But this world is not his resting place: here, to the very last, he must be a pilgrim and a stranger; a soldier, whose warfare ends only with life, ever struggling and combating with the powers of darkness, and with the temptations of the world around him, and the still more dangerous hostilities of internal depravity. The perpetual vicissitudes of this uncertain state, the peculiar trials and difficulties with which the life of a Christian is chequered, and still more, the painful and humiliating remembrance of his own infirmities, teach him to look forward, almost with outstretched neck, to that promised day, when he shall be completely delivered from the bondage of corruption, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. In the anticipation of that blessed period, and comparing this churlish and turbulent world, where competition, and envy, and anger, and revenge, so vex and agitate the sons of men, with that blissful region where Love shall reign without disturbance, and where all being knit together in bonds of indissoluble friendship, shall unite in one harmonious song of praise to the Author of their common happiness, the true Christian triumphs over the fear of death: he longs to realize these cheering images, and to obtain admission into that blessed company.—With far more justice than it was originally used, he may adopt the beautiful exclamation—"O praeclarum illum diem, cum ad illud divinum animorum concilium coetumque proficiscar, atque ex hac turba et colluvione discedam!"

What has been now as well as formerly remarked, concerning the habitual feelings of the real believer, may suggest a reply to an objection common in the mouths of nominal Christians, that we would deny men the innocent amusements and gratifications of life; thus causing our Religion to wear a gloomy forbidding aspect, instead of her true and natural face of cheerfulness and joy. This is a charge of so serious a nature, that although it lead into a digression, it may not be improper to take some notice of it.

In the first place, Religion prohibits no amusement or gratification which is really innocent. The question, however, of its innocence, must not be tried by the loose maxims of worldly morality, but by the spirit of the injunctions of the word of God; and by the indulgence being conformable or not conformable to the genius of Christianity, and to the tempers and dispositions of mind enjoined on its professors. There can be no dispute concerning the true end of recreations. They are intended to refresh our exhausted bodily or mental powers, and to restore us, with renewed vigour, to the more serious occupations of life. Whatever, therefore, fatigues either body or mind, instead of refreshing them, is not fitted to answer the designed purpose. Whatever consumes more time, or money, or thought, than it is expedient (I might say necessary) to allot to mere amusement, can hardly be approved by any one who considers these talents as precious deposits for the expenditure of which he will have to give account. Whatever directly or indirectly must be likely to injure the welfare of a fellow creature, can scarcely be a suitable recreation for a Christian, who is "to love his neighbour as himself;" or a very consistent diversion for any one, the business of whose life is to diffuse happiness.

But does a Christian never relax? Let us not so wrong and vilify the bounty of Providence, as to allow for a moment that the sources of innocent amusement are so rare, that men must be driven, almost by constraint, to such as are of a doubtful quality. On the contrary, such has been the Creator's goodness, that almost every one, both of our physical and intellectual, and moral faculties (and the same may be said of the whole creation which we see around us) is not only calculated to answer the proper end of its being, by its subserviency to some purpose of solid usefulness, but to be the instrument of administering pleasure.

Not content With every food of life to nourish man, Thou mak'st all nature beauty to his eye And music to his ear.

Our Maker also, in his kindness, has so constructed us, that even mere vicissitude is grateful and refreshing—a consideration which should prompt us often to seek, from a prudent variation of useful pursuits, that recreation, for which we are apt to resort to what is altogether, unproductive and unfruitful.

Yet rich and multiplied are the springs of innocent relaxation. The Christian relaxes in the temperate use of all the gifts of Providence. Imagination, and taste, and genius, and the beauties of creation, and the works of art, lie open to him. He relaxes in the feast of reason, in the intercourses of society, in the sweets of friendship, in the endearments of love, in the exercise of hope, of confidence, of joy, of gratitude, of universal good will, of all the benevolent and generous affections; which, by the gracious ordination of our Creator, while they disinterestedly intend only happiness to others, are most surely productive to ourselves of complacency and peace. O! little do they know of the true measure of enjoyment, who can compare these delightful complacencies with the frivolous pleasures of dissipation, or the coarse gratifications of sensuality. It is no wonder, however, that the nominal Christian should reluctantly give up, one by one, the pleasures of the world; and look back upon them, when relinquished, with eyes of wistfulness and regret: because he knows not the sweetness of the delights with which true Christianity repays those trifling sacrifices, and is greatly unacquainted with the nature of that pleasantness which is to be found in the ways of Religion.

It is indeed true, that when any one, who has long been going on in the gross and unrestrained practice of vice, is checked in his career, and enters at first on a religious course, he has much to undergo. Fear, guilt, remorse, shame, and various other passions, struggle and conflict within him. His appetites are clamorous for their accustomed gratification, and inveterate habits are scarcely to be denied. He is weighed down by a load of guilt, and almost overwhelmed by the sense of his unworthiness. But all this ought in fairness to be charged to the account of his past sins, and not to that of his present repentance. It rarely happens, however, that this state of suffering continues very long. When the mental gloom is the blackest, a ray of heavenly light occasionally breaks in, and suggests the hope of better days. Even in this life it commonly holds true, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

Neither, when we maintain, that the ways of Religion are ways of pleasantness, do we mean to deny that the Christian's internal state is, through the whole of his life, a state of discipline and warfare. Several of the causes which contribute to render it such have been already pointed out, together with the workings of his mind in relation to them: but if he has solicitudes and griefs peculiar to himself, he has "joys also with which a stranger intermeddles not."

"Drink deep," however, "or taste not," is a direction full as applicable to Religion, if we would find it a source of pleasure, as it is to knowledge. A little Religion is, it must be confessed, apt to make men gloomy, as a little knowledge to render them vain: hence the unjust imputation often brought upon Religion by those, whose degree of Religion is just sufficient, by condemning their course of conduct, to render them uneasy: enough merely to impair the sweetness of the pleasures of sin, and not enough to compensate for the relinquishment of them by its own peculiar comforts. Thus these men bring up, as it were, an ill report of that land of promise, which, in truth, abounds with whatever, in our journey through life, can best refresh and strengthen us.

We have enumerated some sources of pleasure which men of the world may understand, and must acknowledge to belong to the true Christian; but there are others, and those of a still higher class, to which they must confess themselves strangers. To say nothing of a qualified, I dare not say an entire, exemption from those distracting passions and corroding cares, by which he must naturally be harassed, whose treasure is within the reach of mortal accidents; there is the humble quiet-giving hope of being reconciled to God, and of enjoying his favour; with that solid peace of mind, which the world can neither give nor take away, that results from a firm confidence in the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, and in the unceasing care and kindness of a generous Saviour: and there is the persuasion of the truth of the divine assurance, that all things shall work together for good.

When the pulse indeed beats high, and we are flushed with youth, and health, and vigour; when all goes on prosperously, and success seems almost to anticipate our wishes; then we feel not the want of the consolations of Religion: but when fortune frowns, or friends forsake us; when sorrow, or sickness, or old age, comes upon us, then it is, that the superiority of the pleasures of Religion is established over those of dissipation and vanity, which are ever apt to fly from us when we are most in want of their aid. There is scarcely a more melancholy sight to a considerate mind, than that of an old man, who is a stranger to those only true sources of satisfaction. How affecting, and at the same time how disgusting, is it to see such an one awkwardly catching at the pleasures of his younger years, which are now beyond his reach; or feebly attempting to retain them, while they mock his endeavours and elude his grasp! To such an one, gloomily indeed does the evening of life set in! All is sour and cheerless. He can neither look backward with complacency nor forward with hope: while the aged Christian, relying on the assured mercy of his Redeemer, can calmly reflect that his dismission is at hand; that his redemption draweth nigh: while his strength declines, and his faculties decay, he can quietly repose himself on the fidelity of God: and at the very entrance of the valley of the shadow of death, he can lift up an eye, dim, perhaps, and feeble, yet occasionally sparkling with hope, and confidently looking forward to the near possession of his heavenly inheritance, "to those joys which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive."

Never were there times which inculcated more forcibly than those in which we live, the wisdom of seeking a happiness beyond the reach of human vicissitudes. What striking lessons have we had of the precarious tenure of all sublunary possessions! Wealth, and power, and prosperity, how peculiarly transitory and uncertain! But Religion dispenses her choicest cordials in the seasons of exigence, in poverty, in exile, in sickness, and in death. The essential superiority of that support which is derived from Religion is less felt, at least it is less apparent, when the Christian is in full possession of riches, and splendour, and rank, and all the gifts of nature and fortune. But when all these are swept away by the rude hand of time, or the rough blasts of adversity, the true Christian stands, like the glory of the forest, erect and vigorous; stripped indeed of his summer foliage, but more than ever discovering to the observing eye the solid strength of his substantial texture:

Pondere fixa suo est, nudosque per aera ramos Attollens, trunco non frondibus efficit umbram.

SECTION II.

Advice to some who profess their full Assent to the fundamental Doctrines of the Gospel.

In a former chapter we largely insisted on what may be termed the fundamental practical error of the bulk of professed Christians in our days; their either overlooking or misconceiving the peculiar method, which the Gospel has provided for the renovation of our corrupted nature, and for the attainment of every Christian grace.

