to obey Him more steadily and implicitly.  In the\ncase of those, who have either deserted the God of their youth for a\n\u201cworld lying in wickedness,\u201d but, like the prodigal, upon abandoning its\nvices and follies, have been received and pardoned by a merciful Father;\nor who have been brought up in ignorance of religion, but have been\nplucked like a brand from the burning, by one of those afflictive\ndispensations which God often sends in mercy to awaken sinners; the time\nand circumstances of their conversion {48a} will be clearly marked and\never remembered: \u201cit is too momentous an event,\u201d observes Paley, in\nwriting of such conversions, \u201cto be forgot: a man might as easily forget\nhis escape from a shipwreck.\u201d {48b}\n\nThe knowledge of the time, however, when conversion takes place, is\nprincipally of importance, as far as it goes to establish the fact, the\ncertainty of which must always be determined by the effects produced; for\nit is easy in this, as in every other particular of religious experience,\nto be deceived.  But there can be no deception when the believer is at\nonce conscious of a change in his heart, and exhibits a reformation in\nhis life; for then he may say, this I know, that whereas I was dead, now\nam I alive in the Lord: he possesses an internal witness to his being\nborn of God;\u2014\u201cWhosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of\nGod;\u201d \u201cHe that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness\u2014in himself;\u201d\nand His life affords external proof of his sonship;\u2014\u201cWhosoever is born of\nGod, sinneth not.\u201d {49a}  He rejoices, therefore, in the glorious\nprivileges of the Gospel, through which \u201cthere is, therefore, now no\ncondemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the\nflesh but after the Spirit;\u201d through which, \u201cas many as are led by the\nSpirit of God, are the sons of God;\u201d {49b} and through which, \u201cthe Spirit\nitself beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God;\nand if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.\u201d\n\nLet, then, the reformed examine strictly into their lives, as to whether\nthey exhibit decisive proofs of a genuine conversion; of conversion, not\nused in its limited sense, as implying a sudden or even violent change,\nbut in the more extended sense, of a recovery from sin, and of a full\ndevelopment of the Christian character:\u2014a conversion which, in its\ncompletion, is equivalent to the renewal of the soul in righteousness;\nthe progress of which may be, in some, so gradual, as almost to be\nimperceptible, but must be, in all, so certain, as to be unquestionable.\nLet those, who, through the grace of God, have endeavoured to live ever\nmindful of their baptismal engagements, and duly sensible of the blessed\nprivileges of the Christian covenant, institute a no less rigid\nexamination into their lives, as to how far they manifest a continued\ngrowth in grace; an increasing in every good word and work; a growing\nconformity to the example of Christ; a visible ripening for heaven; and a\ngradual restoration of the lost image of God in the soul.  And what is to\nbe said to those who have either never learnt, or have wilfully violated,\ntheir baptismal engagements; and during a long course of sin, have\nneglected, disobeyed, and forgotten God, whose calls to repentance they\nstill disregard?  The same language must be addressed to the habitual, as\nwas applied to the externally reformed sinner;\u2014whose heart was still the\nseat of vain or impure desires, of base or malignant passions;\u2014CONVERSION\nor CONDEMNATION.  \u201cOf the persons in our congregations,\u201d says Paley, \u201cto\nwhom we not only may, but must, preach the doctrine of conversion,\nplainly and directly, are those, who with the name indeed of Christians,\nhave hitherto passed their lives without any internal religion whatever;\nwho have not at all thought upon the subject; who, a few easy and\ncustomary forms excepted (and which with them are mere forms), cannot\ntruly say of themselves, that they have done one action, which they would\nnot have done equally, if there had been no such thing as a God in the\nworld; or that they have ever sacrificed any passion, any present\nenjoyment, or even any inclination of their minds to the restraints and\nprohibitions of religion; with whom, indeed, religious motives have not\nweighed a feather in the scale against interest or pleasure.  To these it\nis utterly necessary that we preach conversion.\u201d {51a}  \u201cThe next\ndescription of persons to whom we must preach conversion, properly so\ncalled, are those who allow themselves in the course and habit of some\nparticular sin, with more or less regularity in other articles of\nbehaviour; there is some particular sin, which they practise constantly\nand habitually, and allow themselves in that practice.  Other sins they\nstrive against, but in this they allow themselves.  Now no man can go on\nin this course consistently with the hope of salvation; therefore, it\nmust be broken off.  The essential and precise difference between a child\nof God and another is, that the true child of God _allows himself_ in no\nsin whatever; cost what it may, he contends against, he combats all sin;\nwhich he certainly cannot be said to do, who is still in the course and\nhabit of some particular sin; for as to that sin, he reserves it, he\ncompromises it.  Here then we must preach conversion.\u201d {51b}  \u201cIn these\ntwo cases, therefore, men must be converted and live, or remain\nunconverted and die.\u201d {51c}\n\nLet then all those who are living in ignorance of the spirit, and\nconsequently in neglect of the obligations of the Gospel, lay this to\nheart; and let them not imagine that it is only intended to alarm their\nfears.  The scoffer, the profane, the sceptic, and the infidel, can hope\nfor nothing through a Gospel which they ridicule, despise, or reject.\nBut the gay, the thoughtless, and the proud\u2014the worldly, the avaricious,\nand the sensual\u2014the malicious, the censorious, and the envious\u2014all\nprofess to believe the Gospel; and the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and\nhypocritical, pretend to make it their rule of life.  \u201cTo the law, and to\nthe testimony,\u201d to see whether these must all be converted or condemned.\n\u201cNot every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the\nkingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in\nheaven.  Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not\nprophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy\nname done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I\nnever knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.\u201d {52a}  It\nappears, therefore, possible to exercise some of the highest functions of\nChristianity, and yet to be cast away.  \u201cNot the hearers of the law are\njust before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.\u201d {52b}  \u201cBe\nye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.\u201d\n{52c}  Hence, then, we learn the worthlessness of a mere profession of\nthe Gospel.  \u201cLove not the world, neither the things that are in the\nworld: if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.\u201d\n{53a}  Here we are taught the incompatibility of the love of the world\nwith the love of God.  \u201cNow the works of the flesh are manifest, which\nare these;\u2014adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,\nwitchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,\nheresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of\nthe which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that\nthey which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d {53b}\nThis fearful catalogue of offences, which exclude from heaven, passes\nsentence of condemnation upon all who live in the indulgence of any known\nsin.  From these, and many other passages of Scripture, as well as from\nits general tenor, we arrive at the conclusion, that the various classes\nof men which have been described, are all exposed to the righteous\njudgment of God, ready to be revealed at the last day.  They bear the\nChristian name, it is true, but that is all they possess of a blessed\ndispensation, which was ushered in by the preaching of repentance:\u2014\u201cThe\ntime is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, _repent ye and\nbelieve the Gospel_;\u201d {53c} and which has always imposed upon its\nconverts personal holiness, as a universal obligation, and inseparable\nfrom its promises and rewards; \u201c_Wherefore follow holiness_, _without\nwhich no man shall see the Lord_.\u201d {54a}  \u201cFor the grace of God that\nbringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying\nungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and\ngodly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope and the\nglorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who\ngave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and\npurify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.\u201d {54b}  As\nbeing destitute, therefore, of the essentials of the Christian faith, the\npowerful writer, who has already been quoted at such great length, says,\n\u201cthese persons are really in as unconverted a state as any Jew or Gentile\ncould be in our Saviour\u2019s time.  They are no more Christians, as to any\nactual benefit of Christianity to their souls, than the most hardened\nJew, or the most profligate Gentile, was in the age of the Gospel.  As to\nany difference in the two cases, the difference is all against them.\nThese must be converted before they can be saved.  The course of their\nthoughts must be changed: the very principles upon which they act must be\nchanged.  Considerations which never, or hardly ever, entered into their\nminds, must deeply and perpetually engage them.  Views and motives, which\ndid not influence them at all, either as checks from doing evil, or as\ninducements to do good, must become the views and motives which they\nregularly consult, and by which they are guided;\u2014that is to say, there\nmust be a revolution of principle: the visible conduct will follow the\nchange, but there must be a revolution within.\u201d\n\nThese observations are made by Paley, with reference to those persons\n\u201cwho have hitherto passed their lives without any internal religion\nwhatever;\u201d with whom, in short, religion has not been the rule of life.\nOh! that the countless multitudes within this kingdom, to whom this\ndescription applies, and who are living regardless, if not ignorant, of\nthe eternal condemnation impending over their unconverted souls, \u201cwould\nbe wise and consider their latter end.\u201d  Oh that they would be persuaded\nto learn from the word of God, what the holy name which they bear\nrequires of them; and consider what the vows made in baptism bind them\nto, if they wish to be partakers of the precious benefits purchased for\nhis faithful servants by Christ, at the costly price of his blood.  \u201cYe\ndo err, not knowing the Scriptures,\u201d is a reproof which applies to them\nall.  For, unfortunately, the generality of men are content to receive\nfrom others all they know of religion: they do not enquire for\nthemselves; but willingly acquiesce in the most indulgent views of human\nduty.  And if they do sometimes read the Bible, yet they do not study it,\nand pray over it, with an anxious desire to be brought to a knowledge of\nthe truth; with a firm determination to receive the truth, however\nunpleasant, however opposed to their present opinions; and with a\nresolution, not suddenly taken, but after mature and anxious\ndeliberation, and not formed in dependence upon themselves, but upon\nDivine grace, to build their faith and practice on its holy doctrines and\nprecepts.  To all such, however, we would say, \u201cThis do, and ye shall\nlive:\u201d let the time past of your lives suffice to have past in ignorance\nor neglect of God\u2019s gracious revelation to man; now delay not longer:\n\u201cThe night is far spent, the day is at hand;\u201d may the day-spring from on\nhigh visit you, and the day-star arise in your hearts to give light to\nyou, who, whilst the beams of the Sun of Righteousness are shining around\nyou, are still lying in darkness and the shadow of death.  \u201cSearch the\nScriptures,\u201d and learn from them, and not from the opinions and conduct\nof men, what is the hope of the Christian calling; search the Scriptures,\nand from them learn, that ye must repent or die eternally.\n\nMay the profane, the scoffer, and the sceptic, have the veil of darkness\nremoved from their understandings, by which \u201cthe god of this world hath\nblinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the\nglorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto\nthem.\u201d {57a}  May they not be left in wilful blindness, until that\nterrible day, when the enemies of the Lord shall find, to their\neverlasting confusion, that \u201cthe wrath of God is revealed from heaven\nagainst all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in\nunrighteousness; because that which is known of God is manifest in them;\nfor God hath shewed it unto them.  For the invisible things of Him from\nthe creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the\nthings that are made, _even His eternal power and Godhead_: so that they\nare without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him\nnot as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,\nand their foolish heart was darkened: professing themselves to be wise,\nthey became fools.\u201d  May\n\n    \u2014\u201cThe gay, licentious, proud,\n    Whom pleasure, power, and affluence surround,\u201d\n\nlearn \u201chow hardly shall they who have riches enter into the kingdom of\nGod!\u201d {57b}  For they too often forget they are God\u2019s stewards, and\naccountable for all they possess.  The day will come when to all of them\nwill be addressed the command, \u201cGive an account of thy stewardship;\u201d and\nhow terrible will be their lot, should they, \u201chaving been unfaithful in\nthe unrighteous mammon,\u201d lose \u201cthe true riches,\u201d\u2014treasure in heaven.  Our\nLord himself has said, \u201cNo servant can serve two masters; for either he\nwill hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and\ndespise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.\u201d {58a}  They,\ntherefore, who in their day of trial have forgotten that their rank or\naffluence are so many talents, for which they are to give account to\ntheir Master in heaven, must expect fearful retribution, unless, while\nthe day of grace remaineth, they obtain pardon and peace through their\nlong-neglected Lord.  Let them now learn that the friendship of the\nworld\u2014whose smile they have courted, whose honours they have coveted,\nwhose pleasures they have enjoyed\u2014\u201cis enmity with God.\u201d  \u201cFor all that is\nin the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the\npride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world\npasseth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God\nabideth for ever.\u201d {58b}  May the avaricious and the sensual, whose\ngrovelling, sordid, and impure minds, have not a thought, a wish, beyond\nthis earth, where they would willingly live for ever; see their sin and\nfolly before it be too late.  Let them hear the awful denunciations of\nScripture; and may that Scripture, through God\u2019s grace, bring conviction\nto their minds and repentance to their hearts.  \u201cGo to now, ye rich men,\nweep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.  Your riches\nare corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver is\ncankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you; and shall\neat your flesh as it were fire: ye have heaped treasure together for the\nlast day.\u201d {59a}  \u201cThey that will be rich fall into temptation and a\nsnare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in\ndestruction and perdition.\u201d {59b}  \u201cDearly beloved, I beseech you, as\nstrangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the\nsoul.\u201d {59c}  \u201cFor the time past of our life may suffice us to have\nwrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness,\nlusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable\nidolatries.\u201d {59d}  \u201cLet no man deceive you with vain words; for because\nof these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of\ndisobedience.\u201d {59e}  May those who now rise up early, and late take\nrest, and eat the bread of carefulness, that they may increase their\nworldly store, receive grace \u201cto lay up treasure in heaven,\u201d not\n\u201ctrusting in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us\nrichly all things to enjoy:\u201d {60a} and may those who, placing few or no\nrestraints upon the appetites and passions of their animal nature,\nardently pursue impure, debasing, and guilty pleasures, have their souls\nso sanctified, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that, \u201ccleansed from\nall filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear\nof God,\u201d {60b} they may desire only \u201cthe joys unspeakable, and full of\nglory, which are at God\u2019s right hand for evermore.\u201d  And may the envious,\nthe censorious, and the malicious, who cherish in their hearts hostility\nand malignity towards their fellows, acquire the spirit of Christian\ncharity!  For \u201ccharity _suffereth long and is kind_; _charity envieth\nnot_; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave\nitself unseemly; seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, _thinketh\nno evil_; _rejoiceth not in iniquity_, _but rejoiceth in the truth_.\u201d\nThere exist no passions in the human breast, which in every age have\nexcited so much scorn and reprobation amongst generous and noble spirits\nas envy and malice: there is a meanness in them which renders them\ncontemptible; there is a malignity which makes them detestable: the\nvirtuous heathen, therefore, viewed them with contemptuous indignation;\nbut the Christian must mourn over such bitter fruits of an unchristian\ntemper; he must admonish those who foster them, that these sins of the\nheart, as more difficult to be repented of, are more likely to exclude\nfrom heaven than the failings which they gloat upon with secret pleasure,\nand publish with malicious satisfaction.  The sins of uncharitableness\ncannot but be peculiarly odious in the sight of Him, whose religion\ninculcates the purest and kindest spirit of brotherly love, and who has\nmade our forgiving our brother his trespasses, the ground of our asking\nthe forgiveness of our own.  We are, therefore, strongly and repeatedly\nwarned in Scripture against anger, envy, hatred, revenge, and malice;\nwhilst the opposite virtues are urged upon us with equal force of\nexhortation and tenderness of entreaty.  \u201cI, therefore, the prisoner of\nthe Lord, beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye\nare called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,\nforbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the\nSpirit in the bond of peace.\u201d  \u201cLet all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,\nand clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice,\nand be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,\neven as God, for Christ\u2019s sake, hath forgiven you.\u201d {61}  Let such,\ntherefore, remembering that their only hope of forgiveness consists in\ntheir obtaining grace to overcome their uncharitable temper and habits,\nhear also and obey the similar admonition of another apostle: \u201cWherefore,\nlaying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and\nall evil-speaking; as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word,\nthat ye may grow thereby.\u201d {62}\n\nMay all those who make a decided profession of religion, but whose heart\nis not right before the Lord; the lukewarm, the self-righteous, and the\nhypocritical; learn that God will never accept of a divided heart; that\nHe will never approve of a self-righteous spirit, and will never receive\nthe incense of feigned lips.  Hypocrisy must be peculiarly offensive, as\nit is peculiarly insulting, to the Majesty of an omniscient and\nomnipresent God.  That one of his creatures should dare to make His name\nor service a cloak to cover his selfish and worldly views; should profess\na great reverence for Him, only to secure the applause, or procure the\nassistance of men, is at once such a bold and impious fraud, as must\nexcite the displeasure, and call down the vengeance of an insulted and\noffended Deity.  What! shall the weak and miserable creature who has been\ngraciously allowed to approach his great Creator, and \u201ctell out his wants\nand unburden his sorrows to Him in prayer,\u201d\u2014shall he pervert to his base\nends this high and holy privilege, and \u201cmake long prayers, that he may be\nseen of men!\u201d  Such a fearful profanation resembles that of Belshazzar,\nwhen he used, at his unholy banquet, the sacred vessels taken from the\nTemple at Jerusalem, and with them gave honour to his false gods. {63}\nFor the hypocrite, who worships in the sanctuary to advance his worldly\ninterest, is employing the holy ordinances of the Lord in the service of\nBelial, who is his god.\n\nIt may be hoped that hypocrisy of this impious nature is rare; but\nneither its criminality nor its extent are sufficiently regarded by men\nin general.  For what, in reality, are all who make merely an outward\nprofession of religion? they are all hypocrites: they do not attend\nreligious worship to offer their sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to\ntheir Preserver and Benefactor; but they pretend to do so; and perhaps\nmight consider themselves unjustly stigmatised, if the real cause of\ntheir being in the courts of the Lord\u2019s house was stated to be, either\nregard for reputation, to set an example, general custom, or the force of\nhabit.  But if men go not to the house of prayer for worship\u2014and those\nwho make merely an outward profession of religion cannot be sincere in\noffering up any prayers\u2014it remains that some other motive must have drawn\nthem there; and whatever that may be, as the real but not ostensible\nmotive, it stamps them as hypocrites.  There also are, it may be feared,\nother hypocrites, of a very different description, who lay claim to more\nreligion than they possess; and, in the cause of the Lord of Hosts,\nprofess more zeal for His honour than they feel.  All such\u2014more\nespecially if they assume a character of which they know themselves to be\ntotally unworthy, seeking to gratify their pride or advance their\ninterests; for then they are hypocrites of the worst description;\u2014expose\nthemselves to the righteous displeasure of the Lord.  May men, therefore,\nlearn, that the profession of religion, without regard to its principles,\nwill, sooner or later, bring down upon them swift and sudden destruction;\nfor \u201cthe prayer of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord,\u201d when\n\u201cthey take the law of God into their mouths, but hate to be reformed in\ntheir hearts.\u201d  And whilst their principles must always correspond with\ntheir profession, their practice must be in accordance with both.  The\nrepentance of the hypocrite is extremely difficult: he has profaned, to\nhis own ungodly purposes, all the means of grace; and sometimes, so\nperfect becomes the delusion of lengthened deception, he almost believes\nhimself really to be the character he has falsely assumed.  Nothing but\nDivine grace can rescue him from his alarming state; for he resembles one\nwho has himself poisoned the wholesome aliment intended for his\nsustenance; still the Great Physician of souls is a sure refuge.  May he,\nthrough Him, obtain mercy and pardon, and escape having \u201chis portion with\nthe hypocrites, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u201d\n\nAmongst the Pharisees it appears, from the severe reproofs our blessed\nLord directed against them, that both an hypocritical and self-righteous\nspirit prevailed to a great extent.  Such will ever be the case where the\nforms are substituted for the spirit of religion.  It will then quickly\ndegenerate into a number of lifeless observances, and the shadow of the\nreligion will remain whilst the substance will be lost.\nSelf-righteousness, in this day, rests nearly upon the same foundation as\nin the time of our Saviour.  Amongst ourselves it is often built upon the\ngroundwork of regularity and strictness in religious observances, and of\nbelonging to a particular sect or party.  It is often characterised by an\nappearance of much self-complacency and spiritual pride; still it is at\nthe same time distinguished generally by a correct standard of morals, a\ndue regard for decorum, and a strict attention to religious duties.\nAlas! every one must lament that the spirit is wanting which will give\nacceptability to these services in the sight of God: for \u201cthus saith the\nhigh and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell\nin the high and holy place; with him also that is of a contrite and\nhumble spirit; to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the\nheart of the contrite ones.\u201d {66a}  There exists not in the heart of man\na feeling more perfectly irreconcileable with his corrupt and fallen\nnature, than spiritual pride.  In the first place, \u201cwho maketh thee to\ndiffer from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?  Now\nif thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not\nreceived it?\u201d {66b}  And in the second, \u201cWho can tell how oft he\noffendeth?  O cleanse thou me from my secret faults!  Keep thy servant\nalso from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me: so shall\nI be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.\u201d {66c}  One of the\nfirst Christian virtues is humility; and he must be equally ignorant of\nhis own heart and of the spirit of the Gospel, who prides himself upon\nhis excellences, instead of lamenting his deficiencies.  A deep\nconsciousness of personal unworthiness; a fearful sense of his little\nprogress in holiness, in comparison with the advantages which have been\nafforded to him; a humble thankfulness that God has enabled him to\nadvance some way in his Christian calling; and an entire dependence on\nhis Saviour for grace, for strength, and guidance, for the time to come,\ngenerally characterize those most favoured servants of the Lord who have\nreached the highest attainments in piety, and best served their\ngeneration.  May the self-righteous receive grace \u201cto learn of Him\u201d who\nwas \u201cmeek and lowly of heart,\u201d and then they will find present and\neternal \u201crest unto their souls.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow long halt ye between two opinions?\u201d was the indignant enquiry\naddressed to the Israelites by the Prophet Elijah: \u201cIf the Lord be God,\nfollow Him; if Baal, then follow him.\u201d {67}  In every age there have been\ntoo many lukewarm in religion, to whom the same enquiry might be\naddressed, for there has ever been the same disposition to make a\ncompromise between God and Mammon.  They are unwilling to forfeit all\nhope of the fair \u201cinheritance of the saints in light;\u201d they are afraid to\nencounter the awful terrors of the blackness of darkness for ever; still\nthe world, with its seductive pleasured and engrossing cares, takes a\nstrong hold upon the heart, and is like a withering blight upon the\nblossoms and fruit of genuine piety.\n\nThere is no vitality of religious principle, and no consistency of\nreligious conduct.  They profess the Gospel, it is true; but they are\ndesirous to accommodate it to their own views and wishes, that it may not\ninterfere with their worldly advantage, not interrupt their present\nenjoyments.  But such a cold and calculating spirit, which appears ever\nto ask, \u201cHow little can I do, and yet get to heaven?\u201d has nothing in it\nof the Gospel of Christ.  Our blessed Lord employs, in the Revelations,\nterms expressive of the most contemptuous rejection of the works of the\nChurch of Laodicea, because it was \u201clukewarm, and neither cold nor hot.\u201d\n{68a}  The whole tenor of Scripture inculcates the duty of obedience to\n\u201cthe first and great commandment\u201d\u2014\u201cThou shalt love the Lord thy God with\nall thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.\u201d {68b}  And\nthey can know little of the glorious and blessed privileges of the\nchildren of God by adoption and grace, who do not habitually look up to\nHim as \u201ca reconciled Father in Christ Jesus our Lord;\u201d who do not cry\nwith humble but firm and confiding faith, \u201cAbba, Father;\u201d and who do not\nobey, with willing and joyful readiness, the command, \u201cMy Son, give me\nthine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.\u201d  There is a necessary\nunion between adoption and grace, between grace and holiness, between\nholiness and love: \u201cas many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the\nsons of God:\u201d \u201cYe are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that\nthe Spirit of God dwell in you:\u201d \u201cThe fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,\npeace.\u201d  They, therefore, who do not manifest in their hearts and lives\nthose blessed proofs of the indwelling of the Spirit, renewed minds,\nsanctified affections, and holy obedience, cannot be said to \u201cwalk after\nthe Spirit.\u201d  \u201cNow if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none\nof his:\u201d he is \u201ccarnally minded;\u201d and \u201cto be carnally minded is death;\u201d\n\u201cbecause the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to\nthe law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the\nflesh cannot please God.\u201d\n\nOh, how does the faithful servant of the Lord mourn over the lukewarm in\nreligion, a class which may sometimes embrace those dearest to him on\nearth\u2014united to him by the closest ties of blood\u2014by the sweetest bonds of\naffection.  He feels for them, for he remembers the time when he had \u201cset\nhis affections on things of earth:\u201d He estimates fully the difficulties\nthey have to surmount, for he knows how hard it is to \u201cset the affections\non things above.\u201d  For this world invites us, through the medium of the\nsenses, with objects present, visible, and palpable; but it is only by\nthe power of abstraction, and through the medium of faith, we can even\ncontemplate the future invisible and unpalpable realities of a spiritual\nworld, whose rewards and joys are covered with a veil which revelation\nhas only raised so far as to show, that whilst their nature transcends\nthe power of human conception, their extent exceeds the limits of human\ncomprehension.  He fears, therefore, lest, bewildered by the false glare\nof earthly attractions, they may never be able to fix the steady eye of\nfaith upon what human \u201ceye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the\nheart of men to conceive;\u201d he fears lest, still impelled forward in the\nbroad way of destruction by semblances of happiness, as alluring but as\nillusive as the mirage of the desert, they may never enter upon the\nnarrow and often thorny path of life, which leads to the Zion of our God.\n\nHow earnestly, therefore, does he entreat them not longer to linger in\nthe outward courts, but to enter at once into the temple of our faith;\nnot longer to starve themselves with \u201cthe beggarly elements of the Law,\u201d\nto which they secretly cling, but to refresh and invigorate their souls\nwith the \u201crich mercies\u201d of the Gospel dispensation, which supplies every\nwant, and satisfies every desire, when fully understood, firmly believed,\nthankfully received, and implicitly obeyed.  For it is not generally that\nthey seek to escape the obligations to personal holiness, for they are\nmoral men: it is not that they wish to avoid the observances of religion,\nfor they are regular in their attendance on divine ordinances; but they\nwill not submit themselves to the sole guidance of that Holy Spirit which\ncan alone consecrate their prayers and sanctify their obedience.  Their\ncase is stated by St. Paul in a few words: they have \u201cthe form without\nthe power of godliness;\u201d and being destitute of its power, they enjoy not\nits present consolations,\u2014they will possess not its future rewards,\nunless, by the transforming influence of divine grace, they are enabled\nto give their, at present, divided hearts to God.  A merely formal\nprofession of the Gospel never yet supplied comfort in the hour of\naffliction\u2014never cheered the sufferings of the bed of pain\u2014never took\naway the fear of death.  It may be, that when the understanding is\nblinded, or the heart hardened, exhausted nature sometimes willingly\nseeks relief from present suffering in death; but such is an awful sign\nof spiritual insensibility.  When the conscience is fully awake, and the\nmind, in full possession of its powers, is conscious of the rapid\napproach of death; the Gospel of Christ alone has power to divest the\ndestroyer of his terrors by robbing him of his sting, and the grave of\nits victory.  Still it is only a heartfelt profession of the Gospel, in\nwhich the approval of the understanding, and the desire of the heart,\naccompany the utterance of the lips, from which issue no lifeless words,\nbut the earnest prayer for mercy and forgiveness for faith and hope, for\nsanctification and submission; which, proving that grace is employed in\nits blessed and holy work of the soul\u2019s renewal, supports and comforts in\nthat awful hour, when the soul is preparing to meet its God and Saviour.\nOh that this consideration may have its due weight to rouse the lukewarm\nfrom their state of apathy!  Can they imagine that their languid and\nlifeless services will be acceptable in the sight of that God, who is\nHimself love, and whose motive, in offering them eternal life, is love?\nCan they suppose their weak faith in the Saviour, their cold reception of\nHis inestimable blessings, will satisfy Him, who referred the ignominious\nand painful death He endured to the greatness of His love,\u2014\u201cgreater love\nhath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.\u201d\n{72}  If, in the various relations of social life, the little services of\naffection are valued infinitely higher than the more costly benefits\nwhich spring only from a cold sense of duty:\u2014if the willing obedience,\nthe watchful attention, and the tender offices of love are prized, beyond\nall comparison, above the forced submission, the reluctant compliance,\nand the unwilling attendance of fear:\u2014can we think for a moment that He,\nwho has admitted us to all the privileges of sonship, and has allowed us\nto approach Him in the endearing character of children, and cry, Abba,\nFather, will regard favourably the services which spring from slavish\nfear, and not from filial love?  It might be thought that the\nconsideration of the infinite love of God towards man, and of the\nprecious benefits conferred upon us by the Saviour, would fill every soul\nwith gratitude and love: to think that weak, sinful, and guilty man,\nshould be elevated to so exalted a relation to God as that of son; to\nremember that his title to his high dignity was purchased, by no less a\nsacrifice than the atonement made by Him, who is the brightness of His\nFather\u2019s glory, and the express image of His person,\u2014present to the mind\nsuch an astounding, and yet transporting view, of \u201cthe length and\nbreadth, and depth and height,\u201d of \u201cthe love of God, which passeth\nknowledge,\u201d that we are constrained to exclaim, \u201cSuch things are too\nwonderful for me; I cannot attain unto them.