awful and paternal voice is never heard; and when you come into his
invisible presence, always remember that 'God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth' (John iv.
24). You must bow before him in faith, believing that his eye is
upon you, and that he knows all the thoughts and desires of your
heart; you must confess and deplore your sins, and pray for mercy,
and for your eternal salvation in the name of Jesus Christ, giving
thanks for every good and perfect gift which he has bestowed upon
you. If you do this, then you may expect some special manifestations
of his grace and love; but if you feel no emotions of reverence, of
self-humiliation, or of gratitude, nor any intense desires for his
favour and loving-kindness, then you stand chargeable--even though
you may suppose you have done your duty--with the sin of hypocrisy
or insincerity, and of you the Lord may say, 'This people draw near
me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have
removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught
by the precept of men' (Isa. xxix. 13.)
"And, in addition to these exercises of mental devotion, you are to
listen to what God the Lord will say to you in the ministrations
of truth and grace, which His ministers are employed to conduct.
We preach, warning every man, and teaching every man, that we may
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; but we warn and teach
in vain, unless you believe, and receive the truth in love and
gratitude, not as the word of man, but as the word of God; and if
our warnings and teachings do not take effect, you will die in your
sins and perish for ever. For how '_will you escape if you neglect
so great salvation_.'"
When going through the crowd, after the service of the church was
over, I noticed the man with whom I had been conversing in the
morning, a little way before me, with his wife and two of his
children. When he saw me, he came up, and, thanking me for my
advice, said, "I hope, Sir, I shall never forget this day; and I am
sure that I shall often think of you when I don't see you."
As I was sauntering along, meditating on the realities of the
visible and the invisible world, and offering my silent adorations
and thanksgivings to Him who gave himself a ransom for my
redemption, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me, and, turning
round, I was rather abruptly addressed by a stranger, who said, "I
thank you, Sir, for persuading my servant, Robert, to come to church
this morning. He is a good servant, and a better informed man than
most labourers; but he wants _the one thing needful_. Godly servants
are a master's treasure."
"Am I addressing Mr. Goddard?"
"Yes, Sir; and if I mistake not, you are the gentleman who has
called to see my friend, Mr. Pickford."
"Yes, I have visited him."
"I wish, Sir, you would come and see me. Your talk and prayer might
do my family good, as it has done his."
"I am glad to hear that you are turning your attention to the
salvation of your soul."
"Ah, Sir, I lived for many years, like most of the farmers in these
parts, a sad heathenish life; and I should have lived on in this
state till the hour of death, had it not pleased God to send me
a godly servant. His plain and honest talk set me thinking, and
reading my Bible, and then I went and heard the Rev. Mr. Ingleby
preach, and the gospel came with great power to my soul. It opened
before me a new scene of spiritual wonders, and a new source of
spiritual comfort. But I am sorry to say that all my family are
sadly opposed to spiritual things; they make light of them."
"You may live to see a change."
"I hope I may. But it is very painful, after being made alive from
the dead, to see my wife and children living under the sentence of
death. It makes my heart ache. What ought I to do?"
"Persuade them, when they go to public worship, to go where the
gospel is preached."
"They object, Sir, and I cannot force them."
"Try the efficacy of prayer--the prayer of faith and of
importunity--and calmly wait the issue."
We now parted, and when going by the church in which the Rev. Mr.
Cole does duty, I picked up an elegantly bound prayer-book, and
observing a fashionable couple at a distance, I quickened my pace,
that I might restore what I presumed they deemed valuable, if their
property. When I overtook them, I presented the book, and asked if
they knew to whom it belonged.
"O dear," said one of the ladies, "it is mine, but I had not missed
it. I thank you, Sir; we have heard a very excellent discourse this
morning from the Rev. Mr. Cole. O dear," said the lady, "I think he
is one of the most heavenly preachers I ever heard."
"Is his audience very large?" I asked.
"O no, Sir; only a few genteel people attend, and a few poor
old people, who receive the sacrament money, and some gifts at
Christmas."
"Then, I presume, there can be but little religion in the parish,
for the population is very large."