But there are mistakes on the right hand and on the left; and our general proneness, when we are flying from one extreme to run into an opposite error, renders it necessary to superadd another admonition. The generally prevailing error of the present day, indeed, is that fundamental one which was formerly pointed out. But while we attend, in the first place, to this; and, on the warrant both of Scripture and experience, prescribe hearty repentance and lively faith, as the only root and foundation of all true holiness; we must at the same time guard against a practical mistake of another kind. They who, with penitent hearts, have humbled themselves before the cross of Christ; and who, pleading his merits as their only ground of pardon and acceptance with God, have resolved henceforth, through the help of his Spirit, to bring forth the fruits of righteousness, are sometimes apt to conduct themselves as if they considered their work as now done; or at least as if this were the whole they had to do, as often as, by falling afresh into sin, another act of repentance and faith may seem to have become necessary. There are not a few in our relaxed age, who thus satisfy themselves with what may be termed general Christianity; who feel general penitence and humiliation from a sense of their sinfulness in general, and general desires of universal holiness; but who neglect that vigilant and jealous care, with which they should labour to extirpate every particular corruption, by studying its nature, its root, its ramifications, and thus becoming acquainted with its secret movements, with the means whereby it gains strength, and with the most effectual methods of resisting it. In like manner, they are far from striving with persevering alacrity for the acquisition and improvement of every Christian grace. Nor is it unusual for ministers, who preach the truths of the Gospel with fidelity, ability, and success, to be themselves also liable to the charge of dwelling altogether in their instructions on this general Religion: instead of tracing and laying open all the secret motions of inward corruption, and instructing their hearers how best to conduct themselves in every distinct part of the Christian warfare; how best to strive against each particular vice, and to cultivate each grace of the Christian character. Hence it is, that in too many persons, concerning the sincerity of whose general professions of Religion we should be sorry to entertain a doubt, we yet see little progress made in the regulation of their tempers, in the improvement of their time, in the reform of their plan of life, or inability to resist the temptation to which they are particularly exposed. They will confess themselves, in general terms, to be "miserable sinners:" this is a tenet of their creed, and they feel even proud in avowing it. They will occasionally also lament particular failings: but this confession is sometimes obviously made, in order to draw forth a compliment for the very opposite virtue: and where this is not the case, it is often not difficult to detect, under this false guise of contrition, a secret self-complacency, arising from the manifestations which they have afforded of their acuteness or candour in discovering the infirmity in question, or of their frankness or humility in acknowledging it. This will scarcely seem an illiberal suspicion to any one, who either watches the workings of his own heart, or who observes, that the faults confessed in these instances are very seldom those, with which the person is most clearly and strongly chargeable.

We must plainly warn these men, and the consideration is seriously pressed on their instructors also, that they are in danger of deceiving themselves. Let them beware lest they be nominal Christians of another sort. These persons require to be reminded, that there is no short compendious method of holiness: but that it must be the business of their whole lives to grow in grace, and continually adding one virtue to another, as far as may be, "to go on towards perfection." "He only that doeth righteousness is righteous." Unless "they bring forth the fruits of the Spirit," they can have no sufficient evidence that they have received that "Spirit of Christ, without which they are none of his." But where, on the whole, our unwillingness to pass an unfavourable judgment may lead us to indulge a hope, that "the root of the matter is found in them;" yet we must at least declare to them, that instead of adorning the doctrine of Christ, they disparage and discredit it. The world sees not their secret humiliation, not the exercises of their closets, but it is acute in discerning practical weaknesses: and if it observe that they have the same eagerness in the pursuit of wealth or ambition, the same vain taste for ostentation and display, the same ungoverned tempers, which are found in the generality of mankind; it will treat with contempt their pretences to superior sanctity and indifference to worldly things, and will be hardened in its prejudices against the only mode, which God has provided for our escaping the wrath to come, and obtaining eternal happiness.

Let him then, who would be indeed a Christian, watch over his ways and over his heart with unceasing circumspection. Let him endeavour to learn, both from men and books, particularly from the lives of eminent Christians[125], what methods have been actually found most effectual for the conquest of every particular vice, and for improvement in every branch of holiness. Thus studying his own character, and observing the most secret workings of his own mind, and of our common nature; the knowledge which he will acquire of the human heart in general, and especially of his own, will be of the highest utility, in enabling him to avoid or to guard against the occasions of evil: and it will also tend, above all things, to the growth of humility, and to the maintenance of that sobriety of spirit and tenderness of conscience, which are eminently characteristic of the true Christian. It is by this unceasing diligence, as the Apostle declares, that the servants of Christ must make their calling sure. Their labour will not be thrown away; for "an entrance shall" at length "be ministered unto them abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

SECT. III.

Brief Observations addressed to Sceptics and Unitarians.

There is another class of men, an increasing class, it is to be feared, in this country, that of absolute unbelievers, with which this little work has properly no concern: but may the writer, sincerely pitying their melancholy state, be permitted to ask them one plain question? If Christianity be not in their estimation true, yet is there not at least a presumption in its favour, sufficient to entitle it to a serious examination; from its having been embraced, and that not blindly and implicitly, but upon full inquiry and deep consideration, by Bacon, and Milton, and Locke, and Newton, and much the greater part of those, who, by the reach of their understandings, or the extent of their knowledge, and by the freedom too of their minds, and their daring to combat existing prejudices, have called forth the respect and admiration of mankind? It might be deemed scarcely fair to insist on Churchmen, though some of them are among the greatest names this country has ever known. Can the sceptic in general say with truth, that he has either prosecuted an examination into the evidences of Revelation at all, or at least with a seriousness and diligence in any degree proportioned to the importance of the subject? The fact is, and it is a fact which redounds to the honour of Christianity, that infidelity is not the result of sober inquiry and deliberate preference. It is rather the slow production of a careless and irreligious life, operating together with prejudices and erroneous conceptions, concerning the nature of the leading doctrines and fundamental tenets of Christianity.

Take the case of young men of condition, bred up by what we have termed nominal Christians. When children, they are carried to church, and thence they become acquainted with such parts of Scripture as are contained in our public service. If their parents preserve still more of the customs of better times, they are taught their Catechism, and furnished with a little farther religious knowledge. After a while, they go from under the eyes of their parents; they enter into the world, and move forward in the path of life, whatever it may be, which has been assigned to them. They yield to the temptations which assail them, and become, more or less, dissipated and licentious. At least they neglect to look into their Bible; they do not enlarge the sphere of their religious acquisitions; they do not even endeavour, by reflection and study, to turn into what may deserve the name of knowledge and rational conviction, the opinions which, in their childhood, they had taken on trust.

They travel, perhaps, into foreign countries; a proceeding which naturally tends to weaken their nursery, prejudice in favour of the Religion in which they were bred, and by removing them from all means of public worship, to relax their practical habits of Religion. They return home, and commonly are either hurried round in the vortex of dissipation, or engage with the ardour of youthful minds in some public or professional pursuit. If they read or hear any thing about Christianity, it is commonly only about those tenets which are subjects of controversy: and what reaches their ears of the Bible, from their occasional attendance at church; though it may sometimes impress them with an idea of the purity of Christian morality, contains much which, coming thus detached, perplexes and offends them, and suggests various doubts and startling objections, which a farther acquaintance with the Scripture would remove. Thus growing more and more to know Christianity only by the difficulties it contains; sometimes tempted by the ambition of shewing themselves superior to vulgar prejudice, and always prompted by the natural pride of the human heart to cast off their subjection to dogmas imposed on them; disgusted, perhaps, by the immoral lives of some professed Christians, by the weaknesses and absurdities of others, and by what they observe to be the implicit belief of numbers, whom they see and know to be equally ignorant with themselves, many doubts and suspicions of greater or less extent spring up within them. These doubts enter into the mind at first almost imperceptibly: they exist only as vague indistinct surmises, and by no means take the precise shape or the substance of a formed opinion. At first, probably, they even offend and startle by their intrusion: but by degrees the unpleasant sensations which they once excited wear off: the mind grows more familiar with them. A confused sense (for such it is, rather than a formed idea) of its being desirable that their doubts should prove well founded, and of the comfort and enlargement which would be afforded by that proof, lends them much secret aid. The impression becomes deeper; not in consequence of being reinforced by fresh arguments, but merely by dint of having longer rested in the mind; and as they increase in force, they creep on and extend themselves. At length they diffuse themselves over the whole of Religion, and possess the mind in undisturbed occupancy.

It is by no means meant that this is universally the process. But, speaking generally, this might be termed, perhaps not unjustly, the natural history of scepticism. It approves itself to the experience of those who have with any care watched the progress of infidelity in persons around them; and it is confirmed by the written lives of some of the most eminent unbelievers. It is curious to read their own accounts of themselves, the rather as they accord so exactly with the result of our own observation.—We find that they once perhaps gave a sort of implicit hereditary assent to the truth of Christianity, and were what, by a mischievous perversion of language, the world denominates believers. How were they then awakened from their sleep of ignorance? At what moment did the light of truth beam in upon them, and dissipate the darkness in which they had been involved? The period of their infidelity is marked by no such determinate boundary. Reason, and thought, and inquiry had little or nothing to do with it. Having for many years lived careless and irreligious lives, and associated with companions equally careless and irreligious; not by force of study and reflection, but rather by the lapse of time, they at length attained to their infidel maturity. It is worthy of remark, that where any are reclaimed from infidelity, it is generally by a process much more rational than that which has been here described. Something awakens them to reflection. They examine, they consider, and at length yield their assent to Christianity on what they deem sufficient grounds.