\u201d  And yet, they affect not,\nthey influence not, that large class of men, the lukewarm in religion!\nGod now calls them by \u201cHis judgments, which are in the earth,\u201d to \u201cturn\nunto Him with all their heart.\u201d  May they all receive grace, to obey the\ncall, and seek forgiveness at his hands; for there is impending over them\na most terrible curse\u2014a curse which repentance only can avert.  \u201cIf any\nlove not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.\u201d {73}\n\nLet, then, all the several classes of men, who, as constituting the\nleading divisions of those who believe not, or practise not, the truth as\nit is in Christ Jesus our Lord\u2014have been exhorted and warned \u201cto flee\nfrom the wrath to come,\u201d be now earnestly intreated to imitate the\nexample of the Bereans of old, who \u201cwere more noble than those in\nThessalonica, _in that they received the Word with all readiness of\nmind_, _and searched the Scriptures daily_, _whether those things were\nso_.\u201d {74a}\n\nAnd may God accompany with his grace and blessing such study of the\nScriptures, that they who have heretofore neglected, perverted,\ndisobeyed, or rejected the Gospel, may, through \u201cits marvellous light\nbecome wise unto salvation!\u201d\n\n\u201cAll Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for\ndoctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,\nthat the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good\nworks.\u201d {74b}  In the \u201clively oracles of God,\u201d therefore, they will find\ninstruction how to proceed in the difficult work of true repentance.  Let\nthem not, however, be dismayed at the difficulty of the undertaking, for\n\u201cHe who worketh in them to will and to do of His good pleasure,\u201d is ever\nready to succour and omnipotent to save, \u201call who come unto Him\u201d through\nChrist, \u201cwho is the way, the truth, and the life.\u201d  Let them not fear the\npower of the great adversary of man, whose galling yoke they long\nwillingly bore; \u201cfor the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but\nmighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down\nimaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the\nknowledge of God; and bringing into captivity every thought to the\nobedience of Christ.\u201d {75a}  Still, at the same time, let them underrate\nneither the difficulties nor the dangers which await them.  Spiritual as\nwell as worldly prudence is shewn in rightly estimating difficulties,\nthat they may be the more certainly overcome; and real courage, whether\ncarnal or spiritual, in learning the extent of danger, that it may be, as\nthe case requires, carefully avoided, or manfully combated.\n\nThe prophet Jeremiah, to prove the difficulty of a late repentance, has\nused a figure which places it in a strong light; \u201cCan the Ethiopian\nchange his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that\nare accustomed to do evil.\u201d {75b}  The apostle Peter, to shew the extent\nof danger to the Christian, employs a simile not less striking, \u201cYour\nadversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may\ndevour.\u201d {75c}  And St. Paul accumulates the most forcible expressions to\nconvey an adequate idea of the dangerous nature of our spiritual warfare,\n\u201cfor we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,\nagainst powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against\nspiritual wickedness in high places.\u201d {75d}  It is most true, that when\nthe corruption of man\u2019s nature has been increased in malignity by the\nlong indulgence of its sinful appetites and passions; when his habits\nhave become confirmed, inveterate, and almost second nature through time;\nand when his severe master, the devil, seeing him planning rebellion\nagainst his authority, and escape from his power, employs his subtle arts\nto retain his dominion over him: we have a case in which unassisted human\nnature must despair.  Passion is not tameable at the will of man,\nappetite is not mortified at his bidding, habit is not overcome at his\ncommand, the devil is not vanquished by his power.  On the contrary, they\nall reign and rule in the heart of the unconverted, who have grown old in\nsin: there passion is ungovernable, appetite irresistible, habit\ninvincible, the devil dominant and triumphant.\n\nWell may every sinner start at this appalling picture of human weakness\nand depravity, and well will it be for him, if, through grace, he be\nthence led to exclaim\u2014\u201cOh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me\nfrom the body of this death!\u201d {76a} and if he be enabled to apply to his\nown case the answer, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  \u201cWith\nman it is impossible\u201d to escape from the debasing and enslaving effects\nof sin, \u201cbut with God all things are possible;\u201d {76b} and \u201cthanks be to\nGod who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus.\u201d {77a}\n\nThrough Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, we shall prove more\nthan conquerors over the great enemies of our salvation.  By the\ntransforming power of divine grace the will becomes renewed, the passions\nsubjugated, the appetites mortified, the habits changed; and the devil\nvanquished by the great Captain of our salvation, loses his dominion over\nthe sanctified soul.  Such is the mighty change wrought in fallen and\nsinful man, when grace has done her perfect work; and \u201crenewed in the\nspirit of his mind,\u201d he both \u201cproves what is the good and perfect and\nacceptable will of God,\u201d and \u201cpresents his body a living sacrifice, holy\nand acceptable unto God.\u201d {77b}\n\n\u201cREPENT YE, THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED, THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED\nOUT, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the\nLord.\u201d {77c}  Repent ye, who have heretofore put conviction far from you,\nand have refused to receive the Gospel as your standard of faith, your\nsole rule of life.  It may be, that to you, \u201cbehold now is the accepted\ntime, behold now is the day of salvation;\u201d it may be, that if ye will not\nhear His voice, but still harden your hearts, upon you may be passed the\nterrible and irrevocable sentence\u2014\u201cit is a people that do err in their\nhearts; for they have not known my ways; unto whom I sware in my wrath,\nthat they should not enter into my rest.\u201d {78}\n\n\u201cGO THY WAY FOR THIS TIME, WHEN I HAVE A CONVENIENT SEASON I WILL CALL\nFOR THEE;\u201d was the language of Felix, when he \u201c_trembled_,\u201d as Paul\n\u201creasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.\u201d  And such\nis the course adopted by thousands; they do not violently repress the\nconvictions of conscience; but endeavour to lull them by that \u201cdeceitful\nopiate\u2014good resolves.\u201d  NOT NOW, is still the cry, when conscience warns\nthem; not now, to-morrow, next year,\u2014and thus repentance determined upon,\nbut still deferred, flits before them like the treacherous light which\noften misleads unwary travellers, and lures them on with false hopes,\nuntil they plunge into the black gulf of horrible anguish and despair.\n\nThis insane procrastination, which is so common and so fatal, that it has\nbeen said, \u201chell\u2019s road is paved with good resolutions,\u201d arises\nprincipally from man\u2019s natural wickedness, indolence, sinfulness, and\nlove of sin; but it is much promoted by mistaken ideas as to the nature\nof repentance, which, by some, is considered at all times in their own\npower.  This fatal error\u2014the grand cause of which is ignorance of\nScripture\u2014is much favoured by the various senses in which the term\nrepentance is employed: it is used to express simply sorrow, sorrow and\namendment, change of heart and life.  Now this latter sense exactly\ncorresponds with conversion, and the evil might, in some degree, be\nremedied, if there were adopted, in the case of habitual sinners, the\ndefinition of repentance given by Hammond: \u201cA change of mind, or a\nconversion from sin to God; not some one bare act of change, but a\nlasting, durable state of new life.\u201d  For men would have a difficulty in\nresting satisfied with indefinitely postponing repentance, if they knew\nthat repentance to consist not merely in sorrow for sin, not merely in\nexternal amendment, but in a change of the heart, in a renewal of the\nmind, wrought by the Holy Ghost, and which man possesses no inherent\npower to effect, but which is the gift of God through Christ.\n\nREPENT YE, THEREFORE, AND BE CONVERTED, THAT YOUR SINS MAY BE BLOTTED\nOUT: all who have heretofore drawn your motives and rules of actions from\nthe world, and not from the Book of Life\u2014and as you value your immortal\nsouls, consider no proofs of conversion to be depended upon, except faith\nin the Saviour, and reliance on His merits alone for salvation; love of\nGod as a reconciled father in Christ Jesus our Lord, shed abroad in the\nheart by the power of the Holy Ghost; constant study of the Scriptures as\nthe rule of life; indulgence of no known sin; and dependence on divine\ngrace for spiritual guidance, strength, and consolation.  Such an entire\nconversion of the whole man to God is generally not only a progressive,\nbut a slow operation: during which partial relapses into old habits,\nwhich conscience soon compels them to abandon;\u2014unscriptural views of\nreconciliation with God, in which the soul cannot rest satisfied;\u2014and\nartful stratagems of the great enemy of man to win them back to wear\npublicly their badge of servitude, or retain them in the camp of the\nfaithful, as in reality, though unknowingly, his deluded and secret\nfollowers;\u2014all impede, perplex, and endanger their course.\n\nAs the heart only knows its own bitterness, so each believer only knows\nthe mode of God\u2019s dealing with him in bringing him to a knowledge of the\ntruth as it is in Jesus. {80}  But the following sketch may be received\nas presenting the outlines of a sincere conversion; and may the future\nexperience of those who are now earnestly and affectionately entreated to\n\u201cturn unto God with all their hearts,\u201d fill up the details.  The\nconscience is first troubled through the grace of God accompanying some\nstrong appeal; fear is excited; an examination is made into the state of\nlife, and the awful truth flashes upon the mind, that he is in \u201cthe broad\nway which leadeth to destruction,\u201d and \u201cwhat is a man profited, if he\nshall gain the whole world and lose his own soul.\u201d {81a}  He now,\nperhaps, attempts to appease his conscience by a compromise, by\nreforming, in part, his life, but retaining his darling sins; this unholy\nalliance between Christ and Belial may not be, and he is ill at ease.  He\nexamines, therefore, more carefully the word of life, and feels satisfied\nhe merits only eternal condemnation at the hand of a righteous God.  His\nalarm becomes terror, and he sets to work in good earnest to effect an\nentire reformation of life, but too much in dependence on his own\nstrength.  He fails, and again and again is betrayed into his old sins,\nthrough the weakness of his nature, the power of temptation, and the want\nof spiritual strength.  The repeated failures at length convince him of\nhis own weakness and utter helplessness, and he begins to distrust\nhimself, and trust more and more in his Saviour.  The dark prospect now\nbegins to brighten by the dawning of a better day, and slowly the sun of\nrighteousness rising upon his soul, dispels the mists of error,\nprejudice, and passion, and reveals the Saviour as \u201cTHE WAY, THE TRUTH,\nAND THE LIFE.\u201d {81b}  He sees his road more clearly, he better\nunderstands how God \u201cmade Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we\nmight be made the righteousness of God in Him,\u201d {81c} and joyfully\naccepts the free, unmerited, and most gracious offers of salvation made\nin Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom, \u201cbeing justified by faith, we\nhave peace with God.\u201d {82a}  He increases in faith, he rejoices in his\nprivileges, he grows in grace, but he is still watchful and sober-minded:\nwhilst he throws himself entirely on the mercy of God in Christ in whom\nwe are \u201ccomplete;\u201d and relies on Him for His \u201cgrace, which is sufficient\nfor us, for it is made perfect in weakness;\u201d {82b} he remits not his\nvigilance, he relaxes not his endeavours, but \u201cforgetting those things\nwhich are behind, and reaching forth unto those which are before, he\npresses toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in\nChrist Jesus.\u201d {82c}  He earnestly prays and labours to be enabled to\nadorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things; to perfect holiness\nin his faith and fear, and to have his conversation in heaven, from\nwhence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: \u201cwho shall\nchange our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious\nbody, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all\nthings unto Himself.\u201d {82d}\n\nThe combat which awaits the young convert is severe, but not alarming, if\nhe take the whole armour of God; \u201cWherefore take unto you the whole\narmour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and\nhaving done all, to stand.  Stand, therefore, having your loins girt\nabout with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and\nyour feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all,\ntaking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the\nfiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the\nsword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all\nprayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all\nperseverance.\u201d\n\nClad in the full panoply of the Gospel, the Christian warrior has nothing\nto dread: for his armour is of heavenly temper; the arm of Omnipotence\nsustains him; and the glorious shield of the Saviour \u201cwill cover his head\nin the day of battle.\u201d  But if the danger appear slight, let him not\npresume; if appalling, let him not despair; excessive confidence often\nrisks, and despondence often loses, the battle won by undaunted, but cool\nand cautious courage: and of such a nature is Christian faith, by which\nthe soldier of the cross is enabled to fulfil his baptismal vow, \u201cnot to\nbe ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to\nfight under His banner, against sin, the world, and the devil, and to\ncontinue Christ\u2019s faithful soldier and servant unto his life\u2019s end.\u201d {83}\n\nLet not, therefore, the penitent suppose the dangers and difficulties\nwhich await him to be so great as almost to be insuperable; nor yet that\nthey are so small as to be easily overcome: it is sufficient for him to\nknow, that that Master whom he serves, and who appoints his lot, will, if\nhe commit himself to Him as a faithful Creator, supply him with strength\nequal to his trials, and make those trials help him forward on his\nheaven-ward journey.  Upon setting out, however, let him be admonished,\nthat there are three things which he ought to bear in mind.\n\nFirst: let him not mistake transient feelings for settled principles, nor\npartial amendment for complete reformation: the sanguine sometimes,\nthrough natural temperament, are unduly elated; the desponding, through\nthe same cause, unduly depressed; and thus both form false estimates as\nto the degree of their advancement in spiritual life.  Whilst it also\nsometimes unfortunately happens, that after the first terrors of awakened\nconscience pass away, the fervours of devotional feeling subside, and\nthere ensue listlessness, negligence, and a return to former evil\ncourses: \u201che that received the seed into stony places, the same is he\nthat heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not\nroot in himself, but dureth for a while.\u201d {84}  Let him, in the second\nplace, be especially on his guard against partial or perverted views of\nthe doctrines and duties of our holy faith: some, because we are saved\nthrough faith in the merits of the Saviour, have abused the grace of God,\nby an unholy profession, or have under-rated the value of Christian\ngraces and virtues; and others, because of the obligations to personal\nholiness, and of the rewards held out to faithful servants, in the\nGospel, have depreciated the value of faith, and have reduced the great\nscheme of salvation to little more than a moral obedience.  And lastly,\nlet him take care, that when, through divine grace, he has surmounted the\ndifficulties which attend his first entrance upon the \u201cnarrow way which\nleadeth unto life;\u201d and his ardent and confident spirit is full of eager\nanticipation of the eternal rest and peace which await him on his arrival\nat the \u201ccity of the Living God,\u201d {85} whose fair bulwarks the eye of\nfaith may already have descried at an immense distance; let him \u201cbe not\nhigh-minded, but fear:\u201d enemies, though invisible, still surround him;\ndangers, though hidden, still lurk in his path.  Should, on the other\nhand, the journey prove toilsome, and his spirit be often perplexed with\ndoubts, and alarmed with fears; should no distant prospect of the\nmansions of eternal rest break upon his enraptured view, solace his weary\nsoul, and brighten his cheerless path: let him not be dismayed, but hope:\na \u201cfriend that sticketh closer than a brother,\u201d {86a} though unseen, is\nnear; the city of refuge, though undiscoverable by his anxious eye, is\nnigh at hand.  If, in the first case, he \u201cpersevere unto the end;\u201d if, in\nthe second, \u201che faint not;\u201d he will reap an \u201ceternal and exceeding weight\nof glory;\u201d {86b} for, on his approach, the bright portals of the new\nJerusalem shall be thrown open, and he will be welcomed by the Celestial\nKing, with the transporting words, \u201cWell done, thou good and faithful\nservant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\u201d {86c}\n\n\n\nII.  The Christian\u2019s duty of labouring to advance, as far as in him lies,\na national reformation, under Divine visitations.\n\n\nThe duty _of personal reformation_ under Divine visitations, has been\ndwelt upon at considerable length; at once from its private and public\nimportance: for it is thus only a national reformation can be effected.\nThe good Christian will ever discharge equally faithfully all the duties\nand obligations which attach to him as an individual and as a member of\nsociety.  Little is he acquainted with the Catholic spirit and scope of\nChristianity, who supposes the believer to be occupied solely in securing\nhis own salvation.  Such conduct would defeat its own purpose, as being\nincompatible with the very nature of Christian duty; which is not limited\nto the individual, his family, his friends, his neighbourhood, nor yet to\nhis country, but extends to the whole household of faith; to the great\nfamily of Christ; to the whole world for which the Saviour died, and in\nwhich all should labour to promote the advancement of true religion.\nWhilst, therefore, the Christian is striving in secret, by means known\nonly to God and to himself, to \u201center in at the strait gate,\u201d \u201cto make\nhis calling and election sure;\u201d he considers it an imperative obligation,\nthe neglect of which would involve certain condemnation, to \u201clabour to\nadvance the glory of God, and the present and future welfare of mankind.\u201d\nIf, then, the command, \u201clet your light so shine before men, that they may\nsee your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,\u201d {87a}\nis to be obeyed under ordinary circumstances; when \u201cGOD\u2019S JUDGMENTS ARE\nIN THE EARTH,\u201d extraordinary exertions must be made in the hope that,\nthrough the Divine blessing, \u201cTHE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD WILL LEARN\nRIGHTEOUSNESS.\u201d {87b}  Oh! what extensive and blessed effects would arise\nif this holy principle of our faith were more generally acted upon\namongst Christians; and all, at the same time, \u201cwalked worthy of the\nvocation wherewith they are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with\nlong-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the\nunity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.\u201d {88a}  God grant that in times\nwhich require such perfect union and co-operation amongst Christians,\nthey may receive grace to lay aside their rivalries, their divisions,\ntheir jealousies; and as there is \u201cone Lord, one faith, one baptism, one\nGod and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all;\u201d\n{88b} so they may seek but one object, the extension of the Messiah\u2019s\nkingdom; they may employ but one means; the diffusion of the light of the\nGospel; and they may know but one spirit, the spirit of charity and\nbrotherly love.\n\nLet then all Christians be now very zealous for the honour of the Lord of\nHosts, and direct their combined efforts against the prevailing sins of\nthe day.  True believers \u201care the salt of the earth;\u201d and the more\nabundantly they are sprinkled over the land, the more effectually the\ncorrupting effects of sin will be counteracted: they are the \u201cleaven\u201d of\nthe Gospel; and the more thoroughly they are diffused through the whole\nmass of society, the more certainly a national reformation will be\nproduced.\n\nHow great is the improvement which an active and pious individual\nsometimes effects in a neighbourhood!\u2014an improvement which, commencing in\none place, often spreads far around.  How extensive then might be the\nblessed effects of the true servants of God acting in full and unanimous\nco-operation!\u2014General alarm has caused much good to be done, in cleansing\nthe towns and villages of the kingdom from physical pollutions; let there\nbe shown the same zeal and energy in the removal of moral pollutions, so\nmuch more pernicious and fatal, as being destructive of both body and\nsoul.  And then this visitation \u201cshall turn\u201d out\u2014as does every\nvisitation, when duly improved\u2014\u201cto the profit, and help forward in the\nright way that leadeth unto everlasting life,\u201d {89a} thousands who might\nlong have continued in a thoughtless and guilty neglect of God.  For how\nbeneficial has the furnace of affliction been often found! it is a\ncertain assayer of religious principles; it detects the base coinage of\nthe world, which bears indeed the Divine superscription, but is neither\nformed of the pure ore of the Gospel, nor stamped with the seal of the\nSpirit; and proves the intrinsic value of the unadulterated metal of the\nheavenly treasury which \u201ccometh forth as gold.\u201d {89b}\n\nThe leading heads of the duty of believers, as members of society, under\ncircumstances like the present, have already been thus generally stated:\nlet them publicly bear testimony at once to the justice and mercy of\nGod\u2019s dispensations; and strive earnestly to rouse the nation to a sense\nof its guiltiness, which has exposed it to the divine displeasure: let\nthem, in dependence on the blessing of Heaven, labour to eradicate all\ninfidel and heretical opinions; to advance a reformation of public\nmorals, and to promote a general diffusion of true religion, sound\nlearning, and useful knowledge.  Upon these several heads it is proposed\nnow to offer some brief observations: And may HE, who blesses the\nfeeblest efforts made in dependence on His gracious aid, and for the\nhonour of His great name, bless this humble endeavour to rouse some to a\nmore active and faithful discharge of the duties of their stations; and\nto excite in others a spirit of enquiry, and draw forth from them a\ndeclaration of opinion, as to the course which this Christian people\nshould adopt under the present Divine visitation.  England has been long\nhighly favoured and greatly blessed; she has been placed as an ensign\namongst the nations, and as a city set on a hill; she has been a\ndepositary of genuine Christianity, and has been instrumental, in the\nhands of Providence, in conveying the light of the Gospel to nations\n\u201clying in darkness and the shadow of death.\u201d  To her may our blessed\nLord\u2019s pathetic lamentation over Jerusalem never apply: \u201cAnd when he was\ncome near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying; if thou hadst\nknown, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto\nthy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes:\u201d {91a} rather, in this\nour day, may \u201cthe Father of Lights,\u201d {91b} from whom \u201cevery good gift,\nand every perfect gift cometh,\u201d impart to all that are in authority, \u201cthe\nspirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.\u201d {91c}  Rather,\nmay He enable all persons to \u201cwalk circumspectly, not as fools, but as\nwise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil;\u2014to be not unwise,\nbut understanding what the will of the Lord is;\u2014giving thanks always for\nall things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;\nsubmitting themselves one to another in the fear of God.\u201d {91d}  Then may\nthe storm now gathering, prove at once a punishment and a blessing from\nthe hand of God.  Seasons of danger and suffering to churches and nations\nhave often resembled the storms of the natural world, which, however\nalarming and destructive at the time, are productive of subsequent good,\nby freeing the atmosphere from the impurities accumulated during a long\nseason of calm and sunshine.\n\n\u201cWhat will ye do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which\nshall come from far, to whom will ye flee for help?\u201d  Such is the enquiry\nwhich has been already addressed to the nation at large; to real, and to\nnominal Christians; let the faithful servants of the Lord throughout the\nland cause it to be sounded in the ears of a sinful nation; and let each\nuse the utmost extent of his individual influence, in co-operation with\nothers, to endeavour to rouse, through the Divine blessing and guidance,\na people sunk into religious indifference and apathy.  They are\n\u201cvisited,\u201d and that not \u201cafter the visitation of all men;\u201d for a\npestilence as new in character, as fatal in its effects, has overtaken\nthem; and their visitation has indeed come from far, for it has travelled\nfrom the remote bounds of their colonial empire.  Still we have too much\ncause to apprehend that there are thousands who have never considered the\nawful character of the visitation, nor asked themselves the question, to\nwhom shall we flee for help?\n\nAn irreligious age is little inclined to recognise the hand of God in the\ncourse of events, which are generally ascribed to natural causes and\nhuman means.  But philosophy as well as Revelation will satisfy the mind\nof every impartial and deep enquirer, that nature must work under the\ncontrol and direction of the great Author of nature.  It would be to\npractically deny that God was the great governor of the universe, to\nsuppose that nature or chance was allowed, unchecked and unguided, to\nproduce the mighty results often referred to its sole agency.  Sherlock\nhas stated this with great force and clearness.  \u201cThe same wisdom and\npower which made the world must govern it too: it is only a creating\npower that can preserve: that which owes its very being to power must\ndepend upon the power that made it, for it can have no principle of\nself-subsistence independent of its cause: it is only creating wisdom\nthat perfectly understands the nature of all things, that sees all the\nsprings of motion, that can correct the errors of nature, that can\nsuspend or direct the influence of natural causes, that can govern\nhearts, change men\u2019s purposes, inspire wisdom and counsel, restrain or\nlet loose their passions.  It is only an Infinite Mind that can take care\nof all the world; that can allot every creature its portion; that can\nadjust the interests of states and kingdoms; that can bring good out of\nevil, and order out of confusion.\u201d {93}  It would, therefore, be not less\nunphilosophical than unchristian to ascribe to any spontaneous operations\nof nature, a new and terrible pestilence, which has swept away more than\ntwenty millions of human beings from the face of the earth.  Nor may it\nbe accounted for by an extraordinary combination of accidental\ncircumstances; for \u201cthe most unexpected events, how casual soever they\nappear to us, are foreseen and ordered by God.\u201d  \u201cFor can we think\notherwise, when we see as many visible marks of wisdom, and goodness, and\njustice, in what we call chance, as in any other acts of Providence?\nNay, when the wisdom of Providence is principally seen in the government\nof fortuitous events?  When we see a world wisely made, though we did not\nsee it made, yet we conclude, that it was not made by chance, but by a\nWise Being; and by the same reason, when we see accidental events, nay, a\nlong incoherent series of accidents concur to the producing the most\nadmirable effects, we ought to conclude, that there is a wise invisible\nhand which governs chance, which of itself can do nothing wisely.  When\nthe lives and fortunes of men, the fate of kingdoms and empires, the\nsuccesses of war, the changes of government are so often determined and\nbrought about by the most visible accidents; when chance defeats the\nwisest counsels and greatest power; when good men are rewarded, and the\nChurch of God preserved by appearing chances; when bad men are punished\nby chance, and the very chance whereby they are punished, carries the\nmarks of their sins upon it, for which they are punished; I say, can any\nman in such cases think that all this is mere chance?  When, how\naccidental soever the means are or appear to be, whereby such things are\ndone, there is no appearance of chance at all in the event; but the\nchanges and revolutions, the rewards and punishments, are all as wisely\ndone, as if there had been nothing of chance and accident in it.  This is\nthe great security of our lives amidst all the uncertainties of fortune,\nthat chance itself cannot hurt us without a Divine commission.  This is a\nsure foundation of faith, and hope, and trust in God; how calamitous and\ndesperate soever our external condition seems to be, that God never wants\nmeans to help; that He has a thousand unseen ways, a whole army of\naccidents and unexpected events at command to disappoint such designs,\nwhich no visible art or power can disappoint, and to save those whom no\nvisible power can save.\u201d {95}  Nor may we suppose that this fearful\npestilence is merely permitted, and not appointed and directed by God.\n\u201cGod\u2019s government of events consists in ordering and appointing whatever\ngood or evil shall befall men; for according to the Scripture we must\nattribute such a government to God, as makes all these events _His will\nand doing_; and nothing can be His will and doing, but what He wills and\norders.  Some men think it enough to say, that God permits every thing\nthat is done, but will by no means allow that God wills, and orders, and\nappoints it, which, they are afraid, will charge the divine Providence\nwith all the evil that is done in the world; and truly so it would, did\nGod order and appoint the evil to be done; but though God orders and\nappoints what evils every man shall suffer, He orders and appoints no man\nto do the evil; He only permits some men to do mischief, and appoints who\nshall suffer by it, which is the short resolution of the case.  To\nattribute the evils which some men suffer, merely to God\u2019s permission, is\nto destroy the government of Providence; for bare permission is not\ngovernment.\u201d {96}  We arrive, therefore, at the conclusion, that this\nmalady, which has traversed nearly the whole of two continents, is by the\nwill and appointment of God.  And none need inquire wherefore it has been\nsent.  The dispensations of the Almighty are to reward or punish, warn\nand amend nations and individuals.  The fearful character of the\npestilence proves that it is to punish and warn the offending nations,\nand may it also amend and lead them, through the grace of God, to humble\nthemselves under His mighty hand, and bow with submission to His just\njudgments on a guilty world!\n\nIt is, therefore, the bounden duty of the servants of the Lord, every\nwhere, privately and publicly, to bear testimony to God\u2019s government of\nnations and individuals.  It is not sufficient that they believe, act\nupon, and inculcate in their families, a trust in Divine Providence.  The\ngreat truth, that \u201cTHE MOST HIGH RULETH IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN,\u201d {97a}\nshould be bound \u201cfor a sign on their heads, and as frontlets between\ntheir eyes.\u201d {97b}  They should proclaim every where, that upon this\ngreat fundamental principle, rest the prayer and worship addressed to\nGod.\u2014\u201cThis much is certain,\u201d observes Sherlock, \u201cthat without this\nbelief, that God takes a particular care of all his creatures, in the\ngovernment of all events that can happen to them, there is no reason nor\npretence for most of the particular duties of public worship.  For most\nof the acts of worship consider God not merely as an Universal Cause,\n(could we form any notion of a general providence, without any care of\nparticular creatures, or particular events), but as our particular\nPatron, Protector, and Preserver.\n\n\u201cTo fear God, and to stand in awe of His justice; to trust and depend on\nHim in all conditions; to submit patiently to His will, under all\nafflictions; to pray to Him for the supply of all our wants, for the\nrelief of our sufferings, for protection and defence; to love and praise\nHim for the blessings we enjoy, for peace, and plenty, and health, for\nfriends and benefactors, and all prosperous successes: I say, these are\nnot the acts of reasonable men, unless they believe that God has the\nsupreme disposal of all events, and takes a particular care of us.  For\nif any good or evil can befall us without God\u2019s particular order and\nappointment, we have no reason to trust in God, who does not always take\ncare of us; we have no reason to bear our sufferings patiently at God\u2019s\nhand, and in submission to His will; for we know not whether our\nsufferings be God\u2019s will or not; we have no reason to love and praise God\nfor every blessing and deliverance we receive, because we know not\nwhether it come from God; and it is to no purpose to pray to God for\nparticular blessings, if He does not concern Himself in particular\nevents; but if we believe that God takes a particular care of us all, and\nthat no good or evil happens to us but as He pleases; all these acts of\nreligious worship are both reasonable, necessary, and just.\u201d {98}\n\nThe great duty of believers every where to declare and maintain, that\n\u201cGOD GOVERNETH ALL THINGS BOTH IN HEAVEN AND EARTH,\u201d is dwelt upon more\nat large, because a neglect,\u2014if not a disbelief,\u2014of a particular\nProvidence, which constitutes practical, and often tends to avowed\ninfidelity, has been already stated to be one of the most crying sins,\u2014I\nmay almost say the most crying sin\u2014of the day.  Some openly disclaim all\nbelief in God\u2019s government of the world; others admit it, but are not\ninfluenced by it; and others acknowledge a general, but deny a particular\nProvidence.  These latter appear not to be aware of the manifest\ncontradiction which their belief involves.  \u201cTo talk of a general\nProvidence without God\u2019s care and government of every particular creature\nis manifestly unreasonable and absurd; for, whatever reasons oblige us to\nown a Providence, oblige us to own a particular Providence.  