"O dear, Sir, I assure you there is a great deal too much religion
in our parish, and it is on this subject that Mr. Cole has been
preaching so eloquently this morning."
"Why, Madam, you both puzzle and surprise me. Too much religion in
a parish where the generality of the people forsake the church, and
a minister preaching eloquently against religion, which he lives to
inculcate and recommend!"
"I see you are a stranger among us," said the lady, "or you would
perceive the force of my remarks. The people all flock to a church
just over yonder hill, where a Mr. Ingleby preaches, and really,
Sir, if you associate with them, you would soon become quite dull
and melancholy, particularly so. Do you know, Sir, that they are
so far gone from all the elegant accomplishments of society, as to
say that it is a sin to play at cards, or attend a ball, or go to a
theatre, or anything of the kind? O dear, if I should ever, by any
misfortune, turn over to their religion, which I daily pray I may
be kept from, I should be, as the apostle says, of all, 'one of the
most miserable.'"
"Well, Madam, with your antipathies to their religion, one should
suppose you are in no danger."
"O dear, there are strange things that happen, Sir, in the course
of one's life. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens, who live at Fairmount villa,
which we shall see presently, were, a few years since, as gay as
any. Mrs Stevens was never herself more completely than at a ball.
She is a most accomplished dancer; her action is so graceful; and
even now, Sir, she moves as if she were stepping on springs, which
makes me think she has some secret longings to appear amongst us
again--an event we should be so glad to see, she is such a choice
spirit; but now, as the apostle says, 'they are carried away with
this dissimulation.' They are now so religious that they read the
Bible, and sing a psalm, and say prayers every morning and evening
in the family; and I am told, but I should hope there is no truth in
the report, that when Mr. Stevens is from home, Mrs. Stevens so far
forgets herself as to say prayers to her servants."
"You should not believe everything that report says, Madam."
"O dear, I don't believe one-half, for I heard the other day that
Mrs. Stevens really goes to see a poor woman of the name of Allen,
who lives in this cottage which we are now passing, and that she
descends so low as to say prayers to her."
"Why, Madam, report is very busy in your neighbourhood; I am afraid
you are not living in peace."
"In peace, Sir; why, I assure you, it is the very worst
neighbourhood I ever was in in all my life. I never hear one person
speak well of another."
"How do you account for it, Madam?"
"O, Sir, it is religion which has done it. Not the religion of our
forefathers, but the religion which is imported from t'other side
of that hill. Do you know, Sir, that Farmer Goddard, who was one of
the pleasantest men I ever knew, has lately got infected by it; and
Miss Goddard, who has just finished her education at Mrs. Roper's,
told us, as we walked together to church this morning, they can do
nothing to please him. That when she wanted to go to Bath with Mr.
Johnson, to see the _Fall of Tarquin_, he would not let her go, but
had the rudeness to say she was going into the way of temptation."
"And do you think, Madam, it is right for a daughter to talk against
her own father?"
"Why, to be sure, Sir, you now put a question which never struck me
before."
"And do you think that a person of affluence and respectability
sustains any loss of reputation by visiting the poor and afflicted?"
"O, no, I have often thought of doing it myself; but really, Sir, I
don't know what I could say to them. I suppose it would be necessary
to descend."
"Yes, Madam; the Lord of life and glory descended, when he assumed a
human form to accomplish our redemption; but I rather fear, from the
general strain of your remarks, that you have no accurate conception
of the design of his mission, or of his death."
"O dear, Sir, I wonder at your remark. He came to teach us to be
religious."
"And, Madam, the first lesson he has taught us is to this effect:
'Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God.'"
"Do you know, Sir, I never could understand the meaning of that
language; and I have asked several of my friends, but they can't
tell me; and one evening when I met the Rev. Mr. Cole at a card
party, I proposed the question to him, but he was so much engaged
that he could not attend to it."
"But you perceive, that unless we are born again, '_we cannot enter
into the kingdom of heaven_.' I can tell you who can explain it to
you."
"Who, Sir?"
"The Rev. Mr. Ingleby."
"O dear, you alarm me. Do you think I could ever go and ask him?"
"Would you then rather live and die ignorant of the meaning of the
subject, than go and ask him to explain it to you?"
