means in their power to eradicate all heretical and infidel opinions; to
advance a reformation of public morals; and to promote the diffusion of
true religion, sound learning, and useful knowledge: which are all so
dependent one upon another, that they may be viewed in connexion, when
considering the course the faithful servants of the Lord are called upon
to adopt, under circumstances of almost unexampled difficulty, in this
country. Once more, let them be admonished, that their lot is cast upon
times which require the highest degree of energy, activity, zeal, and
fidelity, in their Master’s service. Let no one imagine his station in
life so low, that he possesses no influence, nor consider his talents so
small that he can be of no use: much would be gained if the friends of
religion would all openly range themselves on the side of the Lord; for
such a demonstration of strength would overawe the enemies of the faith.
But how great would be the triumph if all, whose hope is in the Lord’s
Christ, raised throughout the land, their voice and hands in his most
holy cause! The fact cannot be mistaken—and to disguise it would be
culpable—that up to this time that decided movement has not been made by
the servants of the Lord, which the awful crisis at which we have arrived
so imperatively demands. Some appear to look on, whilst a furious
assault is made upon the Sion of our God, with the heartless selfishness
which says, “it will last my time;” others gaze with a strange apathy;
others, bewildered with fear, know not how to act; and others seek only
to defend and preserve their own party and property, forgetful that, if
the common cause fail, they will be involved in the common destruction.
But the Church of Christ is built upon a rock, “and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.” {111} If the alarm were only sounded
generally through the kingdom, the cause of the Lord would not want
defenders, both numerous and powerful, and the discomfited emissaries of
Satan would be driven from the field.
Mankind are always disposed to close their eyes against unpleasant
objects,—to shut their ears against unwelcome truths. Thus we are
willing to be deceived: if we see evils increasing, we still hope they
are only partial and temporary; if alarming reports reach us, we persuade
ourselves that they must be false or exaggerated. And if the danger
become so near as to menace our personal safety, such is the indolence,
weakness, and timidity of many, we often try to escape rather than to
combat, to avert rather than to overcome, even when we know our only
reasonable prospect of success is not in flight but in resistance, not in
making terms with, but in vanquishing the enemy. The announcements,
therefore, which have from time to time been made of the increasing
activity of the emissaries of infidelity, and of the extensive
circulation of sceptical, profane, and blasphemous publications, appear
to have been met by the public at large either with indifference or
incredulity; but the prospect is now so alarming, the peril so imminent,
that all must rouse themselves, and acquit themselves like men, or they
may too late have to mourn the folly of incredulity, and the sinfulness
of indifference, when warned and appealed to in behalf of religion.
Let not these observations be considered otherwise than as offered in the
spirit of a faithful discharge of duty: there is far from any wish to
create unnecessary alarm; there is a strong feeling that to give
uncalled-for admonition, would be presumptuous, and to pass unmerited
censure, would be criminal; but he who undertakes to state the duty of a
Christian people under a Divine visitation, whilst he entreats and
exhorts with all meekness, and love, and reverence, must fearlessly
pursue an impartial and unprejudiced course; for terrible would be his
condemnation if he intentionally extenuated the evil or compromised the
truth: he would resemble the false teachers of old, who “healed also the
hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, PEACE, PEACE, WHEN
THERE IS NO PEACE.” {113}
To prove, however, that these are neither the unauthorized
representations of mistaken views, nor the groundless creations of false
alarm, let the opinions of writers, as to the dangers which threaten the
cause of religion in this country, be heard,—of writers, whose station
and reputation entitle them to respect. “The signs of the times,”
observes the Bishop of London, in his Charge of last year, addressed to
the clergy of his diocese,—“the signs of the times are surely such as to
indicate to him who attentively observes the movements of God’s
providence, the approach, if not the arrival of a period pregnant with
important consequences to the cause of religion. The spirit of
infidelity, which at the close of the last century unhinged the frame of
