,note3 ,images of the original pages are
 available through        the ,making of
 ,america digital library collection1   
the ,university of ,michigan4 ,see      
https3_/_/quod4lib4umich4edu_/m_/moa_/,,
afz#fhac4jjja4jja8viewtoc               
,transcriber's note3          ,text     
enclosed by underscores is in italics   
7italics74          ,there are minor    
differences between the titles of       
sections        and those given in the  
,table of ,contents4 ,a reference to two
        notes1 at the end of the book1  
has been inserted in the table4         
,,natural ,,history ,,of ,,enthusiasm4  
by    ,,isaac ,,taylor         444  1   
1  '  4      ,from the ,ninth ,london   
,edition4              ,new ,york3      
,robert ,carter  ,brothers  ,no4 #ecj   
,broadway    #ahei4                     
,,advertisement4      ,the belief that a
 bright era of renovation1 union1 and   
extension1  presently awaits the        
,christian ,church1 seems to be very    
generally  entertained4 ,the writer of  

this volume participates in the cheering
  hope2 and it has impelled him to      
undertake the difficult task of         
describing1 under its various forms1    
that ,,fictitious ,,piety which         
hitherto has never failed to appear in  
times of unusual religious  excitement1 
and which may be anticipated as the     
probable attendant of a  new development
 of the powers of ,christianity4    ,but
 while it has been the writer's         
principal aim to present to the         
,christian reader1 in as distinct a     
manner as possible1 the characters of   
that specious illusion which too often  
supplants genuine piety1 he has  also   
endeavored so to fix the sense of the   
term ,enthusiasm as to wrest  it from   
those who misuse it to their own        
infinite damage4    ,the author would   
say a word in explanation of his choice 
of a term in  this instance2 and of the 
extent of meaning he has assigned to it4
 ,the  best that can be done1 when      
matters of mind are under discussion1 is

 to  select1 from the stores of familiar
 language1 a word which1 in its usual   
sense1 approximates more nearly than any
 other to the abstraction spoken  of4   
,to require from an ethical writer more 
than this1 would be to demand  that1    
before he enters upon his subject1 he   
should both renovate the  science of    
mind1 and reform his mother tongue3 for 
when things not yet  scientifically     
defined are to be spoken of1 it must    
needs happen that1  in proportion to the
 accuracy with which they are described1
 there will  be apparent occasion for   
taking exception against the sense      
imputed to  the term employed4    ,the  
author proposed it to himself1 as his   
task1 to depict1 under its  principal   
forms1 ,,fictitious ,,sentiment in      
matters of religion1 including1  of     
course1 a consideration of those        
opinions which seem to be either the    
parents or the offspring of such        
artificial sentiments4 ,having this     
object before him1 he would have thought

 it a very inauspicious1 as well  as    
cumbrous method1 to have constructed a  
many-syllabled phrase of  definition1 to
 be used on every page of his essay4    
,instead of attempting  any such        
laborious accuracy1 he has boldly chosen
 his single  term--,enthusiasm2         
confiding in the good sense and candor  
of his readers  for allowing him a span 
or two of latitude when employing it in 
different instances1 which seem to come 
under the same general class4           
,,contents4                             
,,page   ,,section ,i4   ,enthusiasm1   
,secular and ,religious1                
#g     ,,section ,,ii4   ,enthusiasm in 
,devotion1                              
#bg     ,,section ,,iii4   ,enthusiastic
 ,perversions of the ,doctrine of       
,divine ,influence1        #fb          
,,section ,,iv4   ,enthusiasm the       
,source of ,heresy1                     
#gi     ,,section ,v4   ,enthusiasm of  
,prophetic ,interpretation1             
#if     ,,section ,,vi4   ,enthusiastic 

,abuses of the ,doctrine of a           
,particular   ,providence1              
#abj     ,,section ,,vii4   ,enthusiasm 
of ,philanthropy1                       
#aec     ,,section ,,viii4   ,sketch of 
the ,enthusiasm of the ,ancient ,church1
                     #agg     ,,section 
,,ix4   ,the same                       
,subject4--,ingredients of the ,ancient 
,monachism1             #bja            
,,section ,x4   ,hints on the probable  
,spread of ,christianity1 submitted to  
those who misuse the term--,enthusiasm1 
#bch     ,,notes     ,section ,,viii    
#bib     ,section ,,ix                  
#bid          ,,natural ,,history ,,of  
,,enthusiasm4          ,,section ,i4    
,,enthusiasm1 ,,secular ,,and           
,,religious4      ,some form of beauty1 
engendered by the imagination1 or some  
semblance of  dignity or grace1 invests 
almost every object that excites desire4
 ,these  illusions1 if indeed they ought
 so to be called1 serve the purpose of  
blending the incongruous materials of   

human nature1 and by mediating  between 
body and spirit1 reconcile the animal   
and intellectual  propensities1 and give
 dignity and harmony to the character of
 man4 ,by  these unsubstantial          
impressions it is that the social       
affections are  enriched and enlivened2 
by these1 not less than by the          
superiority of  the reasoning faculties1
 mankind is elevated above the brute2   
and it is  these that1 as the           
germinating principles of all           
improvement and  refinement1 distinguish
 civilized from savage life4    ,the    
constitutional difference between one   
man and another is to be  traced1 in    
great measure1 to the quality and vigor 
of the imagination4  ,thus it will be   
found that eminently active and         
energetic spirits are  peculiarly       
susceptible to those natural            
exaggerations by which the mind         
enhances the value of whatever it       
pursues4 ,at the same time an efficient 
energy implies always the power of      

control over such impressions4 ,yet it  
is enough that these creations of fancy 
should be under the command of  reason2 
for good sense by no means demands a    
rigid scrutiny into the  composition or 
mechanism of common motives1 or asks    
that whatever is not  absolutely        
substantial in the objects of desire    
should be spurned4 ,he  who is not too  
wise to be happy1 leaves the machinery  
of human nature to  accomplish its      
revolutions unexplored1 and is content  
to hold the  mastery over its movements4
 ,whoever1 instead of simply repressing 
the  irregularities of the imagination1 
and forbidding its predominance1  would 
altogether exclude its influence1 must  
either sink far below the  common level 
of humanity1 or rise much above it4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,the excesses of the imagination are of 
two kinds2 the first is when1  within   
its proper sphere1 it gains so great a  
power that every other  affection and   
motive belonging to human nature is     

overborne and  excluded4 ,it is thus    
that intellectual or professional       
pursuits seems  sometimes to annihilate 
all sympathy with the common interests  
of life1  and to render man a mere      
phantom1 except within the particular   
circle of  his favorite objects4    ,the
 second kind of excess 7one species of  
which forms the subject of the  present 
work7 is of much more evil tendency1 and
 consists in a trespass  of the         
imagination upon ground where it should 
have little or no  influence1 and where 
it can only prevent or disturb the      
operation of  reason and right feeling4 
,thus1 not seldom1 it is seen that1 on  
the  walks of common life1 the          
sobrieties of good sense1 and the       
counsels of  experience1 and the obvious
 motives of interest1 and perhaps even  
the  dictates of rectitude1 are set at  
naught by some fiction of an  exorbitant
 imagination1 which1 overstepping its   
proper function1 invests  even the most 
ordinary objects1 either with           

preposterous charms or with  unreal     
deformities4    ,very few minds seem to 
be altogether free from such            
constitutional  errors of the           
intellectual sight1 which1 to a greater 
or less extent1  intercept our view of  
things as they are4 ,and from the same  
cause it is  that we so greatly         
miscalculate the amount of happiness or 
of suffering  that belongs to the lot of
 those around us2 which happens1 not so 
much  because their actual circumstances
 are unknown1 as because the habitual   
illusions are not perceived by us amidst
 which they live4 ,and if the  coloring 
medium through which every man          
contemplates his own condition  were    
exposed to the eyes of others1 the      
victims of calamity might  sometimes be 
envied2 and still oftener would the     
favorites of fortune  become the objects
 of pity4 ,or if every one were in a    
moment to be  disenchanted of whatever  
is ideal in his permanent sensations1   
every one  would think himself at once  

much less happy1 and much more so1 than 
he  had hitherto supposed4    ,the force
 and extravagance of the imagination is 
in some constitutions  so great1 that it
 admits of no correction from even the  
severest lessons  of experience1 much   
less from the advices of wisdom3 the    
enthusiast  passes through life in a    
sort of happy somnambulency--smiling and
  dreaming as he goes1 unconscious of   
whatever is real1 and busy with         
whatever is fantastic3 now he treads    
with naked foot on thorns2 now  plunges 
through depths2 now verges the          
precipice1 and always preserves  the    
same impassible serenity1 and displays  
the same reckless hardihood4    ,but if 
the predominance of the imagination do  
not approach quite so near  to the      
limits of insanity1 and if it admit of  
correction1 then the many  checks and   
reverses which belong to the common     
course of human life  usually fray it   
away from present scenes1 and either    
send it back in  pensive recollections  

of past pleasures1 or forwards in       
anticipation of  a bright futurity4 ,the
 former is1 of the two1 the safer kind  
of  constitutional error2 for as the    
objects upon which the imagination      
fixes its gaze1 in this case1 remain    
always unchanged1 they impart a  sort of
 tranquillity to the mind1 and even     
favor its converse with  wisdom2 but the
 visions of hope being variable1 and    
altogether under the  command of the    
inventive faculty1 bring with them      
perpetual agitations1  and continually  
create new excitements4 ,besides2 as    
these egregious  hopes come in their    
turn to be dispelled by realities1 the  
pensioner  upon futurity lives amid the 
vexations of one who believes himself   
always plundered2 for each day as it    
comes robs him of what he had  fondly   
called his own4 ,thus the real ills of  
life pierce the heart with  a double    
edge4    ,the propensity of a disordered
 imagination to find1 or to create1 some
  region of fictitious happiness1 leads 

not a few to betake themselves to  the  
fields of intellectual enjoyment1 where 
they may be exempt from the  annoyances 
that infest the lower world4 ,hence it  
is that the walks of  natural philosophy
 or abstract science1 and of literature1
 and  especially of poetry and the fine 
arts1 are frequented by many who  addict
 themselves to pursuits of this kind1   
not so much from a genuine  impulse of  
native genius or taste1 as from a       
yearning desire to discover  some       
paradise of delights1 where no croaking 
voice of disappointment is  heard1 and  
where adversity has no range or leave of
 entrance4 ,these  intruders upon the   
realms of philosophy--these refugees    
from the  vexations of common life1 as  
they are in quest merely of solace and  
diversion1 do not often become effective
 laborers in the departments  upon which
 they enter3 their motive possesses not 
the vigor necessary  for continued and  
productive toil4 ,or if a degree of     
ambition happens to  be conjoined with  

the feeble ardor of the mind1 it renders
 them empirics  in science1 or schemers 
in mechanics2 or they essay their       
ineptitude  upon some gaudy extravagance
 of verse or picture2 or perhaps spend  
their  days in loading folios1 shelves1 
and glass cases with curious lumber of  
whatever kind most completely unites the
 qualities of rarity and  worthlessness4
    ,nature has furnished each of the   
active faculties with a sensibility to  
pleasure in its own exercise3 this      
sensibility is the spring of            
spontaneous exertion2 and if the        
intellectual constitution be robust1 it 
serves to stimulate labor1 and yet      
itself observes a modest sobriety1      
leaving the forces of the mind to do    
their part without embarrassment4  ,the 
pleasurable emotion is always           
subordinate and subservient1 never      
predominant or importunate4 ,but in     
minds of a less healthy temperament1    
the emotion of pleasure1 and the        
consequent excitement1 is               

disproportionate to the strength of the 
faculties4 ,the efficient power  of the 
understanding is therefore overborne1   
and left in the rear2 there  is more of 
commotion than of action2 more of       
movement than of progress2  more of     
enterprise than of achievement4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,such1 then1 are those who1 in due      
regard both to the essential            
differences of character1 and to the    
proprieties of language1 should be      
termed ,enthusiasts4 ,to apply an       
epithet which carries with it an idea of
  folly1 of weakness1 and of            
extravagance1 to a vigorous mind1       
efficiently  as well as ardently engaged
 in the pursuit of any substantial and  
important object1 is not merely to      
misuse a word1 but to introduce         
confusion among our notions1 and to put 
contempt upon what is deserving  of     
respect4 ,where there is no error of    
imagination1 no misjudging of           
realities1 no calculation which reason  

condemns1 there is no enthusiasm1  even 
though the soul may be on fire with the 
velocity of its movement in  pursuit of 
its chosen object4 ,if once we abandon  
this distinction1  language will want a 
term for a well-known and very common   
vice of the  mind2 and1 from a wasteful 
perversion of phrases1 we must be       
reduced to  speak of qualities most     
noble and most infirm by the very same  
designation4 ,if the objects which      
excite the ardor of the mind are        
substantial1 and if the mode of pursuit 
be truly conducive to their  attainment2
 if1 in a word1 all be real and genuine1
 then it is not one  degree more1 or    
even many degrees more1 of intensity of 
feeling that can  alter the character of
 the emotion4 ,enthusiasm is not a term 
of  measurement1 but of quality4        
,when it is said that enthusiasm is the 
fault of infirm constitutions1 a        
seeming exception must be made in behalf
 of a few high-tempered spirits1        
distinguished by their indefatigable    

energy1 and destined to achieve  arduous
 and hazardous enterprises4 ,that such  
spirits often exhibit the  characters of
 enthusiasm cannot be denied2 for the   
imagination spurns  restraint1 and      
rejects all the sober measurements and  
calculations of  reason1 whenever its   
chosen object is in view2 and a tinge1  
often more  than a tinge1 of            
extravagance belongs to every word and  
action4 ,and yet  the exception is only 
apparent2 for although these giants of  
human  nature greatly surpass other men 
in force of mind1 courage1 and          
activity1 still the heroic extravagance1
 and the irregular and  ungovernable    
power which enables them to dare and to 
do so much1 is1 in  fact1 nothing more  
than a partial accumulation of strength1
 necessary  because the utmost energies 
of human nature are so small1 that1 if  
equally distributed through the system1 
they would be inadequate to  arduous    
labors4 ,the very same task1 which the  
human hero achieves in the  fury and    

fever of a half-mad enthusiasm1 would be
 performed by a seraph  in the perfect  
serenity of reason4 ,although1          
therefore1 these vigorous  minds are    
strong when placed in comparison with   
others1 their enthusiasm  is in itself a
 weakness2--a weakness of the species1  
if not of the  individual4           99 
99       99       99       99    ,unless
 a perpetual miracle were to intercept  
the natural operation of  common causes1
 religion1 not less than philosophy or  
poetry1 will draw  enthusiasts within   
its precincts4 ,nor1 if we recollect on 
the one hand  the fitness of the vast   
objects revealed in the ,scriptures to  
affect the  imagination1 and on the     
other1 the wide diffusion of religious  
ideas1  can it seem strange if it be    
found1 in fact1 that religious          
enthusiasts  outnumber any other class4 
,it is also quite natural that          
enthusiastic  and genuine religious     
emotions should be intermingled with    
peculiar  intricacy2 since the          

revelations which give them scope       
combine1 in a  peculiar manner1 elements
 of grandeur1 of power1 and of sublimity
  7fitted to kindle the imagination71   
with those ideas that furnish           
excitement to the moral sentiments4     
,the religion of the heart1 it is       
manifest1 may be supplanted by a        
religion of the imagination1 just in the
 same way that the social  affections   
are often dislodged or corrupted by     
factitious sensibilities4  ,every one   
knows that an artificial excitement of  
the kind and tender  emotions of our    
nature may take place through the medium
 of the  imagination4 ,hence the power  
of poetry and the drama4 ,but every one 
must  also know that these feelings1 how
 vivid soever and seemingly pure and    
salutary they may be1 and however nearly
 they may resemble the genuine  workings
 of the soul1 are so far from producing 
the same softening  effect upon the     
character1 that they tend rather to     
indurate the heart4  ,whenever          

excitements of any kind are regarded    
distinctly as a source of  luxurious    
pleasure1 then1 instead of expanding the
 bosom with beneficent  energy1 instead 
of dispelling the sinister purposes of  
selfishness1  instead of shedding the   
softness and warmth of generous love    
through the  moral system1 they become a
 freezing centre of solitary and        
unsocial  indulgence2 and at length     
displace every emotion that deserves to 
be  called virtuous4 ,no cloak of       
selfishness is1 in fact1 more           
impenetrable  than that which usually   
envelops a pampered imagination4 ,the   
reality of  woe is the very circumstance
 that paralyses sympathy2 and the eye   
that  can pour forth its flood of       
commiseration for the sorrows of the    
romance  or the drama1 grudges a tear to
 the substantial wretchedness of the    
unhappy4 ,much more often than not1 this
 kind of luxurious sensitiveness  to    
fiction is conjoined with a callousness 
that enables the subject of  it to pass 

through the affecting occasions of      
domestic life in immovable  apathy3--the
 heart has become1 like that of         
leviathan1 firm as a stone1  yea1 hard  
as a piece of the nether millstone4     
,this process of perversion and of      
induration may as readily have place    
among the religious emotions as among   
those of any other class2 for the  laws 
of human nature are uniform1 whatever   
may be the immediate cause  which puts  
them in action2 and a fictitious piety  
corrupts or petrifies  the heart not    
less certainly than does a romantic     
sentimentality4 ,the  danger attending  
enthusiasm in religion is not1 then1 of 
a trivial sort2  and whoever disaffects 
the substantial matters of              
,christianity1 and  seeks to derive from
 it merely1 or chiefly1 the             
gratifications of  excited feeling2     
whoever combines from its materials a   
paradise of  abstract contemplation1 or 
of poetic imagery1 where he may take    
refuge  from the annoyances and the     

importunate claims of common life2      
whoever  thus delights himself with     
dreams1 and is insensible to realities1 
lives  in peril of awaking from his     
illusions when truth comes too late4    
,the  religious idealist sincerely      
believes himself1 perhaps1 to be        
eminently  devout2 and those who witness
 his abstraction1 his elevation1 his    
enjoyments1 may reverence his piety2    
meanwhile1 this fictitious  happiness   
creeps as a lethargy through the moral  
system1 and is  rendering him1          
continually1 less and less susceptible  
of those emotions  in which true        
religion consists4    ,nor is this      
always the limit of the evil2 for though
 religious  enthusiasm may sometimes    
seem a harmless delusion1 compatible    
with  amiable feelings and virtuous     
conduct1 it more often allies itself    
with  the malign passions1 and then     
produces the virulent mischiefs of      
fanaticism4 ,opportunity may be wanting1
 and habit may be wanting1 but          

intrinsic qualification for the         
perpetration of the worst crimes is not 
wanting to the man whose bosom heaves   
with religious enthusiasm1  inflamed by 
malignancy4 ,if checks are removed1 if  
incitements are  presented1 if the      
momentum of action and custom is        
acquired1 he will  soon learn to contemn
 every emotion of kindness or of pity1  
as if it  were a treason against heaven1
 and will make it his ambition to rival 
the achievements1 not of heroes1 but of 
fiends4 ,the amenities that have  been  
diffused through society in modern times
 forbid the overt acts and  excesses of 
fanatical feeling2 but the venom still  
lurks in the vicinity  of enthusiasm1   
and may be quickened in a moment        
meantime1 while  smothered and          
repressed1 it gives edge and spirit to  
those hundred  religious differences    
which are still the opprobrium of       
,christianity4  ,whoever1 then1 admits  
into his bosom the artificial fire of an
  imaginative piety1 ought first to     

assure himself that his heart harbors   
no particle of the poison of ill-will4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,the reproach so eagerly propagated by  
those who make no religious             
pretensions1 against those who do--that 
their godliness serves them as a  cloak 
of immorality1 is1 to a great extent1   
calumnious3 it is also1 in  some        
measure1 founded upon facts1 which1     
though misunderstood and  exaggerated1  
give color to the charge4 ,when         
professors of religion are  suddenly    
found to be wanting in common integrity1
 or in personal virtue1  no other       
supposition is admitted by the world    
than that the delinquent  was always a  
hypocrite2 and this supposition is1 no  
doubt1 sometimes not  erroneous4 ,but   
much more often his fall has surprised  
himself not less  than others2 and is1  
in fact1 nothing more than the natural  
issue of a  fictitious piety1 which1    
though it might hold itself entire under
  ordinary circumstances1 gave way      

necessarily in the hour of unusual      
trial4 ,an artificial religion not only 
fails to impart to the mind the  vigor  
and consistency of true virtue1 but     
withdraws attention from those  common  
principles of honor and integrity which 
carry worldly men with  credit through  
difficult occasions4 ,the enthusiast is1
 therefore1 of all  men1 the one who is 
the worst prepared to withstand peculiar
 seductions4  ,he possesses neither the 
heavenly armor of virtue1 nor the       
earthly4    ,it were an affront to      
reason1 as well as to theology1 to      
suppose that  true and universal virtue 
can rest on any other foundation than   
the fear  and love of ,god4 ,the        
enthusiast1 therefore1 whose piety is   
fictitious1  has only a choice of       
immoralities1 to be determined by his   
temperament  and circumstances4 ,he may 
become1 perhaps1 nothing worse than a   
recluse--an indolent contemplatist1 and 
intellectual voluptuary1 shut up  from  
his fellows in the circle of profitless 

spiritual delights and  conflicts4 ,the 
times are1 indeed1 gone by when persons 
of this class  might1 in contempt of    
their species1 and in idolatry of       
themselves1  withdraw to dens1 and hold 
society only with bats1 and make the    
supreme  wisdom to consist in the       
possession of a long beard1 a filthy    
blanket1  and a taste for raw herbs3 but
 the same tastes1 animated by the same  
principles1 fail not still to find place
 of indulgence1 even amid the  crowds of
 a city3 and the recluse who lives in   
the world will probably  be more sour in
 temper than the anchoret of the        
wilderness4 ,an ardent  temperament     
converts the enthusiast into a zealot1  
who1 while he is  laborious in winning  
proselytes1 discharges common duties    
very remissly1  and is found to be a    
more punctilious observer of his creed  
than of his  word4 ,or1 if his          
imagination be fertile1 he becomes a    
visionary1 who  lives on better terms   
with angels and with seraphs than with  

his  children1 servants1 and neighbors3 
or he is one who1 while he reverences   
the thrones1 dominions1 and powers of   
the invisible world1 vents his  spleen  
in railing at all dignities and powers  
of earth4    ,superstition--the creature
 of guilt and fear--is an evil almost as
 ancient  as the human family4 ,but     
,enthusiasm--the child of hope--hardly  
appeared on  earth until after the time 
when life and immortality had been      
brought to  light by ,christianity4     
,hitherto1 a cloud of the thickest gloom
 had  stretched itself out before the   
eye of man as he trod the sad path to   
the grave2 and though poetry supplied   
its fictions1 and philosophy its        
surmises1 the one possessed little      
force1 and the other could claim no     
authentication2 neither1 therefore1 had 
power to awaken the soul4 ,but  the     
,christian revelation not only shed a   
sudden splendor upon the awful          
futurity1 but brought its revelations to
 bear upon the minds of men1  with all  

the pressure and intensity of palpable  
facts4 ,the long  slumbering sentiment  
of immortal hope--a sentiment natural to
 the human  constitution1 and chief     
among its passions--instead of being    
deluded1 as  heretofore1 by dreams1 was 
thoroughly aroused by the hand and voice
 of  reality2 and human nature exhibited
 a new development of the higher        
faculties4 ,when therefore1 in the      
second century of the ,christian era1   
various and vigorous forms of an        
enthusiasm1 such as the world had       
hitherto never known1 are seen to start 
forth on the stage of history1  we      
behold the indications of the presence  
of ,truth1 giving an impulse to  the    
human mind both for the better and the  
worse1 which no fictions of  sages or   
poets had ever imparted4    ,in         
proportion as the influence of          
scriptural religion faded1 the elder    
and the younger vice--,superstition and 
,enthusiasm1 joined their forces to     
deform every principle and practice of  

,christianity1 and in the course  of    
four or five centuries1 under their     
united operations1 a faint  semblance   
only of its primeval beauty survived2   
another period of five  hundred years   
saw ,superstition prevail1 almost to the
 extinction1 not  only of true religion1
 but of ,enthusiasm also2 and mankind   
fell back  into a gloom as thick as that
 of the ancient polytheism4 ,but at     
length  the breath of life returned to  
the prostrate church1 and the           
accumulated  and consolidated evils of  
many ages were thrown off in a day4 ,yet
 as  ,superstition more than ,enthusiasm
 had spoiled ,christianity1 she chiefly 
was recognized as the enemy of religion2
 and the latter1 rather than the        
former1 was allowed to hold a place in  
the sanctuary after its  cleansing4     
,since that happy period of refreshment 
and renovation1 both  vices have had    
their seasons of recovered influence2   
but both have been  held in check1 and  
their prevalence prevented4 ,at the     

present time  7#ahbh7--we speak of      
protestant ,christendom--the power of   
superstition is  exceedingly small2 for 
the diffusion of general knowledge1 and 
the  prevalence of true religion1 and   
not less the influence of the infidel   
spirit1 forbid the advances of an error 
which must always lean for  support on  
ignorance and fear4 ,nor1 on the other  
hand1 can it be fairly  affirmed that   
ours is eminently or conspicuously an   
age of religious  enthusiasm4 ,yet1 as  
there are superstitions which still     
maintain a  feeble existence under favor
 of the respect naturally paid to       
antiquity1  so are there also among us  
enthusiastic principles and practices1  
which1  having been generated in a      
period of greater excitement than our   
own1  are preserved as they were        
received from the fathers2 and seem to  
be in  safe course of transmission to   
the next generation4           99       
99       99       99       99    ,but   
even if it should appear that--excepting

 individual instances of  constitutional
 extravagance1 which it would be absurd1
 because useless1  to make the subject  
of serious animadversion--enthusiasm is 
not now  justly chargeable upon any body
 of ,christians1 there would still be a 
very sufficient reason for attempting to
 fix the true import of the  term1 so   
long as it is vaguely and contumeliously
 applied by many to  every degree of    
fervor in religion which seems to       
condemn their own  indifference4 ,not1  
indeed1 as if there were ground to hope 
that even the  most exact and           
unexceptionable analysis1 or the        
clearest definitions1  would ever avail 
so to distinguish genuine from spurious 
piety as should  compel irreligious men 
to acknowledge that the difference is   
real2 for  such persons feel it to be   
indispensable to the slumber of         
conscience to  confound the one with the
 other2 and although a thousand times   
refuted1  they will again1 when pressed 
by truth and reason1 run to the old and 

crazy sophism which pretends that1      
because ,christianity is sometimes      
disfigured by enthusiasts and fanatics1 
therefore there is neither  retribution 
nor immortality for man4 ,it is the     
infatuation of persons of  a certain    
character1 to live always at variance   
with wisdom1 on account  of other men's 
follies2 and this is the deplorable     
error of those who  will see nothing in 
religion but its corruptions4           
,nevertheless ,truth  owes always a     
vindication of herself to her friends1  
if not to her  enemies2 and her sincere 
friends will not wish to screen their   
own  errors1 when this vindication      
requires them to be exposed4            
99       99       99       99       99  
,if1 as is implied in some common modes 
of speaking1 enthusiasm were only  an   
error in degree1 or a mere fault by     
excess1 then the attempt to  establish a
 definite distinction between what is   
blameworthy and what is  commendable in 
the religious affections--between the   

maximum and  minimum of emotion which   
sobriety approves1 must be both hopeless
 and  fruitless2 inasmuch as we should  
need a scale adapted to every man's     
constitution2 for the very same amount  
of fervor which may be only  natural and
 proper to one mind1 could not be       
attained by another without  delirium or
 insanity4 ,if this notion were just1   
every one would be  entitled to repel   
the charge of either apathy or          
enthusiasm2 and while  one might        
maintain1 that if he were to admit into 
his bosom a single  degree more of      
religious fervor than he actually feels1
 he should  become an enthusiast1       
another might offer an equally          
reasonable apology  for the wildest     
extravagances4 ,at this rate the real   
offenders against  sober piety could    
never be convicted of their fault2 and  
in allowing  such a principle we should 
only authenticate the scorn with which  
indifference loves to look upon         
sincerity4    ,that the error of the    

enthusiast does not consist in an excess
 merely  of the religious emotions1     
might be argued conclusively on the     
ground  that the ,scriptures1 our only  
safe guide on such points1 while they   
are  replete with the language of       
impassioned devotion1 and while they    
contain a multitude of urgent and       
explicit exhortations1 tending to       
stimulate the fervency of prayer1 offer 
no cautions against any such  supposed  
excesses of piety4    ,but1 as matter of
 fact1 nothing is more common than to   
meet with  religionists whose opinions  
and language are manifestly deformed by 
enthusiasm1 while their devotional      
feelings are barely tepid3 languor1     
relaxation1 apathy1 not less than       
extravagance1 characterize their style  
of piety2 and it were quite a ludicrous 
mistake to warn such persons of  the    
danger of being religious overmuch4 ,yet
 it must be granted that  those         
extremes1 in matters of opinion or      
practice1 which sometimes  render even  

torpor conspicuous by its absurdities1  
have always  originated with minds      
susceptible of high excitement4         
,enthusiasm1 in a  concrete form1 is the
 child of vivacious temperaments2 but   
when once  produced1 it spreads almost  
as readily through inert1 as through    
active  masses1 and shows itself to be  
altogether separable from the ardor or  
turbulence whence it sprang4    ,to     
depict the character of those who are   
enthusiasts by physical  temperament is 
then a matter of much less importance   
than to define the  errors which such   
persons propagate2 for1 in the first    
place1 the  originators of enthusiasm   
are few1 and the parties infected by it 
many2  and1 in the second1 the evil with
 the latter is incidental1 and          
therefore may be remedied2 while with   
the former1 as it is  constitutional1 it
 is hardly in any degree susceptible of 
correction4    ,the examination of a few
 principal points will make it evident  
that a  very intelligible distinction   

may1 without difficulty1 be established 
between what is genuine and what is     
spurious in religious feeling2 and  when
 an object so important is before us1 we
 ought not to heed the  injudicious1 and
 perhaps sinister1 delicacy of some     
persons who had  rather that truth      
should remain forever sullied by        
corruptions1 and  exposed to the        
contempt of worldlings1 than that       
themselves should be  disturbed in their
 narrow and long-cherished modes of     
thinking4 ,and yet  there may be some   
lesser misconceptions1 perhaps1 which it
 will be more  wise to leave untouched  
than to attempt to correct them at the  
cost of  breaking up habits of thought  
and modes of speaking connected         
indissolubly with truths of vital       
importance4 ,it should also be granted1 
that1 when those explanations or        
illustrations of momentous doctrines    
which an exposure of the error of the   
enthusiast may lead us to propound  seem
 at all to endanger the simplicity of   

our reliance upon the  inartificial     
declarations of ,scripture1 they are    
much better abandoned  at once1 although
 in themselves1 perhaps1 justifiable1   
than maintained2  if in doing so we are 
seduced from the direct light of        
revelation into  the dim regions of     
philosophical abstraction4              
,christianity has in some short periods 
of its history been entirely            
dissociated from philosophical modes of 
thought and expression2 and  assuredly  
it has prospered in such periods4 ,at   
other times it has  scarcely been seen  
at all1 except in the garb of           
metaphysical  discussion1 and then it   
has lost all its vigor and glory4 ,in   
the present  state of the world the     
primitive insulation of religious truth 
from the  philosophical style is        
scarcely practicable2 nor indeed does it
 seem so  desirable while1 happily1 we  
are in no danger of seeing the light of 
revelation again immured in colleges4   
,but although it is inevitable1 and     

perhaps not to be regretted1 that       
religious subjects1 both doctrinal and  
practical1 should1 especially in books1 
admit such generalities1 every          
sober-minded writer will remember that  
it is not by an intrinsic and  permanent
 necessity1 but by a temporary          
concession to the spirit of the  age1   
that this style is used and allowed4 ,he
 will moreover bear in mind  that the   
concession leans towards a side of      
danger1 and will therefore  always hold 
himself ready to break off from even the
 most pleasing or  plausible speculation
 when his ,christian instincts1 if the  
phrase may be  permitted1 give him      
warning that he is going remote from the
 vital  atmosphere of scriptural truth4 
,whatever is practically important in   
religion or morals1 may at all times be 
advanced and argued in the  simplest    
terms of colloquial expression4 ,from   
the pulpit1 perhaps1 no  other style    
should at any time be heard2 for the    
pulpit belongs to the  poor and to the  

uninstructed4 ,but the press is not     
bound by the same  conditions1 for it is
 an instrument of knowledge foreign to  
the  authenticated means of ,christian  
instruction4 ,a writer and a layman is  
no recognized functionary in the        
,church2 he may1 therefore1 choose his  
style without violating any rules or    
proprieties of office4                  
,,section ,,ii4    ,,enthusiasm ,,in    
,,devotion4      ,the most formal and   
lifeless devotions1 not less than the   
most fervent1  are mere enthusiasm1     
unless it can be ascertained1 on        
satisfactory  grounds1 that such        
exercises are indeed efficient means for
 promoting  our welfare4 ,prayer is     
impiety1 and praise a folly1 if the one 
be not a  real instrument of obtaining  
important benefits1 and the other an    
authorized and acceptable offering to   
the ,giver of all good4 ,but when  once 
these points are determined1 and they   
are necessarily involved in  the truth  
of ,christianity1 then1 whatever        

improprieties may be  chargeable upon   
the devout1 an error of incomparably    
greater magnitude  rests with the       
undevout4 ,to err in modes of prayer1   
may be  reprehensible2 but not to pray1 
is mad4 ,and when those whose temper is 
abhorrent to religious services         
animadvert sarcastically upon the       
follies1 real or supposed1 of           
religionists there is a sad             
inconsistency  in such criticisms1 like 
that which is seen when the insane make 
ghastly  mirth of the manners or        
personal defects of their friends and   
keepers4    ,the doctrine of            
immortality1 as revealed in the         
,scriptures1 gives at  once reason and  
force to devotion2 for if the interests 
of the present  life only1 in which one 
event happeneth to the just and to the  
unjust1  were taken into calculation1   
the utility of prayer could scarcely be 
proved1 and never be made conspicuous1  
at least not to the profane4 ,as a      
matter of feeling1 it is the expectation

 of a more direct and sensible          
intercourse with the ,supreme ,being in 
a future life1 that imparts depth  and  
energy to the sentiments which fill the 
mind in its approaches to  the throne of
 the heavenly majesty4 ,but the man of  
earth who thinks  himself rich when he  
has enjoyed the delights of seventy     
summers1 and  who deems the hope of     
eternity to be of less value than an    
hour of  riotous sensuality1 can never  
desire to penetrate the veil of second  
causes1 or to find out the ,almighty4   
,glad to snatch the boons of the        
present life1 he covets no knowledge of 
the ,giver4    ,not so those into whose 
hearts the belief of a future life--of  
such a  future life as ,christianity    
depicts--has entered4 ,they feel that   
the  promised bliss cannot possibly     
spring from an atheistic satiety of     
animal or even of intellectual          
pleasures2 but that the substance of it 
must consist in communion with him who  
is the source and centre of good4  ,this

 belief and expectation sheds vigor     
through the soul while engaged  in      
exercises of devotion2 for such         
employments are known to be the         
preparatives1 and the foretastes1 and   
the earnests1 of the expected  fulness  
of joy4 ,the only idea which the human  
mind1 under its present  limitations1   
can form of a pure and perpetual        
felicity1 free from all  elements of    
decay and corruption1 is that which it  
gathers and compounds  from devotional  
sentiments4 ,in cherishing and          
expressing these  sentiments1 it grasps1
 therefore1 the substance of immortal   
delights1  and1 by an affinity of the   
heart1 holds fast the unutterable hope  
set  forth in the ,scriptures4 ,the     
,scriptures being admitted as the word  
of  ,god1 this intensity of devotional  
feelings is exempted from blame or      
suspicion2 nor can it ever be shown that
 the very highest pitch of such         
feelings is in itself excessive or      
unreasonable4 ,the mischiefs of         

enthusiasm arise1 not from the force or 
fervor1 but from the perversion  of the 
religious affections4    ,the very idea 
of addressing petitions to him who      
worketh all things  according to the    
counsel of his own eternal and          
unalterable will1 and  the enjoined     
practice of clothing sentiments of piety
 in articulate  forms of language1      
though these sentiments1 before they are
 invested in  words1 are perfectly known
 to the ,searcher of hearts1 imply that1
 in the  terms and the mode of          
intercourse between ,god and man1 no    
attempt is  made to lift the latter     
above his sphere of limited notions and 
imperfect knowledge4 ,the terms of      
devotional communion rest even on a     
much lower ground than that which man1  
by efforts of reason and  imagination1  
would fain attain to4 ,prayer1 in its   
very conditions1  supposes1 not only a  
condescension of the divine nature to   
meet the  human1 but a humbling of the  
human nature to a lower range than it   

might  reach4 ,but the region of        
abstract conceptions1 of lofty          
reasonings1 of  magnificent images1 has 
an atmosphere too subtile to support the
 health  of true piety2 and in order    
that the warmth and vigor of life may be
  maintained in the heart1 the common   
level of the natural affections is      
chosen as the scene of intercourse      
between heaven and earth4 ,in           
accordance with this plan of devotion1  
not only does the ,supreme conceal      
himself from our senses1 but he reveals 
in his word barely a glimpse of  his    
essential glories4 ,by some naked       
affirmations we are indeed secured      
against false and grovelling notions of 
the divine nature2 but these  hints are 
incidental1 and so scanty that every    
excursive mind goes  beyond them in its 
conceptions of the infinite attributes4 
,nor is it only the brightness of the   
eternal throne that is shrouded  from   
the view of those who are invited to    
draw near to him that sitteth  thereon2 

for the immeasurable distance that      
separates man from his  ,maker is       
carefully veiled by the concealment of  
the intervening orders  of rational     
beings4 ,although the fact of such      
superior existences is  clearly         
affirmed1 nothing more than the bare    
fact is imparted3 nor can  we           
misunderstand the reason and necessity  
of so much reserve2 for  without it1    
those free and kindly movements of the  
heart in which  genuine devotion        
consists1 would be overborne by         
impressions of a kind  that belong to   
the imagination4 ,distance is known and 
measured only by  the perception of     
intermediate objects4 ,the traveller    
who1 with weary  steps1 has passed from 
one extremity to the other of a         
continent1 and  whose memory is fraught 
with the recollection of the various    
scenes of  the journey1 is qualified to 
attach a distinct idea to the higher    
terms  of measurement2 but the notion of
 extended space formed by those who     

have never passed the boundary of their 
native province is vague and  unreal4   
,such are the notions which1 with all   
the aids of astronomy and  arithmetic1  
we form of the distances even of the    
nearest of the heavenly  bodies4 ,but if
 the traveller who has actually looked  
upon the ten  thousand successive       
landscapes that lie between the farthest
 west and  the remotest east could1 with
 a sustained effort of memory and       
imagination1 hold all those scenes in   
recollection1 and repeat the  voluminous
 idea with distinct reiteration until   
the millions of millions  were numbered 
that separate sun from sun2 and if the  
notion thus  laboriously obtained could 
be vividly supported and transferred to 
the  pathless spaces of the universe1   
then that prospect of distant systems   
which night opens before us1 instead of 
exciting mild and pleasurable  emotions 
of admiration1 would rather oppress the 
imagination under a  painful sense of   
the so measured interval4 ,if the eye1  

when it fixes its  gaze upon the vault  
of heaven1 could see1 in fancy1 a       
causeway arched  across the void1 and   
bordered in long series with the hills  
and plains  of an earthly               
journey--repeated ten thousand and ten  
thousand times1  until ages were spent  
in the pilgrimage1 then would he who    
possessed  such a power of vision hide  
himself in caverns rather than venture  
to  look up to the terrible magnitude of
 the starry skies1 thus set out in      
parts before him4    ,and yet the utmost
 distances of the material universe are 
finite2 but  the disparity of nature    
which separates man from his ,maker is  
infinite2  nor can the interval be      
filled up or brought under any process  
of  measurement4 ,nevertheless1 in the  
view of our feeble conceptions1 an      
apparent measurement or filling up of   
the infinite void would take  place1 and
 so the idea of immense separation would
 be painfully enhanced  if distinct     
vision were obtained of the towering    

hierarchy of  intelligences at the      
basement of which the human system is   
founded4 ,were  it indeed permitted to  
man to gaze upward from step to step1   
and from  range to range of the vast    
edifice of rational existences1 and     
could his  eye attain its summit1 and   
then perceive1 at an infinite height    
beyond  that highest platform of created
 beings1 the lowest beams of the eternal
  throne1 what liberty of heart would   
afterwards be left to him in drawing    
near to the ,father of spirits8 ,how1   
after such a revelation of the upper    
world1 could the affectionate           
cheerfulness of earthly worship again   
take  place8 ,or how1 while             
contemplating the measured vastness of  
the interval  between heaven and earth1 
could the dwellers thereon come         
familiarly1 as  before1 to the ,hearer  
of prayer1 bringing with them the small 
requests  of their petty interests of   
the present life8 ,if introduction were 
had  to the society of those beings     

whose wisdom has accumulated during ages
  which time forgets to number1 and who 
have lived to see1 once and again1  the 
mystery of the providence of ,god       
complete its cycles1 would not the      
impression of created superiority       
oppress the spirit1 and obstruct its    
access to the ,being whose excellences  
are absolute and infinite8 ,or what     
would be the feelings of the infirm     
child of earth1 if1 when about to       
present his supplications1 he found     
himself standing in the theatre of      
heaven1 and saw1 ranged in a circle     
wider than the skies1 the  congregation 
of immortals8 ,these spectacles of      
greatness1 if laid open  to perception1 
would present such an interminable      
perspective of glory1  and so set out   
the immeasurable distance between       
ourselves and the  ,supreme ,being with 
a long gradation of splendors1 that we  
should  henceforward feel as if thrust  
down to an extreme remoteness from the  
,divine notice2 and it would be hard1 or

 impossible1 to retain1 with any        
comfortable conviction1 the belief in   
the nearness of him who is  revealed as 
a very present help in every time of    
trouble4 ,but that our  feeble spirits  
may not thus be overborne1 or our faith 
and confidence  baffled and perplexed1  
the ,most ,high hides from our sight the
 ministries  of his court1 and1         
dismissing his train1 visits with       
infinite  condescension the lowly abodes
 of those who fear him1 and dwells as a 
,father in the homes of earth4    ,every
 ambitious attempt to break through the 
humbling conditions on  which man may   
hold communion with ,god1 must then fail
 of success2 since  the ,supreme has    
fixed the scene of worship and converse1
 not in the  skies1 but on earth4 ,the  
,scripture models of devotion1 far from 
encouraging vague and inarticulate      
contemplations1 consist of such         
utterances of desire1 or hope1 or love1 
as seem to suppose the existence  of    
correlative feelings1 and indeed of     

every human sympathy in him to  whom    
they are addressed4 ,and although reason
 and ,scripture assure us  that he      
neither needs to be informed of our     
wants1 nor waits to be moved  by our    
supplications1 yet will he be approached
 with the eloquence of  importunate     
desire1 and he demands1 not only a      
sincere feeling of  indigence and       
dependence1 but an undissembled zeal and
 diligence in  seeking the desired boons
 by persevering request4 ,he is to be   
supplicated with arguments1 as one who  
needs to be swayed and moved1 to  be    
wrought upon and influenced2 nor is any 
alternative offered to those  who would 
present themselves at the throne of     
heavenly grace1 or any  exception made  
in favor of superior spirits1 whose more
 elevated notions  of the divine        
perfections may render this accommodated
 style  distasteful4 ,as the hearer of  
prayer stoops to listen1 so also must   
the  suppliant stoop from the heights of
 philosophical or meditative            

abstraction1 and either come in genuine 
simplicity of petition1 as a son  to a  
father1 or be utterly excluded from the 
friendship of his ,maker4    ,this      
scriptural system of devotion stands    
opposed1 then1 to all those  false      
sublimities of an enthusiastic pietism  
which affect to lift man  into a middle 
region between heaven and earth1 ere he 
may think himself  admitted to hold     
communion with ,god4 ,while the inflated
 devotee is  soaring into he knows not  
what vagueness of upper space1 he whom  
the  heaven of heavens cannot contain1  
has come down1 and1 with benign         
condescension1 has placed himself in the
 centre of the little circle of  human  
ideas and affections4 ,the man of       
imaginative1 or of hyper-rational       
piety1 is gone in contemplation where   
,god is not2 or where man shall  never  
meet him3 for the high and lofty ,one   
that inhabiteth eternity1  whose name is
 holy1 and who dwelleth in the high and 
holy place1 when  he invites us to his  