"Why, Sir, if I were to be seen speaking to him, my friends would
cut me, and I should never be able to appear at any of our social
parties."
"But, Madam, it is a serious thing to die without possessing that
which Jesus Christ says is absolutely necessary to fit us for
heaven."
"But, Sir, I am not going to die yet."
"I hope not, Madam, but you must die, and must stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ, and then do you think that a recollection
of your card parties will afford you any pleasure?"
"But I hope to prepare for death."
"Can you, Madam, prepare too soon, when you do not know but you may
die suddenly?"
"O dear, Sir, the subject begins to depress me, and I must decline
pursuing it any farther, if you please."
"Read, Madam, before you retire to rest this evening, the third
chapter of the gospel of John; ponder over what you read, it may do
you some spiritual good."
SABBATH EVENING AT FAIRMOUNT.
In the estimation of Mr. Stevens, who was educated within the pale
of the Church of England, and who had imbibed from his parents an
intolerant spirit, the Dissenters were unworthy of the toleration
which had been granted to them; as he believed they were decidedly
inimical not only to the religious, but the political constitution
of the state. Hence he often blamed the government for granting
them so much religious liberty. And even after he had felt the
spiritual change, which forms the great line of distinction in the
human character, he retained, for a long time, too many of his old
prejudices against them. But, becoming an active agent of the Bible
Society, he was unexpectedly brought into contact with some whom
he found to be men of sense, of piety, of zeal, and of candour;
more disposed to disseminate the pure faith of Christianity, than
propagate their own peculiar tenets. He now rose superior to his
long indulged antipathies; and though he still gave a decided
preference to the church of which he was a member, yet he felt
convinced that there were many wise and good men belonging to other
religious communities. As he was by nature of an open and generous
disposition, the spirit of liberality found in his heart a congenial
soil for its growth and expansion. He would often repeat, with
peculiar warmth of expression, the following verses:--
"Be that bigotry far from our breast,
Which would Christian from Christian divide;
Which by blind party zeal is caress'd,
The offspring of folly and pride.
"Names, parties, and sects disappear,
With their separate int'rests and laws,
No name, but of Christ, would we bear,
No int'rest but that of his cause."
Happily for him, and for the neighbourhood in which he lived, his
pastor, the Rev. Mr. Ingleby, was a man of a most catholic spirit,
who viewed the circumstantial differences which prevail among
Christians as of little consequence, in comparison with the more
important truths on which they are agreed. _He felt a stronger
attachment to the Redeemer_ than to the formula of the church of
which he was a minister; and though he was a man of order, and
conscientious in the observance of all ecclesiastical laws, yet
he thought that the Word of God ought not to be bound by human
restrictions.
As the population of the parish was large, and the gospel was
not preached within the distance of two miles from Mr. Stevens'
villa, he, at the suggestion of his amiable lady, conceived the
design of building a small chapel in its immediate vicinity, for
a religious service on Sabbath evenings. He was aware that he
should subject himself to the sarcasms, if not to the contempt, of
the more fashionable and bigoted; but he esteemed the reproach of
Christ a greater honour than the applause of men; and seeing the
people around him perishing for lack of the knowledge of the way of
salvation, he thought it his duty to do all in his power to make it
known to them. But he did not venture on the execution of his plan
till he had first consulted his pastor, who, instead of censuring
him for his zeal, or presuming to silence him _for not possessing
the mysterious charm of office, grace_, encouraged him to proceed.
"If," said the holy man, "you can get the people to love the gospel
in the evening, they will soon come to church to hear it in the
morning; and if they should be converted through the instrumentality
of lay preaching, they will love the Saviour as much, and be at last
as happy in heaven, as though the great change were produced through
the instrumentality of clerical preaching."
The chapel was built on an elevated spot of ground near the
roadside, so that it was visible from the most populous parts of the
hamlet; and though the building of it gave great offence to a few,
yet it pleased the majority. At first, Mr. Stevens read a sermon to
the congregation; but after a while he composed discourses, which
he delivered extempore; and being a man of reading, and of a ready
utterance, his labours gave very general satisfaction. Some of the
thoughtless had become serious, and some of the dissipated had
become religious, which he considered a satisfactory proof of the
Divine blessing; and though he was much importuned by some of his
friends to abandon what they called _his wild project_, and resume
his more orderly habits of a regular churchman, yet he steadily
refused to do so. His reply to the gainsayer was, "The love of
Christ constraineth _me_."