From the account here given, it appears plainly that infidelity is generally the offspring of prejudice, and that its success is mainly to be ascribed to the depravity of the moral character. This fact is confirmed by the undeniable truth, that in societies, which consist of individuals, infidelity is the natural fruit, not so much of a studious and disputatious, as of a dissipated and vicious age. It diffuses itself in proportion as the general morals decline; and it is embraced with less apprehension, when every infidel is kept in spirits, by seeing many around him who are sharing fortunes with himself.

To any fair mind this consideration alone might be offered, as suggesting a strong argument against infidelity, and in favour of Revelation. And the friends of Christianity might justly retort the charge, which their opponents often urge with no little affectation of superior wisdom; that we implicitly surrender ourselves to the influence of prejudice, instead of examining dispassionately the ground of our faith, and yielding our assent only according to the degree of evidence.

In our own days, when it is but too clear that infidelity increases, it is not in consequence of the reasonings of the infidel writers having been much studied, but from the progress of luxury, and the decay of morals: and, so far as this increase may be traced at all to the works of sceptical writers; it has been produced, not by argument and discussion, but by sarcasms and points of wit, which have operated on weak minds, or on nominal Christians, by bringing gradually into contempt, opinions which, in their case, had only rested on the basis of blind respect and the prejudices of education. It may therefore be laid down as an axiom, that infidelity is in general a disease of the heart more than of the understanding. If Revelation were assailed only by reason and argument, it would have little to fear. The literary opposers of Christianity, from Herbert to Hume, have been seldom read. They made some stir in their day: during their span of existence they were noisy and noxious; but like the locusts of the east, which for a while obscure the air, and destroy the verdure, they were soon swept away and forgotten. Their very names would be scarcely found, if Leland had not preserved them from oblivion.

The account which has been given, of the secret, but grand, source of infidelity, may perhaps justly be extended, as being not seldom true in the case of those who deny the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel.

In the course which we lately traced from nominal orthodoxy to absolute infidelity, Unitarianism[126] is indeed, a sort of half-way house, if the expression may be pardoned; a stage on the journey, where sometimes a person indeed finally stops, but where, not unfrequently, he only pauses for a while, and then pursues his progress.

The Unitarian teachers by no means profess to absolve their followers from the unbending strictness of Christian morality. They prescribe the predominant love of God, and an habitual spirit of devotion: but it is an unquestionable fact; a fact which they themselves almost admit, that this class of religionists is not in general distinguished for superior purity of life; and still less for that frame of mind, which, by the injunction "to be spiritually, not carnally, minded," the word of God prescribes to us, as one of the surest tests of our experiencing the vital power of Christianity. On the contrary, in point of fact, Unitarianism seems to be resorted to, not merely by those who are disgusted with the peculiar doctrines of Christianity; but by those also who are seeking a refuge from the strictness of her practical precepts; and who, more particularly, would escape from the obligation which she imposes on her adherents, rather to incur the dreaded charge of singularity, than fall in with the declining manners of a dissipated age.

Unitarianism, where it may be supposed to proceed from the understanding rather than from the heart, is not unfrequently produced by a confused idea of the difficulties, or, as they are termed, the impossibilities which orthodox Christianity is supposed to involve. It is not our intention to enter into the controversy:[127] but it may not be improper to make one remark as a guard to persons in whose way the arguments of the Unitarians may be likely to fall; namely, that one great advantage possessed by Deists, and perhaps in a still greater degree by Unitarians, in their warfare with the Christian system, results from the very circumstances of their being the assailants. They urge what they state to be powerful arguments against the truth of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and then call upon men to abandon them as posts no longer tenable. But they, who are disposed to yield to this assault, should call to mind, that it has pleased God so to establish the constitution of all things, that perplexing difficulties and plausible objections may be adduced against the most established truths; such, for instance, as the being of a God, and many others both physical and moral. In all cases, therefore, it becomes us, not on a partial view to reject any proposition, because it is attended with difficulties; but to compare the difficulties which it involves, with those which attend the alternative proposition which must be embraced on its rejection. We should put to the proof the alternative proposition in its turn, and see whether it be not still less tenable than that which we are summoned to abandon. In short, we should examine circumspectly on all sides; and abide by that opinion which, on carefully balancing all considerations, appears fairly entitled to our preference. Experience, however, will have convinced the attentive observer of those around him, that it has been for want of adverting to this just and obvious principle, that the Unitarians in particular have gained most of their proselytes from the Church, so far as argument has contributed to their success. If the Unitarians, or even the Deists, were considered in their turn as masters of the field; and were in their turn attacked, both by arguments tending to disprove their system directly, and to disprove it indirectly, by shewing the high probability of the truth of Christianity, and of its leading and peculiar doctrines, it is most likely that they would soon appear wholly unable to keep their ground. In short, reasoning fairly, there is no medium between absolute Pyrrhonism and true Christianity: and if we reject the latter on account of its difficulties, we shall be still more loudly called upon to reject every other system which has been offered to the acceptance of mankind. This consideration might, perhaps, with advantage be more attended to than it has been, by those who take upon them to vindicate the truth of our holy religion: as many, who from inconsideration, or any other cause, are disposed to give up the great fundamentals of Christianity, would be startled by the idea, that on the same principle on which they did this, they must give up the hope of finding any rest for the sole of their foot on any ground of Religion, and not stop short of unqualified Atheism.

Besides the class of those who professedly reject revelation, there is another, and that also, it is to be feared, an increasing one, which may be called the class of half-unbelievers, who are to be found in various degrees of approximation to a state of absolute infidelity. The system, if it deserve the name, of these men, is grossly irrational. Hearing many who assert and many who deny the truth of Christianity, and not reflecting seriously enough to consider that it must be either true or false, they take up a strange sort of middle opinion of its qualified truth. They conceive that there must be something in it, though by no means to the extent to which it is pushed by orthodox Christians. They grant the reality of future punishment, and even that they themselves cannot altogether expect to escape it; yet, "they trust it will not go so hard with them as the churchmen state:" and, as was formerly hinted, though disbelieving almost every material doctrine which Christianity contains; yet, even in their own minds, they by no means conceive themselves to be inlisted under the banners of infidelity, or to have much cause for any great apprehension lest Christianity should prove true.

But let these men be reminded, that there is no middle way. If they can be prevailed on to look into their Bible, and do not make up their minds absolutely to reject its authority; they must admit that there is no ground whatever for this vain hope, which they suffer themselves to indulge, of escaping but with a slight measure of punishment. Nor let them think their guilt inconsiderable. Is it not grossly criminal to trifle with the long-suffering of God, to despise alike his invitations and his threatenings, and the offer of his Spirit of grace, and the precious blood of the Redeemer? Far different is the Scripture estimate; "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" "It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment," than for them, who voluntarily shut their eyes against that full light, which the bounty of Heaven has poured out upon them. These half-unbelievers are even more reprehensible than downright sceptics, for remaining in this state of careless uncertainty, without endeavouring to ascertain the truth or falsehood of revelation. The probability which they admit, that it may be true, imposes on them an additional and an undeniable obligation to inquiry. But both to them and to decided sceptics it must be plainly declared, that they are in these days less excusable than ever, for not looking into the grounds and proofs on which is rested the truth of Christianity; for never before were these proofs so plainly, and at so easy a rate, offered to the consideration of mankind. Through the bounty of Providence, the more widely spreading poison of infidelity has in our days been met with more numerous and more powerful antidotes. One of these has been already pointed out: and it should be matter of farther gratitude to every real Christian, that in the very place on which modern infidelity had displayed the standard of victory, a warrior in the service of Religion, a man of the most acute discernment and profound research, has been raised up by Providence to quell their triumph[128]. He was soon taken from us; but happily for him and for ourselves, not till he had announced, that, like the Magi of old, he had seen the star of Christ in the East, and had fallen down and worshipped him. Another should be mentioned with honour, who is pursuing the track which that great man had pointed out[129]. Henceforth let all objectors against Christianity, on the ground of its being disproved by the oriental records, be put to silence. The strength of their cause consisted in their ignorance, and in our own, of oriental learning. They availed themselves for a while of our being in a state of darkness; but the light of day has at length broken in and exposed to deserved contempt their superficial speculations.

The infatuation of these unbelievers upon trust would be less striking, if they were able altogether to decline Christianity; and were at liberty to relinquish their pretensions to its rewards, on condition of being exempted from its punishments. But that is not the case; they must stand the risk of the encounter, and their eternal happiness or misery is suspended upon the issue[130]. What must be the emotions of these men, on first opening their eyes in the world of spirits, and being convinced, too late, of the awful reality of their impending ruin? May the mercy and the power of God awaken them from their desperate slumber, while life is yet spared, and there is yet space for repentance!