friendship1 holds the splendor of his   
natural  perfections in abeyance and    
proclaims that he dwells with the man   
who  is of a humble and contrite spirit1
 to revive the spirit of the humble1    
and to revive the heart of the contrite 
ones4 ,thus does the piety  taught in   
the ,scriptures make provision against  
the vain exaggerations  of enthusiasm2  
and thus does it give free play to the  
affections of the  heart2 while whatever
 might stimulate the imagination is     
enveloped in  the thickest covering of  
obscurity4    ,the outward forms and    
observances of worship are manifestly   
intended to  discourage and exclude the 
false refinements of an imaginative     
piety1  and to give to the religious    
affections a mundane1 rather than a     
transcendental character4 ,the          
congregated worshippers come into the   
house of ,god1 the hall or court of     
audience1 on the intelligible terms  of 
human association2 and they come by     
explicit invitation from him who        

declares that wheresoever two or three  
are gathered together in his  name1     
there he is to meet them4 ,and being so 
assembled1 as in the  actual presence of
 the ,king of saints they give utterance
 to the  emotions of love1 veneration1  
hope1 joy1 penitence1 in all those modes
  of outward expression which are at    
once proper to the constitution of      
human nature and proper to be addressed 
to a being of kindred character  and    
sympathies4 ,worship is planned         
altogether in adaptation to the         
limitations of the inferior party1 not  
in proportion to the infinitude  of the 
superior2 even the worship of heaven    
must be framed on the same  principle2  
for how high soever we ascend in the    
scale of created  intelligence1 still   
the finite can never surmount its       
boundaries1 or at  all adapt itself to  
the infinite4 ,but the infinite may     
always bow to the  finite4 ,those1      
therefore1 who1 inflated by enthusiasm1 
contemn or  neglect the modes and style 

of worship proper to humanity1 must find
  that1 though indulgence should be     
given to their affectation on earth1  no
 room can be allowed it in heaven4      
99       99       99       99       99  
,the dispensations of the divine        
providence towards the pious have all   
the same tendency to confine the devout 
affections within the circle of         
terrestrial ideas1 and to make religion 
an occupant of the homestead of  common 
feelings4 ,many are the afflictions of  
the righteous1 and  wherefore1 but to   
bring his religious belief and emotions 
into close  contact with the            
humiliations of the natural life1 and to
 necessitate  the use of prayer as a    
real and efficient means of obtaining   
needful  assistance in distress8 ,if    
vague speculations or delicious         
illusions  have carried the ,christian  
away from the realities of earth1 some  
urgent  want or piercing sorrow         
presently arouses him from his dreams   
and  obliges him to come back to        

importunate prayer and to unaffected    
praise4  ,a strange incongruity may seem
 to present itself1 when the sons of    
,god--the heirs of immortality1 the     
destined princes of heaven--are seen to 
be implicated in sordid cares1 and vexed
 and oppressed by the  perplexities of a
 moment2 but this incongruity strikes us
 only when the  great facts of religion 
are viewed in the false light of the    
imagination2 for the process of         
preparation1 far from being incompatible
  with these apparent degradations1     
requires them2 and it is by such means  
of humiliation that the hope of         
immortality1 confined within the heart1 
is prevented from floating in the region
 of material images4           99       
99       99       99       99    ,we    
have said that when an important object 
is zealously pursued in the  use of     
means proper for its attainment1 a mere 
intensity or fervor of  feeling does not
 constitute enthusiasm4 ,if1 therefore1 
prayer has a  lawful object1 whether it 

be temporal or spiritual1 and is used in
  humble confidence of its efficiency1  
as a means of obtaining the desired     
boon or some equivalent blessing1 there 
is nothing unreal in the  employment2   
and therefore nothing enthusiastic4 ,but
 there are devotional  exercises1 which1
 though they assume the style and       
phrases of prayer1  appear to have no   
other object than to attain the         
immediate pleasures of  excitement4 ,the
 devotee is not in truth a petitioner2  
for his prayers  terminate in           
themselves2 and when he reaches the     
expected pitch of  transient emotion1 he
 desires nothing more4 ,this appetite   
for feverish  agitations naturally      
prompts a quest of whatever is          
exorbitant in  expression or sentiment1 
and as naturally inspires a dread of all
 those  subjects of meditation which    
tend to abate the pulse of the moral    
system4 ,if the language of humiliation 
is at all admitted into the             
enthusiast's devotions1 it must be so   

pointed with extravagance1 and so       
swollen with exaggerations1 that it     
serves much more to tickle the fancy    
than to affect the heart3 it is a       
burlesque of penitence very proper to   
amuse a mind that is destitute of real  
contrition4 ,that such artificial       
humiliations do not spring from the     
sorrow of repentance1 is proved by      
their bringing with them no lowliness of
 temper4 ,genuine humility would  shake 
the towering structure of this          
enthusiastic pietism2 and1  therefore1  
in the place of ,christian humbleness of
 mind1 there are  cherished certain     
ineffable notions of self-annihilation1 
and  self-renunciation1 and we know not 
what other attempts at metaphysical     
suicide4 ,if you will receive the       
enthusiast's description of himself1 he 
has become1 in his own esteem1 by       
continued force of divine               
contemplation1 infinitely less than an  
atom--a mere negative quantity--an      
incalculable fraction of positive       

entity6 meanwhile the whole of his      
deportment betrays a self-importance    
that might be ample enough for a  god4  
,minds of superior order1 and when      
refined by culture1 may be full  fraught
 with enthusiasm without exhibiting any 
very reprehensible  extravagances2 for  
taste and intelligence avail to conceal 
the  offensiveness of error1 as well as 
of vice4 ,but it will not be so with    
the gross and the uneducated4 ,these1 if
 they are taught to neglect the         
substantial purposes of prayer1 and are 
encouraged to seek chiefly the          
gratifications of excitement1 will      
hardly refrain from the utterance of    
discontent1 when they fail of success4  
,whatever physical or accidental  cause 
may oppress the animal spirits1 and so  
frustrate the attempt to  reach the     
desired pitch of emotion1 gives occasion
 to some sort of  querulous altercation 
with the ,supreme ,being2 or to some    
disguised  imputation of caprice on the 
part of ,him who is supposed to have    

withheld the expected spiritual         
influence4 ,thus the divine             
condescension  in holding intercourse   
with man on the level of friendship1 is 
abused in  this wantonness of           
irreverence2 and the very same temper   
which impels a  man of vulgar manners1  
when disappointed in his suit1 to turn  
upon his  superior with the language of 
rude opprobrium1 is1 in its degree1     
indulged towards the ,majesty of heaven4
 ,thou thoughtest that ,i was           
altogether such an one as thyself1 is a 
rebuke which belongs to those  who thus 
affront the ,most ,high with the        
familiarities of common  companionship4 
,we say not that flagrant abuses of this
 kind are of  frequent occurrence1 even 
among the uneducated2 yet neither are   
they  quite unknown4 ,a perceptible     
tendency towards them always accompanies
  the enthusiastic notion that the      
principal part of piety is excitement4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,the substitution of the transient and  

unreal1 for the real and enduring       
objects of prayer1 brings with it often 
that sort of ameliorated  mysticism     
which consists in a solicitous          
dissection of the changing  emotions of 
the religious life1 and in a sickly     
sensitiveness1 serving  only to divert  
attention from what is important in     
practical virtue4  ,there are anatomists
 of piety who destroy all the freshness 
and vigor of  faith1 and hope1 and      
charity1 by immuring themselves night   
and day in  the infected atmosphere of  
their own bosoms4 ,but now let a man of 
warm  heart1 who is happily surrounded  
with the dear objects of the social     
affections1 try the effect of a parallel
 practice2 let him institute  anxious   
scrutinies of his feelings towards those
 whom1 hitherto1 he has  believed       
himself to regard with unfeigned love2  
let him in these  inquiries have        
recourse to all the fine distinctions of
 a casuist1 and  use all the profound   
analyses of a metaphysician1 and spend  

hours daily  in pulling asunder every   
complex emotion of tenderness that has  
given  grace to the domestic life2 and1 
moreover1 let him journalize these      
examinations1 and note particularly1 and
 with the scrupulosity of an            
accomptant1 how much of the mass of his 
kindly sentiments he has  ascertained to
 consist of genuine love1 and how much  
was selfishness in  disguise2 and let   
him from time to time solemnly resolve  
to be1 in  future1 more disinterested1  
and less hypocritical in his affections 
towards his family6 ,what1 at the end of
 a year1 would be the result of  such a 
process8 ,what1 but a wretched debility 
and dejection of the  heart1 and a      
strangeness and a sadness of the        
manners1 and a suspension  of the native
 expressions and ready offices of       
zealous affection8  ,meanwhile the      
hesitations1 and the musings1 and the   
upbraidings of an  introverted          
sensibility absorb the thoughts4 ,is it 
then reasonable to  presume that similar

 practices in religion can have a       
tendency to  promote the healthful vigor
 of piety8    ,by the constitution of   
the human mind1 its emotions are        
strengthened in  no other way than by   
exercise and utterance2 nor does it     
appear that the  religious emotions are 
exempted from this general law4 ,the    
,divine ,being  is revealed to us in the
 ,scriptures as the proper and supreme  
object of  reverence1 of love1 and of   
affectionate obedience2 and the natural 
means  of exercising and of expressing  
these feelings are placed before us1    
both in the offices of devotion and in  
the duties of life1 just in the  same   
way that the opportunities of enhancing 
the domestic affections are  afforded in
 the constitution of social life4 ,why1 
then1 should the  ,christian turn aside 
from the course of nature1 and divert   
his feelings  from their outgoings      
towards the supreme object of devotional
 sentiment1  by instituting curious     
researches into the quality1 and        

quantity1 and  composition of all his   
religious sensations8 ,this spiritual   
hypochondriasis enfeebles at once the   
animal1 the intellectual1 and the  moral
 life1 and is usually found in          
conjunction with infirmity of  judgment1
 infelicity of temper1 and inconsistency
 of conduct4    ,but it is alleged that 
the heart1 even after it has undergone  
spiritual  renovation1 is fraught with  
hidden evils1 which mingle their        
influence  with every emotion of the new
 life1 and that an often-renewed        
analysis  is necessary in order to      
detect and to separate the lurking      
mischiefs4  ,to know the evils of the   
heart is indeed indispensable to the    
humility  and the caution of true       
wisdom2 and whoever is utterly untaught 
in this  dismal branch of learning is a 
fool4 ,but to make it the chief object  
of  attention is not only unnecessary1  
but fatal to the health of the soul4    
,the motives of the social1 not less    
than those of the religious life1  are  

open to corrupting mixtures which spoil 
their purity1 and impair  their vigor4  
,as1 for example1 the emotion of        
benevolence1 which impels  us to go in  
quest of misery1 and to labor and suffer
 for its relief1 is  liable1 in most    
men's minds1 to be alloyed by some      
particles of the  desire of applause2   
indeed1 there are nice and learned      
anatomists of the  heart1 who assure us 
that benevolence1 when placed in the    
focus of high  optic powers1 exhibits   
nothing but a gay feathery coat of      
vanity1 set  upon the flimsiness of     
selfish sensibility4 ,be it so--and let 
men of  small souls amuse themselves    
with these petty discoveries4 ,but      
assuredly  the philanthropist who is    
followed through life by the blessings  
of  those that were ready to perish1 and
 whose memory goes down in the          
fragrance of these blessings to distant 
ages1 is not found to spend his  days   
and nights in pursuing any such subtile 
micrologies4 ,have the sons  of         

wretchedness been most holpen by        
,rochefoucaulds and ,bruyeres1 or by    
,howards8 ,if the philanthropist be a   
wise and ,christian man1 he will1       
knowing as he does the evils and        
infirmities of the heart1 endeavor to   
expel and preclude the corrupting       
mischiefs that spring from within1 by   
giving yet larger play to the great     
motives by which exclusively he  desires
 to be impelled2 he will1 with new      
intentness1 devote himself to  the      
service in which his better nature      
delights1 and bring his soul into  still
 nearer contact with its chosen objects1
 and oblige himself to hold  more       
constant communion with the miserable2  
and he will spurn1 with  renovated      
courage1 the whispers of indolence and  
fear4 ,thus he pushes  forward on the   
course of action1 where alone1 by the   
unalterable laws of  human nature1 the  
vigor of active virtue may be maintained
 and increased4    ,if1 indeed1 the     
heart be a dungeon of foul and vaporous 

poisons1 if it  be a cage of unclean    
birds1 if satyrs dance there1 if the    
cockatrice there hatch her eggs of      
mischief1 let the vault of dark         
impurity be thrown open to the purifying
 gales of heaven1 and to the  bright    
shining of the sun2 so shall the hated  
occupants leave their  haunts1 and the  
noxious exhalations be exhausted1 and   
the deathly chills  be dispelled4 ,he   
surely need not want light and warmth   
who has the  glories of heaven before   
him2 let these glories be contemplated  
with  constant and upward gaze1 while   
the foot presses with energy the path of
  hope1 and the hand is busied in every 
office of charity4 ,the ,christian  who 
thus pursues his way1 will rarely1 if   
ever1 be annoyed by the  spectres that  
haunt the regions of a saddened         
enthusiasm4    ,the moping              
sentimentalism which so often takes the 
place of ,christian  motives is to be   
avoided1 not merely because it holds up 
piety to the  view of the world under a 

deplorable disguise2 nor merely because 
it  deprives its victims of their       
comfort2 but chiefly because it         
ordinarily  produces inattention to the 
substantial matters of common morality4 
,the  mind occupied from dawn of day    
till midnight with its own multifarious 
ailments1 and busied in studying its    
pathologies1 utterly forgets1 or        
remissly discharges1 the duties of      
social life3 or the temper1 oppressed   
by vague solicitudes1 falls into a state
 which makes it a nuisance in  the      
house4 ,or1 while the rising and falling
 temperature of the spirit is  watched  
and recorded1 the common principles of  
honor and integrity are  so completely  
lost sight of1 that1 without explicit   
ill-intention1  grievous delinquencies  
are fallen into1 which fail not to bring
 a deluge  of reproach upon religion4   
,these melancholy perversions of        
,christian  piety might seem not to     
belong1 with strict propriety1 to our   
subject2  but1 in fact1 religious       

despondency is the child of religious   
enthusiasm4 ,exhaustion and dejection   
succeed to excitement1 just as  debility
 follows fever4 ,yesterday the          
unballasted vessel was seen  hanging out
 all the gayety of its colors1 and      
spreading wide its  indiscretion before 
a breeze2 but the night came1 the breeze
  strengthened1 and to-day the hapless  
bark rolls dismasted1 without help  or  
hope1 over the billows4    ,amid the    
various topics touched upon by ,paul1   
,peter1 ,john1 and ,james1 we  scarcely 
find an allusion to those questions of  
spiritual nosology  which1 in later     
periods1 and especially since the days  
of ,augustine1#a  and very much in our  
own times1 have filled a large space in 
religious  writings4 ,the ,apostles     
believed1 with unclouded confidence1 the
  revelation committed to them1 of      
judgment to come1 of redemption from    
wrath by ,jesus ,christ1 and of eternal 
glory3--these great facts filled  their 
hearts1 and governed their lives1 and1  

in conjunction with the  precepts of    
morality1 were the exclusive themes of  
their preaching and  writing4 ,evidently
 they found neither time nor occasion   
for entering  upon nice analyses of     
motives2 or for indulging fine musings  
and  personal melancholies2 nor did they
 ever think of resting the              
all-important question of their own     
sincerity1 and of their claim to a  part
 in the hope of the gospel1 upon the    
abstruse dialectics which have  since   
been thought indispensable to the       
definition of a saving faith4           
,assuredly the ,christians of the first 
age did not suppose that volumes  of    
metaphysical distinctions must be       
written and read before the  genuineness
 of religious professions could be      
ascertained4 ,the want1 in  modern      
times1 of a vivid conviction of the     
truth of ,christianity1 is  probably the
 occasional source of many of these idle
 and disheartening  subtleties2 and it  
may be believed that a sudden           

enhancement of  faith--using the word in
 its unsophisticated meaning--throughout
 the  ,christian community would dispel1
 in a moment1 a thousand dismal and     
profitless refinements1 and impart to   
the feelings of ,christians that        
unvarying solidity which naturally      
belongs to the perception of facts so   
immensely important as those revealed in
 the ,scriptures4    ,in witnessing1    
first1 the entreaties1 and              
supplications1 and tears of a           
convicted1 condemned1 and repentant     
malefactor1 prostrate at the feet of    
his sovereign1 and then the exuberance  
of his joy and gratitude in  receiving  
pardon and life1 no one would so        
absurdly misuse language as  to call the
 intensity and fervor of the criminal's 
feelings  enthusiastical3 for1 however  
strong1 or even ungovernable those      
emotions  may be1 they are perfectly    
congruous with the occasion3 they spring
 from  no illusion2 but are fully       
justified by the momentous turn that has

  taken place in his affairs3 in the    
past hour he contemplated nothing but   
the horrors of a violent1 an            
ignominious1 and a deserved death2 but  
now  life1 with its delights1 is before 
him4 ,it is true that all men in the    
same circumstances would not undergo the
 same intensity of emotion3 but  all1   
unless obdurate in wickedness1 must     
experience feelings of the same         
quality4 ,and thus1 so long are the real
 circumstances under which every  human 
being stands in the court of the        
,supreme ,judge are clearly  understood1
 and duly felt1 enthusiasm finds no     
place2 all is real2  nothing illusory4  
,but when once these unutterably        
important facts are  forgotten or       
obscured1 then1 by necessity every      
enhancement of religious  feeling is a  
step on the ascent of enthusiasm2 and it
 becomes a matter  of very little       
practical consequence1 whether the      
deluded pietist be the  worshipper of   
some system of abstract rationalism or  

of tawdry images  and rotten relics2    
though the latter error of the two is   
perhaps  preferable1 inasmuch as a      
warm-hearted fervor is always better    
than  frozen pride4           99        
99       99       99       99    ,one   
commanding subject pervades the         
,scriptures1 and rises to view on  every
 page3 this recurring theme1 towards    
which all instructions and  histories   
tend1 is the great and anxious question 
of condemnation or  acquittal at the bar
 of ,god1 when the irreversible sentence
 shall come  to be pronounced4 ,how     
shall man be just with ,god8 is the     
inquiry ever  and again urged upon the  
conscience of him who reads the ,bible  
with a  humble and teachable desire to  
find therein the way of life4 ,in       
subserviency to this leading intention1 
the themes which run through the  sacred
 writings1 and which distinguish those  
writings by an immense  dissimilarity   
from all the remains of polytheistic    
literature1 are those  of guilt1 shame1 

contrition1 love1 joy1 gratitude1 and   
affectionate  obedience4 ,and moreover1 
in conformity with this same intention1 
the  ,divine ,being is revealed--if not 
exclusively1 yet chiefly--as the party  
in  the great controversy which sin has 
occasioned4 ,the intercourse1           
therefore1 which is opened between      
heaven and earth is almost confined  to 
the momentous transactions of           
reconciliation and renewed friendship4  
,when the ,hearer of prayer invites     
interlocution with man1 it is not1 as   
perhaps in ,eden1 for the purposes of   
free and discursive converse1 but  for  
conference on a special business4 ,come 
now1 let us reason together1  saith the 
,almighty1 though your sins be as       
scarlet1 they shall be white  as snow1  
though they be red like crimson1 they   
shall be as wool4    ,the same          
speciality of purpose and limitation of 
subject is plainly  implied in the      
appointment of a ,mediator and          
,advocate2 for although the             

establishment of this happy medium of   
approach authorizes and encourages  even
 a boldness of access to the throne of  
the heavenly grace1 it not  less        
evidently imposes a restriction or      
peculiarity upon the intercourse        
between ,god and man4 ,as the           
,intercessor exercises his office to    
obtain  the bestowment of the benefits  
secured to mankind by his vicarious     
sufferings1 the suppliant must surely   
have those benefits especially in  view4
 ,the work and office of the ,mediator1 
and the desires and petitions  of the   
client1 are correlatives4 ,no man1 said 
the ,saviour1 cometh  unto the ,father  
but by me4 ,it follows then1 naturally1 
that those who  thus come to the ,father
 should keep in constant remembrance the
 great  intention of the mediatorial    
scheme1 which is nothing else than to   
reconcile transgressors to the offended 
,majesty of heaven4 ,but this           
unalterable condition of all devotional 
services contains a manifest and        

efficacious provision against           
enthusiastical excitements2 for the     
emotions of shame and penitence1 and of 
joy in receiving the assurance  of      
pardon1 are not of the class with which 
the imagination has near  affinity1 and1
 in a well-ordered mind1 they may rise  
to their highest  pitch without either  
disturbing the powers of reason1 or     
infringing the  most perfect inward     
serenity1 or outward decorum4 ,in a     
word1 it may be  confidently affirmed   
that no man becomes an enthusiast in    
religion1  until he has forgotten that  
he is a transgressor--a transgressor    
reconciled to ,god by mediation4    ,but
 when1 either by the refinements of     
rationalism--a gross misnomer--or  by   
superstitious corruptions1 the central  
facts of ,christianity have  become     
obscured1 no middle ground remains      
between the apathy of  formality and the
 extravagance of enthusiasm4 ,the       
substance of religion  is gone1 and its 
ceremonial only remains--remains to     

disgust the  intelligent1 and to delude 
the simple4 ,this momentous principle is
  strikingly displayed in the           
construction of the ,romish worship4    
,that  false system assumes the great   
business of pardon and reconciliation   
with ,god to be a transaction that      
belongs only to priestly negotiation2   
and as forgiveness has its price1 and   
the priest is at once the  appraiser of 
the offence1 and the receiver of the    
mulct1 it would be an  intrusion upon   
his function1 an interference that must 
derange his  balances1 for the          
transgressor to act on his own behalf1  
or ever to  inquire what passes between 
the authorized agent of mercy1 and the  
court  of heaven4 ,no room1 then1 is    
left in this system for the great and   
central subject of all devotional       
exercises4 ,the doctrine of pardon      
having been cut off from worship1       
worship becomes unsubstantial4 ,the     
expiatory death and availing            
intercession of the ,son of ,god are    

taken  within the rail of sacerdotal    
usurpation2 and of necessity1 if ,jesus 
,christ is at all to be set forth       
crucified before the people1 it can     
only be as an object of dramatic        
exhibition4 ,this is the secret of the  
popish magnificence of worship4 ,music1 
and painting1 and pantomime1 and  a     
tinsel declamation1 must do their       
several parts to disguise the           
subduction of the essentials of         
devotion4 ,the laity1 having nothing to 
transact with ,god1 must be amused and  
beguiled1 lest haply the gospel  of his 
grace should enter the heart1 and so the
 trading intervention of  the priest be 
superseded4    ,the great purpose of the
 ,romish worship1 which is to preclude  
all  genuine feelings by substituting   
the enthusiasm of the imagination1 is   
accomplished1 it must be confessed1 with
 consummate skill1 and a just  knowledge
 of the human mind4 ,the end proposed   
will1 manifestly1 be best  attained when
 the emotions which spring from the     

imagination are made to  resemble as    
nearly as possible those that belong to 
the heart4 ,the  nicest imitation will  
be the most successful in this machinery
 of  delusion4 ,hence it is1 that while 
all those means of excitement are       
employed which quicken the physical     
sensibilities1 the deeper  sensibilities
 of the soul are also addressed1 and yet
 always by the  intervention of dramatic
 or poetic images4 ,a plain and         
undisguised  appeal to the heart is     
unknown to the system4    ,if it be for 
a moment forgotten1 that in every bell1 
bowl1 and vest of  the ,romish service  
there is hid a device against the       
liberty and welfare  of mankind1 and    
that its gold1 and pearls1 and fine     
linen are the  deckings of eternal ruin2
 and if this apparatus of worship be    
compared  with the impurities and the   
cruelties of the old polytheistic rites1
  great praise may seem due to its      
contrivers4 ,nothing in ,christianity   
that might subserve the purposes of     

dramatic effect has been overlooked2    
and even the most difficult parts of the
 materials have been wrought  into      
keeping4 ,the humiliations and poverty  
which shroud the glory of the  principal
 personage1 and the horrors of his      
death2 as well as the awful  beauty and 
compassionate advocacy of the virgin    
mother1 the queen of  heaven2 the stern 
dignity of the twelve2 the marvels of   
miraculous  power2 the heroism of the   
martyrs2 the mortifications of the      
saints2 the  punishment of the enemies  
of the church2 the practices of devils2 
the  intercession and tutelary cares of 
the blessed2 the sorrows of the  nether 
world1 and the glories of the           
upper2--all these materials of  poetic  
and scenic effect have been elaborated  
by the genius and taste of  the ,italian
 artists1 until a spectacle has been got
 up which leaves the  most splendid     
shows of the ancient idol-worship of    
,greece and ,rome at a  vast distance of
 inferiority4#b    ,but of what avail is

 all this sumptuous apparatus in        
promoting either  genuine piety or      
purity of manners8 ,history and existing
 facts leave no  obscurity on the       
question2 for the atrocity of crime1 and
 the foulness  of licentiousness1 have  
ever kept pace with the perfection of   
the ,romish  service4 ,those nations    
upon whose manners it has worked its    
proper  influence with the fullest      
effect1 have been the most irreligious  
and  the most debauched4 ,splendid rites
 and odious vices have dwelt in peace   
under the same consecrated roofs2 and   
the actors and spectators of these      
sacred pantomimes have been wont to rush
 together from the solemn pomps  of     
worship1 to the chambers of filthy sin4 
99       99       99       99       99  
,the substitution of poetic enthusiasm  
for genuine piety may1 however1  take   
place apart from the decorations of the 
,romish service2 but the  means employed
 must be of a more intellectual cast3   
eloquence must take  the labor on       

itself1 and must subject the doctrines  
of ,scripture to a  process of          
refinement which shall deposit whatever 
is substantial and  affecting1 and      
retain only what is magnific1 pathetic1 
or sublime4 ,and  yet the principles of 
protestantism1 and1 in some respects1   
the national  temper1 and certainly the 
style and spirit1 of the devotional     
services  of the ,english ,church1 all  
discourage the attempt to hold forth the
  subjects of evangelical teaching in   
the gorgeous colors of an artificial    
oratory4 ,and if the evidence of facts  
were listened to1 such attempts  would  
never be made by those who honestly     
desire to discharge the  momentous      
duties of the ,christian ministry in the
 manner most conducive  to the welfare  
of their hearers4 ,a blaze of emotion1  
having the  semblance of piety1 may be  
kindled by descriptive and impassioned  
harangues1 such as those that are heard1
 on festival days1 from ,french  and    
,italian pulpits2 but it will be found  

that the ,divine ,spirit1  without whose
 agency the heart is never permanently  
affected1 refuses to  become a party in 
any such theatric exercises2 these      
emotions will  therefore subside without
 leaving a vestige of salutary          
influence4    ,yet is there perhaps a   
lawful1 though limited range open1 in   
the pulpit1  to the powers of           
descriptive eloquence4 ,the preacher may
 safely  embellish all those subsidiary 
topics that are not included within the 
circle of the primary principles on     
which the religious affections are      
built2 for in addressing the imagination
 on these accessory points1 he  does not
 incur the danger of founding piety     
altogether upon illusions4  ,the great  
and beautiful in nature1 and perhaps the
 natural attributes of  the ,deity1 and 
the episodes of sacred history1 and the 
diversities of  human character1 and the
 scenes of social life1 and the secular 
interests of mankind1 may1 by their     
incidental connection with more         

important themes furnish the means of   
awakening attention1 and of  varying the
 sameness of theological discourse4 ,or 
even if no  unquestionable plea of      
utility could be urged in recommendation
 of such  divertisements1 at the worst  
they are not chargeable with the        
desecration of fundamental doctrines2   
nor do they generate delusion  where    
delusion must be fatal4 ,but it is not  
so with the principal  matters of the   
preacher's message to his fellow-men1   
which can hardly be  touched by the     
pencil of poetic or dramatic eloquence  
without incurring  a hazard of the      
highest kind1 inasmuch as the excitement
 so engendered  more often totally      
excludes than merely impairs genuine    
feelings4    ,if the taste of an        
audience be quickened and cultivated1   
nothing is more  easy to the teacher1 or
 more agreeable to the taught1 than a   
transition  from the sphere of spiritual
 feeling to the regions of poetic       
excitement4 ,intellect is put in        

movement by the change2 conscience is   
lulled2 the weight that may have rested 
on the heart is upborne1 and a  state of
 animal elasticity induced1 which1 so   
long as it continues1  dispels the      
sadness of earthly cares4 ,let it be    
supposed that the  subject of discourse 
is that one which1 of all others1 should
 be the  most solemnly affecting to     
those who admit the truth of            
,christianity--the  awful process of the
 last judgment4 ,the speaker1 we will   
believe1  intends nothing but to inspire
 a salutary alarm2 and with this view he
  essays his utmost command of language1
 while he describes the sudden  waning  
of the morning sun1 the blackening of   
the heavens1 the decadence  of the      
stars1 the growing thunders of coming   
wrath1 the clang of the  trumpet1 whose 
notes break the slumbers of the dead1   
the crash of the  pillars of earth1 the 
bursting forth of the treasures of fire1
 and the  solving of all things in the  
fervent heat4 ,then the bright          

appearance of  the ,judge1 encircled by 
the splendors of the court of heaven2   
the  convoked assemblage of witnesses   
from all worlds1 filling the concave of 
the skies4 ,then the dense masses of the
 family of man1 crowding the area  of   
the great tribunal2 the separation of   
the multitude2 the irreversible         
sentence1 the departure of the doomed1  
the triumphant ascent of the  ransomed4 
,compared with themes like these1 how   
poor were the subjects of ancient       
oratory6 ,and such is their force1 and  
such the freshness of their power1      
that1 though a thousand times presented 
to the imagination1 they may yet  again1
 whenever skilfully managed1 command    
breathless attention while  the sands of
 the preacher's hour are running out4   
,nor ought it to be  absolutely affirmed
 that excitements of this kind can never
 produce  salutary impressions2 or that 
such impressions never accompany the    
hearer beyond the threshhold of the     
church1 or survive a day's contact  with

 secular interests3 peremptory          
assertions of this sort are  unnecessary
 to our argument4 ,the question to be   
answered is1 whether  this species of   
movement be not of the nature of mere   
enthusiasm1 and  whether it does not    
ordinarily rather exclude than promote  
religious  feelings4    ,in reference to
 the illustration we have adduced1 there
 might be  room for the previous        
inquiry1 whether1 on sound principles of
  interpretation1 the language of       
,scripture ought to be understood as    
giving any warrant whatever to those    
material images of terrible  sublimity  
with which it is usual to invest the    
proceedings of the future  day of       
retribution4 ,but let it be granted that
 the customary  representations of      
popular oratory are not erroneous2 and  
that when the  preacher thus accumulates
 the physical machinery of terror1 he is
 truly  picturing that last scene of the
 terrestrial history of man4 ,even then 
it were not difficult1 by an effort of  

reasoning and of meditation1 and  by    
following out the emotions of our moral 
constitution1 to realize the  feelings  
which must fill the soul on that day    
when the secrets of all  hearts shall be
 published2 and these feelings may be   
imagined1 on  probable grounds of       
anticipation1 to be such as must render 
all exterior  perceptions dim and make  
even the most stupendous magnificence of
 the  surrounding scene to fade from the
 sight4 ,it is nothing but the present  
torpor of the moral sentiments that     
allows to material ideas so much  power 
to occupy and overwhelm the mind2 but   
when the soul shall be  quickened from  
its lethargy1 then good and evil will   
take that seat of  influence which has  
been usurped by unsubstantial images of 
greatness1  beauty1 or terror4 ,what are
 the thunderings of a thousand storms2  
what  the clangor of the trumpet1 or the
 crash of earth1 or the universal       
blaze2 what the dazzling front of the   
celestial array1 or even the  appalling 

apparatus of punishment1 to the spirit  
that has become alive  to the           
consciousness of its own moral          
condition1 and is standing naked  in the
 manifested presence of the ,high and   
,holy ,one4 ,that time of  judgment     
which is to dispel all disguises1 and to
 drag sin from its  coverts into the    
full light of heaven1 will assuredly    
find no leisure  for the discursive eye2
 one perception1 one emotion1 will      
doubtless rule  exclusive in the soul4  
,no extravagance or groundless          
refinement is contained in the          
supposition  that1 in the great day of  
inquiry and award1 the moral shall so   
overwhelm the physical1 that when1 by   
regular process of evidence1  according 
to the forms of that perfect court1     
conviction has been  obtained of even   
some minor offence against the eternal  
laws of purity  or justice--an offence  
which1 if confessed on earth1 would     
hardly have  brought a blush upon the   
cheek--the heart will be penetrated with

 an  anguish of shame that shall        
preclude the perception of surrounding  
wonders3--on that day it will be sin1   
not a flaming world1 that shall  appall 
the soul4    ,if anticipations such as  
these approve themselves to reason1 it  
follows  that the humblest and the least
 adorned eloquence of a purely moral    
kind1 of which the only topics are sin  
and holiness1 guilt and pardon1  takes  
incomparably a nearer and a safer road  
towards the attainment of  the great    
object of ,christian instruction than   
does the most  overwhelming oratory that
 addresses itself chiefly to the        
imagination4  ,nay1 it may be affirmed  
that such oratory1 however artfully     
elaborated1  and however well intended  
it may be1 is nothing better than a     
curtain1  finely wrought1 indeed1 with  
gorgeous colors1 but serving to hide    
from  men the substantial terrors of the
 day of retribution4    ,nothing1 then1 
can be more glaringly inequitable than  
the manner in  which the imputation of  

enthusiasm is frequently advanced in    
relation to  pulpit oratory4 ,on the    
ground either of common sense or of     
philosophical  analysis1 the epithet    
should be assigned to him who1 in       
neglect or  contempt of the substance of
 his argument1 draws an idle and        
profitless  excitement from its         
adjuncts4 ,and on the same ground we    
must exculpate  from such a charge the  
speaker who1 however intense may be his 
fervor1  is himself moved1 and labors to
 move others1 by what is most solemn and
  momentous in his subject4 ,now to     
recur for a moment to the illustration  
already adduced4 ,in the anticipations  
we may form of the day of  judgment1    
there are combined two perfectly        
distinct classes of ideas2 on  the one  
side there are those images of physical 
grandeur and of dramatic  effect which  
offer themselves to the imaginative     
orator as the proper  materials of his  
art1 and which1 if skillfully managed1  
will not fail to  produce the kind of   

excitement that is desired by both      
speaker and  hearer4 ,on the other side 
there are1 in these anticipations1 the  
forensic proceedings which form the very
 substance of the fearful scene2  and   
these proceedings1 though of infinite   
moment to every human being1  tend      
rather to quell than to excite the      
imagination1 and therefore  afford the  
preacher no means of producing effect1  
or even of keeping  alive attention1    
unless the conscience of the hearer be  
alarmed1 and his  heart opened to the   
salutary impressions of fear1 shame1 and
 hope4 ,in  looking then at these       
themes1 so distinct in their qualities1 
we ask--,is  he the enthusiast who      
concerns himself with the substance2 or 
he who  amuses himself and his hearers  
with the shadow8 ,yet is it common to   
hear  an orator spoken of as a sound and
 sober divine1 who1 for maintaining  his
 influence and popularity1 depends      
exclusively1 constantly1 and  avowedly1 
upon his power to affect the imagination

 and the passions by  poetic or dramatic
 images1 and who is perpetually laboring
 to invest the  solemn doctrines of     
religion in a garb of attractive        
eloquence4  ,meanwhile a less           
accomplished speaker1 who--perhaps with 
more of  vehemence than of              
elegance--insists simply upon the       
momentous part of his  message1 is      
branded as an enthusiast1 merely because
 his fervor rises  some degrees above   
that of others4 ,ineffable folly6 to    
designate as  enthusiastical the        
intensity of genuine emotions1 and to   
approve as  rational mere deliriums of  
the fancy1 which intercept the influence
 of  momentous truths upon the heart4   
,yet such is the wisdom of the world6   
99       99       99       99       99  
,it cannot be pretended that the        
distinction between genuine and         
enthusiastic piety turns upon a         
metaphysical nicety3 nothing so         
important to all men must be imagined to
 await the determination of  abstruse   

questions2 and if the distinction which 
has been illustrated in  the preceding  
pages is not perfectly intelligible1 it 
may safely be  rejected as of no        
practical value4 ,but surely there can  
hardly be any  one so little observant  
of his own consciousness as not to have 
learned  that the feelings excited by   
what is beautiful or sublime1 terrible  
or  pathetic1 differ essentially from   
those emotions that are kindled in the  
heart by the ideas of goodness and of   
purity1 or of malignancy and  pollution4
 ,and every one must know that virtue   
and piety have their  range among       
feelings of the latter1 not of the      
former class2 and every  one must       
perceive that if the former occupy the  
mind to the exclusion of  the latter1   
the moral sentiments cannot fail to be  
impoverished or  corrupted4 ,it is1     
moreover1 very evident that the great   
facts of  ,christianity possess1        
adjunctively1 the means of exciting1 in 
a powerful  degree1 the emotions that   

belong to the imagination1 as well as   
those  which affect the heart2 it       
therefore follows that the former may1  
in  whole or in part1 supplant the      
latter2 and thus a fictitious piety be  
engendered1 which1 while it produces    
much of the semblance of true  religion1
 yields none of its substantial fruits4 
,in this manner it may  happen1 not in  
rare instances1 but in many1 that if1 in
 the history of  an individual1 a season
 of religious excitement has once taken 
place1  though it had in it little or   
nothing of the elements of a change from
  evil to good1 it may have been assumed
 as constituting a valid and            
inamissible initiation in the ,christian
 life2 and if subsequently the          
decencies of religion and of morality   
have been preserved1 a strong           
supposition of sincerity is entertained 
to the last1 even though all was        
illusory4    ,yet these melancholy cases
 of self-deception are not to be        
remedied by  mere explanations of the   

delusion2 on the contrary1 the practical
 use to  be made of definitions and     
distinctions and descriptions in matters
 of  religious feeling1 is to exhibit   
the necessity and to enhance the value  
of more available tests of sincerity4   
,thus1 for example1 if it appear  that1 
in times like the present1 when         
religious profession undergoes no       
severe probation1 the danger of         
substituting some species of enthusiasm 
for true piety is extreme1 there will   
appear the greater need to have         
recourse to those means of proof which  
infallibly discriminate between  truth  
and pretension4 ,this means of proof is 
nothing else than the  standard of      
morals and of temper exhibited in the   
,scriptures4 ,no other  method of       
determining the most momentous of all   
questions is given to  us1 and none     
other is needed4 ,we can neither ascend 
into the heavens1  there to inspect the 
book of life1 nor satisfactorily descend
 into the  depths of the heart to       

analyze the complex and occult varieties
 of its  emotions4 ,but we may instantly
 and certainly know whether we do the   
things which he whom we call ,lord has  
commanded4    #a ,the                   
metaphysico-devotional ,confessions of  
the good ,bishop of ,hippo  may perhaps 
not unfairly be placed at the head of   
this very peculiar  species of          
literature4 ,the author is reluctant to 
name some modern works  which he might  
deem liable to objection1 on the ground 
of their giving  encouragement to       
religious sentimentalism1 lest he should
 put into the  mouth of the irreligious 
a style of criticism which they would   
not fail  to abuse4 ,he is aware that he
 runs a hazard of this sort in advancing
  what he has above advanced4 ,he can   
only say that he thinks the subject     
much too important in itself1 and too   
intimately connected with the  theme of 
this ,essay1 to be passed in silence4   
,and he cautions the  irreligious       
reader1 if the book should fall into the

 hand of any such  unhappy person1 not  
to suppose that the author would either 
disparage  the important duty of        
self-examination2 or speak slightingly  
of those  mental struggles which will   
ever attend the conflict between good   
and  evil in the heart that has admitted
 the purifying influence of the ,holy   
,spirit4 ,what he pleads for1 is1 that  
self-examination should always have     
reference to tho ,christian standard of 
temper and conduct2 and that  spiritual 
conflicts should consist of a resistance
 against evil  dispositions or immoral  
practices4 ,what he fears on the part of
  religious folks is1 a forgetfulness of
 meekness1 temperance1 integrity1  amid 
the illusions--now gloomy1 now gaudy--of
 a diseased brain4    #b ,strictly      
speaking1 the religion of ,greece was   
not eminently a  religion of ritual     
splendor3 on the contrary1 there reigned
 in the  public services of the most    
intellectual of all nations1 much of the
  simplicity of devout fervor1 much of  

the chasteness of fine taste1 and  much 
of the archaic and unadorned solemnity  
that had descended to the  ,greeks from 
the patriarchal ages4 ,even in their    
theatres1 and on their  race-courses1   
there was far less of pomp and finery   
than is demanded on  similar occasions  
by a modern ,european populace4 ,the    
,romans carried the  sublime in         
decoration to a further point2 and in   
the same degree  exchanged reason and   
taste for colors1 gildings1 and         
draperies4 ,upon the  ,roman barbaric   
magnificence the corrupt church of the  
fifth and  following centuries          
engrafted1 in a confused medley1 the    
gorgeous  conceptions of the eastern    
nations--the terrible ideas of the      
northern  hordes--the jugglings of      
,italian priests1 and the sheer         
puerilities of  monks and children4     
,such is the ,christian worship of      
,rome6  ,nevertheless1 its elements     
comprise so much that is beautiful1 or  
imposing1 that its puerilities catch not

 the eye2 and a man must be very        
rational who altogether repels the      
impression of its services4             
,,section ,,iii4    ,,enthusiastic      
,,perversions ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of
 ,,divine ,,influence4      ,a sentiment
 natural to the human mind1 leads it to 
entertain and to  dwell with pleasure   
upon the belief of the stability and    
permanence of  the material world4      
,whether we view the multiform ranks of 
organized and  animated beings which    
cover the earth1 or examine the occult  
processes  of nature1 or look upwards1  
and contemplate distant worlds1 the     
regularity with which the great machine 
of the visible creation effects  its    
revolutions inspires a deep emotion of  
delight4 ,this feeling brings  with it  
involuntarily the supposition of        
extended duration2 nor is it  without   
extreme difficulty that we can separate 
the idea of so vast a  combination of   
causes and effects1 moving forward with 
unfailing  precision1 from the thought1 

if not of eternity1 yet of unnumbered   
ages  gone by1 and yet to come4 ,while  
these natural impressions occupy the    
mind1 a strange revulsion of feeling    
takes place1 if suddenly it be          
recollected that the massy pillars of   
creation1 with its towering             
superstructure1 and its high-wrought    
embellishments1 and its innumerable     
tenants1 are absolutely destitute of    
intrinsic permanency1 and that the      
stupendous frame1 with its nice and     
mighty movements1 is incessantly  issued
 anew from the fount of being4 ,apart   
from the divine volition1  perpetually  
active1 there can be no title to        
existence2 and in the  moment which     
should succeed to the cessation of the  
efficient will of  the ,first ,cause1   
all creatures must fall back to utter   
dissolution4    ,reason as well as faith
 justifies this doctrine1 and demands   
that we  deny independency to whatever  
is created2 devoutly confessing that    
,god  is all in all4 ,in him by whom    

they were formed1 all things consist3   
in him all live and move and have their 
being4 ,he is the author and  giver of  
life2 and in the strictest sense it may 
be affirmed that every  day is a day of 
creation1 not less than that on which   
the morning  stars uttered their        
earliest shout of joyous wonder3 every  
moment  during the lapse of ages1 the   
word of power is pronounced from the    
height of the ,eternal ,throne--,let    
there be light and life4 ,this belief   
constitutes the basement-principle of   
all religion1 and is the sentiment  from
 which piety must take its spring4 ,the 
notion of independency and of  eternity1
 suggested by the regular movements of  
nature1 are thus thrown  off from the   
surface of the visible world1 and go to 
enhance our  impressions of the glories 
of him who alone is eternal1            
unchangeable and  independent4    ,but  
it is certain that the conditions of    
existence1 not less than its  matter and
 form1 are from ,god4 ,in truth1 the    

