In our age and country, a religious aristocracy is no more to be
acknowledged than a political. All denominations stand on an
_equality_, in their rights and privileges, and in the estimation in
which they are to be held as public bodies. No sect can put on airs,
and assume to lord it over others, in any respect whatever, without
subjecting itself to the severest censure. Among the rights
belonging equally to all, is the Christian name. Every denomination
which receives the Scriptures as the inspired word of God, and
believes in Jesus Christ, as the Son of God and the Saviour of men,
is justly entitled to the name of _Christian_, and to be
acknowledged and treated as such. This is the only test laid down in
the New Testament, as a careful examination will satisfy the candid
mind.
For any one sect to attempt to monopolize the Christian name, and
assume that all the piety, godliness, and virtue in the land, is
to be found in its borders alone, is to place itself in a most
ridiculous position. A pretence so arrogant and groundless, in our
enlightened day, can have no other effect than to excite a smile of
pity on the countenance of sincere and candid Christians. I would
have the young give no countenance to these pretensions; but seek
to attain to higher and nobler principles. Let them place sectarian
bitterness and prejudice beneath their feet, and imbibe enough
of the Christian spirit to acknowledge freely, that, in all
denominations, good and pious people can be found.
In estimating those of other views, the young should avoid
denouncing a whole denomination, and condemning their doctrines as
demoralizing, because some corrupt men may have been found in their
midst. If this rule of judging was generally adopted, where is there
a class of Christians which could stand? Were there not among the
chosen twelve of our Saviour, a Judas to betray him, and a Peter to
deny him with oaths? Shall we, therefore, insist that Christianity
is false and corrupting? There are few sects in the land, which have
not had both clergymen and church-members guilty of the most corrupt
practices. Are we to conclude from this, that the doctrines of those
who have had these unworthy members, are false and licentious? Who
are willing to adopt this test? A denomination cannot consistently
apply a test to others which they are not willing to abide by
themselves.
Candor will lead all upright minds to acknowledge that corrupt men
will find their way into every sect, and that it is manifestly
wrong to judge of the whole body by this class. To decide of the
practical tendencies of different and conflicting doctrines, seek
to understand their effect on the great mass of those who receive
them. Do they influence them to honesty, industry, benevolence and
neighborly kindness? Do they inspire respect for the rights and
interest of fellow-beings? Do they open the ear to the cry of
poverty and want? Do they lead to a love supreme to God, and to
our neighbor as ourselves? These are the legitimate fruits of
Christianity. Where they abound, you need not doubt the spirit of
Christ prevails, and that the truths of his gospel are in the midst
of such a people.
I would exhort the young to respect religion, in whatever form they
find it, and to have a high and just regard for the rights and
feelings of professing Christians of every class. In this, as in all
things else, be governed by the Redeemer's golden rule--"All things
whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto
them."
Amid the multiplicity of sects and doctrines, let every youth search
for religious truth, as the "pearl of great price!" Be careful that
your researches are in the right direction--not downward to the dark
and mysterious of past and ignorant ages, but upward to the bright,
the simple, and glorious. Ever seek for expansive and enlightened
conceptions of God, his character and purposes--of Christ, his
gospel and its results--of man, his nature, his high relationship,
his duty and destiny. The more elevated and comprehensive your views
on these subjects, the more exalted will be your feelings and
principles of action; and the better will you be prepared to live
a life of purity and usefulness, and to die triumphing in the
brightest and sweetest hopes of immortal light and happiness.
In concluding this subject, I would call attention to the following
suggestions of several able writers, in regard to Religion and its
influence on its possessors:--
"In the great and universal concern of religion, both sexes, and
all ranks are equally interested. The truly catholic spirit of
Christianity accommodates itself, with an astonishing condescension,
to the circumstances of the whole human race. It rejects none on
account of their pecuniary wants, their personal infirmities, or
their intellectual deficiencies. No superiority of parts is the
least recommendation, nor is any depression of fortune the smallest
objection. None are too wise to be excused from performing the
duties of religion, nor are any too poor to be excluded from the
consolations of its promises.
"If we admire the wisdom of God in having furnished different
degrees of intelligence, so exactly adapted to their different
conditions, and in having fitted every part of this stupendous work,
not only to serve its own immediate purpose, but also to contribute
to the beauty and perfection of the whole; how much more ought we
to adore that goodness which has perfected the divine plan, by
appointing one wide and comprehensive means of salvation: a
salvation which all are invited to partake; by a means which all are
capable of using; which nothing but voluntary blindness can prevent
our comprehending, and nothing but wilful error can hinder us from
embracing.
"The muses are coy, and will only be wooed and won by some
highly-favored suitors. The sciences are lofty, and will not stoop
to the reach of ordinary capacities. But 'wisdom (by which the royal
preacher means piety) is a loving spirit; she is easily seen of them
that love her, and found of all such as seek her.' Nay, she is so
accessible and condescending, 'that she preventeth them that desire
her, making herself first known unto them.'