SECTION IV.

Advice suggested by the state of the times to true Christians.

To those, who really deserve the appellation of true Christians, much has been said incidentally in the course of the present work. It has been maintained, and the proposition will not be disputed by any sound or experienced politician, that they are always most important members of the community. But we may boldly assert, that there never was a period wherein, more justly than in the present, this could be affirmed of them; whether the situation, in all its circumstances, of our own country be attentively considered, or the general state of society in Europe. Let them on their part seriously weigh the important station which they fill, and the various duties which it now peculiarly enforces on them. If we consult the most intelligent accounts of foreign countries, which have been recently published, and compare them with the reports of former travellers; we must be convinced, that Religion and the standard of morals are every where declining, abroad even more rapidly than in our own country. But still, the progress of irreligion, and the decay of morals at home, are such as to alarm every considerate mind, and to forebode the worst consequences, unless some remedy can be applied to the growing evil. We can depend only upon true Christians for effecting, in any degree, this important service. Their system, as was formerly stated, is that of our national church: and in proportion, therefore, as their system prevails, or as it increases in respect and estimation, from the manifest good conduct of its followers; in that very proportion the church is strengthened in the foundations, on which alone it can be much longer supported, the esteem and attachment of its members, and of the nation at large. Zeal is required in the cause of Religion; they only can feel it. The charge of singularity must be incurred; they only will dare to encounter it. Uniformity of conduct, and perseverance in exertion, will be requisite; among no others can we look for those qualities.

Let true Christians then, with becoming earnestness, strive in all things to recommend their profession, and to put to silence the vain scoffs of ignorant objectors. Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ in an age when so many, who bear the name of Christians, are ashamed of Him: and let them consider as devolved on Them the important duty of suspending for a while the fall of their country, and, perhaps, of performing a still more extensive service to society at large; not by busy interference in politics, in which it cannot but be confessed there is much uncertainty; but rather by that sure and radical benefit of restoring the influence of Religion, and of raising the standard of morality.

Let them be active, useful, generous towards others; manifestly moderate and self-denying in themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness, as they would be of the most acknowledged sin. When Providence blesses them with affluence, let them withdraw from the competition of vanity; and, without sordidness or absurdity, shew by their modest demeanour, and by their retiring from display, that, without affecting singularity, they are not slaves to fashion; that they consider it as their duty to set an example of moderation and sobriety, and to reserve for nobler and more disinterested purposes, that money, which others selfishly waste in parade, and dress, and equipage. Let them evince, in short, a manifest moderation in all temporal things; as becomes those whose affections are set on higher objects than any which this world affords, and who possess, within their own bosoms, a fund of satisfaction and comfort, which the world seeks in vanity and dissipation. Let them cultivate a catholic spirit of universal good will, and of amicable fellowship towards all those, of whatever sect or denomination, who, differing from them in non-essentials, agree with them in the grand fundamentals of Religion. Let them countenance men of real piety wherever they are found; and encourage in others every attempt to repress the progress of vice, and to revive and diffuse the influence of Religion and virtue. Let their earnest prayers be constantly offered, that such endeavours may be successful, and that the abused long-suffering of God may still continue to us the invaluable privilege of vital Christianity.

Let them pray continually for their country in this season of national difficulty. We bear upon us but too plainly the marks of a declining empire. Who can say but that the Governor of the universe, who declares himself to be a God who hears the prayers of his servants, may, in answer to their intercessions, for a while avert our ruin, and continue to us the fulness of those temporal blessings, which in such abundant measure we have hitherto enjoyed[131]. Men of the world, indeed, however they may admit the natural operation of natural causes, and may therefore confess the effects of Religion and morality in promoting the well being of the community; may yet, according to their humour, with a smile of complacent pity, or a sneer of supercilious contempt, read of the service which real Christians may render to their country, by conciliating the favour and calling down the blessing of Providence. It may appear in their eyes an instance of the same superstitious weakness, as that which prompts the terrified inhabitant of Sicily to bring for the image of his tutelar saint, in order to stop the destructive ravages of AEtna. We are, however, sure, if we believe the Scripture, that God will be disposed to favour the nation to which his servants belong; and that, in fact, such as They, have often been the unknown and unhonoured instruments of drawing down on their country the blessings of safety and prosperity.

But it would be an instance in myself of that very false shame which I have condemned in others, if I were not boldly to avow my firm persuasion, that to the decline of Religion and morality our national difficulties must both directly and indirectly be chiefly ascribed; and that my only solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend not so much on her fleets and armies, not so much on the wisdom of her rulers, or the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still contains many, who, in a degenerate age, love and obey the Gospel of Christ; on the humble trust that the intercession of these may still be prevalent, that for the sake of these, Heaven may still look upon us with an eye of favour.

Let the prayers of the Christian reader be also offered up for the success of this feeble endeavour in the service of true Religion. God can give effect to the weakest effort; and the writer will feel himself too much honoured, if by that which he has now been making, but a single fellow creature should be awakened from a false security, or a single Christian, who deserves the name, be animated to more extensive usefulness. He may seem to have assumed to himself a task which he was ill qualified to execute. He fears he may be reproached with arrogance and presumption for taking upon him the office of a teacher. Yet, as he formerly suggested, it cannot be denied, that it belongs to his public situation to investigate the state of the national Religion and morals; and that it is the part of a real patriot to endeavour to retard their decline, and promote their revival. But if the office, in which he has been engaged, were less intimately connected with the duties of his particular station, the candid and the liberal mind would not be indisposed to pardon him. Let him be allowed to offer in his excuse a desire not only to discharge a duty to his country, but to acquit himself of what he deems a solemn and indispensable obligation to his acquaintance and his friends. Let him allege the unaffected solicitude which he feels for the welfare of his fellow creatures. Let him urge the fond wish he gladly would encourage; that, while, in so large a part of Europe, a false philosophy having been preferred before the lessons of revelation, Infidelity has lifted up her head without shame, and walked abroad boldly and in the face of day; while the practical consequences are such as might be expected, and licentiousness and vice prevail without restraint: here at least there might be a sanctuary, a land of Religion and piety, where the blessings of Christianity might be still enjoyed, where the name of the Redeemer might still be honoured; where mankind might be able to see what is, in truth, the Religion of Jesus, and what are its blessed effects; and whence, if the mercy of God should so ordain it, the means of religious instruction and consolation might be again extended to surrounding countries and to the world at large.

FINIS.



INDEX.

A

Abuse of things, unfairness of arguing from it against their use, 53.

Acceptance with God, commonly prevailing notions respecting it, 85-88. —Scripture, and Church of England, doctrine respecting it, 88-92. —practical consequences, of common notions respecting it, 89. —true doctrine vindicated from objection, 93-94.

Addison, quoted, 162.

Affections, of their admission into Religion, 57, 58. —their admission into Religion reasonable, 59-62. —true test and measure of them in Religion, 62-65. —in Religion, not barely allowable, but highly necessary, 66-69. —our Saviour the just object of them, 69, 70. —objection, that they are impossible towards an invisible Being, discussed, 71-77. —little excited by public misfortunes, and why, 75, 76. —towards our Saviour, special grounds for them, 77, 78. —divine aid promised for exciting them, 79, 80. —our statements respecting them in Religion verified by facts, 80, 81. —religious, St. Paul a striking instance of them, 61.

Ambition, votaries of, 125, 126.

Amiable tempers, discussion respecting, 178-198. —substituted for Religion, 179, 180. —value of, estimated by the standard of mere reason, 180. —false pretenders to them, 181. —real nature, when not grounded on Religion, 181, 182. —precarious nature, 182-184. —value of, on Christian principles, 186. —life, Christian's most so, 190, 191. —Christians urged to this, 192-196. —its just praise, 197, 198. —apt to deceive us, 198.

Applause, desire of, universal, 146, 147.

B.

Babington, the reverend Matthew, 259.

Benevolence, true Christian, its exalted nature, 287, 288.

Bacon, Lord, quoted, 229.

C.

Calumny, considerations which reconcile the Christian to it, 169, 170.

Charity, true, what, and its marks, 311, 312.

Christianity, vital revival of, would invigorate church establishment, 294. —vital, alone suited to lower orders, 295, 296. —the common system, falsely so called, 305. —the truest patriotism, 287-292. —of the world, its base nature, 324. —not a gloomy service, 326-332. —relaxations compatible with, 327, 328. —its solid texture, 332. —general, what so called, 334, 335. —true, requires incessant watchfulness and care, 336. —state in which it finds us, 30-33. —its present critical circumstances, 265-272. —reduced to a system of ethics, proofs of this, 273, 277, 278. —causes, which have tended to produce neglect of her peculiar doctrines, 269, 270, 274-276. —peculiar doctrines of, taught by the oldest divines and highest dignitaries of the English church, 273, 274. —peculiar doctrines gradually fallen into neglect, 276-278. —sad symptoms of its low state among us, 278-280. —objection, that our system of it too strict, stated and answered, 280-283. —vital, its happy influence on temporal well-being of communities, 283-285. —not hostile to patriotism, 285-287. —from its essential nature, peculiarly adapted to well-being of communities, 290-292. —vital, can alone produce these effects, 293. —excellence of it, in some particulars not commonly noticed, 252-259. —general state of, in England, 262. —its tendency to promote the well-being of political communities, 262-288, 292, 293. —has raised the general standard of practice, 264, 265. —sickens in prosperity and flourishes under persecution, 266, 267. —peculiarities of, naturally slide into disuse, 269.