society, and overturned the altars of God in a neighbouring country, but
was repressed, and shamed, and put to silence, by the Christian energies
of this country, is again rearing its head; and the truths of the Gospel
are denied, and its doctrines derided, and its blessed Author is reviled
and blasphemed by men whom the force of human laws has been found unable
to restrain. And if it be said that these are few in number, and
insignificant in point of talent and learning, there is a more numerous
class amongst us, who look upon religion merely as a necessary part of
every system of government; who would introduce the principles of a
miserable political economy into its institutions and ministry; and who
take no personal interest in its consolations or its ordinances. And
there is also a powerful and active body of men who are attempting to lay
other foundations of the social virtues and duties than those which are
everlastingly laid in the Gospel, and to propose other sanctions, and
other rules of conduct, and other rewards, than those which are proposed
in the Word of Revelation.” {114}
The Bishop of Durham, in his Charge, delivered during the autumn of the
present year, thus addresses his clergy:—“Yet while we would thus fain
bury the past in oblivion, can we shut our eyes to the existing dangers
which beset us, from whatever cause they may have arisen? Can we look
around and see Infidelity and Atheism on one side, Fanaticism on another;
Popery advancing in this direction, Socinianism in that; dissent,
lukewarmness, apathy, each with multitudes in its train, without
perceiving such an accession of strength to our adversaries, as none of
the present generation have ever before witnessed? To exaggerate these
evils, or to oppress the friends of religion and social order with
excessive apprehensions of danger, can never be the policy of considerate
men. But neither are we justified in saying ‘peace, peace,’ when there
is no peace; or in holding out illusory representations which every
discerning observer must perceive to be unfounded.” {115}
And after stating the “duties to which we are now indispensably called,”
the Bishop continues:—“that, in a Christian country like this, and in so
advanced a stage of mental cultivation, as is the boast of the present
day, it should be needful to press these admonitions, is indeed grievous.
And if we enquire how it has become needful, the answer is but too
obvious. The main root of the evil lies in a want of sound, sober, and
practical _religious_ feeling; operating steadily throughout the
community, and influencing the conduct in all the various departments of
social life. The want of this is discernible in attempts to carry on the
work of _popular education_, without teaching _religion_ for its basis;
in the systematic and avowed separation of civil and political from
_Christian_ obligations; in the disposition to consider all truths, on
whatever _sacred authority_ they may rest, as matters of mere _human
opinion_; and in a persuasion that the whole concern of government, of
legislation, and of social order, may be conducted as if there were no
MORAL RULER OF THE UNIVERSE controlling the destinies of men or of
nations: no other responsibilities than those which subsist between man
and man, unamenable to a higher tribunal. So long as these pernicious
sentiments obtain currency amongst us, (and who will say that they do not
fearfully prevail in every rank and every station?) it is impossible for
any believer in a righteous Providence not to look on such a state of
things with unwonted misgivings.” {116}
The statements as to the number, power, and malignity of the enemies of
religion, made by these two Prelates, supply the powerfully sketched out
line of a terrible picture, which becomes still more terrific when filled
up with the details which may be derived from other sources. “There is
another subject,” says an able writer, in the British Critic, “which
gives us, we confess, more uneasiness, and becomes every day more
difficult and painful, and that is the renewed and increasing efforts
made by scoffers and infidels, not only in our country, but others, to
profit by the disturbed state of the public mind, and to disseminate as
widely as possible their infernal poison amongst the needy, the ignorant,
and the profligate; at once goading them to cruel disorders and excess,
and robbing them of all hope of an hereafter. It cannot be known,
excepting to those who make it their business to enquire, what pains, and
patience, and ingenuity, are now bestowed upon this accursed work.
Infidel books, and infidel teachers, we have always had; but certainly
there never was a moment when the art of corrupting the minds of the
people was carried to so high a pitch, or exercised with so much
effrontery; nor ever were the fruits of it so frightfully conspicuous.