If creation\nbe a reason, why God should preserve and take care of what He has made;\nthis is a reason why He should take care of every creature, because there\nis no creature, but what He made; and if the whole world consist of\nparticulars, it must be taken care of in the care of particulars; for if\nall particulars perish, as they may do, if no care be taken to preserve\nthem, the whole must perish.  And there is the same reason for the\ngovernment of mankind; for the whole is governed in the government of\nparts; and mankind cannot be well governed without the wise government of\nevery particular man.\u201d {99}\n\nWe may hope that secret disbelief, or open denial, of a Divine\nProvidence, does not exist to a great extent; but of this every observer\nmust be satisfied, that a practical disregard of God\u2019s providential care\nand government is gaining ground in this country.  Nor are its effects to\nbe seen only in the conduct of individuals, they may be observed in the\nproceedings of public bodies.  Nothing can bespeak this more strongly,\nthan the altered language of the day as regards society, business, and\npublic transactions.\n\nThe time was when it was carefully framed in accordance with the\napostolic injunction, \u201cfor that ye ought to say IF THE LORD WILL, we\nshall live and do this or that.\u201d {100}  Now it is evidently dictated by\nthat bold spirit of self-confidence, which \u201chaving not God in all its\nthoughts,\u201d says \u201cto-day or to-morrow _we will go_ into such a city, and\ncontinue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain.\u201d  Nor do the\nactions of men in their public and private capacities contradict their\nlanguage.  The time was, when this nation, sensible how highly it had\nbeen blessed by Providence, and deeply grateful to the Giver of all good,\nmade it a rule to recognise the hand of God in all things.  When His\nchastisements were upon the land, there was a fast; when deliverance was\nvouchsafed, there was a thanksgiving; every visitation was received as a\njust infliction; every escape as an unmerited blessing.  Such was the\nconduct of the people and government, during their late struggle of\nunexampled difficulty, through which the Providence of the Almighty\ncarried them in safety, and during which the soil of England alone was\nuntrodden by the foot of the invader, unstained by the blood of her sons.\n\nLet, then, all the faithful servants of God, who believe in the\ngovernment and confide in the protection of His Providence, \u201cbe instant\nin season and out of season,\u201d to counteract this evil principle which\ncorrupts, paralyzes, and nullifies faith; which produces pride,\nself-confidence, and self-complacency; and exposes to the severe\ndispleasure and heavy judgments of Him whom it \u201crobbeth of the honour due\nunto His name.\u201d  History, viewed by the aid of that light which\nrevelation has shed upon it, proves this incontestably, by supplying both\nindividual and national examples, with the latter of which we are, at\npresent, alone concerned.\n\nAll nations are under the government of the King of kings and Lord of\nlords.  \u201cHis kingdom ruleth over all;\u201d all are instruments in His hand to\naccomplish the secret purpose of His will.  They may be rebellious and\ndisobedient, but they cannot harden themselves against God and prosper.\nHe exhorts and warns, He threatens and visits; but if they go on still in\ntheir wickedness, they soon fill up the measure of their iniquity; the\nmessenger of justice speeds forth, the sentence is delivered, and they\ncease to be a nation.  It is thus great empires in succession have passed\naway; human reason discovers in their rise, their progress, their decay,\nand their destruction, nothing more than the ordinary operation of\nnatural causes; revelation raises the veil which envelopes the records of\nremote antiquity, and discovers the workings of a Divine agency, by which\nProvidence overrules the selfish and short-sighted policy of man, to the\ndevelopment of the mighty and mysterious plans which embrace the\ngovernment of the world.  And that blind and presumptuous man may have no\nground to suppose, that the fate of empires is dependent solely upon\nhuman causes, the overthrow of the guilty nations of antiquity, by the\nDivine command, was foretold, and exactly fulfilled.  Hence we may learn\nthe sudden and swift destruction, which neglect of Providence, disregard\nof the authority, and disobedience to the commands of Him, who has said,\n\u201cI am the Lord, I change not,\u201d {102} will, at last, bring upon any\nChristian nation, which long continues to refuse the overtures of pardon\nand reconciliation, made by a gracious, a merciful, and long-suffering\nGod.  Predicted destruction overtook the Assyrian and Babylonian empires;\nand the final desolation of their capitals was foretold.  The book of the\nprophet Nahum opens with \u201cthe burden of Nineveh,\u201d which abounds with the\nmost powerful descriptions of the terrible overthrow of the Assyrian\nempire, and the utter desolation of its vast and splendid capital.\nZephaniah looks still further into futurity, and presents a sad but\nfaithful picture of its final doom.  \u201cTHE LORD WILL BE TERRIBLE UNTO\nTHEM:\u201d\u2014\u201c_And he will stretch out his hand __against the north_, _and\ndestroy Assyria_; _and will make Nineveh a desolation_, _and dry like the\nwilderness_.  And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the\nbeasts of the nations; both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in\nthe upper lintels of it: their voice shall sing in the windows,\ndesolation shall be in the thresholds; for He shall uncover the\ncedar-work.  This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said\nin her heart, _I am_, _and there is none beside me_: how is she become a\ndesolation, a place for beasts to lie down in; every one that passeth by\nher shall hiss and wag his head.\u201d {103a}  So literally have these\nstriking images of entire and lonely desolation been fulfilled, that in\nthe second century, the very site of the once proud and famous capital of\nthe Assyrian empire was matter of dispute.  And as the ruin of Babylon\nwas equally complete, so the language of prophecy is equally clear and\ndescriptive of its entire destruction, \u201cO thou that dwellest upon many\nwaters, abundant in treasures, thy end is come and the measure of thy\ncovetousness.  Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she\nshould fortify the height of her strength, _yet from_ ME _shall spoilers\ncome unto her_, _saith the Lord_.  Oh Lord, thou hast spoken against this\nplace to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast,\nbut that it shall be desolate for ever.\u201d {103b}\n\nNor was the fate of these empires and cities alone foretold: the long\ndegradation of Egypt, which has been so exactly fulfilled, was predicted:\n\u201cit shall be the basest of the kingdoms, neither shall it exalt itself\nany more above the nations: FOR I WILL DIMINISH THEM, THAT THEY SHALL NO\nMORE RULE OVER THE NATIONS.\u201d {104a}  The evils impending over rich and\nproud Tyre, whilst still in the plenitude of her power and greatness were\nannounced by Isaiah in terms very applicable to that great emporium of\ncommerce: \u201cIs this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?\nher own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.  Who hath taken this\ncounsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes,\nwhose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?  THE LORD OF HOSTS\nHATH PURPOSED IT, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into\ncontempt all the honourable of the earth.  HE _stretched out His hand\nover the sea_; HE _shook the kingdoms_: _the_ LORD _hath given a\ncommandment against the merchant city_, _to destroy the strong holds\nthereof_.\u201d {104b}  But it was reserved for Ezekiel to foretell the full\nextent of the fearful ruin which was to overtake this renowned city: and\nhe has done so, in terms so brief, and yet so minutely descriptive of its\npresent state, as to have excited the observation of all modern\ntravellers: \u201c_it shall __be a place for the spreading of nets in the\nmidst of the sea_, FOR I HAVE SPOKEN IT, SAITH THE LORD GOD: and it shall\nbecome a spoil to the nations.\u201d {105a}  \u201cI WILL MAKE _thee like the top\nof a rock_: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon, thou shalt be\nbuilt no more; for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God.\u201d {105b}\nThus, when Maundrell visited the ruins of Tyre, he found \u201cits present\ninhabitants to be a few wretches, subsisting chiefly by fishing, who seem\nto be preserved in this place by Divine Providence, as a visible argument\nhow God has fulfilled His word concerning Tyre.\u201d\n\nNor were the predictive denunciations of Divine vengeance upon sinful\nnations, confined to times of a very remote antiquity:\u2014the prophet\u2019s eye\nglancing through the long vista of coming years, foresaw, and his voice\nforetold, the empire which the Ruler of the destiny of nations had\ndecreed to Greece and Rome.  But there is a people which remain unto this\nday, at once a living testimony to the truth of Divine revelation, and a\nliving monument of the certainty of Divine punishment.  From the Jews\nthis country may draw a very instructive lesson; for there are some\nstriking points of agreement in their earlier history, and would that\nthere the parallel might stop!  The Jews were the peculiar people of\nGod.\u2014\u201cThou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God: _the Lord thy God\nhath chosen thee_ to be a special people unto Himself, above all people\nthat are on the face of the earth:\u201d this kingdom has also long enjoyed an\nextraordinary degree of favour, protection, and blessing, at the hand of\nGod.  \u201cThe Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, _because\nye were more in number than any people_, _for_ ye were the fewest of all\npeople: in like manner the population of this country was small in\ncomparison with that of many of the surrounding nations.  The Jews were\nselected that unto them might be \u201ccommitted the oracles of God:\u201d so also\nthis country appears to have been appointed, by Providence, to preserve\nthe holy Scriptures from misinterpretation or perversion.  The Jews were\nemployed to convey to the Gentiles some knowledge of the one true God: in\nlike manner this country appears to have been raised up to diffuse\namongst distant nations the light of the Gospel.  When grateful for\nDivine blessings, mindful of the Divine government, and obedient to the\nDivine laws, the Jews were abundantly blessed, and their wealth and\ngreatness were far more than commensurate with the extent of their\nterritory; and the resources of the kingdom: in like manner God has\nelevated this country to a rank amongst the nations to which her native\ndominions did not justify her aspiring.  He has enriched her with the\ntreasures of the world, and has invested her with an empire upon which\nthe sun never sets.  So far the points of agreement are striking on the\nbright side of the picture of Jewish history; but there is also a dark\nside; let that also be examined, to see if there can be discovered any\nshades of resemblance.  The Jews were thus exhorted and warned:\u2014\u201cWhen\nthou hast eaten and art full, _then thou shalt bless_ THE LORD THY GOD,\nfor the good land which HE HAS GIVEN THEE.  Beware that thou forget not\nthe Lord thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and\nHis statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast eaten\nand art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein: and when\nthy herds and thy flocks multiply; and thy silver and thy gold is\nmultiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied: _then thine heart be\nlifted up_, _and thou forget the_ LORD THY GOD,\u2014_and thou say in thine\nheart_, _my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth_.\n_But thou shalt remember the_ LORD THY GOD, _for it is_ HE THAT GIVETH\nTHEE POWER _to get wealth_.  And it shall be if thou do at all forget the\nLord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship\nthem, I testify against you this day that _ye shall surely perish_.\u201d\n{107}  Nor were they left in ignorance as to what would be the ministers\nof Divine vengeance; unfruitful seasons; and deadly pestilence; and\nforeign invasion, with its fearful attendants, the slaughter of the\ninhabitants, and the devastation of their land, were all declared to be\ninstruments, in God\u2019s hand, to punish His ungrateful and rebellious\npeople.  Nor did the fearful enumeration of judicial inflictions stop\nthere; they were forewarned of lengthened sieges, of the most frightful\nextremity of famine, of long and weary captivity in distant lands.  Still\nthere was reserved for them,\u2014if they would not know their day of\nvisitation,\u2014a heavier, a more lasting and more terrible punishment.  \u201cTHE\nLORD _shall scatter thee among all people_, from the one end of the earth\neven unto the other.\u201d  \u201c_And thou shalt become an astonishment_, _a\nproverb_, _and a by-word among all nations_, _whither the Lord shall lead\nthee_.\u201d {108}\n\nThe literal fulfilment of this prediction is matter of history;\u2014nay,\nmore, the accomplishment of the last and most terrible threat is matter\nof present experience; we have, unto this day, the Jews scattered amongst\nall people, distinct in religion, polity, and customs; unmingled with the\npopulation, unincorporated in the institutions of the nations amongst\nwhom they sojourn: we see them a byword, a proverb, and an astonishment,\nin every land: and can it be that we do not discover in them a living\nmemorial of the Divine government of the world, and of the Divine\njustice, which sooner or later overtakes every nation, which does not\nrecognise God\u2019s authority in all things, and study to obey His laws.  The\ncondition of the Jew speaks to the Christian the language of warning and\nadmonition: \u201cyou possess privileges I once enjoyed: I forfeited them by\ntrusting to my own right arm, by forsaking God, by not knowing the day of\nmy visitation: take heed lest ye come into the same state of\ncondemnation; for it is God who ruleth in Jacob, and unto the end of the\nworld.\u201d\n\nLet not the warning be addressed in vain: there are fearful points of\nresemblance between this country and the Jews in the darker side of their\nnational character, when the chosen people of the Lord.  We are too much\ndisposed \u201cto say in our hearts, my power, and the might of my hand, hath\ngotten me this wealth:\u201d and there is a love of the world, which falls\nlittle short of idolatry;\u2014there is a trusting to fortune, and an\nascribing events to chance and natural causes, which almost amount to\ndeifying fortune and nature.  Let, then, all the true servants of God, by\ntheir prayers, and their labours, seek, in dependence on God\u2019s blessing,\na remedy of these great and growing evils.  Let them appeal to the\nexperience of the past; let them prove from sacred history that nations,\nwhich exalted themselves, have always been abased, which humbled\nthemselves, have always been exalted: let them shew from our own history\nhow we have been blessed and preserved, and how we have prospered and\nflourished, when our trust has been in God, who alone \u201cIS HE THAT GIVETH\nSTRENGTH AND POWER UNTO HIS PEOPLE: BLESSED BE GOD!\u201d {110a}  Let them\nbear public testimony at once to the justice and mercy of His\nvisitations; for whilst the pestilence speaks the language of wrath: \u201cWOE\nTO THE REBELLIOUS CHILDREN, SAITH THE LORD, THAT TAKE COUNSEL, BUT NOT OF\nME, and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit, that they may\nadd sin to sin:\u201d {110b} it speaks also the language of merciful warning\nand gracious exhortation: \u201cAs MANY AS I LOVE, I REBUKE AND CHASTEN: BE\nZEALOUS, THEREFORE, AND REPENT.\u201d {110c}\n\nIt has been stated, also, to be the duty of believers, to employ every\nmeans in their power to eradicate all heretical and infidel opinions; to\nadvance a reformation of public morals; and to promote the diffusion of\ntrue religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge: which are all so\ndependent one upon another, that they may be viewed in connexion, when\nconsidering the course the faithful servants of the Lord are called upon\nto adopt, under circumstances of almost unexampled difficulty, in this\ncountry.  Once more, let them be admonished, that their lot is cast upon\ntimes which require the highest degree of energy, activity, zeal, and\nfidelity, in their Master\u2019s service.  Let no one imagine his station in\nlife so low, that he possesses no influence, nor consider his talents so\nsmall that he can be of no use: much would be gained if the friends of\nreligion would all openly range themselves on the side of the Lord; for\nsuch a demonstration of strength would overawe the enemies of the faith.\nBut how great would be the triumph if all, whose hope is in the Lord\u2019s\nChrist, raised throughout the land, their voice and hands in his most\nholy cause!  The fact cannot be mistaken\u2014and to disguise it would be\nculpable\u2014that up to this time that decided movement has not been made by\nthe servants of the Lord, which the awful crisis at which we have arrived\nso imperatively demands.  Some appear to look on, whilst a furious\nassault is made upon the Sion of our God, with the heartless selfishness\nwhich says, \u201cit will last my time;\u201d others gaze with a strange apathy;\nothers, bewildered with fear, know not how to act; and others seek only\nto defend and preserve their own party and property, forgetful that, if\nthe common cause fail, they will be involved in the common destruction.\nBut the Church of Christ is built upon a rock, \u201cand the gates of hell\nshall not prevail against it.\u201d {111}  If the alarm were only sounded\ngenerally through the kingdom, the cause of the Lord would not want\ndefenders, both numerous and powerful, and the discomfited emissaries of\nSatan would be driven from the field.\n\nMankind are always disposed to close their eyes against unpleasant\nobjects,\u2014to shut their ears against unwelcome truths.  Thus we are\nwilling to be deceived: if we see evils increasing, we still hope they\nare only partial and temporary; if alarming reports reach us, we persuade\nourselves that they must be false or exaggerated.  And if the danger\nbecome so near as to menace our personal safety, such is the indolence,\nweakness, and timidity of many, we often try to escape rather than to\ncombat, to avert rather than to overcome, even when we know our only\nreasonable prospect of success is not in flight but in resistance, not in\nmaking terms with, but in vanquishing the enemy.  The announcements,\ntherefore, which have from time to time been made of the increasing\nactivity of the emissaries of infidelity, and of the extensive\ncirculation of sceptical, profane, and blasphemous publications, appear\nto have been met by the public at large either with indifference or\nincredulity; but the prospect is now so alarming, the peril so imminent,\nthat all must rouse themselves, and acquit themselves like men, or they\nmay too late have to mourn the folly of incredulity, and the sinfulness\nof indifference, when warned and appealed to in behalf of religion.\n\nLet not these observations be considered otherwise than as offered in the\nspirit of a faithful discharge of duty: there is far from any wish to\ncreate unnecessary alarm; there is a strong feeling that to give\nuncalled-for admonition, would be presumptuous, and to pass unmerited\ncensure, would be criminal; but he who undertakes to state the duty of a\nChristian people under a Divine visitation, whilst he entreats and\nexhorts with all meekness, and love, and reverence, must fearlessly\npursue an impartial and unprejudiced course; for terrible would be his\ncondemnation if he intentionally extenuated the evil or compromised the\ntruth: he would resemble the false teachers of old, who \u201chealed also the\nhurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, PEACE, PEACE, WHEN\nTHERE IS NO PEACE.\u201d {113}\n\nTo prove, however, that these are neither the unauthorized\nrepresentations of mistaken views, nor the groundless creations of false\nalarm, let the opinions of writers, as to the dangers which threaten the\ncause of religion in this country, be heard,\u2014of writers, whose station\nand reputation entitle them to respect.  \u201cThe signs of the times,\u201d\nobserves the Bishop of London, in his Charge of last year, addressed to\nthe clergy of his diocese,\u2014\u201cthe signs of the times are surely such as to\nindicate to him who attentively observes the movements of God\u2019s\nprovidence, the approach, if not the arrival of a period pregnant with\nimportant consequences to the cause of religion.  The spirit of\ninfidelity, which at the close of the last century unhinged the frame of\nsociety, and overturned the altars of God in a neighbouring country, but\nwas repressed, and shamed, and put to silence, by the Christian energies\nof this country, is again rearing its head; and the truths of the Gospel\nare denied, and its doctrines derided, and its blessed Author is reviled\nand blasphemed by men whom the force of human laws has been found unable\nto restrain.  And if it be said that these are few in number, and\ninsignificant in point of talent and learning, there is a more numerous\nclass amongst us, who look upon religion merely as a necessary part of\nevery system of government; who would introduce the principles of a\nmiserable political economy into its institutions and ministry; and who\ntake no personal interest in its consolations or its ordinances.  And\nthere is also a powerful and active body of men who are attempting to lay\nother foundations of the social virtues and duties than those which are\neverlastingly laid in the Gospel, and to propose other sanctions, and\nother rules of conduct, and other rewards, than those which are proposed\nin the Word of Revelation.\u201d {114}\n\nThe Bishop of Durham, in his Charge, delivered during the autumn of the\npresent year, thus addresses his clergy:\u2014\u201cYet while we would thus fain\nbury the past in oblivion, can we shut our eyes to the existing dangers\nwhich beset us, from whatever cause they may have arisen?  Can we look\naround and see Infidelity and Atheism on one side, Fanaticism on another;\nPopery advancing in this direction, Socinianism in that; dissent,\nlukewarmness, apathy, each with multitudes in its train, without\nperceiving such an accession of strength to our adversaries, as none of\nthe present generation have ever before witnessed?  To exaggerate these\nevils, or to oppress the friends of religion and social order with\nexcessive apprehensions of danger, can never be the policy of considerate\nmen.  But neither are we justified in saying \u2018peace, peace,\u2019 when there\nis no peace; or in holding out illusory representations which every\ndiscerning observer must perceive to be unfounded.\u201d {115}\n\nAnd after stating the \u201cduties to which we are now indispensably called,\u201d\nthe Bishop continues:\u2014\u201cthat, in a Christian country like this, and in so\nadvanced a stage of mental cultivation, as is the boast of the present\nday, it should be needful to press these admonitions, is indeed grievous.\nAnd if we enquire how it has become needful, the answer is but too\nobvious.  The main root of the evil lies in a want of sound, sober, and\npractical _religious_ feeling; operating steadily throughout the\ncommunity, and influencing the conduct in all the various departments of\nsocial life.  The want of this is discernible in attempts to carry on the\nwork of _popular education_, without teaching _religion_ for its basis;\nin the systematic and avowed separation of civil and political from\n_Christian_ obligations; in the disposition to consider all truths, on\nwhatever _sacred authority_ they may rest, as matters of mere _human\nopinion_; and in a persuasion that the whole concern of government, of\nlegislation, and of social order, may be conducted as if there were no\nMORAL RULER OF THE UNIVERSE controlling the destinies of men or of\nnations: no other responsibilities than those which subsist between man\nand man, unamenable to a higher tribunal.  So long as these pernicious\nsentiments obtain currency amongst us, (and who will say that they do not\nfearfully prevail in every rank and every station?) it is impossible for\nany believer in a righteous Providence not to look on such a state of\nthings with unwonted misgivings.\u201d {116}\n\nThe statements as to the number, power, and malignity of the enemies of\nreligion, made by these two Prelates, supply the powerfully sketched out\nline of a terrible picture, which becomes still more terrific when filled\nup with the details which may be derived from other sources.  \u201cThere is\nanother subject,\u201d says an able writer, in the British Critic, \u201cwhich\ngives us, we confess, more uneasiness, and becomes every day more\ndifficult and painful, and that is the renewed and increasing efforts\nmade by scoffers and infidels, not only in our country, but others, to\nprofit by the disturbed state of the public mind, and to disseminate as\nwidely as possible their infernal poison amongst the needy, the ignorant,\nand the profligate; at once goading them to cruel disorders and excess,\nand robbing them of all hope of an hereafter.  It cannot be known,\nexcepting to those who make it their business to enquire, what pains, and\npatience, and ingenuity, are now bestowed upon this accursed work.\nInfidel books, and infidel teachers, we have always had; but certainly\nthere never was a moment when the art of corrupting the minds of the\npeople was carried to so high a pitch, or exercised with so much\neffrontery; nor ever were the fruits of it so frightfully conspicuous.\nIt is revolting to think of them, and it were a task to make the heart\nsick to detail them; but it may suffice to state, that besides the public\ndiscourses which are delivered almost daily by the great masters of the\nschool in the Rotunda, and in other places amongst the crowded outskirts\nof the metropolis, _for the avowed specific purpose of advocating __the\ncause of infidelity_, it is a well known fact, that blasphemous and\nprofane lectures are delivered three times a week, in the City itself, to\nlarge audiences of labourers and artizans, after their daily task is\ndone, from each of whom a penny a piece is collected, under the head of\ninfidel rent.\n\n\u201cNor is the press behind-hand with them in their course: for whilst\nnumerous hawkers and other emissaries scatter unsparingly in lanes and\nalleys their pennyworths of profanation, the great emporium blazons forth\nits more elaborate blasphemies with fresh spirit, in characters which\nthose who run may read\u2014a standing monument of its interminable hostility\nto the Gospel, and of the utter hopelessness of all legal measures to\nrestrain it.\u201d\n\nSuch was the account laid before the public in the beginning of this\nyear, of a scheme, skilfully planned, and actively conducted, for\ncorrupting the religious principles of the working population of the\ncountry, and thus paving the way for the ruin of social order, and the\nsubversion of civil society.  Since then the strong arm of the law has\nseized upon the arch infidel, but his murky den still remains: the\nRotunda is said to be made the scene of more horrible impieties than\never; and the great work of teaching and disseminating infidelity, though\nmore covertly, is equally extensively carried on.\n\nWe possess, then, certain information, supplied by these and various\nother distinguished writers, as to the two facts\u2014the progress of a secret\nundermining of the influence of Christianity now going forward in the\nmiddle and higher classes of society; and in the lower, of an organized\nsystem of open and violent aggression, not merely upon the principles of\nreligion, but the decencies of life.  Surely this should fill with alarm\nand rouse to exertion all who fear God and love their country; for the\npreservation of the national faith is essential to the continuance of\nnational and individual happiness and prosperity.  Before, however,\nexamining further into these frightful evils, and offering some\nsuggestions as to the course believers should adopt, let an enquiry be\nmade as to their probable influence upon the moral state of the great\nbulk of the people.\n\nDegeneracy of public morals must always necessarily follow corruption of\npublic principles.  As soon might you expect to draw pure water from a\npolluted fountain, as virtuous actions from unsound principles.  Remove\nthe restraint of conscience, and what does man become? a fickle and\nwicked being, of wild passions, selfish feelings, and ungovernable\nappetites: he has lost the ruling principle which regulated and directed\nhis actions; and thus resembles a boat without rudder or oars, tost upon\na stormy sea, which, impelled in different directions as the winds,\ntides, or currents happen to prevail, possesses neither certainty of\ndirection nor steadiness of course.\n\nIt is true, when the law of God ceases to be the rule of right, men\nprofess to substitute for it the law of honour and the law of the land.\nBut to ascertain the value of the law of honour as the guide of life, let\nsome of the cases of daily occurrence be observed, in which the rights of\nhospitality have been abused with shameless unconcern, the confidence of\nfriendship repaid with base ingratitude, and the dearest ties of life\nbroken with base and heartless exultation, by men of honour.  Words\ncannot express the load of deep, of agonizing woe, which the partial\nsubstitution of the law of honour for the law of God has inflicted upon\nthis Christian land.  Families, through it, have had to suffer privations\nfrom the extravagance, and poverty from the gambling of parents; to weep\nfor the untimely death of a father by the hand of the duellist; to mourn\nand blush for the indelible stain of a mother\u2019s shame.\n\nSuch are some of the terrible effects of the law of honour, as the guide\nof life, which, if it sanction not, tolerates the betrayal of innocence,\nthe ruin of a family, and the murder of a fellow-creature.\n\nLet an inquiry be now made into the value of the law of the land as a\nrule of right.  Here the records of our courts of justice might suffice\nto shew, that severe laws do not deter from the commission of crime.\nThis is as might be fairly calculated upon; because the fear of uncertain\nor distant punishment, will never operate as an effectual restraint upon\nan unprincipled mind: it is not, that the law is without its terrors to\noffenders, but it is, that under the influence of some powerful\ninducement, the salutary effect of those terrors is lost, from their\nbeing viewed at a distance, from the hope of escaping detection, and from\nthe power of present temptation.  These observations regard principally\nmore heinous offences; but if the effect of the criminal code be found to\nbe, that it operates more for the punishment than the prevention of\ncrime, what would be the state of society, if the civil law was our great\nguide in transactions between man and man.\n\nIf careful only to keep within its enactments, we made inclination or\ninterest our guide, where would be all the kind offices of Christian\ncharity, where the interchange of friendly services, where the joys of\nChristian sympathy.  Sad, indeed, would be the change, if, making the law\nof the land his sole rule of right, man, naturally weak, selfish, and\nsensual, gave the reins to his desires, and sought only his personal\ngratifications.  There might, indeed, be some exceptions, but the general\nrule would be, \u201clet us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.\u201d  In\nillustration of this view of the probable effects of such a system upon\nsociety, let the case of a litigious man be supposed: what annoyance,\nwhat ill-will, what animosities, does his vexatious enforcement of the\nlaw, in the most minute particulars, often excite in a neighbourhood: but\nif, in addition to his being litigious, he be also irreligious,\u2014if he be\nwithout a belief in a future state, a judgment to come, and final rewards\nor punishments\u2014what a fearful aggravation of the evils at once takes\nplace: suppose, however, further, that it is not the spirit, but the\nletter of the law he regards; nay, more, that it is only its punishments\nhe fears; and that he breaks the law, whenever secrecy affords hope of\nescape, or the weakness of the party injured, chance of impunity: what a\npest to society would he be!\u2014And yet, however odious and disgusting the\npicture, such would the great bulk of mankind become, if they could be\nonce brought to consider conscience a bug-bear, and Christianity an\nimposture.\n\nWhat is it restrains appetites, the indulgence of which produces so much\nmisery?\u2014Christianity.  What is it subdues the desire of revenge, which\nthirsts for blood?\u2014Christianity.  What is it arrests the course of secret\ncrime?\u2014Christianity.  What is it expands the contracted views and wishes\nof selfishness, and unlocks the sympathies of cold\nuncharitableness?\u2014Christianity.  Have the law of honour, or the law of\nthe land, power to produce such mighty effects?  They even lay not claim\nto such a power.  But the benefits of Christianity stop not here.  It is\ntrue, its transforming power, when its hallowing influence is fully felt,\nis the grandest phenomenon of the moral world:\u2014\u201cthe wicked are like the\ntroubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt:\u201d\n{123} but above the storm, a voice is heard\u2014the command is\nuttered,\u2014\u201cPeace, be still!\u201d the winds of passion are hushed, the waves of\nappetite subside, and a holy calm reigns in the mind and heart.  Still,\nthe power of Christianity, heaven\u2019s best gift to man, produces other\nbenefits.  It heals all the wounds which physical and moral evils cause\nto poor human nature.  It soothes the pain of sickness, it lightens the\npressure of privation, it cheers the sorrows of affliction; and, at that\nawful hour, when human aid is unavailing, and when the soul, trembling on\nthe brink of eternity, can repose only on the firm stay of eternal truth,\nit administers solid comfort, supplies pious confidence, and whispers\nholy peace.\u2014A dying hour is a severe test of principles; and it is at\nthat hour, which unmasks hypocrisy, and proves the weakness of\nphilosophy, the power of genuine Christianity is clearly seen:\u2014it is at\nthat hour, when all the world seeks for as happiness, is found to be\nvanity, all it calls glory, fades into insignificance, its value is fully\nfelt; it is at that hour, when a recollection of past sins, long forsaken\nand repented of, is present to the humble and contrite, and a\nconsciousness of extreme unworthiness afflicts the soul which still\nconfides in Jesus, its victory is complete.\n\nWell might Bishop Watson ask Gibbon, \u201cSuppose the mighty work\naccomplished, the cross trampled upon, Christianity every where\nproscribed, and the religion of nature once more become the religion of\nEurope; what advantage will you have derived to your country or to\nyourselves from the exchange?\u2014I will tell you from what you will have\nfreed the world; you will have freed it from its abhorrence of vice, and\nfrom every powerful incentive to virtue; you will, with the religion,\nhave brought back the depraved morality of Paganism: you will have robbed\nmankind of their firm assurance of another life; and thereby you will\nhave despoiled them of their patience, of their humility, of their\ncharity, of their chastity, of all those mild and silent virtues which,\n(however despicable they may appear in your eyes) are the only ones which\nmeliorate and sublime our nature; which Paganism never knew, which spring\nfrom Christianity alone.