Christians, true, duties especially incumbent on them in these times, 350-353. —should pray for their country, 351. —their prayers intreated for the success of this work, 353. —ready made, who esteemed such, 318. —real, how different from nominal, 214, 215. —life, illustrated by figure of a traveller, 217-219.

Commons, House of, proves inordinate love of worldly glory, 159.

Consistency between Christianity's leading doctrines and practical precepts, 231-252, 253. —between Christianity's leading doctrines amongst each other, 253. —between Christianity's practical precepts amongst each other, 253-257.

Contact, necessary to produce any interest in our affections, 73-78, 81.

Corruption of human nature, common notions of it, 14-16. —of human nature, Scripture account of it, 16, 26, 27. —of human nature, arguments suggested in proof of it, 16-26. —of Heathen world, and striking instance of it, 18, 19. —of savage life, 19, 20. —proof of it, furnished by the state of the Christian world, 20-24. —by the experience of the true Christian, 24, 25. —human, its general effects, when suffered to operate without restraint, 25, 26. —human, firm grounds on which it rests, 35. —human, practical uses of the doctrine, 36.

Cowper's Task, recommended, 234-352. —quoted, 251.

D.

Defective, conceptions generally prevailing concerning importance of Christianity, 1-5. —conceptions concerning human corruption, 15, 16. —conceptions concerning the evil spirit, 28. —conceptions concerning the doctrines, which respect our Saviour and the Holy Spirit, 70, 71, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50. —conceptions concerning the means of acceptance with God, 84-91. —conceptions prevailing concerning practical Christianity, 102-104, 117-205. —conceptions of guilt and evil of sin, 206-210. —fear of God, 210. —sense of the difficulty of getting to heaven, 214, 215. —love of God in nominal Christians, 219-221. —love of God, proofs of it in nominal Christians, 221-224. —conceptions general, concerning peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 231. —conceptions of peculiarities of Christianity, practical mischiefs from them, 232.

Depths, of the things of God; and our proneness to plunge into them, 41-43.

Devotedness to God, duty of it, 107-110, 113, 116, 118.

Dissipated and indolent, class of, 121, 122.

Dissipation, seems to have prevailed in the antediluvian world, 213.

Doddridge's Sermons on Regeneration, referred to, note, 83.

Duelling, its guilt, &c. 159-161.

E.

Error, innocence of, considered, 10-12.

Establishment, religious, in England, how circumstanced, 267.

Estimation, desire of, universal, 146, 147. — common language concerning it, the effects of the love of it, and the nature of the passion, 148-150. — commendations of it questioned, 151. — essential defects of inordinate love of it, explained, 152, 153. — love of, Scripture lessons concerning, 152-156. — value of, analogous to riches, 156. — love of, common notions respecting it, 157, 158. — proofs of our statements respecting it from House of Commons, 159. — proofs of our statements respecting it from duelling, 159-161. — real nature of inordinate love of it, 162, 163. — true Christian's conduct respecting love of it, 164-173. — true modes of guarding against excessive love of it, 171, 172. — advice to the true Christian respecting love of it, 174-178. — love of, best moderated by humility and charity, 176. — true Christian's temper respecting it, 177.

Evil spirit, the existence and agency not contrary to reason, 28, 29.

External actions substituted for habits of mind, 134, 135.

F.

Faith, Christian's life, a life of, 137, 138.

Families, two, the righteous and the wicked, 212.

Ferguson, the historian, 290.

Fuller's Calvinism and Socinianism compared, 344.

Fundamental practical distinction between systems of nominal and real Christians, 237, 250, 251.

G.

General tone of morals, Christianity has raised it, 104. —established by consent in every country, 263, 264.

Geneva, the effect of theatres, 223.

Gloomy service, false charge that we make Christianity such, 327.

Glory, true and false, what properly so called, 153. —Mistakes concerning it, 153.

Good hearted young men, term misapplied, 310.

Good hearted young men, the title disproved, 315.

Gratitude, true signs of, 49.

H.

Habits, of mind forgotten in Religion, 134-146.

Heavenly mindedness, best promoted by being much conversant with peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 250.

Holy Spirit, Scripture doctrine concerning, 44, 82, 83. —popular notions concerning, 50-53.

Honour, false notions respecting it, 162, 163.

Horne, Dr. quoted, 61.

Humility, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 244, 245. —the ground of Christian graces, 146. —excellent practical effects of, 176.

I.

Ignorance of Christianity, common, 5, 6. —criminal, 6, 7.

Importance of Christianity, inadequate conceptions generally entertained of it, 1-13. —of Christianity, proofs of the inadequate ideas generally entertained of it, 2-5. —of Christianity, ideas of it given by the Holy Scriptures, 8-10. —of Christianity, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 240.

Inconsistency of the world's practical system, 255, 256.

Indifference about Christianity generally prevalent, 9. —general towards our Saviour, proofs of, 46-48.

Infidelity, common progress of it, 338-342. —a disease of the heart more than of the understanding, 342.

Innocent young women, term how misapplied, 310. —young women, the title disproved, 315.

Intellectual attainments, rated below moral by Christianity, 257-260. —low degree of excellence within our reach, 258.

J.

Jones, Sir William, a champion for Christianity, 348.

K.

Kenyon, Lord Chief Justice, commendations of, 302.

L.

Language, common, concerning the importance of Christianity, 5. —concerning human corruption, 15. —concerning affections towards our Saviour, and Holy Spirit's operations, 51, 52. —concerning terms of acceptance with God, 85-87. —concerning mode of relaxing the strictness of Christian precept, 132, 133. —concerning human judicatures, 133. —concerning amiable tempers and useful lives, 179. —common to people desirous of repenting, 235.

Learning, votaries of, 127.

Life, Christian, illustrated under figure of a traveller, 217-219. —Christian's, a life of faith, 137-140.

Liturgy, bad effects to be feared from its disuse, 297.

Lives, several mentioned, 336.

Love, true signs of it, 46, 47. —of God, its essential characters, 110. —of Christ, justly to be expected of us, 69, 70, 77, 78, 107, 108. —means of exciting it, 99, 100. —of God, defective in nominal Christians, 219, 220. —of God, proofs of its being defective, 220-224. —of fellow-creatures, nominal Christians defective in, 225. —of fellow-creatures, true marks of, 226-229. —of God, best enforced by Christianity's peculiarities, 242. —Christians to cultivate this grace above all others, 324. —its excellent effects in the true Christian, 325. —of fellow-creatures best enforced by peculiar doctrines, 243, 244.

Low standard of practice generally prevailing, 102, 103, 117-135.

Lower classes, not unfit that true doctrine of acceptance should be stated to them, 93, 94.

M.

McLaurin, his essays and sermons referred to, 83, 97.

Maurice, Mr. a defender of Christianity, 348.

Maxims, which prove human corruption, 21.

Medium, religious, almost lost, 130.

Milton, quoted, 43.

Moral, attainments rated above intellectual, by Christianity, 257. —attainments, how much more we can excel in them than in intellectual ones, 259.

Moravians, commendation of, 56.

N.

Natural condition of man without Christianity, 31-33.

Nature, essential, of true practical Christianity, 129.

Necessity, excuse on the plea of, stated, and answered, 36-42. —opponent on the ground of, how best opposed, 37, 38.

Nominal and real Christian, distinction between them most important, 306.

Novels, prove how peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into neglect, 277, 278.

O.

Objections against the religious affections towards Christ, and against the operations of the Holy Spirit, 50-53. —against human accountableness, discussed, 36-42. —against the religious affections towards Christ, and against the operations of the Holy Spirit, discussed, 53-83.

Outgrowing vices mistaken for forsaking them, 308, 318.

Owen, Dr. referred to, 275.

P.

Paley, Mr. his defence of Christianity noticed, 260, 281.

Partiality in the religious views of nominal Christians, 119-121.

Particular, Christians must not fear to be so when required by duty, 167.

Pascal's thoughts referred to, 245. —thoughts recommended, 348.

Peculiar, doctrines, use, in promoting humility, 244, 245. —in promoting moderation in earthly pursuits, 246. —in promoting cheerfulness in suffering, 247. —in promoting confidence in danger, and patience in suffering, 248, 249. —in promoting heavenly mindedness, 250. —doctrines, demand our utmost attention, 94-97. —doctrines, use of, 239. —doctrines, use of, in enforcing importance of Christianity, 240. —doctrines, use of, in enforcing entire surrender to God, 240. —doctrines, use of, in enforcing guilt of sin, and dread of punishment, 241. —in promoting love of God, 241, 242. —in promoting love of fellow-creatures, 243, 244.

Philosophy, epicurism and stoicism, 59.

Pitt, Mr. slander respecting him refuted—Note 272.

