Having thus, at some length, passed these subjects in review, we present
our reflections to the impartial mind.
But there are grown up upon this earth some men who would seem to be so
holy and pure that even the providences of God are defective in their
sight, and by their conduct seem to evince their opinion to be that
Jehovah could not well manage the government of the world without their
especial counsel and aid. And do such really mean to condemn God, unless
his government shall comport with their views? In kindness of heart, and
for the benefit of such poor fallen ones, we propose to close this our
present Study by reading to them the thirty-third chapter of
Ecclesiasticus, omitting the five verses irrelevant to the subject.
“There shall no evil happen unto him that feareth the Lord, but in
temptation even again he will deliver him. A wise man hateth not the
law; but he that is a hypocrite therein is as a ship in the storm. A man
of understanding trusteth in the law; and the law is faithful unto him
as an oracle. Prepare what to say, and so thou shalt be heard; and bind
up instruction, and then make answer.” “Why doth one day excel another,
where as all the light of every day in the year is of the sun? By the
knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished: and he altered seasons
and feasts. Some of them hath he made high days, and hallowed them, and
some of them hath he made ordinary days. And all men are from the
ground, and Adam was created of earth. In much knowledge the Lord hath
divided them, and made their ways diverse. Some of them hath he blessed
and exalted, and some of them hath he sanctified, and set near himself:
but some of them hath he cursed and brought low, and turned them out of
their places. As the clay is in the potter’s hand, to fashion it at his
pleasure, so is man in the hand of him that made him, to render to them
as liketh him best. Good is set against evil, and life against death: so
is the godly against the sinner, and the sinner against the godly. So
look upon all the works of the Most High; and there are two and two, one
against another. I awaked up last of all, as one that gathereth after
the grape-gatherers; by the blessing of God I profited, and filled my
wine-press, like a gatherer of grapes. Consider that I laboured not for
myself only, but for all them that seek learning. Hear me, O ye great
men of the people, and hearken with your ears, ye rulers of the
congregation.” “In all thy works keep to thyself the pre-eminence; leave
not a stain on thy honour. At the time when thou shalt end thy days, and
finish thy life, distribute thine inheritance. Fodder, a wand and
burdens, are for the ass; and bread, correction, and work, for a
servant. If thou set thy servant to labour, thou shalt find rest, but if
thou let him go idle, he shall seek liberty. A yoke and a collar to bow
the neck, so are tortures and torments for an evil servant. Send him to
labour, that he be not idle; for idleness teacheth much evil. Set him to
work, as is fit for him; if he be not obedient, put on more fetters. But
be not excessive toward any, and without discretion do nothing. If thou
have a servant, let him be unto thee as thyself, because thou hast
bought him with a price. If thou have a servant, entreat him as a
brother: for thou hast need of him as thine own soul: if thou entreat
him evil, and he run from thee, which way wilt thou go to seek him.”
The doctrine is, that man is not exempt from the general law, that
governs the animal world; that among all the animated races upon this
earth, certain causes produce deterioration; and that it may take a
longer course of time for the restoration of a degenerate race, under
the controlling influences of opposite causes, than even that occupied
in a downward direction. “Quickly is the descent made to hell; but to
recover from the fall, and regain our former standing, is a labour, a
task indeed.” _Virgil._ In short, that sin has a tendency forcing
downward to moral and physical ruin; to deteriorate the mental powers,
to rot, to blast, as with a mildew, all animal perfections; to fill life
with disease and pain, and its hours with misery and wo, and that it
never willingly ceases its iron hold until it can shake hands with
death. That God, in mercy, by the wisdom of his providence, has
contrived as it were a shield, sheltering poor fallen man from the
action of such portion of this deadly poison as would have destroyed
every hope of intercession, and for ever excluded from our view,
perhaps, even the advent of a _Saviour_. When the patient is dead, the
physician is not called. The law which produced the deluge and
destruction of the antediluvian world was a law established from all
eternity, meet for just such a case as the moral and physical condition
of man then was. For the sake of ten, Sodom would not have been
destroyed; but it was less than ten for whom the Ark was provided; and
we are to remember that quick upon the promise that all flesh were not
again to be cast off, the lowest grade of slavery was promulgated, and
its subjects ordered into the protection of the master; and may we not
hence infer that slavery is intended, to some extent, as a preventive,
as a shield against sin? And do we not notice that this shield is more
or less weighty, more or less heavy to be borne, as the safety of the
individual bearing it may require; and that it is so cunningly
contrived, that its weight and burden are diminished in proportion as
the danger abates?
“He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the
wilderness where there is no way; yet setteth he the poor on high from
affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall
see it and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is
wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the
loving-kindness of the Lord.” _Ps._ cvii. 40–43.
In close, we may everywhere notice that some among the family of man
have become so poisoned with sin, so destroyed, that they are no longer
safe guardians to themselves, even under the general interdict, that
animal wants enslave us all. That for such God provides, as the general
safety may seem to require. That, in the history of man, some races have
become so deteriorated by a continued action in opposition to the laws
of God, that he has seen fit to care for them, by placing them under the
control of others; or by placing them, in mercy, under the guidance of a
less deteriorated race, whom, no doubt, he holds responsible for the
good he intends them. And may we be permitted of the humble Christian to
inquire, if this position presents any thing contrary to the general law
of benevolence of the Deity,—contrary to the welfare of man on earth, or
his hopes of heaven? Will you reject the doctrine, saying the biblical
proofs are too scattered, too deeply buried under the dust of time? or,
because a prophet has not appeared, or one arisen from the dead? The
geologist, from a few fragments of bone, now dug from the deep bowels of
the earth, is able to set up the osseous frame, to clothe with muscle
and sinew, and give character to the animals of ancient time. And shall
it not be recollected by you, who are striving to make your descendants
the very princes of intellect and talent, that similar researches may be
made in the moral history of man?
We submit the foregoing, confident, although there may be obscurity and
darkness yet surrounding the subject, which we have not the ability to
dispel, that the time will come, when it will be made plain to the
understanding of all. We therefore resign the subject, touching the
colour of the descendants of Ham, of their relationship with the family
of Cain, and the ordinances of God influencing their condition in the
world, to those more learned, more critical, and of more mental power,
and into the hands of those whose lips have been touched by a more
living coal from the altar of the prophet.
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Study VII.
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