\u201d {124}  Nor does this able writer, in his\nLetters to Paine, state less clearly and forcibly the evils which the\ninfidel school inflict upon society.  \u201cIn accomplishing your purpose you\nwill have unsettled the faith of thousands; rooted from the minds of the\nunhappy virtuous all their comfortable assurance of a future recompense;\nhave annihilated, in the minds of the flagitious, all their fears of\nfuture punishment; you will have given the reins to the domination of\nevery passion; and have thereby contributed to the introduction of the\npublic insecurity, and the private unhappiness usually, and almost\nnecessarily, accompanying a state of corrupted morals.\u201d {125}\n\nWould that the anti-christian school of this day could be induced to\nforego their unwearied exertions to make proselytes, by considering the\npoor substitute they have to offer for an holy faith, which is the hope\nof the prosperous, the consolation of the afflicted, the comfort of the\nsick, and the support of the dying!  To man, who feels his want of some\nholy light to guide his erring steps, some blessed solace to cheer an\naching heart, in a world of perplexity and woe, the infidel has nothing\nto offer but the laws, for the guidance of his public conduct, and for\nhis internal monitor and comforter,\u2014a poor philosophy.  But what to teach\nhim how to die?  Nothing: for he has nothing to offer but the trite\naphorisms of heathen philosophers.  What to take away the fear of\nsomething after death?  Nothing: for he who believes nothing which\nChristianity has revealed can know nothing of a state of future\nexistence, uncognizable by unassisted reason.\n\nMiserable men! the Christian mourns over the wilful blindness which, in\nthe full blaze of the meridian sun, continues in darkness, a state which\nis but a faint emblem of \u201cthe blackness of darkness for ever.\u201d  Most\nguilty men! the Christian burns with holy indignation against their\nperverted and wicked zeal for proselytism, of whom it may be said, \u201cYe\ncompass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make\nhim twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.\u201d {126}  If the\ninfidel reflects, what must be his state of mind, when he remembers, how\noften, whilst feeling the utter wretchedness of his dark and cheerless\ncreed, he has sought with artful sophistry to bewilder the understandings\nof the ignorant, and, with cold heartlessness, to blast the hopes of the\nvirtuous!  He who openly stabs or secretly poisons an associate, incurs a\nless load of moral guilt than he who inflicts a wound or instils a\npoison, which, rankling, causes misery in this life, and in the next,\nanguish unutterable and interminable.\n\nFatal, however, as such a creed must be to the best interests of society,\nwherever its influence prevails, it assumes a still more alarming aspect\nas inculcated by those infidel teachers, who, disseminating their\npestilent doctrines amongst our working population, not only seek to\ndestroy all the hopes and fears of an hereafter, but to stimulate their\nevil passions, and to produce a contempt not less for human than Divine\nlaws.  If once principles so subversive of the civil and religious\nobligations of man, as a member of a Christian community, were allowed\ngradually to leaven the great mass of the population; not only would the\ncause of religion and morals be deeply injured, but eventually the altars\nof God would be overthrown, the bonds of civil society broken, and\nanarchy, spoliation, and bloodshed, reign through the land.  With the\ngreat bulk of mankind, the sense of responsibility, present and future,\nis the great restraint upon their evil inclinations.  Philosophers may\ntalk of the eternal fitness of things, the beauty of virtue, the value of\nthe distinctions of rank, of unequal divisions of property, and the\nnecessity of order, subordination, and industry, for the well-being of\nsociety: but once remove from the minds of the lower classes their fear\nof punishment,\u2014by destroying all belief in a future state of retribution,\nand all dread of the laws of the land, the execution of which they\noverawe, defeat, or defy, by their numbers,\u2014and there will be confusion,\naggression, outrage, and a general attack upon property.  Constituted as\nman is by nature, and constituted as society is by law and custom, in a\nChristian country, as soon as Revelation is rejected by the great bulk of\nthe people, the work of disorder and disorganization must be rapidly\ncarried on, until the whole frame-work of society be broken up.\n\nThe grand principle by which society is held together, in a free country,\nis religious and moral influence controlling and directing physical force\nto the good of the whole community.  Emancipate physical force from the\nsalutary restraints and guidance by which its violence and turbulence are\nchecked, and its mighty energies beneficially directed and employed, and\nthe same results will ensue, as would occur, were that mighty engine,\u2014the\nproudest boast of modern science,\u2014the steam-engine, deprived of the nice\nadjustments and counterbalances which have rendered its formidable powers\nof easy, safe, and useful application.  The frightful destruction which\nattends the explosion of a steam-engine, would be more than paralleled by\nthe sudden rending asunder of the bands of society, when physical force,\nreleased from the government of religious and moral influence, bursts\nforth with the full sweep of its tremendous powers.  Abstract principles,\nand philosophical theories, weigh not a feather with the great bulk of\nmankind, who are far more under the direction of their passions than\ntheir judgment.  Suppose the case of one man rich,\u2014and it may be,\npossessing more than he appears to require,\u2014surrounded by many who are\npoor and needy.  What prevents the many from plundering the one? not\nabstract principles of natural justice, not a philosophical respect for\nthe rights of property, but regard for Divine and human laws: remove the\nrestraints of conscience, and the fear of punishment, and the many poor\nwill rush upon the rich few, like a pack of hungry wolves upon, scattered\nand defenceless sheep.\n\nThis admits of easy proof: it is an undeniable axiom in morals, that vice\nbrings with it its own punishment; how then does it come to pass that it\nabounds to such a fearful extent in society?  It needs not any very\nextensive acquaintance with life to return the answer, which appears to\nbe the true one,\u2014that where there is not religious principle the truths\nof morality are less powerful than the impulses of passion, and present\ngratification is willingly purchased, even at the expense of much after\nsuffering.  Suppose, then, both religion and morals discarded; and man\nleft, not merely to the unrestrained indulgence of his evil passions, but\nthose passions excited by intoxicating and maddening stimulants, what\nthen would be the consequences?  The heart sickens whilst the mind\npictures to itself some of the frightful excesses, the horrible\nenormities, of which one man may be capable under such circumstances.\nSuppose, further, not one man only, but a large proportion of the\nlabouring population of a country exposed to the artful and wicked\ndevices of infidel and seditious demagogues, corrupting the principles,\nby profane and blasphemous writings; exciting angry and vindictive\nfeelings by exaggerated or false tales of injustice and wrong; fostering\nhatred and malignity towards the rich, by representing them as the\noppressors and robbers of the poor, by whose labour they live; and\nstimulating their natural cupidity and sensuality by hopes of plunder, of\nease, and of enjoyment; what, then, would be the consequences?  Let the\nhistory of France return the answer, for it is written in characters of\nblood, in her annals, when, through the influence of a party, at first\nsmall, and apparently contemptible, she became revolutionised,\ndemoralised, unchristianised.  Birth, rank, and wealth, were alone\nsufficient to expose their possessors to democratic violence and fury;\nwhen all laws, human and Divine, broken,\u2014all institutions, civil and\nreligious, overturned, regicide and apostate France subverted the throne,\nand trampled upon the cross; and the demons of disorder, spoliation, and\nbutchery, stalked through her land, deluged with the best blood of her\nchildren.\n\nThe conclusion, then, at which the impartial and dispassionate enquirer\nwill arrive,\u2014a conclusion which has received the terrible sanction of\nexperience,\u2014is, that the most horrible consequences will result to\nsociety when physical force is released from the salutary restraints of\nreligious and moral influence.\n\nWhen unchristianised, man becomes a sort of demon: he riots in the\nlicentiousness of his assumed freedom from obligations Divine and human;\nand if leagued in a diabolical conspiracy against religion, laws, and\nproperty,\u2014against all that is virtuous, noble, and praiseworthy,\u2014he is\ninvolved as he advances, deeper and deeper in danger and guilt; as the\ncrisis approaches, he is impelled forward in his headlong career, with a\nrapidity which allows no time for reflection, with a force which defies\nresistance, until at last he is swallowed up in the wide ruin of\nuniversal tumult and disorder: like one who commits himself to the\nguidance of a stream, ignorant or regardless of the distant cataract,\ntowards which it is flowing: borne along by its powerful current, he is,\nat first, delighted with his swift and unchecked progress, but as he\nproceeds, the rapidity and force of the stream fearfully increase, until\nat last, drawn within the full influence of the fall, he is swept along\nwith tremendous violence towards the verge of precipitation, whence he\nshoots into the boiling gulf below\u2014a gulf which is no unfit emblem of\nsociety, heaving, foaming, and roaring, under the domination of physical\nforce.\n\nLet not, however, the useful and awful lesson which the French revolution\nteaches be thus hastily dismissed: human nature is always the same, and\nsimilar causes will produce similar results, however modified by\ncircumstances.  A length of time was required in that country to sow the\nseeds of infidelity, but as soon as they had taken deep root in the\npublic mind, their effects were apparent; their growth was as rapid as it\nwas luxuriant, and they bore such a deadly crop as fills the mind with\ndisgust and horror.  Nor was the field of operation of the antichristian\nconspiracy confined to France, the great object of which was, every where\nto accomplish the defamation and discredit of the Christian religion,\nwhere it could not effect its entire overthrow.\n\nLet the portrait, therefore, be examined which Bishop Horsley has\nsupplied us with of those times, which must be still fresh in the\nrecollection of some; it is drawn with the power and effect of a master\nin his art; would it were only interesting as a vivid sketch by a\ncontemporary, of dangers passed away! it speaks even now with a warning\nvoice to this country.\n\n\u201cThe whole of Europe, with the exception of France only, and those\nmiserable countries which France has fraternized, is yet nominally\nChristian: but for the last thirty years or more, we have seen in every\npart of it but little correspondence between the lives of men and their\nprofessions; a general indifference about the doctrines of Christianity;\na general neglect of its duties; no reverent observance of its rites.\nThe centre from which the mischief has spread is France.  In that kingdom\nthe mystery of iniquity began to work somewhat earlier than the middle of\nthe century which is just passed away.  Its machinations at first were\nsecret, unperceived, disguised.  Its instruments were persons in no\nconspicuous stations.  But by the persevering zeal of an individual, who,\nby an affectation of a depth of universal learning which he never\npossessed\u2014by audacity in the circulation of what he knew to be falsified\nhistory\u2014by a counterfeit zeal for toleration; but above all, by a certain\nbrilliancy of unprincipled wit, contrived to acquire a celebrity for his\nname, and a deference to his opinions, far beyond the proportion of what\nmight be justly due either to his talents or attainments, though neither\nthe one nor the other were inconsiderable;\u2014by the persevering zeal, I\nsay, of this miscreant, throughout a long, though an infirm and sickly\nlife of bold active impiety, a conspiracy was formed of all the wit, the\nscience, the philosophy, and the politics, not of France only, but of\nmany other countries, for the extirpation of the Christian name.  The\nart, the industry, the disguise, the deep-laid policy with which the\nnefarious plot was carried on; the numbers of all ranks and descriptions\nwhich were drawn in to take part in it\u2014men of letters first, then\nmagistrates, nobles, ministers of state, sovereign princes: last of all,\nthe inferior ranks, merchants, attornies, bankers\u2019 clerks, tradesmen,\nmechanics, peasants; the eagerness with which, under the direction of\ntheir chief, all these contributed their power, their influence, their\ningenuity, their industry, their labour, in their respective situations\nand occupations in life, to the advancement of the one great object of\nthe confederacy, are facts that are indeed astonishing.\u201d {134a}\n\n\u201cThe success of this vast enterprise of impiety was beyond any thing that\ncould have been expected by any but the first projector, from the\nlittleness of its beginnings.\u201d {134b}  \u201cThe apostacy of the French\nnation, and the subversion of the Gallican Church, however unexpected at\nthe time in Europe, was not a sudden event: it was not one of those\nspontaneous revolutions in public opinion which are to be traced to no\ndefinite beginning, to no certain cause: it was not the effect of any\nreal grievance of the people, proceeding as hath been falsely pretended,\nfrom the rapacity and the ambition of their clergy: it was the\ncatastrophe and accomplishment of a premeditated plot\u2014a plot conceived in\nmere malice, carried on with steady, unrelenting malignity, for half a\ncentury.\u201d {134c}\n\nSuch is the account which one of the ablest writers England ever produced\nhas left behind him, of the origin and progress of a conspiracy against\nChristianity, the effects of which he also witnessed in this country, but\nby the blessing of God on the labours of himself and others, lived to see\nhappily counteracted.  There is much, it is true, which does not\ncorrespond with the aspect of the present times; with which, however, a\nvery superficial acquaintance will satisfy every enquiring mind that\nthere is also much which applies to them too well.  It is not likely that\nthe operations of infidelity will be precisely the same at different\nperiods, though the object remains unaltered: still even in their plans\nand machinery, there will often be found great resemblance.  The infidel\nscheme in France was commenced by men of letters; in this country at\npresent, its most open and fierce advocates are amongst the low and\nhalf-educated classes: still we have seen that in the middle and higher\nclasses there is gaining ground not \u201ca direct attack on the evidences of\nChristianity or on the value of its doctrines;\u201d but \u201cthe distinctive\ncharacter of modern unbelief is the attempt to supersede Christianity,\nand to make men moral without its guiding and restraining influence.\u201d\n{135}  There is here a much greater resemblance than might be at first\nsupposed, between the two plans of operation, now and at the close of the\nlast century.  The attack was then made with the most masterly skill:\ncare was taken that the prejudices of education, as they were considered,\nshould at first be treated with tenderness; and the way gradually\nprepared for the reception of opinions, which, if at once presented to\nthe uncorrupted mind, would have been rejected with horror.  To use an\nillustration in perfect accordance with their views, the light of impiety\nwas to be gradually let in upon an eye, which had long been clouded by\nthe cataract of superstition, lest it should prefer the darkness of error\nto the full blaze of truth.  We find, therefore, no premature development\nof immoral and impious doctrines: superstition, bigotry, intolerance,\nwere strongly condemned; clerical abuses and exactions fiercely inveighed\nagainst; but pure religion and morality were commended.  \u201cIn this\ncountry,\u201d writes Horseley, \u201cI believe they know very well that bold\nundisguised atheism, proceeding directly and openly to its horrid\npurpose, will never be successful.  They must have recourse, therefore,\nto cautious stratagem; they must pretend that their object is not to\ndemolish, but reform: and it was with a view of giving colour to this\npretence, that the impudent lie\u2014for such I have proved it to be\u2014has been\npropagated in this country of their reverence for pure Christianity, and\nfor the Reformation.\u201d  But there was one invariable feature of all their\nproceedings, never lost sight of, a rancorous and malignant hostility to\nthe established Church; and unwearied exertions \u201cto alienate the minds of\nthe people from the established clergy, by representing them as sordid\nworldlings, without any concern about the souls of men, indifferent to\nthe religion which they ought to teach, to which the laity are attached,\nand destitute of the Spirit of God.\u201d {137a}  Here, then, we have a direct\nparallel between those times and the present, in which, indeed, the\nbalance of evil is against us, for, \u201cthe Church of England,\u201d observes a\nliving prelate, {137b} \u201cnever, perhaps, hitherto has had to contend with\nso great a number of open and avowed enemies; who, in their reiterated\nand persevering attacks, stop short of no misrepresentations, however\nflagrant, which tend to hold it up to public scorn and indignation.\u201d\n\nAfter making every allowance, indeed, for the popular excitement, which\nmay be of only temporary duration; for the resentful feelings, which may\npass away with the occasion which has excited them; still there remains\nsufficient to justify the worst apprehensions, and to demand the most\nstrenuous exertions at counteraction of the friends of order and\nreligion.  It is not merely that there is a want of veneration, love and\nvalue for the Church; but a rancorous hatred, spurred on by eager desire\nof spoliation, is manifested, wherever infidel teachers have made\nproselytes to their wicked creed.  Respect, also, for constituted\nauthorities, is destroyed, by their inculcating the audacious falsehood,\nthat civil government has been framed, to enable the few to rule the\nmany.  Value for the laws has been lessened, by their declaring, there is\none law for the rich, and another for the poor.  And the bonds of\naffection and kind offices, which united the pastor and the parishioner,\nthe landlord and the tenant, have been almost every where weakened, and\nin some places broken, by more than the base insinuation, by the\nassertion, that the forbearance and kindness shown, originate not in\nfriendly regard and Christian charity, but in the ignoble wish of buying\ngolden opinions,\u2014in the pusillanimous desire of propitiating men roused\nto a sense of their injuries,\u2014of disarming of their angry passions men\npanting for retaliation and revenge.  Thus the force of the public and\nsocial obligations of life has been impaired, and those kind ties and\nsympathies, which bind man to man in their several relations, are\nconverted by the poison of infidel principles, into food for malignant\nfeelings, which inwardly rankle in the heart, and which outwardly evince\nthemselves by discontent, distrust, and dislike; and when the opportunity\npresents itself, by violence, aggression, and outrage.  The effects of\nsuch a state of things, if not counteracted, cannot be contemplated,\nwithout the most painful apprehension, for, as it has been powerfully\nexpressed, \u201cfatal must be the consequences, if the monstrous fiends of\nblasphemy and disorganization now going about seeking whom they may\ndevour, and stalking openly through the land, with menace and defiance,\nbe suffered to take undisturbed possession of our peasants and\nartificers, or of those on whom they immediately depend for their\nsupport.\u201d\n\nWe have already seen the system of extensive combinations carried on in\ndefiance of the laws;\u2014organized bands and tumultuous assemblages of\npeasantry, extorting money, and enforcing their demands with threats of\nviolence;\u2014wanton destruction of property, in the breaking of machinery,\nin attacks upon private houses, and in the far more horrible crime of the\nnocturnal incendiary;\u2014violence and excesses in many towns;\u2014and riot,\npillage, and arson, defying for some days, in a great city, municipal\nauthorities and military force.\n\nNow when all these fearful evils are viewed in connection with the\ngeneral increase of crime, more particularly of juvenile delinquency;\nwith the abuse and profanation of the sabbath, and neglect of the public\nordinances of religion, and with the unsound views in faith and morals\nwhich extensively prevail\u2014the shades of the gloomy picture gradually\ndarken.  But it is capable of receiving some further tints, and then the\nmoral state of the kingdom, which has been studiously kept as far as\npossible distinct from the political, will stand forth, it is believed,\nunder such an appalling aspect as to satisfy men, of all parties, of the\nnecessity of prompt and vigorous exertion, of strong and efficient\nremedies.  Amongst the great body of the people have sprung up contempt\nfor antiquity, disregard for established usages, disrespect for rank,\nlove of innovation, clamorous discontent, and fierce desire of change,\nwhich impel them forward with blind and presumptuous confidence in their\nown wisdom, and with reckless indifference as to what may be the\nconsequences of their precipitation and rashness.  The public press,\nwhich exercises a fearful despotism\u2014and political leaders, whose\nauthority is scarcely less absolute\u2014urge forward an already over-excited\npeople, instead of attempting to allay the rising storm which threatens\nto involve all in the common ruin of social order, public property, and\nnational credit.\n\nThe urgent importance of the question, What is to be done? cannot but\nforce itself upon the attention of the most supine\u2014of the most\nindifferent to their country\u2019s safety and welfare; and surely only one\nanswer can be returned\u2014repair any injuries which time may have caused to\nthe goodly edifice of the Church, or to the fair fabric of the\nConstitution, striving, at the same time, by a general diffusion of true\nreligion, sound learning, and useful knowledge, to secure the eradication\nof heretical and infidel opinions, and the reformation of public morals;\nand by the blessing of God, the storm will pass away, and leave the\nChurch and Constitution unscathed.  True Christian wisdom revolts from\nany concession of principle, but not less so from any defence of error;\nit yields not to popular clamour and threats in matters of duty, but it\nthankfully receives the admonition given in the spirit of kindness, and\nprofits even by the warning of an enemy, to remove any slight blemishes,\nwhich, affecting not the foundation of the Church built on a rock, appear\nexternally, and tempt the rash and rude hand of bold and unhallowed\nreparation.\n\nIt is the height of political wisdom to know when to refuse, and when to\nconcede popular claims.  To refuse just claims is equally wicked and\nunwise; it is not only an act of injustice, as debarring the people from\ntheir rights, but it destroys confidence and respect\u2014it produces fierce\ndiscontent, exasperation, and vindictiveness towards their rulers; and,\nin the end, if the claimants be powerful, that is extorted as a right\nwhich was first asked as a boon.  To concede unfounded claims is equally\nweak and unwise; it stimulates the eager and grasping spirit of demand,\nit rarely conciliates for the time, but never satisfies; it causes that\nunsettled expecting and excited state of the public mind so unfavourable\nto national contentment, happiness, and prosperity; and if the system be\nlong continued\u2014and every new concession, by weakening the strength of the\nyielding party, will make it more difficult to change the system\u2014security\nafter security, privilege after privilege having been surrendered, the\npetitioners will become the framers of the laws\u2014the claimants, the\ndispensers of privileges\u2014the governed, the governing power in the\nkingdom.  At the awful crisis at which we have arrived it is the bounden\nduty of all men to forget party distinctions, to divest themselves of\nparty spirit, to have no object in view but the honour of God and the\ngeneral good.  Let, therefore, the claims of the people be\ndispassionately and impartially weighed; not, however, abstractedly, but\nwith relation to the general good; and let these claims be conceded so\nfar as they may be granted consistently with the rights of property, the\nintegrity of the constitution, the interests of religion, and the welfare\nof the empire.  And having made every concession which justice demands,\nand which the real interests not only of the claimants, but of society at\nlarge, sanction, let the whole energies of government and the nation be\ndirected to crushing the seditious and blasphemous associations which are\nactively employed in exciting discontent and insubordination, and in\ncorrupting the principles of our agricultural and manufacturing\npopulation; and let every means be employed to calm the agitation of the\npublic mind\u2014to restore it to that peaceful, healthful, and contented\nstate, which once so much distinguished the people of England.\n\nTo effect, however, this great object, the co-operation of that mighty\nengine of good or evil\u2014the public press, is essential.  When the\ninformation, the talent, the eloquence, which are so conspicuous in many\nof our leading journals are considered, we cease to wonder at the immense\ninfluence they possess over the public mind; for partly through\nindolence, partly through ignorance, a large proportion of men are\ndisposed to adopt, without examination, opinions which come recommended\nby the authority of a name they have been accustomed to respect and\nvalue.  How beneficial, then, would be the consequences to society, if\nthe public press would use more moderation; if instead of swelling the\nstorm which is raging through the land, it would pour oil upon the\nheaving and troubled waters; if, instead of advocating the interests of a\nparty, the public good was made of paramount importance.  It is\nmelancholy to observe the pernicious influence of party spirit upon the\npublic press of this country: it is not only that it excites rancour and\nbitterness of feeling, but even truth, viewed through the medium of its\njaundiced eye, appears like falsehood\u2014beauty, like deformity\u2014virtue, like\nvice.  Of this we have at present a too complete proof in the\nmisrepresentations, the misstatements, the calumnies, which have been\ndirected against the Established Church.  The writers cannot be so\nignorant as not to know the charges are substantially false,\u2014they cannot\nbe so dishonest as to give circulation to what they know to be untrue,\nand therefore, as they publish the most false and calumnious allegations\nagainst the Clergy, it can only be, that the mists of party distort\nobjects,\u2014the prejudices of party misconstrue motives,\u2014the spirit of party\nperverts facts.  Let it not be said that the liberty of the press has\ndegenerated into such licentiousness, that many public journals have\nwillingly and premeditatedly been guilty of the monstrous wickedness of\ntraducing and vilifying, and holding up to public scorn and reprobation,\nthe Clergy of the Established Church, but rather that, under the delirium\nof a political fever, they have unconsciously loaded with unmerited\nopprobrium, and most unjustly held up to public odium, the Clergy, who,\nas a body, are distinguished for their talents, their learning, their\npiety, and their zeal in their Great Master\u2019s holy cause.\n\nA deep debt of justice remains due to the Established Church; and to the\nsense of right, and to the good feelings of those who have joined in the\ncry against it, this appeal is made.  There is not any disposition on the\npart of the Clergy to ask for undue favour or commendation:\u2014no wish, that\nabuses, if they exist, should be spared,\u2014that delinquency, if any case\noccur, should escape punishment.  But they protest against the manifest\ninjustice with which they have been treated.  The most extravagant\nover-statements of a few valuable appointments have been industriously\ncirculated, as a proof of excessive and overgrown wealth, whilst the\npoverty of some high dignities, and a large proportion of benefices, has\nbeen studiously kept back; the failings and offences of a few\nindividuals, under every form of exaggeration and perversion, have been\ndwelt and enlarged upon with evident satisfaction, whilst no just meed of\npraise has been bestowed upon the body, to which rather the censure, due\nonly to some few members, has ingeniously, but wickedly, been made to\nattach.  All which misrepresentations apparently have in view one\nobject,\u2014that the charges of excessive wealth and extreme worthlessness\nmay stimulate and justify spoliation and subversion.  And yet no angry\nrecriminations, scarcely any indignant remonstrances, have issued from\nthe injured party: when they have spoken, it has been in the calm\nlanguage of conscious rectitude; and the great body have forborn to reply\nto insult and invective, relying on the goodness of their cause, to which\nthey feel assured the people of England will, sooner or later, do full\njustice.  If aught could soften the harsh severity, could shame the cruel\ninjustice with which the Clergy have been censured, vilified, and\npersecuted, surely it should be the Christian meekness and patience with\nwhich they have borne the heavy load of wrong that has been cast upon\nthem.  Full many there are who, unmoved by clamour, unprovoked by\ninjuries, and unappalled by dangers, are pursuing the even tenor of their\nway, in the diligent and faithful discharge of their sacred duties.  But\nsilence under grievous charges is often interpreted into an admission of\ntheir truth, and meekness under heavy reproaches a proof of their\njustice.  There are times, therefore, when the Clergy should raise their\nvoice in self-vindication; not merely for their own sakes, but that of\ntheir flocks; for if they allow their office to be degraded, and their\ncharacters aspersed, without maintaining the one and defending the other,\ntheir influence will be seriously weakened, and their usefulness, in the\nsame degree, diminished.  Hence it has ever been the artful policy of the\ninfidel school to attack religion through her ministers; and such is the\ncourse which is adopted now, and those ministers will aid and abet the\ncause of the enemies of their faith, if they repel not the darts which\nare meant to reach, through their bodies, the altars of their God.  And\nwould that that portion of the press, which has long assailed the Clergy\nwith much unmerited severity and abuse, could be persuaded to make a\ntardy reparation for the wrong they have done,\u2014for the injury they have\ninflicted on society!  The public journals now reach the remotest corners\nof the island; and in many distant parishes, in which the incumbent alone\nspends the income drawn from the soil, alone dispenses his charity,\nvisits the sick, instructs the ignorant,\u2014even there the blighting\ninfluence of calumny extends, and the work of Christian benevolence and\ncharity is neutralized by the splenetic effusions, or foul and false\ncharges of the public press.  Oh! that the awful circumstances of the\npresent times would teach forbearance, if not justice,\u2014would induce\nsilence, if not commendation.  If they love not religion for its own\nsake,\u2014if they respect not its ministers for their own sake,\u2014let the value\nof both be admitted in stemming that fearful tide of sedition and\ninfidelity which threatens to overturn the civil as well as religious\ninstitutions of the country.  And there is another consideration not to\nbe forgotten: in times of pestilence, the ministers of God have ever\nproved faithful to their trust, and a blessing to the sick and dying:\nthat scourge of the Almighty is now upon the land; let the press then\nseek to heal the breach they have made between the pastor and his flock,\nlest by the baleful suspicions and hatred they have caused in the minds\nof the latter, they may be the means of intercepting the stream of Divine\nmercy,\u2014of darkening the light of Divine truth.\n\nVain will be all the efforts of the friends of religion and order to\ncounteract the present evils, which endanger the best interests of\nsociety, and to introduce a better order of things, if a large proportion\nof the public journals continue not only to excite the public mind, but\nto prejudice it against the Clergy, by imputing to them unworthy motives,\nand by bringing against them heavy and unsubstantiated charges.  In many\nplaces at present, the plans of the Clergyman for the benefit of his\nparish are entirely frustrated; a large proportion of his parishioners\nbeing like men labouring under a fever caused by injudicious\ntreatment,\u2014the wholesome aliment, which would give nourishment and\nstrength in a healthy state, injures rather than benefits; and even the\nmedicines which should cure the disease are rejected, through distrust of\nthe physician who prescribes them.  But let those who have injured the\npatient, by supplying stimulants when they should have administered\nsedatives, by exciting suspicion when they should have inspired\nconfidence, endeavour to repair the evil they have produced, and then the\nministers of the Great Physician of souls will recover their proper\ninfluence, and will be able beneficially to exercise their important\nfunctions.\n\nIt is impossible to estimate the advantage of the ministerial office to\nsociety, until the aggregate of the services of men, who have all their\nallotted field of action throughout the kingdom, be well weighed.  Let\nany one examine minutely into the benefit which one parish receives from\na resident incumbent, who faithfully discharges the duties of his office;\nand if all do not so, it is the fault of the individual, and not of the\nsystem:\u2014let him observe, not merely the general advantage derived by all\nfrom the residence amongst them of a well informed and well conducted\nman,\u2014at once the scholar, the gentleman, and the Christian,\u2014but of one\nwho is the authorized medium through which abuses are to be checked and\ncorrected, vice discountenanced and reproved, virtue encouraged and\nrewarded, relief administered to distress, instruction to ignorance,\ncomfort to sorrow, and the light of the Gospel diffused amongst all,\u2014its\noffers addressed to all, its consolation imparted to all.  Then let him\nattempt to calculate the amount of instruction conveyed through \u201cthe\nalacrity, the zeal, the warm-heartedness which the Established Clergy\nhave manifested for the education of the poor;\u201d {149} of comfort derived\nby suffering in its hour of need and sorrow, from its faithful pastor;\nand of benefit imparted to all, either directly or indirectly, either\ntemporally or spiritually, by the appointed and responsible teachers of\nthe Gospel, throughout the parishes in the kingdom.  