Pleasure, the true Christian finds in Religion, 139, 140.

Pleasures of true Religion, 325-332.

Policy, mistaken, of compromise with immorality, 301.

Polished state of society no security against progress of immorality, 298, 299.

Political, good effects from the prevalence of Christianity, as above described, 283-295. —good effects from revival of vital Christianity, 296. —bad effects from its farther decline, 297, 298. —happiness of a Christian nation, 283-287.

Pomp and parade, votaries of, 124.

Poor the, more favourably circumstanced as to Religion, 93, 292.

Pope, the Poet, referred to, 246.

Popular notions concerning our Saviour and the Holy Spirit, 46-48.

Practical hints, on importance of Christianity, 13. —on human corruption, 35. —on mode of dealing with a certain description of infidels, 37, 38. —on the means of exciting our affections towards our Saviour, 99, 100. —respecting love of estimation, 174-178. —respecting amiable tempers and useful lives, 192. —to naturally sweet tempered, 193. —to naturally rough and austere, 194-199. —to true Christian, when engaged in hurry of worldly affairs, 199-204. —to persons desirous of repenting, 235. —respecting uses of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 240-251. —for revival of Religion, 300-304. —to various descriptions, 305-318. —to such as, having been hitherto careless, wish to become true Christians, 318-332. —to some who profess their full assent to fundamental doctrines of Christianity, 333-336. —to Sceptics and Unitarians, 337-345. —to half-unbelievers, 346-348. —to true Christians, from state of times, 349-354. —Christianity, chapter on, 100-251. —prevailing low views of it, 102-104. —Christianity, its real strictness, 105, 106. —its true nature, 107-110. —charged on all without exception in its full strictness, 111-115. —mischiefs of neglect of peculiarities of Christianity, 232. —distinction, fundamental, between systems of nominal and real Christians, 231-234. —precepts of Christianity, most excellent, 260. —use of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 238.

Prevailing, low views of practical Christianity, proofs of them, 104. —inadequate sense of peculiar doctrines of Christians, 231, &c.

Probation, notion of, disproves prevailing system of Religion, 317.

Proof of Christianity's divine origin, 260-262.

Puritans, many of their writings commended, 275.

R.

Religion, practical hints for its revival, 300-305. — the only true support in trouble and peril, 332.

Repentance, advice for such as are disposed to, 318-324.

Reputation, true Christian's conduct respecting it, 164-178. — true Christian preserves, without over-valuing it, 167-170.

Richardson, mentioned, 278.

Robertson, Dr. censured, 279.

Rousseau, school of, 204, 205.

S.

Scepticism, natural history of it, 338-340.

Sceptics and Unitarians, advantage they have in attacking Christianity, 344, 345.

Scripture doctrine, importance of, to Christianity, 8-10. — doctrine, concerning human corruption, 14-27. — doctrine, concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit, 43, 44.

Self-deception, frequent sources of, 306-318. — another common kind, 333-335.

Self-examination, helps in, 306.

Selfishness of common practical Religion, 121-127. — the disease of political societies, 288. — peculiarly counteracted by Christianity, 291, 292.

Sensibility, exquisite, how little truly valuable, and how different from true practical benevolence, 204, 205.

Sensualists class of, 123.

Sin, how spoken of in Scripture, 211. — defective conceptions of, 207.

Sincerity, false notion of it, 10-12. — true what, 13.

Sins, no little ones, 210, 211. — little, what accounted such, 208.

Smith, Dr. Adam, 76. 188, 189. 279.

Soame Jenyns, his View of the Internal Evidence of Christianity referred to, 6. 281.

Sophistry, with which Religion is explained away, 133.

Stage the, proof from its being frequented by nominal Christians of their defective love of God, 221-224. 230, 231. — proof from, illustrated by political analogy, 223.

Statutes, Religion made a set of, 131, 132.

Sterne strongly censured, 206.

Strictness of true practical Christianity, 105, 106. — of our system, objected to, as not suited to the state of the world, 280, 281. — the charge refuted, 281, 282.

Sunday, hints for its employment, 141, 142. — common modes of unhallowing it, 143-145.

Supreme regard to be set on God, 60. 112-129.

Swift's Tale of a Tub, quoted, 132, 133.

T.

Taste, votaries of, 127.

Tempers, Christian, not cultivated, 136-146. — respecting human estimation, 165-168. — respecting calumny and disgrace, 170. — when too much immersed in worldly business, 201-204.

Theatres, Parisian, 223.

Theatrical entertainments prove defective love of God, 222.

Theatrical entertainments prove defective love of our neighbour, 230, 231. — entertainments, illustrated by political analogy, 223.

U.

Unbelievers, half; a class of them, 346.

Uncharitableness, what falsely so called, 312.

Unitarianism often results from same causes as absolute scepticism, 343.

Useful lives, discussion concerning, 178. — substituted for Religion, 179. — value of, estimated by standard of mere reason, 185. — real worth of, on Christian principles, 186-188. — life, the Christian's life the most so, 191. — Christians urged to, 192. — its just praise given to, 197. — apt to mislead us, 198.

V.

Vice, some one always excused, 308-310.

Vices, outgrowing or changing them, mistaken for forsaking all sin, 308-310.

Vulgarity in Religion, as to language, to be expected from vulgar men, 56.

W.

Wealth, votaries of, 125, 126.

Women, more disposed than men to Religion, and uses to be made of this, 313. — exalted office assigned to them, 314.

Witherspoon, 275.

Y.

Youth, simplicity of, mistaken for Religion, 313.



FOOTNOTES

[Footnote 1: It is almost superfluous to name Mr. SOAME JENYNS.]

[Footnote 2: Exempla duo, quae pravitatis humanae vim animo meo luculenter exhibent, non proferre non possum. Alterum decens ille Virgilius, alterum Cicero, probus idem verique studiosus, suppeditat. Virgilius, innocuam certe pastorum vitam depicturus, ita incipit.

"Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim."

Cicero in libro de Officiis primo, ubi de actionibus prout inter se apte & convenientes sint, loci, temporis, & agentis ratione habita, disserit, argumentum sic illustrat: "Turpe est enim, valdeque vitiosum, in re severa, convivio dignum, aut delicatum aliquem inferre sermonem. Bene Pericles, quum haberet collegam in praetura Sophoclem poetam, hique de communi officio convenissent, & casu formosus puer praeteriret, dixissetque Sophocles, O pueram pulchrum Pericle! At enim, inquit Pericles, praetorem Sophoclem decet non solum manus, sed etiam oculus abstinentes habere. Atqui hoc idem Sophocles, si in athletarum probatione dixisset, justa reprehensione caruisset, tanta vis est, & loci & temporis."

Quomodo sese res habuisse necesse est, cum vir antiquorum prestantissimis adscribendus, philosophiam, immo mores & officia tractans, talia doceret! Qualem sibi ipse virtutis normam proposuerat, satis liquet. Vide inter alia, justa reprehensione, &c. &c; & tanta vis est, &c. &c.]

[Footnote 3: Robertson, Vol. II. p. 130.]

[Footnote 4: Robertson, Book IV. Sect. 2. Head, Condition of Women, vol. ii. 8vo. 90, 91.]

[Footnote 5: Job xv. 14.]

[Footnote 6: Job xv. 16.]

[Footnote 7: Psalm xiv. 2, 3.]

[Footnote 8: Prov. xx. 9.]

[Footnote 9: Psalm cxxxix. 3.]

[Footnote 10: I Chron. xxviii. 9.]

[Footnote 11: Prov. i. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.]

[Footnote 12: Vide Butler's Analogy.]

[Footnote 13: Heb. x. 27.]

[Footnote 14: Philippians, ii. 12.]

[Footnote 15: John, v. 29.]

[Footnote 16: James, i. 13.]

[Footnote 17: 2 Peter, iii. 9.]

[Footnote 18: Ezek. xviii. 23.]

[Footnote 19: Ezek. xviii. 32.]

[Footnote 20: Psalm cxlvii. 5.]

[Footnote 21: Rom. xi. 33.]

[Footnote 22: Psalm xcvii. 2.]

[Footnote 23: Deut. xxix. 29.]

[Footnote 24: Matt. xi. 28]

[Footnote 25: This was the motto on their banner.]

[Footnote 26: Title of Attila king of the Huns, whose desolating ravages are well known.]

[Footnote 27: Vide the testimony of West India merchants to the Moravians, in the Report of the Privy Council on the Slave Trade.]

[Footnote 28: Rom. xii. 1.]

[Footnote 29: Dr. HORNE.]

[Footnote 30: 2 Cor. viii. 12.]

[Footnote 31: Isaiah, liii. 2.]

[Footnote 32: Philip. ii. 6, 7, 8.]

[Footnote 33: Luke, ii. 10, 11.]

[Footnote 34: Col. i. 12, 13.]

[Footnote 35: Ephes. i. 18.]

[Footnote 36: Col. i. 27.]

[Footnote 37: Heb. xiii. 8.]

[Footnote 38: 1 John, iv. 20.]

[Footnote 39: Dr. ADAM SMITH. Vide Theory of Moral Sentiments.]

[Footnote 40: 1 Pet. i. 8.]