"Yes, and he reaps the fruit of all his toil,
He sows the seed, and God has bless'd the soil;
He sees the wicked man forsake his ways;
The scoffing tongue has learned to perfect praise;
The drunken quits his revelry and strife,
And meekly listens to the word of life;
The noisy village, wanton and profane,
Grows neat and decent, peace and order reign;
At length wide districts hail the gospel rays,
And the once savage miner kneels and prays;
Through his dark caverns shines the heavenly light,
And prejudice grows silent at the sight."
On the Sabbath evening we were at Fairmount, the Rev. Mr. Morris
was expected to preach a charity sermon for the school which was
established and superintended by Mrs. Stevens. He came early in
the afternoon, and after tea, while he withdrew to prepare for
the pulpit, I retired for meditation; and in passing through the
hall, my attention was arrested by a female, who was waiting with
her little girl to see Mrs. Stevens. She informed me that her
parents had never given her any religious instruction; that no one
ever taught her to read the Scriptures, or keep holy the Sabbath
day; and that, till recently, she had no expectation of living in
another world after death. When about eighteen years of age, having
lost her father and mother, she married a soldier, who belonged
to a foot regiment, and she was permitted to go with him to the
continent. While sojourning among strangers, she was exposed to
the most extreme hardships; but her greatest trial was the death
of her husband, who was killed just before the birth of her child.
After his decease she returned to England, and settled in her native
village; where, like the majority around her, she lived without God,
without Christ, and without hope, till after the erection of the
chapel. Having often felt the disadvantages of her inability to read
or write, she resolved, if possible, to give her child an education;
and as soon as she heard of the establishment of this school, she
applied for her admission, and her request was granted. The children
were taught in the afternoon of the Sabbath, and they usually
attended the public service in the evening, with their parents.
On one occasion Mr. Stevens addressed his rustic audience from the
following words: "Come, see a man, which told me all things that
ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John iv. 29). As he proceeded
to unveil the hidden mysteries of the heart, the conscience of this
widow began to smite her; she could not imagine from what source he
had derived such an accurate knowledge of her character and history;
she felt self-condemned; and had it not been for the invitation
which was given to the weary and heavy laden, to come to Jesus
Christ, she must, to quote her own language, "have gone home in
despair." But the wound was no sooner inflicted than it was healed;
and though her views of the scheme of salvation were circumscribed,
yet they were clear, and operated with so much force on her moral
character, that she was become a new creature in Christ Jesus.
Thus, while the sons of science pour contempt on the gospel as
beneath their notice, and the patrons of ecclesiastical order
condemn all departures from the restrictions and limitations of
human authority, yet its history demonstrates that the God of all
grace will employ it as the means of converting sinners, even when
it is preached by men who have not studied theology within the walls
of a college, and also when it is preached in places which have not
been invested with the charm of human consecration.
From the garden in which I was walking I had an extensive view of
the surrounding country, and watched with peculiar delight the
people advancing in every direction towards the house of prayer. It
indeed was a lovely sight! The old and the young, the healthy and
the infirm, the poor, and a few of the rich, were pressing onward,
with eagerness and decorum, apparently conscious that they were
going to worship the Lord of hosts.
The children commenced the service by singing a hymn, composed for
the occasion; and such was the effect which it produced on the
crowded congregation, that many wept--not tears of grief, but of
joy. The Rev. Mr. Morris preached a very judicious sermon, from the
words of Solomon: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and
when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. xxii. 6). When
enforcing on parents the importance of training up their children
in the way in which they should go, he said, "You may be denied the
gratification of seeing any immediate advantage resulting from your
labours; but you ought not, therefore, to conclude that they will
prove useless. The religious principles which you instil into their
minds may lie concealed for a long time without being destroyed, as
the seed which the husbandman casts in the ground remains inactive
till called forth into expansion and growth under a mild and genial
influence. They may be striking root, and shooting up into active
life, at the time when you are despairing of ever reaping the
reward of your labour." He illustrated and confirmed these remarks
by a quotation taken from Cecil's _Remains_. "Where," says Cecil,
"parental influence does not convert, it hampers. It hangs on the
wheels of evil. I had a pious mother, who dropped things in my way.