"We are told by the same animated writer, 'that wisdom is the breath
of the power of God.' How infinitely superior in grandeur and
sublimity, is this description to the origin of the _wisdom_ of the
heathens, as described by their poets and mythologists! In the
exalted strains of the Hebrew poetry, we read, that 'wisdom is the
brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the
power of God, and the image of his goodness.'
"The philosophical author of 'The Defence of Learning,' observes,
that knowledge has some thing of venom and malignity in it, when
taken without its proper corrective; and what that is, the
inspired St. Paul teaches us, by placing it as the immediate
antidote--'Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.' Perhaps it
is the vanity of human wisdom, unchastised by this correcting
principle, which has made so many infidels. It may proceed from the
arrogance of a self-sufficient pride, that some philosophers disdain
to acknowledge their belief in a Being who has judged proper to
conceal from them the infinite wisdom of his counsels; who (to
borrow the lofty language of the man of Uz) refused to consult them
when he laid the foundations of the earth, when he shut up the sea
with doors, and made the clouds the garment thereof.
"A man must be an infidel either from pride, prejudice, or bad
education; he cannot be one unawares, or by surprise; for infidelity
is not occasioned by sudden impulse or violent temptation. He may be
hurried by some vehement desire into an immoral action, at which he
will blush in his cooler moments, and which he will lament as the
sad effect of a spirit unsubdued by religion; but infidelity is a
calm, considerate act, which cannot plead the weakness of the heart,
or the seduction of the senses. Even good men frequently fail in
their duty through the infirmities of nature and the allurements of
the world; but the infidel errs on a plan, on a settled and
deliberate principle.
"But though the minds of men are sometimes fatally infected with
this disease, either through unhappy prepossession, or some of the
other causes above-mentioned, yet I am unwilling to believe that
there is in nature so monstrously incongruous a being as a _female_
infidel. The least reflection on the temper, the character, and the
education of women, makes the mind revolt with horror from an idea
so improbable and so unnatural.
"May I be allowed to observe that, in general, the minds of girls
seem more aptly prepared in their early youth for the reception of
serious impressions than those of the other sex, and that their less
exposed situations in more advanced life qualify them better for the
preservation of them! The daughters (of good parents I mean) are
often more carefully instructed in their religious duties than the
sons, and this from a variety of causes. They are not so soon sent
from under the paternal eye into the bustle of the world, and so
early exposed to the contagion of bad example: their hearts are
naturally more flexible, soft, and liable to any kind of impression
the forming hand may stamp on them; and, lastly, as they do not
receive the same classical education with boys, their feeble minds
are not obliged at once to receive and separate the precepts of
Christianity, and the documents of pagan philosophy. The necessity
of doing this perhaps somewhat weakens the serious impressions of
young men, at least till the understanding is formed; and confuses
their ideas of piety, by mixing them with so much heterogeneous
matter. They only casually read, or hear read, the Scriptures of
truth, while they are obliged to learn by heart, construe, and
repeat, the poetical fables of the less than human gods of the
ancients. And, as the excellent author of 'The Internal Evidence of
the Christian Religion' observes, 'Nothing has so much contributed
to corrupt the true spirit of the Christian institution, as that
partiality which we contract, in our earliest education, for the
manners of pagan antiquity.'
"Girls, therefore, who do _not_ contract this early partiality,
ought to have a clearer notion of their religious duties: they are
not obliged, at an age when the judgment is so weak, to distinguish
between the doctrines of Zeno, of Epicurus, and of Christ; and to
embarrass their minds with the various morals, which were taught in
the Porch, in the Academy, and on the Mount.
"It is presumed that these remarks cannot possibly be so
misunderstood, as to be construed into the least disrespect to
literature, or a want of the highest reverence for a learned
education, the basis of all elegant knowledge: they are only
intended, with all proper deference, to point out to young women
that, however inferior their advantages of acquiring a knowledge
of the belles-lettres are to those of the other sex, yet it depends
on themselves not to be surpassed in this most important of all
studies, for which their abilities are equal, and their
opportunities perhaps greater.
"But the mere exemption from infidelity is so small a part of the
religious character, that I hope no one will attempt to claim any
merit from this negative sort of goodness, or value herself merely
for not being the very worst thing she possibly can be. Let no
mistaken girl fancy she gives a proof of her wit by her want of
piety, or that a contempt of things serious and sacred will exalt
her understanding, or raise her character even in the opinion of the
most avowed male infidels. For one may venture to affirm, that with
all their profligate ideas, both of women and religion, neither
Bolingbroke, Wharton, Buckingham, or even Lord Chesterfield himself,
would have esteemed a woman the more for her being irreligious.