And then let him\nform a judgment as to what degree of confidence is to be placed in the\nwisdom, what sense of obligation is to be entertained for the\nservices,\u2014_not of those_ who are labouring with _earnest_ diligence to\n\u201cfeed the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made them overseers,\u201d\u2014_of\nthose_ who by impoverishing the Clergy would deprive them of the means of\naffording temporal assistance to the poor and needy; and by calumniating\nthe Clergy would impede the discharge and frustrate the efficacy of their\nspiritual ministrations.  Alas! it is because the full value of the quiet\nand unobtrusive labours of all ranks in the Church is so little known by\nthose who are actively engaged in public life, that plans are devised,\nwhich, possessing some plausibility, and coming recommended with much\neloquence, are eagerly embraced by many, who would indignantly reject\nthem were they aware that, if adopted, they would injure the present and\nendanger the eternal welfare of millions.  As men, as statesmen, and as\nChristians, let all who have inconsiderately joined in the cry against\nthe Church forbear, until they have ascertained for themselves, by minute\nand impartial investigation, whether it is as wealthy and proud, as\ngrasping and worldly, as bigoted and intolerant, as intermeddling and\ndomineering, as inefficient and corrupt, as its enemies have represented\nit to be.  Could it be proved to be such, every sincere Christian,\nwhether cleric or laic, would at once say, free it from the abuses which\ndisgrace its character and impair its efficiency.  But of the charges\nbrought against it, the large proportion originate in the hostility,\nhatred, and malignity of its enemies; there may be some defects, but they\nare incidental, not inherent, and are at present occupying the deep and\nanxious attention of the heads of the establishment, who are most\ndesirous to correct whatever may limit the influence or lessen the\nusefulness of that pure and reformed branch of the Church of Christ\nestablished in this kingdom.\n\nIf the enemies of the Church, who profess to be the friends of mankind,\nare sincere, as we are bound to consider them, in the expression of their\nwish to benefit their fellow-men, they must not impede the operation of\nan establishment which every where diffuses a knowledge of that Gospel,\nthe salutary influence of which extends through society, as the only cure\nof the ills to which flesh is heir.  They may closely watch and severely\nscrutinize the proceedings of the Church; but, as men and Christians,\nthey are bound to do it justice, and give it their support as a powerful\nagent, in lightening the load of misery which too often exists in this\ncommercial country to a frightful extent.  \u201cCompare,\u201d says the present\nBishop of Chester, \u201ccompare the ignorant and unreflecting peasant, who\nmoves in the same dull, and too often sinful track, with no ideas beyond\nthe ground he treads upon, the sensual indulgences which he gratifies,\nand the day that is passing over his head;\u2014compare him with his\nenlightened neighbour, nay, with himself, if happily he becomes\nenlightened, when he follows the same path of active industry, but makes\nit a path towards his heavenly Father\u2019s kingdom;\u2014and then perceive, by a\nvisible example, what the grace of God effects through the agency of man;\nor take a case, too common, alas! too familiarly known to many who hear\nme.  Take the case of those who see their occupation sinking from under\nthem; their means of support annually decreasing, and little prospect of\nits melioration.  Suppose that the views of these, and such as these, are\nbounded by this present world, what can they be but unhappy, restless,\ndiscontented; defying God, and murmuring at man; distressing the\nphilanthropist, because he sees no comfort left to them; distressing the\nstatesman, because he can devise no remedy for their relief; above all,\ndistressing the Christian, who sees the future prospect far darker than\nthe present gloom?  Suppose the case of one thus circumstanced, having no\nhope beyond this world; and then contemplate the change which would be\nproduced, if any of the means by which grace is communicated to the heart\nshould inspire the same person with the principles and the faith of the\nGospel; converting him from whatever is evil in his ways, and thus\nremoving all the accumulation which sin adds to poverty: reconciling him\nto hardships and privations as the intended trial of his faith, the lot\nof many of God\u2019s most approved servants; and lighting up the darkness of\nthis world by the rays which precede that which is to come, the earnest\nof a brighter dawn.\u201d\n\nMay those who have been so far misled as to become either hostile or\nindifferent to their Church now do tardy justice to her, which, through\ngood report and evil report, is still true to her righteous and holy\ncause, and dispenses through the land the light and blessing of the\nGospel of peace: may those who love, cherish, and venerate the religion\nof their fathers\u2014the Church of their God\u2014approve themselves zealous and\nfaithful sons; our Zion requires active, stanch, vigilant, and\nexperienced defenders: her enemies are numerous, persevering, powerful,\nmalignant, implacable; their attacks are sometimes open, sometimes\ninsidious, but always skilfully planned, and ably conducted; still,\nwhilst the Church continues true to God and His Christ, she has nothing\nto fear, for \u201cgreater is He who is for her than he who is against her.\u201d\n\u201cThe Lord is her shield and buckler,\u201d and Christ has promised to be\nalways, even unto the end of the world, with his Church, which is founded\non the rock of faith, and against which \u201cthe gates of hell shall not\nprevail:\u201d in humble, but firm reliance, therefore, upon Him, of whose\nmystical body she forms a portion, the Church of England, amid the\nstrifes of political changes, amid the distractions of civil contentions,\namid the storms of popular clamour and fury, remains stedfast through\nfaith, and joyful through hope:\n\n    \u201cAs some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,\n    Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,\n    Tho\u2019 round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,\n    Eternal sunshine settles on its head.\u201d\n\nWhilst, however, we rely with firm and holy confidence upon the Great\nAuthor and Finisher of our Faith, for the protection and preservation of\nHis Church; zeal, energy, and discretion, in defence of religion, are not\nthe less requisite in believers, who labour under their Heavenly Master\nfor the furtherance of His Gospel.  As the Almighty is pleased to employ\nhuman agents for the accomplishment of His gracious designs towards His\ncreatures; His faithful servants hoping to prove instruments, in His\nhands, of good to their fellow men, must use every means in their power\nto frustrate the evil designs of the enemies of the Lord; and to induce a\nsinful nation, suffering under a Divine visitation, to put away from them\n\u201cthe evil of their ways,\u201d which has called down the Divine displeasure;\nand humbling themselves before God to implore His mercy, \u201cthat the plague\nmay be stayed from the people.\u201d {154}  Let, then, all the servants of the\nLord, at this alarming and awful crisis, \u201cbe very jealous for the Lord\nGod of Hosts;\u201d {155} and pray and labour incessantly for the defeat of\nthe devices of unbelief; which, whether under the form of an irreligious\nspirit seeking to do without Christianity, or under the bolder aspect of\nopen infidelity, striving to subvert Christianity, is the main cause of\nthe evils which now endanger the safety of the civil and religious\ninstitutions of the kingdom.  We have seen that, in the case of the lower\nclasses of society, the tide of profaneness has been setting in with a\nforce and fury which threaten to overturn all the defences of religion,\nmorals, and laws, which have long withstood their fierce assaults\u2014their\ndestructive ravages.  Can it be that the emissaries of Satan shall be\nfound more zealous and indefatigable in disseminating the poison which is\nto destroy both body and soul, than the servants of God are vigilant,\nactive, and unwearied, to prevent the bane or supply the antidote?  Can\nit be that the slaves of sin and darkness, under the galling yoke of him\nwho is a hard master, will manifest a more willing and prompt obedience,\nthan the servants of God, in the cause of their blessed Lord, whose\n\u201cburden is light,\u201d\u2014\u201cwhose service is perfect freedom?\u201d  We have seen,\nalso, that in the middle and higher classes of society there appears to\nbe an equally effective, though less conspicuous, agent at work\u2014a deep\nand silent current, which is gradually, though secretly, undermining that\ngreat foundation of Christianity, that the law of God is to be the rule\nof life.  This great engine of evil, as more insidious, is, in reality,\nmore dangerous than the noisy turbulence of infidel assemblies, or the\nopen circulation of blasphemous publications; the power of the spirit of\ndarkness, when, \u201cas a roaring lion he walketh about seeking whom he may\ndevour,\u201d is less to be dreaded, than when he employs the noiseless\ngliding of \u201cthe serpent,\u201d which discovers itself only by the sting of\ndeath.  Can it be that any of the friends of religion will shut their\nears against these representations of great and alarming danger\u2014delude\nthemselves with the groundless anticipations of unjustifiable\nhope\u2014deceive themselves with the distant plans of culpable\nprocrastination\u2014or shroud themselves beneath the covering of indolent\nsupineness and heartless indifference?  Too long palliatives have been\nemployed instead of remedies, expediency has been substituted for\nprinciple, and worldly wisdom has encroached upon the province of Divine\nRevelation.  As a Christian nation our laws and institutions should be\nall essentially Christian; the foreign and domestic policy of the State,\nand the public and private conduct of individuals, should be all animated\nby a Christian spirit, and guided by Christian rules and precedents.\n\nLet us, therefore, enquire by what means is the predominance of\nChristianity to be restored, when it is threatened with still further\ndepression; when it has great and powerful enemies all plotting its\ndestruction in this country?\n\nThere is one mean\u2014to which reference has been already made, as being the\ngreat object the believer should have in view\u2014which would, with the\nblessing of God, upon whom alone dependence must rest for success against\nHis enemies, be effectual in accomplishing this great end, and that is\nthe zealous and unanimous co-operation of all Christians for the general\ndiffusion of true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge.  A very\nbrief examination into the cause which has contributed largely to the\npresent state of things, so unfavourable to the interests of genuine\nChristianity, may suffice to place this in a clear point of view.\n\nReligious error generally receives its distinguishing features from the\nliterary character of the age: and an age which abounds with sciolists is\nvery fertile in sceptics.  For it has been always found that the effect\nof superficial knowledge is rather to unsettle, of profound knowledge to\nconfirm, belief in Revelation; as was well observed by that mighty master\nin philosophy, Bacon, who says, \u201ca little philosophy inclines us to\natheism, and a great deal of philosophy carries us back to religion.\u201d\nAnd the reason of this is obvious; there are certain difficulties of\nevery subject which lie upon, or nearly at, the surface; slight labour\nand research, therefore, put the enquirer in possession of little more\nthan those difficulties; whilst if the spirit of patient and accurate\ninvestigation had carried him further, he would have found them gradually\ndisappear before the light of truth breaking by degrees upon his mind,\nand leading him to just and certain conclusions, drawn from a long series\nof proofs.  Now the present age appears to be characterized by a wide\ndiffusion of elementary knowledge amongst all classes of society; by a\npreference of an extensive, though necessarily superficial, acquaintance\nwith general literature and the elements of modern science, to an\naccurate and profound knowledge of a few leading branches of study; and\nby a tendency to elevate the pursuit of physical above that of moral and\nreligious truth.  From the proposition laid down, of the ordinary effects\nof superficial knowledge upon the mind in the investigation of religious\ntruth, we should conclude, that such a system of popular instruction is\ncalculated to indispose towards the full reception of a Divine\nRevelation; that the mind, either bewildered by a variety of pursuits, or\ndissatisfied by diversity of opinions, will consider all knowledge\nuncertain, and all theories unsatisfactory; or influenced by that\nintellectual pride and presumption which are amongst the most bitter\nfruits of defective knowledge, deem itself competent to decide summarily\nupon whatever passes under its observation.  For if it has been found\u2014as\nit has been too often found\u2014that minds, otherwise highly gifted, but\ndestitute of religious principles, when long accustomed to demonstration,\nare apt to underrate the value of moral proof; and when long familiar\nwith natural causes, sometimes forget the great Architect, who formed and\nput in motion our globe; sometimes forget the great First Cause, which\ngave nature her powers and properties, and now preserves and directs them\nto a beneficial end: what must we expect when far inferior minds, without\nmental discipline and profound knowledge, those happy results of\nlaborious and patient study; but with vanity flattered by appeals made to\nits judgment, and with pride fostered by the acquisition of a poor\nmodicum of science, deem themselves competent not merely to decide upon\nthe most difficult questions of government and legislation, but upon the\nmost profound truths of natural and revealed religion?  The result may be\neasily anticipated; if this empty vanity, this presumptuous pride of\nintellect, reject not Christianity at once, it ordinarily takes an\nheretical direction, and assuming the specious guise of love of\ninvestigation, and value for the powers of reason, it makes the deep and\nawful mysteries of our holy faith the subject of crude theories and\ndaring speculations; and with powers confessedly unequal to the\nexplanation of some of the lowest wonders of the material world, seeks to\npenetrate within the veil drawn around the Godhead, and reduce to the\nlevel of human comprehension the very nature of the Divine essence.\nShould it, however, take one step further, and that an easy step, it\nrejects the truths it had long distorted, it resigns the shadow of which\nit had never known the substance, and declaring Christianity to be \u201ca\ncunningly devised fable,\u201d it becomes the advocate of heartless, hopeless\ninfidelity.\n\nThis is no imaginary picture, but one, of the reality and fidelity of\nwhich the present state of society affords too abundant proof.  Not that\nsuperficial acquaintance with science is a thing of new occurrence; not\nthat pride of intellect\u2014ever a luxuriant weed in rich but ill-cultivated\nsoils,\u2014is a growth peculiar to our times; not that heresy and infidelity,\nits bitterest fruits, never till now spread their poison through our\nland; but never before was the field so large, the weeds more rank, and\nthe crop so abundant.  Formerly, science flowed in a few deep and noble\nrivers, of whose copious waters the nation at large sparingly drank; we\nstill have many rich streams which fertilize the land, but in addition to\nthem there is an infinity of small rivulets, some of which, like mountain\ntorrents, after a thunder-storm, are brawling and turbulent, covered with\nmuch foam, mixed with much impurity, often rising over their banks, and\nspreading havoc and barrenness, where all was fertility and beauty.  Such\nstreams may serve to illustrate the effects, upon society, of the\nviolence and turbulence of those, whose imperfect acquaintance with\nscience has first shaken their own belief, and has then been made\ninstrumental to the spread of infidel doctrines, amongst those who had\nlived in happy ignorance of \u201cscience, falsely so called.\u201d  But would any\none, therefore, be so unwise as to endeavour to keep these turbulent\nbrooks pent up?  The destruction would be only wider and heavier when\nthey at last burst over the mounds that restrained them: but it is at\nonce the course of wisdom and of humanity to confine them within their\nbanks, and give them a due direction, and then, as they descend towards\nthe plain, gradually the brawling ceases, the froth disappears, the mud\nsubsides, and you have a pure and quiet stream diffusing the riches,\nrefreshment, and beauty of science over the land.  No calumny has,\nperhaps, been more frequently repeated in the present day than that those\nwho expose the perversion, are the enemies of science.  But in spite of\ninterested clamour and unjust censure, the Christian is bound to\nmaintain, that knowledge is valuable in the degree in which it makes men\nnot merely wiser but better: and that however he may approve of literary\nand scientific pursuits, however ready he may be to extol their value,\nfor great indeed is their value, still their highest value is in proving\nsubsidiary to the acquisition of Christian knowledge.  Whilst, therefore,\nhe recommends their attainment, because they are calculated to enlighten\nand invigorate the mind, correct and refine the taste, exalt and dignify\nthe character, to supply a rational and unfailing source of relaxation\nand enjoyment, he must ever maintain, that unless hallowed with some\nportion of that \u201cwisdom which is from above,\u201d they will be useless to\ntheir possessor, and may, by a mischievous perversion, not only be fatal\nto his present and future happiness, but injurious to the best interests\nof a community.\n\nThat the extension of education has contributed to the production of such\nevils is true, but it is not less true, that education is not fairly\nchargeable with accidental and separable consequences.  The fault has\nbeen, that the provision for the religious instruction of the age,\nnotwithstanding the zeal and activity shewn to accomplish this great\nobject, has not increased in the same ratio with that for its advancement\nin literature and science.  The supply of the mental wants of the middle\nand lower classes of society, which have received this powerful impulsion\ntowards knowledge, has been too much in the hands of those who avowedly\nexclude religion from their system of popular education.  Thus, a much\nneglected soil has been broken up, and prepared for cultivation, but\n\u201cwhilst men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares in the field;\u201d the\nLord\u2019s labourers, however, are not therefore to desert the field, but to\nemploy, for the future, more watchful vigilance, more earnest zeal, and\nmore assiduous labour.  There is no benefit nor blessing which is not\ncapable of perversion and abuse; but it would be a strange act of folly\nto refuse a manifest advantage, through fear of contingent evil, both the\nprevention and correction of which are in our own power.  \u201cThe almost\nuniversal diffusion of elementary knowledge furnishes the enemies of\nrevealed religion with abundant materials to work upon: but then it also\nfurnishes the friends of truth with the obvious means of counteracting\nthe influence of erroneous doctrines, and of instilling sounder\nprinciples into the bulk of the community.  Any attempt to suppress, or\neven to check, the spirit of inquiry, which is abroad in the world, would\nnot only be a vain and fruitless attempt, but a violation of the\nindefeasible liberty of the human mind, and an interference with its\nnatural constitution.  To impart to that spirit a right direction, to\nsanctify it with holy motives, to temper it to righteous purposes, to\nshape it to ends which lie beyond the limits of this beginning of our\nexistence, will be the endeavour of those who desire to make the\ncultivation of intellect conducive to moral improvement, and to establish\nthe kingdom of Christ at once in the understanding and affections of\nmankind.\u201d {164}\n\nLet, then, all the friends of religion employ some portion of their time,\ntheir influence, and their wealth, in zealously labouring to promote a\ngeneral diffusion of true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge.\nLet them be assured that the mental cultivation of the population of a\ncountry, when properly conducted, will, by elevating the moral character,\nalways have a beneficial influence upon society; that it can only be\nproperly conducted when religion forms the basis of the system of\ninstruction; and that the present ardent thirst for knowledge will be\nproductive of lasting evil or good to the best interests of England,\naccordingly as it is, or is not, directed as to an object of paramount\nimportance, to that fountain of \u201cliving water\u201d which floweth for our\nsalvation.\n\nWhen religion has been made the basis of education, and the principles of\nrevelation have been clearly understood, and cordially embraced, a slight\nacquaintance with science not only ceases to have any injurious effect\nupon the mind, but benefits it, as the acquisition of useful knowledge\nmust always do: in the humility, faith, stability, and knowledge of true\nreligion, there is a safe-guard against the evils usually attendant upon\na superficial acquaintance with natural philosophy in minds\nill-disciplined and ill-informed.  Nor is it only that physical science\nbenefits minds early imbued with religious principles; a knowledge of\nmany of its departments opens a new and unfailing source of high and pure\nenjoyment; it supplies, as it were, a new sense: before, Creation\npresented a beautiful and varied picture, delighting the eye, and filling\nthe heart with gladness.  But it was in a degree like the picture of a\ngreat master, to one unacquainted with painting; the general beauty, and\nhappiness of effect, were discoverable, but there was not the full\nsatisfaction which the connoisseur derives from his knowledge of the art;\nupon the former, the general effect principally makes an impression; with\nthe latter, not only the general effect, but all the variety of details,\nall the happy combinations, which have united to produce that effect, are\nseen, understood, and appreciated; and there results the high\ngratification felt by a cultivated mind, when the eye is pleased, the\nunderstanding exercised, and the judgment satisfied.  However inadequate\nevery illustration, drawn from art, must be to convey any just conception\nof the impression which the works of nature are calculated to make upon\nthe enlightened mind; still this may afford a faint parallel of the\nadvantage which scientific men possess over those who have never studied\nthe book of nature.  For physical science improves the perception of the\nbeauties, whilst it unfolds the wonders, of creation: not only do the\ngreat results of nature\u2019s works become, through it, better understood;\nbut the causes and modes of operation, by which those results are\naccomplished, are discovered: and the student becomes more full of\ndelight and admiration, the further his researches extend; he traces the\nnice connexion, which every where exists between causes and effects; and\nsurveys, with wonder and praise, the beautiful contrivances, the\nadmirable adaptations, the perfect harmony, which reign throughout the\ncreation of God.  His mind thus becomes deeply and powerfully impressed\nwith the uniform perfection visible in the works of the Deity: if he\nobserve with his telescope a planet,\u2014one of those bright bodies which gem\nthe canopy of heaven,\u2014or examine with his microscope an insect,\u2014one of\nthe minutest beings which sport in the summer\u2019s sunshine,\u2014he still sees\nthe same perfection; \u201cthose rolling fires on high\u201d perform their\nappointed revolutions, in their several orbits, directed by unvarying\nlaws; and the tiny insect, equally complete in its organization,\nexercises, with an instinct as unerring, its allotted functions.\n\nThe whole material universe supplies the student of nature with a rich\nfield, at once, of investigation and enjoyment: the mineral, the\nvegetable, and the animal kingdoms, all disclose their treasures to his\ninquiring mind; which is not, however, limited by the narrow bounds of\nour terraqueous globe, but ranges through the fields of ether, far as the\neye can penetrate into the distant regions of illimitable space.\nThroughout he is delighted to trace the hand of the Creator; to observe\nevery where design and arrangement; nothing superfluous, nothing in vain,\nbut the mighty machinery of a stupendous system; in the great principles\nof which there is sublime simplicity, in their operations unvarying\naccuracy and matchless contrivance, in their details endless variety and\ninfinite combinations, and in their effects utility, beauty, grandeur,\nand magnificence.  The works of the Almighty far exceed the full\ncomprehension of finite intelligence, but much further do they transcend\nadequate description in uninspired language: man feels all his feebleness\nof intellect and of expression, when he attempts to penetrate deeply\ninto, or to describe accurately, the mighty works of God; he is then\nconstrained to confess, \u201csuch knowledge is too wonderful and excellent\nfor me; I cannot attain unto it.\u201d {167}  \u201cOh Lord, how manifold are Thy\nworks! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy\nriches; so is the great and wide sea also.\u201d {168a}  \u201cThe heavens declare\nthe glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy-work.\u201d {168b}  \u201cBy\nthe word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by\nthe breath of His mouth.  He gathereth the waters of the sea together, as\nit were upon an heap, and layeth up the deep, as in a treasure-house.\nLet the earth fear the Lord: stand in awe of Him, all ye that dwell in\nthe world.  For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood\nfast.\u201d {168c}  And he breaks forth in the devout hymn of the Psalmist;\n\u201cPraise the Lord, oh my soul: oh Lord my God, Thou art become exceeding\nglorious: Thou art clothed with majesty and honour.  Thou deckest Thyself\nwith light, as it were with a garment: and spreadest out the heavens like\na curtain.  Who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters, and\nmaketh the clouds His chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind.\u201d\n\nWhen philosophy is thus sanctified by Christianity, the volume of nature\npresents, after the volume of inspiration, the most instructive and\ndelightful study of man; in both he can read, as if written by a\nsun-beam, the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of the Most High.\nWould, then, any wish to debar others from the high intellectual feast\nwhich nature bountifully spreads before all, and of which she pressingly\ninvites all to partake?  Such would be to limit or to divert the streams\nof Divine bounty, whilst flowing in their proper channels: such would be\nto make a monopoly of one of heaven\u2019s best and freest gifts to man,\nwhilst a pilgrim in this world of woe,\u2014the admonitions which nature\naddressing to the enlightened and thoughtful mind,\n\n                     \u201cLeads it upward to a brighter day.\u201d\n\nWould any say, Gaze as long as you like upon the beauties and wonders of\nnature, but attempt not to explore its hidden secrets\u2014to examine the\nlatent springs of its vast and complicated machinery?  Such would be, as\nif a man possessing a curious and exquisite piece of mechanism were to\ndirect the observers to remark the beauty of the material, the regularity\nof the movements, and the certainty of the results, and yet to forbid\nthem to examine into the principle of construction and the mode of\noperation, on which those movements and that certainty depend.  For the\nproportion, in which he who has studied the structure of the globe, the\nwonderful mechanism of the universe, as far as Revelation and reason have\nenabled men to go, derives from its contemplation greater enjoyment and\ninstruction than he who treads the earth, traverses the seas, and gazes\nupon the heavens, ignorant of all philosophy can teach, is the same as\nthat in which he who understands mechanics receives greater pleasure and\ninformation, than he who understands them not, from examining the process\nof a masterly application of the powers of that science.\n\nLet, therefore, the knowledge of physical science be widely diffused, but\nlet the basis of Christian principles be first laid; for thus not only\nmay the evil of scepticism be provided against, but the field of moral\nand intellectual enjoyment and improvement will be enlarged to the\nstudent; for never does the study of the material universe more elevate\nthe mind, and expand the heart, than when we are accustomed to refer\nevery thing to a great and gracious Creator,\u2014to look habitually\n\n                     \u201cThrough nature up to nature\u2019s God.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe know that there is a superficial philosophy, which casts the glare of\na most seducing brilliancy around it; and spurns the Bible, with all the\ndoctrine and all the piety of the Bible, away from it; and has infused\nthe spirit of Antichrist into many of the literary establishments of the\nage: but it is not the solid, the profound, the cautious spirit of that\nphilosophy, which has done so much to ennoble the modern period of our\nworld; for the more that this spirit is cultivated and understood, the\nmore will it be found in alliance with that Spirit, in virtue of which\nall that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God is humbled, and all\nlofty imaginations are cast down, and every thought of the heart is\nbrought into the captivity of the obedience of Christ.\u201d {171}\n\nThe first great principle, therefore, which all must steadily keep in\nview and strenuously advocate, is that _the Bible should form the basis\nof education_.  It is not sufficient to say, that education is to be\nconducted on religious principles, for on the subject of religion there\nexists, in this day, a most unfortunate and mischievous variety of\nopinions, which would be much diminished if the Holy Scriptures were made\nthe real, as they are the professed, groundwork of every system of\nChristian instruction.  Two other great principles, which the true\nservants of God should strongly recommend and enforce, as being\nintimately and necessarily connected with the first\u2014that the Bible is to\nbe the basis of education,\u2014are, that _the Bible is to be the rule of\nfaith_, _and the guide of public and private life_.  From a neglect of\nthese three great principles of Christian conduct, it is hardly too much\nto say, that almost all the evils which afflict society have arisen: for\nthey all reciprocate, and mutually contribute to their common\nperpetuation.  The man of the world educates his son in the way best\ncalculated to promote his temporal advancement: and that son, in his\nturn, when he becomes a father, is regardless of the eternal interests of\nhis child, which he has never been taught to value.  For the system begun\nin childhood is continued through all the stages of life; and \u201cthe spirit\nreturns unto God who gave it,\u201d having been occupied almost to the last\nmoment of human existence with the pursuit of worldly advantage and\nenjoyment.  Here we have, consequently, only the name of Christianity;\nfor neither do its motives influence, nor its rules guide the conduct:\nthere may be the external form, but there is not the power of godliness;\nthere may be the cold and lifeless statue, there is not the living\nChristian, possessed of intelligence, volition, and motion, and animated\nby faith and hope,\u2014the origin, exercise, and direction of which belong to\nthe Spirit of God.  This is a necessary consequence of that neglect of\nthe Bible, which has been already noticed as being such a prolific source\nof error.  There is very general in the world a standard of faith and\nmorals, which Scripture does not recognize, and a reliance upon Divine\nmercy, which Scripture does not sanction.  Thus the world calls vices\nvenial, which Scripture says shall exclude from heaven; and the world\nspeaks peace, where Scripture pronounces woe.  Take, however, the life of\na large body of men, trace it from the cradle to the grave; observe in\nchildhood its toys, in boyhood its sports, in youth its pleasures, in\nmanhood its occupations and enjoyments, and in age its employments; all\nin succession deemed of supreme importance, and the excessive indulgence\nof which has never been considered criminal: then take the Bible, and\ncompare the survey you have made with what it reveals of the nature and\nobject of man\u2019s probation; and the conclusion will force itself\nirresistibly and painfully upon you, that as life is to be a state of\nmoral discipline to fit the heir of immortality for his bright\ninheritance, the life, which has been depicted, is not that which will\nlead to the blessed mansions of heaven.\n\nAgainst this spurious Christianity, let the friends of true religion\nevery where raise their voice, for like a currency of base coin, it is\nnot only without value in itself, but deludes its possessor with the\nfalse idea of possessing wealth.  Let them point out the folly and the\ndanger of receiving religious opinions from the world, instead of from\nGod\u2019s book; for as the light of the sun is coloured by the stained glass\nthrough which it passes, so the rays of Divine truth, being tinged by the\nperverted medium through which they are received, may deceive those who\nimagine they are enjoying the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness.\nAnd let them warn all against walking by another\u2019s light,\u2014though he may\nappear \u201ca shining and a burning light\u201d\u2014instead of searching for\nthemselves the lively oracles of Scripture; it may be, as in the case of\na party in a dark and dangerous cavern, where few only possess lamps,\nthat the whole may proceed in safety; but surely the security is not so\ngreat as if each possessed his own lamp; and great would be the folly of\nhim, who warned of the danger, and assured of the necessity of having a\nlamp of his own, rejected the friendly offer of assistance, which would\nguide him in safety, and trusted to the uncertain light of another,\nwhich, falling on broken and uneven ground, deceived the eye, and risked\nhis precipitation into some deep abyss, from which extrication was\nimpossible.\n\nLet them every where teach and impress, as a duty of paramount\nimportance, that not only the education of all classes, from the prince\nto the peasant, should be conducted on the principles of the Bible; but\nthat all should acquire that knowledge of the evidences as well as\ndoctrines and duties of Christianity, which may fit them in their several\nstations to overcome, through the grace of God, the temptations to\nunbelief or immorality, which are likely to assail them.  It is a painful\nreflection, how many youths of bright prospects, great talents, and\namiable dispositions, have made shipwreck of their present and eternal\nhopes, from a want of early religious instruction.  How many are less\nashamed of being found ignorant of the Bible than any other book, and\nwhilst they would blush not to be acquainted with some new, though\nunimportant, discovery in science, feel no shame in never having learnt\nthe important discoveries made by Revelation to man.  