It is revolting to think of them, and it were a task to make the heart
sick to detail them; but it may suffice to state, that besides the public
discourses which are delivered almost daily by the great masters of the
school in the Rotunda, and in other places amongst the crowded outskirts
of the metropolis, _for the avowed specific purpose of advocating __the
cause of infidelity_, it is a well known fact, that blasphemous and
profane lectures are delivered three times a week, in the City itself, to
large audiences of labourers and artizans, after their daily task is
done, from each of whom a penny a piece is collected, under the head of
infidel rent.
“Nor is the press behind-hand with them in their course: for whilst
numerous hawkers and other emissaries scatter unsparingly in lanes and
alleys their pennyworths of profanation, the great emporium blazons forth
its more elaborate blasphemies with fresh spirit, in characters which
those who run may read—a standing monument of its interminable hostility
to the Gospel, and of the utter hopelessness of all legal measures to
restrain it.”
Such was the account laid before the public in the beginning of this
year, of a scheme, skilfully planned, and actively conducted, for
corrupting the religious principles of the working population of the
country, and thus paving the way for the ruin of social order, and the
subversion of civil society. Since then the strong arm of the law has
seized upon the arch infidel, but his murky den still remains: the
Rotunda is said to be made the scene of more horrible impieties than
ever; and the great work of teaching and disseminating infidelity, though
more covertly, is equally extensively carried on.
We possess, then, certain information, supplied by these and various
other distinguished writers, as to the two facts—the progress of a secret
undermining of the influence of Christianity now going forward in the
middle and higher classes of society; and in the lower, of an organized
system of open and violent aggression, not merely upon the principles of
religion, but the decencies of life. Surely this should fill with alarm
and rouse to exertion all who fear God and love their country; for the
preservation of the national faith is essential to the continuance of
national and individual happiness and prosperity. Before, however,
examining further into these frightful evils, and offering some
suggestions as to the course believers should adopt, let an enquiry be
made as to their probable influence upon the moral state of the great
bulk of the people.
Degeneracy of public morals must always necessarily follow corruption of
public principles. As soon might you expect to draw pure water from a
polluted fountain, as virtuous actions from unsound principles. Remove
the restraint of conscience, and what does man become? a fickle and
wicked being, of wild passions, selfish feelings, and ungovernable
appetites: he has lost the ruling principle which regulated and directed
his actions; and thus resembles a boat without rudder or oars, tost upon
a stormy sea, which, impelled in different directions as the winds,
tides, or currents happen to prevail, possesses neither certainty of
direction nor steadiness of course.
It is true, when the law of God ceases to be the rule of right, men
profess to substitute for it the law of honour and the law of the land.
But to ascertain the value of the law of honour as the guide of life, let
some of the cases of daily occurrence be observed, in which the rights of
hospitality have been abused with shameless unconcern, the confidence of
friendship repaid with base ingratitude, and the dearest ties of life
broken with base and heartless exultation, by men of honour. Words
cannot express the load of deep, of agonizing woe, which the partial
substitution of the law of honour for the law of God has inflicted upon
this Christian land. Families, through it, have had to suffer privations
from the extravagance, and poverty from the gambling of parents; to weep
for the untimely death of a father by the hand of the duellist; to mourn
and blush for the indelible stain of a mother’s shame.
Such are some of the terrible effects of the law of honour, as the guide
of life, which, if it sanction not, tolerates the betrayal of innocence,
the ruin of a family, and the murder of a fellow-creature.
Let an inquiry be now made into the value of the law of the land as a
rule of right. Here the records of our courts of justice might suffice
to shew, that severe laws do not deter from the commission of crime.