"With whatever ridicule a polite freethinker may affect to treat
religion himself, he will think it necessary his wife should
entertain different notions of it. He may pretend to despise it as
a matter of opinion, depending on creeds and systems; but, if he
is a man of sense, he will know the value of it as a governing
principle, which is to influence her conduct and direct her action.
If he sees her unaffectedly sincere in the practice of her religious
duties, it will be a secret pledge to him that she will be equally
exact in fulfilling the conjugal; for he can have no reasonable
dependence on her attachment to _him_, if he has no opinion of her
fidelity to God; for she who neglects first duties, gives but an
indifferent proof of her disposition to fill up inferior ones; and
how can a man of any understanding (whatever his own religious
professions may be) trust that woman with the cares of his family,
and the education of his children, who wants herself the best
incentive to a virtuous life, the belief that she is an accountable
creature, and the reflection that she has an immortal soul?
"Cicero spoke it as the highest commendation of Cato's character,
that he embraced philosophy, not for the sake of _disputing_ like
a philosopher, but of _living_ like one. The chief purpose of
Christian knowledge is to promote the great end of a Christian life.
Every rational woman should, no doubt, be able to give a reason of
the hope that is in her; but this knowledge is best acquired, and
the duties consequent on it best performed, by reading books of
plain piety and practical devotion, and not by entering into the
endless feuds, and engaging in the unprofitable contentions of
partial controversialists. Nothing is more unamiable than the narrow
spirit of party zeal, nor more disgusting than to hear a woman deal
out judgments, and denounce vengeance, against any one who happens
to differ from her in some opinion, perhaps of no real importance,
and which, it is probable, she may be just as wrong in rejecting, as
the object of her censure is in embracing. A furious and unmerciful
female bigot wanders as far beyond the limits prescribed to her sex,
as a Thalestris or a Joan d'Arc. Violent debate has made as few
converts as the sword;--and both these instruments are particularly
unbecoming when wielded by a female hand.
"But, though no one will be frightened out of their opinions, yet
they may be persuaded out of them; they may be touched by the
affecting earnestness of serious conversation, and allured by the
attractive beauty of a consistently serious life. And while a young
woman ought to dread the name of a wrangling polemic, it is her duty
to aspire after the honourable character of a sincere Christian.
But this dignified character she can by no means deserve, if she is
ever afraid to avow her principles, or ashamed to defend them. A
profligate, who makes it a point to ridicule everything which comes
under the appearance of formal instruction, will be disconcerted at
the spirited, yet modest rebuke of a pious young woman: But there is
as much efficacy in the manner of reproving profaneness, as in the
words. If she corrects it with moroseness, she defeats the effect of
her remedy by her unskilful manner of administering it. If, on the
other hand, she affects to defend the insulted cause of God in a
faint tone of voice, and studied ambiguity of phrase, or with an air
of levity, and a certain expression of pleasure in her eyes, which
proves she is secretly delighted with what she pretends to censure,
she injures religion much more than he did who publicly profaned it;
for she plainly indicates, either that she does not believe or
respect what she professes. The other attacked it as an open foe;
she betrays it as a false friend. No one pays any regard to the
opinion of an avowed enemy; but the desertion or treachery of a
professed friend is dangerous indeed!"
* * * * *
"A desire after happiness is inseparable from the human mind. It is
the natural and healthy craving of our spirit; an appetite which we
have neither will nor power to destroy, and for which all mankind
are busily employed in making provision. This is as natural, as for
birds to fly, or fishes to swim. For this the scholar and the
philosopher, who think it consists in knowledge, pore over their
books and their apparatus, light the midnight lamp, and keep
frequent vigils, when the world around them is asleep. For this the
warrior, who thinks that happiness is inseparably united with fame,
pursues that bubble through the gory field of conflict, and is as
lavish of his life, as if it were not worth a soldier's pay. The
worldling, with whom happiness and _wealth_ are kindred terms,
worships daily at the shrine of Mammon, and offers earnest prayers
for the golden shower. The voluptuary gratifies every craving sense,
rejoices in the midnight revel, renders himself vile, and yet tells
you he is in the chase of happiness. The ambitious man, conceiving
that the great desideratum blossoms on the sceptre, and hangs in
rich clusters from the throne, consumes one half of his life, and
embitters the other half, in climbing the giddy elevation of
royalty. All these, however, have confessed their disappointment;
and have retired from the stage exclaiming, in reference to
happiness, what Brutus, just before he stabbed himself, did in
reference to virtue, 'I have pursued thee everywhere, and found thee
nothing but a name.' This, however, is a mistake; for both virtue
and happiness are glorious realities, and if they are not found, it
is merely because they are not sought from the right sources.