And how many, in an\nevil age, want courage to admit a knowledge of the Bible, with the great\ntruths of which they have been made imperfectly acquainted, but have\nneither learnt their value nor imbibed their spirit.\n\nLet, therefore, the true servants of the Lord labour diligently to\ncounteract the rationalizing spirit in theology, the neglect of Divine\nProvidence, the ascription of every thing to natural causes, the\nendeavour, in short, to do without Christianity in the affairs of life,\nwhich so extensively prevail.  And let them discountenance and repress,\nand, when fitted by previous education and study, refute the objections\nwhich scepticism and infidelity now advance in society, not only\nunblushingly avowing their unbelief, but attempting to spread its poison\nin private families.  It would not be for the advantage of religion to\ncommit to inexperienced hands the weapons of controversy, for the great\nstrength of infidelity lies in perplexing subtilities and ingenious\nsophisms, which are calculated to puzzle an ill-read and illogical\ndisputant.  But every Christian should \u201cknow the certainty of those\nthings wherein he has been instructed.\u201d {175}  \u201cAnd be ready always to\ngive an answer to every man that asketh a reason of the hope that is in\nhim, with meekness and fear.\u201d {176}  The neglect of instruction in the\nevidences, in the general system of religious education, is at once most\nunwise, and most calculated fearfully to promote the spread of unbelief:\nin the first place, it is like attempting to build a house without laying\na good foundation: the winds and floods of infidelity assail it, and it\nfalls, because built on sand: in the second place, the fall of one house\ngenerally more or less injures those adjoining: thus the cause of\nunbelief is advanced, not only by the accession of every new convert, but\nby the shock which his fall occasions to the faith of his friends and\nacquaintance.  Let, therefore, the friends of religion at once secure to\nthe evidences their proper place in every system of education, and also\ntake care that their own principles be fortified by that sound \u201cknowledge\nwhich maketh not ashamed.\u201d  Let them never suffer the cause of God to be\nblasphemed, or the truth of religion denied in society, without entering,\nat least, their protest; and let them never suffer the questions and\ndoubts of scepticism to be propounded in their families, without at once\nsilencing the dangerous inmate, who seeks to spread his secret poison, by\ninviting enquiry and provoking discussion.  It is true many of the\nobjections urged in society are of a nature which little learning, in\naddition to good common sense, may suffice to answer.  As, for instance,\nthe existence of mysteries in Christianity; whilst, in truth, the absence\nof mysteries in a Revelation would be a strong argument against its\nDivine origin: the terms employed in creeds and articles, the form of\nworship and the discipline of the Church; for all of which Christianity\nis not strictly liable, as, though in perfect conformity with, some of\nthem have been engrafted upon, Revelation: and the sins into which\nbelievers, who disgrace their profession, are betrayed; for which\nChristianity cannot be to blame, as it would be most manifest injustice\nto visit upon a Revelation, the offences of unworthy members, of which\ntheir own sinfulness is the sole cause.  But such is the mode of warfare\nof the light troops of the infidel host, who dare not attack directly the\nevidences, doctrines, and precepts of the Gospel; and yet from their\nnumbers, activity, and malignity, have deeply injured the cause of\nreligion, by insinuating doubts, and instilling suspicions into\nill-informed and inexperienced minds.\n\nIf those who bear the Christian name and believe the Christian faith\nwould unite against this legion of evil spirits, and employ their rank,\ninfluence, talents, and learning, in bringing them into subjection to\nHim, whose easy yoke they have thrown off, for the service of Satan, the\ncause of religion would be immensely benefited.  Not only because many\nunbelievers would probably be converted, but because the work of\nproselytism would be checked: at present, from the culpable supineness\nand indifference of many Christians, even in private families, infidelity\nis sometimes heard, unblushingly, to avow its detestable principles; but\nif the ban of proscription was placed upon its creed, the ears of\nbelievers would not be shocked, and the principles of the inexperienced\nendangered by direct or indirect attacks upon the great truths of our\nmost Holy Faith.\n\nTo effect a general co-operation of the great body of Christians, in the\ncause of religion, would be, necessarily, a work of immense difficulty\nand labour.  Much, however, might be accomplished, if more of those, whom\nGod has blessed with power and influence, set an example of labouring\nzealously to promote His glory and the advancement of His kingdom.  How\noften, amongst the higher and middle classes of society, has the\ninfluence of a single individual, of talents and learning, but of still\nmore eminent piety, been employed with the most beneficial effects.  \u201cA\nword spoken in due season, how good is it,\u201d {178} has been fully proved,\nin the case of many, who, vibrating, as it were, in such perfect\nequipoise between good and evil, that a feather would almost suffice to\nincline the balance, have been led to \u201cchoose that good part, which shall\nnot be taken away from them;\u201d {179a} by having books recommended or\nsupplied, by receiving friendly advice and encouragement, or by that most\neloquent and attractive of the modes of conveying instruction\u2014the winning\ngrace and beauty of Christian example.  If, therefore, even a few\nindividuals or families, in any place, resolved that, by Divine grace,\n\u201cas for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;\u201d {179b}  I will not be\n\u201cunequally yoked with unbelievers;\u201d {179c} as far as in me lieth, no one\nshall blaspheme the Holy Name by which I am called, nor malign the holy\ncause which in baptism I have sworn to defend; infidelity would be much\nput to shame and silence.  And it is the duty of all sincere Christians\nto adopt this course, for they are bound to use every means in their\npower, to discourage infidelity; they must not admit it into the intimacy\nand confidence of domestic life; the sacrifice may sometime be painful,\nbut it must be made; there may not be any compromise of Christian\nobligations, which forbid every unholy alliance: \u201cfor what fellowship\nhath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light\nwith darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part\nhath he that believeth, with an infidel?\u201d {179d}  Believers must warn,\nexhort, entreat, and, if in their power, instruct the unbeliever; but, if\nin vain, then the divine command applies, \u201ccome out from among them, and\nbe ye separate:\u201d if both parties be sincere, the contrariety of habits,\nfeelings, sentiments, and even of enjoyments, which exists between them,\nmust render familiar intercourse little agreeable or profitable to the\nservant of God; who, if he be a weak or wavering disciple, may receive\nmuch injury, where he cannot benefit; and, if he be a firm and\nestablished disciple, when he finds his efforts to convince the gainsayer\nfruitless, however ready he may still continue to be to lend assistance,\nto admonish, and to observe all the courtesies of life; yet he cannot\nassign a place in his heart, or receive as a chosen and favoured\nassociate, one who is not united with him in the sweet bonds of Christian\nfellowship: there exists a bar, for the present, insuperable, why such\nmay not be addressed in the affectionate language of the Psalmist, \u201cthou,\nmy companion, my guide, and mine own familiar friend;\u201d and that bar is,\nthey cannot \u201ctake sweet counsel together, and walk in the house of God as\nfriends.\u201d {180}\n\nTo defeat, however, the devices and to frustrate the labours of the\nemissaries of infidelity amongst the labouring population of the country,\nreligious associations should be formed: for an evil of such magnitude\nwill never be remedied, until there are the more extensive and effective\nresults of well concerted and combined operations, in the place of the\ndesultory movements of partial or individual zeal.  This it may be said\nis already done by societies, amongst which the venerable Society for\nPromoting Christian Knowledge has stood forward with the most\npraiseworthy zeal and activity to stem the tide of infidelity, which has\nbeen, during the last year, spreading poison and death.  But increased\nefficiency would be given even to the labours of this valuable Society,\nby associations of the nature proposed; the object of which would be, not\nonly the present remedy, but the prevention of evils so dangerous to the\nbest interests of society.  And how great might be the blessed effects,\nin checking the secret and open enemies of the Gospel, if its true\nfriends stood forward, and united heart and hand with their appointed\npastors\u2014giving them all the aid of their rank and influence, and acting,\nunder their superintendence and direction, in the discharge of duties,\nwhich may with propriety be delegated to laymen!\n\nA writer, who has been already quoted at considerable length, to shew the\ndeep devices, the bold effrontery, the unwearied zeal, and the alarming\nsuccess of infidel teachers in the metropolis, asks the important\nquestion, \u201cwhat is to be done in a state of things like this?  Shall we\nlook calmly on, and say, let them alone; the authors and propagators of\nthe mischief are profligate and worthless men, whom nobody will trust;\nand, therefore, too contemptible to be noticed.  Alas! we should only\ndeceive ourselves, and be led to neglect others, by taking this\nflattering unction to our souls.\u2014It is clear, therefore, that some active\nand present remedy must be brought to meet the evil; and there is none\nwhich presents itself so readily and so naturally, as that which may be\nderived from the arguments, and the testimony, and the advice of the true\nfriends of Christianity, particularly of the ministers.\u201d  But the whole\nlabour must not devolve upon the clergy: not from any wish to spare them,\nwhose duty it is ever to be found in the van, in every attack upon the\nenemies of the Lord,\u2014and ever to bear the brunt of the battle; but\nbecause the active co-operation of the laity is essential to the success\nof the undertaking.  It has been the artful policy of the infidel\nteachers to endeavour to persuade their ignorant auditors that our holy\nreligion is a system of priestcraft; in the preservation of which its\nministers will always, necessarily, be actively engaged, because they are\ndeeply interested.  The deluded followers, therefore, of this satanic\nschool, may look with more than a suspicious eye upon the anxious labours\nof their pastor to undeceive them; they may read in it a direct\nconfirmation of what they have heard, and ascribe solely to self-interest\nwhat emanates from the pious zeal and sense of duty of him who \u201cwatches\nover them as one that is to give account.\u201d  But when they see associated\nwith the minister, in the work of Christian charity and instruction,\nlaymen, whom they know to have no inducement to support a system of\nfraud, and whom they may believe to be too honest and honourable to\npromote the cause of error, they are more likely to banish the suspicion\nof unworthy motives, which, in the present distempered state of their\nminds, opposes an insuperable bar to the reception of religious truth.\n\nWe have had in all our towns, and even in many large villages, boards of\nhealth formed to visit and enquire into the state of the poor; let\nsimilar religious boards be established under the direction of the\nparochial clergy, to promote their spiritual health.  Numerous and great\nare the evils which have arisen from the population of many parishes\nhaving increased beyond the means of accommodation in the parish churches\nand almost beyond the personal visitation and superintendence of the\nparochial clergy.  It has given rise to much almost compulsory secession\nfrom the Church, has weakened the influence of the Clergy, and has been\nproductive of the still greater evils of immorality, irreligion, and\nimpiety.  Plans, therefore, have been drawn up and acted upon with the\nmost happy effect in some places, for the formation of visiting\nsocieties.  These have already received the sanction of two prelates, who\npreside over populous dioceses, the Bishops of London and Chester, who\nhave both recommended them in their Charges to their Clergy.  \u201cThe\nvastness of the field,\u201d observes the Bishop of London, \u201cwhich demands\ntheir exertions, and their own insufficiency to meet that demand\naccording to the promptings of their conscience, and the impulse of a\ntruly Christian charity, are matters which lie heavily upon the mind of\nmany faithful zealous clergymen.  In the discharge of those duties which,\nin a populous parish, far exceed the physical abilities of the strongest\nand most devoted minister, great assistance may be derived from parochial\nvisiting associations, acting in subordination to the Clergy.  By kind,\nyet not intrusive enquiry into the wants, both temporal and spiritual, of\nthe poor; by well-timed aid, by encouragement, and counsel; by\nexhortations to the duty of reading the Scriptures, of public worship, of\nsanctifying the Lord\u2019s Day, of regulating the behaviour of their\nchildren; by directing them, in cases of sickness, or of ignorance, or of\ntroubled conscience, to their appointed pastor, such an association may\nwork incalculable good, and become powerfully, though indirectly,\ninstrumental in preaching the Gospel to the poor.  But it is incumbent on\nme to caution the parochial Clergy against relinquishing the\nsuperintendence and direction of these auxiliary labourers; and against\ndelegating to them their own peculiar functions and duties, as the\ncommissioned interpreters of Scripture, as the Lord\u2019s remembrancers for\nhis people, and as the appointed guides of their devotion.  There is a\nspecial promise of blessing annexed to ministerial service; and the sense\nof that specialty ought not to be effaced from the minds of our flocks,\nby the permitted intrusion of laymen, however pious and zealous, into\nthat which belongs to our own peculiar office.  If this be not attended\nto, you must expect that tares will spring up in the wheat, and that your\nvisiting societies will become so many nurseries of schism.\u201d {185}\n\nThe Bishop of Chester, after giving a striking description of the\ntransforming power of Divine grace, thus continues\u2014\u201cAnd can these things\nbe?  \u2018O Lord God thou knowest.\u2019  Earnestness, disinterestedness,\nsimplicity, godly sincerity, patience in teaching, watchfulness in\nseizing the favourable moment for counsel, are known to overcome even\nthat which seems most hopeless; the effects of natural corruption,\ninflamed by evil example, and strengthened by habits of wilful\ndisobedience.\n\n\u201cIt will be asked, however, \u2018Who is sufficient,\u2019 physically \u2018sufficient\nfor these things?  Certainly in our larger parishes it is not possible\nfor the strength or activity of the Clergy alone to provide for such\nindividual instruction.  But, there is a resource at hand: when the\npopulation is moderate, nothing is wanting but resolution and\ncontrivance; and in the case of a denser population, the bane and the\nantidote, the evil and the remedy are found together.  The same\npopulation, which presses so heavily, affords also that variety of ranks\nand degree of superior education, that many fellow-workers may assist the\nminister, and diminish his labours.  In this manner the Apostles were\nenabled to execute the manifold concerns which lay upon them.\u201d\u2014\u201cThey have\nleft us an example.  Let the minister of a populous district, using\ncareful discrimination of character, select such as \u2018are worthy,\u2019 and of\n\u2018good report,\u2019 and assign them their several employments under his\ndirection: they may lessen his own labour by visiting and examining the\nschools, by reading and praying with the infirm and aged, by consoling\nthe fatherless and widows in their affliction, and pursuing the many\nnameless ways by which it is in the power of one Christian to benefit and\nrelieve another.  Such charity, even more than any other charity, is\nuseful to the giver as well as to the receiver: it occupies minds, which,\nfor want of engagement, might otherwise prey upon themselves: and it\noccupies them in a way which better fits them for eternity: in religion,\nas in worldly matters, we often learn our best lessons by teaching.  What\nimage more exemplifying the reality of pastoral care, what more truly\nChristian picture can be presented to our contemplation, than that of a\nminister uniting with himself the best disposed and the most competent\nportion of his parishioners, and superintending counsels, and directing\nplans which have God for their object, and the eternal welfare of his\npeople for their end; seizing every opportunity of general and individual\ngood, correcting mischiefs at their first rising, providing for the\nspiritual wants of every different age and class, and thus striving, as\nfar as may be allowed, to \u2018present every man perfect in Christ\nJesus?\u2019\u201d\u2014\u201cNor is this any visionary notion; pleasing in idea, but\nimpracticable in reality.  Numerous parishes, of different degrees of\npopulation, have been brought under such discipline with more or less\nsuccess.  And I feel convinced that whoever is anxious to promote the\nglory of God, to assist the most important interests of his\nfellow-creatures, to confirm the security of his country, or maintain the\nstability of his Church, can ensure none of those great objects more\neffectively than by means like these.  Without them, in some of our\ncrowded districts of dense and extended population, the Church is lost\nsight of, parochial distinctions are obliterated, and the reciprocal\ncharities and duties of the pastor and the flock are forgotten by the\npeople, because it is physically impossible that they should be\nsatisfactorily discharged.\u201d\n\nThe awful visitation which has fallen upon the country renders such\nsocieties at this time of increased value and importance.  They are\ncalculated powerfully to assist the labours of the Clergy in endeavouring\nto improve, to the religious advantage of their flocks, the apprehension\nwhich is so general.  Seasons of alarm and affliction are often\npeculiarly favourable for the reception of Christian instruction: \u201cthe\nfear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;\u201d and when men look around\nthem and see or hear of death under its most terrible forms, and discover\nthe insufficiency of human means to prevent or remedy the evil they\ndread, they may \u201cfear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in\nhell;\u201d {188a} and thus be led to flee to Him who is able also to save\nthem to the uttermost that come unto God by Him. {188b}  Immense might be\nthe benefit, which would, through the blessing of God on their labours,\naccrue to the cause of religion, if parochial visiting associations were\nestablished generally throughout the kingdom, under the direction of the\nClergy.  They might form channels through which the valuable tracts\nagainst vice and infidelity, which the Society for Promoting Christian\nKnowledge is now circulating, might be more widely distributed; through\nwhich short addresses, and strong appeals to the conscience, and earnest\ncalls to repentance, in direct reference to the pestilence, might be\nbrought home to every family.  They might constitute a medium through\nwhich the parochial Clergy might communicate with every part of the most\npopulous and extensive parishes regularly and frequently; through which\nthey might diffuse much bounty, kindness, instruction, and exhortation to\ntheir poor and ignorant parishioners.  It is impossible not to see at\nonce that such associations might be so framed as to be productive of the\nmost extensive and beneficial results to the Church and people of\nEngland; they are calculated to restore the influence of the Clergy, and\nextend their sphere of usefulness amongst their flocks.  Notwithstanding\nall the arts of the enemies of our Establishment, the people of England\nalways have loved, and still love their Church: wherever a contrary\nfeeling subsists, it may be always traced to a local or temporary cause;\nbut still it must be admitted, that the immense population of some\nparishes, under existing circumstances, is likely to produce estrangement\nfrom the appointed pastor; an evil, which the visiting societies are\nadmirably adapted to remedy.  Some may object to such associations as\nbeing likely to encroach upon the separate and peculiar duties of the\nministerial character: such would be an evil of the most serious nature,\nfor no one must presume to intrude himself uncalled upon the priest\u2019s\noffice: but, though it is true every good is capable of abuse, this is an\nabuse which may be always especially guarded against by the clergyman who\nselects and controls the visitors, receives their reports, and\nsuperintends their operations: whilst as a further security against the\nperversion of such associations to party or sectarian views, it might be\nmade a standing rule, that no tract should be circulated in any parish,\nwhich had not received the sanction of the incumbent or his curate.  To\narrange the machinery and frame the laws of a general system of parochial\nvisiting societies, must be a work of time; but experience has already\nproved that they may be so framed and conducted as to be productive of\ngreat and unmixed advantage.  And never could such aid come more\nopportunely than at the present time: we have already seen the number,\nfierceness, and malignity of the enemies, who beleaguer our Zion, \u201cand\ncry, down with her, down with her, even to the ground.\u201d  The assistance\nof the laity, who are faithfully attached and devoted to the cause of\ntrue religion, will, therefore, be invaluable, at such a time, in\ndefeating the designs of those who seek to alienate the minds of the\nflock from their regular pastors, to corrupt their principles, and make\nthem ready instruments for the execution of their deep and wicked\nschemes: nor will the co-operation of pious laymen, with the clergy, in\nusing every means to bring the great bulk of the people to humble them\nselves before God, in the day of their visitation, be a less important\nservice.  The Christian minister resembles a beacon on a dangerous coast,\nwhich warns against sand-banks, sunken rocks, and precipitous shores: in\nfair weather, its single bright and steady light, which, shining through\nthe darkness, guides in safety the passing vessels, is alone sufficient;\nbut when the tempest rages, when fogs obscure its brightness, when some\nvessels, having struck on sunken rocks, are foundering; when others have\ngrounded on sand-banks, and others are stranded amid\u2014\n\n                \u201cThe impervious horrors of a lee-ward shore;\u201d\n\nthen other, and most prompt assistance, is required; signal guns are to\nbe fired, the life-boat launched, and the various life-preserving\napparatus prepared.  God has seen fit to cast our lot on troublesome\ntimes; the storms of passion howl around our Church, and her light cannot\npenetrate the mists of prejudice: the barks of thousands, therefore,\ncommitted to the stormy ocean of life,\u2014\n\n                \u201cYouth at the helm, and Pleasure at the prow,\u201d\n\nare in danger of striking on the sunken rocks of secret doubts, or of\nbeing wrecked on the exposed and rugged shore of dark despairing\ninfidelity: gladly, therefore, will \u201cGod\u2019s watchman,\u201d who looks with\nalarm and distress from his watch-tower, on this scene of imminent\ndanger, avail himself of the friendly hand which offers to aid him in\naffording rescue from the impending destruction.  Oh! to the ministers of\nthe Gospel,\u2014who feel how much the value and responsibility of their\nsacred office is increased in times like the present; who are almost\noverwhelmed by a sense of what is required of them as \u201coverseers over\nGod\u2019s heritage,\u201d as \u201cwatchmen in Israel,\u201d as \u201cministers of Christ, and\nstewards of the mysteries of God,\u201d\u2014assistance from pious, zealous, and\ndiscreet laymen, acting under their direction, must be peculiarly\nvaluable and acceptable.  Oh! only those who \u201chave always in remembrance\ninto how high a dignity and to how weighty an office and charge they have\nbeen called, to teach and to premonish, to feed and to provide for the\nLord\u2019s family; to seek for Christ\u2019s sheep that are dispersed abroad, and\nfor his children who are in the midst of this naughty world that they may\nbe saved through Christ for ever,\u201d {192} can fully estimate the value of\nany aid, however feeble, which comes to them at a time, when maligned and\nvilified, they find the difficulty of a due discharge of their sacred\nduties immensely increased by the impediments thrown in their way by the\nenemies of the Gospel.\n\nPerhaps there never was a time which more than the present required zeal\nblended with discretion, firmness tempered with meekness, and\nfaithfulness softened by charity, in the Christian minister: well does\nthe admonition of our blessed Lord to his disciples apply to those whom,\nin this day, he has called to be pastors under Himself\u2014\u201cbe ye wise as\nserpents and harmless as doves.\u201d  There are two other passages of\nScripture which appear to present a striking view of an important duty of\nthe clerical office in times like the present, and of the mode in which\nit is to be exercised: the command addressed to Isaiah, \u201cCry aloud, spare\nnot, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their\ntransgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.\u201d {193a}  And the\ninstructions given by St. Paul to Timothy, \u201cThe servant of the Lord must\nnot strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in\nmeekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God, peradventure,\nwill give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth.\u201d {193b}  It\nis the duty of Christian ministers to exhort and console each other in\nthe difficult work they have to perform; \u201cto put one another always in\nremembrance;\u201d to \u201cbear one another\u2019s burdens;\u201d to \u201cadmonish one another\nin the spirit of meekness and brotherly love.\u201d  How high is the dignity\nof the ministerial office!  \u201cLet a man so account of us, as of the\nministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.\u201d {194a}  \u201cNow\nthen we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us,\nwe pray you in Christ\u2019s stead, be ye reconciled unto God.\u201d {194b}  How\nawful its responsibility!  \u201cSon of man, I have made thee a watchman unto\nthe house of Israel; therefore, hear the word of my mouth, and give them\nwarning from me: when I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die; and\nthou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his\nwicked way to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his\niniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.\u201d {194c}  \u201cTake\nheed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the\nHoly Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He\nhath purchased with his own blood.\u201d {194d}  How great the satisfaction,\nhow sweet the joys of a successful ministry!  \u201cFor what is our hope or\njoy, or crown of rejoicing?  Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord\nJesus Christ, at his coming?  For ye are our glory and joy.\u201d {194e}\n\u201cTherefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction\nand distress by your faith: for now we live, if ye stand fast in the\nLord: for what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the\njoy, wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God?\u201d {195a}  \u201cTherefore,\nmy brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand\nfast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.\u201d {195b}  \u201cHolding forth the word of\nlife, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in\nvain, neither laboured in vain.\u201d {195c}  And how rich its reward!  \u201cLet\nhim know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his ways\nshall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.\u201d {195d}\n\u201cAnd they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament,\nand they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and\never.\u201d {195e}  Many distinguished bishops and pastors, who have shone as\nbright lights in our church, have strongly recommended that every\nclergyman should have his appointed seasons in which he \u201ccommunes with\nhis own heart, and in his chamber, and is still;\u201d meditates deeply upon\nhis important, responsible, and sacred office; reads, studies, and prays\nover the ordination service; and diligently, strictly, and impartially\nexamines into how far he has been, through Divine grace, enabled to keep\nhis ordination vows\u2014to perform his ordination obligations.  Such a\npractice is of such manifest propriety and use, that doubtless it\nprevails extensively: and high indeed, is the standard of duty, and\nstrict the requirements of service, which our Church imposes upon every\nminister: \u201cSee that you never cease your labour, your care, and\ndiligence, until ye have done all that lieth in you to bring all such as\nare committed to your charge unto that agreement in the faith and\nknowledge of God, and to that ripeness and perfectness of age in Christ,\nthat there be no place left for error in religion, or for viciousness of\nlife.\u201d {196a}\n\nThe prophet Isaiah thus prays to the Lord: \u201cYea, in the way of Thy\njudgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee; the desire of our soul is to\nThy name, and to the remembrance of Thee.  With my soul have I desired\nThee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me, will I seek Thee early;\nFOR WHEN THY JUDGMENTS ARE IN THE EARTH, THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD\nWILL LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS.\u201d {196b}  How \u201cinstant in season, and out of\nseason,\u201d must all the ministers of the Gospel be, that through the\nblessing of God, they may make the Divine visitation, which has fallen on\nthe land, conducive to the religious improvement of their several flocks.\nThe very fear of the consequences of intemperance, as being considered to\npredispose the system towards this dreadful disease, has, in many places,\noperated to the production of a great external reformation of the habits\nof life; let then the favourable moment be seized, and every means used,\nthat the inner man may be converted to God.  It is not sufficient, that\nthe pestilence should be considered as a judgment, and thus made the\noccasion of private and public exhortation; the press should teem with\ntracts on this most important and engrossing subject; and there should be\ndiffused throughout the country, under every form, and adapted to every\nrank in life, admonition and entreaty for all to improve to their soul\u2019s\nhealth the spread of a pestilence, which so often destroys the body which\nit attacks.  Every clergyman has his own sphere of influence within\nwhich, at least, his labours may be beneficially exercised; and if, by\npublishing, he benefits only those who are principally dependent on him\nfor religious instruction, he should consider himself well repaid:\u2014but\nwho know how far they may be instruments in God\u2019s hands for good to their\nfellow men?  The Almighty often selects feeble agents to accomplish great\nresults, that it may be seen, that \u201cneither is he that planteth any\nthing, neither he that watereth: but God that giveth the increase.\u201d {197}\nAnd oh! what a source of joy there is to the true believer in hoping he\nmay be an humble instrument in God\u2019s hands of \u201cwinning souls to Christ.\u201d\nThe excellent Doddridge, in the preface to his \u201cRise and Progress of\nReligion in the Soul,\u201d says, he should consider his labour far more than\namply compensated, if his work, through the Divine blessing, be made\ninstrumental to the conversion _of one sinner_.  What a field is now\nopened to the ministers of the Gospel, in which they may hope, through\nGod\u2019s grace and blessing, \u201c_to turn many to righteousness_;\u201d for in times\nof great national apprehension and danger the cause of true religion\noften advances and flourishes.  And oh! how sweet in such seasons, how\ndoubly blessed\u2014blessed both to those who minister, and to those who are\nministered unto\u2014is the faithful and zealous discharge of the duties of\ntheir high and holy calling, who are commissioned to pour the balm of\nconsolation on the wounded spirit, to bind up the broken-hearted, to\nsooth the terrors of affrighted conscience, and to lead the humble, and\ncontrite, and heavy-laden, to the Saviour, that they may take His yoke\nupon them, and find rest unto their souls.\n\nArchbishop Leighton, the bright ornament of Scottish Episcopacy, has\nforcibly stated the nature and obligations of the Christian ministry, in\ncommenting upon that most instructive passage in the First general\nEpistle of St. Peter, \u201cFeed the flock of God, which is among you, taking\nthe oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy\nlucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God\u2019s heritage,\nbut being ensamples to the flock.  And when the Chief Shepherd shall\nappear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.\u201d {199}\n\u201cThe duty enjoined,\u201d writes the Archbishop, \u201cis, _Feed the flock of God_.\nEvery step of the way of our salvation hath on it the print of infinite\nmajesty, wisdom, and goodness; and this among the rest, that men, sinful,\nweak men, are made subservient in that great work of bringing Christ and\nsouls to meet; that by the foolishness of preaching (or what appears so\nto carnal wisdom), the chosen of God are called, and come unto Jesus, and\nare made _wise unto salvation_; and that the life which is conveyed to\nthem by the _word of life_, in the hands of poor men, is by the same\nmeans preserved and advanced.  And this is the standing work of the\nministry, and this the thing here bound upon them that are employed in\nit, _to feed the flock of God that is among them_.  Jesus Christ\ndescended to purchase a Church, and ascended to provide and furnish it,\nto send down his Spirit: _He ascended_, _and gave gifts_, particularly\n_for the work of the ministry_, and the great use of them is, _to feed\nthe flock of God_.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot to say any more of this usual resemblance of a flock, importing the\nweakness and tenderness of the Church, the continual need she stands in\nof inspection, and guidance, and defence, and the tender care of the\nChief Shepherd for these things; the phrase enforces the present duty of\nsubordinate pastors; their care and diligence in feeding of that flock.