notions of being1 and of  well-being1   
are not to be distinguished in reference
 to the divine  causation2 for each of  
his works is perfect1 both in model and 
in  movement4 ,there can be therefore no
 particle of virtue or of happiness  in 
the universe1 any more than of bare     
existence1 of which ,god is not  the    
author4 ,neither ,scripture nor         
philosophy permits exceptions or        
distinctions to be made2 for if we      
attribute to the ,creator the organ1  we
 must also attribute to him its         
functions1 and its health too1 which  is
 only the perfection of its functions4  
,and thus also1 if the soul1  with its  
complex apparatus of reason1 and moral  
sentiment1 and appetite1  be the        
handiwork of ,god1 so is its healthful  
action4 ,but the healthful  action of   
the soul consists in love to ,god1 and  
free subjection to his  will4 ,virtue is
 nothing else in its substance1 nothing 
else in its  cause4 ,as in him we live  
and move and have our being1 so also it 

is he  who worketh in us to will and to 
do whatever is pleasing to himself4     
,whether we take the safe and ready     
method of acquiescing in the obvious    
sense of a multitude of ,scriptures1 or 
pursue the laborious deductions  of     
abstract reasoning1 the same conclusion 
is attained1 that1 in the  present      
world1 and in every other where virtue  
and happiness are found1  virtue and    
happiness are emanations of the divine  
blessedness and purity4    ,but if this 
efflux of the divine nature belongs to  
the original  constitution of           
intelligent beings1 and is the permanent
 and only source  of all goodness and   
felicity1 it must be intimately fitted  
to the  movements of mind1 and must     
harmonize perfectly with its mechanism2 
just  as perfectly as the creative      
influence harmonizes with the mechanism 
and  movements of animal life4          
,whatever is vigorous and healthful in  
the one kind of existence1 or holy  and 
happy in the other1 is of ,god1 whose   

power and goodness are1  throughout the 
universe1 the natural1 not the          
supernatural cause of  whatever is not  
evil4 ,it were then a strange           
supposition to imagine that  this       
impartation of virtue and happiness may 
be perceptible to the  subject of it1   
like the access of a foreign and        
extraordinary influence2  or that while 
the creative agency is altogether       
undistinguishable amid  the movements of
 animal and intellectual life1 the      
spiritual agency  which conveys the     
warmth and activity of virtue to the    
soul1 is  otherwise than inscrutable in 
its mode of operation4 ,as the one kind 
of  divine energy does not display its  
presence by convulsive or capricious    
irregularities1 but by the unnoticed    
vigor and promptitude of the  functions 
of life2 so the other energy cannot1    
without irreverence1 be  thought of as  
making itself felt by prter-natural     
impulses1 or sensible  shocks upon the  
intellectual system2 but must rather be 

imagined as an  equable pulse of life1  
throbbing from within1 and diffusing    
softness1  sensibility and force through
 the soul4    ,it is indeed true that if
 death or torpor has long held the moral
 powers  in a state of suspended action1
 the returning principle of life1 while 
working its way in contrariety to such a
 derangement of the system1 may  make   
itself felt otherwise than where no     
similar obstruction has to be  overcome2
 yet will it only be perceived by its   
collision with the evils  that have     
usurped the heart2 not by its own       
spontaneous movements4 ,these  are1 in  
truth1 the foreign and disturbing       
influences2 it is these that  make      
themselves known by their abrupt and    
capricious activity1 by their           
convulsive or feverish force4 ,meanwhile
 the heavenly emanation which  heals1   
cleanses1 and blesses the spirit is     
still1 and constant1 and  transparent1  
as a well of water springing up unto    
eternal life4    ,nevertheless1 from the

 accidents of the position in which we  
are placed1  the divine influence may   
appear under an aspect immensely unlike 
that in  which we should view it if our 
prospect of the intelligent universe    
were  more extended than it is4 ,thus   
the sad tenant of a dungeon1 who has    
spent the days of many years alive in   
the darkness of the tomb1 thinks  far   
otherwise of the light of the sun1 as he
 watches the pencil ray that  traverses 
his prison wall1 than those do who walk 
abroad amid the  splendors of the       
summer's noon4 ,or we may imagine a     
world of once  animated beings to be    
lying in the coldness and corruption of 
death1 and  we may suppose that the     
creative power returns and reanimates   
some among  the dead1 restoring them    
instantaneously to the warmth1 and      
vigor1 and  enjoyments of life4 ,the    
spectator of this partial resurrection1 
who had  long contemplated nothing but  
the dismal stillness and corruption of  
the  universal death1 might1 in his glad

 amazement1 forget that the death of  so
 many1 not the life of the few1 is      
anomalous1 and strange1 and  contrary to
 the order of nature4 ,the miracle1 if  
so he will term it1 is  nothing         
more--nothing else1 than what is every  
instant taking place  throughout the    
wide realms of happy existence4 ,the    
life-giving energy  whose beams of      
expansive beneficence had been for a    
while1 and in this  world of death1     
intercepted or withdrawn1 has returned  
with a kindling  revulsion to its wonted
 channel2 and now moves on in copious   
tranquillity4 ,the dead may indeed still
 outnumber the living2  nevertheless it 
is the condition of the former1 not that
 of the latter1  that is extraordinary2 
and the return to life1 how amazing     
soever it may  seem1 could with no      
propriety be called supernatural4       
,the language of ,scripture1 when it    
asserts the momentous doctrine of the   
renovation of the soul by the immediate 
agency of the ,spirit of ,god1  employs 

figurative terms which1 while they give 
the utmost possible  force to the truth 
so conveyed1 indicate clearly the       
congruity of the  change so effected    
with the original construction of human 
nature4 ,the  return to virtue and      
happiness is termed a resurrection to   
life2 or it  is a new birth2 or it is   
the opening of the eyes of the blind1 or
 the  unstopping the ears of the deaf2  
or it is the springing up of a fountain 
of purity2 or it is a gale of heaven1   
neither seen nor known but by its       
effects2 or it is the growth and        
fructification of the grain2 or it is   
the abode of a guest in the home of a   
friend1 or the residence of the  ,deity 
in his temple4 ,each of these emblems1  
and all others used in the  ,scriptures 
in reference to the same subject1       
combines the double idea of  a          
change--great1 definite1 and            
absolute--and of a change from disorder1
  corruption1 derangement1 to a natural 
and permanent condition3 they are  all  

manifestly chosen with the intention of 
excluding the idea of a  miraculous or  
semi-miraculous intervention of power4  
,on the one hand1 it  is evident that a 
change of moral dispositions1 so entire 
as to be  properly symbolized by calling
 it a new birth1 or a resurrection to   
life1 must be much more than a          
self-effected reformation2 for if it    
were  nothing more1 these figures would 
be preposterous1 unnecessary1 and       
delusive4 ,but on the other hand1 this  
change must be perfectly in  harmony    
with the physical and intellectual      
constitution of human nature1  or the   
same figures would be devoid of         
propriety and significance4    ,but a   
doctrine of divine influence like this1 
though so full of promise  and of       
comfort to the aspirant after true      
virtue1 offers nothing to  those who    
desire transitory excitements1 and who  
look for visible  displays of           
supernatural power2 and therefore it    
does not satisfy the  religious         

enthusiast4 ,not content to be the      
recipient of an invigorating  and       
purifying emanation1 which1 unseen and  
unperceived1 elevates the  debased      
affections1 and fixes them on the       
,supreme ,excellence2 nor  satisfied to 
know that1 under this healing influence1
 the inveteracy of  evil dispositions is
 broken up1 and a real advance made in  
virtue1 he  asks some sensible evidence 
of the indwelling of the ,holy ,spirit1 
and  would fain so dissect his own      
consciousness as to bring the presence  
of  the ,divine agent under palpable    
examination4 ,or he seeks for some such 
extraordinary turbulence of emotion as  
may seem unquestionably to  surpass the 
powers and course of nature4 ,fraught   
with these wishes1 he  continually gazes
 upon the variable surface of his own   
feelings1 in  unquiet expectation of a  
supernatural troubling of the waters4   
,the  silent rise of the wellspring of  
purity and peace he neither heeds nor   
values2 for nothing less than the eddies

 and sallies of religious  passion can  
assure him that he is1 born from above4 
,a delusive notion of this kind at once 
diverts attention from the  cultivation 
and practice of the virtues1 and becomes
 a fermenting  principle of frothy      
agitations1 that either work themselves 
off in the  sourness of an uncharitable 
temper1 or are followed by physical     
melancholies2 or perhaps by such a      
relaxation of the moral sentiments as   
leaves the heart exposed to the         
seductions of vicious pleasure4 ,thus   
the  religious life1 instead of being a 
sunshine of augmenting peace and  hope1 
is made up of an alternation of         
ecstasies and despondencies2 or  worse1 
of devotional fervors and of sensual    
indulgences4 ,the same error  naturally 
brings with it a habit of referring to  
other1 and to much less  satisfactory   
tests of ,christian character than the  
influence of religion  upon the temper  
and conduct4 ,so it happens that        
practical morality1 from  being slighted

 as the only valid credential of        
profession1 comes1 too  often1 to be    
thought of as something which1 though it
 may be well in its  way1 is a separable
 adjunct of true piety4    ,the rate of 
general feeling that exists at any time 
in a community  measures the height to  
which the exorbitances of enthusiasm may
 attain2  thus in times of peculiar     
excitement a perverted notion of ,divine
  influence is seen to ripen into the   
most fearful excesses4 ,in such  seasons
 it is not enough that the presence of  
the ,holy ,spirit should be  indicated  
by unusual commotions of the mind2 but  
convulsions of the body  also are       
demanded in proof of the heavenly       
agency4 ,extravagance becomes           
gluttonous of marvels2 religion is      
transmuted into pantomime2 delirium  and
 hypocrisy1 often found to be good      
friends1 take their turns of  triumph2  
while humility1 meekness1 and sincerity1
 are trodden down in  the rout of       
impious confusion4 ,deplorable excesses 

of this kind happily  are infrequent1   
and never of long continuance2 but it   
has happened more  than once in the     
history of ,christianity that the habit 
of grimace in  religion1 having         
established itself in an hour of        
fanatical agitation1  and become        
associated1 perhaps1 with momentous     
truths1 as well as with  the            
distinguishing tenets of a sect1 has    
long survived the warmth of  feeling in 
which it originated1 and whence it might
 derive some apology1  and has passed   
down from father to son1 a hideous mask 
of formality1  worshipped by the weak1  
and loathed1 though not discarded1 by   
the  sincere4 ,meanwhile an hereditary  
or a studied agitation of the voice and 
muscles1 ludicrous1 if it were not      
distressing to be seen1 is made to      
represent before the world the sacred   
and solemn truth1 a truth  essential to 
,christianity1 that the ,spirit of ,god 
dwells in the hearts  of ,christians6   
,whatever special interpretation may be 

given to our  ,lord's awful announcement
 concerning the sin against the ,holy   
,ghost1 an  announcement which stands   
out as an anomaly in the midst of his   
declarations of mercy1 every devout mind
 must regard it as shedding1 if  we     
might say so1 a penumbra of warning     
around the doctrine of divine           
influence1 and will admit an            
apprehension lest he should1 by any     
perversion of that doctrine1 approach   
the precincts of so tremendous a  guilt1
 or become liable to the charge of      
giving occasion in others to            
unpardonable blasphemies4           99  
99       99       99       99    ,if it 
be true that the agency of the ,holy    
,spirit in renovating the heart  is     
perfectly congruous with the natural    
movements of the mind1 both in  its     
animal and intellectual constitution1 it
 is implied that whatever  natural means
 of suasion1 or of rational conviction1 
are proper to  rectify the motives of   
mankind1 will be employed as            

concomitant1 or  second causes of the   
change4 ,these exterior and ordinary    
means of  amendment are1 in fact1 only  
certain parts of the entire machinery of
  human nature2 nor can it be believed  
that its ,author holds in light  esteem 
his own wisdom of contrivance2 or is at 
any time obliged to break  up or to     
contemn the mechanism which he has      
pronounced to be very  good4 ,that there
 actually exists no such intention and  
no such  necessity1 is declared by the  
very mode and form of revealed religion2
  for this revelation consists of the   
common materials of moral               
influence--argument1 history1 poetry1   
eloquence4 ,the same divine             
authentication of the natural modes of  
influence1 is contained in the          
establishment of the ,christian         
ministry1 and in the warrant given to   
parental instruction4 ,these            
institutions concur to proclaim the     
great  law of the spiritual world1 that 
the heavenly grace which reforms the    

soul operates constantly in conjunction 
with second causes and ordinary  means4 
,in an accommodated1 yet legitimate     
sense of the words1 it may be  affirmed 
of every such cause1 that the powers    
that be are of ,god2  there is no power 
but of his ordaining2 and whosoever     
resisteth 7or  would supersede7 the     
power1 resisteth the ordinance of ,god4 
,no one can doubt the possibility1      
abstractedly1 of the immediate agency   
of the ,omnipotent ,spirit of ,grace1   
without the intervention of means2  nor 
does any one doubt the power of ,god to 
support human life without  aliment2 for
 man liveth not by bread alone4 ,but in 
neither case does  he adopt this mode of
 independent operation3 on the contrary1
 the ,divine  conduct1 wherever we can  
trace it1 is seen to approve much more  
the  settled arrangements of wisdom1    
than the bare exertions of power4 ,the  
treasures of that wisdom are surely     
never exhausted1 nor can a case  arise  
in which an immediate effort of         

,omnipotence becomes necessary  merely  
to supply the lack of instruments4 ,nor 
does the vindication of  the honors of  
,sovereign ,grace need any such         
interpositions2 for the  absolute       
necessity of an efficient power above   
that which resides in the  natural means
 of suasion is abundantly proved1 on the
 one hand1 by the  frequent inefficacy  
of these means1 when employed under the 
most  favorable circumstances2 and on   
the other1 by the efficacy1 as frequent1
  of means apparently inadequate to the 
production of the happy changes  which  
result from them4 ,it is not only       
affirmed by ,scripture1 but  established
 by experience1 that neither he that    
planteth1 nor he that  watereth1 is     
anything2 and at the same time it is    
affirmed by the one1  and established by
 the other1 that1 apart from the        
planting and the  watering of the       
husbandman1 ,god1 ordinarily1 giveth no 
increase4    ,no persuasion or          
instruction1 we are assured1 can of     

itself1 in any one  instance1 avail to  
penetrate the deathlike indifference of 
the human  mind towards spiritual       
objects2 but when once this torpor is   
removed by  inscrutable grace1 then the 
very feeblest and most inadequate means 
are  sufficient for effecting the       
renovation of the heart4 ,a single      
phrase1  speaking of judgment to come1  
lisped by a child1 has proved itself of 
power to awaken the soul from the       
slumber of the sensual life1 if1 when   
the sound falls on the ear1 the spirit  
has been quickened from above4 ,in  such
 a case it were an error to affirm that 
the change of character was  effected   
independently of external means2 for    
though they were disguised  under a     
semblance of extreme feebleness1 and    
were such as might be  easily overlooked
 or forgotten1 they had in themselves   
the substantial  powers of the highest  
eloquence2 and what might have been     
added to the  momentous truth1 so feebly
 announced1 would have been little more 

than  embellishment2 like the           
embroideries and embossments of the     
warrior's  garniture1 which add nothing 
to the vigor of his arm4    ,two causes 
seem to have operated in maintaining the
 notion that divine  influence is often 
dissociated from concurrent means of    
suasion2 the  first of these is an      
ill-judged but excusable jealousy on the
 part of  pious persons for the honor of
 ,sovereign ,grace2 and is a mere       
reaction  upon orthodoxy1 from the      
,pelagian and semi-,pelagian heresies   
such  persons have thought it necessary1
 for the safety of a most important     
doctrine1 not merely to assert the      
supremacy of the ultimate agent2 but  to
 disparage1 as much as possible1 all    
intermediate instruments4 ,the  second  
of these causes is the imaginary        
difficulty felt by those who1  having   
unadvisedly plunged into the depths of  
metaphysical theology1  when they should
 have busied themselves only with the   
plain things of  religion1 fail in every

 attempt to adjust their notions of     
divine aid  and human responsibility2   
and1 therefore1 if they would be zealous
 for  the honor due to the first1 think 
themselves obliged almost to nullify    
the second4 ,if any such difficulty     
actually exists1 it should be made to   
rest upon the operations of nature1     
where it meets us not less than in  the 
precincts of theology2 and the          
husbandman should desist from his  toils
 until schoolmen have demonstrated to   
him the rationale of the  combined      
operations of first and second causes4  
,or if such a  demonstration must not be
 waited for1 and if the husbandman is to
 commit  the precious grain to the      
earth1 and to use all his skill and     
industry  in favoring the inscrutable   
process of nature1 then let the         
theologian  pursue a parallel course1   
content to know1 that while the         
,scriptures  affirm in the clearest     
manner whatever may enhance our ideas of
 the  necessity and sovereignty of      

divine grace1 they nowhere give         
intimation  of a suspended or halved    
responsibility on the part of man2 but1 
on the  contrary1 use1 without scruple1 
language which implies that the         
spiritual welfare of those who are      
taught depends on the zeal and labors   
of the teacher1 as truly as the temporal
 welfare of children depends on  the    
industry of a father4 ,the practical    
consequences of such speculative        
confusions are seen in the frightful    
apathy and culpable negligence of  some 
instructors and parents1 who1 because a 
metaphysical problem1 which  ought never
 to have been heard of beyond the walls 
of colleges1  obstructs their           
understandings1 have acquired the habit 
of gazing with  indifference upon the   
profaneness and immoralities of those   
whom their  diligence might have        
retained in the path of piety and       
virtue4    ,another capital perversion  
remains to complete the enthusiastic    
abuse of  the doctrine of divine        

influence2 and this is the supposition  
that those  heavenly communications to  
the soul which form a permanent         
constituent  of the ,christian          
dispensation1 are not always confined to
 the matter or  to the rule of          
,scripture1 and that the favored subject
 of this teaching1  at least when he has
 made considerable advances in the      
divine life1 is  led on a higher path of
 instruction1 where the written         
revelation of the  will of ,god may be  
neglected or scorned4 ,this bold        
delusion assumes two  forms3 the first  
is that of the tranquil contemplatist1  
the whole of  whose religion is         
inarticulate and vague1 and who neglects
 or rejects  the ,scripture1 not so much
 because he is averse to its truths1 as 
because the mistiness of his sentiments 
abhors whatever is distinct1 and        
definite1 and fixed4 ,to read a plain   
narrative of intelligible facts1  and to
 derive practical instruction therefrom1
 implies a state of mind  essentially   

different from that which he finds it   
necessary to his  factitious happiness  
to maintain3 before he can thus read his
 ,bible in  childlike simplicity he must
 forsake the religion of dreams1 and    
open  his eyes to the world of          
realities2 in a word he must cease to be
 an  enthusiast4    ,the other form of  
this delusion should excite pity rather 
than provoke  rebuke2 and calls for the 
skill of the physician1 more than for   
the  instructions of the theologian4    
,the limits of insanity have not yet    
been  ascertained2 perhaps it has none2 
and certainly there are facts that      
favor the belief that the interval      
between common weakness of judgment  and
 outrageous madness is filled up by an  
insensible gradation of  absurdity1     
nowhere admitting of a line of absolute 
separation4 ,where1  for example1 shall 
we pause1 and separate the sane from the
 insane1  among those who believe       
themselves to be favored perpetually    
with  special1 particular1 and          

ultra-scriptural revelations from       
heaven8 ,the  most modest enthusiast of 
this class1 and the most daring         
visionary1  stand together on the same  
ground of outlawry from common sense and
  scriptural authority2 and though their
 several offences against truth  and    
sobriety may be of greater or less      
amount1 they must both be dealt  with on
 the same principle2 for both have alike
 excluded themselves from  the benefit  
of appeal to the only authorities known 
among the sane part  of mankind1 namely1
 reason and ,scripture3 those who reject
 both1  surrender themselves over to    
pity--or compulsion4    ,it would       
manifestly be better that men should be 
left to the darkness  and wanderings of 
unassisted reason1 than that they should
 receive the  immediate instructions of 
heaven1 unless they possess at the same 
time a  public and fixed rule to which  
all such supernatural instructions are  
to  be conformed1 and by which they are 
to be discriminated2 for the errors  of 

reason1 how great soever they may be1   
carry with them no weight of  divine    
authority2 but if the doctrine of divine
 communications be  admitted1 and       
admitted without reference to a public  
and permanent  standard of truth1 then  
every extravagance of impiety may claim 
a  heavenly origin2 and who shall       
venture to rebuke even the most         
pestilent  error2 for how shall the     
reprover assure himself that he is not  
fighting  against ,god8    ,it has      
already been affirmed that enthusiasm1  
far from being necessarily  or          
invariably connected with fervor or     
feeling1 is often seen to exist1  in its
 wildest excesses1 conjoined with the   
most frigid style of  religious         
sentiment4 ,thus1 for example1 the three
 egregious perversions  of the doctrine 
of divine influence1 which have been    
described in the  preceding pages1 are  
maintained1 and have been professed and 
defended  during several generations1 by
 a sect remarkable1 if not for the      

chilliness1 at least for the stillness  
of its piety1 and its contempt of  the  
natural expressions of devotional       
feeling2 and even for a peculiar        
shrewdness of good sense in matters of  
worldly interest4 ,but the              
incongruities of human nature are       
immense and incalculable2 or it would   
not be seen that general intelligence1  
and amiable manners1 and  ,christian    
benevolence1 are often linked with      
errors which1 if viewed  abstractedly1  
might seem as if they could belong only 
to minds that were  lost to wisdom and  
piety4          ,,section ,,iv4         
,,enthusiasm ,,the ,,source ,,of        
,,heresy4      ,the creed of the        
,christian is the fruit of exposition2  
no part of it is  elaborated by         
processes of abstract reasoning2 no part
 is furnished by  the inventive         
faculties4 ,to ascertain the true       
meaning of the words and  phrases used  
by those who spake as they were moved by
 the ,holy ,ghost1  is the single aim of

 the studies of the theologian4         
,interpretation is  his function4 ,but  
the work of interpretation1 considered  
as an  intellectual employment1 differs 
essentially from that of the student of 
physical or abstract science2 for it    
neither needs nor admits of the  ardor  
by which those pursuits are animated4   
,nor has nature furnished the  faculties
 that are employed in the labor of      
expounding the terms of  ancient        
documents with any very vivid           
susceptibility of pleasurable           
excitement4 ,the toils of the lawyer1 of
 the philologist1 and of the            
theologian1 must therefore be sustained 
by a reference to some  substantial     
motive of utility2 and though there may 
be a few minds so  peculiarly           
constituted as to cultivate these       
studies with enthusiastic  ardor1 from  
the pure impulse of native taste1 the   
ranks of a numerous  body of men can    
never be filled up by spontaneous       
laborers of this sort4    ,christianity1

 being as it is1 a religion of documents
 and of  interpretation1 must utterly   
exclude from its precincts the          
adventurous  spirit of innovation4      
,theology offers no field to men fond of
  intellectual enterprise3 the ,church  
has no work for them2 or none until     
they have renounced the characteristic  
propensity of their mental              
conformation4 ,true religion1 unlike    
human science1 was given to mankind  in 
a finished form1 and is to be learned1  
not improved2 and though the  most      
capacious human mind is nobly employed  
while concentrating all its  vigor upon 
the acquirement of this documentary     
learning1 it is very  fruitlessly1 and  
very perniciously occupied in attempting
 to give it a  single touch of          
amendment4    ,the form under which     
,christianity now presents itself as an 
object of  study does1 in a much greater
 degree1 discourage and prevent         
speculation  and novelty1 than it did in
 the early ages2 and in fact1 if all the

  varieties of opinion which have       
appeared during the eighteen centuries  
of church history are numbered1 a large 
majority of them will be found  to      
belong to the first three centuries1 and
 to the eastern church4  ,that is to    
say1 to the period when doctors of      
theology1 possessing the  rule of faiths
 in their vernacular tongue1 had no     
other intellectual  employment than that
 either of inventing novelties of       
doctrine1 or of  refuting them4 ,other  
causes may1 no doubt1 fairly be alleged 
as having  had influence in quickening  
that prodigious efflorescence of        
heretical  doctrine which infected the  
whole atmosphere of ,christianity1 in   
the  east1 during the second and third  
centuries1 and at a time when the       
western church maintained1 in a good    
degree1 the simplicity of  ,scriptural  
faith2 but the cause above-mentioned    
ought not to be ranked  among the least 
efficient4    ,but theology in modern   
times offers an unbounded field of toil 

to the  student2--the toil of mere      
acquisition1 and of critical research2  
for a  familiar knowledge of three      
languages1 at least1 is indispensable to
  every man who would take respectable  
rank as a teacher of ,christianity2     
especially to every one who aspires to  
distinction in his order2 and  some     
acquaintance with two or three other    
languages1 is also an object  of        
reasonable ambition to the theological  
student4 ,and moreover1 an  accomplished
 expounder of ,scripture must be well   
versed in profane and  church history2  
nor may he be entirely ignorant of even 
the abstract and  physical sciences4    
,these multifarious pursuits1 which are 
to be acquired  compatibly with the     
discharge of the public duties of the   
pastoral  office1 assuredly furnish     
employment enough for the most active   
and the  most industrious mind long     
beyond the period of college initiation4
 ,nor  are we to consider merely the    
natural influence produced upon the     

intellectual habits by these            
employments1 in preventing that         
discursiveness of the inventive         
faculties which is a principal source of
  heresy2 for its quality1 not less than
 its quantity1 is decidedly  corrective 
of the propensity to generate novelties 
of opinion4    ,every one who has made  
the experiment well knows that the toils
 of  learned acquisition have a direct  
tendency to impair the freshness and    
force of the intellectual constitution1 
to chill and cloud the  imagination1 and
 to break the elasticity of the         
inventive faculty2 if  not to blunt the 
keenness of the powers of analysis4     
,thus they indispose  the mind to the   
wantonness of speculation1 and impart to
 it rather the  timidity1 the           
acquiescence1 the patience1 which are   
proper to the  submissive exposition of 
an authoritative rule of faith4         
,biblical  learning1 therefore1 not only
 serves directly to dispel errors of    
opinion by throwing open the true sense 

of ,scripture2 but it contains  within  
itself what might be termed a physical  
preventive against  heresy1 which1 if it
 be not always efficacious1 is          
perceptibly  operative4 ,nothing then   
can be more desirable than that public  
opinion  should continue1 as it now     
does1 to demand erudition from the      
teachers  of religion4    ,nevertheless1
 when a large class of men is           
professionally devoted to the  study of 
theology1 there will not be wanting some
 whose mental  conformation 7not to     
mention motives which are foreign to our
 subject7  impels them to abandon the   
modest path of exposition1 and to seek1 
within the precincts of religion1 for   
the gratifications that accompany       
abstruse speculation1 discovery1        
invention1 exaggeration1 and paradox4   
,all these pleasures of a morbid or     
misdirected intellectual activity may   
be obtained in the regions of theology1 
not less than in those of  mathematical 
and physical science1 if once the       

restraints of a religious  and heartfelt
 reverence for the authority of the word
 of ,god are  discarded4 ,the principal 
heresies that have disturbed the church1
 may1  no doubt1 fairly be attributed to
 motives springing from the pride or    
perverse dispositions of the human      
heart2 but often a mere intellectual    
enthusiasm has been the real source of  
false doctrine4    ,errors generated in 
this manner possess1 commonly1 some     
aspect of beauty  or of greatness1 or of
 philosophical simplicity1 to recommend 
them2 for  as they were framed amid a   
pleasurable excitement of the mind1 so  
they  will have power to convey a       
kindred delight to others4 ,and such    
exorbitances of doctrine1 when advanced 
by men of powerful or richly  furnished 
minds1 conceal their deformity and evil 
tendency beneath the  attractions of    
intelligence4 ,but the very same        
extravagances and showy  paradoxes1 when
 caught up by inferior spirits1         
presently lose their  garb1 not only of 

beauty1 but of decency1 and show        
themselves in the  unpleasing bareness  
of error4 ,the mischief of heresy       
becomes often far  more active and      
conspicuous in second hands than it was 
in those of  its authors2 and the reason
 is that it is usually the child of     
intellectualists--an inoffensive order  
of men3 but no sooner has it been       
brought forth and reared1 than it joins 
itself1 as by instinct1 to minds  of    
vulgar quality1 and in that society soon
 learns the dialect of  impiety and     
licentiousness4 ,the heresiarch1 though 
he may be more  blameworthy1 is often   
much less audacious1 and less corrupted1
 than his  followers2 for he1 perhaps1  
is only an enthusiast2 they have become 
fanatics4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,in like manner as
 the passion for travel impels a man to 
perambulate the  earth1 and then makes  
him sigh to think that he has not other 
continents  to explore1 so the          
constitutional enthusiasm of speculation

 urges its  victims to traverse the     
entire circuit of opinions3 and even    
then leaves  him insatiate of novelty4  
,it is not caprice1 much less is it the 
excessive solicitude of an honest mind1 
always inquiring for truth2 but  rather 
the impetus of a too highly-wrought     
intellectual activity1 which  carries   
the heretic onward and onward1 from     
system to system1 blazing as  he goes1  
until there remains no form of flagrant 
error with which he has  not scared the 
sober world4 ,then1 though reason may   
have forgotten all  consistency1 pride  
has a better memory2 and as this passion
 forbids his  return to the truths he   
has so often denounced1 and denounced   
from all  points of his various course1 
nothing remains for him1 when the season
  of exhaustion arrives1 but to go off  
into the dark void of infidelity4       
,the sad story has been often realized4 
,in the conformation of the  heretic by 
temperament1 there is more of           
intellectual mobility than of  strength3

 a ready perception of analogies gives  
him both facility and  felicity in      
collecting proofs1 or rather            
illustrations in support of  whatever   
opinion he may adopt4 ,so copious are   
the materials of  conjectural argument  
which crowd upon him1 and so nice is his
 tact of  selection1 and so quick his   
skill of arrangement1 that ere dull     
sobriety  has gathered up its weapons1  
he has reared a most imposing front of  
defence4 ,pleased1 and even surprised1  
with his own work1 he now  confidently  
maintains a position which at first he  
scarcely thought to  be seriously       
tenable4 ,having convinced himself of   
the certainty of the  new truth1 and    
implicated his vanity in its support1   
deeper motives  stimulate the activity  
of the reasoning and inventive          
faculties2 and he  presently piles      
demonstration upon demonstration1 to a  
most amazing  height1 until it becomes1 
in his honest opinion1 sheer infatuation
 to  doubt4 ,in this state of mind1 of  

what value are the opinions of teachers 
and of elders8 ,of what weight the      
belief of the catholic church in all    
ages8 ,they are nothing to be accounted 
of2 there seems even a glory and  a     
heroism1 as well as a duty1 in spurning 
the fallible authority of man3  modesty1
 caution1 hesitation1 are treasons      
against conscience and heaven6    ,the  
young heresiarch1 we will suppose to    
have spent the earliest season  of life1
 while yet the ingenuousness of youth   
remained unimpaired1 in  the pursuits of
 literature or science1 and to have been
 ignorant of  ,christianity otherwise   
than as a system of forms and offices4  
,but the  moment of awakening arrives2  
some appalling accident or piercing     
sorrow  sets the interests of time in   
abeyance1 and opens upon the soul the   
vast  objects of immortality4 ,or the   
eloquence of a preacher may have        
effected  the change4 ,in these first   
moments of a new life1 the great and    
common  doctrines of religion1 perceived

 in the freshness of novelty1 afford    
scope enough to the ardor of the spirit2
 and perhaps1 also1 a new  sentiment of 
submission quells1 in some measure1 that
 ardor3 the craving  of the mind does   
not yet need heresy2 truth has stimulus 
enough2 and  even after truth has become
 somewhat vapid1 the restraints of      
connection  and friendship have force to
 retain the convert three years1 or     
five1 in  the bosom of humility4 ,but   
the first accidental contact with       
doctrinal  paradox kindles the          
constitutional passion1 and rouses the  
slumbering  faculties to the full       
activity of adult vigor2 contention     
ensues2 malign  sentiments1 although    
perhaps foreign to the temper1 are      
engendered1 and  these impart gloom to  
mysticism1 and add rancor to            
extravagance4 ,and  now1 no dogma that  
is obnoxious1 terrific1 intolerant1     
schismatical1  fails to be1 in its turn1
 avowed by the delirious bigot1 who     
burns with  ambition to render himself  

the enemy--not so much of the world1 as 
of the  church4    ,but will even the   
last extravagance of false doctrine     
allay the diseased  cravings of the     
brain8 ,not unless that physical        
inertness which1 towards  the middle    
period of life1 sometimes effects a cure
 of folly1 or perhaps  some motive of   
secular interest1 supervenes4 ,otherwise
 a progression  must take place1 or a   
retrogression2 and when the heart is    
sick and  faint from the exhaustion of  
over-activity1 and when the whispers of 
conscience have long ceased to be heard1
 and when the emotions of  genuine piety
 have become painfully strange to the   
soul1 nothing is so  probable as an     
almost sudden plunge from the pinnacle  
of high belief1  into the bottomless    
gulf of universal scepticism4 ,a        
lamentable  catastrophe of this kind1   
and which is only the natural issue of  
an  intellectual enthusiasm1 would1 no  
doubt1 much oftener take place than  it 
does1 if slender reasons of worldly     

prudence were not usually found  to be  
of firmer texture than all the logic of 
theology4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,a chronic        
intellectual enthusiasm1 when it becomes
 the source of heresy1  most frequently 
betakes itself to those exaggerations of
 ,christian  doctrine which pass under  
the general designation of              
,antinomianism2--not  the ,antinomianism
 of workshops1 which is a corruption of 
,christianity  concocted by mercenary   
teachers expressly to give license to   
the  sensualities of those by whom they 
are salaried2 but the ,antinomianism  of
 the closet1 which is a translation into
 ,christian phraseology of the  ancient 
stoicism4 ,the alleged relationship     
consists1 not so much in the  similar   
abuse which is made in both systems of  
the doctrine of  necessity1 but in the  
leading intention of both2 which is to  
inclose the  human mind in a perfect    
envelop of abstractions1 such as may    
effectively  defend it from the         

importunate sense of responsibility1 or 
obligation1  and such as shall render   
him who wears it a passive spectator of 
his own  destinies4 ,the doctrine of    
fate was seized upon by ancient         
sophists1 and  is taken up by the       
,antinomian1 because1 better than any   
other principle1  it serves the purposes
 of this peculiar species of illusory   
delectation4  ,yet the ,christian       
theorist has some signal advantages over
 his ancestor4  ,for example3 the       
egregious absurdities of the ancient    
philosophist met  him on every walk of  
life1 and stood in the way of constant  
collision  with the common sense of     
mankind3 and thus the sage1 in spite of 
his  gravity and self-command1 could    
hardly pass a day in public without     
being put to shame by some glaring proof
 of practical inconsistency2 for  as    
often as he spoke or acted like other   
men1 as often as he made it  evident    
that he did not really think himself a  
statue or a phantom1 he  gave the lie   

direct to the fooleries of his          
scholastic profession4    ,but the      
modern stoic1 while1 by a sinister      
inference from his  doctrine1 he takes  
large leave of indulgence to the flesh  
7an indulgence  which he uses or not1 as
 his temperament may determine7 and so  
borrows  the practical part of          
,epicureanism1 transfers his egregious  
dogmas to  the unseen world1 where they 
come not at all in contact with common  
sense4 ,in the vast unknown of an       
eternity on both sides of time1 he      
finds range enough1 and immunity1 for   
even the most enormous paradoxes  which 
ingenuity can devise1 or sophistry      
defend4 ,besides1 the  argumentative    
resources of the modern are incomparably
 more copious and  various and tangible 
than those of the ancient wrangler2 for 
the latter  could only fall back1 ever  
and again1 upon the same abstractions2  
but  the former may take position on any
 part of a very wide frontier2 for      
having so large and multifarious a      

volume as the ,scriptures in his hand1  
and having multiplied the argumentative 
value of every sentence it  contains    
almost indefinitely by adopting the rule
 of ,origen and the  ,rabbis1 that the  
whole of ,scripture is mystical1 and may
 bear every  sense that can be found in 
it1 he is at once secure from the       
possibility  of being confuted1 and     
revels in an unbounded opulence of proof
 and  illustration in support of his    
positions4 ,to the sober interpreter1   
the  ,bible is one book2 but to the     
,antinomian it is as a hundred volumes4 
,with a field so wide1 and means so     
inexhaustible1 the ,christian theorist  
lives in a paradise of speculation2 and 
no revolution to which human  nature is 
liable can be less probable than that   
which must take place  before he        
abandons his world of factitious        
happiness4 ,the dreamer must  feel that 
sin is a substantial ill1 in which      
himself is fatally  implicated1 and not 
a mere abstraction to be discoursed of2 

he must  learn that the righteous ,god  
deals with mankind not fantastically1   
but  on terms adapted to the            
intellectual and moral conformation of  
that  human nature1 of which he is the  
author2 and he must know that salvation 
is a deliverance1 in which man is an    
agent1 not less than a recipient4    ,it
 belongs not at all to our subject to   
attempt a confutation of this1  the most
 strange of the many corruptions which  
,christianity has  undergone2 our part  
is merely to exhibit against the system 
the charge  of delusion or enthusiasm2  
and this charge needs no other proof    
than the  plain statement that1 whereas 
,christianity recognizes the actual     
mechanism of human nature1 and appeals  
to the moral sentiments1 and  urges     
motives of every class1 and labors to   
enhance the sense  of responsibility1   
and authenticates the voice of          
conscience1  ,antinomianism1 with       
indurated arrogance1 spurns all such    
sentiments1 and  substitutes nothing in 

their room but bare speculations2 and   
these  speculations are all of a kind to
 cherish the selfish deliriums of       
luxurious contemplation4 ,but to take a 
course like this1 is1 whatever  may be  
the subject in question1 the part of an 
enthusiast4 ,whoever1 in  any such      
manner1 cuts himself off from the common
 sympathies of our  nature1 and makes   
idiot sport of the energies of moral    
action1 and has  recourse1 either to a  
jargon of sophistries1 or to trivial    
evasions1  when other men act upon the  
intuitions of good sense1 and rebuts    
every  idea that does not minister      
gratification either to fancy or to     
appetite1 such a man must be called an  
enthusiast1 even though he were  at the 
same time--if that were possible--a     
saint4           99       99       99   
99       99    ,we have spoken of the   
enthusiasm of mysticism4 ,but there is  
also an  enthusiasm of simplification4  
,the lowest intellectual temperature1   
not  less than the highest1 admits      

extravagance1 and sometimes even admits 
it  more2 for warmth and movement are   
less unnatural in the world of matter   
or of mind1 than congelation3 what so   
grotesque as the coruscations of  frost8
 ,if the reasoning faculty had not its  
imaginative impulse1 the  sciences would
 never have moved a step in advance of  
the mechanic arts2  much less would the 
high theorems of pure mathematics1 or   
the abstruse  principles of metaphysics1
 have been known to mankind4 ,but if    
this  natural and useful impulse be     
irregular and excessive1 it becomes the 
spring of errors4 ,yet the perfection of
 science1 and its general  diffusion in 
modern times1 operate so effectually to 
keep in check that  propensity to absurd
 speculation of which the elements are  
always in  existence1 that if we are in 
search of specimens of this species of  
intellectual disease1 we must expect to 
meet with them only without the  pale of
 education1 and among the self-taught   
philosophers of workshops1  who         

sometimes amuse the hour of stolen      
leisure in digesting systems of  the    
universe1 other than the one which is   
demonstrated in our  universities4      
,driven from the enclosures where the   
demonstrable sciences hold empire1  the 
enthusiasts of speculation turn off upon
 ground where there is more  scope1 more
 obscurity1 more license1 and less of   
the stern and instant  magistracy of    
right reason4 ,some give themselves to  
politics1 some to  political economy1   
and some to theology2 and whatever they 
severally  meet with that is in its     
nature1 or that has become concrete1    
complex1  or multifariously involved1   
they seize upon with a hungry avidity4  
,the  disease of the brain has settled  
upon the faculty of analysis2 all       
things compound must therefore be       
severed1 and not only be severed but    
left in disunion4 ,it cannot but happen 
that1 in these zealous labors of        
dissolution1 some happy strokes must now
 and then fall upon errors which  wiser 

men have either not observed1 or have   
spared3 mankind owes  therefore a petty 
debt of gratitude to such speculatists  
for having  removed a few excrescences  
from ancient systems4 ,but these trivial
  successes1 which are hailed with much 
applause by the vulgar1 who  delight in 
witnessing any kind of destruction1 and 
by the splenetic1 who  believe          
themselves to gain whatever is torn from
 others1 inspire the  heroes of reform  
with unbounded hopes of effecting       
universal  revolutions2 and they        
actually become inflated to so high a   
degree of  presumption1 that1 at a time 
when all the great questions which can  
occupy the human mind have been         
thoroughly discussed1 and discussed with
  every advantage of liberty1 of        
learning1 and of ability1 they are not  
ashamed to adopt a style of speaking as 
if they thought themselves  morning     
stars on the verge of the dark ages1    
destined to usher in the  tardy         
splendors of true philosophy upon a     

benighted world6    --,or of true       
religion3 as if the ,christian doctrine1
 in its most  essential principles1 had 
become extinct1 even in the days of the 
apostles1 and had not merely remained   
under the bushel of superstition  during
 the ages of religious despotism1 but   
long after the chains of  that despotism
 were broken1 and after the human mind1 
with all the vigor  and intensity of    
renovated intelligence and renovated    
piety had given  its utmost force1 and  
its utmost diligence to the exposition  
of the  canon of faith4 ,of what sort1  
it might be asked1 were this canon1 if  
its  meaning on the most important      
points might1 age after age1 be utterly 
misunderstood by ninety-nine learned1   
honest1 and unshackled men1  and be     
perceived only by the one8 ,yet this is 
the supposition of  simplificators1 who 
from the impulse of a faulty cerebral   
conformation1  must needs disbelieve1   
because theology would otherwise afford 
them no  intellectual exercise4         