This is as might be fairly calculated upon; because the fear of uncertain
or distant punishment, will never operate as an effectual restraint upon
an unprincipled mind: it is not, that the law is without its terrors to
offenders, but it is, that under the influence of some powerful
inducement, the salutary effect of those terrors is lost, from their
being viewed at a distance, from the hope of escaping detection, and from
the power of present temptation. These observations regard principally
more heinous offences; but if the effect of the criminal code be found to
be, that it operates more for the punishment than the prevention of
crime, what would be the state of society, if the civil law was our great
guide in transactions between man and man.
If careful only to keep within its enactments, we made inclination or
interest our guide, where would be all the kind offices of Christian
charity, where the interchange of friendly services, where the joys of
Christian sympathy. Sad, indeed, would be the change, if, making the law
of the land his sole rule of right, man, naturally weak, selfish, and
sensual, gave the reins to his desires, and sought only his personal
gratifications. There might, indeed, be some exceptions, but the general
rule would be, “let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.” In
illustration of this view of the probable effects of such a system upon
society, let the case of a litigious man be supposed: what annoyance,
what ill-will, what animosities, does his vexatious enforcement of the
law, in the most minute particulars, often excite in a neighbourhood: but
if, in addition to his being litigious, he be also irreligious,—if he be
without a belief in a future state, a judgment to come, and final rewards
or punishments—what a fearful aggravation of the evils at once takes
place: suppose, however, further, that it is not the spirit, but the
letter of the law he regards; nay, more, that it is only its punishments
he fears; and that he breaks the law, whenever secrecy affords hope of
escape, or the weakness of the party injured, chance of impunity: what a
pest to society would he be!—And yet, however odious and disgusting the
picture, such would the great bulk of mankind become, if they could be
once brought to consider conscience a bug-bear, and Christianity an
imposture.
What is it restrains appetites, the indulgence of which produces so much
misery?—Christianity. What is it subdues the desire of revenge, which
thirsts for blood?—Christianity. What is it arrests the course of secret
crime?—Christianity. What is it expands the contracted views and wishes
of selfishness, and unlocks the sympathies of cold
uncharitableness?—Christianity. Have the law of honour, or the law of
the land, power to produce such mighty effects? They even lay not claim
to such a power. But the benefits of Christianity stop not here. It is
true, its transforming power, when its hallowing influence is fully felt,
is the grandest phenomenon of the moral world:—“the wicked are like the
troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt:”
{123} but above the storm, a voice is heard—the command is
uttered,—“Peace, be still!” the winds of passion are hushed, the waves of
appetite subside, and a holy calm reigns in the mind and heart. Still,
the power of Christianity, heaven’s best gift to man, produces other
benefits. It heals all the wounds which physical and moral evils cause
to poor human nature. It soothes the pain of sickness, it lightens the
pressure of privation, it cheers the sorrows of affliction; and, at that
awful hour, when human aid is unavailing, and when the soul, trembling on
the brink of eternity, can repose only on the firm stay of eternal truth,
it administers solid comfort, supplies pious confidence, and whispers
holy peace.—A dying hour is a severe test of principles; and it is at
that hour, which unmasks hypocrisy, and proves the weakness of
philosophy, the power of genuine Christianity is clearly seen:—it is at
that hour, when all the world seeks for as happiness, is found to be
vanity, all it calls glory, fades into insignificance, its value is fully
felt; it is at that hour, when a recollection of past sins, long forsaken
and repented of, is present to the humble and contrite, and a
consciousness of extreme unworthiness afflicts the soul which still
confides in Jesus, its victory is complete.