\nThe due rule of discipline not excluded, the main part of feeding is by\ndoctrine, leading them into the wholesome and _green pastures_ of saving\ntruths, revealed in the Gospel, accommodating the way of teaching to\ntheir condition and capacity; to be, as much as may be, particularly\nacquainted with it, and suit diligently and prudently their doctrine to\nit; to _feed the sheep_, those more advanced; _to feed the lambs_, the\nyounger and weaker; to have special care of the infirm; to learn of their\nMaster the Great Shepherd, to _bind up that which is broken_, _and\nstrengthen that which is sick_, {200a} those that are broken in spirit,\nthat are exercised with temptations, _and gently to lead those that are\nwith young_, {200b} in whom the inward work of grace is as in the\nconception, and they heavy and weak with the weight of it, and the many\ndifficulties and doubtings, which are frequent companions and symptoms of\nthat work.  Oh! what dexterity and skilfulness, what diligence, and above\nall, what affection, and bowels of compassion, are needful for this task!\n_Who is sufficient for these things_? {200c}  Who would not faint, and\ngive over in it, were not our Lord the _Chief Shepherd_; were not all our\nsufficiency laid up in His rich fulness, and all our insufficiency\ncovered in His gracious acceptance?\u201d {201}  Animated by a high sense of\nduty, and enlightened, strengthened, and guided by an abundant outpouring\nof Divine grace, may all the \u201cpastors and teachers,\u201d who have been\nordained, \u201cFor the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the\nministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ;\u201d \u201cPreach the word, be\ninstant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all\nlong-suffering and doctrine;\u201d \u201cTill we all come in the unity of the\nfaith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto\nthe measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth\nbe no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind\nof doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they\nlie in wait to deceive: but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into\nHim in all things which is the Head, even Christ: from whom the whole\nbody, fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint\nsupplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every\npart, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in love.\u201d\nGod grant that none of His servants may faint or grow weary under the\nincreased weight of duty laid upon them by the circumstances of the\ntimes!  May they all labour, and \u201cpray without ceasing for the church and\npeople of God,\u2014remembering that the effectual fervent prayer of a\nrighteous man availeth much!\u201d  When faithful to their great Master, they\nhave high encouragements to excite, holy consolations to cheer, and\nheavenly aid to direct and bless their unremitting exertions in His\nservice, whose weak and \u201cunprofitable,\u201d but still faithful and attached\n\u201cservants\u201d they are.  Let not any such fear but that they will obtain a\nblessing on their labours, an answer to their prayers, from that gracious\nBeing whose ministers they are, and the advancement of whose kingdom they\nseek.  Never did the Lord fail his servants; His \u201cexceeding great and\nprecious promises\u201d are all sure and steadfast, are all \u201cyea and in him,\nAmen.\u201d  \u201cFor He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee; so\nthat we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what\nman shall do unto me:\u201d {202a}  He hath said, \u201cLo, I am with you alway,\neven unto the end of the world, Amen.\u201d {202b}  May each individual pastor\nof the Church of Christ have grace to receive and act upon, as addressed\nto himself, the concluding admonition of St Paul to Timothy: \u201cWatch thou\nin all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make\nfull proof of thy ministry:\u201d then \u201cThe Lord shall be unto thee an\neverlasting light, and thy God thy glory.\u201d {202c}  And when the time of\nhis earthly stewardship is on the eve of completion,\u2014the period of his\nallotted ministry about to expire, then he may hope that upon his last\nhours will be poured some portion of the joyful testimony of an approving\nconscience; some measure of that blessed assurance of confirmed faith,\nwhich cheered and supported the dying Hooker; \u201cI plead not my\nrighteousness, but the forgiveness of my unrighteousness through His\nmerits who died to purchase pardon for penitent sinners.  Let not mine, O\nLord, but Thy will be done!  God hath heard my daily petitions; for I am\nat peace with all men, and He is at peace with me.  From such blessed\nassurance, I feel that inward joy which this world can neither give nor\ntake from me.  My conscience beareth me this witness; and this witness\nmakes the thoughts of death joyful.\u201d  Then he may hope that the approach\nof the dark shadows of death will be illumined by some beams of that\nlight from above, which, with the full blaze of triumphant faith, shed a\nholy flood of radiance and glory over the close of the ministry of the\ngreat Apostle of the Gentiles: \u201cI am now ready to be offered, and the\ntime of my departure is at hand.  I have fought a good fight, I have\nfinished my course, I have kept the faith.  Henceforth there is laid up\nfor me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,\nshall give me at that day: and not to me only, but to all those who love\nhis appearing.\u201d {204a}\n\nLet the laity also be reminded of what they owe to God and society at\nthis eventful time.  There are various modes by which they can advance\nthe cause of religion.  The value of their services in co-operation with\nthe Clergy in forming visiting societies, has been already stated.  But\nas their situation and engagements in life preclude many from taking an\nactive part in any work of Christian charity, it must be a high\nsatisfaction to them who are humble disciples of that blessed Lord, \u201cwho\nwent about doing good,\u201d {204b} to have an opportunity of endeavouring at\nonce to follow His example, and obey His commands, by means of public\nsocieties and institutions.  The best interests of man would be much\npromoted, if the noble, and great, and affluent in the land, who fear\nGod, would make a more decided demonstration of their sentiments; and\ngive the full weight of their rank and influence, and contribute\nliberally, to the support of societies, the object of which is the\nadvancement of true religion.  In such times as the present, it is awful\nto witness the apathy, supineness, and indifference in the cause of the\nLord, which prevail so extensively in the world, amongst those who\nprofess themselves to be His servants.  But disregard for the spiritual\nwants of others, at all times highly sinful, is doubly so now; and\nunwillingness, through fear of ridicule or misconstruction, to manifest a\nwarm zeal for the honour of the Lord and a decided devotion to His\ncause\u2014at all times a wretched weakness\u2014must, when His enemies are active\nand powerful, be peculiarly offensive to Him, who has said, \u201cWhosoever,\ntherefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous\nand sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when\nhe cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.\u201d {205a}  Let,\ntherefore, all lukewarm professors of religion be addressed in the words\nof Joshua, \u201cIf it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose this day\nwhom ye will serve:\u201d {205b} let them be warned in the words of the\nSaviour, \u201cHe that is not with me, is against me, and he that gathereth\nnot with me, scattereth abroad.\u201d {205c}\n\nIt is the high and peculiar distinction of our country, that we have not\nonly charitable institutions for the prevention and cure of many of the\nphysical evils, and for the relief and solace of many of the moral evils\nof life; but we have societies for the supply of the religious wants of\nour home population, of our colonies, and of the whole family of man,\nwherever British commerce, and, with it, British influence, extend.  This\nis not the place to enter upon the subject of all these societies; their\nbare enumeration, with the most brief statement of their several objects,\nwould fill many pages; perhaps, therefore, to particularize any, where\nall have merit, may be deemed unjust towards others; but every consistent\nmember of the Church of England is bound strenuously to support, and\nevery clergyman zealously to advocate, societies, whose professed object\nis the inculcation of doctrines which he firmly believes, the use of a\nritual which he fondly loves, the observance of ordinances which he\nhighly values and reverences.  Of these it may be right to make some\nbrief notice, not only because some of them have not received that\nencouragement and support to which their importance entitles them, but\nbecause they are peculiarly calculated to remedy the existence, and to\nprevent the recurrence, of many of the evils which at present endanger\nour civil and religious institutions.  First in order stands the National\nSociety for promoting the education of the poor in the principles of the\nEstablished Church.  Then, ascending to a higher grade in society, we\nhave an institution, King\u2019s College and School, to supply the youth of\nthe middle classes, in the metropolis, with a liberal education, founded\non the basis of religious knowledge.  This institution is only in its\ninfancy, but if properly supported, it might extend its ramifications\nthroughout the kingdom, diffusing every where the beneficial fruit of\ntrue religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge.  It is much to be\nwished that similar colleges and schools, in connexion with King\u2019s\nCollege, were established in all our great towns, in like manner as\nschools every where throughout the kingdom have sprung from that prolific\nparent, with which they are in union, the Central School in Baldwin\u2019s\nGardens.  Our National Schools are well calculated early to train\nchildren in the path of godliness; to accustom them to habits of\ncleanliness, neatness, and order; to excite them to industry and\napplication, to habituate them to proper restraint and discipline, to\nsupply them with the knowledge suitable to their station in life; and,\nabove all, to impress deeply the mind with the great truths of the\nGospel, and to store it richly with passages of Scripture, which, once\nthoroughly learnt, are rarely forgotten, but may, in after life, prove in\nthe hour of temptation a safeguard, and in seasons of sickness or of\nsorrow, a sweet and never-failing solace.  If the minds of our\nmanufacturing and agricultural population had been fortified with the\nprinciples which are now instilled in these schools, into the children of\nthe poor, the success of the teachers of infidelity and sedition would\nhave been far different from what it has unfortunately proved.  The\nsystem of instruction adopted in King\u2019s College is precisely the one\nwhich has been recommended as alone affording any security that education\nwill be rendered conducive to the advancement of the best, the eternal\ninterests of man.  Every facility is afforded for the acquisition of\nknowledge, but the relative importance of its several departments is\nsteadily kept in view, and the balance of studies is carefully adjusted,\nthat, if possible, none may be pursued to the neglect of others, but all\nreceiving their due degree of attention, religion and morals, literature\nand science, may occupy their proper place in the plan of education.\nThis institution, through the Divine blessing, may be of great value in\nchecking the progress of unsettled and unsound opinions amongst a class\nof men which is daily becoming more influential in society; whilst there\nwill be also a better safeguard for the future, in the foundation of\nsound religious principles, which is designed to be laid; and which\nshould ever be a primary object, for not only is the prevention easier\nthan the cure, but the poison may spread where the antidote is never, or\nfruitlessly, applied.  If we view then in connexion, our Infant,\nNational, and Sunday Schools, in full operation; King\u2019s College adapted\nto branch into similar institutions in our great towns; and our\nold-established Grammar Schools and Universities continuing to flourish;\nwe shall see that these are calculated to form one vast chain, which, in\nits concatenation, would unite the great bulk of the population of the\ncountry with the established Church.\n\nNor is the attention of the Church confined to the education of the youth\nof her communion.  She has a Society also to afford the poor adequate\naccommodation when attending religious worship, of which, in some places,\nthe great proportion of them were long deprived, from the increase of\npopulation, and want of free seats, in the parish churches.  Parliament,\nwith proper liberality, has at different timed placed certain sums at the\ndisposal of Commissioners; to assist in remedying this great evil, which\nhas inflicted the severest injury on the moral and religious character of\nthe lower classes in England.  Much has, therefore, been done, but still\nmore remains to be done; and though perhaps the least regarded, still the\nSociety for building and enlarging churches is of great importance to the\ninterests of religion, and therefore well deserving of the support of the\nfriends of the Establishment.  The valuable and venerable Society for\nPromoting Christian Knowledge completes the work of Christian charity and\ninstruction, by accompanying, as it were, the poor man to his home,\nsupplying, either gratuitously or at very reduced prices, the Holy\nScriptures, the book of common prayer, and tracts and works designed to\ncorrect erroneous opinions and immoral habits, and to promote soundness\nof faith and holiness of life.  Nor is this the utmost limit of the\nSociety\u2019s labours among our home population: parochial lending libraries\nhave been also established by it; that in every parish where the desire\nof knowledge has been called forth by the national schools, works which\ncombine amusement with instruction\u2014works which inform the head and\nimprove the heart\u2014may be accessible, free of all cost to the poor man, in\nhis hour of leisure.  It is thus these two most valuable Societies,\nacting in co-operation, aid in the due and effective discharge of their\nimportant duties the parochial clergy, who are thereby enabled to diffuse\namongst the indigent and ignorant of their several parishes\u2014to a degree\nfar beyond what the exertions of individuals, however pious and wealthy,\nare likely to effect\u2014the blessings of Christian education and Christian\nknowledge.  Great are the claims, therefore, of these societies upon the\nmembers of the Church of England, for their support, that all of her\ncommunion may be educated, nourished, and preserved in those principles\nof saving faith and holy obedience, which, drawn directly from Scripture,\nare summed up in the articles, embodied in the liturgy, and explained in\nthe homilies of our pure and reformed branch of the church of Christ.\n\nThe Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge extends her operations\nbeyond our home population: in co-operation with the Society for the\nPropagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, it has laboured most\ndiligently and with very encouraging success, in the wide and waste field\nof our numerous colonies.  Missionaries, catechists, and schoolmasters,\nare sent into every land where we have possessions; and congregations\nhave been formed and churches built where the glad tidings of the Gospel\nhad never before been heard.  But, however cheering what has been done\nand is doing for the spread of Christianity may be, the painful\nconfession must be made that this country has never yet, in any adequate\ndegree, discharged the religious obligations she owes her colonies. {211}\nThe sceptre of Great Britain rules over one hundred millions who are said\nto be ignorant of the Gospel.  Great and splendid have been the instances\nof individual liberality, but as a nation we have not made those\nstrenuous exertions, those sacrifices which duty requires: we have been\nunmindful of the heavy debt of gratitude and service which we owe to the\nRuler of nations.  Why are we to suppose that Divine Providence has\nbestowed upon us such a vast colonial empire?  Not to swell the pomp and\nincrease the power and wealth of a little island, which has been proudly\nstyled,\n\n                    \u201cThe Island, Empress of the Sea:\u201d\n\nbut that we may be instruments in the hands of the Great and Gracious\nLord of the whole human race in benefiting mankind.  And how can we best\naccomplish this great end?  A Christian nation should make it an object\nof paramount importance to diffuse the light of that Gospel, in which it\nhas itself for ages rejoiced as the best gift, the holiest privilege, it\nenjoys at the hands of God.  Has then this Christian nation so acted?\nAlas! there is one circumstance, which painfully occupies at this moment\nthe attention of the friends of Christianity, here and in India, which\nmay suffice to answer in the negative.  Bishop after bishop has been\nallowed to go forth, with the spirit of a martyr, and to meet a martyr\u2019s\ndeath in India, where the diocese is admitted by all to be so extensive,\nthat the strongest constitution must, from the effects of the climate,\nsink under even an imperfect discharge of the overwhelming load of duty.\nAnd yet repeated applications for the appointment of bishops to the\nseveral presidencies, by which the cause of religion amongst the\nChristian, and the spread of the Gospel amongst the Heathen population,\nwould be very greatly advanced, have been up to this time refused, it is\nmuch to be feared, from an unwillingness to incur the expense of further\nepiscopal appointments.  May Bishop Turner be the last, who, humanly\nspeaking, is to be thus sacrificed!  For it would inflict a heavy load of\nsin upon a Christian people to be not only lavish of life, of talents,\nand of piety, but to prefer to the cause of God, who has so abundantly\nblessed us, an economy, which, however wise and proper when rightly\npractised, becomes miserable and wicked when allowed to operate to the\nhinderance of the Gospel.  An appeal is never made in vain to the good\nfeelings of the people of England, and the present is an occasion, on\nwhich all who value not merely the cause of religion, but of humanity,\nshould make a declaration of their opinions; and come forward liberally\nto the support of Societies whose object is so important and\npraiseworthy, and whose means are so inadequate to several claims upon\nthem.  The reports of the Societies for Promoting Christian Knowledge,\nand for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for the year\n1831, cannot be too strongly recommended to the attention of the public.\nThe comparatively small support which the latter receives from annual\nsubscription must be mainly ascribed to the nature and extent of its\nlabours being so little known; for it is not the character of the English\npeople to allow a valuable Society to languish from want of funds.  And\nyet, during the past year, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel\nin Foreign Parts must have suspended in some places the great work it is\ncarrying on, if it had not allowed its expenditure to exceed greatly its\nreceipts.  Such is the sad truth we learn from the report now before the\npublic, which pleads the cause of Christianity in distant lands, so\npowerfully, and yet so meekly, that it cannot fail to awaken sympathy in\nevery religious breast, and call forth assistance from every liberal\nhand.  \u201cAccording to its power, yea, and beyond its power,\u201d it has opened\nthe hand of Christian bounty in answer to the numerous and pressing calls\nthat have been made upon it: and the consequence has been that the means\nof meeting such calls have become every year more insufficient.  Even on\nthe supposition (a supposition, however, which benevolence will not allow\nto be entertained for a moment), that all new applications for its\nassistance are to be disregarded, the Society will require an addition of\nat least 10,000_l._ to its yearly income for the fulfilment of\nengagements into which it has entered.  Its deficiencies for many years\nhave been supplied by large reductions of its capital.  The single fact\nthat it has been compelled to sell nearly 70,000_l._ stock must fill its\nfriends with serious uneasiness.  For unless its funds are very largely\nincreased, it is manifest that they must soon be exhausted.  But, surely,\nso sad a result can never be allowed!  There is too much benevolence in\nthe Christian public of this favoured nation, to permit the abandonment\nof so great a work as that by which the light of the Gospel, in its\npurity, is communicated to the benighted nations of the East.  Who among\nus will be wanting, in most earnest efforts, to save our brethren in the\ncolonies from so sad an injury as the loss of that religious instruction,\nand those means of grace which are to be regarded as their birthright?\nWho will allow the many excellent men who have left their native country\nas missionaries, with the purest zeal, and the most earnest desire to\npromote the spiritual welfare of their fellow-creatures, through\nincessant toil in distant lands, to be deprived of the moderate but\nnecessary support, that has hitherto been afforded by this Society?  Who\nwill allow the no less valuable persons, who have been diligently trained\nin the colonies, almost from their cradles, to carry forward the same\nChristian designs, as missionaries, and catechists, and school-masters,\nto be now cast upon the world, and exposed to all the miseries of want?\n\n\u201cWhat shall be said, if it fail of attaining its full measure of good,\nthrough the indifference of those whom God has not only \u2018blessed with all\nspiritual blessings in Christ,\u2019 but to whom He has also largely afforded\nthe temporal means of imparting those blessings to others?  What shall be\nsaid if they, who by the abundant mercy of God are themselves supplied\nwith the bread of life, suffer their fellow-creatures, whose necessities\nare plainly pointed out to them, to perish with hunger?  Your committee\nwill not contemplate the possibility of such a deplorable case as this.\nGrateful for the support which the Society has already received, and\nthrough which it has been enabled to effect so much, they will not allow\nthemselves to doubt, but that Providence will now, and from time to time,\nraise it up friends who will furnish it with more ample and effectual\nmeans for the continuance and extension of its \u2018labours of love.\u2019\u201d\n\nEvery friend of religion must earnestly pray that a hope so humbly and\ndevoutly expressed may be fulfilled, and that the Lord may bless and\nprosper these Societies, in sowing the good seed of the word, in a field\nof immense extent, and, in many parts, of the most unpromising\nbarrenness.  For they embrace\u2014to particularize only the most important\nmissions\u2014the widely dispersed population of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,\nand the Canadas; the numerous islands of the West Indies; the great\nPeninsula of India; and the various settlements in Australia.  And it is\ngratifying and highly satisfactory to be able to quote the impartial\ntestimony of a distinguished individual, the late Governor of Nova\nScotia, to their efficiency and value: \u201cIn countries in which I have\nresided, and which I have visited\u2014in remote and almost desert places, I\nhave witnessed the blessings and comforts of our holy religion,\ndispensed, by your servants, to persons who otherwise might pass from the\ncradle to the grave, without the blessings or benefits, the comforts or\nthe consolations of any appropriate holy office, to sanctify their\nentrance into life, to receive them into the Christian family, to\nsolemnize those connexions, on the proper observance of which the moral\nconstitution of society essentially depends, and finally to perform the\nlast sad offices over departed humanity.  In my own person\u2014in my own\nfamily\u2014in visitations the most awful\u2014in severe domestic affliction, I\nhave partaken of those blessings and consolations, administered by your\nservants.\u201d  Let, therefore, the parliament and people of the United\nKingdom contribute liberally, not merely towards the continuance, but the\nextension, of the important labours of a Society, whose only fault has\nbeen,\u2014if it be a fault,\u2014that it has so shrunk from any appearance of\nobtruding its wants, that it has not sufficiently made known its claims\nupon the friends of religion; who must be at once desirous that our\ncountrymen in our distant dependencies should not be debarred from the\nexercise of religious worship; and that the light of the Gospel may be\nshed upon those, who, though living under the government of Great\nBritain, are lying in darkness and the shadow of death.  And if there be\nany whose hearts expand not with that diffusive spirit of Christian\nphilanthropy, which ardently desires to promote the spiritual welfare of\nthe whole human race; let them at least be sensible to the religious\nwants, and alive to the religious improvement of their countrymen, who\nare established in some of the numerous colonies of this vast empire.  In\nthis great commercial country, in which the spirit of enterprise or the\ncalls of duty lead so many forth often at an early age into distant\nlands, there must be an immense number of influential persons, who have a\ndirect interest in this provision for the religious instruction of the\nresidents in our several dependencies.  And oh! how consolatory must it\nprove to the heart of a parent, or even of a friend, who sends forth a\nyouth to seek his fortune far from friends, kindred, and home, to know\nthat he will not be deprived of the public exercise of those religious\nduties in which he has been early trained.  Oh! how immeasurably would\nthe pain of separation, which may be for life\u2014which may be for ever\u2014be\nincreased, if there was a melancholy certainty, that at the most\ndangerous period of life, when the passions are strong, the judgment\nweak, and the principles often unsettled; and where the temptations to\nsensual indulgences abound, and the restraints of parental authority are\nremoved; there was no religious monitor, no duly ordained pastor, to\ninstruct in health, to cheer in sorrow, to strengthen in sickness, and,\nit may be, to support and console in death, those who are pursuing an\nuseful and honourable course far from their dearest earthly ties, far\nfrom what is ever dear to the heart of all\u2014their native land\u2014the land of\ntheir fathers.\n\nIn entering thus more at length on the subject of the Society for the\nPropagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts than on any other Society, an\nexception has been made in its favour, because it has never yet received\nthat encouragement and support to which its most important object and\nvaluable labours so well entitle it: but imperfect as the notice of other\nSocieties has been, it would be still more so if concluded without any\nmention of the Church Missionary Society, and the British and Foreign\nBible Society.  The first of these is formed with the design of\nendeavouring to obey to the fullest extent the parting command of our\nblessed Lord, \u201cGo ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every\ncreature:\u201d {219} it is not confined by any limits, but wherever the\nopening presents itself, thither the indefatigable, zealous, and faithful\nmissionary is sent: and the Lord has greatly prospered their labours.\nThe latter, whether we regard its scope or its machinery, is a mighty and\nwonderful engine, capable of producing immense benefit to the whole human\nrace: its scope is not merely the supply of the inhabitants of the\nBritish dominions with the Scriptures, but their translation into every\nlanguage, their dissemination in every land; and its vast and complicated\nmachinery has been put into operation in every quarter of the globe.  It\nmay suffice to state, that the grand, the beneficent, and most Christian\nend, which these two Societies have in view, is to evangelize the world:\nthe one sends its missionary either instructed, or to be instructed, in\nthe language of the country where is to be his field in which he is to\nsow the good seed of the word of life; and the other supplies the sower\nwith that seed of the word of life translated into the language of the\ncountry.  The difficulties they have to encounter are immense; and the\ndanger of the neglect of the legitimate object, or of perversion of the\npower and means of these Societies, may be considerable; but still the\nenterprise of Christian love is not to be abandoned, because it is\ndifficult; nor the means of Christian usefulness sacrificed, because they\nare capable of abuse: rather let those who rejoice in the light of the\nGospel, and thank God every day of their lives for having the high\nprivilege of reading His Book, labour to provide missionaries so well\nfitted for their office, as to afford reasonable hope that through Him,\non whose assistance and blessing they alone depend, they may surmount the\nmany and arduous difficulties which impede their progress: rather let\nthem exercise increased vigilance, and employ greater care and attention,\nthat if any error exist, it may be corrected, that if any abuse has crept\nin, it may be reformed.  Let these Societies be only faithful to their\ntrust\u2014true to the one great object they are ever to keep in view, and\nthey may fully rely upon Him, whose kingdom they labour to advance, whose\nword they seek to publish\u2014to bless their work and ensure their success.\nBut let them remember that no unsound principles of expediency, no\nunworthy means to excite popularity, or to gain support, must be had\nrecourse to; such would be to apply to their goodly edifices the\n\u201cuntempered mortar,\u201d which would end in their destruction: let them go\nforth in the strength of the Lord, and in his strength only; let them\nseek the extension of Christ\u2019s kingdom, and of His kingdom only; and then\nall who love the Lord\u2019s Christ, honour His name, and seek to promote His\nglory\u2014if they can do no more, will at least say, we \u201cbid you God speed.\u201d\n\nThe increasing exertions which are making, in this country, for the\ndiffusion of vital religion amongst Christians, and for the spread of the\nGospel amongst the heathen, will form one of the brightest pages in its\nhistory.  And truly at this moment it presents almost the only subject on\nwhich the Christian\u2019s anxious eye can rest with unmixed satisfaction and\nwith joyful hope.  The prospect around is in many parts dark and\ndiscouraging, but in one direction is illumined by a bright and holy\nlight\u2014\u201cthe sun of righteousness arising with healing in his wings,\u201d upon\nthe \u201cnations which sit in darkness and the shadow of death.\u201d {221}\nEngland appears to be selected by God for this great and glorious work.\nAs the Roman Empire was raised up and employed by the Great Governor of\nthe Universe for the first promulgation of the Gospel; and as the Greek\nlanguage was made the medium through which that Gospel was extensively\ndiffused: so we may hope that the British Empire, so greatly increased,\nmay be employed, and the English language, so widely spread, be made a\nmedium, for that final promulgation which is to take place, and the\nresult of which is to be thus complete\u2014\u201cthe earth shall be full of the\nknowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.\u201d {222}  But however\nthis may be\u2014for ill does it become short-sighted man to speculate on the\nunfulfilled prophecies of Holy Writ\u2014our line of duty is plain: we must\nmake the most strenuous exertions, trusting to be instruments in the\nhands of the Almighty in the conversion of the heathen.  The labour of\nlove, which springs from gratitude to God, which is directed by faith in\nHis promises and animated by hope of His blessing, will never be\nfruitless: if it please not the Divine Providence to give it a prosperous\nissue to those for whose benefit it was designed, it will return as a\nblessing\u2014\u201cgood measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running\nover\u201d\u2014into the bosoms of those, who planned, supported, and conducted it,\nwith a sole view to God\u2019s glory and the salvation of men.  This physical\npestilence has travelled from India to England: does it not in awful\nterms reproach us, for having, as a nation, done so little to arrest and\nheal the moral pestilence which rages throughout that great Peninsula?\nOh! let every means be used by the friends of religion to rouse a sinful\npeople to a due sense of what they owe to their home population, to their\ncolonies, and to the world at large.  Whatever be the channel in which an\nindividual may wish the stream of his bounty to flow, he will find\nSocieties through which he will best accomplish the good he has in view.\nLet, therefore, all be active, liberal, and zealous, in the cause of\nreligion: let all, according to the ability which God supplieth,\nendeavour to promote the present and eternal welfare of all mankind!\n\u201cCharge them,\u201d says St. Paul, \u201cwho are rich in this world, that they be\nnot high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God,\nwho giveth us richly all things to enjoy: that they do good, that they be\nrich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate: laying\nup in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come,\nthat they may lay hold on eternal life.\u201d {223}\u2014\u201cBut this I say, he which\nsoweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth\nbountifully, shall reap also bountifully.  Every man according as he\npurposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity,\nfor God loveth a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace\nabound towards you; that ye always having all-sufficiency in all things,\nmay abound to every good work.\u201d {224a}  \u201cLet every one that nameth the\nname of Christ depart from iniquity:\u201d let all in their several vocations\nendeavour to improve, to the spiritual advantage of themselves and\nothers, this Divine visitation; that thus its great object being\naccomplished\u2014for the language of God\u2019s chastisements, whether national or\nindividual, is \u201cbe zealous and repent,\u201d\u2014we may humbly hope that our\ngracious Lord God will be pleased to withdraw His heavy hand from His\nhumbled and contrite people; the duty of each of whom has been shown to\nbe, to effect, through the Divine blessing, a personal reformation; for\nthe sins of each individual form fractions of the immense integral of\nnational guilt, which has called down the Divine displeasure; to employ\ntheir rank, influence, and a due proportion of their wealth, in labouring\nto advance, by their personal exertions, and through the medium of\nsocieties, a national reformation; and to diffuse throughout the world\nthe knowledge of the Saviour, that \u201cthe kingdoms of this world may become\nthe kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.\u201d {224b}\n\nAnd how are they to be addressed who are the enemies of the Lord and of\nHis Christ\u2014who trample under foot his cross, and, at present, stand\nexcluded from all benefit of the great atonement by \u201ccounting the blood\nof the covenant an unholy thing\u201d\u2014how are they to be addressed who deny\nthe Lord who bought them, and secretly maintain, or openly espouse, the\ndoctrines of infidelity?  In the language of friendly warning and\nexhortation.  Sometimes the Christian advocate has erred by employing a\ntone of conscious superiority, of cold severity, or of keen satire: the\nfirst offends, the second hardens, the third irritates the proud spirit\nof unbelief: the voice of remonstrance is often listened to, when\nauthority commands in vain.  