99       99       99       99       99  
,it is a common notion1 incessantly     
repeated1 and seldom sifted1 that       
diversity of opinion1 on even the       
cardinal points of ,christian faith1 is 
an inevitable and a permanent evil1     
springing1 and always to spring1  from  
the diversity of men's dispositions and 
intellectual faculties4  ,certainly no  
other expectation could be entertained  
if ,christian  theology were what moral 
philosophy was among the sophists of    
ancient  ,athens--a system of           
abstractions1 owning subjection to no   
authority4 ,but  this is not the fact2  
and though hitherto the ultimate        
authority has  been much abused or      
spurned1 the re-establishment of its    
power on fixed  and well understood     
principles seems to be far from an      
improbable event4  ,we say more1 that an
 actual progression towards so happy a  
revolution is  perceptible in our own   
times4 ,we do not for a moment forget   
that a  heartfelt acquiescence in the   

doctrines of ,scripture must ever be the
  result of a divine influence1 and is  
not to be effected by the same  means   
which produce uniformity of opinion on  
matters of science4 ,but  while we      
anticipate1 on grounds of strong hope1 a
 time of refreshing  from above1 which  
shall subdue the depraved repugnances of
 the human  mind1 we may also           
anticipate1 on grounds of common        
reasoning1 a natural  process of reform 
in theology--considered as a science1   
which shall place  the intrinsic        
incoherence of heresy in the broad light
 of day1  henceforward to be contemned  
and avoided4    ,the fields of error    
have been fully reaped and gleaned2 nor 
shall aught  that is new spring up on   
that field1 the whole botany of which is
  already known and classified4 ,it is  
only of late that a fair1 competent1    
and elaborate discussion of all the     
principal questions of theology has     
taken place2 and the result of this     
discussion waits now to be  manifested  

by some new movement of the human mind4 
,great and happy  revolutions usually   
stand ready and latent for a time until 
accident  brings them forward4 ,such a  
change and renovation we believe to be  
at  the door of the ,christian ,church4 
,the ground of controversy has          
contracted itself daily during the last 
half century2 the grotesque and         
many-colored forms of ancient heresy    
have disappeared1 and the existing      
differences of opinion 7some of which   
are indeed of vital consequence7  all   
draw round a single controversy1 the    
final decision of which it is  hard to  
believe shall long be deferred2 for the 
minds of men are  pressing towards it   
with an unusual intentness4 ,this great 
question  relates to the authority of   
,holy ,scripture2 and the professedly   
,christian world is divided upon it into
 three parties1 comprehending all       
smaller varieties of opinion4    ,the   
first of these parties1 constituted of  
the ,romish ,church1 and its  disguised 

favorers1 affirms the subordination of  
the authority of  ,scripture to that of 
tradition and the ,church4 ,this is a   
doctrine of  slavery and of ignorance1  
which the mere progress of knowledge and
 of  civil liberty must overthrow1 if it
 be not first exploded by other  means4 
,the second party comprises the         
sceptical sects of the ,protestant      
world1 which agree in affirming the     
subordination of ,scripture to the      
dogmas of natural theology2 in other    
words to every man's notion of what     
religion ought to be4 ,these sects1     
having no barrier between  themselves   
and pure deism1 are continually         
dwindling by desertions to  infidelity2 
nor will they be able to hold their     
slippery footing on the  edge of        
,christianity a day after a general     
revival of serious piety has  taken     
place4    ,the third party1             
comprehending the great majority of the 
,protestant  body1 bows reverently1 and 
implicitly1 and with intelligent        

conviction1  to the absolute authority  
of the word of ,god1 and knows of       
nothing in  theology that is not        
affirmed1 or fairly implied1 therein4   
,the  differences existing within this  
party1 how much soever they may be      
exaggerated by bigots1 will vanish as   
the mists of the morning under the      
brightness of the sun1 whenever a       
refreshment of pious feeling descends   
upon the ,church4 ,they consist1 in     
part1 of mere misunderstandings of      
abstract phrases1 unknown to the        
language of ,scripture2 in part they    
hinge upon political constitutions1 of  
which so much as is substantially  evil 
is by no means of desperate inveteracy3 
in part these differences  are          
constituted of nothing better than the  
lumber of antiquity1 the  worthless     
relics of forgotten janglings handed    
down from father to son1  but now1 by so
 many transmissions1 worn away to an    
extreme slenderness1  and quite ready to
 crumble into the dust of everlasting   

forgetfulness4  ,surely men are not     
always so to remain children in         
understanding1 that  the less shall be  
preferred to the greater2 nor shall it  
always be that  the substantial evils of
 schism are perpetuated and vindicated  
on the  ground of obscure historical    
questions1 fit only to amuse the idle   
hours  of the antiquary4 ,this trifling 
with things sacred must come to its end1
  and the great law of love must        
triumph1 and the ,christian ,church     
henceforward have one ,lord1 one faith1 
one baptism4          ,,section ,v4     
,,the ,,enthusiasm ,,of ,,prophetic     
,,interpretation4      ,disappointment  
is perhaps the most frequent of all the 
occasional causes  of insanity2 but the 
sudden kindling of hope sometimes       
produces the same  lamentable effect4   
,yet before this emotion1 congenial as  
it is to the  human mind1 can exert so  
fatal an influence1 the expected good   
must be  of immeasurable magnitude1 and 
must appear in the light of the         

strongest  probability2 nor must even   
the vagueness of a distant futurity     
intervene2 otherwise1 tho swellings of  
desire and joy would be quelled1  and   
reason might maintain its seat4 ,on this
 principle perhaps it is1  that the vast
 and highly exciting hope of immortal   
life very rarely1  even in susceptible  
minds1 generates that kind of emotion   
which brings  with it the hazard of     
mental derangement4 ,religious madness1 
when it  occurs1 is most often the      
madness of despondency4 ,but if the     
glories of  heaven might1 by any means1 
and in contravention of the established 
order of things1 be brought out from the
 dimness and concealment of the  unseen 
world1 and be placed ostensibly on this 
side of the darkness and  coldness of   
death1 and be linked with objects       
familiarly known1 they  might then press
 so forcibly upon the passion of hope1  
and so inflame  excitable imaginations1 
that real insanity1 or an approach      
towards it1  would probably1 in frequent

 instances1 be the consequence4    ,a   
provision against mischiefs of this kind
 is evidently contained in the  extreme 
reserve of the ,scriptures on all       
subjects connected with the  unseen     
world4 ,this reserve is so singular1 and
 so extraordinary1 seeing  that the     
,jewish poets1 prophets and preachers1  
were ,asiatics1 that it  affords no     
trivial proof of the divine origination 
of the books3 an  intelligent advocate  
of the ,bible would choose to rest an   
argument  rather upon the paucity of its
 discoveries1 than upon their plenitude4
    ,but now a confident and dogmatical 
interpretation of those prophecies  that
 are supposed to be on the eve of       
fulfilment1 has manifestly a  tendency  
thus to bring forth the wonders of the  
unseen world1 and to  connect them in   
sensible contact with the familiar      
objects and events of  the present      
state4 ,and such interpretations may be 
held with so full and  overwhelming a   
persuasion of their truth1 that heaven  

and its splendors  may seem to stand at 
the door of our very homes3 to-morrow1  
perhaps1 the  hastening crisis of the   
nations shall lift the veil which so    
long has  hidden the brightness of the  
eternal throne from mortal eyes3 each   
turn  of public affairs1 a war1 a truce1
 a conspiracy1 a royal marriage1 may  be
 the immediate precursor of that new    
era1 wherein it shall no longer  be     
true1 as heretofore1 that the things    
eternal are unseen4    ,when an opinion1
 or1 we should rather say1 a persuasion 
of this imposing  kind is entertained by
 a mind of more mobility than strength1 
and when  it has acquired form1 and     
consistency1 and definiteness1 by being 
long  and incessantly the object of     
contemplation1 it may easily gain       
exclusive possession of the mind3 and a 
state of exclusive occupation of  the   
thoughts by a single subject1 if it be  
not real madness1 differs  little from  
it2 for a man can hardly be called sane 
who is mastered by  one set of ideas1   

and who has lost the will or the power  
to break up the  continuity of his      
musings4    ,whether or not this        
explanation be just1 it is matter of    
fact that no  species of enthusiasm has 
carried its victims nearer to the brink 
of  insanity than that which originates 
in the interpretation of unfulfilled    
prophecy4 ,it need not be asked whether 
there is not some capital error  on the 
side of many who have given themselves  
to this study2 for the  indications of  
pitiable delusion have been of a kind   
not at all  ambiguous4 ,there must be   
present some lurking mischief when the  
study of  any part of ,holy ,scripture  
issues in extravagance of conduct1 and  
in an  offensive turgidness of language1
 and produces--not quietness and peace1 
but a wild and quaking looking-for of   
impending wonders4 ,there must be a     
fault of principle1 if the demeanor of  
,christians be such that those who      
occupy the place of the unlearned are   
excused when they say ,ye are mad4      

,that some peculiar danger haunts this  
region of ,biblical inquiry is          
established by a double proof2 for not  
only have men of exorbitant             
imaginations and feeble judgment rushed 
towards it instinctively1 and  with the 
eagerness of infatuation2 but sometimes 
the soundest  understandings have lost1 
in these inquiries1 their wonted        
discretion4  ,at several periods of     
church history1 and again in our own    
times1  multitudes have drunk to        
intoxication of the phial of prophetic  
interpretation2 and1 amid imagined peals
 of the mystic thunder1 have  become    
deaf to the voice both of common sense  
and of duty4 ,the piety of  such        
persons--if piety it may be called--has 
made them hunger and thirst1  nor for   
the bread and water of life1 but for the
 news of the political  world4 ,in such 
instances it may be confidently         
affirmed1 previously to a  hearing of   
the argument1 that1 even if the         
interpretation were true1 it  has become

 entangled with some knotted thread of  
error4    ,the proper remedy for evils  
of this kind is not to be found in the  
timid  or overbearing prohibitions of   
those who endeavor to prevent the       
mischief by interdicting inquiry2 and   
who would make it a sin or a folly  for 
a ,christian to ask the meaning of      
certain portions of ,scripture4         
,cautions and restrictions of this      
nature are incompatible with the        
principle of ,protestantism1 as well as 
unnecessary1 arrogant1 and  unavailing4 
,if indeed man possessed any means of   
intrusion upon the  mysteries of the    
upper world1 or upon the secrets of     
futurity1 there  might be room to       
reprehend the audacity of those who     
should attempt to  know by force or by  
importunity of research what has not    
been revealed4  ,but when the unseen and
 the future are1 by the spontaneous     
grace of  ,heaven1 in part set open1 and
 when a message which might have been   
withheld1 has been sent to earth1       

encircled with a benediction like       
this--,blessed are they that hear1 and  
keep these words3 then it may  most     
safely be concluded that whatever is not
 marked with the seal of  prohibition1  
is open to scrutiny4 ,in truth1 there is
 something  incongruous in the notion of
 a revelation enveloped in menace and   
restriction4 ,but be this as it may1 it 
is certain that whoever would  shut up  
the ,scriptures1 in whole or in part1   
from his fellow disciples1  or who      
affirms it to be unsafe or unwise to    
study such and such  passages1 is bound 
to show reasons of the most convincing  
kind for the  exclusion4 ,what ,god has 
joined1 let not man put asunder2 but he 
has  connected his blessing1            
comprehensively1 with the study of his  
word4 ,it  should be left to the ,romish
 ,church to employ that faulty argument 
of  captious arrogance1 which prohibits 
the use of whatever may be abused4      
,unless1 then1 it can be shown that a   
divine interdiction encloses the        

prophetic portions of ,scripture1 it    
must be deemed an ill-judged and        
irreligious1 though perhaps             
well-intended usurpation1 in any one who
  assumes to plant his little rod of    
obstruction across the highway of       
,revelation4    ,moreover1 prohibitions 
of this kind are futile1 because        
impossible to be  observed4 ,every one  
admits that the study of those          
prophecies which have  already received 
their accomplishment is a matter of high
 importance and  positive duty2 we have 
a sure word of prophecy1 to which we do 
well to  take heed4 ,but how soon1 in   
attempting to discharge this duty1 are  
we  entangled in a snare1 if indeed the 
study of unfulfilled prophecy be in     
itself improper2 for many of the        
prophecies1 and those especially which  
are the most definite1 and the most     
intelligible1 stretch themselves  across
 the wide gulf of time1 and rest upon   
points intervening between  the days of 
the seer and the hour when the mystery  

of providence shall  be finished3 and   
these comprehensive predictions1 instead
 of tracking  their way by equal and    
measured intervals through the course of
 ages1  traverse vast spaces unmarked3  
and with a sudden bound1 parting from an
  age now long gone by1 attain at once  
the last period of the human  economy4  
,these abrupt transitions create        
obscurities which must either  shut up  
the whole prophecy from inquiry1 or     
necessitate a scrutiny of  the whole2   
for at a first perusal1 and without the 
guidance of learned  investigation1 who 
shall venture to place his finger on the
 syllable  which forms the boundary     
between the past and the future1 and    
which  constitutes the limit between    
duty and presumption8 ,a prediction     
which  may seem to belong to futurity1  
will1 perhaps1 on better information be 
found to regard the past2 or the        
reverse4 ,these extensive prophecies1   
and such are those of ,daniel and of    
,john1 must then either be shunned      

altogether from the fear of trespassing 
on forbidden ground1 or they  must be   
studied entire1 in dependence upon other
 means than voluntary  ignorance for    
avoiding presumption and enthusiasm4    
,whoever would  discharge for others the
 difficult office of marking1 throughout
 the  ,scriptures1 the boundaries of    
lawful investigation1 must himself first
  have committed the supposed trespass  
upon the regions of unfulfilled         
prophecy4 ,we conclude1 therefore1 that 
a separation which no one can  effect1  
is not really needed4    ,it is surely a
 mistaken caution which says--of the    
,apocalypse1 for  example--it is a dark 
portion of ,scripture1 and better let   
alone than  explored4 ,very unhappy     
consequences are involved in such an    
interdiction4 ,this magnificent book is 
introduced to the regards of the        
,church as a discovery of things that   
must shortly come to pass4 ,now we  must
 either believe that the  1 was intended
 to indicate a period  of eighteen      

hundred years 7perhaps a much longer    
term7 or admit that the  initial1 and   
probably the larger portions of the     
prophecy have already  received their   
seal of verification from history1 and  
come therefore  fairly within the scope 
of even the most scrupulous rule of     
inquiry1 and  in fact should now form   
part of the standing evidence of the    
truth of  ,christianity4 ,to think less 
than this seems to imply a very         
dangerous  inference4 ,if a part of this
 prophecy be actually accomplished2 and 
if  yet it be impracticable to assign   
the predictions to the events1 will  not
 one at least of the great purposes for 
which1 as we are taught1  prophecy was  
given1 have been rather defeated than   
served8 ,there is not  perhaps a        
fulfilled prophecy on the page of       
inspiration which learned  ingenuity    
might not plausibly allege to have been 
hitherto altogether  misunderstood1 and 
erroneously supposed to relate to such  
or such  events4 ,it is a matter of     

course that1 when a multitude of minds  
variously influenced1 and too often     
influenced by a wish to establish a     
theory upon which literary ambition may 
build its pretensions1 are  employed in 
the exposition of mystic predictions1   
every scheme to  which any appearance of
 probability can be given1 should       
actually find  an advocate4 ,and then   
those who wish to discourage inquiry may
  vauntingly say--,see how various and  
how opposite are the opinions of        
interpreters6 ,meanwhile1 it may be     
perfectly true1 that among these        
various interpretations there may be one
 which1 though not altogether           
unexceptionable1 or wholly free from    
difficulties1 will firmly secure  the   
approval of every unprejudiced and      
intelligent inquirer4    ,some very     
sober ,christians1 while endeavoring by 
all means to secure the  young against  
the mania of prophetical interpretation1
 seem little aware  of how far they are 
treading upon the very path which       

infidelity  frequents4 ,to advise a     
diligent study of prophecy 7to those who
 have the  leisure and learning         
requisite7 would it not be far safer1   
than to shrug  the shoulders in sage    
alarm1 and to say--,prophecy6 oh1 let it
 alone6    ,the ancient ,church received
 no cautions against a too eager        
scrutiny of  the great prophecy left to 
excite its hope3 on the contrary1 the   
pious  were divinely moved to search    
what might be the purport and season of 
the revelation made by the ,spirit of   
,christ to the prophets2 and  though    
these predictions did in fact give      
occasion to the delusions of  many      
deceivers1 and though they were greatly 
misunderstood1 even by  the most pious  
and the best informed of the ,jewish    
people2 yet did not  the foreknowledge  
of these mischiefs and errors call for  
any such  restrictions upon the spirit  
of inquiry as those wherewith some      
persons  are now fain to hedge about the
 ,scriptures4    ,to the ,christian     

,church the second coming of ,christ    
stands where his  first coming stood to 
the ,jewish1 namely1 in the very centre 
of the  field of prophetic light2 and a 
participation in the glories then to be 
revealed is even limited to those who in
 every age are devoutly  looking for    
him4 ,it is true that this doctrine of  
the second coming of  ,christ has1 like 
that of his first1 wrought strongly upon
 enthusiastic  minds1 and been the      
occasion of some pernicious delusions2  
yet1 for the  correction of these       
incidental evils1 we must look to other 
means than  to any existing cautions    
given to the ,church in the ,scriptures 
against a  too earnest longing for the  
promised advent of her ,king4 ,to snatch
 this  great promise from ,scripture in 
hasty fear1 and then to close the book  
lest we should see more than it is      
intended we should know1 is not our     
part4 ,on the contrary1 it is chiefly   
from a diligent and comprehensive  study
 of the terms of the great unfulfilled  

prophecy of ,scripture1 that  a         
preservative against delusion is to be  
gathered4 ,to check assiduous           
researches by cautions which the humble 
may respect1 but which the  presumptuous
 will certainly contemn1 is to abandon  
the leading truth of  ,revelation to the
 uncorrected wantonness of fanaticism4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,it is often not so much the instrinsic 
qualities of an opinion1 as the         
unwarrantable confidence with which it  
is held1 that generates  enthusiasm4    
,persuade the dogmatist to be modest1 as
 every ,christian  undoubtedly ought who
 thinks himself compelled to dissent    
from the  common belief of the ,church2 
persuade him to give respectful         
attention  to the argument of an        
opponent2 in a word1 to surrender the   
topmost  point of his assurance1 and    
presently the high temperature of his   
feelings will come down near to the     
level of sobriety4 ,to doubt after      
hearing of sufficient evidence1 and to  

dogmatize where proof is  confessedly   
imperfect1 are alike the indications of 
infirmity of  judgment1 if not of       
perversity of temper2 and these great   
faults1 which  never predominate in the 
character apart from the indulgence of  
unholy  passions1 seem often to be      
judicially visited with a hopeless      
imbecility  of the reasoning faculties4 
,thus1 while the sceptic becomes1 in    
course  of time1 incapable of retaining 
his hold even of the most certain       
truths1 the dogmatist1 on the other     
hand1 loses all power of suspending  for
 a moment his decisions2 and1 as a      
feather and a ball of lead descend  with
 the same velocity when dropped in a    
vacuum1 so do all propositions1  whether
 loaded with a weight of evidence or    
not1 instantly reach1 in his            
understanding1 the firm ground of       
absolute assurance4    ,instead1        
therefore1 of enhancing the arrogance of
 the half-insane  interpreter of        
prophecy by inviting him to display the 

blazing front of  his argument1 it may  
be better1 if it can be done1 to        
demonstrate that  even though it should 
appear that his opinion carries a large 
balance of  probability1 there is still 
a special and very peculiar impropriety 
in  the tone of dogmatism which1 on this
 particular subject1 he assumes2 so     
that the error of the general ,church1  
if it be an error1 is actually  less    
than the fault of him who1 in this      
temper1 may boast that he has  truth on 
his side4 ,such a case of special       
impropriety may1 in this  instance1 very
 clearly be made out4           99      
99       99       99       99    ,the   
language of prophecy is either common or
 mystical4 ,predictions  delivered in   
the style of common discourse1 and free 
from symbols as  they are little liable 
to diversities of explication1 do not   
often tempt  the ingenuity of           
visionaries3 they may1 therefore1 be    
excluded from  consideration in the     
present instance4 ,mystic prophecy1 or  

future  history written in symbols1     
under guidance of the divine            
foreknowledge1  in being committed to   
the custody and perusal of mankind1 must
 be  presumed to conform itself to the  
laws of that particular species of      
composition to which it bears the       
nearest analogy4 ,for if the ,divine    
,being condescends at all to hold       
intercourse with men1 it cannot be      
doubted that he will do so1 not only in 
a language known to them1 but in  a     
manner perfectly accordant to the rules 
and proprieties of the medium  he       
designs to employ4 ,now the prophecies  
in question not merely belong  to the   
general class of symbolic writing1 but  
there is to be discerned  in them1 very 
plainly1 the specific style of the      
enigma1 which1 in early  ages1 was a    
usual mode of embodying the most        
important and serious  truths4 ,in the  
enigma1 the principal subject is1 by    
some ingenuity of  definition1 and by   
some ambiguity of description1 at once  

held forth and  concealed4 ,the law by  
which it is constructed demands1 that   
while there  is given1 under a guise1   
some special mark which shall prevent   
the  possibility of doubt when once the 
substance signified is seen1 that       
substance shall be so artfully depicted 
that the description1 though it  be a   
true representation1 may admit of more  
than one explication4 ,there  can be no 
genuine and fair enigma in which these  
conditions are not  complied with4 ,for 
if no special mark be given1 the true   
solution must  want the means of        
vindicating its exclusive propriety1    
when the  substance signified is        
declared2 a vague riddle is none4 ,or if
 the  special mark be not disguised1 if 
no varnishing opacity be spread over    
it1 the substance is manifested at once1
 and the enigma nullified4  ,again1 if  
the general description is not so       
contrived as to admit of  several       
plausible hypotheses1 then also the     
whole intention of the  device is       

destroyed1 and the special mark rendered
 useless2 for what  need can there be of
 an infallible indicator which is to    
come in as  arbiter among a number of   
competing solutions1 if1 in fact1 no    
room be  left for diversity of          
interpretation8    ,whenever1 therefore1
 among mystic enunciations we can detect
 the  existence of some couched and     
specific note of identification1 we may 
most certainly conclude that it is      
placed there to serve a future  purpose 
of discrimination among several         
admissible modes of solution2 or  in    
other words1 that the enigma is         
designedly so framed as to tempt and  to
 allow a diversity of hypothetical      
explanations4 ,an enigmatical or        
symbolical enunciation1 conformed to    
these essential rules1 serves the       
threefold purpose of presenting a blind 
to the incurious1 a trap to the         
dogmatical1 and an exercise of modesty1 
of patience1 and of sagacity to  the    
wise4 ,and this seems to be the result  

intended1 and actually  accomplished by 
the symbolical prophecies of ,scripture4
    ,when the subject of enigma already 
stands within the range of our          
knowledge1 and requires only to be      
singled out1 the process of solution  is
 simple4 ,the several suppositions that 
seem to comport with the  ambiguous     
description are to be brought together2 
and then the special  mark must be      
applied to each in turn1 until such a   
precise and  convincing correspondence  
is discovered as at once strips the     
false  solutions of all their           
pretensions3 if the enigma be fairly    
constructed1  this method of induction  
will never fail of success4 ,thus1 with 
the page  of history before us1 those   
prophecies of ,daniel1 for example1     
which  relate to the invasion of ,greece
 by the ,persians1 to the subsequent    
overthrow of the ,persian monarchy by   
the ,macedonians1 to the division of    
the conquests of ,alexander1 to the     
spread of the ,roman arms1 and to the   

subdivision of the ,roman ,empire1 are  
interpreted without hazard of  error1   
and with a completeness and a speciality
 of coincidence1 that  carries a        
conviction of the divine dictation of   
those prophecies to  every honest mind4 
,a course somewhat less gratifying to   
the eagerness of enthusiastic  spirits  
must be pursued1 if the subject of the  
sacred enigma does not  actually stand  
within our view2 if it rest in a foreign
 region1 as1 for  example1 in the region
 of futurity4 ,it will by no means      
follow that a  symbolic prediction1     
which remains unfulfilled1 ought not to 
be made the  subject of investigation2  
for as the description doubtless        
contains1 by  condensation1 the         
substance of the unknown reality1 and   
perhaps also  much of its character1 it 
may1 even when mingled with erroneous   
interpretations1 serve important        
purposes in the excitement of pious     
hope4 ,the delivery of these enigmas    
into the hands of the ,church1 and      

their intricate intermixture with       
fulfilled prophecies1 and their being   
everywhere embossed with attractive     
lessons of piety and virtue1 not to     
mention the explicit invitation to read 
and study them1 may confidently  be     
deemed to convey a full license of      
examination4 ,yet in these  instances   
the well-known laws of the peculiar     
style in which the  predictions are     
enveloped1 suggest restrictions and     
cautions which no  humble and pious     
expositor can overlook4 ,the fault of   
the dogmatist in  prophecy is then      
manifest4 ,is a mystic prediction       
averred to be  unfulfilled8 then we     
know1 that1 by the essential law of its 
composition1 it is designedly1 we might 
say artfully constructed1 so as  to     
admit of several1 and perhaps of many1  
plausible interpretations1  having      
nearly equal claims of probability2 and 
we know1 moreover1 that  the special    
mark couched amid the symbols1 and which
 in the issue is to  arbitrate among the

 various solutions1 is drawn from some  
minute  peculiarity in the surface and  
complexion of the future substance1 and 
therefore cannot be available for the   
purpose of discrimination1 until  that  
substance1 in the shape and color of    
reality1 starts forth into day4    ,the 
expositor1 therefore1 who presumptuously
 espouses any one of the  several       
interpretations of which an enigmatical 
prophecy is susceptible1  and who fondly
 claims for it a positive and exclusive 
preference1 sins  most flagrantly       
against the unalterable laws of the     
language of which he  professes himself 
a master4 ,if dogmatism on matters not  
fully revealed  be in all cases         
blameworthy1 it is especially to be     
condemned in the  expositor of enigmatic
 prophecy2 and that1 not merely because 
the events  so predicted rest under the 
awful veil of futurity1 and exist only  
in  the prescience of the ,deity2 but   
because the chosen style of the         
communication lays a distinct claim to  

modesty1 and demands suspension  of     
judgment4--,the use of symbols speaks a 
design of concealment2 and do  we       
suppose that what ,god has hidden1 the  
sagacity of man shall discover8  ,in    
issuing the prediction1 he does indeed  
invite the humble1 inquiries  of the    
,church2 and in employing symbols which 
have a conventional  meaning he gives a 
clew to learned research2 and yet1 by   
the combination  of these symbols in the
 enigmatic form1 an articulate warning  
is  presented against all dogmatical    
confidence of interpretation4    ,the   
adoption of an exclusive theory of      
exposition will not fail to be  followed
 by an attempt to attach the special    
marks of prophecy to every  passing     
event2 and it is this very attempt which
 sets enthusiasm in a  flame2 for it    
belongs1 in common1 to all religious    
irregularities that1  though mild and   
harmless while roaming at large among   
remote or  invisible objects they assume
 a noxious activity the moment that they

  fix their grasp upon things near and  
tangible4 ,there is scarcely any  degree
 of sobriety of temper which can secure 
the mind against fanatical  restlessness
 when once the habit has been formed of 
collating1 daily1  the newspaper and the
 prophets2 and the man who1 with a      
feeble judgment  and an excitable       
imagination1 is constantly catching at  
political  intelligence--,apocalypse in 
hand--walks on the verge of insanity1 or
  worse1 of infidelity4 ,in this        
feverish state of the feelings1 mundane 
interests1 under the guise of faith and 
hope1 occupy the soul to the  exclusion 
of things unseen and eternal2 meanwhile1
 the heart-affecting  elements of piety 
and virtue become vapid to the taste1   
and gradually  fall into forgetfulness4 
,the fault of the dogmatical expositor  
of prophecy is especially  manifested   
when he assumes to determine the        
chronology of unfulfilled  predictions4 
,in the instance of prophetic dates1 the
 different lines of  conduct suggested  

by the different styles of the          
communication1 are  readily perceived1  
and cheerfully observed by judicious and
 modest  interpreters4 ,we may take1 for
 illustration1 the predicted duration of
  the captivity of ,judah1 which was    
made known by ,jeremiah 7xxix4 #aj7 in  
the intelligible terms of common and    
popular computation3 nor could the      
supposition of a symbolic sense of the  
words be admitted by any sober          
expositor4 ,on the authority of this    
unequivocal prediction1 ,daniel1 as  the
 time spoken of drew near1 made         
confession and supplication in the  full
 assurance of warranted faith4 ,in this 
confidence there was no  presumption1   
for his persuasion rested1 not on the   
assumed validity of  this or of that    
ingenious interpretation of symbols2 but
 upon an  explicit declaration which    
needed only to be read--not expounded4  
,but when the beloved seer received from
 his celestial informant the date  of   
seventy weeks1 which should fix the     

period of the ,messiah's advent  and    
preparatory sufferings1 the employment  
of symbolic terms of itself  announced  
the double intention of1 at once1       
revealing the time1 and of  concealing  
it4 ,for1 as the terms1 though mythic1  
bore a known import1  they could not be 
thought to be absolutely shut up from   
research2 yet1  as by the mode of their 
combination they became susceptible of a
  considerable diversity of             
interpretation1 the wise and good might1
 after  all their diligence1 differ in  
opinion as to the precise moment of     
accomplishment4 ,thus was devout inquiry
 at once invited and restrained2        
invited1 because the language of the    
prediction was not unknown2 and         
restrained1 because it still asked for  
interpretation1 and admitted a          
diversity of opinion4 ,those pious      
persons1 therefore1 who1 at the time  of
 the ,messiah's birth1 were looking for 
the consolation of ,israel1  could not1 
unless favored with personal            

revelations1 affirm this is the  very   
year of the expected deliverance2 for   
the symbolic chronology  might1 with an 
appearance of reason1 bear a somewhat   
different sense4  ,yet might such       
persons1 though not perfectly agreed in 
opinion1 lawfully  and safely join in an
 exulting hope1 that the time spoken of 
was not far  distant1 when the son of   
,david should appear4    ,the same rule 
is applicable to the position of the    
church at the present  moment4 ,no one1 
it may be affirmed1 can have given due  
attention to the  questions which have  
been of late so much agitated1 without  
feeling  compelled to acknowledge1 that 
a high degree of probability supports   
the  belief of an approaching           
extraordinary development of the mystery
 of  providence towards ,christendom1   
and perhaps1 towards the whole family of
  man4 ,that this probability is strong1
 might be argued from the fact that  it 
has wrought a general concurrence of    
belief among those whose modes  of      

thinking on most subjects are extremely 
dissimilar4 ,christians1 amid  many     
contrarieties of opinion1 are1 with a   
tacit or an explicit  expectation1      
looking for movement and progression1 to
 be effected either  by a quickened     
energy of existing means1 or by the     
sudden operation of  new causes4 ,this  
probable opinion1 if held in the spirit 
of ,christian  modesty1 affords1 under  
the sanction of the coolest reason1 a   
new and  strong excitement to religious 
hope4 ,he who entertains it may         
exultingly1 yet calmly exclaim1 ,the    
night is far spent1 the day is at  hand2
 and this kindling expectation will     
rouse him to greater diligence  in every
 good work1 to greater watchfulness     
against every defilement of  heart1 and 
frivolity of spirit1 and inconsistency  
of conduct3 he will  strive with holy   
wakefulness1 to live as the disciple    
should who is  waiting for his ,lord4   
,thus far he can justify the new        
vivacity of his  hopes upon the ground  

of the permanent motives of religion2   
for he feels  nothing more than a       
,christian may well always feel2 and the
 opinion he  entertains relative to the 
near accomplishment of ultimate         
prophecy1  serves only as an incitement 
to a state of mind in which he would    
fain  be found1 if called suddenly from 
the present scene4 ,while giving free   
admission to sentiments of this sort1 he
 knows that though he should be         
mistaken in his theoretical premises1 he
 shall certainly be right in his        
practical inference4    ,but if the     
discreet ,christian is tempted or       
solicited to admit an  incongruous      
jumble of political speculations and    
,christian hopes2 if he  is called upon 
to detach in any degree1 his attention  
from immediate and  unquestionable      
duties1 and to fix his meditations on   
objects that have  no connection with   
his personal responsibility2 then he    
will check such  an intrusion of        
turbulence and distraction1 the tendency

 of which he  feels to be pernicious1 by
 recollecting that his opinion1 how     
probable  soever it may seem1 is1 at the
 best1 nothing more than one hypothesis 
among the many1 which offer themselves  
in explanation of an enigmatical        
prediction4 ,to-day this hypothesis     
pleases him by its plausibility2        
to-morrow he may reject it on better    
information4    ,nothing1 then1 can be  
much more precise than the line which   
forms the  boundary between the         
legitimate and an enthusiastic feeling  
on the  subject of prophecy4 ,is a      
prediction couched in symbol8 is it     
entangled  among perplexing             
anachronisms8 is it studded with points 
of special  reference8 ,we then         
recognize the hand of ,heaven in the art
 of its  construction2 and we know that 
it is so moulded as to admit and invite 
the manifold diversities of ingenious   
explication and that1 therefore1  even  
the true explication must1 until the day
 of solution1 stand  undistinguished in 

a crowd of plausible errors4 ,but for a 
man to  proclaim himself the champion of
 a particular hypothesis1 and to employ 
it as he might an explicit prediction1  
is to affront the ,spirit of  prophecy  
by contemning the chosen style of his   
announcements4 ,and what  shall be said 
of the audacity of one who1 with no     
other commission in  his hand than such 
as any man may please to frame for      
himself1 usurps  the awful style of the 
seer1 pronounces the doom of nations1   
hurls  thunders at thrones1 and worse   
than this1 puts the credit of           
,christianity at pawn in the hand of    
infidelity1 to be lost beyond  recovery1
 if not redeemed on a day specified by  
the fanatic for the  verification of his
 word6           99       99       99   
99       99    ,the agitation which has 
recently taken place on the subject of  
prophecy1  may1 perhaps1 ere long1      
subside1 and the church may again       
acquiesce in  its old sobrieties of     
opinion4#c ,and yet a different and a   

better  result of the existing          
controversy seems not altogether        
improbable2 for  when enthusiasm has    
raved itself into exhaustion1 and has   
received from  time the refutation of   
its precocious hopes2 and when1 on the  
other  side1 prosing mediocrity has     
uttered all its saws1 and has fallen    
back  into its own slumber of contented 
ignorance1 then the spirit of research  
and of legitimate curiosity1 which no   
doubt has been diffused among not  a few
 intelligent students of ,scripture1 may
 bring on a calm1 learned1  and         
productive discussion of the many great 
questions that belong to the            
undeveloped destiny of man4 ,and it may 
be believed that the issue of  such     
discussions will take its place among   
the means that shall concur  to usher in
 a brighter age of ,christianity4       
,not indeed as if any fundamental       
principle of religion remained to be    
discovered2 for the spiritual church    
has1 in every age1 possessed the        

substance of truth1 under the promised  
teaching of the ,spirit of truth4  ,but1
 obviously1 there are many subjects1    
more or less clearly revealed  in the   
,scriptures1 upon which serious errors  
maybe entertained1  consistently with   
genuine1 and even exalted piety3 they do
 indeed belong  to the entire faith of a
 ,christian1 but they form no part of   
its basis2  they may be detached or     
disfigured without great peril to the   
stability  of the structure4 ,almost all
 opinions relating to the unseen world1 
and  to the future providence of ,god on
 earth1 are of this extrinsic or        
subordinate character2 and1 as a matter 
of fact1 pious and cautious men  have1  
on subjects of this kind1 held notions  
so incompatibly dissimilar1  that the   
one or the other must have been utterly 
erroneous4 ,but the  detection of error 
always opens a vista of hope to the     
diligence of  inquiry2 and with the     
mistakes of our predecessors before us  
for our  warning1 and with a highly     

improved state of ,biblical learning for
 our  aid1 it may fairly be anticipated 
that a devout and industrious           
reconsideration of the evidence of      
,scripture will yet achieve some        
important improvements in the opinions  
of the church on these difficult  and   
obscure subjects4    ,nevertheless1     
though an expectation of this kind may  
seem reasonable1  there is1 on the other
 hand some ground to imagine that the   
accomplishment of the inscrutable       
designs of the ,divine ,providence may  
require that the pious should           
henceforth1 as heretofore1 continue to  
entertain not only imperfect1 but very  
mistaken notions of the unseen  and the 
future worlds4 ,well-founded hopes and  
erroneous interpretations  have been    
linked together in the history of the   
church in all ages1 even  from that hour
 of fallacious exultation when the      
mother of a murderer  exclaimed--,i have
 gotten the man from the ,lord1 the man 
who should  break the serpent's head4   

,neither the discharge of present       
duties1 nor  the exercise of right      
affections1 nor a substantial           
preparation for  taking a part in the   
glory that is to be revealed1 is perhaps
 at all  necessarily connected with just
 anticipations of the unknown futurity4 
,thus1 when the infant wakes into the   
light of this world1 every organ        
presently assumes its destined function3
 the heaving bosom confesses the        
fitness of the material it inhales to   
support the new style of  existence2 and
 the senses admit the first impressions 
of the external  world with a sort of   
anticipated familiarity2 and though     
utterly  untaught in the scenes upon    
which it has so suddenly entered1 and   
inexperienced in the orders of the place
 where it must ere long act its  part1  
yet it is truly meet to be a partaker of
 the inheritance of  life4 ,and thus1   
too1 a real meetness for his birth into 
the future life  may belong to the      
,christian1 though he be utterly        

ignorant of its  circumstances and      
conditions4 ,but the functions of that  
new life have  been long in a hidden    
play of preparation for full activity4  
,he has  waited in the coil of mortality
 only for the moment when he should     
inspire the ether of the upper world1   
and behold the light of eternal  day1   
and hear the voices of new companions1  
and taste of the immortal  fruit1 and   
drink of the river of life2 and then1   
after perhaps a short  season of nursing
 in the arms of the elder members of the
 family above1  he will take his place  
in the service and orders of the        
heavenly house2  nor ever have room to  
regret the ignorances of his mortal     
state4    ,the study of those parts of  
,scripture which relate to futurity     
should  therefore be undertaken with    
zeal1 inspired by a reasonable hope of  
successful research2 and at the same    
time with the modesty and  resignation  
which must spring from a not            
unreasonable supposition that  all such 

researches may be fruitless4 ,so long as
 this modesty is  preserved1 there will 
be no danger of enthusiastic            
excitements1 whatever  may be the       
opinions which we are led to entertain4 
,it must be evident to every calm mind1 
that the discussion of questions        
confessedly so obscure1 and upon which  
the evidence of ,scripture is  limited  
and of uncertain explication1 is        
ordinarily improper to the  pulpit4 ,the
 several points of the catholic faith   
afford themes enough  for public        
instruction4 ,but matters of learned    
debate are extraneous to  that faith3   
they are no ingredients in the bread of 
life1 which is the  only article        
committed to the hands of the teacher   
for distribution  among the multitude4  
,what are the private and hypothetical  
opinions of a  public functionary to    
those whom he is to teach the principles
 of the  common ,christianity8 ,and if  
these doubtful opinions implicate       
inquiries  which the unlearned can never

 prosecute1 a species of imposition is  
implied in the attempt to urge them upon
 simple hearers4 ,it is truly a  sorry  
triumph that he obtains who wins by     
declamation and violence the  voices of 
a crowd in favor of opinions which men  
of learning and modesty  neither defend 
nor impugn but with diffidence4 ,the    
press is the proper  organ of abstruse  
controversy4    #c ,written in #ahbh4   
,,section ,,vi4    ,,enthusiastic       
,,perversions ,,of ,,the ,,doctrine ,,of
 ,a ,,particular ,,providence4      ,no 
species of enthusiasm1 perhaps1 is more 
extensively prevalent1 and  certainly   
none clings more tenaciously to the mind
 that has once  entertained it1 and none
 produces more practical mischief1 than 
that  which is founded on an abuse of   
the doctrine of a particular            
,providence4  ,it is by the fortuities  
of life that the religious enthusiast is
  deluded4 ,chance1 under a guise stolen
 from piety1 is his divinity4 ,he       
believes1 and he believes justly1 that  

every seeming fortuity is under  the    
absolute control of the divine hand2 but
 in virtue of the peculiar  interest he 
supposes himself to have on high1 he is 
tempted to think  that these            
contingencies are very much at his      
command4 ,this belief  naturally        
inclines him to pay more regard to the  
unusual1 than to the  common course of  
events4 ,in contemplating ,god as the   
disposer of  chances1 he becomes        
forgetful of him who is the governor of 
the world by  known and permanent laws4 
,all the honor which he does to one of  
the  divine attributes1 is in fact      
stolen from the reverence due to        
another2  but he should remember that   
the ,lord abhorreth robbery for         
offering4    ,a propensity to look more 
to chance than to probability is known  
invariably to debilitate the reasoning  
faculty1 as well as to vitiate  the     
moral sentiments2 and these constant    
effects are more often  aggravated than 
mitigated by the accession of religious 

sentiments4 ,the  illusions of hope then
 assume a tone of authority which       
effectually  silences the whispers of   
common sense2 and the imagination1 more 
highly  stimulated than when it fed only
 on things of earth1 boldly makes a prey
  of the divine power and goodness1 to  
the utter subversion of humble  piety4  
,a sanguine temper1 quickened by        
perverted notions of religion1  easily  
impels a man to believe that he is      
privileged or skilled to  penetrate the 
intentions of ,providence towards       
himself2 and the  anticipations he forms
 on this ground acquire so much         
consistency by  being perpetually       
handled1 that he deems them to form a   
much more  certain rule of conduct than 
he could derive from the forecastings of
  prudence1 or even from the dictates of
 morality4    ,delusions of this kind   
are the real sources of many of those   
sad  delinquencies which so often bring 
reproach upon a profession of  religion4
 ,the world loves to call the offender a

 villain2 but in fact he  was not worse 
than an enthusiast4 ,he who1 in         
conducting the daily  affairs of life1  
has acquired the settled habit of       
calculating rather  upon what is        
possible than upon what is probable1    
naturally slides into  the mischievous  
error of paying court to ,fortune1      
rather than to ,virtue2  nor will his   
integrity or his principles of honor be 
at all strengthened  by the mere        
metonymy of calling                     
,fortune--,providence4 ,it is easy to   
fix  the eye upon the clouds in         
expectation of help front above with so 
much  intentness that the tables of     
right and wrong1 which stand before us1 
shall scarcely be seen4 ,this very      
expectation is a contempt of prudence2  
and it is not often seen that those who 
slight ,prudence1 pay much regard  to   
her sister--,probity4    ,or if         
consequences so serious do not follow   
from the notion that the  fortuities of 
life are an available fund at the       

disposal of the favorite  of heaven1 yet
 this belief can hardly fail to spread  
an infection of  sloth and presumption  
through the character4 ,the enthusiast  
will  certainly be remiss and dilatory  
in arduous and laborious duties4 ,hope1 
which is the incentive to exertion in   
well-ordered and energetic minds1       
slackens every effort if the            
understanding be crazed4 ,the wheel of  
toil  stands still while the devotee    
implores assistance from above4 ,or if  
he  possesses more of activity1 the same
 false principle prompts him to  engage 
in enterprises from which1 if the       
expected contingent to be  furnished by 
,providence1 be deducted1 scarcely a    
shred of fair  probability remains to   
recommend the scheme4    ,if the course 
of events in human life were as constant
 and uniform as  the phenomena of the   
material world1 none but madmen would   
build their  hopes upon the             
irregularities by which it is           
diversified4 ,nor would the  enthusiast 

do so if he gave heed to the principles 
that impose order  upon the apparent    
chaos of fortuities from which the      
many-colored line  of human life is     
spun4 ,to expose1 then1 the error of    
those who1 on  pretext of faith in      
providence1 build presumptuous          
expectations upon the  throws of        
fortune1 we must analyse the confused   
mass of contingences to  which human    
life is liable4 ,this analysis leaves   
the folly and  impropriety of the       
enthusiast without excuse4           99 
99       99       99       99    ,any   
one who recalls to his recollection the 
incidents1 great and small1  that have  
filled up the days of a year past1 will 
find it easy to divide  them into two   
classes1 of which the first1 and the    
larger1 comprises  those events which   
common sense and experience might have  
enabled him to  anticipate1 and which1  
if he were wise1 he did actually        
anticipate1 so  far as was necessary for
 the regulation of his conduct4 ,the    

ground of  such calculations of futurity
 is nothing else than the uniform course
 of  events in the material world1 and  
the permanent principles of human       
nature1 and the established order of the
 social system3 for all these1  though  
confessedly liable to many              
interruptions1 are yet so far constant  
as to afford1 on the whole1 a safe rule 
of calculation4 ,if there were no  such 
uniformity in the course of events1 the 
active and reasoning  faculties of man  
would be of no avail to him2 for the    
exercise of them  might as probably be  
ruinous as serviceable4 ,in the whirl of
 such a  supposed anarchy of nature1 an 
intelligent agent must refrain from     
every  movement1 and resign himself to  
be borne along by the eddies of         
confusion4 ,but this is not the         
character of the world we inhabit3 the  
connection of physical causes and       
effects is known and calculable1 so     
that the results of human labor are     
liable to only a small deduction on     

account of occasional irregularities4   
,we plant and sow1 and lay up  stores1  
and build1 and construct machines in    
tranquil hope of the  expected benefit2 
and indeed1 if the variations and       
irregularities of  nature were much     
greater and more frequent than they are1
 or even if  disappointment were as     
common as success1 the part of wisdom   
would still  be the same2 for the laws  
of nature1 though never so much broken  
in upon  by incalculable accidents1     
would still afford some ground of       
expectation2 and an intelligent agent   
will always prefer to act on even  the  
slenderest hope which reason approves1  
rather than to lie supine in  the       
ruinous wheel-way of chance4    ,and    
notwithstanding its many real1 and many 
apparent irregularities1  there is also 
a settled order of causes and effects in
 the human system1  as well as in the   
material world4 ,the foundation of this 
settled order  is1 the sameness of human
 nature in its animal intellectual and  