[Footnote 41: Heb. iv. 15.]

[Footnote 42: Isaiah, xl. 11.]

[Footnote 43: Isaiah, xlix. 10.]

[Footnote 44: The word Comfortless is rendered in the margin Orphans.]

[Footnote 45: John, xiv. 18.]

[Footnote 46: 1 Cor. xiii. 12.]

[Footnote 47: Eph. ii. 1. 5.]

[Footnote 48: Col. i. 13.]

[Footnote 49: Ephes. ii. 10.]

[Footnote 50: 2 Cor. vi. 16.]

[Footnote 51: Col. iii. 9, 10.]

[Footnote 52: Ephes. ii. 22.]

[Footnote 53: Vide DR. DODDRIDGE's eight Sermons on Regeneration, a most valuable compilation; and McLAURIN's Essay on Divine Grace.]

[Footnote 54: Rom. iv. 5.]

[Footnote 55: Ibid. v. 6-8.]

[Footnote 56: The Writer trusts he cannot be misunderstood to mean that any, continuing sinners and ungodly, can, by believing, be accepted or finally saved. The following chapter, particularly the latter part of it, (Section vi.) would abundantly vindicate him from any such misconstruction. Meanwhile, he will only remark, that true faith (in which repentance is considered as involved) is in Scripture regarded as the radical principle of holiness. If the root exist, the proper fruits will be brought forth. An attention to this consideration would have easily explained and reconciled those passages of St. Paul's and St. James's Epistles, which have furnished so much matter of argument and criticism. St. James, it may be observed, all along speaks of a man, not who has faith, but who says that he has faith. Vide James ii. 14. &c. &c.]

[Footnote 57: Vide Note Ch. iv. Sect. vi.]

[Footnote 58: Gal. vi. 14.]

[Footnote 59: I Cor. i. 30.]

[Footnote 60: Rev. i. 5.]

[Footnote 61: John, vi. 29.]

[Footnote 62: 1 John, iii. 23.]

[Footnote 63: Nec Deus intersit, &c.]

[Footnote 64: Vide Heb. ii. 1, &c.]

[Footnote 65: Any one who wishes to investigate this subject will do well to study attentively McLAURIN's Essay on Prejudices against the Gospel.—It may not be amiss here to direct the reader's attention to a few leading arguments, many of them those of the work just recommended. Let him maturely estimate the force of those terms, whereby the Apostle in the following passages designates and characterizes the whole of the Christian system. "We preach Christ crucified"—"We determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The value of this argument will be acknowledged by all who consider, that a system is never designated by an immaterial or an inferior part of it, but by that which constitutes its prime consideration and essential distinction. The conclusion suggested by this remark is confirmed by the Lord's Supper being the rite by which our Saviour himself commanded his Disciples to keep him in remembrance; and indeed a similar lesson is taught by the Sacrament of Baptism, which shadows out our souls being washed and purified by the blood of Christ. Observe next the frequency with which our Saviour's death and sufferings are introduced, and how often they are urged as practical motives.

"The minds of the Apostles seem full of this subject. Every thing put them in mind of it; they did not allow themselves to have it long out of their view, nor did any other branch of spiritual instruction make them lose sight of it." Consider next that part of the Epistle to the Romans, wherein St. Paul speaks of some who went about to establish their own righteousness, and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. May not this charge be in some degree urged, and even more strongly than in the case of the Jews, against those who satisfy themselves with vague, general, occasional thoughts of our Saviour's mediation; and the source of whose habitual complacency, as we explained above, is rather their being tolerably well satisfied with their own characters and conduct? Yet St. Paul declares concerning those of whom he speaks, as concerning persons whose sad situation could not be too much lamented, that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart, adding still more emphatical expressions of deep and bitter regret.

Let the Epistle to the Galatians be also carefully examined and considered; and let it be fairly asked, what was the particular in which the Judaizing Christians were defective, and the want of which is spoken of in such strong terms as these; that it frustrates the grace of God, and must debar from all the benefits of the death of Jesus? The Judaizing converts were not immoral. They seem to have admitted the chief tenets concerning our Saviour. But they appear to have been disposed to trust (not wholly, be it observed also, but only in part) for their acceptance with God, to the Mosaic institutions, instead of reposing wholly on the merits of Christ. Here let it be remembered, that when a compliance with these institutions was not regarded as conveying this inference, the Apostle shewed by his own conduct, that he did not deem it criminal; whence, no less than from the words of the Epistle, it is clear that the offence of the Judaizing Christians whom he condemned, was what we have stated; not their obstinately continuing to adhere to a dispensation the ceremonial of which Christianity had abrogated, or their trusting to the sacrifices of the Levitical Law, which were in their own nature inefficacious for the blotting out of sin.— Vide Heb. vii. viii. ix. x.]

[Footnote 66: Rev. v. 12.]

[Footnote 67: ib. 13.]

[Footnote 68: 2 Cor. xiii. 14.]

[Footnote 69: 1 John, iii. 17.—Rom. xvi. 18.—Compared with Philippians, iii. 19.]

[Footnote 70: 2 Tim. iii. 4.]

[Footnote 71: Matt. x. 37.]

[Footnote 72: Jerem. ix. 23.]

[Footnote 73: It will be remembered by the reader, that it is not the object of this work to animadvert on the vices, defects, and erroneous opinions of the times, except so far as they are received into the prevailing religious system, or are tolerated by it, and are not thought sufficient to prevent a man from being esteemed on the whole a very tolerable Christian.]

[Footnote 74: Vide Tale of a Tub.]

[Footnote 75: Vide Tale of a Tub.]

[Footnote 76: Isaiah, ii. 11.]

[Footnote 77: Vide Hey's Tract, Rousseau's Eloisa, and many periodical Essays and Sermons.]

[Footnote 78: Vide "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her, &c." Matt. v. 28.]

[Footnote 79: The writer cannot omit this opportunity of declaring, that he should long ago have brought this subject before the notice of Parliament, but for a perfect conviction that he should probably thereby only give encouragement to a system he wishes to see at an end. The practice has been at different periods nearly stopped by positive laws, in various nations on the Continent; and there can be little doubt of the efficacy of what has been more than once suggested—a Court of Honour; to take cognizance of such offences as would naturally fall within its province. The effects of this establishment would doubtless require to be enforced by legislative provisions, directly punishing the practice; and by discouraging at court, and in the military and naval situations, all who should directly or indirectly be guilty of it.]

[Footnote 80: Vide, in particular a paper in the Guardian, by ADDISON, on Honour, Vol. ii.]

[Footnote 81: Vide SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]

[Footnote 82: The writer hopes that the work to which he is referring is so well known, that he needs scarcely name Mrs. H. More.]

[Footnote 83: See SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]

[Footnote 84: While all are worthy of blame, who, to qualities like these, have assigned a more exalted place than to religious and moral principle; there is one writer who, eminently culpable in this respect, deserves, on another account, still severer reprehension. Really possessed of powers to explore and touch the finest strings of the human heart, and bound by his sacred profession to devote those powers to the service of religion and virtue, he every where discovers a studious solicitude to excite indecent ideas. We turn away our eyes with disgust from open immodesty: but even this is less mischievous than that more measured style, which excites impure images, without shocking us by the grossnesses of the language. Never was delicate sensibility proved to be more distinct from plain practical benevolence, than in the writings of the author to whom I allude. Instead of employing his talents for the benefit of his fellow-creatures, they were applied to the pernicious purposes of corrupting the national taste, and of lowering the standard of manners and morals. The tendency of his writings is to vitiate that purity of mind, intended by Providence as the companion and preservative of youthful virtue; and to produce, if the expression may be permitted, a morbid sensibility in the perception of indecency. An imagination exercised in this discipline is never clean, but seeks for and discovers something indelicate in the most common phrases and actions of ordinary life. If the general style of writing and conversation were to be formed on that model, to which Sterne used his utmost endeavours to conciliate the minds of men, there is no estimating the effects which would soon be produced on the manners and morals of the age.]

[Footnote 85: Vide SMITH on the Wealth of Nations, Vol. iii.]

[Footnote 86: Vide the Grammarians and Dialecticians on the Diminutives of the Italian and other languages.]

[Footnote 87: Many more might be added, such as a good fellow, a good companion, a libertine, a little free, a little loose in talk, wild, gay, jovial, being no man's enemy but his own, &c. &c. &c. &c; above all, having a good heart.]

[Footnote 88: Gal. v. 19-21. Col. iii. 5-9.]

[Footnote 89: Job, xxviii. 28. Psalm, cxi. 10. Prov. i. 7.—ix. 10.]

[Footnote 90: 2 Peter, iii. 10, 11.]

[Footnote 91: Col. i. 13.]

[Footnote 92: It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the word is to be understood in a large sense, as including the Opera, &c.]

[Footnote 93: Geneva—It is worthy of remark, that the play houses have multiplied extremely in Paris since the revolution; and that last winter there were twenty open every night, and all crowded. It should not be left unobserved, and it is seriously submitted to the consideration of those who regard the stage as a school of morals, that the pieces which were best composed, best acted, and most warmly and generally applauded, were such as abounded in touches of delicate sensibility. The people of Paris have never been imagined to be more susceptible, than the generality of mankind, of these emotions, and this is not the particular period when the Parisians have been commonly conceived most under their influence. Vide Journal d'un Voyageur Neutre. The author of the work expresses himself as astonished by the phaenomenon, and as unable to account for it.]