Let, therefore, whatever has been said, in\nthese pages, be considered, not as intended in the least degree to wound\nor insult the feelings of any one, but as written in the honest and\nfaithful discharge of Christian duty.  And in the spirit of meekness and\ncharity let me entreat those, who reject Christianity, to pause, reflect,\nand examine deeply into the grounds on which they have come to a decision\nwhich involves their eternal destiny.  Let me ask them whether they have\never duly considered, first, _the possibility of Revelation being true_;\nand, secondly, _the consequences of Revelation being true_.  Surely a\ncreed, which numbers amongst its defenders laymen, who hold the highest\nplace in England\u2019s proud annals of science and philosophy, is not lightly\nto be rejected by ordinary minds: surely where Bacon, Milton, Boyle,\nLocke, and Newton, have been believers, there is room to admit _the\npossibility_ of the creed being true.  When intellects of the most\npowerful grasp, disciplined by the most arduous studies, and stored with\nthe richest fruits of human knowledge, have received with humility,\ngratitude, reverence, and faith, the Bible, as the inspired Word of God,\nsome doubts may flash across the mind of the infidel, as to whether he\nhas arrived at a just conclusion, in refusing to believe that Bible.  And\noh! if there do arise a doubt, let him now be entreated to re-examine\nthis most important subject, on which the interests of eternity depend;\nto reconsider the grounds on which he denies a faith in which, during\neighteen hundred years, millions have lived and died.\n\nThere is, however, a second point of consideration, and that a very\nimportant one, which ought not to be lost sight of, _the consequences of\nRevelation being true_,\u2014the unutterable anguish of hopeless, endless\ndespair and torment.  Infidels often speak with much levity, and\nsometimes with profaneness, of the awful punishments of a future world,\ndenounced in Scripture against impenitent guilt; but, if they searched\ndeeply into their own hearts, they would find not only that they were\nless happy than they were before they shook off their belief in\nRevelation; but some might discover, almost, the commencement of the\ngnawing of the undying worm.  In health, this may be scarcely perceived,\nbut when the hour approaches, which generally tears away the mask which\nhas concealed internal feelings long kept secret, the hideousness of\ninfidelity is fully seen.  Some appear to have acted their part to the\nlast; thus Hume was said to have spent some of his latter hours in\nreading \u201cthe Dialogues of the Dead,\u201d of the Apostate Lucian; but what an\nemployment for one who professed to be a philosopher!  At a time, when\nthe eyes are about to close for ever on all that the heart has held dear\nin life, \u201cdrollery, in such circumstances, is neither more nor less than\n\n    Moody madness, laughing wild\n    Amidst severest woe.\u201d {227}\n\nBut such cases are, generally, of rare, occurrence: as the sombre shades\nof the evening of life gathered around Gibbon, this melancholy confession\nescaped him,\u2014the past is gone, the present is but for a moment, and the\nprospect of the future is dark and doubtful.  Paine, who had vauntingly\nproclaimed, that, during an illness, expected by himself and those around\nhim to be fatal, he had rejoiced that he had published his Age of Reason,\nwhen the hour of death really arrived, endured all the agonies of\nremorse, evincing a horrible combination of awakened terror and\nblasphemous despair.  And that renowned champion of infidelity, Voltaire,\nwho was smitten, in his hour of pride and triumph, suffered in his last\nhours such intolerable anguish and such overwhelming terror, that the\nalarmed physician declared, that the furies of Orestes could not equal\nthe horrors of such a death-bed.\n\nShould the consideration of the possibility and consequences of the truth\nof Revelation, and of the certainty of the present wretchedness of\ninfidelity, awaken in some readers feelings of apprehension,\u2014lest, whilst\nin imagination they have been releasing themselves from the trammels of\nsuperstition, they have in reality been fastening round their own necks\nthe heavy yoke of that hard task-master, the great enemy of the human\nrace; let them be entreated to institute now a strict enquiry as to the\nunanswerableness of the objections against Revelation, on the strength of\nwhich they have withheld their belief; and as to the certainty of those\nconclusions of unassisted reason, on which they have been content to\nbuild their opinions as to an hereafter, unmindful that,\n\n    \u201cDim as the borrowed beams of moon and stars\n    To lonely, weary, wandering travellers,\n    Is reason to the soul.\u201d\n\nAlas! it is melancholy to think how many reject Christianity without due\nexamination: but let the infidel be assured that, whether he is involved\nin the mazy labyrinth of metaphysical subtleties, perplexed with the\nfalse conclusions of materialism, startled by the apparent extent of\nphysical and moral evil, or offended, with the multitude of sceptics, at\nmysteries, creeds, and articles; he will find answers to all his\nobjections and difficulties in the various treatises which have been\nwritten on the evidences of Christianity.  But let him not enter upon the\nsubject with a prejudiced mind, in the pride of human reason, or under\nthe influence of human passions.  Is it likely that the Great Author of\nlight and life will vouchsafe to illuminate understandings, which\nprejudice darkens, and pride renders presumptuous; or convert and\nsanctify hearts, which sensuality debases and pollutes?  They who\napproach the Great Governor of the Universe to be instructed, in what\nbelongs to their everlasting peace, must come with humility, reverence,\nand awe; they must strive to divest themselves of prepossession,\nprejudice, and passion; and pray to be guided unto all truth: and if they\npersevere in patient and dispassionate examination of the evidences of\nChristianity, and in an humble and careful study of the Scriptures\nthemselves, accompanied with sincere and earnest prayers, in God\u2019s good\ntime, the light of Divine grace will break upon their darkened\nunderstandings; they will see how wonderfully the conflicting attributes\nof justice and mercy have been reconciled in the Divine plan for the\nrestoration of a guilty world to the favour of its offended God; they\nwill be filled with devout admiration of that love of God, which passeth\nall understanding, which has provided for the most heinous offenders a\nmeans of escape from eternal condemnation; and they will thankfully and\njoyfully embrace the offers of salvation through the Saviour, published\nin the Gospel.\n\nBut if there be any who refuse to return to the God of their youth; any\nwho close their ears against every admonition to examine, deeply, into\nthose principles of infidelity, which they have adopted,\u2014principles too\ndear to man\u2019s natural pride, too favourable to his natural corruption, to\nbe willingly or easily resigned\u2014let them at least be persuaded not to\nattempt to make proselytes to their creed.  The time may come when they\nshall be convinced of the truth of Christianity; and oh! how will the\nweight of guilt, which, in the sad and dark hour of a late repentance,\nalmost overwhelms the soul, be increased, if they have been instrumental\nin destroying the belief of others, which they have not the power to\nrestore!  There is no crime of so deep a die as the ruin of an immortal\nsoul; none which subjects to the same dreadful remorse; none which\npresents the same terrible impediment to our obtaining pardon and peace:\nfor what present peace can there be to him, who sees one soul exposed to\neternal condemnation, through his means?  What to him who sees many?\nWhat to him, who has the agonising conviction ever present to his mind,\nthat he has no longer the power to attempt to repair the evil he has\ndone, for they have been summoned to judgment, whom he had led astray?\nThere is also another consideration which may have some weight with those\nwho promulgate infidel doctrines, which is, that they blast the present\nas well as eternal happiness of their miserable converts.  \u201cPerhaps our\nmodern sceptics are ignorant, that without the belief of a God and the\nhope of immortality, the miseries of human life would often be\ninsupportable.  Yet this I must suppose, or I must believe them to be the\nmost cruel, the most perfidious, and the most profligate of men.\u201d  It is\nmost true, that if you rob a man of his religious principles, you deprive\nhim of what \u201chas both the promise of the life which now is, and of that\nwhich is to come,\u201d his peace of mind, his trust in God\u2019s protection, his\nfaith in the Saviour, his hope of glory, all that consoles, improves,\nelevates, and ennobles our nature\u2014all are gone, and in their place are\nsubstituted lawless passions, disappointed hopes, and bitter regrets.\nIf, therefore, no other consideration will avail to induce the infidel\nschool to forego their plans of proselytism, let regard for their\nphilanthropy, of which they make such boast, be urged to prevent their\nrendering men less happy than they are at present, under the mild and\nbenignant rule of Christianity.  May that blessed Lord, who \u201cwilleth not\nthe death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live,\nhave mercy upon all infidels and heretics, and so fetch them home to His\nflock, that they may be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ\nour Lord.\u201d\n\nThe duty of a Christian people, under Divine visitations, however feebly,\nhas been faithfully stated, according to the conscientious belief of the\nwriter: may He, in dependence upon whose blessing, and to promote whose\nkingdom it has been written, make it instrumental to the production of a\nreligious improvement of the afflictive dispensation sent upon the land.\nThe nature of the disease has ceased to be doubtful, and the pestilence\nwhich has been so long advancing towards us is admitted now by all to\nhave reached our shores.  Once more, then, let the question be asked,\n\u201cWhat will ye do in the day of visitation when your desolation shall come\nfrom far, to whom will ye flee for help?\u201d  Oh that one simultaneous cry\nwould respond from the inhabitants of this kingdom\u2014\u201cWE WILL TRUST IN THE\nLORD FOR EVER, FOR IN THE LORD JEHOVAH IS EVERLASTING STRENGTH!\u201d  When\nSolomon, on the dedication of the temple, prayed, \u201cIf there be in the\nland famine, if there be pestilence, or whatsoever sickness there be:\nthen what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all thy\npeople Israel, when every one shall know his own sin, and his own grief,\nand shall spread forth his hands in this house; then hear Thou in heaven,\nThy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render to every man according unto\nall his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, for Thou only knowest the hearts\nof all men.\u201d {233a}  The Lord returned the gracious answer: \u201cI have heard\nthy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of\nsacrifice.  If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command\nthe locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people:\nif my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and\npray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear\nfrom heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.\u201d\n{233b}\n\nPrayers, set forth by authority, are offered up to the throne of grace,\nthroughout the kingdom, and it has pleased the Almighty to deal\ngraciously with His people, in mitigating the virulence of the\npestilence: let a fast be proclaimed, that on an appointed day the whole\nnation may \u201chumble themselves, and pray, and seek the Lord\u2019s face:\u201d let\nassociations be formed to assist the ministers of God\u2019s Word and\nSacraments, to exhort and entreat the people to \u201cturn from their wicked\nways:\u201d and if \u201cthe Lord\u2019s people, which are called by His name,\u201d humbled\nand contrite turn unto Him, with all their hearts, and with mourning and\nfasting, and cry, \u201cSpare us, O Lord, spare Thy people, whom Thou hast\nredeemed with Thy most precious blood; turn us, O God of our salvation,\nand cause Thine anger towards us to cease;\u201d \u201cRighteous art Thou, O Lord,\nand just are Thy judgments:\u201d if they \u201ccease to do evil, and learn to do\nwell,\u201d then in God\u2019s good time the gracious promise will be fulfilled,\nfor \u201cthe mouth of the Lord hath spoken it,\u201d\u2014I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND\nWILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.\n\nOh may it not be, that the wickedness of the land shall avert from it the\nmercy and blessing of the Most High!  May it not be, that the fearful\nwords shall become applicable to us, \u201cThus saith the Lord God, the Holy\nOne of Israel, in returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and\nin confidence shall be your strength; and ye would not!\u201d  Oh! rather may\n\u201cthe spirit of grace and supplications\u201d be poured upon the people, for\n\u201cWill the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will\nHe be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of\njudgment; blessed are all they that wait for Him.\u201d  Then shall the Lord\u2019s\npeople derive joy and peace from those transporting words of comfort:\n\u201cFor a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I\ngather thee.  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but\nwith everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord Thy\nRedeemer.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod\u2019s judgments are in the earth.\u201d  In many places there has been a\nliteral fulfilment of those terrible predictions, the application of\nwhich is not to be considered limited to any time or nation: \u201cAll joy is\ndarkened, the mirth of the land is gone: in the city is left desolation,\nand the gate is smitten with destruction.\u201d {235a}  Truly in our case it\nmay be said, \u201cthe isles saw it and feared, the ends of the earth were\nafraid.\u201d {235b}  Oh! without experiencing the extreme severity of the\nscourge, may this nation learn the lesson it is meant to teach!  \u201cThey\nshall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord,\nthey shall cry aloud from the sea.  Wherefore glorify ye the Lord; even\nthe name of the Lord God of Israel, in the isles of the sea.\u201d  \u201cTrust in\nthe Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous\nredemption.\u201d  Proclaim every where \u201cGod is our hope and strength,\u201d a\n\u201csure refuge in the day of trouble.\u201d  \u201cThen shall the inhabitants of the\nworld learn righteousness.\u201d  Then shall they know that \u201cthe Lord is a\nvery present help in trouble; blessed are the people whose trust is in\nHim.\u201d  Then, God grant that it may be said of this land, long favoured\nand blest of heaven, thou \u201chast glorified God in the day of visitation;\u201d\n{236a} therefore, thou shalt \u201cobtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and\nmourning shall flee away.\u201d {236b}  \u201cThen shall thy light break forth as\nthe morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy\nrighteousness shall go before thee, the glory of the Lord shall be thy\nrere-ward.  Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt\ncry, and He shall say, HERE I AM.\u201d {236c}\n\nMay God, whose gracious and never-failing Providence orders all things\nboth in heaven and earth, of His infinite mercy, accomplish this great\nend of all His visitations, that we may become a \u201crighteous nation unto\nthe Lord.\u201d  May those who are slumbering in the fatal lethargy of sin\n\u201cawake to righteousness and sin not:\u201d alarmed by the judgments impending\nover them, may habitual sinners seek for grace, \u201cto turn from the evil of\ntheir ways,\u201d before \u201cthe Lord be revealed from heaven, in flaming fire,\ntaking vengeance on the wicked, and those who know not God.\u201d  May the\nlukewarm, who, even in the hour of danger, still \u201chalt between two\nopinions,\u201d cleave to the Lord, lest their souls should be required of\nthem, whilst yet balancing the claims of God and mammon.  May the\nfaithful trim their lamps, \u201chave their loins girded, and their lights\nburning, and be like unto men that wait for their Lord: blessed are those\nservants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching.\u201d  And may God\npour His especial grace and blessing upon the nation at large: that all\nmay recognize His hand, submit to His will, depend on His protection,\nprofit by His chastisements, and endeavour to promote His glory here and\nabroad, now and for ever.  \u201cNow the God of peace that brought again from\nthe dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the\nblood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to\ndo His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight,\nthrough Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen.\u201d {237}\n\n\n\n\nA PRAYER\nIN TIMES OF\nPESTILENCE OR GREAT SICKNESS.\n\n\nO ALMIGHTY and Everlasting God, whose gracious and never-failing\nProvidence orders all things, both in heaven and earth; we, Thy unworthy\nservants, most humbly beseech Thee, to look with an eye of pity upon thy\nafflicted people.  We have sinned, O Lord, and done wickedly; in the days\nof our prosperity we have forgotten Thee, the bounteous Giver of all\ngood: but Thou dealest not with the sons of men after their sins, nor\nrewardest them according to their iniquities.  Have mercy, therefore,\nupon us, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness: according unto the\nmultitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out our transgressions.  We know, O\nLord, that Thy judgments are right, and that Thou, in faithfulness, hast\nafflicted us.  But, O Lord, rebuke us not in Thy wrath, neither chasten\nus in Thy hot displeasure.  Let mercy rejoice against judgment.  And turn\nThee unto us, and have mercy upon us: for we are desolate and afflicted.\nThe troubles of our heart are enlarged: oh bring Thou us out of our\ndistresses.  Look upon our affliction and our pain, and forgive all our\nsins.\n\nO Heavenly Father, our only dependence is upon Thy compassion.  Thou art\nmerciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.  For Thou\nknowest our frame; Thou rememberest that we are dust.  We come before\nThee, therefore, trusting in the multitude of Thy mercies, and encouraged\nby the abundance of Thy great and precious promises.  Incline Thine ear,\nO Lord, and hear the supplications of Thy people.  Turn us, O God of our\nsalvation, and cause Thine anger towards us to cease.  Of Thy only gift\nit cometh that Thy people can do unto Thee true and acceptable service.\nPour, therefore, we humbly beseech Thee, upon this land, the spirit of\ngrace and supplication, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the\nknowledge of the Lord, that it may know, in this its day, the things\nwhich belong unto its peace; and may flee to Thee for deliverance from\nthe floods of immorality, profaneness, and infidelity, which threaten to\noverflow its borders.  O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly\nwills and affections of sinful men, shed abroad, in the minds and hearts\nof this people, the enlightening, renewing, and sanctifying influence of\nThy grace, that, recognising Thy judgments, submitting to Thy will, and\nprofiting by Thy chastisements, we may humble ourselves under Thy mighty\nhand; and putting away from us the evil of our ways, may turn unto Thee\nwith all our heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with\nmourning.  And then, O merciful and long-suffering Lord, who willest not\nthe death of a sinner, but rather that all should repent and live; spare\nus, good Lord, oh spare Thy people, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy\nprecious blood; and hear from Heaven, we implore Thee, and forgive our\nsin, and heal our land.\n\nFurthermore, we earnestly address Thee, O gracious God, whose kingdom\nruleth over all, in behalf of the whole race of mankind.  Be pleased, of\nThy great goodness, to grant, that now, when Thy judgments are in the\nearth, the inhabitants of the world may learn righteousness: and in every\nland they may receive grace to glorify Thee in the day of visitation.  Oh\nbless and prosper, we pray Thee, the means employed for the spread of the\nlight of Thy Holy Gospel, here and abroad,\u2014for the promotion of Thy\nglory, and the extension of Thy kingdom.  That, in Thy good time, the\nkingdoms of this world may become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His\nChrist.\n\nFinally, we beseech Thee, of Thy goodness, O Lord, to comfort and succour\nall them, who, in this transitory life, are in trouble, sorrow, need,\nsickness, or any other adversity;\u2014more especially those who are set in\nthe midst of so many and great dangers, by reason of the pestilence which\nit hath pleased Thee to send upon the land.  Oh be Thou unto all Thy\nservants a refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Be\nmerciful unto us, O God, be merciful unto us, for our souls trust in\nThee; yea in the shadow of thy wings will we make our refuge, until these\ncalamities be overpast.  Thou art our hope and our stronghold, our God,\nin Thee will we trust.  O Lord, who art rich in mercy and goodness,\nsuffer not, we entreat Thee, any evil to happen to us, neither any plague\nto come nigh our dwelling.  And graciously produce in us such firm trust\nin thy mighty aid, amid all the trials and dangers of this mortal life,\nand such a blessed assurance, that, under Thy divine control, all things\nshall work together for our eternal good, that we may not be afraid for\nthe terror by night, nor the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the\npestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth\nat noon-day.  But that filled with joy and peace in believing, we may\nrest with humble and firm dependence, Heavenly Father, upon Thy sure\nprotection, Thy blessed guidance, and Thy tender mercies, now and ever.\nSo that when the hour of our departure shall come, we may humbly trust,\nthrough Thy grace, to meet death without fear or amazement; and stedfast\nthrough faith, and joyful through hope, to commit our souls to Thy\nsafekeeping, O blessed Lord, as unto a faithful Creator and Redeemer,\nwhen Thou, in Thy infinite wisdom and goodness, shall see it fitting to\ntake us unto Thyself.  Vouchsafe, we earnestly implore Thee, O Almighty\nand most merciful God, to receive favourably these our humble petitions\nfor ourselves and for all mankind, offered with deep humility and\nself-abasement to Thy divine Majesty, in the name and through the\nmediation of Thy Son, our most blessed Lord and Saviour, to whom, with\nThee, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed, as is most due, all honour and\nglory, dominion and power, thanksgiving and praise, and humble adoration,\nhenceforth and for evermore.  Amen.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n        _A Prayer_, _which may be used in Health or in Sickness_.\n\nO ALMIGHTY and most merciful God, who so loved the world, that Thou\ngavest Thy only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not\nperish, but have everlasting life, grant unto us, Thy weak and sinful\nservants, we most humbly beseech Thee, sincere repentance and lively\nfaith; that coming to our blessed Lord, as the Way, and the Truth, and\nthe Life, we may, through His infinite and most precious merits, obtain\npardon and peace.  We are sensible, O Lord, of our natural corruption and\nhardness of heart, of the number and heinousness of our offences, and yet\nwe are little acquainted with the extent of that corruption and guilt;\nfor who knoweth the deceitfulness of his wicked heart, or who can tell\nhow oft he offendeth?  We deserve at Thy hand, O God, nothing but\ncondemnation; and should utterly despair, were it not for the gracious\nassurance given in Thy Holy Scriptures, that Thou, O Lord, waitest to be\ngracious, and that the blood of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, cleanseth us from\nall sin.\n\nWe know that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of\nourselves, but that our sufficiency is of Thee, who workest in us both to\nwill and to do, of Thy good pleasure.  We beseech Thee, therefore, O God,\nto be graciously pleased, for Christ\u2019s sake, to enlighten, by Thy\nheavenly grace, the natural darkness of our understandings, to rectify\nthe perversion of our wills, and to sanctify the unholiness of our\naffections.  We deplore, O Lord, our deadness to spiritual things: oh! of\nThy great goodness, strengthen, we pray Thee, our faith, quicken our\nzeal, increase our love, and improve our obedience.  Oh! grant us,\naccording to the riches of Thy glory, to be strengthened with might by\nThy Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in our hearts by\nfaith; that we being rooted and grounded in love, may be filled with the\nfruits of the Spirit, may adorn in all things the doctrine of God our\nSaviour, and may know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.  That,\nhaving received the adoption of sons, the Spirit may bear witness with\nour spirit, that we are Thy children, O gracious God, to whom looking as\nunto a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus, we may cry, Abba, Father.  And\nwe may have our conversation in Heaven, from whence also we look for the\nSaviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it\nmay be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working,\nwhereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.\n\nO Lord Jesu Christ, the Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the\nworld, have mercy upon us, and cleanse us by Thy precious blood, from the\ndefilement of our past offences: Oh! enable us to come boldly unto the\nThrone of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time\nof need.  O Almighty and merciful God, who art faithful, and who wilt not\nsuffer us to be tempted above that we are able; but wilt with the\ntemptation also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it: we\ncast all our care on Thee, who carest for us: And oh! mayest Thou,\nHeavenly Father, who hast, of Thy free and unmerited mercy, begun a good\nwork in us, perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.\n\nOf Thy tender mercy, we beseech Thee, shed abroad in our hearts the\nconsolations of Thy Gospel, and enrich us with Christian graces, that we\nmay be supported under whatever afflictions Thou mayest be pleased to\nsend, and receive them, and seek for grace to benefit by them, as being\nsent, gracious Lord, by Thee, in mercy and for our profit.  That, under\nThy most mighty protection and blessing, we may fight the good fight of\nfaith, lay hold on eternal life, and finish our course with joy; by Him\nand through Him, to whom has been given a name that is above every name,\nthat at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and\nthings in earth, and things under the earth: and that every tongue should\nconfess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.\nAmen, Amen.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 THE END.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                      GILBERT & RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,\n                        St. John\u2019s Square, London.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{3a}  Rev. xvi. 1.\n\n{3b}  Luke xxi. 25, 26.\n\n{5a}  Joel ii. 12.\n\n{5b}  Joel ii. 15\u201317.\n\n{5c}  James i. 7.\n\n{5d}  Heb. xiii. 8.\n\n{5e}  Rom. xv. 4.\n\n{5f}  Psalm cvi. 6.\n\n{5g}  Psalm lxxxvi. 5.\n\n{6a}  Isa. lix. 1.\n\n{6b}  Psalm lix. 13.\n\n{6c}  Isa. i. 11.\n\n{6d}  Isa. i. 16, 17.\n\n{6e}  1 Sam. xv. 22.\n\n{7a}  Service for the Sick.\n\n{7b}  Luke xix. 44.\n\n{7c}  Psalm cxix. 75.\n\n{7d}  Isa. lv. 6.\n\n{7e}  Jer. xviii. 30.\n\n{8a}  Prov. viii. 15.\n\n{8b}  Psalm lxxxix. 19.\n\n{8c}  Psalm cxxvii. 2.\n\n{9a}  Gen. xviii. 32.\n\n{9b}  Jonah iii. 10.\n\n{9c}  2 Sam. xxiv. 16.\n\n{9d}  Jer. xviii. 7, 8.  Psalm xci. 6.\n\n{10a}  It is much to be desired that the prayers set forth by authority,\nor others of a similar character, should be generally used in family\nworship.\n\n{11}  1 Pet. v. 6.\n\n{12a}  Isa. i. 4.\n\n{12b}  Zech. xii. 10.\n\n{13a}  Isa. xliv. 21, 22.\n\n{13b}  Psalm cxix. 73.\n\n{14a}  Luke i. 79.\n\n{14b}  Isaiah x. 3.\n\n{14c}  Isaiah xxvi. 4.\n\n{14d}  Heb. xi. 6.\n\n{15a}  Sherlock on Providence.\n\n{15b}  Heb. xii. 10.\n\n{15c}  Bowdler\u2019s Remains.\n\n{16a}  Heb. xii. 6.\n\n{16b}  Psalm cxix. 71.\n\n{16c}  Jer. xvi. 19.\n\n{16d}  Psalm xxv.\n\n{17a}  Phil. ii. 15.\n\n{17b}  Luke xviii. 18.\n\n{17c}  Matt. xiv. 30.\n\n{18a}  Titus ii. 10.\n\n{18b}  Col. iii. 2.\n\n{18c}  Titus ii. 13.\n\n{18d}  Psalm cxix. 75.\n\n{19a}  2 Cor. iv.\n\n{19b}  Heb. ii. 16.\n\n{19c}  Deut. xxxiii. 25.\n\n{19d}  Matt. x. 29.\n\n{19e}  Rom. viii. 28.\n\n{19f}  Isaiah xxvi. 3.\n\n{19g}  Rom. xv. 13.\n\n{21a}  2 Cor. iv.\n\n{21b}  Psalm xci.\n\n{22a}  Isa. xli. 10.\n\n{22b}  Sherlock on Providence.\n\n{23a}  Rom v. 3.\n\n{23b}  Heb. vi. 1.\n\n{23c}  1 John iv. 18.\n\n{23d}  Heb. xii. 12.\n\n{23e}  Acts xviii. 17.\n\n{24}  2 Tim. iii. 4.\n\n{25}  Psalm x. 4.\n\n{26}  Proverbs i.\n\n{28a}  Jonah i. 6.\n\n{28b}  Daniel v. 27.\n\n{30}  Acts xx. 21.\n\n{31}  Luke xvi. 23.\n\n{32a}  Matt. xxv. 41.\n\n{32b}  2 Cor. v. 11.\n\n{32c}  Ibid. v. 20.\n\n{33a}  The Task.\n\n{33b}  Rom. ii. 4, 5.\n\n{34a}  Ezek. xxxiii. 11.\n\n{34b}  Ezek. xviii. 29.\n\n{34c}  Isa. i. 18.\n\n{35a}  Exod. xxxiv. 6.\n\n{35b}  1 John iv. 8.\n\n{35c}  John iii. 16.\n\n{35d}  John iii. 17.\n\n{35e}  John vi. 47.\n\n{36a}  Matt. xi. 28.\n\n{36b}  Matt. i. 21.\n\n{36c}  Matt. ix. 13.\n\n{36d}  1 Tim. i. 15.\n\n{36e}  Luke ii. 10.\n\n{36f}  John vi. 37.\n\n{37a}  Psalm ciii. 8.\n\n{37b}  1 John ii. 1.\n\n{37c}  Rom. viii. 32.\n\n{38a}  John v. 40.\n\n{38b}  Matt. xviii. 11.\n\n{38c}  Luke xv. 10.\n\n{38d}  Rev. v. 13.\n\n{39a}  Acts xxvi. 18.\n\n{39b}  1 Tim. ii. 4.\n\n{40a}  Rom. iii. 24, 25.\n\n{40b}  Rev. iii. 17, 18.\n\n{41}  James iii. 2.\n\n{42a}  Rom. x. 2, 3.\n\n{42b}  1 Cor. i. 29.\n\n{42c}  Col. iii. 11.\n\n{42d}  Article IX.\n\n{43a}  Article X.\n\n{43b}  Article XI.\n\n{43c}  Article XII.\n\n{45}  Isa. lv. 7, 8.\n\n{46a}  Ezek. xi. 19.\n\n{46b}  Psalm li.\n\n{47a}  Phil. iii. 14.\n\n{47b}  Ephes. iv. 13.\n\n{47c}  Ibid. vi. 4.\n\n{48a}  The term conversion is here employed to express that change of\nwill, heart, and life, wrought by divine grace in those, who, when living\nin ignorance or neglect of God, are brought to believe, obey, and love\nthe Gospel, the spirit of which they had never before truly known, the\npower of which they had never before really felt.\n\n{48b}  Sermons, p. 125.\n\n{49a}  1 John v. 1. 10. 18.\n\n{49b}  Rom. viii. 1. 14.\n\n{51a}  p. 123.\n\n{51b}  p. 126.\n\n{51c}  p. 128.\n\n{52a}  Matt. vii. 21.\n\n{52b}  Rom. ii. 13.\n\n{52c}  James i. 22.\n\n{53a}  1 John ii. 15.\n\n{53b}  Gal. v. 19\u201321.\n\n{53c}  Mark i. 15.\n\n{54a}  Heb. xii. 14.\n\n{54b}  Titus ii. 11.\n\n{57a}  2 Cor. iv. 4.\n\n{57b}  Mark x. 23.\n\n{58a}  Luke xvi.\n\n{58b}  1 John ii. 16.\n\n{59a}  James v.\n\n{59b}  1 Tim. vi. 9.\n\n{59c}  1 Pet. ii. 11.\n\n{59d}  1 Pet. iv. 3.\n\n{59e}  Ephes. v. 6.\n\n{60a}  1 Tim. vi. 17.\n\n{60b}  2 Cor. vii. 1.\n\n{61}  Ephes. iv.\n\n{62}  1 Pet. ii. 1.\n\n{63}  Dan. v.\n\n{66a}  Isa. lvii. 15.\n\n{66b}  1 Cor. iv. 7.\n\n{66c}  Psalm xix. 12.\n\n{67}  1 Kings xviii. 21.\n\n{68a}  Rev. iii. 16.\n\n{68b}  Matt. xxii. 57.\n\n{72}  John xv. 13.\n\n{73}  1 Cor. xvi. 22.\n\n{74a}  Acts xvii. 11.\n\n{74b}  2 Tim. iii. 16.\n\n{75a}  2 Cor. x. 4.\n\n{75b}  Jer. xiii. 23.\n\n{75c}  1 Pet. v. 8.\n\n{75d}  Eph. vi. 12.\n\n{76a}  Rom. vii. 24.\n\n{76b}  Matt. xix. 26.\n\n{77a}  1 Cor. xv. 57.\n\n{77b}  Rom. xii. 2.\n\n{77c}  Acts iii. 19.\n\n{78}  Psalm xcv. 11.  Acts xxiv. 25.\n\n{80}  Ephes. iv. 21.\n\n{81a}  Matt. xvi. 26.\n\n{81b}  John xiv. 6.\n\n{81c}  2 Cor. v. 21.\n\n{82a}  Rom. v. 1.\n\n{82b}  2 Cor. xii. 9.\n\n{82c}  Phil. iii. 13.\n\n{82d}  Tit. ii. 10.\n\n{83}  Baptismal Service.\n\n{84}  Matt. xiii. 20.\n\n{85}  Heb. ii. 10.\n\n{86a}  Rev. xviii. 24.\n\n{86b}  2 Cor. iv. 17.\n\n{86c}  Matt. xxv. 21.\n\n{87a}  Matt. v. 16.\n\n{87b}  Isaiah xxvi. 9.\n\n{88a}  Ephes. iv. 2, 3.\n\n{88b}  Ephes. iv. 5, 6.\n\n{89a}  Service for the Sick.\n\n{89b}  Job xxiii. 10.\n\n{91a}  Luke xix. 42.\n\n{91b}  James i. 17.\n\n{91c}  Ephes. i. 17.\n\n{91d}  Ephes. v.\n\n{93}  Page 4.\n\n{95}  Page 46.\n\n{96}  Page 61.\n\n{97a}  Dan. iv. 17.\n\n{97b}  Deut. vi. 8.\n\n{98}  Page 71.\n\n{99}  Page 69.\n\n{100}  James iv. 15.\n\n{102}  Malachi iii. 6.\n\n{103a}  Zeph. ii. 13.\n\n{103b}  Jer. li. 13.\n\n{104a}  Ezek. xxix. 15.\n\n{104b}  Isaiah xxiii. 7.\n\n{105a}  Ezek. xxvi. 5.\n\n{105b}  Ibid. xxvi. ver. 14.\n\n{107}  Deut. viii.\n\n{108}  Deut. xxviii. 37.\n\n{110a}  Ps. lxviii. 35.\n\n{110b}  Isa. xxx. 1.\n\n{110c}  Rev. iii. 19.\n\n{111}  Matt. xvi. 18.\n\n{113}  Jer. vi. 14.\n\n{114}  Page 8.\n\n{115}  Page 15.\n\n{116}  Page 44.\n\n{123}  Isaiah lvii. 20.\n\n{124}  Apology for Christianity, p. 122.\n\n{125}  Apology for the Bible, p. 2.\n\n{126}  Matt. xxiii. 15.\n\n{134a}  Charges, p. 117.\n\n{134b}  Ibid. p. 128.\n\n{134c}  Ibid. p. 134.\n\n{135}  Rose\u2019s Prevailing Disposition towards Christianity, p. 77.\n\n{137a}  Page 145\n\n{137b}  Bishop of Durham.\n\n{149}  Lord Brougham\u2019s speech in the Commons, on the Education of the\nPoor.\n\n{154}  2 Sam. xxiv. 21.\n\n{155}  1 Kings xix. 10.\n\n{164}  Bishop of London\u2019s Charge.\n\n{167}  Psalm cxxxix. 5.\n\n{168a}  Psalm civ. 24.\n\n{168b}  Ibid. xix. i.\n\n{168c}  Ibid. xxxiii. 8, 9.\n\n{171}  Chalmers\u2019 Revelation viewed in connexion with Modern Astronomy.\n\n{175}  Luke i. 4.\n\n{176}  1 Pet. iii. 15.\n\n{178}  Prov. xv. 23.\n\n{179a}  Luke x. 42.\n\n{179b}  Joshua xxiv. 15.\n\n{179c}  2 Cor. vi. 14.\n\n{179d}  2 Cor. vi. 14, 15.\n\n{180}  Psalm lv. 14.\n\n{185}  Page 21.\n\n{188a}  Matt. x. 28.\n\n{188b}  Heb. vii. 25.\n\n{192}  Ordination Service.\n\n{193a}  Isaiah lviii. 1.\n\n{193b}  2 Tim. ii. 24.\n\n{194a}  1 Cor. iv. 1.\n\n{194b}  2 Cor. v. 20.\n\n{194c}  Ezek. iii. 17.\n\n{194d}  Acts xx. 28.\n\n{194e}  1 Thess. ii. 19.\n\n{195a}  1 Thess. iii. 7.\n\n{195b}  Phil. iv. 1.\n\n{195c}  Ibid. iii. 1.\n\n{195d}  James v. 20.\n\n{195e}  Dan. xii. 3.\n\n{196a}  Ordination Service.\n\n{196b}  Isaiah xxvi. 8, 9.\n\n{197}  Cor. iii. 7.\n\n{199}  Pet. v. 2.\n\n{200a}  Ezek. xxxiv. 16.\n\n{200b}  Isaiah xl. 11.\n\n{200c}  2 Cor. ii. 16.\n\n{201}  Commentary upon the 1st Epistle of St. Peter, p. 280.\n\n{202a}  Heb. xiii. 5.\n\n{202b}  Matt. xxviii. 20.\n\n{202c}  Isaiah lx. 19.\n\n{204a}  2 Tim. iv. 6.\n\n{204b}  Acts x. 38.\n\n{205a}  Mark viii. 38.\n\n{205b}  Josh. xxiv. 15.\n\n{205c}  Matt. xii. 30.\n\n{211}  Barbadoes has, at this time, most urgent claims upon the British\nnation for assistance: it is estimated that the injury sustained by\nchurches, schools, and the buildings of charitable institutions, during\nthe late hurricane, cannot be repaired under a less cost than 40,000_l._\nA subscription has been opened in London for rebuilding the churches and\nschool-houses.\n\n{219}  Mark xvi. 15.\n\n{221}  Mal. iv. 2.\n\n{222}  Isaiah xi. 9.\n\n{223}  1 Tim. vi. 17\u201319.\n\n{224a}  2 Cor. ix. 6\u20138.\n\n{224b}  Rev. xi. 15.\n\n{227}  Bishop Horne\u2019s Letter to Adam Smith.\n\n{233a}  2 Chron. vi. 28.\n\n{233b}  Ibid. vii. 12.\n\n{235a}  Isaiah xxiv. 11.\n\n{235b}  Ibid. xli. 5.\n\n{236a}  1 Pet. ii. 12.\n\n{236b}  Isaiah li. 11.\n\n{236c}  Ibid. lviii. 8.\n\n{237}  Heb. xiii. 20.","title":"The Duty of a Christian People under Divine Visitations","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":57982}