moral  constitution1 of which the       
anomalies are never so great as to break
 up  all resemblance to the common      
pattern4 ,then those conventional modes 
of  thinking and acting which sway the  
conduct of the mass of mankind1         
strengthen the tendency to uniformity1  
and greatly counteract all  disturbing  
causes4 ,then again the sanctioned      
institutions of society  give stability 
and permanence to the order of events1  
and altogether  afford so much security 
in calculating upon the future1 that1   
whoever by  observation and reflection  
has become well skilled in the ordinary 
movements of the machinery of life may1 
with confidence and calmness1 if  not   
with absolute assurance of success1 risk
 his most important  interests upon the 
issue of plans wisely concerted4        
,skill and sagacity in managing the     
affairs of common life1 or wisdom in    
council and command1 is nothing else    
than an extensive and ready  knowledge  
of the intricate movements of the great 

machine of the social  system2 and the  
high price which this skill and wisdom  
always bears  among men1 may be held to 
represent two abstractions2 first1 the  
perplexing ,irregularities of the system
 to which human agency is to be         
conformed2 and then1 the real and       
substantial ,uniformity of the          
movements of that system4 ,for it is    
plain that if there were no  perplexing 
irregularities1 superior sagacity would 
be in no request2 or1  on the other     
hand1 if there were not a real constancy
 in the course of  affairs1 even the    
greatest sagacity would be found to be  
of no avail1  and therefore would be in 
no esteem4    ,there is then a          
substantial1 if not an immovable        
substratum of causes  and effects1 upon 
which1 for the practical and important  
purposes of  life1 calculations of      
futurity may be formed4 ,and this is the
 basis1 and  this alone1 on which a wise
 man rests his hopes1 and constructs his
  plans2 he well knows that his fairest 

hopes may be dissipated1 and his  best  
plans overthrown2 and yet1 though the   
hurricanes of misfortune were  a        
thousand times to scatter his labors1 he
 would still go on to renew  them in    
conformity with the same principles of  
calculation2 for no other  principles   
are known to him1 and the extremest     
caprices of ,fortune will  never so     
prevail over his constancy as to induce 
him to do homage to  ,chance4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,the second1 and the less numerous class
 of events that make up the  course of  
human life1 are those which no sagacity 
could have  anticipated2 for though in  
themselves they were only the natural   
consequences of common causes1 yet those
 causes were either concealed1  or      
remote1 and were1 therefore1 to us and  
our agency the same as if they  had been
 absolutely fortuitous4 ,by far the     
larger proportion of these  accidents   
arises from the intricate connections of
 the social system4  ,the thread of     

every life is entangled with other      
threads beyond all  reach of            
calculation1 the weal and woe of each   
depends1 by innumerable                 
correspondences1 upon the will1 and     
caprices1 and fortune1 not merely of    
the individuals of his immediate circle1
 but upon those of myriads of  whom he  
knows nothing4 ,or1 strictly speaking1  
the tie of mutual  influence passes1    
without a break1 from hand to hand1     
throughout the  human family3 there is  
no independence1 no insulation1 in the  
lot of  man2 and therefore there can be 
no absolute calculation of future       
fortunes2 for he whose will or caprice  
is to govern that lot stands1  perhaps1 
at the distance of a thousand removes   
from the subject of it1  and the        
attenuated influence winds its way in a 
thousand meanders before  it reaches the
 point of its destined operation4       
,both these classes of events are       
manifestly necessary to the full        
development of the faculties of human   

nature4 ,if1 for example1 there  were no
 constancy in the events of life1 there 
would be no room left for  rational     
agency2 and if1 on the other hand1 there
 were no inconstancy1  the operations of
 the reasoning faculty would fall into a
 mechanical  regularity1 and the        
imagination and the passions would be   
iron-bound1 as  by the immobility of    
fate4 ,it is by the admirable           
combination of the two  principles of   
order and disorder1 of uniformity and   
variety1 of  certainty and of chance1   
that the faculties and desires are      
wrought up  to their full play of energy
 and vivacity of reason and of feeling4 
,but  it is especially in connection    
with the doctrine of ,providence that we
  have at present to consider these two 
elements of human life2 and as to  the  
first of them1 it is evident that the   
settled order of causes and  effects1 so
 far as it may be ascertained by        
observation and experience1  claims the 
respect and obedience of every          

intelligent agent2 since it is  nothing 
less than the will of the ,author of    
nature1 legibly written upon  the       
constitution of the world4 ,this will is
 sanctioned by immediate  rewards and   
punishments2 health1 wealth1 prosperity1
 are the usual  consequents of          
obedience2 while sickness1 poverty1     
degradation1 are the  almost certain    
inflictions that attend a negligent     
interpretation1 or a  presumptuous      
disregard of it4 ,the dictates of       
prudence are in truth the  commands of  
,god2 and his benevolence is vindicated 
by the fact1 that the  miseries of life 
are1 to a very great extent1            
attributable to a contempt  of those    
commands4    ,but there is a higher     
government of men1 as moral and         
religious beings1  which is carried on  
chiefly by means of the fortuities of   
life4 ,those  unforeseen accidents which
 so often control the lot of men1       
constitute a  superstratum in the system
 of human affairs1 wherein1 peculiarly1 

the  ,divine ,providence holds empire   
for the accomplishment of its special   
purposes4 ,it is from this hidden and   
inexhaustible mine of  chances--chances1
 as we must call them--that the         
,governor of the world  draws1 with     
unfathomable skill1 the materials of his
 dispensations  towards each individual 
of mankind4 ,the world of nature affords
 no  instances of complicated and exact 
contrivance1 comparable to that which   
so arranges the vast chaos of           
contingencies1 as to produce1 with      
unerring precision1 a special order of  
events adapted to the character  of     
every individual of the human family4   
,amid the whirl of myriads of           
fortuities1 the means are selected and  
combined for constructing as many       
independent machineries of moral        
discipline as there are moral agents in 
the world2 and each apparatus is at once
 complete in itself1 and  complete as   
part of a universal movement4    ,if the
 special intentions of ,providence      

towards individuals were  effected by   
the aid of supernatural interpositions1 
the power and  presence of the ,supreme 
,disposer might indeed be more          
strikingly  displayed than it is2 but   
his skill much less4 ,and herein        
especially is  manifested the perfection
 of the divine wisdom1 that the most    
surprising  conjunctions of events are  
brought about by the simplest means1 and
 in a  manner so perfectly in harmony   
with the ordinary course of human       
affairs1 that the hand of the ,mover is 
ever hidden beneath second  causes1 and 
is descried only by the eye of pious    
affection4 ,this is in  fact the great  
miracle of providence--that no miracles 
are needed to  accomplish its purposes4 
,countless series of events are         
travelling on  from remote quarters     
towards the same point2 and each series 
moves in  the beaten track of natural   
occurrences2 but their intersection1 at 
the  very moment in which they meet1    
shall serve1 perhaps1 to give a new     

direction to the affairs of an empire4  
,the materials of the machinery of      
,providence are all of common quality2  
but their combination displays  nothing 
less than infinite skill4    ,having    
then these two distinguishable classes  
of events before us1  namely1 those     
which may be foreknown by human         
sagacity1 and those which  may not2 it  
is manifest that the former exclusively 
is given to man as  the sphere of his   
labors1 and for the exercise of his     
skill2 while the  latter is reserved as 
the royal domain of sovereign bounty and
 infinite  wisdom4 ,the enthusiast1     
therefore1 who neglects and contemns    
those  dictates of common sense which   
are derived from the calculable course  
of  human affairs1 and founds his plans 
and expectations upon the unknown       
procedures of ,providence1 is chargeable
 not merely with folly1 but with  an    
impious intrusion upon the peculiar     
sphere of the divine agency4 ,this      
impiety is shown in a strong light when 

viewed in connection with those  great  
principles which may be not obscurely   
discerned to govern the  dispensations  
of ,providence towards mankind4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,in the divine management of the        
fortuitous events of life1 there is1 in 
the first place1 visible1 some          
occasional flashes of that retributive  
justice1 which1 in the future world1 is 
to obtain its long postponed and        
perfect triumph4 ,there are instances   
which1 though not very common1 are      
frequent enough to keep alive the       
salutary fears of mankind1 wherein      
vindictive visitations speak            
articulately in attestation of the      
righteous indignation of ,god against   
those who do evil4 ,outrageous          
villanies1 or appalling profaneness1    
sometimes draw upon the criminal  the   
instant bolt of divine wrath1 and in so 
remarkable a manner that the  most      
irreligious minds are quelled with a    
sudden awe1 and confess the  hand of    

,god4 ,and again there is just          
perceptible1 as it were1 a gleam of     
divine approbation1 displayed in a      
signal rewarding of the righteous1  even
 in the present life3 a blessing which  
maketh rich rests sometimes             
conspicuously upon the habitation of    
disinterested and active virtue3  the   
righteous is as a tree planted by the   
rivers of water3 whatsoever  he doeth1  
prospers4 ,in these anomalous cases of  
anticipated  retribution1 the punishment
 or the reward does not arrive in the   
ordinary course of common causes2 but   
starts forth suddenly from that         
storehouse of fortuities whence the     
divine providence draws its means of    
government4 ,if the oppressor1 by       
rousing the resentment of mankind1 is   
dragged from the seat of power1 and     
trodden in the dust2 or if the  villain 
who plotteth mischief against his       
neighbor on his bed1 is at  length      
caught in his own net1 and despoiled of 
his wrongful gains1 these  visitations  

of justice1 though truly retributive1   
belong plainly to the  known order of   
causes and effects3 they are nothing    
more than the  natural issues of the    
culprit's course2 and therefore do not  
declare the  special interference of    
,heaven4 ,but there are instances of    
another kind1  in which the ruin of     
villany or of violence comes speeding as
 on a shaft  from above1 which1 though  
seemingly shot at random1 yet hits its  
victim  with a precision and a          
peculiarity that proclaims the unerring 
hand of  divine justice4    ,in like    
manner there are remarkable recompenses 
of integrity1 of  liberality1 of        
kindness to strangers1 and1 most        
especially1 of duty to  parents1 which  
arrive by means so remote from common   
probability1 and  yet so simple1 that   
the approbation of him who taketh       
pleasure in the  path of the just1 is   
written upon the unexpected boon4 ,there
 are few  family histories that would   
not afford examples of such conspicuous 

retributions4 ,nevertheless1 as they are
 confessedly rare1 and  administered by 
rules absolutely inscrutable to human   
penetration1 there  can hardly be a more
 daring impiety than1 in particular     
instances1 to  entertain the expectation
 of their occurrence4 ,yet the          
enthusiast finds  it hard to abstain1 in
 his own case1 from such expectations2  
and is  tempted perpetually to indulge  
hopes of special boons in reward of his 
services1 and is forward and ingenious  
in giving an interpretation that        
flatters his spiritual vanity to every  
common favor of providence2 the  bottles
 of heaven are never stopped but to     
gratify his taste for fine  weather6 ,a 
readiness to announce the wrath of      
heaven upon offenders1 is  a presumption
 which characterizes1 not the mere      
enthusiast1 but the  malign fanatic1 and
 therefore comes not properly within our
 subject2 and  yet the species of       
enthusiasm now under consideration is   
very seldom  free from some such impious

 tendency4           99       99        
99       99       99    ,in the divine  
management of the fortuities of life1   
there may also be  very plainly         
perceived a dispensation of moral       
exercise1 specifically  adapted to the  
temper and powers of the individual4 ,no
 one can look back  upon his own history
 without meeting unquestionable         
instances of this  sort of educational  
adjustment of his lot1 effected by means
 that were  wholly independent of his   
own choice or agency4 ,the casual       
meeting with  a stranger1 or an         
unexpected interview with a friend2 the 
accidental  postponement of affairs2 the
 loss of a letter1 a shower1 a trivial  
indisposition1 the caprice of an        
associate2 these1 or similar            
fortuities1 have been the determining   
causes of events1 not only  important in
 themselves1 but of peculiar            
significance and use in that  process of
 discipline which the character of the  
individual was to  undergo4 ,these new  

currents in the course of life proved1  
in the issue1  specifically proper for  
putting in action the latent faculties  
of the  mind1 or for holding in check   
its dangerous propensities4 ,whoever is 
quite unconscious of this sort of       
overruling of his affairs by means  of  
apparent accidents1 must be very little 
addicted to habits of  intelligent      
reflection4    ,doubtless every man's   
choice and conduct determine1 to a great
 extent1  his lot and occupation2 but   
not seldom1 a course of life much better
  fitted to his temper and abilities    
than the one he would fain substitute   
for it1 has1 year after year1 and in    
spite of his reluctances1 fixed his     
place and employment in society2 and    
this unchosen lot has1 if we may so     
speak1 been constructed from the        
floating fragments of other men's       
fortunes1 drifted by the accidents of   
wind and tide across the billows  of    
life1 till they were stranded at the    
very spot where the individual  for whom

 they were destined was ready to receive
 them4 ,by such strong  and             
nicely-fitted movements of the machine  
of ,providence it is1 that the  tasks of
 life are distributed where best they   
may be performed1 and its  burdens      
apportioned where best they may be      
sustained4 ,by accidents of  birth or   
connection1 the bold1 the sanguine1 the 
energetic1 are led into  the front of   
the field of arduous exertion2 while by 
similar fortuities1  quite as often as  
by choice1 the pusillanimous1 the       
fickle1 the  faint-hearted1 are suffered
 to spend their days under the shelter  
of  ease1 and in the recesses of        
domestic tranquillity4    ,but who shall
 profess so to understand his particular
 temper1 and so to  estimate his        
talents1 as might qualify him to        
anticipate the special  dispensations of
 ,providence in his own case8 ,such     
knowledge1 surely1  every wise man will 
confess to be too wonderful for him4 ,to
 the  ,supreme ,intelligence alone it   

belongs to distribute to every one his  
lot1 and to fix the bounds of his abode4
 ,yet there are persons1 whose          
persuasion of what ought to be their    
place and destiny is so  confidently    
held1 that a long life of disappointment
 does not rob them  of the fond         
hypotheses of self-love2 and just in    
proportion to the  firmness of their    
faith in a particular providence1 will  
be their  propensity to quarrel with    
,heaven1 as if it debarred them from    
their  right in deferring to realize the
 anticipated destiny4 ,presumption1 when
  it takes its commencement in religion1
 naturally ends in impiety4    ,men who 
look no farther than the present scene1 
may1 with less glaring  inconsistency1  
vent their vexation in accusing the     
blindness and  partiality of fate1 which
 has held their eminent talents and     
their  peculiar merits so long under the
 veil of obscurity2 but those who       
acknowledge at once a disposing         
providence and a future life1 might     

surely find considerations proper for   
imposing silence upon such  murmurings  
of disappointed ambition4 ,let it be    
granted to a man that his  vanity does  
not deceive him1 when he complains that 
adverse fortune has  prevented his      
entering the very course upon which     
nature fitted him to  shine1 and has1   
with unrelenting severity1 confined him1
 year after  year1 to a drudgery in     
which he was not qualified to win even a
 common  measure of success3 all this   
may be true2 but if the complainant be a
  ,christian1 he cannot find it         
difficult to admit that this clashing of
  his fortune with his capacities1 or   
his tastes1 may have been the very      
exercise necessary to ensure his        
ultimate welfare4 ,who will deny that   
the reasons of the divine conduct       
towards those who are in training for   
an endless course must always lie at an 
infinite distance beyond the  range of  
created vision8 ,who shall venture even 
to surmise what course  of events may   

best foster the germ of an imperishable 
life2 or who  conjecture what           
contraventions of the hopes and         
interests of an  individual may find    
their reasons and necessity somewhere in
 the wide  universe of consequences     
incalculably remote8    ,whether the    
promise that all things shall work      
together for good to  those who love    
,god1 is to be accomplished by perpetual
 sunshine or by  incessant storms1 no   
one can anticipate in his own case3 or  
if any one  were excepted1 it must be   
the enthusiast himself1 who might almost
 with  certainty calculate upon         
receiving a dispensation the very       
reverse of  that which it has been the  
leading error of his life to anticipate4
 ,he  might thus calculate1 both because
 his expectations are in themselves     
exorbitant and improbable1 and because  
the presumptuous temper from  which they
 spring loudly calls for the rebuke of  
heaven4           99       99       99  
99       99    ,amid the perplexities   

which arise from the unexpected events  
of life1 we  are not left without       
sufficient guidance2 for although1 in   
particular  instances1 the most         
reasonable calculations are baffled1 and
 the best  plans subverted1 yet there   
remains in our hands the immutable rule 
of  moral rectitude1 in an inflexible   
adherence to which we shall avoid what  
is chiefly to be dreaded in             
calamity--the dismal moanings of a      
wounded  conscience4 ,he that walketh   
uprightly walketh surely1 even in the   
path  of disaster4 ,and while1 on the   
one hand1 he steadily pursues the track 
which prudence marks out2 and1 on the   
other1 listens with respectful          
attention to the dictates of honor and  
probity1 he may1 without danger  of     
enthusiasm1 ask and hope for the        
especial aids of ,divine ,providence1   
in overruling those events that lie     
beyond the reach of human agency4       
,prayer and calculation are duties never
 incompatible1 never to be  disjoined1  

and never to shackle one the other4 ,for
 while those events  only which are     
probable ought to be assumed as the     
basis of plans for  futurity1 yet1      
whatever is not manifestly impossible1  
or in a high  degree improbable1 may    
lawfully be made the object of          
submissive  petition4 ,few persons1 and 
none who have known vicissitudes1 can   
look  back upon past years without      
recollecting signal occasions on which  
they  have been rescued from the        
impending and apparently inevitable     
consequences of their own misconduct1 or
 imprudence1 or want of ability1  by    
some extraordinary intervention in the  
very crisis of their fate1 or1  perhaps1
 they have been placed by accident in   
circumstances of peril1  where as it    
seemed1 there remained not a possibility
 of escape4 ,but  while the ruin was yet
 in descent1 rescue1 which it would have
 been  madness to expect1 came in to    
preserve life1 fortune1 or reputation1  
from the imminent destruction4 ,that    

such conspicuous deliverances do        
actually occur is matter of fact2 nor   
will the ,christian endure that  they   
should be attributed to any other cause 
than the special care and  kindness of  
his heavenly ,father3 and yet1 as they  
belong to an economy  which stretches   
into eternity and as they are not       
administered on any  ascertained rule1  
they can never come within the range of 
our  calculations1 or be admitted to    
influence our plans3 a propensity to    
indulge such expectations indicates     
infirmity of mind1 and is in fact an    
intrusion upon the counsels of infinite 
wisdom4    ,nevertheless1 so long as    
these extraordinary interventions are   
known to  consist with the rules of the 
divine government1 they may be          
contemplated as possible without        
violating the respect that is due to    
its ordinary procedures2 and may1       
therefore1 without enthusiasm1 be       
solicited in the hour of peril or       
perplexity4 ,the gracious ,hearer of    

prayer1 who1 on past and well-remembered
 occasions has signally given           
deliverance1 may do so again1 even when1
 if we think of our own  imprudence1 we 
have reason to expect nothing less than 
destruction4 ,what  are termed by       
irreligious men 'the fortunate chances  
of life'1 will be  regarded by the      
devout mind as constituting a hidden    
treasury of boons1  held at the disposal
 of a gracious hand for the incitement  
of prayer1  and for the reward of humble
 faith4 ,the enthusiast who1 in contempt
 of  common sense and of rectitude1     
presumes upon the existence of this     
extraordinary fund1 forfeits1 by such   
impiety1 his interest in its  stores4   
,but the prudent and the pious1 while   
they labor and calculate in  strict     
conformity to the known and ordinary    
course of events1 shall not  seldom find
 that1 from this very treasury of       
contingencies1 ,god is rich  to them    
that call upon him4    ,in minds of a   
puny form1 whose enthusiasm is commonly 

mingled with some  degree of abject     
superstition1 the doctrine of a         
particular providence  is liable to be  
degraded by habitual association with   
trivial and solid  solicitudes4 ,this or
 that paltry wish is gratified1 or      
vulgar care  relieved1 'by the kindness 
of providence2' and thanks are rendered 
for  helps1 comforts1 deliverances1 of  
so mean an order1 that the respectable  
language of piety is burlesqued by the  
ludicrous character of the  occasion on 
which it is used4 ,the fault in these   
instances does not  consist in an error 
of opinion1 as if even the most trivial 
events were  not1 equally with the most 
considerable1 under the divine          
management2  but it is a perversion and 
degradation of feeling which allows the 
mind  to be occupied with whatever is   
frivolous1 to the exclusion of whatever 
is important4 ,these petty spirits1 who 
draw hourly1 from the matters of  their 
personal comfort or indulgence1 so many 
occasions of prayer and  praise1 are    

often seen to be insensible to motives  
of a higher kind3  they have no         
perception of the relative magnitude of 
objects2 no sense  of proportion2 and   
they feel little or no interest in what 
does not  affect themselves4 ,we ought1 
however1 to grant indulgence to the     
infirmity of the feeble2 and if the soul
 be indeed incapable of  expansion1 it  
is better it should be devout in        
trifles1 than not devout  at all4 ,yet  
these small folks have need to be warned
 of the danger of  mistaking the        
gratulations of selfishness for the     
gratitude of piety4    ,it is a rare    
perfection of the intellectual and moral
 faculties which  allows all objects    
great and small1 to be distinctly       
perceived1 and  perceived in their      
relative magnitudes4 ,a soul of this    
high finish may  be devout on common    
occasions without trifling2 it will     
gather up the  fragments of the divine  
bounty1 that nothing be lost2 and yet   
hold its  energies and its solicitudes  

free for the embrace of momentous cares4
 ,if  men of expanded intellect1 and    
high feeling1 and great activity1 are   
excused in their neglect of small       
things1 this indulgence is founded  upon
 a recollection of the contractedness of
 the human mind1 even at the  best4 ,the
 forgetfulness of lesser matters1 which 
so often belongs to  energy of          
character1 is1 after all1 not a         
perfection1 but a weakness and  a more  
complete expansion of mind1 a still more
 vigorous pulse of life1  would dispel  
the torpor of which such neglects are   
the symptoms4           99       99     
99       99       99    ,thwarted       
enthusiasm naturally generates impious  
petulance4 ,if we  encumber the         
,providence of ,god with unwarranted    
expectations1 it will be  difficult not 
so to murmur under disappointment as    
those do who think  themselves defrauded
 of their right4 ,in truth1 amidst the  
sharpness of  sudden calamity1 or the   
pressure of continued adversity1 the    

most sane  minds are tempted to indulge 
repinings which reason1 not less than   
piety1 utterly condemns4 ,the imputation
 of defective wisdom1 or justice1  or   
goodness1 to the ,being of whom we can  
form no notion apart from the  idea of  
absolute knowledge1 rectitude1 and      
benevolence1 is too absurd to  need a   
formal refutation2 and yet how often    
does it survive all the  rebukes of good
 sense and religion6 ,so egregious an   
error could not find  a moment's        
lodgment in the heart1 if it did not    
meet a surface of  adhesion where       
presumption has been torn away4 ,the    
exaggerations of  self-love not quelled1
 but rather inflated by an enthusiastic 
piety1  inspire feelings of personal    
importance so enormous1 that even the   
infinitude of the divine attributes is  
made to shrink down to the  measure of  
comparison with man4 ,when illusions    
such as these are rent  and scattered1  
how pitiable is the conscious           
destitution and meanness of  the denuded

 spirit6 with how cruel a shock does it 
fall back upon its  true place in the   
vast system of providence6           99 
99       99       99       99           
,whoever entertains1 as every ,christian
 ought1 a strong and consoling  belief  
of the doctrine of a ,particular        
,providence1 which cares for the        
welfare of each1 should not forget to   
connect with that belief some  general  
notions1 at least1 of that system of    
,universal ,providence which  secures   
individual interests1 consistently with 
the well-being of the  whole4 ,such     
notions1 though very defective1 or even 
in part erroneous1  may serve first to  
check presumption1 and then to impose   
silence upon  those murmurs which are   
its offspring4    ,a law of             
subordination manifestly pervades that  
part of the government  of ,god with    
which we are acquainted1 and may fairly 
be supposed to  prevail elsewhere4      
,lesser interests are the component     
parts of greater2  and so closely are   

the individual fates of the human family
 interwoven1  that each member1 however 
insignificant he may seem1 sustains a   
real  relationship of influence to the  
community4 ,the lot of each must        
therefore be shapen by reasons drawn    
from many1 and often from remote        
quarters4 ,yet in effecting this complex
 combination of parts1 infinite  wisdom 
prevents any clashing of the lesser with
 the larger movements2  and we may feel 
assured that1 on the grounds either of  
mere equity or of  beneficence1 the     
dispensations of ,providence are as     
compactly perfect  towards each         
individual of mankind as if he were the 
sole inhabitant of  an only world4 ,if  
,heaven1 in its condescension1 were to  
implead at the  bar of human reason1 and
 set forth the motives of its dealings  
towards  this man or that1 these motives
 might1 no doubt1 be alleged and        
justified in every particular1 without  
making any reference to the             
intermingled interests of other men3 and

 it might be shown that1  although      
certain events were in fact followed by 
consequences much more  important to    
others than to the individual           
immediately affected1 yet  they did in  
the fullest sense belong to the personal
 discipline of the  individual1 and must
 have taken place irrespectively of     
those foreign  consequences4    ,this   
perfect fitting and finishing of the    
machinery of ,providence to  individual 
interests1 must be premised2 yet it is  
not less true that1 in  almost every    
event of life1 the remote consequences  
vastly outweigh the  proximate1 in      
actual amount of importance4 ,every man 
prospers1 or is  overthrown1 lives1 or  
dies1 not for himself2 but that he may  
sustain  those around him1 or that he   
may give them place2 and who shall      
attempt  to measure the circle within   
which are comprised these extensive     
dependences8 ,on principles even of     
mathematical calculation1 each          
individual of the human family may be   

demonstrated to hold in his hand  the   
centre lines of an interminable         
web-work1 on which are sustained the    
fortunes of multitudes of his           
successors4 ,these implicated           
consequences1  if summed together1 make 
up therefore a weight of human weal or  
woe that  is reflected back with an     
incalculable momentum upon the lot of   
each4  ,every one is then bound to      
remember that the personal sufferings or
  peculiar vicissitudes or toils through
 which he is called to pass1 are  to be 
estimated and explained only in an      
immeasurably small proportion  if his   
single welfare is regarded2 while their 
full price and value are  not to be     
computed unless the drops of the morning
 dew could be numbered4    ,immediate   
proof of that system of interminable    
connection which binds  together the    
whole human family may be obtained by   
every one who will  examine the several 
ingredients of his physical1            
intellectual1 and  social condition2 for

 he will not find one of these          
circumstances of his  lot that is not1  
in its substance or quality1 directly an
 effect or  consequence of the conduct1 
or character1 or constitution of his    
progenitors1 and of all with whom he has
 had to do2 if they had been  other than
 they were1 he must also have been other
 than he is4 ,and  then our predecessors
 must1 in like manner1 trace the        
qualities of their  being to theirs2    
thus the linking ascends to the common  
parents of all2  and thus must it       
descend1 still spreading as it goes1    
from the present  to the last generation
 of the children of ,adam4    ,nor is   
this direct and obvious kind of         
influence the only one of which  some   
plain indications are to be discerned2  
and without at all following  the       
uncertain track of adventurous          
speculation1 it may fairly be  surmised 
that the same law of interminable       
connection1 a law of moral  gravitation1
 stretches far beyond the limits of the 

human family1 and  actually holds in    
union the great community of intelligent
 beings4  ,instances of connection      
immensely remote1 and yet very real1    
might be  adduced in abundance3 the     
influence of history upon the character 
and  conduct of successive generations  
is of this kind4 ,whatever imparts      
force or intensity to human motives1 and
 by this means actually  determines the 
course of life1 may assuredly claim for 
itself the title  and respect due to an 
efficient cause1 and must be deemed to  
exert an  impulsive power over the mind4
 ,now the records of history1 how long  
soever may have been the line of        
transmission which has brought them to  
our times1 fraught as they are with     
instances applicable to all the         
occasions of real life1 do thus1 in a   
very perceptible degree1 affect  the    
sentiments and mould the characters of  
mankind2 nor will any one  speak        
slightingly of this species of causation
 who has compared the  intellectual     

condition of nations rich in history    
with that of a people  wholly destitute 
of the memorials of past ages4 ,the     
story of the  courage1 or constancy1 or 
wisdom of the men of a distant time     
becomes1  in a greater or a less degree1
 a subsidiary cause of the conduct of   
the  men of each succeeding generation4 
,thus the few individuals in every age  
to whom it has happened to live1 and    
act1 and speak under the focus of  the  
speculum of history1 did actually live1 
and labor1 and suffer for  the benefit  
of mankind in all future times2 just as 
truly as a father  toils for the        
advantage of his family4 ,and if the    
whole amount of the  influence which has
 in fact flowed from the example of the 
wise1 the  brave1 and the good1 could   
have been placed in prophetic vision    
before  them1 while in the midst of     
their arduous course1 would not these   
worthies contentedly and gladly have    
purchased so immense a wealth of  moral 
power at the price of their personal    

sufferings8    ,here1 then1 as a plain  
matter of fact1 is an instance of       
boundless  causation1 connecting certain
 individuals with myriads of their      
species1  from age to age1 and forever4 
,it is an instance1 we say1 and not     
more3  for the voice of history is but a
 preluding flourish to that voluminous  
revelation which shall be made1 in the  
great day of consummation1 of all  that 
has been acted and suffered upon earth's
 surface4 ,in that day1 when  the books 
of universal history are opened and     
read1 it shall doubtless  be found that 
no particle has been lost of aught that 
might serve to  authenticate the maxims 
of eternal wisdom1 or to vindicate the  
righteous  government of ,god4 ,and all 
shall be written anew1 as with a pen of 
iron  on the rock forever1 and shall    
stand forth as an imperishable lesson of
  warning or incitement to after-comers 
on the theatre of existence4            
,whatever degree of solidity may be     
attributed to considerations of this    

kind1 they are at least sufficiently    
supported by analogies to give them  a  
decided advantage over those petulant   
cavils wherewith we are prone to        
arraign the particular dispensations of 
,providence towards ourselves4  ,are    
such dispensations1 when seen in small  
portions1 mysterious and  perplexing8   
,how can they be otherwise if1 in their 
completed  measurements1 they are to    
spread over the creation1 and in their  
issues1  to endure forever8           99
       99       99       99       99    
,the common phrase--a mysterious        
dispensation of ,providence1 when used  
as most often it is1 contains the very  
substance of enthusiasm2 and yet1  it   
must be confessed1 of a venial          
enthusiasm2 for the occasions which     
draw it forth are of a kind that may be 
admitted to palliate a hasty            
impropriety of language4 ,to call any   
event that does not break in upon  the  
known and established order of natural  
causes--mysterious1 is  virtually to    

assume a previous knowledge of the      
intentions of the  ,supreme ,ruler2 for 
it is to say that his proceedings have  
baffled our  calculations2 and in fact  
it is only when we have formed          
anticipations  of what ought to have    
been the course of events that we are   
tempted by  sudden reverses to employ so
 improperly this indefinite expression4 
,all  the dispensations of ,divine      
,providence1 taken together1 may1 with  
perfect propriety1 be termed mysterious2
 since all alike are governed by        
reasons that are hidden and inscrutable3
 but it is the height of  presumption so
 to designate some of them in           
distinction from others4 ,for  example2 
a man eminently gifted by nature for    
important and peculiar  services1 and   
trained to perform them by a long and   
arduous discipline1  and now just       
entering upon the course of successful  
beneficence1 and  perhaps actually      
holding in his hand the welfare of a    
family or a  province1 or an empire1 is 

suddenly smitten to the earth by disease
 or  accident4 ,sad ruin of a rare      
machinery of intellectual and moral     
power6  ,but while the thoughtless may  
deplore for an hour the irreparable loss
  they have sustained1 the thoughtful   
few muse rather than weep2 and in  order
 to conceal from themselves the         
irreverence of their own repinings1     
exclaim--',how mysterious are the ways  
of heaven6' ,yes2 but in the present    
instance1 what is mysterious8 ,not that 
human life should at all periods  be    
liable to disease1 or the human frame be
 always vulnerable2 for these  are      
conditions inseparable from the present 
constitution of our nature2  and it is  
clear that nothing less than a perpetual
 miracle could exempt  any one class of 
mankind from the common contingencies of
 physical life4  ,the supposition of any
 such constant and manifest             
interposition1  rendering a certain     
description of persons intactible by    
harm2 would be  impious as well as      

absurd4 ,nothing could suggest to a sane
 mind an idea  of this sort1 if it did  
not gain admittance in the train of     
those eager  forecastings of the ways of
 ,god in which persons much addicted to 
religious meditation are prone to       
indulge1 and which1 though they may     
afford pleasure for a moment1 are       
usually purchased at the cost of        
relapses into gloomy1 or worse than     
gloomy discontents4    ,there is a      
striking incongruity in the fact that   
the propensity to apply  the equivocal  
term1 mysterious1 to sudden and         
afflictive events1 like  the one just   
specified1 is indulged almost           
exclusively by the very  persons whose  
professed principles furnish them with a
 sufficient  explanation of such        
dispensations4 ,if the present state    
were thought to  comprise the beginning 
and the end of the human system1 and if1
 at the  same time1 this system be      
attributed to the ,supreme              
,intelligence1 then  indeed the         

prodigious waste and destruction which  
is continually taking  place1 not only  
of the germs of life1 but of the rarest 
and of the most  excellent specimens of 
divine art1 is a solecism that must     
baffle every  attempt at explanation4   
,let then the deist1 who knows of       
nothing beyond  death1 talk of the      
mysteries of ,providence2 but let not   
the ,christian1  who is taught to think 
little of the present1 and much of the  
future1  use language of this sort4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,a popular misunderstanding of the      
language of ,scripture relative to the  
future state1 has1 perhaps1 had great   
influence in enhancing the gloom  and   
perplexity with which ,christians are   
wont to think and speak of  sudden and  
afflictive visitations of ,providence4  
,heaven--the ultimate and perfected     
condition of human nature1 is thought   
of amidst the toils of life1 as an      
elysium of quiescent bliss1 exempt1  if 
not from action1 at least from the      

necessity of action4 ,meanwhile  every  
one feels that the ruling tendency and  
the uniform intention of  all the       
arrangements of the present state1 and  
of almost all its  casualties1 is to    
generate and to cherish habits of       
strenuous exertion4  ,inertness1 not    
less than vice1 stamps upon its victim  
the seal of  perdition4 ,the whole order
 of nature1 and all the institutions of 
society1 and the ordinary course of     
events1 and the explicit will of  ,god1 
as declared in his word1 concur in      
opposing that propensity to rest  which 
belongs to the human mind1 and combine  
to necessitate submission  to the hard1 
yet salutary conditions under which     
alone the most extreme  evils may be    
held in abeyance1 and any degree of     
happiness enjoyed4 ,a  task and duty is 
to be fulfilled1 in discharging which   
the want of  energy is punished even    
more immediately and more severely than 
the want  of virtuous motives4    ,here1
 then1 is visible a great and serious   

incongruity between matter of  fact1 and
 the common anticipations of the future 
state3 it deserves  inquiry1 therefore1 
whether these anticipations are really  
founded on  the evidence of ,scripture2 
or whether they are not rather the mere 
suggestions of a sickly spiritual       
luxuriousness4 ,this is not the place   
for pursuing such an inquiry2 but it may
 be observed1 in passing1 that  those   
glimpses of the supernal world which we 
catch from the ,scriptures  have in     
them1 certainly1 quite as much of the   
character of history as of  poetry1 and 
impart the idea--not that there is less 
of business in heaven  than on earth1   
but more4 ,unquestionably1 the felicity 
of those beings of  a higher order1 to  
whose agency frequent allusions are made
 by the  inspired writers1 is not       
incompatible with the assiduities of a  
strenuous ministry1 to be discharged1   
according to the best ability of  each1 
in actual and arduous contention with   
formidable1 and perhaps  sometimes      

successful opposition4 ,a poetic notion 
of angelic agency1  having in it nothing
 substantial1 nothing necessary1 nothing
 difficult1  and which consists only in 
an unreal show of action and movement1  
and in  which the result would be       
precisely the same apart from the       
accompaniment of a swarm of butterfly   
youths1 must be spurned by reason1  as  
it is unwarranted by ,scripture4        
,scripture does not affirm or imply     
that the plenitude of divine power is at
 all in more immediate exercise  in the 
higher world than in this3 on the       
contrary1 the revelation so  distinctly 
made of a countless array of intelligent
 and vigorous agents1  designated       
usually by an epithet of martial        
signification1 precludes  such an idea4 
,why a commission of subalterns8 why an 
attendance of  celestials upon the      
flight of the bolt of omnipotence8 ,that
 bolt1 when  actually flung1 needs no   
coadjutor6    ,but if there be a real   
and necessary1 not merely a shadowy     

agency in  heaven as well as on earth2  
and if human nature is destined to act  
its  part in such an economy1 then its  
constitution1 and the severe training   
it undergoes1 are at once explained2 and
 then1 also1 the removal of  individuals
 in the very prime of their fitness for 
useful labor ceases  to be impenetrably 
mysterious4 ,this excellent mechanism of
 matter and  mind1 which1 beyond any    
other of his works1 declares the wisdom 
of the  ,creator1 and which1 under his  
guidance1 is now passing the season of  
its  first preparation1 shall stand up  
anew from the dust of dissolution1 and  
then1 with freshened powers1 and with a 
store of hard-earned practical  wisdom  
for its guidance1 shall essay new       
labors--we say not perplexities  and    
perils--in the service of ,god1 who by  
such instruments chooses to  accomplish 
his designs of beneficence4 ,that so    
prodigious a waste of the  highest      
qualities should take place as is       
implied in the notions which  many      

,christians entertain of the future     
state1 is indeed hard to  imagine4 ,the 
mind of man1 formed as it is to be more 
tenacious of its  active habits than    
even of its moral dispositions1 is1 in  
the present  state1 trained 7often at an
 immense cost of suffering7 to the      
exercise  of skill1 of forethought1 of  
courage1 of patience2 and ought it not  
to  be inferred1 unless positive        
evidence contradicts the supposition1   
that  this system of education bears    
some relation of fitness to the state   
for  which it is an initiation8 ,shall  
not the very same qualities which here  
are so sedulously fashioned and         
finished1 be actually needed and used in
  that future world of perfection8      
,surely the idea is inadmissible that an
  instrument wrought up1 at so much     
expense1 to a polished fitness for      
service1 is destined to be suspended    
forever on the palace walls of  heaven1 
as a glittering bauble1 no more to make 
proof of its temper6    ,a pious1 but   

needless jealousy1 lest the honor due to
 him who worketh  all in all should be  
in any degree compromised1 has perhaps  
had  influence in concealing from the   
eyes of ,christians the importance      
attributed in the ,scriptures to        
subordinate agency2 and thus1 by a      
natural consequence1 has impoverished   
and enfeebled our ideas of the  heavenly
 state4 ,but assuredly it is only while 
encompassed by the  dimness and errors  
of the present life that there can be   
any danger of  attributing to the       
creature the glory due to the ,creator4 
,when once with  open eye that excellent
 glory has been contemplated1 then shall
 it be  understood that the divine      
wisdom is incomparably more honored by  
the  skilful and faithful performances1 
and by the cheerful toils of agents  who
 have been fashioned and fitted for     
service1 than it could be by the  bare  
exertions of irresistible power3 and    
then1 when the absolute  dependence of  
creatures is thoroughly felt1 may the   

beautiful orders of  the heavenly       
hierarchy--rising1 and still rising     
towards perfection--be  seen and admired
 without hazard of forgetting him who   
alone is  absolutely perfect1 and who is
 the only fountain and first cause of   
whatever is excellent4    ,the          
,scriptures do indeed most explicitly   
declare1 not only that virtue  will be  
inamissible in heaven1 but that its     
happiness will be unalloyed  by fear1 or
 pain1 or want4 ,but the mental         
associations formed in the  present     
state make it so difficult to disjoin   
the idea of suffering and  of sorrow    
from that of labor1 and of arduous and  
difficult achievement1  that we are     
prone to exclude action1 as well as     
pain1 from our idea of  the future      
blessedness4 ,yet assuredly these       
notions may be separated2  and if it be 
possible to imagine a perfect freedom   
from selfish  solicitudes1 a perfect    
acquiescence in the will1 and a perfect 
confidence in the wisdom1 power1 and    

goodness of ,god1 then also may  we     
conceive of toils without sadness1 of   
perplexities without  perturbations1 and
 of difficult or perilous service1      
without despondency  or fear4 ,the true 
felicity of beings furnished with moral 
sensibilities1  must consist in the full
 play of the emotions of love1 fixed on 
the  centre of good2 and this kind of   
happiness is unquestionably compatible  
with any external condition not         
positively painful3 perhaps even another
  step might be taken2 but our argument 
does not need it4 ,yet it should be     
remembered1 that1 in many signal and    
well-attested instances the fervor  of  
the religious affections has almost or  
entirely obliterated the  consciousness 
of physical suffering1 and has proved   
its power to  vanquish every inferior   
emotion1 and to fill the heart with     
heaven1 even  amid the utmost           
intensities of pain4 ,much more1 then1  
may these  affections1 when freed from  
every shackle1 when invigorated by an   

assured possession of endless life1 and 
when heightened by the immediate  vision
 of the supreme excellence1 yield a     
fulness of joy1 consistently  with many 
vicissitudes of external position4      
,considerations such as these1 if at all
 borne out by evidence of  ,scripture1  
may properly have place in connection   
with the topic of this  section2 for it 
is evident that the harassing           
perplexities which arise  from the      
present dispensations of ,providence    
might be greatly relieved  by habitually
 entertaining anticipations of the      
future state somewhat  less imbecile and
 luxurious than those commonly admitted 
by ,christians4          ,,section      
,,vii4    ,,enthusiasm ,,of             
,,beneficence4      ,to say that the    
principle of disinterested benevolence  
had never been  known among men before  
the publication of ,christianity would  
be an  exaggeration2--an exaggeration   
very similar to that of affirming that  
the  doctrine of immortality was new to 

mankind when taught by our ,lord4 ,in   
truth1 the one had1 in every age1 been  
imperfectly practised1 and the  other   
dimly supposed2 yet neither the one     
principle nor the other  existed in     
sufficient strength to be the source of 
any very substantial  benefit to        
mankind4 ,but ,christ1 while he         
emphatically brought life and           
immortality to light1 and so claimed to 
be the ,author of hope for man1  did    
also with such effect lay the hand of   
his healing power upon the  human heart1
 long palsied by sensualities and       
selfishness1 that it has  ever since    
shed forth a fountain of active         
kindness1 largely available  for the    
relief of want and misery4    ,as a     
matter of history1 unquestionable and   
conspicuous1 ,christianity  has1 in     
every age1 fed the hungry1 and clothed  
the naked1 and redeemed  the captive1   
and visited the sick4 ,it has put to    
shame the atrocities of  the ancient    
popular amusements1 and has annihilated 

sanguinary rites1  and has brought      
slavery into disesteem and disuse1 and  
has abolished  excruciating punishments3
 it has even softened the ferocity of   
war2 and1  in a word1 is seen constantly
 at work1 edging away oppressions1 and  
moving on towards the perfect triumph   
which avowedly it meditates--that  of   
removing from the earth every woe which 
the inconsideration1 or the             
selfishness1 or the malignancy of man   
inflicts upon his fellows4    ,it       
remains1 then1 to ask1 ,by what special 
means has ,christianity  effected these 
ameliorations8 and it will be found1    
that the power and  success of that new 
principle of benevolence which is taught
 in the  ,scriptures1 are not more      
remarkable than are its constitution and
 its  ingredients4 ,christian           
philanthropy1 though it takes up among  
its  elements the native benevolence of 
the human heart1 is a compound          
principle1 essentially differing from   
the spontaneous sympathies of our       

nature4 ,now1 as this new and composite 
benevolence has1 by a trial of  eighteen
 centuries1 and under every imaginable  
diversity of  circumstance1 proved its  
practical efficiency1 and its immense   
superiority over the crude elementary   
principle of mere kindness1 it  would be
 a violation of the acknowledged methods
 of modern science to  adhere           
pertinaciously to the old and           
inefficient element1 and to contemn  the
 improved principle4 ,all we have to do 
on an occasion wherein the  welfare of  
our fellows is so deeply interested1 is 
to take care that our  own benevolence1 
and the benevolence which we recommend  
to others1 is of  the true and genuine  
sort2 in other words1 that it is        
,christian4 ,if1 as  every one would    
profess1 we desire to live1 not for     
selfish pleasure1  but to promote the   
happiness of others1 if we would become1
 not idle  well-wishers to our species1 
not closet philanthropists1 dreaming of 
impracticable reforms1 and grudging the 