[Footnote 94: The author is almost afraid of using the terms, lest they should convey an impression of party feelings, of which he wishes this book to exhibit no traces; but he here means by Democrats and Jacobins, not persons on whom party violence fastens the epithet, but persons who are really and avowedly such.]

[Footnote 95: LORD BACON.]

[Footnote 96: If any one would read a description of this process, enlivened and enforced by the powers of the most exquisite poetry, let him peruse the middle and latter part of the fifth Book of COWPER'S Task. My warm attachment to the exquisitely natural compositions of this truly Christian poet may perhaps bias my judgment; but the part of the work to which I refer appears to me scarcely surpassed by any thing in our language. The honourable epithet of Christian may justly be assigned to a poet, whose writings, while they fascinate the reader by their manifestly coming from the heart, breathe throughout the spirit of that character of Christianity, with which she was announced to the world; "Glory to God, peace on earth, good will towards men."]

[Footnote 97: Here again let it be remarked, that faith, where genuine, always supposes repentance, abhorrence of sin, &c.]

[Footnote 98: Heb. xii. 1, 2.]

[Footnote 99: It has been well remarked that the word used, where it is said, that God "was PLEASED to bruise" and put to grief his only Son for us, is the same word as that wherein it was declared by a voice from Heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."]

[Footnote 100: Vide Chap. iii. Where these were shewn to be the elementary principles of the passion of love.]

[Footnote 101: Rom. v. 9. 10.]

[Footnote 102: John xiii. 13-17. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet, &c.]

[Footnote 103: Vide Pascal's Thoughts on Religion—A book abounding in the deepest views of practical Christianity.]

[Footnote 104: Pope.]

[Footnote 105: The Hell, so called, be it observed, not by way of reproach, but familiarity, by those who frequent it.]

[Footnote 106: Eph. ii.]

[Footnote 107: The Rev. Matthew Babington of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, who died lately at Lisbon.]

[Footnote 108: The author must acknowledge himself indebted to Dr. OWEN for this illustration.]

[Footnote 109: The author here alludes to what happened within his own knowledge; and he has been assured by others, on whose testimony he can rely, of several similar instances. But to prevent misconstruction as to the incident which mainly gives rise to the remark, he thinks it necessary to declare, that the account, which appeared in some of the news-papers, of an entertainment having been given by Mr. Pitt on the Fast Day, is untrue; and he is glad of the opportunity, which the mention of this subject affords him, of contradicting a statement which he can positively affirm to have been false. This is one of the many instances which should enforce on the readers of news-papers, the duty of not hastily giving credit to reports to the disadvantage of any man, of any party. A person in a public station must often acquiesce under the grossest calumnies; unless he will undertake the vain and endless task of contradicting all the falsehoods which prejudice may conceive, and malignity propagate against him.—The writer may perhaps express himself with the more feeling on this subject; because he has often been, and, indeed, at this very moment is, in the circumstances which he has stated.]

[Footnote 110: I must beg leave to class among the brightest ornaments of the Church of England, this great man, who with his brethren was so shamefully ejected from the church in 1666, in violation of the royal word, as well as of the clear principles of justice. With his controversial pieces I am little acquainted: but his practical writings, in four massy folios, are a treasury of Christian wisdom; and it would be a most valuable service to mankind to revise them, and perhaps to abridge them, so as to render them more suited to the taste of modern readers. This has been already done in the case of his Dying Thoughts, a beautiful little piece, and of his Saints' Rest. His Life also, written by himself, and in a separate volume, contains much useful matter, and many valuable particulars of the history of the times of Charles I. Cromwell, &c. &c.]

[Footnote 111: Let me by no means be understood to censure all the sectaries without discrimination. Many of them, and some who by the unhappy circumstances of the times became objects of notice in a political view, were men of great erudition, deep views of Religion, and unquestionable piety: and though the writings of the puritans are prolix; and according to the fashion of their age, rendered rather perplexed than clear by multiplied divisions and subdivisions; yet they are a mine of wealth, in which any one who will submit to some degree of labour will find himself well rewarded for his pains. In particular the writings of Dr. OWEN, Mr. HOWE, and Mr. FLAVELL, well deserve this character: of the first mentioned author, there are two pieces which I would especially recommend to the reader's perusal, one, on Heavenly Mindedness, abridged by Dr. MAYO; the other, on the Mortification of Sin in Believers. While I have been speaking in terms of such high, and, I trust, such just eulogium of many of the teachers of the Church of England; this may not be an improper place to express the high obligations which we owe to the Dissenters, for many excellent publications. Of this number are Dr. EVANS'S Sermons on the Christian Temper; and that most useful book, the Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, by Dr. DODDRIDGE; also, his Life, by ORTON, and Letters; and two volumes of Sermons, one on Regeneration, the other on the Power and Grace of Christ: May the writer be permitted to embrace this opportunity of recommending two volumes, published separately, of Sermons, by the late Dr. WITHERSPOON, President of the College of New Jersey.]

[Footnote 112: Vide Section vi. of the ivth Chapter, where we have expressly and fully treated of this most important truth.]

[Footnote 113: No exceptions have fallen within my own reading, but the writings of RICHARDSON.]

[Footnote 114: It is with pain that the author finds himself compelled to place so great a writer as Dr. ROBERTSON in this class. But, to say nothing of his phlegmatic account of the reformation; a subject which we should have thought likely to excite in any one, who united the character of a Christian Divine with that of an Historian, some warmth of pious gratitude for the good providence of God; to pass over also the ambiguity, in which he leaves his readers as to his opinion of the authenticity of the Mosaic chronology, in his disquisitions on the trade of India; his letters to Mr. GIBBON, lately published, cannot but excite emotions of regret and shame in every sincere Christian. The author hopes, that he has so far explained his sentiments as to render it almost unnecessary to remark, what, however, to prevent misconstruction, he must here declare, that so far from approving, he must be understood decidedly to condemn, a hot, a contentious, much more an abusive manner of opposing or of speaking of the assailants of Christianity. The Apostle's direction in this respect cannot be too much attended to. "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." (2 Timothy, ii. 24, 25.)]

[Footnote 115: Mr. HUME.]

[Footnote 116: Vide Dr. A. Smith's Letter to W. Strahan, Esq.]

[Footnote 117: What is here stated must be acknowledged by all, be their political opinions concerning French events what they may; and it makes no difference in the writer's view of the subject, whether the state of morals was or was not, quite, or nearly, as bad, before the French revolution.]

[Footnote 118: SOAME JENYNS.]

[Footnote 119: PALEY'S Evidence.]

[Footnote 120: See especially that great historian, FERGUSON, who, in his Essay on Civil Society, endeavours to vindicate the cause of heroism from the censure conveyed by the poet:

"From Macedonia's madman to the Swede."

]

[Footnote 121: Such seems to be the just rendering of the word which our Testament translates, "did not like to retain God in their knowledge."]

[Footnote 122: It is a gratification to the writer's personal, as well as public feelings, to pay this tribute of respect to the character of Lord Chief Justice KENYON.]

[Footnote 123: This is not thrown out rashly, but asserted on the writer's own knowledge.]

[Footnote 124: "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God," (says David) "of that which doth cost me nothing." 2 Sam. xxiv. 24.

"They," (the Apostles) "departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus." Acts v. 41. See also 1 Thess. i. 6. Heb. x. 34. James i. 2. 1 Peter iv. 13, 14.

Such are the marks exhibited in Scripture of a true love to God: and though our regard for our common Lord is not put to the same severe test, as that of the Apostles and first Christians was; yet, if the same principle existed in us also, it would surely dispose us to act in the spirit of that conduct; and prompt us rather to be willing to exceed in self denials and labours for Christ's sake, than to be so forward as we are to complain, whenever we are called upon to perform or to abstain from any thing, though in an instance ever so little contrary to our inclinations.]

[Footnote 125: It may not be amiss to mention a few useful publications of this sort. Walton's Lives, particularly the last edition by Mr. Zouch; Gilpin's Lives; the Lives of Bishop Bedell and Bishop Bull; of Archbishop Usher; some extracts from Burnet of the Life of the incomparable Leighton, prefixed to a volume of the latter's Sermons; Passages of the Life of Lord Rochester, by Burnet; the Life of Sir Matthew Hale; of the excellent Doddridge, by Orton; of Henry, father and son; of Mather; of Halyburton; Hampson's and Whitehead's Life of Wesley; Life of Baxter, by himself, &c. &c. &c.]

[Footnote 126: The author is aware, that he may perhaps be censured for conceding this term to the class of persons now in question, since orthodox Christians equally contend for the unity of the Divine Nature: and it perhaps may hardly be a sufficient excuse, that, it not being his object particularly to refute the errors of Unitarianism, he uses the term in its popular sense rather than give needless offence. He thus guards, however, against any false construction being drawn from his use of it.]

THE END