Well might Bishop Watson ask Gibbon, “Suppose the mighty work
accomplished, the cross trampled upon, Christianity every where
proscribed, and the religion of nature once more become the religion of
Europe; what advantage will you have derived to your country or to
yourselves from the exchange?—I will tell you from what you will have
freed the world; you will have freed it from its abhorrence of vice, and
from every powerful incentive to virtue; you will, with the religion,
have brought back the depraved morality of Paganism: you will have robbed
mankind of their firm assurance of another life; and thereby you will
have despoiled them of their patience, of their humility, of their
charity, of their chastity, of all those mild and silent virtues which,
(however despicable they may appear in your eyes) are the only ones which
meliorate and sublime our nature; which Paganism never knew, which spring
from Christianity alone.” {124} Nor does this able writer, in his
Letters to Paine, state less clearly and forcibly the evils which the
infidel school inflict upon society. “In accomplishing your purpose you
will have unsettled the faith of thousands; rooted from the minds of the
unhappy virtuous all their comfortable assurance of a future recompense;
have annihilated, in the minds of the flagitious, all their fears of
future punishment; you will have given the reins to the domination of
every passion; and have thereby contributed to the introduction of the
public insecurity, and the private unhappiness usually, and almost
necessarily, accompanying a state of corrupted morals.” {125}
Would that the anti-christian school of this day could be induced to
forego their unwearied exertions to make proselytes, by considering the
poor substitute they have to offer for an holy faith, which is the hope
of the prosperous, the consolation of the afflicted, the comfort of the
sick, and the support of the dying! To man, who feels his want of some
holy light to guide his erring steps, some blessed solace to cheer an
aching heart, in a world of perplexity and woe, the infidel has nothing
to offer but the laws, for the guidance of his public conduct, and for
his internal monitor and comforter,—a poor philosophy. But what to teach
him how to die? Nothing: for he has nothing to offer but the trite
aphorisms of heathen philosophers. What to take away the fear of
something after death? Nothing: for he who believes nothing which
Christianity has revealed can know nothing of a state of future
existence, uncognizable by unassisted reason.
Miserable men! the Christian mourns over the wilful blindness which, in
the full blaze of the meridian sun, continues in darkness, a state which
is but a faint emblem of “the blackness of darkness for ever.” Most
guilty men! the Christian burns with holy indignation against their
perverted and wicked zeal for proselytism, of whom it may be said, “Ye
compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make
him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” {126} If the
infidel reflects, what must be his state of mind, when he remembers, how
often, whilst feeling the utter wretchedness of his dark and cheerless
creed, he has sought with artful sophistry to bewilder the understandings
of the ignorant, and, with cold heartlessness, to blast the hopes of the
virtuous! He who openly stabs or secretly poisons an associate, incurs a
less load of moral guilt than he who inflicts a wound or instils a
poison, which, rankling, causes misery in this life, and in the next,
anguish unutterable and interminable.
Fatal, however, as such a creed must be to the best interests of society,
wherever its influence prevails, it assumes a still more alarming aspect
as inculcated by those infidel teachers, who, disseminating their
pestilent doctrines amongst our working population, not only seek to
destroy all the hopes and fears of an hereafter, but to stimulate their
evil passions, and to produce a contempt not less for human than Divine
laws. If once principles so subversive of the civil and religious
obligations of man, as a member of a Christian community, were allowed
gradually to leaven the great mass of the population; not only would the
cause of religion and morals be deeply injured, but eventually the altars
of God would be overthrown, the bonds of civil society broken, and
anarchy, spoliation, and bloodshed, reign through the land. With the
great bulk of mankind, the sense of responsibility, present and future,
is the great restraint upon their evil inclinations. Philosophers may
talk of the eternal fitness of things, the beauty of virtue, the value of
the distinctions of rank, of unequal divisions of property, and the
necessity of order, subordination, and industry, for the well-being of
society: but once remove from the minds of the lower classes their fear
of punishment,—by destroying all belief in a future state of retribution,
and all dread of the laws of the land, the execution of which they
overawe, defeat, or defy, by their numbers,—and there will be confusion,
aggression, outrage, and a general attack upon property. Constituted as
man is by nature, and constituted as society is by law and custom, in a
Christian country, as soon as Revelation is rejected by the great bulk of
the people, the work of disorder and disorganization must be rapidly
carried on, until the whole frame-work of society be broken up.