cost of any effective relief1  but real 
benefactors to mankind1 we must take up 
the lessons of ,new  ,testament         
philanthropy1 just as they lie on the   
page before us1 and  without imagining  
simpler methods1 follow humbly in the   
track of  experience4 ,by this ,book    
alone have men been effectively taught  
to do  good4    ,a low rate of activity1
 prompted merely by the spontaneous     
kindness of  the heart1 may easily take 
place without incurring the danger of   
enthusiastical excesses2 but how is     
enough of moral movement to be  obtained
 for giving impulse to a course of      
arduous and perilous labors  such as the
 woes of mankind often call for1 and yet
 without generating  the extravagances  
of a false excitement8 ,this is a       
problem solved only  by the ,christian  
scheme1 and in briefly enumerating the  
peculiarities of  the benevolence which 
it inspires1 we shall not fail to catch 
a glimpse1  at least1 of that profound  
skill which makes provision1 on the one 

side  against inertness and selfishness1
 and on the other against enthusiasm4   
,the peculiarities of ,christian        
philanthropy are such as these3 it is   
vicarious1 obligatory1 rewardable1      
subordinate to an efficient agency1  and
 it is an expression of grateful love4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,i4 ,that great principle of vicarious  
suffering which forms the centre of     
,christianity1 spreads itself through   
the subordinate parts of the  system1   
and is the pervading1 if not the        
invariable law of ,christian            
beneficence4    ,the spontaneous        
sympathies of human nature1 when they   
are vigorous  enough to produce the     
fruits of charity1 rest on an           
expectation of an  opposite kind2 for we
 first seek to dispel from our own      
bosoms the  uneasy sensation of pity2   
then look for the gratitude of the      
wretch we  have solaced1 and for the    
approbation of spectators2 and then take
 a  sweet after-draught of              

self-complacency4 ,but the ,christian   
virtue of  beneficence stands altogether
 on another ground2 and its doctrine is 
this1 that whoever would remedy misery  
must himself suffer2 and that the  pains
 of the vicarious benefactor are        
generally to bear proportion to  the    
extent or malignity of the evils he     
labors to remove3 so that1 while  the   
philanthropist who undertakes the cure  
only of the transient ills of  the      
present life1 may encounter no greater  
amount of toils or  discouragements than
 are amply recompensed by the immediate 
gratifications of successful            
benevolence1 he who1 with a due sense of
  the greatness of the enterprise1      
devotes himself to the removal of the   
moral wretchedness in which human nature
 is involved1 will find that the  sad   
quality of these deeper woes is in a    
manner reflected back upon  himself2 and
 that to touch the substantial miseries 
of degenerate man is  to come within the
 infection of infinite sorrow4    ,and  

this is the law of success in the       
,christian ministry--that highest  work 
of philanthropy4 ,every right-minded and
 heaven-commissioned  minister of       
religion is baptized with the baptism   
wherewith his ,lord  was baptized4 ,in  
an inferior1 yet a real sense1 he is1   
like his ,lord1 a  vicarious person1 and
 has freely undergone a suretyship for  
the immortal  welfare of his fellow-men4
 ,he has charged himself with a         
responsibility  that can never be       
absolutely acquitted while any power of 
exertion or  faculty of endurance is    
held back from the service4 ,the        
interests which  rest in his hand1 and  
depend on his skill and                 
fidelity--depend1 as truly  as if divine
 agency had no part in the issue--are as
 momentous as  infinity can make them2  
nor are they to be promoted without a   
willingness to do and to bear the utmost
 of which humanity is capable4          
,although the servant of ,christ be not 
unconditionally responsible for  the    

happy result of his labors1 he is       
clearly bound1 both by the terms  of his
 engagement and the very quality of the 
work1 to surrender  whatever he may     
possess that has in it a virtue to      
purchase success2 and  he knows that1 by
 the great law of the spiritual world1  
the suffering of  a substitute enters   
into the procedures of redemption4      
,he who took our sorrows and bore our   
griefs1 left1 for the instruction  of   
his servants1 a perfect model of what   
should ordinarily be a life of          
beneficence4 ,every circumstance of     
privation1 of discouragement1 of        
insult1 of deadly hostility1 which      
naturally fell in the way of a  ministry
 like his1 exercised among a people     
profligate1 malignant1 and  fanatical1  
was endured by him as submissively as if
 no extraordinary  powers of relief or  
defence had been at his disposal4    ,on
 the very same conditions of unmitigated
 toil and suffering he  consigned the   
publication of his religion to his      

apostles3 ,ye shall be  hated of all    
nations for my name's sake3 ,whosoever  
killeth you shall  think that he doeth  
,god service3 ,behold1 ,i send you forth
 as sheep among  wolves4 ,though endowed
 with an opulence of supernatural power 
for the  attestation of their           
commission1 the apostles possessed none 
for the  alleviation of their own       
distresses2 none which might tend to    
generate a  personal enthusiasm by      
leading them to think that they1 as     
individuals1  were the darlings of      
,heaven4 ,and in fact1 they daily found 
themselves1  even while wielding the arm
 of omnipotence1 exposed to the         
extremest  pressures of want1 to pain1  
to destitution1 to contempt4 ,even unto 
this  present hour we both hunger1 and  
thirst1 and are naked1 and are          
buffeted1 and have no certain dwelling  
place4 ,such was the deplorable  lot1   
such to his last year of houseless      
wanderings1 houseless except  when a    
dungeon was his home1 of the most       

honored of ,heaven's agents on  earth4  
,such was the life of the most          
successful of all philanthropists6      
,nor have the conditions of eminent     
service been relaxed3 the value of      
souls is not lowered2 and as the        
sacrifice once offered for the sins  of 
the world remains in undiminished       
efficacy1 so1 in the process of         
diffusing the infinite benefit1 the rule
 originally established  continues in   
force2 and although reasons drawn from  
the diversity of  character and of      
natural strength1 among those who are   
the servants of  ,god1 may occasion     
great apparent differences in the amount
 of suffering  severally endured by     
them1 it is always true that the path of
 ,christian  beneficence is more beset  
than the common walks of life with      
disheartening reverses4 ,whoever freely 
takes up the cause of the  wretched1 is 
left to feel the grievous pressure of   
the burden4 ,the  frustration of his    
plans by the obstinate folly of those   

whom he would  fain serve1 the apathy1  
the remissness1 or the sinister         
oppositions of  professed coadjutors1   
the dangerous hostility of profligate   
power1 and  worse than all1 the secret  
misgivings of an exhausted spirit2      
these1 and  whatever other instruments  
of torture ,disappointment may hold in  
her  hand or have in reserve1 are the   
furniture of the theatre on which the   
favorite virtue of ,heaven is to pass   
its trial4    ,but this law of vicarious
 charity is altogether opposed to the   
expectations of inexperienced and ardent
 minds4 ,among the few who devote       
themselves zealously to the service of  
mankind1 a large proportion  derive     
their activity from that constitutional 
fervor which is the  physical cause of  
enthusiasm4 ,in truth1 a propensity     
rather to indulge  the illusions of     
hope1 than to calculate probabilities1  
may seem almost  a necessary            
qualification for those who1 in this    
world of abounding  evil1 are to devise 

the means of checking its triumphs4 ,to 
raise fallen  humanity from its         
degradation1 to rescue the oppressed1 to
 deliver the  needy1 to save the lost1  
are enterprises so little recommended1  
for the  most part1 by a fair promise of
 success1 that few will engage in them  
but those who1 by a happy infirmity of  
the reasoning faculty1 are prone  to    
hope where cautious men despond4        
,thus furnished for their work by a     
constitutional contempt of frigid       
prudence1 and engaged cordially in      
services which seem to give them a      
peculiar interest in the favor of       
,heaven1 it is only natural that        
benevolent enthusiasts should cherish   
secret1 if not avowed hopes1 of         
extraordinary aids1 and of              
interpositions of a kind not compatible 
with  the constitution of the present   
state1 and not warranted by promise of  
,scripture4 ,or if the kind-hearted     
visionary neither asks nor expects any  
peculiar protection of his person1 nor  

any exemption from the common  hazards  
and ills of life1 he yet clings with    
fond pertinacity to the  hope of a      
semi-miraculous interference on those   
occasions in which the  work1 rather    
than the agent1 is in peril4 ,even the  
genuineness of his  benevolence leads   
the amiable enthusiast into this error4 
,to achieve the  good he has designed   
does indeed occupy all his heart1 to the
 exclusion  of every selfish thought3   
what price of personal suffering would  
he not  pay1 might he so purchase the   
needful miracle of help6 ,how piercing1 
then1 is the anguish of his soul when   
that help is withheld2 when his  fair   
hopes and fair designs are overthrown by
 a hostility that might  have been      
restrained1 or by a casualty that might 
have been diverted6    ,few1 perhaps1   
who suffer chagrins like this1          
altogether avoid a relapse  into        
religious--we ought to say1             
irreligious--despondency4 ,the first    
fault1 that of misunderstanding the     

unalterable rules of the divine         
government1 is followed by a worse1 that
 of fretting against them4 ,when  the   
sharpness of disappointment disperses   
enthusiasm1 the whole moral             
constitution often becomes infected with
 the gall of discontent4  ,querulous    
regrets take the place of active zeal2  
and at length vexation1  much more than 
a real exhaustion of strength1 renders  
the once laborious  philanthropist weary
 in well doing4    ,and yet1 not seldom1
 a happy renovation of motives takes    
place in  consequence of the very       
failures to which the enthusiast has    
exposed  himself4 ,benevolent           
enterprises were commenced1 perhaps1 in 
all the  fervor of exorbitant hopes2 the
 course of nature was to be diverted1   
and  a new order of things to take      
place1 in which what human efforts      
failed  to accomplish should be achieved
 by the ready aid of ,heaven4 ,but      
,disappointment1 as merciless to the    
venial errors of the good1 as to the    

mischievous plots of the wicked1        
scatters the project in a moment4 ,then 
the selfish1 and the inert1 exult2 and  
the half-wise pick up fragments  from   
the desolation1 wherewith to patch their
 favorite maxims of frigid  prudence    
with new proofs in point6 ,meanwhile1 by
 grace given from above  in the hour of 
despondency1 the enthusiast gains a     
portion of true  wisdom from defeat4    
,though robbed of his fondly-cherished  
hopes1 he has  not been stripped of his 
sympathies1 and these soon prompt him to
 begin  anew his labors1 on principles  
of a more substantial sort4 ,warned not 
again to expect miraculous or           
extraordinary aids to supply the want of
  caution he consults ,prudence with    
even a religious scrupulosity2 for he   
has learned to think her voice1 if not  
misunderstood1 to be in fact the  voice 
of ,god4 ,and now he avenges himself    
upon ,disappointment1 by  abstaining    
almost from hope4 ,a sense of           
responsibility which quells  physical   

excitement1 is his strength4 ,he relies 
indeed upon the divine  aid2 yet not for
 extraordinary interpositions1 but for  
grace to be  faithful4 ,thus1 better    
furnished for arduous exertion1 a degree
 of  substantial success is granted to  
his renewed toils and prayers4 ,and     
while the indolent1 and the             
over-cautious1 and the cold-hearted1    
remain  what they were2 or have become  
more inert1 more timid1 and more selfish
  than before1 the subject of their     
self-complacent pity has not only       
accomplished some important service for 
mankind1 but has himself  acquired a    
temper which fits him to take rank among
 the thrones and  dominions of the upper
 world4           99       99       99  
99       99    ,,ii4 ,christian         
philanthropy is obligatory4    ,natural 
benevolence is prone to claim the       
liberty and the merit that  belong to   
pure spontaneity1 and spurns the idea of
 duty or necessity4  ,this claim might  
be allowed if the free emotions of      

kindness were  sufficiently common1 and 
sufficiently vigorous1 to meet the large
 and  constant demand of want and       
misery4 ,but the contrary is the fact2  
and if  it were not that an             
authoritative requisition1 backed by the
 most solemn  sanctions1 laid its hand  
upon the sources of eleemosynary aid1   
the  revenues of mercy would be slender 
indeed4 ,even the few who act from the  
impulse of the noblest motives1 are     
urged on and sustained in their  course 
of beneficence by a latent recollection 
that1 though they move  freely in       
advancing1 they have no real liberty to 
draw back4 ,if the  entire amount of    
advantage which has accrued to the      
necessitous from the  influence of      
,christianity could be computed1 it     
would1 no doubt1 be  found1 that by far 
the larger share has been contributed1  
not by the few  who might have done the 
same without impulsion1 but by the many 
whose  selfishness could never have been
 broken up except by the most           

peremptory appeals4 ,to ensure1         
therefore1 its large purpose of         
good-will  to man1 the law of ,christ   
spreads out its claims very far beyond  
the  circle of mere pity1 or natural    
kindness2 and in the most absolute terms
  demands1 for the use of the poor1 the 
ignorant1 the wretched1 7and  demands   
from every one who names the name of    
,christ7 the whole residue  of talent1  
wealth1 time1 that may remain after     
primary claims have been  satisfied4 ,on
 this ground1 when the zeal of          
self-denying benevolence has  laid down 
its last mite1 it does not deem itself  
to have exceeded the  extent of         
,christian duty2 but cheerfully assents 
to that rule of  computing service which
 affirms that1 when we have done all1 we
 are  unprofitable servants2 having     
performed only what we were commanded4  
,manifestly1 for the purpose of giving  
the highest possible force and          
solemnity to that sense of obligation   
which impels the ,christian to  abound  

in every good work1 the ostensible proof
 of religious sincerity1  to be adduced 
in the momentous procedures of the last 
judgment1 is made  to consist in the    
fact of a life of beneficence4 ,those1  
and those only1  shall inherit the      
prepared blessedness1 who shall be found
 to have  nourished1 and clothed1 and   
visited the ,lord to his                
representatives--the  poor4 ,the cursed 
are those who have grudged the cost of  
mercy4    ,and it is not only true that 
the funds of charity have been1 in every
  age1 immensely augmented by these     
strong representations1 and have far    
exceeded the amount which spontaneous   
compassion would ever have  contributed1
 but the very character of beneficence  
has been new-modelled  by them4 ,in the 
mind of every well-instructed           
,christian1 a feeling  compounded of a  
compunctious sense of inadequate        
performance1 and a  solemn sense of the 
extent of the divine requirements1      
repugnates and  subdues those           

self-gratulations1 those giddy          
deliriums1 and that vain  ambition1     
which beset a course of active and      
successful beneficence4  ,this          
remarkable arrangement of the ,christian
 ethics1 by which the  largest possible 
contributions and the utmost possible   
exertions are  demanded in a tone of    
comprehensive authority1 seems1 besides 
its other  uses1 particularly intended  
to quash the natural enthusiasm of      
active  zeal4 ,it is a strong antagonist
 principle in the mechanism of motives1 
ensuring an equilibrium1 however great  
may be the intensity of action4  ,we are
 thus taught that1 as there can be no   
supererogation in works of  mercy1 so   
neither can there be exultation4        
,nothing1 it is manifest1 but  humility1
 becomes a servant who1 at the best1    
barely acquits his duty4    ,let it1 for
 example1 have been given to a man to   
receive superior mental  endowments1    
force of understanding1 solidity of     
judgment1 and richness  of imagination1 

command of language1 and graces of      
utterance2 a soul  fraught with         
expansive kindness1 and not more kind   
than courageous2 and  let him1 thus     
furnished by nature1 have enjoyed the   
advantages of rank1  and wealth1 and    
secular influence2 and let it have been 
his lot1 in the  prime of life1 to be   
stationed just on the fortunate centre  
of peculiar  opportunities2 and then let
 it have happened that a fourth part of 
the  human family1 cruelly maltreated1  
stood as clients at his door1  imploring
 help2 and let him in the very teeth of 
ferocious selfishness1  have achieved   
deliverance for these suffering         
millions1 and have given a  deadly blow 
to the ,moloch of blood and rapacity3   
and let him have been  lifted to the    
heavens on the loud acclamations of all 
civilized nations1  and blessed amid the
 sighs and joys of the ransomed poor1   
and his name  diffused1 like a charm1   
through every barbarous dialect of a    
continent4  ,let all this signal        

felicity have belonged to the lot of a  
,christian--a  ,christian well taught in
 the principles of his religion2        
nevertheless1  in the midst of his      
honest joy1 he will find place rather   
for  humiliation than for that vain     
excitement and exultation wherewith a   
man  of merely natural benevolence would
 not fail1 in like circumstances1 to  be
 intoxicated4 ,without at all allowing  
the exaggerations of an affected        
humility1 the triumphant philanthropist 
confesses that he is nothing1  and1 far 
from deeming himself to have surpassed  
the requirements of the  law of ,christ1
 feels that he has done less than his   
duty4    ,christian philanthropy1 thus  
boldly and solidly based on a sense of  
unlimited obligation1 acquires a        
character essentially differing from    
that of spontaneous kindness2 and while1
 as a source of relief to the  wretched1
 it is rendered immensely more copious1 
is1 at the same time1  secured against  
the flatteries of self-love1 and the    

excesses of  enthusiasm1 by the solemn  
sanctions of an unbounded               
responsibility4           99       99   
99       99       99    ,,iii4 ,a nice  
balancing of motives is obtained from an
 opposite quarter in  the ,christian    
doctrine1 of--,the rewardableness of    
works of mercy4 ,this  doctrine1 than   
which no article of religion stands out 
more prominently  on the surface of the 
,new ,testament1 having been early      
abused1 to the  hurt of the fundamentals
 of piety1 has1 in the modern ,church1  
been  almost lost sight of1 and fallen  
into disuse1 or has even become liable  
to obloquy2 so that to insist upon it   
plainly has incurred a  charge of       
,pelagianism1 or of ,romanism1 or of    
some such error4 ,this  misunderstanding
 must be dispelled before ,christian    
philanthropy can  revive in full force4 
,amidst the awful reserve which envelops
 the announcement of a future  life by  
our ,lord and his ministers1 three      
ideas1 continually incurring1  are to be

 gathered with sufficient clearness from
 their hasty allusions4  ,the first is1 
that the future life will be the fruit  
of the present1  as if by a natural     
sequence of cause and effect4           
,whatsoever a man sows  that shall he   
also reap4 ,the second is1 that the     
future harvest1  though of like species 
and quality with the seed1 will be      
immensely  disproportioned to it in     
amount4 ,the things seen are temporal2  
but the  things unseen are eternal2 and 
the sufferings of the present time are  
to be followed by a far more exceeding  
and eternal weight of glory2  and those 
who have been faithful over a few       
things1 will have rule over  many4 ,the 
third is1 that though the disparity     
between the present  reward and the     
future recompense will be vast and      
incalculable1 yet will  there obtain a  
most exact rule of correspondence       
between the one and the  other1 so that1
 from the hands of the righteous ,judge 
every man will  receive severally1      

according as his work has been4 ,nor    
shall even1 a  cup of cold water1 given 
in ,christian love1 be omitted in that  
accurate  account2 the giver shall by no
 means lose his reward4    ,such are the
 explicit and intelligible engagements  
of him whose commands  are never far    
separated from his promises4 ,it cannot 
then be deemed a  becoming part of      
,christian temper to indulge a          
scrupulous hesitation in  accepting and 
in acting upon the faith of these       
declarations4 ,and as  there is no real 
incompatibility or clashing of motives  
in the ,christian  system1 any delicacy 
that may be felt1 as if the hope of     
reward might  interfere with a due sense
 of obligation to sovereign grace1 must 
spring  from an obscured and faulty     
perception of scriptural doctrines4 ,the
  intelligent ,christian1 on the        
contrary1 when1 in simplicity of heart1 
he  calculates upon the promises of     
,heaven2 and when1 with a distinct      
reckoning of the great gain of such an  

investment1 he lays up for  himself     
treasures that cannot fail2 is1 at the  
same time1 taught and  impelled by the  
strongest emotions of the heart1 to     
connect his hope of  recompense with his
 hope of pardon4 ,and when the one class
 of ideas is  thus linked to the other1 
he perceives that the economy which     
establishes a system of rewards for     
present services can be nothing else    
than an arbitrary arrangement of        
sovereign goodness1 resolving itself    
altogether into the grace of the        
mediatorial scheme4 ,the retribution1   
how accurately soever it may be measured
 out according to the work  performed1  
must1 in its whole amount1 be still a   
pure gratuity2 not less  so than is the 
gift of immortal life1 conferred without
 probation upon  the aborigines of      
heaven4 ,the zealous and faithful       
servant who enters  upon his reward     
after a long term of labor1 and the     
infant of a day1 who  flits at once from
 the womb to the skies1 alike receive   

the boon of  endless bliss in virtue of 
their relationship to the second ,adam1 
the  ,lord from heaven4 ,nevertheless1  
this boon shall conspicuously appear1   
in the one case1 to be the apportioned  
wages of service1 an exact  recompense1 
measured1 and weighed1 and doled out in 
due discharge of an  explicit           
engagement2 while in the other1 it can  
be nothing but a  sovereign bestowment4 
,but it is manifest that this doctrine  
of future recompense1 when held in      
connection with the fundamental         
principles of                           
,christianity--justification  by faith1 
tends directly to allay and disperse    
those excitements which  naturally      
spring up with the zeal of active       
benevolence4 ,the series or  order of   
sentiments is this3--    ,the ,christian
 philanthropist1 if well instructed1    
dares not affect  indifference to the   
promised reward1 or pretend to be more  
disinterested  than were the ,apostles1 
who labored1 knowing that in due time   

they  should reap4 ,he cannot think     
himself free to overlook a motive       
distinctly held out before him in the   
,scriptures3 to do so were an  impious  
arrogance4 ,and yet1 if he does accept  
the promise of recompense1  and takes it
 up as an inducement to diligence1 he is
 compelled by a  sense of the manifold  
imperfections of his services1 to fall  
back  constantly upon the divine mercies
 as they are assured to transgressors   
in ,christ4 ,these humbling sentiments  
utterly refuse to cohere with the       
complacencies of a selfish and          
vain-glorious philanthropy1 and         
necessitate a subdued tone of feeling4  
,thus the very height and  expansion of 
the ,christian's hopes send the root of 
humility deep and  wide2 the more his   
bosom heaves with the hope of the       
exceeding great  reward1 the more is it 
quelled by the consciousness of demerit4
 ,the  counterpoise of opposing         
sentiments is so managed1 that elevation
 cannot  take place on the one side     

without an equal depression on the      
other2 and  by the counteraction of     
antagonist principles the emotions of   
zeal may  reach the highest possible    
point1 while full provision is made for 
correcting the vertigo of enthusiasm4   
,if1 in the early ages of the ,church1  
the expectation of future reward  was   
abused1 to the damage of fundamental    
principles1 in modern times an          
ill-judged zeal for the integrity of    
those principles has produced an  almost
 avowed jealousy towards many explicit  
declarations of ,scripture3  thus1 the  
nerves of labor are either relaxed by   
the withdrawment of  proper stimulants1 
or are absolutely severed by the bold   
hand of  antinomian delusion4           
,moreover1 a course of ,christian       
beneficence is one peculiarly exposed to
  reverses1 to obstructions1 and often  
to active hostility2 and if the  zeal of
 the philanthropist be in any           
considerable degree alloyed with  the   
sinister motives of personal vanity1 or 

be inflamed with enthusiasm1  these     
reverses produce despondency2 or        
opposition and hostility kindle  corrupt
 zeal into fanatical virulence4 ,the    
injection of a chemical test  does not  
more surely bring out the element with  
which it has affinity1  than does       
opposition1 in an attempt to do good1   
make conspicuous the  presence of       
unsound motives1 if any such have       
existed4 ,has it not  happened that when
 benevolent enterprises have consisted  
in a direct  attack upon systems of     
cruel or fraudulent oppression1 the     
quality of  the zeal by which some were 
actuated in lending their clamors to the
  champions of humanity1 has become     
manifest whenever the issue seemed      
doubtful1 or the machinations of        
diabolical knavery gained a momentary   
triumph8 ,then1 the partisans of truth  
and mercy1 forgetful1 alas6 of  their   
principles1 have broke out almost into  
the violence of political  faction1 and 
have hardly scrupled to employ the dark 

methods which  faction loves4    ,but   
there is a delicacy1 a reserve1 a       
sobriety1 an humbleness of heart1       
belonging to the hope of heavenly       
recompense1 which powerfully repels  all
 such malign emotions4 ,who can imagine 
the circumstances and feelings  of the  
great day of final reward1 and think of 
hearing the approving  voice of him who 
searches the heart1 and at the same time
 be told by  conscience that the zeal   
which gives life to his labors in the   
cause of  the oppressed ferments with   
the gall and acrimony of worldly        
animosity1  that this zeal prompts him  
to indulge in exaggerations1 if not to  
propagate calumnies2 and exults much    
more in the overthrow of the  oppressor1
 than in the redemption of the captive8 
,if the greatness of  the future reward 
proves that it must be altogether of    
grace1 not of  debt1 then1              
unquestionably1 must it demand in the   
recipient a temper  purified from the   
leaven of malice and hatred4 ,thus does 

the ,christian  doctrine of future      
reward correct the evil passions that   
are incident to  a course of            
benevolence4           99       99      
99       99       99    ,,iv4 ,christian
 beneficence is only the subordinate    
instrument of a higher  and efficient   
agency4 ,neither is he that planteth    
anything1 nor he that  watereth2 but    
,god that giveth the increase4 ,such1 on
 the scriptural  plan1 are the          
conditions of all labor1 undertaken from
 motives of  religious benevolence4 ,but
 the besetting sin of natural           
benevolence is  self-complacency and    
presumption4 ,it is perhaps as hard to  
find  sanctimoniousness apart from      
hypocrisy1 or bashfulness without pride1
 as  to meet with active and            
enterprising philanthropy not tainted by
 the  spirit of overweening vanity4 ,the
 kind-hearted schemer1 fertile in       
devices for beguiling mankind into      
virtue1 and rich in petty  ingenuities1 
always well-intended1 and seldom        

well-imagined1 verily  believes that his
 machineries of instruction or reform   
require only to  be put fairly in play1 
and they will bring heaven upon earth4  
,but ,christianity1 if it does not      
sternly frown upon these novelties1     
does not encourage them2 and while it   
depicts the evils that destroy the      
happiness of man as of much deeper and  
more inveterate malignity than  that    
they should be remedied by this or that 
specious method1 devised  yesterday1    
tried to-day1 and abandoned to-morrow1  
most explicitly  confines the hope of   
success to those who possess the temper 
of mind  proper to a dependent and      
subordinate agent4 ,all presumptuous    
confidence  in the efficiency of second 
causes is utterly repugnant to the      
spirit  that should actuate a ,christian
 philanthropist2 and the more so when   
the  good which he strives to achieve is
 of the highest kind4           99      
99       99       99       99    ,v4    
,lastly1 ,christian beneficence is the  

expression of grateful love4 ,the       
importance attributed throughout the    
,new ,testament to active charity is    
not more remarkable than is this        
peculiarity which merges the natural    
and spontaneous sentiments of good-will 
and compassion towards our  fellows1 in 
an emotion of a deeper kind1 and        
virtually denies merit and  genuineness 
to every feeling1 how amiable soever it 
may appear1 if it  does not thus fall   
into subordination to that devout       
affection which we  owe to him who      
redeemed us by his sufferings and death4
 ,the reasons of  this remarkable       
constitution of motives it is not       
difficult to perceive4  ,for1 in the    
first place1 it is evident that the love
 of the ,supreme  ,being can exist in   
the heart only as a dominant sentiment1 
drawing every  other affection into its 
wake4 ,even the softest and purest      
tendernesses  of our nature must yield  
precedence to the higher attachment of  
the  soul2 for he who does not love     

,christ more than father and mother1    
wife  and children1 loves him not4 ,much
 more1 then1 must the sentiment of      
general benevolence own the same        
subordination4 ,again2 as the promise of
  future recompense1 and the doctrine of
 dependence upon divine agency1  elevate
 the motives of benevolence from the    
level of earth to that of  heaven1 they 
would presently assume a character of   
dry and visionary  abstraction1 unless  
animated by an emotion of love1         
belonging to the  same sphere4 ,zeal    
without love were a preposterous and    
dangerous  passion3 but ,christian zeal 
must be warmed by no other love than    
that of  him who1 for our sakes became  
poor1 that we through his poverty might 
be made rich4    ,it has already been   
said that religious enthusiasm takes its
  commencement from the point where the 
emotions of the heart are  transmuted   
into mere pleasures of the imagination2 
and assuredly the  excitements incident 
to a course of beneficence are very     

likely to  furnish occasions to such a  
transmutation4 ,but the capital motive  
of  grateful affection to him who has   
redeemed us from sin and sorrow1        
prevents1 so far as it is in active     
operation1 this deadening of the  heart1
 and consequent quickening of the       
imagination4 ,the poor and the  wretched
 are the ,lord's representatives on     
earth2 and in doing them good  we       
cherish and express feelings which      
otherwise must lie latent1 or  become   
vague1 seeing that he to whom they      
relate is remote from our  senses4      
,this motive of affection to the ,lord  
makes provision1 moreover1 against  the 
despondences that attend a want of      
success2 for although a servant  of     
,christ may1 to his life's end1 labor in
 vain1 although the objects of  his     
disinterested kindness should turn and  
rend him2 yet1 not the  less1 has he    
approved his loyalty and love2 approved 
it even more  conspicuously than those  
can have done whose labors are          

continually  cheered and rewarded by    
prosperous results4 ,affection1 in such 
cases1  has sustained the trial1 not    
merely of toil1 but of fruitless toil1  
than  which none can be more severe to a
 zealous and devoted heart4           99
       99       99       99       99    
,it appears1 then1 that ,christian      
benevolence contains within itself a    
balancing of motives1 such as to leave  
room for the utmost imaginable          
enhancement of zeal without hazard of   
extravagance4 ,in truth1 it is easy  to 
perceive that the religion of the ,bible
 has in reserve a spring of  movement1 a
 store of intrinsic vigor1 ready to be  
developed in a manner  greatly          
surpassing what has hitherto been seen4 
,such a day of  development shall ere   
long arrive1 the time of the triumph of 
divine  principles shall come1 and a    
style of true heroism be displayed1 of  
which the seeds have been long sown2 of 
which some samples have already  been   
furnished2 and which waits only the     

promised refreshment from above  to     
appear1 not in rare instances only1 but 
as the common produce of  ,christianity4
    ,in the present state of the world  
and of the ,church1 when communications 
are so instantaneous1 and when attention
 is so much alive to whatever  concerns 
the welfare of mankind1 if it might be  
imagined that a great  and sudden       
extension of ,christianity should take  
place in the regions of  superstition   
and polytheism2 and that yet no         
corresponding improvement  of piety1 no 
purifying1 no refreshment1 no           
enhancement of motives1  should occur in
 the home of ,christianity1 there is    
reason to believe  that the influx of   
excitement might generate a blaze of    
destructive  enthusiasm4 ,if every day  
had its tidings of wonder--the fall of  
popery in  the neighboring nations--the 
abandonment of the ,mohammedan delusion 
by  people after people in ,asia--the   
rejection of idols by ,china and ,india2
  and if these surprising changes1      

instead of producing the cordial joy of 
gladdened faith1 were gazed at merely   
with an unholy and prurient  curiosity1 
and were thundered forth from platforms 
by heartless  declaimers1 and were      
grasped at by visionary interpreters of 
futurity2  then1 from so much agitation1
 uncorrected by a proportionate increase
 of  genuine piety1 new prodigies of    
error would presently start up1 new     
sects break away from the body1 new     
hatreds be kindled3 and nothing         
scarcely be left in the place of        
,christianity1 but dogmas and           
contentions4 ,thus the cradle of        
religion in modern times would become   
its grave4    ,but a far happier        
anticipation is with reason indulged2   
for it may well  be believed that the   
same ,benignant ,influence which is to  
remove the  covering of gross ignorance 
from the nations1 shall1 at the same    
moment1  scatter the dimness that still 
hovers over the ,church in its most     
favored home2 and then1 and under that  

influence1 the fervors of  ,christian   
zeal may reach the height even of a     
seraphic energy1 and yet  without       
enthusiasm4          ,,section ,,viii4  
,,sketch ,,of ,,the ,,enthusiasm ,,of   
,,the ,,ancient ,,church4      ,an      
intelligent ,christian1 fraught with    
scriptural principles in their          
simplicity and purity1 but hitherto     
uninformed of ,church history1 who      
should peruse discursively the          
ecclesiastical writers of the age of    
,jerom1 ,ambrose1 and ,basil1 would     
presently recoil with an emotion of     
disappointment1 perplexity1 and alarm4  
,that within a period which does  not   
exceed the reach of oral tradition1 the 
religion of the apostles  should have so
 much changed its character1 and so much
 have lost its  beauty1 he could not    
have supposed possible4 ,he has heard   
indeed of the  corruptions of popery1   
and of the enormous abuses prevalent in 
the dark  ages2 and he has been told    
too1 by those who had a special argument

 to  prop1 that the era of the secular  
prosperity of the church was that also  
of the incipient corruption of religion4
 ,but he finds in fact that there  is   
scarcely an error of doctrine1 or an    
absurdity of practice1  ordinarily      
attributed to the popes and councils of 
later times1 and  commonly included in  
the indictment against ,rome1 which may 
not1 in its  elements1 or even in a     
developed form1 be traced to the        
writings of  those whose ancestors1 at  
the third or fourth remove only1 were   
the  hearers of ,paul and ,john4    ,but
 after the first shock of such an       
unprepared perusal of the fathers  has  
passed1 and when calm reflection has    
returned1 and especially when1  by      
taking up these early writers from the  
commencement1 the progression  of decay 
and perversion has been gradually and   
distinctly contemplated1  then1 though  
the disappointment will in great part   
remain1 the appalling  surmises at first
 engendered in the modern reader's mind1

 will be  dispelled1 and he will even be
 able to pursue his course of reading   
with  pleasure1 and to derive from it   
much solid instruction4 ,considerations 
such as the following will naturally    
present themselves to him in  mitigation
 of his first painful impressions4      
,while contemplating in their infant    
state those notions and practices  7of  
the third century1 for example7 which   
afterwards swelled into  enormous evils1
 it is difficult not to view them as if 
they were loaded  with the blame of     
their after issues2 and then it is hard 
not to  attribute to their originators  
and promoters the accumulated           
criminality  that should be shared in   
small portions by the men of many       
following  generations4 ,but the        
individuals thus unfairly dealt by1 far 
from  forecasting the consequences of   
the sentiments and usages they favored1 
far from viewing them1 as we do1        
darkened by the cloud of mischiefs that 
was heaped upon them in after times1 saw

 the same objects bright and  fair in   
the recommendatory gleam of a pure and a
 venerated age4 ,the very  abuses which 
make the twelfth century abhorrent on   
the page of history1  were1 in the      
fourth1 fragrant with the practice and  
suffrage of a  blessed company of       
primitive confessors4 ,the remembered   
saints1 who had  given their bodies to  
the flames1 had also lent their voice   
and example  to those unwise excesses   
which at length drove true religion from
 the  earth4 ,untaught by experience1   
the ancient church surmised not of the  
occult tendencies of the course it      
pursued1 nor should be loaded with      
consequences which human sagacity could 
not well have foreseen4    ,each of the 
great corruptions of later ages took its
 rise1 in the first1  second1 or third  
century1 in a manner which it would be  
harsh to say was  deserving of strong   
reprehension4 ,thus the secular         
domination exercised  by the bishops1   
and at length supremely by the bishops  

of ,rome1 may be  traced very distinctly
 to the proper respect paid by the      
people1 even in  the apostolic age1 to  
the disinterested wisdom of their       
bishops in  deciding their worldly      
differences4 ,the worship of images1 the
  invocation of saints1 and the         
superstition of relics1 were but        
expansions of the natural feeling of    
veneration and affection cherished      
towards the memory of those who had     
suffered and died for the truth4 ,and   
thus1 in like manner1 the errors and    
abuses of monkery all sprang1 by        
imperceptible augmentations1 from       
sentiments perfectly natural to the     
sincere and devout ,christian in times  
of persecution1 disorder1 and  general  
corruption of morals4    ,again3 human  
nature1 which is far more uniform than  
may be imagined1  when suddenly it is   
beheld under some new aspect of time and
 country1 is  also susceptible of much  
greater diversities of habit and feeling
 than  those are willing to believe who 

have seen it on no side but one4 ,this  
double lesson1 taught by history and    
travel1 should be well learned by  every
 one who undertakes to estimate the     
merits of men that have lived  in remote
 times1 and under other skies4    ,a    
caution against the influence of narrow 
prejudice is obviously more  needful in 
relation to the persons and practices of
 ancient  ,christianity1 than when      
common history is the subject of        
inquiry2 for in  whatever relates to    
religion1 every one carries with him1   
not merely the  ordinary prepossessions 
of time and country1 but an unbending   
standard  of conduct and temper1 which  
he is forward to compare1 in his        
particular  manner1 with whatever       
offends his notions of right4 ,but      
though the rule  of ,scripture morals is
 unchangeable1 and must be applied with 
uncompromising impartiality to human    
nature under every variety of           
circumstance1 yet is it impractible1 at 
the distance of upwards of a  thousand  

years1 so fully to calculate those      
circumstances1 and so to  perceive the  
motives of conduct1 as is necessary for 
estimating fairly  the innocence or the 
criminality of particular actions or    
habits of  life4 ,the question of       
abstract fitness1 and that of personal  
blameworthiness1 should ever be kept    
apart3 at least they should be kept     
apart when it is asked--and we are often
 tempted to ask it in the perusal  of   
church history--,may such men be deemed 
,christians1 who acted and  wrote thus  
and thus8 ,before a doubt of this kind  
could be solved  satisfactorily1 we must
 know--what can never be known till the 
day of  universal discovery--how much of
 imperfection and obliquity may consist 
with the genuineness of real piety2 and 
again1 how much of real  obliquity there
 might be1 under the actual             
circumstances of the case1 in  the      
conduct in question4 ,who can doubt that
 if the memorials of the  present times1
 copious1 and yet inadequate as they    

must be1 shall remain  to a distant age1
 they will offer similar perplexities to
 the future  reader1 who1 amidst his    
frequent admiration or approval1 will be
  compelled to exclaim--,but how may we 
think these men to have been            
,christians8 ,christianity is in gradual
 process of reforming the  principles   
and practices of mankind1 and when the  
sanative operation  shall have advanced 
some several stages beyond its present  
point1 the  notions and usages of our   
day1 compared with the commands of      
,christ1 as  then understood1 will1 no  
doubt1 seem incredibly defective4       
,perhaps it may be said1 that in all    
matters of sentiment1 depending on      
physical temperament1 and modes of life1
 the people of the ,british  islands are
 less qualified to appreciate the merits
 of the nations of  antiquity than      
almost any other people of ,christendom2
 and perhaps1  also1 by national        
arrogance and pertinacity of taste1 we  
are less ready  to bend indulgently to  

usages unlike our own than any other    
people4  ,stiff in the resoluteness of  
an exaggerated notion of the right of   
private judgment1 we bring all things   
unsparingly to the one standard of      
belief and practice2 or rather to our   
particular pattern of that  standard2   
and do not1 until our better nature     
prevails1 own brotherhood  with         
,christians of another complexion and   
costume4 ,a somewhat austere  good      
sense1 belonging1 first1 to the         
haughtiness and energy of the  ,english 
character1 then to the liberality of our
 political institutions1  and lastly1   
but not least1 to the all-pervading     
spirit and habits of  trade1 renders the
 style of the early ,christian writers  
much more  distasteful to us than it has
 proved to ,christians of other         
countries4  ,moreover1 recent           
enhancements of the national character1 
resulting from  the diffusion of the    
physical sciences1 and from the more    
extended  prevalence of commercial      

feelings1 have placed those writers at a
 point  much further removed from our   
predilections than that at which they   
stood a century ago4           99       
99       99       99       99    ,but   
again3 in abatement of the chagrin which
 a well-instructed ,christian  must feel
 in first opening the remains of        
ecclesiastical literature1 it  must be  
remembered1 that these works offer a    
very defective image of the  state of   
religion at the era of their production2
 that is to say1 of  religion in its    
recesses1 which are truly the homes of  
,christianity4  ,those who write are by 
no means always those among the         
ministers of  religion whom it would be 
judicious to select as the best samples 
of the  spirit of their times4          
,moreover1 it is the taste of a         
following age that  has determined which
 among the writers of the preceding     
period should be  transmitted to        
posterity2 and in many instances1 it is 
manifest1 that a  depraved preference   

has given literary canonization to      
authors whose  ambition was much rather 
to shine as masters of a florid         
eloquence1 than  to feed the flock of   
,christ4 ,it was therefore an egregious 
error to  suppose that the spiritual    
character of the ,church lies broadly on
 the  surface of its extant literature3 
on the contrary1 charity may easily     
find large room for pleasing conjectures
 relative to obscure piety1 of  which no
 traces are to be found on the pages of 
saints and bishops4 ,the  record of the 
spiritual church is on high1--not in the
 tomes that make  our libraries proud4  
,these1 and other considerations1 which 
will present themselves to a  candid and
 intelligent mind1 cannot but remove    
much of the embarrassment  and disrelish
 that are likely to attend a first      
converse with ancient  divinity4 ,and   
the pious reader will proceed with      
heartfelt satisfaction  to collect      
evidence of the fact1 which some modern 
sophists have so much  labored to       

obscure1 that the rudiments1 at least1  
of revealed religion1  as now understood
 by the mass of ,christians1 were then  
firmly held by  the body of the ,church4
 ,and he will rejoice also to meet with 
not less  satisfactory proofs of the    
energy and intenseness of practical     
,christianity among a large number of   
those who made profession of the  name4 
,nevertheless1 after every fair         
allowance has been made1 and every      
indulgence given to diversity of        
circumstance1 and after the errors and  
disgraces of our own times have been    
placed in counterpoise to those of  the 
ancient church1 there will remain       
glaring indications of a  deep-seated   
corruption of religious sentiment1      
leaving hardly a single  feeling proper 
to the ,christian life in its purity and
 simplicity4 ,it is  not heresy1 it is  
not the denial of the principal         
scriptural doctrines1  that is to be    
charged on the ancient church2 the body 
of divinity held  its integrity4 ,nor is

 it the want of heroic virtue that we   
lament4 ,but a  transmutation of the    
objects of the devout affections into   
objects of  imaginative delectation had 
taken place1 had rendered the piety of a
  numerous class purely fictitious1 had 
tinged1 more or less1 with  idealism1   
the religious sentiments of all but a   
few1 and had opened the  way by which   
entered at length1 the dense and fatal  
delusions of a  superstition so gross as
 hardly to retain a redeeming quality4  
,not a few of the ,christians of the    
third century1 and multitudes in the    
fourth and fifth1 especially among the  
recluses1 having lost the  forcible and 
genuine feeling of guilt and danger1    
proper to those who  confess themselves 
transgressors of the divine law1 and in 
consequence  become blind to the real   
purport of the ,gospel1 fixed their gaze
 upon  the ideal splendors of           
,christianity1 were smitten with the    
phase it  presents1 of beauty1 of       
sublimity1 of infinitude1 of            

intellectual  elevation1 were charmed   
with its supposed doctrine of           
abstraction from  mundane agitations2   
and found within the sphere of its      
revelations  unfathomable depths1 where 
vague meditation might plunge and plunge
 with  endless descents4 ,fascinated1   
deluded1 and still blinded more by the  
deepening shades of error1 they forgot  
almost entirely the emotions of a  true 
repentance1 and of a cordial faith1 and 
of a cheerful obedience2  and in the    
rugged path of gratuitous afflictions1  
and unnatural  mortifications1 pursued a
 spectral resemblance of piety1         
unsubstantial  and cold as the mists of 
night4    ,while hundreds were fatally  
infatuated by this enthusiastic         
religion1  the piety of thousands was   
more or less impaired by their mere     
admiration of it2 and very few          
altogether escaped the sickening        
infection which its presence spread     
through the church4 ,a volume might     
soon be filled with proofs of this      

assertion1 drawn exclusively from the   
writings of those of the fathers who    
retained most of the vigor of  native   
good sense1 and who held nearest to the 
purity of ,christian  doctrine4 ,the    
works of ,chrysostom would afford       
abundant illustration of  this sort4    
,let his ,epistle to the ,monks be      
singled out1 which contains  many       
admirable instructions and exhortations 
on the subject of prayer2  and which1   
with much propriety1 recommends the     
practice of ejaculatory  supplication4  
,nevertheless1 there is scarcely a      
passage quoted from the  ,scriptures in 
this piece that is not distorted from   
its obvious and  simple meaning1 in such
 a manner as would best comport with the
  practices and notions of the ascetic  
life4 ,if the meaning put by            
,chrysostom upon the texts he adduces be
 the true one1 then must a large  part  
of the inspired writings be deemed      
altogether useless to those who  have   
not abjured the duties of common life4  