I could never rid myself of them. I was a professed infidel; but
then I liked to be an infidel in company, rather than when alone.
I was wretched when by myself. These principles and maxims spoiled
my pleasure. With my companions I would sometimes stifle them; like
embers, we kept one another warm. Besides, I was here a sort of a
hero. I had beguiled several of my associates into my own opinions,
and I had to maintain a character before them. But _I could not
divest myself_ of my better principles. I went with one of my
companions to see the _Minor_; he could laugh heartily, but I could
not. The ridicule on regeneration was high sport to him--to me it
was none; it could not move my features. _He_ knew no difference
between regeneration and transubstantiation. _I_ did. I knew there
was such a thing. I was afraid and ashamed to laugh at it. Parental
influence thus cleaves to a man; it harasses him; it throws itself
continually in his way."
On walking from the chapel, after the close of the service, I
overtook a gentleman, who confessed that he had been hostile to the
benevolent designs of Mr. Stevens, but that, in future, he would
co-operate with him.
"And why, Sir," I asked, "were you hostile to them?"
"Because I did not understand them; and it is to this cause, I have
no doubt, that we may attribute much of the opposition he has met
with."
"The world," I replied, "is governed by prejudice, and not by
reason; and hence, what is excellent and beneficial is often
condemned and often opposed, because prejudice has been excited
against it by misrepresentation or misconception. Prejudice led
Nathaniel to exclaim, when the advent of the Saviour was announced
to him, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' And prejudice
often induces many, in modern times, to say, 'Can any good result
from teaching children to read, or from preaching the truth in any
other place than in a church?'"
"Yes, Sir," was the reply; "and it is very difficult to dislodge
prejudice after it has taken possession of the mind; for though
there are seasons when its absurdity is admitted, yet the dread
of abandoning old opinions, which have received the sanction of
ages, and of adopting new ones, which are held in general contempt,
operates with such force, that but few are courageous enough to
overcome it. The following lines of a modern poet may be thought
severe, but they are correct:--
'Though man a thinking being is defin'd,
Few use the grand prerogative of mind:
How few think justly of the thinking few!
How many never think, who think they do!
Opinion, therefore--such our mental dearth--
Depends on mere locality or birth.'"
"True, Sir; but the few who burst the bonds of prejudice, and claim
the privilege of thinking, and judging, and acting for themselves,
though contemned and reproached by the multitude, are the pioneers
of an adventurous and ever active benevolence, the ornaments and
benefactors of the age and the country in which they live. Suppose
Mr. Stevens had been held in subjection by the bigoted opinions of
others, the children who are now taught to fear God and honour man,
would be left to rise up in life without any accurate perceptions of
their duties; and the village, which now enjoys the light of life,
would still be sitting in the shadow of death. He may be ridiculed
for his zeal, and reprobated for his irregularities as a member of
the Established Church; but can any one who believes the truth of
the Scripture, suppose that his conduct is displeasing to _Him_ who
requires all his disciples to do what they can to hasten the coming
of His kingdom?"
"I knew Mr. Stevens," said the stranger, "when he was a man of
gaiety and of pleasure, and I have known him since he has been a
religious man; and although unable to account for the amazing change
which has been produced in him, yet I always gave him credit for
meaning well. Some religious people are ashamed of their principles,
but he has professed them openly; some contend for them in a rude,
dogmatic, and antichristian manner, but he has displayed as much
amiability of temper as he has decision of conduct; and while many
whom I know have conformed as much as possible to the customs and
habits of the world to avoid its censures, he has uniformly paid
as much respect to the preceptive parts of Christianity, as he has
discovered zeal in the propagation of its doctrinal tenets. And it
is this uniform consistency of conduct on his part, that induced me
to attend the Union Chapel this evening, and I do not hesitate to
say that I have been gratified and instructed."