"1. That religion is pleasure, will appear, if you consider what
part of our nature it more particularly employs and gratifies.
"It is not the gratification of the _senses_, or of the animal part
of our nature, but a provision for _the immaterial and immortal
mind_. The mind of man is an image not only of God's spirituality,
but of his infinity. It is not like the senses, limited to this or
that kind of object; as the sight intermeddles not with that which
affects the smell; but with an universal superintendence, it
arbitrates upon, and takes them all in. It is, as I may say, an
ocean, into which all the little rivulets of sensation, both
external and internal, discharge themselves. Now this is that part
of man to which the exercises of religion properly belong. The
pleasures of the understanding, in the contemplation of truth, have
been sometimes so great, so intense, so engrossing of all the powers
of the soul, that there has been no room left for any other kind of
pleasure. How short of this are the delights of the epicure! How
vastly disproportionate are the pleasures of the eating, and of the
thinking man! Indeed, says Dr. South, as different as the silence of
an Archimides in the study of a problem, and the stillness of a
swine at her wash. Nothing is comparable to the pleasures of mind;
these are enjoyed by the spirits above, by Jesus Christ, and the
great and blessed God.
"Think what objects religion brings before the mind, as the sources
of its pleasure: no less than the great God himself, and that both
in his nature and in his works. For the eye of religion, like that
of the eagle, directs itself chiefly to the sun, to a glory that
neither admits of a superior nor an equal. The mind is conversant,
in the exercises of piety, with all the most stupendous events that
have ever occurred in the history of the universe, or that ever will
transpire till the close of time. The creation of the world; its
government by a universal Providence; its redemption by the death
of Christ; its conversion by the power of the Holy Ghost; the
immortality of the soul; the resurrection of the body; the certainty
of an eternal existence; the secrets of the unseen state; subjects,
all of them of the loftiest and sublimest kind, which have engaged
the inquiries of the profoundest intellects, are the matter of
contemplation to real piety. What topics are these for our reason,
under the guidance of religion, to study: what an ocean to swim in,
what a heaven to soar in: what heights to measure, what depths to
fathom. Here are subjects, which, from their infinite vastness, must
be ever new, and ever-fresh; which can be never laid aside as dry or
empty. If novelty is the parent of pleasure, here it may be found;
for although the subject itself is the same, some new view of it,
some fresh discovery of its wonders, is ever bursting upon the mind
of the devout and attentive inquirer after truth.
"How then can religion be otherwise than pleasant, when it is the
exercise of the noble faculties of the mind, upon the sublimest
topics of mental investigation; the voluntary, excursive, endless
pursuits of the human understanding in the region of eternal truth.
Never was there a more interesting or important inquiry than that
proposed by Pilate to the illustrious Prisoner at his bar; and if
the latter thought it not proper to answer it, it was not to show
that the question was insignificant, but to condemn the light and
flippant manner in which a subject so important was taken up.
Religion can answer the question, and with an ecstasy greater than
that of the ancient Mathematician, exclaims, 'I have found it: I
have found it.' The Bible is not only true, but TRUTH. It contains
that which deserves this sublime emphasis. It settles the disputes
of ages, and of philosophers, and makes known what is truth, and
where it is to be found. It brings us from amongst the quicksands
and shelves, and rocks of skepticism, ignorance, and error, and
shows us that goodly land, in quest of which myriads of minds have
sailed, and multitudes have been wrecked; and religion is setting
our foot on this shore, and dwelling in the region of eternal truth.
"2. That a religious life is pleasant, is evident from the nature of
religion itself.
"Religion is a principle of _spiritual life_ in the soul. Now all
the exercises and acts of vitality are agreeable. To see, to hear,
to taste, to walk, are all agreeable, because they are the voluntary
energies of inward life. So religion, in all its duties, is the
exercise of a living principle in the soul: it is a new spiritual
existence. Piety is a spiritual _taste_. Hence it is said, 'If so be
ye have _tasted_ that the Lord is gracious.' No matter what the
object of a taste is, the exercises of it are always agreeable. The
painter goes with delight to his picture; the musician to his
instrument; the sculptor to his bust; because they have a _taste_
for these pursuits. The same feeling of delight attends the
Christian to the exercises of godliness: and this is his language,
'It is a good thing to give thanks, and to draw near to God. O how I
love thy law! it is sweeter to my taste than honey. How amiable are
thy tabernacles.' Religion, where it is real, is the natural element
of a Christian; and every creature rejoices in its own appropriate
sphere. If you consider true piety with disgust, as a hard,
unnatural, involuntary thing, you are totally ignorant of its
nature, entirely destitute of its influence, and no wonder you
cannot attach to it the idea of pleasure: but viewing it as it ought
to be viewed, in the light of a new nature, you will perceive that
it admits of most exalted delight.
"3. Consider the miseries which it prevents.