,or if such persons may still  be       
permitted to enjoy their part in the    
,scriptures1 not less than the  monks1  
then must we suppose a double sense     
throughout the ,bible4 ,in  fact the    
notion of a double sense flowed         
inevitably from the monkish             
institution1 and wrought immense        
mischief in the church4    ,modern      
writers of a certain class have         
expatiated with disproportionate        
amplification upon the open and flagrant
 corruptions which1 as it is  alleged1  
followed as a natural consequence from  
the secular  aggrandizement of the      
clergy1 when a voice from the heavens of
 political  power said to the church1   
,come up hither4 ,no doubt an           
enhancement and  expansion of pride1    
ambition1 luxuriousness1 and every      
mundane passion1  took place at ,rome1  
at ,constantinople1 at ,alexandria1 at  
,antioch1 and  elsewhere1 when emperors1
 instead of oppressing1 or barely       
tolerating  the doctrine of ,christ1    

bowed obsequiously to his ministers4    
,but the  very same evils1 far from     
being called into existence by the      
breath of  imperial favor1 had reached a
 bold height even while the martyrs were
  still bleeding4 ,and moreover1 how    
offensive or injurious soever these     
scandals might be1 either before or     
after the epoch of the political        
triumph of the cross1 they did but      
scathe the exterior of ,christianity4   
,in every age the vices1 always duly    
blazoned1 of secular churchmen1 have    
stained its surface4 ,but when there has
 been warmth and purity within1  the    
mischief occasioned by such evils has   
scarcely been more than that  of giving 
point to the railleries of men who would
 still have scoffed1  though not a      
bishop had been arrogant1 nor a         
presbyter licentious4    ,christianity  
had lost its simplicity and glory in the
 hands of its most  devoted friends long
 before the alliance between the church 
and the  world had taken place4 ,the    

copious history of this internal        
perversion  would afford a worthy       
subject of diligent inquiry2 and though 
materials  for a complete explication of
 the process of corruption are not in   
existence1 enough remains to invite and 
reward the necessary labor4           99
       99       99       99       99    
,the enthusiasm of the ancient ,church  
presents itself under several  distinct 
forms1 among which the following may be 
mentioned as the most  conspicuous3--the
 enthusiasm of voluntary martyrdom2 that
 of miraculous  pretension2 that of     
prophetical interpretation1 or          
millenarianism2 that  of the mystical   
exposition of ,scripture2 and that of   
monachism4 ,of  these1 the last1 whether
 or not it was truly the parent of the  
other  kinds1 includes them all as parts
 of itself2 for whatever perversions of 
,christianity were chargeable upon the  
sentiments and practices of the  general
 church1 the same belonged by eminence  
to the recluses4 ,a review  of the      

principles and the ingredients of this  
system will better accord  with the     
limits and design of this essay1 than an
 extended examination  of facts under   
the several heads just named4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,a strict equity has by no means always 
been observed by protestant  writers in 
their criminations of the ,romish       
,church4 ,with the view of  aggravating 
the just and necessary indignation of   
mankind against the  mother of          
corruption1 it has been usual to lay    
open the concealments of  the monastery2
 and with materials before him so       
various and so copious1  even the       
dullest writer might cheaply be         
entertaining1 eloquent1 and  vigorous4  
,meantime it is not duly considered1 or 
not fairly stated1 that  the reprobation
 passes back1 in full force1 to an age  
much more remote  than that of the      
supremacy of ,rome4 ,the bishops of     
,rome did but avail  themselves of the  
aid of a system which had reached a full

 maturity  without their fostering care2
 a system which had been sanctioned and 
cherished1 almost without an exception1 
by every father of the church1  eastern 
and western2 which had come down in its 
elements even from the  primitive age1  
and which had won for itself a suffrage 
so general1 if  not universal1 that he  
must have possessed an extraordinary    
measure of  wisdom1 courage1 and        
influence1 who should have ventured     
beyond a  cautious and moderated censure
 of its more obvious abuses4    ,every  
essential principle1 almost every       
adjunct1 and almost every vice  of the  
monkery of the tenth or twelfth century1
 may be detected in that  of the fourth3
 or if an earlier period were named1    
proof would not be  wanting to make the 
allegation defensible4 ,but if it be    
affirmed1 or if  it could be proved1    
that the actual amount of hypocrisy and 
corruption  usually sheltered beneath   
the roof of the monastery1 was greater  
in the  later than in the earlier age1  

it should as a counterpoise be stated1  
that in the later period the religious  
houses contained almost all the  piety  
and learning that anywhere existed3     
while in the former there was  certainly
 as much piety without as within these  
seclusions2 and much  more of learning4 
,the monkery of the middle ages1        
moreover1 stands  partially excused by  
the dense ignorance of the times2 while 
that of the  ancient ,church is         
condemned by the surrounding light1 both
 of human and  divine knowledge4 ,the   
very establishments which redeem the age
 of ,roger  ,bacon from oblivion and    
contempt1 do but blot the times of      
,gregory  ,nazianzen4    ,eusebius1     
followed by several later writers1      
asserts1 although in  opposition to the 
most explicit evidence1 and manifestly  
for the purpose  of giving sanction to a
 system so much admired in his time1    
that the  ,christian sodalities were    
directly derived from those of the      
,essenes and  ,therapeutics of ,judea   

and ,egypt1 whom he affirms to have been
 ,christian  recluses of the first      
century1 indebted for their rules and   
establishment to ,st4 ,mark4 ,the       
testimony of the ,jew ,philo gives      
conclusive contradiction to this        
sinister averment2 not to mention that  
of the elder ,pliny1 and of ,josephus2  
for the minute description given by     
that writer of the opinions and         
observances of the sect1 besides that it
  is incompatible with the supposition  
that the people spoken of were          
,christians1 was actually composed in   
the lifetime of ,paul and ,peter1 and   
the recluses are then mentioned as      
having long existed under the same      
regulations4 ,nevertheless1 the         
coincidence between the sentiments and  
practices of the ,jewish and of the     
,christian monks1 is too complete to  be
 attributed either to accident1 or      
merely to the influence of general      
principles1 operating alike in both     
instances2 and the more limited         

assertion of ,photius may safely be     
adopted1 who affirms that the sect  of  
,jews that followed a philosophic life1 
whether contemplative or  active--the   
one called ,essenes1 the other          
,therapeutics--not only founded         
monasteries and private sanctuaries1 but
 laid down the rules which have  been   
adopted by those who1 in our own times1 
lead a solitary life4    ,a reference to
 the previous existence of monasticism  
among the ,jews1 in  a very specious1   
and1 in some respects1 commendable mode1
 is  indispensable to the forming of an 
equitable judgment of the conduct of    
those ,christians in ,palestine and     
,egypt1 who first abandoned the duties  
of common life for the indulgence of    
their religious tastes4 ,they did  but  
adopt a system already sanctioned by    
long usage1 and which1 though  existing 
in the time of ,christ and the apostles1
 had not drawn upon  itself from him or 
them any explicit condemnation3 and     
which might  even plead a semblance of  

support from some of their injunctions1 
literally understood1 though plainly    
condemned by the spirit of              
,christianity4    ,nor is this the sole 
circumstance that should1 in mere       
justice1 be  considered in connection   
with the rise of ,christian monachism2  
for  before the mere facts can be       
understood1 and certainly before the due
  measure of blame can be assigned to   
the parties concerned1 it is            
indispensable that we divest ourselves  
of the prejudices1 physical1  moral1 and
 intellectual1 which belong to our      
austere climate1 high-toned             
irritability1 edacious appetites1 and   
pampered constitutions2 to our  rigid   
style of thinking1 and to our commercial
 habits of feeling4 ,the  ,christian of 
,england in the nineteenth century1 and 
the ,christian of  ,syria in the second1
 stand almost at the extremest points of
 opposition  in all the non-essentials  
of human nature2 and the former must    
possess  great pliability of            

imagination1 and much of the philosophic
 temper1 as  well as the spirit of      
,christian charity1 fairly and fully to 
appreciate  the motives and conduct of  
the latter4           99       99       
99       99       99    ,that quiescent 
under-action of the mind to which we    
apply the term  meditation1 is a habit  
of thought that has been engrafted upon 
the  ,european intellect in consequence 
of the reception of ,christianity4 ,it  
is a product almost as proper to ,asia  
as are the aromatics of ,arabia1 or  the
 spices of ,india4 ,the human mind does 
not everywhere expand in this  manner1  
nor spontaneously show these hues of    
heaven1 nor emit this  fragrance1 except
 under the fervent suns and deep azure  
skies of  tropical regions4 ,persia and 
,india were the native soils of the     
contemplative philosophy2 as ,greece was
 the source of the ratiocinative4  ,the 
immense difference between the ,asiatic 
and the ,european turn of  mind--if the 
familiar phrase may be used--becomes    

conspicuous if some  pages of either the
 logic or ethics of ,aristotle are      
compared with what  remains of the      
sentiments of the ,gnostics4 ,the       
influence of ,christianity  upon the    
moderns has been to temper the severity 
of the ratiocinative  taste1 with a     
taste for contemplation--contemplation  
by so much the  better than that of the 
oriental sages1 as it takes its range in
 the  heart1 not in the imagination4 ,if
 the ,hebrew and ,christian ,scriptures 
had been confined to the east1 as in    
fact they have been almost confined  to 
the west1 the modern nations of ,europe 
would perhaps have known as  little of  
the compass of the meditative faculty1  
and of its delights1 as  did the ,romans
 in the age of ,sylla4 ,the ,greeks1    
being near to ,asia  geographically1 and
 near by similarity of climate1 and near
 by the  repeated importations of       
eastern philosophy1 imbibed something of
 the  spirit of tranquil abstraction3   
yet was it foreign to the genius of that

  restless and reasoning people4        
,pythagoras probably1 and certainly     
,plato1  whose mind was almost as much  
,asiatic as ,grecian1 and whose writings
 are  anomalies in ,grecian literature1 
effected a partial amalgamation of the  
oriental with the western style of      
thought4 ,yet the foreign mixture  would
 probably have disappeared if           
,christianity had not afterwards        
diffused eastern sentiments through the 
west4 ,the combination was again        
cemented by the writings of those       
fathers who1 after having studied       
,plato1 and taught the rhetoric and     
philosophy of ,greece1 devoted their    
talents to the service of the ,gospel4  
,but though the nations of the west have
 acquired a taste for this  species of  
thought1 it is the distinction of the   
,asiatic to meditate2 as  to reason and 
to act1 is the glory of the ,european4  
,to withdraw the soul  from the senses1 
to divorce the exterior from the inner  
man1 to detain  the spirit within its   

own circle1 and to accustom it there to 
find its  bliss2 to penetrate the depths
 and concealments of the heart1 to      
repose  during lengthened periods upon a
 single idea1 without a wish for        
progression or change2 or to break away 
from the imperfections of the  visible  
world1 to climb the infinite1 to hold   
converse with supernal  beauty and      
excellence2 these are the prerogatives  
and pleasures of the  intellectualist of
 ,asia3 and this is a happiness which he
 enjoys in a  perfection altogether     
unknown to the busy1 nervous1 and frigid
 people of  the north4 ,if by favor of a
 peculiar temperament the oriental frees
  himself from the solicitations of     
voluptuous indulgence2 if the mental    
tastes are vivid enough to counteract   
the appetites2 then he finds a  life of 
inert abstraction1 of abstemiousness1   
and of solitude1 not  merely easy1 but  
delicious4    ,the lassitude which      
belongs to his constitution and climate 
more than  suffices to reconcile the    

contemplatist to the want of those      
enjoyments  which are to be obtained    
only by toil4 ,a genial temperature1 and
 a  languid stomach1 reduce the         
necessary charges of maintenance to an  
amount that must seem incredibly small  
to the well-housed1 well-clothed1  and  
high-fed people of northern ,europe4    
,the slenderest revenues are1           
therefore1 enough to free him from all  
cares of the present life4 ,he has  only
 to renounce married life1 its claims   
and its burdens1 and then the  skeleton 
machinery of his individual existence   
may be impelled in its  daily round of  
sluggish movement1 by air1 and water1   
and a lettuce4    ,the ,asiatic         
character is in no inconsiderable degree
 affected by the  habits which result   
from the insufferable fervor of the sun 
at noon1 and  which compels a suspension
 of active employments during the broad 
light  of day4 ,the period of venial    
indolance easily extends itself through 
all  the hours of sultry heat1 if       

necessity does not exact labor4 ,and    
then  the quiescence in which the day   
has been passed lends an elasticity of  
mind to the hours of night1 when the    
effulgent magnificence of the  heavens  
kindles the imagination1 and enhances   
meditation to ecstasy4 ,how  little     
beneath the lowering1 and chilly1 and   
misty skies of ,britain1 can  we        
appreciate the power of these natural   
excitements of mental  abstraction6     
,in an enumeration of the natural causes
 of the anchoretic life1 the  influence 
of scenery should by no means be        
overlooked4 ,as the gay and  multiform  
beauties of a broken surface1 teeming   
with vegetation 7when  seconded by      
favoring circumstances7 generate the    
soul of poetry2 so  7with similar aids7 
the habit of musing in pensive vacuity  
of thought is  cherished by the aspect  
of boundless wastes1 and arid plains1 or
 of  enormous piles of naked mountain3  
and to the spirit that has turned with  
sickening or melancholy aversion from   

the haunts of man1 such scenes are  not 
less grateful or less fascinating than  
are the most delicious  landscapes to   
the frolic eye of joyous youth4 ,the    
wilderness of the  ,jordan1 the stony   
tracts of ,arabia1 the precincts of     
,sinai1 and the dead  solitudes of sand 
traversed1 but not enlivened by the     
,nile1 offered  themselves1 therefore1  
as the natural birth-places of          
monachism2 and  skirting as they did the
 focus of religion1 long continued      
7indeed they  have never wholly ceased7 
to invite numerous desertions from the  
ranks  of common life4    ,a general and
 extreme corruption of manners1 the     
wantonness1 and folly1  and enormity of 
licentious opulence1 and the foul       
depravity which never  fails to         
characterise the misery that follows the
 steps of luxury1  operate powerfully in
 the way of reaction to exacerbate the  
motives and  to swell the excesses of   
the ascetic life1 when once that mode of
  religion has been called into being4  

,if the powers of the world to  come are
 vividly felt by those who renounce     
sensual pleasure1 the vigor  of their   
self-denial1 and the firmness of their  
resolution in adhering  to their rule1  
will commonly bear proportion to the    
depth of the  surrounding profligacy4   
,nothing could more effectually starve  
this  species of enthusiasm in any      
country in which it appeared to be      
growing1  than to elevate public morals4
 ,the exaggerated virtue of the         
monastery  can hardly subsist in the    
near neighborhood of the genuine virtue 
of  domestic life2 nor will religious   
celibacy be in high esteem among a      
people who regard adultery1 not less    
than murder and theft1 as a crime1  and 
with whom fornication is the cloaked    
vice only of a few4 ,but in  ,syria and 
the neighboring countries1 at the time  
when the monastic life  took its rise1  
the most shameless dissoluteness of     
manners prevailed1  and prevailed to a  
degree that has rarely been exceeded2   

and there is  reason to believe that the
 early establishments of the ,essenes   
were1 in  a great measure1 peopled by   
those who1 having imbibed the love of   
virtue  from ,moses and the prophets1   
fled1 almost by necessity1 from a world 
in  which the practice of temperance and
 purity had become scarcely  possible4  
,in after times1 the corruption of the  
great cities1 in a  similar manner1     
contributed to fill the monastic houses4
 ,the evidence of  ,josephus 7often     
cited7 though there may sometimes be    
traced in it a  little oratorical       
exaggeration1 is sufficient to prove the
 existence of  a more than ordinary     
profligacy and ferocity among the ,jews 
of his time4  ,this people1 destitute of
 the restraining and refining influence 
of  philosophy and of elegant           
literature1 which ameliorated the       
manners of  the surrounding nations1 had
 been deprived1 almost entirely1 of all 
salutary restraints from the divine law 
by the corrupt evasions of  rabbinical  

exposition4 ,at the same time1 the keen 
disappointment of the  national hope of 
universal dominion under the ,messiah1  
exasperated their  native pride to      
madness4    ,a large indulgence1 to say 
no more1 is therefore due to those      
ardent1  but feeble-minded persons1 who1
 untaught by an experiment of the danger
  they incurred1 fell into the specious 
error of supposing that a just          
solicitude for the preservation of      
personal virtue might excuse their      
withdrawment from the duties of common  
life2 and the more so as they  were     
willing to purchase a discharge from its
 claims by resigning their  share of its
 lawful delights4 ,the ,christian       
recluses fled from scenes in  which1 as 
they believed1 purity could not breathe1
 to solitudes where  7though no doubt   
they found themselves mistaken7 they    
supposed it would  flourish             
spontaneously4 ,and in truth1 though it 
must be much more  difficult to live    
virtuously under the provoking          

restraints of monastic  vows1 than amid 
the allowed enjoyments of domestic life1
 refined by  ,christianity1 there may be
 room to question whether the balance   
might  not really be in favor of the    
monastery1 when the only alternative was
  an abode with the most extreme        
profligacy4    ,so natural to young and 
ardent minds1 under the first fervors of
  religious feeling1 is the wish to run 
far from the sight and hearing of       
seductive pleasure1 and so plausibly may
 such a design recommend itself  to the 
simple and sincere1 that1 even in our   
own times1 if by any means  the general 
opinion of the ,christian church could  
be brought round to  favor1 or to allow1
 the practice of monastic seclusion1 and
 if1 instead  of being on all sides     
reprobated and ridiculed1 it were       
permitted1  encouraged1 and admired1 the
 conjecture may be hazarded1 that an    
instantaneous rush from all our         
religious communities would take place1 
and a host of the ardent1 the           

imaginative1 the melancholic2 not to    
mention the disappointed1 the splenetic1
 and the fanatical1 would  abandon the  
domestic circle1 and the scenes of      
business1 to people  sanctuaries of     
celibacy and prayer in every sequestered
 valley of our  island4#d           99  
99       99       99       99           
,besides the ordinary miseries of       
frequent war1 and of a foreign          
domination1 which afflicted1 more or    
less1 the other provinces of the  ,roman
 empire1 the existence1 among the ,jews1
 of a species of fanaticism  perfectly  
unparalleled1 allowed the ,syrian       
,palestine to taste very  imperfectly1  
the benefit of temperate and vigorous   
rule4 ,the intractable  and malign      
infatuation of that people had so       
baffled the wisdom of the  ,roman       
government1 and had so disturbed its    
wonted equanimity1 as to  compel it to  
treat the unhappy ,judea with unmeasured
 severity4 ,or if  respite were enjoyed 
from military inflictions1 the brutal   

violences of  their own princes1 or the 
atrocities perpetrated by demagogues1   
kept  constantly alive the brand of     
public and private discord4 ,during such
  times of insecurity and wretchedness1 
it is usual for the passive  portion of 
the community to sink into a state1     
either of reckless  sensuality1 or of   
pining despondency4 ,but if1 in this    
class1 there are  those who have        
received the consoling hope of a bright 
and peaceful  immortality1 it is only   
natural that1 when hunted from every    
earthly  comfort by violence and        
extortion1 they should look wistfully at
 the  grave1 and long to rest where the 
wicked cease from troubling4 ,in this   
state of mind it cannot be deemed       
strange that1 upon the first smile of   
opportunity1 they should hasten away    
from scenes of blood and wrong1 and     
anticipate the wished-for release from  
life1 by hiding themselves in  caverns  
and in deserts4    ,the most frightful  
solitude might well appear a paradise1  

and the most  extreme privation be      
thought luxurious1 to those who1 in     
their retreat1  felt at length safe from
 an encounter with man1 who1 when       
savage1 is by  far the most terrible of 
all savage animals4 ,such were the      
causes which  had driven multitudes of  
the well-disposed among the ,jews into  
the  wilderness4 ,the severities of     
persecution afterwards produced the same
  effect on the ,christians2 and first  
on those of ,syria and ,egypt4 ,this    
effect is well known to have resulted   
from the ,decian persecution1 and       
probably also from those that preceded  
it4 ,little blame can be  attributed to 
,christians who1 in such times fled from
 cities1 and took  refuge in solitudes2 
unless1 indeed1 by so doing they        
abandoned those  whom they ought to have
 defended4    ,so long as he could      
wander unmolested over the pathless     
mountain track1  or exist in the arid   
desert1 the timid follower of ,christ   
not only  avoided torture or violent    

death1 but escaped what he dreaded      
more--the  hazard of apostacy under     
extreme trial4 ,having once effected his
  retreat1 and borne for a time the loss
 of friends and comforts1 he soon       
acquired physical habits and            
intellectual tastes which rendered a    
life  in the wilderness not only        
tolerable but agreeable4 ,to the fearful
 and  inert1 safety and rest are the    
prime ingredients of happiness1 and1 if 
absolute1 they go far towards           
constituting a heaven upon earth4    ,in
 the utter solitude of the desert1 or in
 the mitigated seclusion of  the        
monastery1 a large proportion probably1 
of the recluses1 soon  drooped into the 
inanity of trivial pietism3 a few1      
perhaps1 after the  first excitement    
failed1 bit their chain1 from day to    
day1 to the end of  life3 or wrung a    
wretched solace from concealed vices4   
,but those who1 by  vigor of mind1      
supported better the preying of the soul
 upon itself1  could do no otherwise    

than exchange the simple and            
affectionate piety  with which1 perhaps 
they entered the wilderness1 for some   
form of  visionary religion4#e ,to      
maintain1 unbent1 the rectitude of sound
  reason1 and unsullied1 the propriety  
of sound feelings1 in solitude1 is  an  
achievement1 which1 it may confidently  
be affirmed1 surpasses the  powers of   
human nature4 ,good sense1 never the    
product of a single mind1  is the fruit 
of intercourse and collision4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,when the several circumstances above   
mentioned are duly considered1 they     
will remove from candid minds almost    
every sensation of asperity or of       
contemptuous reprobation1 towards those 
who1 in their day of defective          
knowledge1 became the victims1 or even  
the zealous supporters of the  prevalent
 enthusiasm4 ,we have done1 then1 with  
the parties in these  scenes of delusion
 and folly2 or at least with those of   
them who were  sincere in their error4  

,but when we turn to the system itself1 
and gain  that license which charity    
herself may grant1 while an abstraction 
only  is under contemplation1 we must   
remember that this monkery1 so innocent 
in its commencement1 and so plausible in
 its progress1 was the chief  means of  
destroying the spiritual reality of     
,christianity1 and ought to  be deemed  
the principle cause of that gross       
darkness which hung over the  church    
during more than a thousand years4    #d
 ,this conjecture1 hazarded in #ahbi1   
would seem now to be not unlikely  to   
be1 to some extent1 realized4    #e ,the
 errors and extravagances generated by  
the monastic life did not  ordinarily   
extend to the fundamental principles of 
,christianity4 ,the  monks were1 for the
 most part1 zealously attached to the   
doctrine of the  ,nicene creed2 and the 
church owes to many of them its thanks  
for the  constancy with which they      
suffered in its defence4                
,,section ,,ix4    ,,the ,,same         

,,subject4--,,ingredients ,,of ,,the    
,,ancient ,,monachism4      ,among the  
principal elements of the ancient       
,monachism1 it is natural to  name1     
first--    ,its contempt of the divine  
constitution of human nature1 and the   
outrage  it offered to the most salutary
 instincts4    ,it may be difficult to  
determine which is the greater folly and
 impiety1  that of the ,atheist1 who can
 contemplate the admirable mechanism of 
the  body1 and not see there the proofs 
of divine wisdom and benevolence2 or    
that of the ,enthusiast1 who1 seeing and
 acknowledging the hand of ,god in  the 
mechanism of the human frame1 yet dares 
to institute1 and to  recommend1 modes  
of life which do violence to the        
manifest intentions of  the ,creator1 as
 therein displayed2 and1 moreover1 is   
not afraid to  assert a warrant from    
,heaven for such outrages2 as if the    
,creator and  ,governor of the world    
were not one and the same ,being2--one  
in counsel  and purpose3 or as if the   

,author of ,christianity were at        
variance with  the ,author of nature6   
,yet this preposterous error1 this      
virtual  ,manichism1 has seemed to      
belong naturally to every attempt to    
stretch  and exaggerate the precepts of 
the ,gospel beyond their obvious sense2 
and indeed has seldom failed to show    
itself in seasons of unusual  religious 
excitement4    ,christianity is a       
religion neither for angels nor for     
ghosts2 but for  man1 as ,god made him4 
,nevertheless1 in revealing an endless  
existence1  and in establishing the     
paramount claims of the future world1 it
 has  placed every interest of the      
present transient life under a          
comparison  of immense disparity2 so    
that it is true--true to a              
demonstration1 that a  man ought to hate
 his own life if the love of it puts his
 welfare for  immortality in jeopardy4  
,unquestionably1 if by such means the   
well-being  of the imperishable spirit  
could be secured and promoted1 it would 

highly become a wise man to pass the    
residue of life1 though it should  hold 
out half a century1 upon the summit of a
 column1 exposed1 like a  bronze1 to the
 alternations of day and night1 of      
summer and winter2 or  to stand         
speechless and fixed1 with the arms     
extended1 until the joints  should      
stiffen1 and the tongue forget its      
office2 or to inhabit a tomb1  or to    
hang suspended in the air by a hook in  
the side3 these1 and if  there be any   
other practices still more horrifying to
 humanity1 were  doubtless wise1 if1 in 
the use of them1 the soul might be      
advantaged2  for the soul is of         
infinitely greater value than the body4 
,and much more might it be deemed lawful
 and commendable to refrain from        
matrimony1 to withdraw from human       
society1 to be clad in sackcloth1 to    
inhabit a cavern1 if such comparatively 
moderate abstinences and  mortifications
 were found to promote virtue1 and so to
 ensure an  enhancement of the bliss    

that never ends4 ,conduct of this sort1 
however  painful it may be1 is perfectly
 in harmony with the principle          
universally admitted to be reasonable1  
and in fact very commonly reduced  to   
practice1 namely1 to endure a smaller   
immediate loss or  inconvenience1 for   
the sake of securing greater future     
good4    ,the dictates of self-interest 
every day prompt sacrifices of this     
kind2  and the maxims of natural virtue 
go much further1 and often require a    
man to make the greatest deposit        
possible1 even when the future          
advantage is doubtful1 and when it is   
not the sufferer who is to reap  the    
expected benefit6 ,on this principle the
 soldier places himself at  the cannon's
 mouth1 because the safety or future    
welfare of his country  can be purchased
 at no other price4 ,on this principle a
 pious son denies  the wishes of his    
heart1 and remains unmarried1 that he   
may sustain a  helpless parent4         
,christianity is not therefore at all   

peculiar in  asserting the claims of    
higher1 over lower reasons of conduct1  
in  peculiar circumstances1 or in       
demanding that1 on special occasions1   
the  enjoyments of life1 and life       
itself1 should be held cheap1 or        
abandoned4    ,our ,lord and his        
ministers explicitly enjoined such      
sacrifices1 whenever  the interests of  
the present and of the future life came 
in competition3  and themselves set the 
example of the self-denial which they   
recommended4 ,nothing can be more clear 
than the rule of bodily sacrifice       
maintained and exemplified in the ,new  
,testament2 and this rule is in  perfect
 accordance with the dictates of good   
sense1 and with the common  practice of 
mankind4 ,fasting1 celibacy1 martyrdom1 
and such like  contrarieties to the will
 of the flesh1 stand all on the same    
ground  in the system of ,christian     
morals3 they are ills which a wise and  
pious  man will cheerfully endure       
whenever he is so placed that they      

cannot be  avoided without damage or    
hazard to the soul1 or to the souls of  
others4  ,but when no such alternative  
is presented1 then the voluntary        
infliction  becomes1 as well in         
religious as in secular affairs1 a      
folly1 an  impiety1 and often a crime4  
,to die without necessity1 or to inflict
  one's self without reason1 is not only
 an absurdity2 but a sin4    ,and how   
immensely is this folly and immorality  
aggravated1 when it is  found that the  
voluntary suffering1 instead of being   
simply useless1  becomes1 in its        
consequences1 highly pernicious2 and    
when1 by abundant  evidence1 it is      
proved to generate the very worst       
corruptions and  perversions to which   
human nature is liable6 ,such1 clearly1 
are the  inflictions of the monastic    
life--the solitude1 the abstinence1 the 
celibacy1 the poverty6    ,the rule of  
,christian martyrdom is precise and     
unequivocal1 and is such  as absolutely 
to exclude every sort of spontaneous    

heroism4 ,the  motive also by which the 
,christian should be sustained1 is of a 
heart-affecting1 not of an exciting     
kind2 and the style of the apostles     
when alluding to this subject1 is       
singularly sedate and reserved2 nor is  
an idea introduced of a kind to inflame 
fanatical ambition4 ,the reason  of this
 caution is obvious2 for to have kindled
 the enthusiasm of  martyrdom would have
 been to nullify the demonstration      
intended to be  given to the world of   
the truth of ,christianity4 ,so long as 
martyrdom  rested on the primitive basis
 7and it rested there1 with few         
exceptions1  until miraculous           
attestations had ceased to be afforded17
 it yielded  conclusive proof of the    
reality of the facts affirmed by the    
confessors4  ,that is to say1 so long as
 ,christians suffered only when         
suffering could  be avoided in no other 
way than by denying their profession2   
and so long  as they endured tortures1  
and met death1 in a spirit not raised   

above a  calm courage2 or even displayed
 timidity or reluctance1 such sufferings
  afforded direct demonstration of the  
sincerity of their belief2 and  they1   
having been eye-witnesses of            
supernatural interpositions1 and  being 
often the very agents of miraculous     
power1 their sincere belief1  and their 
honesty1 carried with it the proof of   
the facts so attested4    ,but when1 at 
a later time1 martyrdom was courted in a
 spirit of false  heroism1 and came to  
be endured in a corresponding style of  
enthusiastic  excitement1 it lost almost
 the whole of its value as a proof of   
the  truth of ,christianity4 ,for it is 
well known to be within the compass of  
human nature to endure1 unmoved and     
exultingly1 the most extreme  torments  
in fanatical adherence to a religious   
tenet3 but such  sufferings evince      
nothing more than the firmness or the   
infatuation of  the victim4 ,on the     
contrary1 when the confessor has fallen 
into the  hands of persecuting power by 

no imprudence or temerity of his own1   
and  when he avails himself1 with       
promptitude and calmness1 of every legal
  and honorable means of self-defence or
 escape1 and when he pleads truth  and  
right in arrest of judgment1 and at last
 yields to the stroke  because nothing  
could avert it but the forfeiture of    
conscience1 then it  is manifest that a 
deliberate conviction is the real motive
 of his  conduct3 and then also1 if he  
have had a personal knowledge of the    
facts1 for affirming which he dies1 his 
death1 on the surest principles  of     
evidence1 must be accepted as containing
 incontestible proof of those  facts4   
,the recluses were not the first to     
spoil the primitive practice of         
martyrdom2 but their principles greatly 
cherished the abuse when once it  had   
been introduced2 and still more did     
their conduct and their writings        
enhance the pernicious superstitions    
which presently afterwards resulted     
from the foolish respect paid to the    

tombs and relics of confessors4  ,these 
trivial and idolatrous reverences of    
human heroism can find no  room of      
entrance until the great realities of   
,christianity have been  forgotten2 and 
until the humbling and peace-giving     
doctrine of atonement  has been lost    
sight of4 ,the contrite heart1 made glad
 by the assurance  of pardon through the
 merit of him who alone has merit       
supererogatory1  neither admits         
sentiments of vain glory for itself1 nor
 is prone to  yield excessive worship to
 the deeds of others4    ,it deserves   
particular notice that the martyrs of   
the ,reformation in  ,england1 ,france1 
,spain1 and ,italy1 with very few       
exceptions1 suffered in  a spirit       
incomparably more sedate1 and more      
nearly allied to that  displayed and    
recommended by the apostles1 than did   
the ,christians1  generally1 of the     
third century4 ,the reason of the       
difference is not  obscure2 these modern
 confessors understood the capital      

doctrine of  ,christianity much more    
fully and clearly than did those of the 
age of  ,origen4    ,celibacy1 though it
 may seem to be a kind of self-devotion 
less extreme  than voluntary martyrdom1 
was in fact a much greater1 and a much  
worse  outrage upon human nature4 ,this 
fundamental article of the monkish      
system had evidently two distinct       
motives3 the first1 and probably  the   
originating cause of so extraordinary a 
practice1 was the  impracticability of  
uniting the pleasures of seclusion and  
of lazy  meditation1 with the duties and
 burdens of domestic life4 ,the         
alternative was unavoidable1 either to  
renounce the happiness and the  cares of
 husband and father1 or the spiritual   
luxuries of supine  contemplation4 ,the 
one species of enjoyment offered itself 
precisely as  the price that must be    
paid for obtaining the other4#f    ,the 
second motive of monkish celibacy1 and  
which so gained ascendency  over the    
first as to keep it almost wholly out of

 sight1 sprung more  immediately from   
the centre illusion of the system2 and  
the real nature  of that illusion stands
 forward in this instance in a distinct 
and  tangible form4 ,the very germ of   
that transmuted piety1 which1 in the    
end1 banished true religion from the    
church1 may readily be brought  under   
inspection by tracing the natural       
history of the sentiment that           
attributes sanctity to single life4     
,for reasons that are obvious and highly
 important1 a sentiment of  pudicity1   
which can never be thrown aside without 
reducing man to the  level--nay1 below  
the level of the brutes1 belongs to the 
primary link of  the social system4 ,but
 this feeling1 necessary as it is to the
 purity  and the dignity of social life1
 suggests1 by a close and easy affinity 
of ideas1 the supposition of guilt as   
belonging to indulgence2 and then  the  
correlative supposition of innocence1 or
 of holiness1 as belonging  to          
continence4 ,nevertheless1 feelings of  

this sort1 when analyzed1 will  be found
 to have their seat in the imagination  
exclusively1 and only by  accident to   
implicate the moral sense4 ,they belong 
to that class of  natural illusions1    
which1 in the combination of the various
 and  discordant ingredients of human   
nature1 serve to amalgamate what would  
otherwise be utterly incompatible4      
,among all the natural illusions1 or1   
as they might be termed1 the            
pseudo-moral sentiments1 there is not   
one  which so nearly resembles the      
genuine sense of right and wrong as     
this1  or one that is so intimately     
blended with them4    ,it is easy then  
to perceive the process by which infirm 
minds passed  into the error of         
attributing sanctity to celibacy4 ,but  
the law of  ,christian purity knows of  
no such confusion of ideas4 ,the very   
same  authority which forbids adultery1 
enjoins marriage2 and so long as        
morality is understood to consist in    
obedience to the declared will of  ,god1

 it can never be imagined that a man is 
defiled by living in  matrimony1 any    
more than by eating with unwashen hands4
 ,but when once  religion has passed    
into the imagination1 and when the      
sentiments which  have their seat in    
that faculty have become predominant1 so
 as to crush  or enfeeble those that    
belong to conscience1 then is it        
inevitable that  the true purity which  
consists in keeping the commandments1   
should be  supplanted by that artificial
 holiness which is a mere refinement    
upon  natural instincts4 ,under the     
influence of false notions of this sort1
  nothing seems so saintly as for a man 
to shrink horrifically from the  touch  
of woman2 nothing scarcely so           
spiritually degrading as to be a        
husband and a father4#g ,impious and mad
 enthusiasm6 and not only  irreligious  
and absurd1 but pestilent also2 for this
 same monkish  doctrine of the merit of 
virginity stands convicted1 on abundant 
evidence1 of having transplanted the    

worst vices of polytheistic ,greece     
into the very sanctuaries of religion2  
and so1 of infecting the nations  of    
modern ,europe with crimes which1 had   
they not been kept alive in             
monasteries1 ,christianity would long   
ago have banished from the earth4       
,how little did the pious men1 who1 in  
the third century1 extolled the  merit  
of mortification1 and petty torture1 and
 celibacy1 think of the  hideous        
corruptions in which these practices    
were to terminate6 ,a  sagacity more    
than human was needed to foresee the end
 from the  beginning4 ,but1 with the    
experience of past ages before us1 we   
may well  learn to distrust every       
specious attempt to exaggerate morality1
 or to  attach ideas of blame to things 
innocent or indifferent4 ,this          
over-doing  of virtue never fails to    
divert the mind from what is            
substantially  good1 and is moreover the
 almost invariable symptom of a         
transmuted or  fictitious pietism4      

99       99       99       99       99  
,,ii4 ,the ancient monkery was a system 
of the most deliberate selfishness4     
,that solicitude for the preservation of
 individual interests which forms  the  
basis of the human constitution1 is so  
broken up and counteracted by  the      
claims and pleasures of domestic life1  
that1 though the principle  remains1 its
 manifestations are suppressed1 and its 
predominance  effectually prevented1    
except in some few tempers peculiarly   
unsocial4  ,but the anchoret is a       
selfist by his very profession2 and1    
like the  sensualist1 though his taste  
is of another kind1 he pursues his      
personal  gratifications1 reckless of   
the welfare of others4 ,his own         
advantage or  delight1 or1 to use his   
favorite phrase--the good of his soul1  
is the  sovereign object of his cares4  
,his meditations1 even if they embrace  
the  compass of heaven1 come round1 ever
 and again1 to find their ultimate      
issue in his own bosom2 but can that be 

true wisdom which just ends at  the     
point whence it started8 ,true wisdom is
 a progressive principle4 ,in  abjuring 
the use of the active faculties1 in     
reducing himself1 by the  spell of vows1
 to a condition of physical and moral   
annihilation1 the  insulated being says 
to his fellows1 concerning whatever     
might otherwise  have been converted to 
their benefit--,it is corban2 thus      
making void  the law of love to our     
neighbor1 by a pretended intensity of   
love to ,god4    ,that so monstrous an  
immorality should have dared to call    
itself by the  name of sanctity1 and    
should have done so too in front of     
,christianity1  is indeed amazing2 and  
could never have happened if            
,christianity had not  first been shorn 
of its life-giving warmth1 as the sun is
 deprived of  its power of heat when we 
ascend into the rarity of upper space4  
,the  tendency of a taste for           
imaginative indulgences to petrify the  
heart has  been already adverted to2 and

 it receives a signal illustration in   
the  monkish life2 especially in its    
more perfect form of absolute separation
  from the society of man4 ,the anchoret
 was a disjoined particle1 frozen  deep 
into the mass of his own selfishness1   
and there imbedded below the  touch of  
every human sympathy4 ,this sort of     
meditative insulation is the  ultimate  
and natural issue of enthusiastic piety2
 and it may be met with  even in our own
 times among those who have no          
inclination to run away  from the       
comforts of common life4           99   
99       99       99       99    ,,iii4 
,spiritual pride1 the most repulsive of 
the religious vices1 was  both a main   
cause1 and a principal effect of the    
ancient monachism4    ,the particular   
manner in which this odious pride sprung
 up in the  monastery deserves          
attention4 ,that sort of plain and      
practical religion  which adapts itself 
to the circumstances of common life--the
 religion  taught by the apostles1 a    

religion of love1 sobriety1 temperance1 
justice1 fit for the use of master and  
servant1 of husband and wife1 of  parent
 and child1 by no means satisfied the   
wishes of those who sought  in          
,christianity a delicious dream of      
unearthly excitements4 ,it was          
therefore indispensable to imagine a new
 style of religion2 and hence  arose the
 doctrine so warmly and incessantly     
advanced by the early  favorers of      
monkery1 that our ,lord and his apostles
 taught a two-fold  piety1 and          
recognized an upper and an under class  
in the church1 and  sanctioned the      
division of the ,christian body into    
what might be termed  a plebeian1 and a 
patrician order4    ,this doctrine      
appears more or less distinctly in every
 one of the  fathers who at all favors  
the monastic life4 ,it may seem to bear 
analogy  to the principle of the        
,grecian philosophers who had their     
common maxims  for the vulgar1 and their
 hidden instructions for the few4 ,but  

the  resemblance is more apparent than  
real3 the distinction arose among the   
,christians from altogether another     
source4 ,the church1 that is to say  the
 collective body of true believers1 is  
called in the ,new ,testament  the      
spouse of ,christ2 but the monks        
perverted the figure by using it        
distinctively1 by calling individual    
,christians the brides of ,christ1  and 
by appropriating the honor to those who 
had taken the vow of  celibacy4    ,the 
most absurd and impious abuses of       
language presently followed from  this  
error1 and such as it were even         
blasphemous to repeat4 ,yet some of  the
 greatest writers of the times are      
charmed with these irreligious          
conceits4    ,in accordance with this   
arrogant pretension1 it was believed1   
that1  while the ,christian commonalty  
might be left to wallow in the affairs  
of  common life--in business1 matrimony1
 and such-like impurities--the elect  of
 ,christ stood on a platform1 high      

lifted above the grossness of  secular  
engagements and earthly passions1 and   
were1 in their ,lord's  esteem1         
immensely more holy1 and higher in rank1
 as candidates for the  honors of the   
future life1 than the mass of the       
faithful4 ,when this  supposition became
 generally adopted and assented to1 out 
of the  monastery as well as within it1 
the first and natural consequence was a 
great depreciation of the standard of   
morals among the people4 ,if there  were
 admitted to be two rates or degrees of 
virtue1 there must be1 of  course1 two  
laws or rules of life3 whatever         
therefore in the ,scriptures  seemed to 
be strict1 or pure1 or elevated1 was    
assigned to the upper  code2 while the  
lower took to itself only what wore an  
aspect of laxity  and indulgence4 ,even 
an attempt on the part of secular       
,christians to  make advances in        
holiness might be condemned as a species
 of  presumption1 or as an invasion of  
the proprieties of the saintly order4   

,heavenly-mindedness and purity of heart
 were chartered to the  regulars--the   
monopolists of perfect grace4 ,alas1    
that the privileged  should have availed
 themselves so moderately of their      
rights6    ,a second1 and not less      
natural consequence of the same         
principle1 was  the formation1 among the
 monks1 either of an insufferable       
arrogance and  self-complacency1 or of a
 villanous hypocrisy--an hypocrisy which
  qualified those who sustained it to   
become the agents of every  detestable  
knavery that might promote the ambitious
 machinations1 or  screen the           
debaucheries of the order4    ,if a     
reputation for superior sanctity be ever
 safe and serviceable to a  ,christian1 
it must be when his conduct and temper1 
even to the inmost  privacies of        
domestic life1 are open to indifferent  
observers2--not to  the cringing        
servitors of a religious establishment1 
or to the holy  man's hangers-on and    
accomplices1 but to the children and the

 servants  of a family2--the moral      
vision of a child is especially quick   
and clear4  ,he who thus lives under the
 eye of witnesses not to be deceived1   
and not  to be bribed1 may actually     
demean himself the better for being     
reputed  eminently good4 ,not so the man
 who inhabits a den or a cell1 who is   
seen  by the world only through a       
loop-hole2 or who shows himself to an   
admiring crowd when1 and where1 and in  
what posture he pleases4 ,to such  a    
one1 the praise of sanctity will most   
often be found inscribed1 on its  other 
side1 with a license to crime4 ,under   
circumstances so blasting to  the simple
 honesty and unaffected humility of true
 piety1 almost the  best that charity   
can imagine is1 that the hooded saint   
deludes himself1  more even than he     
deceives others4    ,such are the       
natural and almost invariable           
consequences--in monasteries1  or out of
 them1 of every ambitious attempt to    
render religion a  something too        

elevated and too pure to be brought into
 contact with the  affairs of common    
life4 ,the mere endeavor generates a    
pretension that  can never be filled out
 by truth and reality2 and the          
deficiency must be  made up by delusion 
and deception2 the one begetting        
arrogance1 the  other knavery4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,,iv4 ,greediness of the supernatural   
formed an essential characteristic of   
the ancient monachism4    ,the cares1   
and toils1 and necessities1 the         
refreshments and delights of  common    
life1 are the great teachers of common  
sense2 nor can there be  any effective  
school of sober reason where these are  
excluded4 ,whoever1  either by elevation
 of rank1 or by peculiarity of habits1  
lives far  removed from this kind of    
tuition1 rarely makes much proficiency  
in that  excellent quality of the       
intellect4 ,a man who has little or     
nothing to  do with other men on terms  
of open and free equality1 needs the    

native  sense of five1 to behave himself
 only with a fair average of propriety4 
,absolute solitude 7and seclusion in its
 degree7 necessitates a lapse  into some
 species of absurdity more or less      
nearly allied to insanity2  and         
religious solitude naturally strays into
 the regions of vision and  miracle4#h  
,the monastery was at once the place    
where the illusions of distempered      
brains were the most likely to abound1  
and where the frauds which  naturally   
follow in the train of such illusions   
could the most  conveniently be hatched 
and executed4 ,those dungeons of        
dimness1 of  silence1 of absolute       
obedience2 those scenes of nocturnal    
ceremony2  those labyrinths of          
subterrene communication2 those         
nurseries of craft  and credulity1      
seemed as if constructed for the very   
purpose of  fabricating miracles2 and1  
in fact1 if all the narratives of       
supernatural occurrences that are found 
upon the pages of the ancient           

church-writers were numbered1           
incomparably the larger proportion would
  appear to have been connected         
immediately with the religious houses4  
,the  wonder which goes to swell the    
vaunted achievements of the sainted     
abbot  or brother1 was effected1 we are 
assured--in the cell1 in the chapel or  
church1 in the convent-garden1 in the   
depths of the overhanging forest1  or   
upon the solitude of the neighboring    
shore6 ,of all such miracles it  is     
enough to say1 that whether genuine or  
not1 they can claim no respect  from    
posterity1 seeing that they stand not   
within the circle of credible           
testimony4 ,history--lover of           
simplicity--scorns to place them on her 
page  in any other form than as         
evidences of the credulity1 if not of   
the  dishonesty of the times6    ,many  
laborious and voluminous discussions    
might have been saved1 if the  simple   
and very reasonable rule had been       
adopted of waiving  investigation into  

the credibility of any narrative of     
supernatural or  pretended supernatural 
events1 said to have taken place upon   
consecrated  ground1 or under sacred    
roofs4 ,fanes1 caves1 groves1 churches1 
convents1  cells1 are places in which   
the lover of history will make but a    
transient stay3 and he may easily find  
better employment than in sifting  the  
evidence on which rest such stories as  
that of the roof-descended  oil1 used at
 the baptism of ,clovis2 or that of the 
relics discovered by  ,ambrose for the  
confutation of royal error1 and a       
thousand others of  like nature4 ,those 
who1 reading church history cursorily1  
are perplexed  by the frequency of      
suspicious miracle1 are probably not    
aware1  generally1 how very large a     
proportion of all such annoying         
relations  may be readily and reasonably
 disposed of by adhering to the rule    
above  stated4    ,the miraculous powers
 existing in the church after the       
apostolic age1  rest under a cloud that 

is not now to be thoroughly dispelled4  
,but with  safety the following         
propositions may be affirmed3 first1    
,that the  ,christian doctrine probably 
received some miraculous attestations   
after  the death of the apostles2       
secondly1 ,that so early as the         
commencement  of the fourth century1    
fraudulent or deceptive pretensions to  
miraculous  power were very frequently  
advanced2 and lastly1 ,that at that     
period1  and subsequently1 there are    
instances1 not a few1 of a certain sort 
of  sincerity and fervor in religion1   
conjoined with very exceptionable       
attempts to acquire a thaumaturgal      
reputation4 ,these deplorable cases     
deserve particular attention1 especially
 as they show what are the  natural     
fruits of fictitious pietism4    ,if we 
choose to read the church history of the
 early centuries in the  spirit of      
frigid scepticism1 all the toil and     
perplexity that belong to  the exercise 
of cautious and candid discrimination   

will be at once  saved2 and we shall1 in
 every instance1 where supernatural     
interposition  is alleged1 and whatever 
may be the quality of the evidence1 or  
the  character of the facts1 take up    
that obvious explanation which is       
offered1 by attributing a greedy        
credulity to the laity of those times1  
and a villanous and shameless knavery to
 the clergy4 ,but this short  method1   
how satisfactory soever it may be to    
indolence1 or how  gratifying soever to 
malignity1 can never approve itself to  
those who  are at once well informed of 
facts1 and accustomed to analyze        
evidence  with precision4 ,the compass  
of human nature includes many motives1  
deep1  and intricate1 of which          
infidelity never dreams1 and which1 in  
its  unobservant arrogance1 it can never
 comprehend4    ,long before the time   
when ecclesiastical narratives of       
supernatural  occurrences assume a      
character decidedly suspicious1 or      
manifestly  faithless1 the great facts  

of ,christianity had1 with a large class
 of  persons1 and especially with the   
recluses1 become the objects of         
day-dream contemplation1 and formed     
rather the furniture of a theatre of    
celestial machinery1 than the exciting  
causes of simple faith1 and hope1  and  
joy4 ,the divine glories1 the brightness
 of the future life1 the  history and   
advocacy of the ,mediator1 the agency of
 angels1 and of  demons1 were little    
else1 to many1 than the incentives of   
intellectual  intoxication4 ,when once  
this misuse of religious ideas had      
gained  possession of the mind1 it      
brought with it an irresistible         
prurience1  asking for the marvellous1  
just as voluptuousness asks for the     
aliments  of pleasure4 ,this demand will
 be peculiarly importunate among those  
who  have to uphold their faith in the  
front of a gainsaying world2 and who    
would much rather confound the scoffer  
by the blaze of a new miracle1  than    
convince him by an argumentative appeal 

to an old one4    ,the first step       
towards the pseudo-miraculous is taken  
without doing any  violence to          
conscience1 and little even to good     
sense2 provided that  opinions of a     
favoring kind are generally prevalent4  
,good1 and even  judicious men1 might be
 so under the influence of the          
imagination as to  have their sleep     
hurried with visions1 and their waking  
meditations  quickened by unearthly     
voices2 and might complacently report   
such  celestial favors to greedy        
hearers1 without a particle of dishonest
  consciousness4#i ,thus the taste for  
things extraordinary was at once        
cherished and powerfully sanctioned by  
the example of men eminently wise  and  
holy4 ,then1 with an inferior class of  
men1 the progression from  illusions1   
real and complete1 to such as were in   
part aided by a little  spontaneity and 
contrivance1 and which1 though somewhat 
unsatisfactory  to the narrator1 were   
devoured without scruple by the hearer1 

could not  be difficult4 ,the temptation
 to produce a commodity so much in      
demand  was strong2 often too strong for
 those whose moral sense had been       
debilitated by an habitual inebriety of 
the imagination4 ,another step  towards 
religious fraud was more easily taken   
than avoided1 when it was  eagerly      
looked for by open-mouthed credulity1   
and when the church might  cheaply and  
securely be glorified1 and ,gentilism   
triumphantly confuted4  ,the plain      
ground of ,christian integrity having   
once been abandoned1 the  shocks of a   
downward progress towards the most      
reprehensible extreme of  deception were
 not likely to awaken remorse4          
,practices1 therefore1 which1 viewed in 
their naked merits1 must excite  the    
detestation of every ,christian mind1   
might insensibly gain ground  among     
those who were far from deserving the   
designation of thorough  knaves4 ,they  
were fervent and laborious in their zeal
 to propagate  ,christianity2 they      

believed it cordially1 and themselves   
hoped for  eternal life in their faith2 
and in the strength of this hope were   
ready  to give their bodies to be       
burned4 ,they prayed1 they watched1 they
  fasted1 and crucified the flesh1 and  
did everything which an  enthusiastical 
intensity of feeling could prompt2 and  
this feeling  prompted them to promote  
the gospel1 as well by juggling as by   
preaching4    ,but had not these        
religious forgers read the unbending    
morality of the  gospel8 ,or1 reading   
it1 was it possible that they could     
think the  sacrifice of honesty an      
acceptable offering to the ,god of      
truth8 ,the  difficulty can be solved   
only by calculating duly the influence  
of  imaginative pietism in paralyzing   
the conscience2 and if the facts of  the
 case still seem hard to comprehend1 it 
will be necessary1 for  illustration1 to
 recur to instances that may be         
furnished1 alas6 by most  ,christian    
communities in our own times4 ,is it    

impossible to find  individuals fervent1
 and in a certain sense sincere1 in     
their devotions1  and zealous and       
liberal in their endeavors to diffuse   
,christianity1 and1  perhaps1 in many   
respects amiable1 who1 nevertheless1    
admit into their  habitual course of    
conduct very gross contrarieties to the 
plainest  rules of ,christian morality8 
,when instances of this sort are under  
discussion1 it is alike unsatisfactory  
to affirm of the parties in  question1  
that they are1 in the common sense of   
the term1 hypocrites2 or  to grant that 
their piety is genuine1 but defective4  
,the first  supposition1 though it may  
cut the difficulty1 does not by any     
means  nicely accord with the facts3 and
 the second puts contempt upon the most 
explicit and solemn declarations of our 
,lord and his ministers1 whose  style of
 enforcing the divine law will never    
allow those who are  flagrantly vicious1
 those who are workers of iniquity1 to  
be called  'imperfect ,christians4'     

,one alternative presents itself for the
 solution of the pressing  difficulty4  
,the religion of these delinquent       
professors is sincere in  its kind1 and 
perhaps fervent2 but not less fictitious
 than sincere4 ,or  rather the religion 
they profess is not ,christianity1 but  
an image of  it4 ,whatever there is in  
the ,gospel that may stimulate emotion  
without  breaking up the conscience1 has
 been admitted and felt2 but the heart  
has not been made alive towards ,god4   
,repentance has had no force1 the       
desire of pardon no intensity4 ,certain 
vices may be shunned and  reprobated1   
and others as freely indulged2 for      
nothing is really  inconsistent with the
 dreams of religious delusion--except   
only the  waking energy of true virtue4 
,and thus it was with many in the       
ancient  church2 the stupendous objects 
of the unseen world had kindled the     
imagination2 and in harmony with this   
state of mind1 a supernatural  heroism  
and an unnatural style of virtue were   

admired and practised1  because they fed
 the flames of a fictitious happiness1  
which compensated  for the renunciation 
of the pleasures of sense4 ,in this     
spirit martyrdom  was courted1 and      
deserts were peopled1 until they ceased 
to be  solitudes2 and in this spirit    
also miracles were affirmed1 or         
fabricated1 not perhaps so often by     
knaves as by visionaries4    ,tho       
subject of the suspicious pretensions to
 miraculous power advanced  by many of  
the ancient ,christian writers should   
not be dismissed without  remarking1    
that it is one thing to compose a gaudy 
narrative 7de  virtutibus7 of the       
wonder-working powers of a saint gone to
 his rest in  the preceding century1 and
 another to be the actor in scenes of   
religious juggling4 ,if this distinction
 be duly considered1 a very large  mass 
of perplexing matter will at once be    
discharged from the page of             
ecclesiastical history1 and that without
 doing the smallest violence  either to 

charity1 or to the laws of evidence4    
,some foolish presbyter1  or busy monk1 
gifted with a talent of description1 has
 collected the  church tales current in 
his time1 concerning a renowned father4 
,the  turgid biography1 applauded in the
 monastery where it was produced1       
slipped away silently to the faithful of
 distant establishments1 and  without   
having ever undergone that ordeal of    
real and local publicity  which         
authenticates common history1 was       
suffused through ,christendom1 as  it   
were1 beneath the surface of notoriety1 
and so has come down to  modern times to
 load the memory of some good man with  
unmerited disgrace4           99        
99       99       99       99    ,v4    
,the practice of mystifying the         
,scriptures must be named as an         
especial characteristic of monkish      
religion4    ,this practice was1 in the 
first place1 the natural fruit of a life
 like  that of the recluses2 for the    
,bible is a directory of common life2 it

 is  the heavenly enchiridion of those  
who are beset with the cares1 labors1   
sorrows1 and temptations of the world4  
,to the anchoret it presents  almost a  
blank page3 a style of existence so     
unnatural as that which he  has chosen1 
it does not recognize2 his imaginary    
troubles1 his frivolous  duties1 his    
visionary temptations1 his              
self-inflicted sufferings1 and  his real
 difficulty of maintaining virtue under 
the galling friction of  a presumptuous 
vow1 are all absolutely unknown to the  
,scriptures1 which  therefore to the    
recluse1 are not profitable for reproof1
 or  correction1 or for instruction in  
the false righteousness which he  labors
 to establish4    ,to adapt the ,bible  
to the cell1 it must of necessity1 be   
allegorized4  ,then indeed it becomes   
inexhaustibly rich in the materials of  
spiritual  amusement4 ,it was thus that 
the ,jewish doctors1 the authors of the 
,talmudical writings1 found the means of
 diverting the heaviness of their       

leisure2 and it was thus1 though in a   
different style1 that the ,essenes  of  
the wilderness of the ,jordan whiled    
away the hours of their solitude2  and  
thus1 yet again after another pattern1  
that the ,christian monks1  especially  
those of ,palestine#aj and ,egypt1      
transmuted the words of  truth and      
soberness into a tangled wreath of      
flimsy fable4    ,the doctrine of a     
mystical sense has invariably been      
espoused by every  successive body of   
idle religionists2 that is to say1 by   
all who1  spurning or forgetting the    
authority which the ,scriptures assert  
over  the life and conscience1 convert  
them into the materials of a delicious  
dream4 ,the mask of allegory imposed on 
the ,bible1 serves first as a  source of
 entertainment1 and then as a shelter   
against the plain meaning  of all       
passages directly condemning the        
will-worship1 the fooleries1 and  the   
extravagances to which persons of this  
temper are ever addicted4 ,so  did the  

rabbis make void the law of ,god2 so did
 the monks2 so have all  classes of     
modern mystics2 so do modern            
,antinomians3 all have asserted a       
double1 a treble1 or a quadruple sense2 
a mystery couched beneath every         
narrative1 and every exhortation1 or    
even hidden in single words3 or  they   
have descried a profound doctrine packed
 in the bend of a ,samech  or a ,koph4  
,not one of the absurdities of the      
ancient monkery has been  so long-lived 
as this3 nor is there to be found a more
 certain symptom  of the existence of   
fatal illusion in matters of religion4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,,vi4 ,the monkish system recommended   
itself by astonishing feats of          
devotedness1 and by great proficiency in
 the practices of artificial and        
spontaneous virtue4    ,the excitements 
of enthusiasm are so much more congruous
 with the  uncorrected impulses of human
 nature1 than are the principles of     
genuine  piety1 that the former have    

usually far surpassed the latter1 as    
motives1 in the difficult and mortifying
 achievements of self-denial4 ,in       
proportion as a system of fanaticism is 
remote from truth1 its  stimulating     
force is found to be great4 ,thus the   
fakirs of ,india have  carried the feats
 of voluntary torture far beyond any    
other order of  religionists4           
,mohammedans1 generally1 are more       
zealous1 devout1 and  fervent than      
,christians4 ,romanists surpass         
,protestants in the solemnity1          
intensity1 and scrupulosity of their    
devotional exercises4 ,in conformity    
with this well-known principle1 the     
monastic orders have had to boast1  in  
all ages1 of some prodigious instances  
of mortification1 as well as  of        
charitable heroism4 ,and the boast might
 be allowed to win more praise  than can
 be granted to it1 if there were not    
manifest1 invariably1 in  these         
exploits1 a ferment of sinister         
feelings1 quite incompatible with  the  

simplicity and purity of ,christian     
virtue4    ,for example1 let a          
comparison be drawn between a daughter  
who1 in the  deep seclusion of private  
life1 and without a spectator to applaud
 her  virtue1 cheerfully devotes her    
prime of years to the service of an     
afflicted parent2--and the nun1 who     
inveigles beggars daily to the  convent1
 where she absolves them1 against their 
will1 from their filth1  dresses their  
ulcers1 and cleanses their tatters4     
,assuredly the part she  performs is    
more seemingly difficult1 and far more  
revolting than that  of the pious       
daughter2 yet it is in fact more easy2  
for the inflated  sister of charity#aa  
is sustained and impelled by notions of 
heroism1  and of celestial excellence1  
and by a present recompense of fame     
among  her sisterhood1 of all which the 
other does not dream1 who1 unless she   
were actuated by the substantial motives
 of true goodness1 could never  in this 
manner win the blessing of heaven4      

,self-inflicted penances1 wasteful      
abstinences1 fruitless labors1          
sanctimonious humiliations1 and all such
 like spontaneities1 may fairly  be     
classed with those painful and perilous 
sports1 in pursuing which it  often     
happens that a greater amount of        
suffering is endured1 and of  danger    
incurred1 than ordinarily belongs to the
 services and duties of  real life4 ,but
 these freaks of the monastery1 or these
 toils of the  field1 deserve little    
praise1 seeing that they meet their     
immediate  reward in the gratification  
of a peculiar taste4 ,in both instances 
the  adult child pleases himself in his 
own way1 and must be deemed to do  much 
if he avoids trampling down the rights  
of his neighbor4    ,fictitious virtue1 
if formed on the model of the ,koran1   
naturally  assumes the style of martial 
arrogance1 of fanatical zeal and of     
bluff  devotion4 ,but if it be the      
,gospels that furnish the pattern1 then 
an  opposite phase of sanctity is shown4

 ,abject lowliness1 and voluntary       
poverty 7which is no poverty at all17   
and ingenious austerities1 and  romantic
 exploits of charity1 and other similar 
misinterpretations of  the spirit and   
letter of ,new ,testament morality1 are 
combined to form a  tawdry effigy of the
 humility1 purity1 and beneficence of   
,christian  holiness4 ,but compel the   
imitator to relinquish all that is      
heroic1 and  picturesque1 and poetical  
in his style of behavior3 oblige him to 
lay  aside whatever makes the vulgar    
gape at his sanctity2 let him uncowl his
  ears1 and cover his naked feet3 ask   
him to acquit himself patiently1        
faithfully1 ,christianly1 amid the      
non-illustrious and difficult duties  of
 common life1 and he will find himself  
destitute of motive and of zest  for his
 daily task4 ,temperance without        
abstinence will have no charm for  him2 
nor purity without a vow2 nor           
self-denial without austerity2 nor      
patience without stoicism2 nor charity  

without a trumpet4 ,the man of          
sackcloth1 who was a prodigy of holiness
 in the cloister1 becomes1 if           
transported into the sphere of domestic 
life1 a monster of selfishness  and     
sensuality4           99       99       
99       99       99    ,time1 which    
insensibly aggravates the abuses of     
every corrupt system1  does also furnish
 an apology1 more and more valid from   
age to age1 for  the conduct of the     
individuals who spring up1 in           
succession1 to act  their parts within  
its machinery4 ,while ancient           
institutions rest  tranquilly on their  
bases1 while venerable usages obtain    
unquestioned  submission1 while opinion 
paces forwards with a slumbering step   
upon its  deep-worn tracks1 men are not 
more conscious of the enormity of the   
errors that may be chargeable upon their
 creeds and practices1 than a  secluded 
tribe is of the strangeness and         
inelegance of the national  costume4    
,this principle should never be lost    

sight of when we are  estimating the    
personal character of the members of the
 ,romish church  before the period of   
the ,reformation2 or indeed in later    
times1 where no  free and fair conflict 
of opinions has taken place4 ,the system
 and its  victims are always to be      
thought of apart4    ,the recurrence1 by
 a people at large1 to abstract         
principles of  political or religious   
truth1 is a much less frequent event    
than the  rarest of natural phenomena4  
,it is only in consequence of shocks1   
happening in the social system by no    
means so often as earthquakes do in  the
 material1 that the human mind is rent  
from its habitudes1 and placed  in a    
position whence it may with advantage   
compare its opinions with  universal    
truth4 ,the ,christian church underwent 
not once the perils and  benefits of    
such a convulsion during the long course
 of fifteen hundred  years4 ,throughout 
that protracted space of time the men of
 each age1  with few exceptions1 quietly

 deemed that to be good which their     
fathers  had thought so2 and as         
naturally they delivered it to their    
successors1  endorsed with their own    
solemn approbation4 ,in forming an      
opinion1  therefore1 of the merits of   
individuals1 justice1 we need not say   
candor1 demands that the whole1 or      
almost the whole amount of the  abstract
 error of the system within which1 by   
accident of birth1 they  move1 should be
 deducted from the reckoning4 ,this sort
 of justice may  especially be claimed  
in behalf of those who rather acquiesced
 in the  religious modes of their times1
 than appeared as its active champions4 
,thus we excuse the originators and     
early supporters of a bad system1 on    
the ground of their ignorance of its    
evil tendency and actual  consequences2 
and again we palliate the fault of its  
adherents in a late  age1 by pleading   
for them the influence of that natural  
sentiment of  respect which is paid to  
antiquity4    ,perhaps the treatment    

which ,jovinian and ,vigilantius        
received from  ,jerom1 ,ambrose1 and    
,augustine1 may be thought to detract   
very much from  the validity of the     
apology here offered for the ancient    
abettors of  monachism4 ,but the        
circumstances of the case are involved  
in too much  obscurity to allow a       
distinct opinion to be formed on the    
subject4 ,the  protest of ,jovinian     
against the prevailing errors of the    
church might be  connected with some    
extravagance of belief1 or some         
impropriety of  conduct which prevented 
his testimony from being listened to    
with  respect4 ,yet certainly the       
appearances of the case show decidedly  
against both ,jerom and ,ambrose4       
,augustine knew little personally of the
  supposed error against which he       
inveighed4    ,these proper allowances  
being made1 there will be no difficulty 
in  turning from an indignant           
reprobation of the monkish practices1 to
 a  charitable and consoling belief of  

the personal virtues1 and even  eminent 
piety of many who1 in every age1 have   
fretted away an unblessed  existence    
within that dungeon of religious        
delusion--the monastery4 ,in  default of
 complete evidence1 yet on the ground of
 some substantial  proof1 it is         
allowable to hope that the monastic     
orders at all times  included many      
spiritual members4#ab ,there is even    
reason to believe  that a better style  
of sentiment1 and less extravagance1 and
 less  fanatical heat1 and less knavish 
pretension1 and more of humility and    
purity1 existed here and there among the
 recluses of the tenth and  eleventh1   
than among those of the fifth and sixth 
centuries4    ,in the earlier period1   
though there might be much pretension to
  seclusion from the world1 the         
monastery was in fact a house set on a  
hill in the midst of the ,christian     
community2 and it was ever surrounded   
by an admiring multitude2 so that its   
inmates might always find a ready       

revenue of glorification for the        
exploits and hypocrisies of             
supernatural sanctity4#ac ,but in the   
later periods1 and when nothing  hardly 
existed without doors except feudal     
ignorance and ferocity 7we  speak of the
 monasteries of ,europe71 many of the   
religious houses were  real seclusions1 
and very far removed from any market of 
vulgar praise4  ,then within these      
establishments1 it cannot be doubted1   
that the pious  few found their virtue  
much rather guarded by the envious eyes 
of their  less exemplary comrades1 than 
endangered by drawing upon itself any   
sort  of admiration4 ,the spiritual monk
 7let not modern prejudices refuse to   
admit the phrase71 glad to hide himself 
from the railleries or spite of  the lax
 fraternity1 kept close to his cell1 and
 there passed his hours1  not uncheered1
 nor undelicious1 in prayer and         
meditation1 in the perusal  of religious
 books1 and in the pleasant1 edifying1  
and beneficial toils  of transcription4 

,not seldom1 as is proved by abundant   
evidence1 the  life-giving words of     
prophets and apostles were the subjects 
of these  labors2 nor ought it to be    
doubted that while1 through a long tract
 of  centuries1 the ,scriptures1 unknown
 abroad1 were holding their course      
underground1 if one might so speak1     
waiting the time of their glorious      
emerging1 they imparted the substance of
 true knowledge to many souls1  pent    
with them in the same sepulchral glooms4
           99       99       99       99
       99    ,the monkish system        
retained its ancient style1 with little 
alteration1  until it received an       
enhancement1 and a somewhat new         
character in  ,france1 in the hands of  
the followers of ,jansen1 and the ,port 
,royal  recluses4 ,then the old doctrine
 of religious abstraction--of the       
merging  of the soul in ,deity1 and of  
the merit and efficacy of penitential   
suicide1 was revived with an intensity  
never before known and was  recommended 

by a much larger admixture of genuine   
scriptural knowledge  than had ever     
before been connected with the same     
system1 and was graced  by the brilliant
 talents and great learning of many of  
the party2 while  at the same time the  
endurance of persecution gave depth1    
force1 and  heroism1 to the sentiments  
of the sect4    ,it was inevitable that 
whatever of good might arise within the 
church of  ,rome1 and remain in         
allegiance to it1 must pass over to the 
ancient and  venerated form of monkish  
piety4 ,the religion of the monastery   
was the  only sort of devotedness and   
seriousness known to1 or sanctioned by1 
that church4 ,a new sect of fervent     
religionists could therefore do no      
otherwise than either fall into that    
style1 or denounce it2 and the  latter  
would have been to break from ,rome1 and
 to side with ,huguenots4               
,embarrassed at every step by their     
professed submission to the authority   
of the popes1 which they perpetually    

felt to be at variance with the  duty   
they owed to ,god1 and heavily oppressed
 and galled by their  necessary         
acquiescence in the flagrant errors of  
the church in which  alone they thought 
salvation could be had1 and still more  
deeply injured  by their own zealously  
loved ascetic doctrine1 these good men  
obtained  possession1 and made          
profession of1 the great truths of      
,christianity  under an incomparably    
heavier weight of disadvantage than has 
been  sustained by any other class of   
,christians from the apostolic to the   
present times4 ,they have left in their 
voluminous and valuable writings1  a    
body of divinity1 doctrinal and         
practical1 which1 when the peculiar     
circumstances of its production are     
considered1 presents a matchless  proof 
of the intrinsic power of ,christianity1
 upbearing so ponderous a  mass of      
error4    ,nevertheless1 while the ,port
 ,royal divines and their friends are   
perused  with pleasure and advantage1   

and while the reader is often inclined  
to  admit that in depth1 fervor1 and    
solemnity of religious feeling1 in      
richness and elevation of thought1 in   
holy abstraction from earthly           
interests1 in devotedness of zeal1 and  
in the exemplification of some          
difficult duties1 they much surpass the 
divines of ,england1 he still  feels1   
and sometimes when he can hardly assign 
the grounds of his  dissatisfaction1    
that a vein of illusiveness runs through
 every page4  ,although the great       
principles of religion are much more    
distinctly and  more feelingly produced 
than generally they are in the writings 
of the  fathers1 and though the evidence
 of genuine and exalted piety is        
abundant and unquestionable2 yet is     
there an infection of idealism1         
tainting every sentiment2 a mist of the 
imagination1 obscuring every  doctrine4 
,in turning from the ,french writers of 
this school to our own  standard        
divines1 the reader is conscious of a   

sensation that might be  compared to    
that felt by one who escapes into pure  
air from a chamber in  which1 though it 
was possible to live1 respiration was   
oppressed by the  presence of mephitic  
exhalations4    ,enfeebled by the       
enthusiasm to which they so fondly      
clung1 the piety of  these admirable men
 failed in the force necessary to carry 
them  triumphantly through the conflict 
with their atrocious enemy--the         
,society4 ,they were themselves in too  
many points vulnerable1 to close        
fearlessly with their adversary2 and    
they grasped the sword of the  ,spirit  
in too infirm a manner to be able to    
drive home a deadly thrust4  ,had it    
been otherwise1 had they been free1 not 
merely from the shackle  of submission  
to ,rome1 but free from the debilitating
 influence of  mysticism and monkish    
notions1 their moral force1 their       
talent1 their  learning1 and their      
self-devotion1 might have sufficed1     
first1 for the  overthrow of their      

immediate antagonist1 whose bad cause1  
and worse  arguments were hardly        
supported against the augmenting weight 
of public  opinion1 even by the whole   
power of the court4 ,then might they1   
not  improbably1 have supplied the      
impulse necessary to achieve the        
emancipation of the ,gallican church    
from the thraldom of ,rome2 an event    
which seemed1 more than once1 to be on  
the eve of accomplishment4 ,and  if1 at 
the same moment1 the ,protestants of    
,france had received just that  degree  
of indulgence--of mere sufferance--which
 was demanded1 we do not  say by justice
 and mercy1 but by a politic regard to  
the national  welfare2 and if by these  
means a substantially sound1 though     
perhaps  partial reform had taken place 
within the dominant church1 and dissent 
been allowed to spread itself amicably  
through the interstices of the          
ecclesiastical structure2 if religious  
liberty1 not indeed in the temper  of   
republican contumacy1 but in the        

,christian spirit of quiet and  grateful
 humility1 had taken root in ,france1 is
 it too much to say that  ,atheism could
 never have become1 as it did1 the      
national opinion1 and  that the         
consequent solution of the social system
 in blood could never  have happened8   
,the ,jansenist1 and the inmates of     
,port ,royal1 and many of their         
favorers1 displayed a constancy that    
would doubtless have carried them       
through the fires of martyrdom4 ,but the
 intellectual courage necessary  to bear
 them fearlessly through an examination 
of the errors of the  papal superstition
 could have sprung only from a healthy  
force of mind1  utterly incompatible    
with the dotings of religious           
abstraction1 with the  petty solicitudes
 of sackclothed abstinence1 with the    
trivial  ceremonials of the daily       
ritual1 with the prim niceties of       
behavior that  pin down the body and    
soul of a ,romish regular to his        
parchment-pattern  of artificial        

sanctity4 ,the ,jansenists had not such 
courage2 if they  worshipped not the    
beast1 they cringed before him2 he      
planted his  dragon-foot upon their     
necks1 and their wisdom and their       
virtues were  lost forever to ,france6  
,the monk of ,wittemberg had taken a    
bolder and a better course4 ,when he    
began to find fault with ,rome1 he      
rejected1 not only its own flagrant  and
 recent corruptions3 but the many       
delusions it had inherited from the     
ancient ,church2 and after a short      
struggle with the prejudices of his     
education1 he became1 not only no       
papist1 but no monk4 ,full fraught with 
the principles and spirit of the ,bible1
 he denounced1 as well the  venerable   
errors of the fathers1 as the scarlet   
sins of the mother of  impurities2 and  
was as little a disciple of ,jerom1 of  
,gregory1 and of  ,basil1 as of the     
doctors of the ,vatican4    ,the        
,english reformers trod the ground of   
theological inquiry with the  same manly

 step2 and that firm step shook the     
monasteries to the dust4  ,those great  
and good men went back to the           
,scriptures1 where they found  at once  
the great realities of religion--a      
condemning law1 a justifying  ,gospel1  
and a provision of grace for a life of  
true holiness4 ,with these  substantial 
principles in their hearts1 they spurned
 whatever was  trivial and spurious1 and
 amid the fires of persecution1 they    
reared the  structure--a structure still
 unshaken--of religion for ,england1    
upon the  foundation of the apostles and
 prophets4 ,had there existed a taste   
for  mysticism1 a fondness for          
penitential austerities1 a cringing     
deference  to the fathers1 among the    
divines of the time of ,edward ,,vi41   
such a  disposition must1 so far as     
known causes are to be calculated upon1 
have  utterly spoiled the reformation in
 ,england2 or have postponed it a       
hundred years4    #f ,in the only places
 in the ,new ,testament where celibacy  

is  recommended1 ,matt4 xix4 #ab1 and #a
 ,cor4 vii4 #cb1 the reason is of this  
substantial and intelligible kind1      
namely1 that in the case of             
individuals1 placed in peculiar         
circumstances1 a single life would be   
advantageous1 inasmuch as it would give 
them better opportunity of  serving the 
,lord without distraction4 ,precisely   
the same advice might  sometimes with   
propriety be given to a soldier1 or to a
 statesman3 a  high motive justifies a  
sacrifice of personal happiness4        
,nowhere in the  discourses of our      
,lord1 or in the writings of the        
apostles1 is there to  be discovered a  
trace of the monkish motives of         
celibacy--namely1 the  supposed superior
 sanctity of that state4    #g ,grande  
est et immortale1 pne ultra naturam     
corpoream1 superare  luxuriam1 et       
concupiscenti spasmeam adolescenti      
facibus accensam animi  virtute         
restinguere1 et spiritali conatu vim    
genuin oblectationis  excludere1        

viverque contra humani generis legem1   
despicere solatia  conjugii1 dulcedinem 
contemnere liberorum1 qucumque esse     
prsentis vit  commoda possint1 pro      
nihilo spe futurorum beatitudinis       
computare4 ,the  ,epistle of ,sulpitius 
de ,virginitate1 in which this passage  
occurs1  contains1 it should be         
confessed1 much more good sense and good
  morality1 in the latter part of it1   
than one would expect to find in        
conjunction with absurdities such as    
that above quoted4 ,the annotator on    
the passage well says1 that the         
,ascetics avoided the pleasures of      
domestic life1 not because they were    
sweets1 but because conjoined with      
great cares1 which those escaped who    
lived in celibacy4 ,nor is it to be     
denied1 says he1 that married life is   
obnoxious to great and heavy            
inconveniences3 nevertheless1 if under  
those difficulties we live holily  and  
religiously1 our future recompense will 
surely not be less than as  if1 to be   

free from them we had embraced a single 
life4    #h ,habitant plerique in eremo 
sine ullis tabernaculis quos            
,anachoretas  vocant4 ,vivunt herbarum  
radicibus3 nullo unquam certo loco      
consistunt1  ne ab hominibus            
frequententur3 quas nox cogerit sedes   
habent4444 ,inter  hujus 7,sina7        
recessus ,anachoreta esse aliquis       
ferebatur quem diu  multumque qusitum   
videre non potui1 qui fer jam ante      
quinquaginta  annos  conversatione human
 remotus1 nullo vestis usu1 setis       
corporis  sui tectus1 nuditatem suam    
divino munere vestiebat4 ,hic quoties   
eum  religiosi viri adire voluerunt1    
cursu avia petens1 congressus vitabat   
humanos4 ,uni tantummodo ferebatur se   
ante quinquennium prbuisse1  qui credo  
potenti fide id obtinere promeruit3 cui 
inter multa  conloquia percunctanti1 cur
 homines tantopere vitaret1 respondisse 
perhibetur1 ,eum qui ab hominibus       
frequentaretur non posse ab angelis     
frequentari4--,sulp4 ,sev4 ,dialog4 ,i4 

#i ,the two signal instances may be     
mentioned of ,cyprian and ,augustine1   
men whose honesty and sincerity will not
 be questioned by any one who  himself  
possesses the sympathies of virtue and  
integrity4 ,they were both  carried by  
the spirit of their times almost to the 
last stage of  credulity and            
self-delusion2 but the latter much      
farther than the former4    #aj ,origen1
 as every one knows1 led the way in the 
,christian ,church in  this mode of     
interpretation4 ,it is also well known  
that the monks1  especially those of    
,alexandria1 warmly espoused the cause  
of this  ingenious writer against the   
bishops and clergy1 who with equal      
warmth  condemned his works as          
heretical4    #aa ,the charitable       
offices of the nuns in the hospitals of 
,france ought  always to be mentioned   
with respect and admiration4    #ab ,the
 ,de ,imitatione ,christi alone affords 
proof enough of the  possibility of the 
existence of elevated piety in the      

monastery4 ,it  abounds also with       
indications of the petty persecution to 
which a  spiritual monk was exposed     
among his brethren4    #ac ,many of the 
ancient solitaries1 far from living as  
their  profession required1 in          
seclusion1 were accustomed to admit     
daily the  visits of the multitude who  
flocked around them1 to gaze at their   
austerities1 to hear their harangues1 or
 to be exorcised1 or healed of  their   
maladies4 ,symeon1 the man of the       
pillar1 every day exhibited  himself to 
a gaping crowd1 collected often from    
distant countries4  ,st4 ,anthony1 more 
sincere in his love of retirement1 when 
pestered by  the plaudits of the vulgar 
in ,lower ,egypt1 withdrew into a desert
 of the  ,thebas2 yet even there he soon
 found himself surrounded1 not only by  
dmons1 but worse1 by admirers4 ,see     
,athan4 ,op4 ,vita ,s4 ,antonii4        
,,section ,x4    ,,considerations ,,on  
,,the ,,probable ,,triumph ,,of         
,,christianity1 ,,submitted ,,to        

,,those ,,who ,,misuse ,,the ,,term     
,,enthusiasm4      ,to waive the        
exercise of discrimination1 can1 under  
no imaginable  circumstances1 be        
advantageous to any man2 nor is it ever 
otherwise than  absurd to persist in an 
error which might be corrected by a     
moment's  attention to obvious facts4   
,but assuredly some such suspension of  
good  sense has taken place with those  
who accustom themselves to designate1   
in a mass1 as ,enthusiasts1 the many    
thousands of their countrymen1 of  all  
communions1 who1 at the present time1   
make profession of the  doctrines of the
 ,reformation4    ,all who are not      
wilfully ignorant must know1 that what  
is vulgarly  called the religious world1
 now includes1 not only myriads of the  
lower1 and middle1 and imperfectly      
educated classes1 in relation to whom   
self-complacent arrogance may easily    
find pretexts of scorn2 and not  only   
many of the opulent and the noble2 but a
 fair proportion also of  all the       

talent1 and learning1 and brilliancy of 
mind1 that adorns the  professional     
circles1 and that vivifies the          
literature of the country4  ,what       
appropriateness1 then1 is there left to 
language1 if a phrase of  supercilious  
import is to be attached to the names of
 men of vigorous  understanding1 and    
energetic character1 and eminent        
acquirement2--of men  successful in     
their several courses1 and accomplished 
in whatever gives  grace to human       
nature8 ,when those who in no assignable
 good quality can  be deemed inferior to
 their competitors on the arena of life1
 are1 on  account of their religious    
opinions and practices1 called          
,enthusiasts1  it is evident that       
nothing is actually effected but the    
annulling of the  contumelious power of 
the term so misused4 ,we may indeed1 in 
this  manner1 neutralize the            
significance of a word2 or we may draw  
upon  ourselves1 the imputation of      
malignant prejudice2 but we cannot      

reduce  from their rank those who stand 
firmly on the high stages of literary or
  philosophical eminence4    ,but if    
arrogance and malignity itself be       
ashamed of so flagrant an abuse  of the 
word enthusiast1 then neither ought that
 epithet 7unless where  special proof   
can be adduced7 to be assigned to the   
multitude1 holding  the very same       
opinions3 for the eminent few1 seeing   
that they profess  these tenets1 and    
adhere to these practices deliberately1 
and  explicitly1 must be allowed the    
privilege of redeeming their belief and 
usages from contempt1 by whomsoever     
maintained4    ,an opinion gravely      
professed by a man of sense and         
education1 demands  always1 respectful  
consideration--demands1 and actually    
receives it from  those whose own sense 
and education give them a correlative   
right3 and  whoever offends against this
 sort of courtesy may fairly be deemed  
to  have forfeited the privileges it    
secures4 ,but retaliation is declined by

  those who might use it1 and it is     
declined on the ground1 not only of     
,christian meekness1 but of             
commiseration towards such violators of 
candor and good manners1 whom they hold 
to be acting under the influence  of an 
infatuation1 at once deplorable and     
fatal4    ,that this infatuation should1
 in any great number of instances1 be   
dispelled by the mere showing of        
reasons1 is what the religionists1 the  
,enthusiasts1 by no means expect3 they  
too well understand the nature  of the  
malady1 and too well know its           
inveteracy1 to imagine that it may  be  
dissipated by force of argument1 even   
though the cause were in the  hands of a
 college of dialecticians4              
,nevertheless1 they entertain an        
expectation 7and have evidence to show  
in support of it7 which1 if it be       
realized1 will supersede many difficult 
controversies1 and rob impiety  forever 
of its only effectual prop1 the suffrage
 of the many4 ,this  expectation is     

nothing less than that                  
,christianity--or1 for the sake of      
distinctness1 let it be said the        
religion of the ,reformation--the       
religion of ,wycliffe1 and ,latimer1 and
 ,cranmer1 and ,jewel1 and ,hooker1  and
 ,owen1 and ,howe1 and ,baxter--will    
gain1 ere long1 an unquestioned         
ascendency1 and will bear down          
infidelity and false doctrine1 and      
absorb  schism1 and possess itself of   
the substance of power1 which is moral  
power1 and will thus rule the family of 
man4    ,in support of a belief like    
this1 many reasons might be urged1 some 
of  which can be expected to have weight
 only with the religious2 while  others 
may well claim attention from all       
7whatever may be their opinion  of      
,christianity7 who are at once competent
 and accustomed to anticipate  the      
probable course of human affairs4       
,there are three distinct methods in    
which an inquiry of this sort might  be 
conducted3 of these1 the first is the   

method of philosophical  calculation1 on
 the known principles of human nature1  
and which1 without  either denying or   
assuming the truth of ,christianity1    
forecasts1 from  past events and present
 appearances1 the probable futurity4 ,to
 pursue  such calculations efficiently1 
prepossessions of all kinds1 both       
sceptical and religious1 should be held 
in abeyance1 while the mere  facts that 
belong to the problem are contemplated  
as from the remoteness  of a neutral    
position4    ,the reader and writer of  
this page may each have formed his      
estimate of  the intrinsic force and    
validity of certain opinions2 but this  
private  estimate may happen to be much 
above1 or much below the level which    
reason would approve2 and1 be it what it
 may1 it can avail nothing for  our     
present purpose4 ,if we are to calculate
 the probable extension or  extinction  
of those opinions1 we must consult the  
evidence of facts on a  large scale2 and
 especially must observe what           

manifestations of  intrinsic power they 
have given on certain peculiar and      
critical  occasions4 ,this is the only  
course that can be deemed satisfactory1 
or  that is conformed to the procedures 
of modern science4 ,we do not now  wish 
to ask a seraph if such or such a dogma 
is held to be true in  heaven2 but what 
we have to do is to learn1 from the     
suffrage of the  millions of mankind1   
whether it has a permanent power to     
command and to  regain ascendency over  
the human mind4 ,this question must be  
asked of  history2 and we must take care
 to open the book at those pages where  
the  great eras of religious revolution 
are described4 ,having glanced at the   
past1 our next business will be to look 
at the present3 this kind of  divination
 is the only one known to the principles
 of philosophical  inquiry4           99
       99       99       99       99    
,the early triumph of the ,gospel over  
the fascinating idolatries and the      
astute atheism of ,greece and ,rome has 

been often insisted upon1 7and          
conclusively7 as evidence of its truth4 
,but with that argument we have  nothing
 now to do2 yet if the subject were not 
a very hackneyed one1 it  might well be 
brought forward1 in all its details1 in 
proof of a  different point--namely1 the
 innate power of the religion of the    
,bible to  vanquish the hearts of men4  
,an opponent may here choose his        
alternative2  either let him grant that 
,christianity triumphed because it was  
true and  divine2 or let him deny that  
it had any aid from heaven4 ,in the     
former  case we shall be entitled to    
infer that the religion of ,god must at 
length universally prevail2 or in the   
latter we may strongly argue1 that  this
 doctrine possesses little less than an 
omnipotence of intrinsic  force1 by     
which it obtained success under         
circumstances of opposition  such as    
made its triumph seem1 even to its      
enemies1 miraculous2 and on  this ground
 the expectation of its future          

prevalence cannot be thought            
unreasonable4    ,but if there were room
 to imagine that the first spread of    
,christianity  was owing rather to an   
accidental conjuncture of favoring      
circumstances  than to its real power   
over the human mind1 or if it might be  
thought  that any such peculiar virtue  
was all spent and exhausted in its first
  expansive effort1 then it is natural  
to look to the next occasion on  which  
the opinions of mankind were put in     
fermentation1 and to watch in  what     
manner the system of the ,bible then    
rode over the high billows of           
political1 religious1 and intellectual  
commotion4 ,it was a fair trial  for    
,christianity1 and a trial essentially  
different from its first1  when1 in the 
fifteenth century1 after having been    
corrupted in every  part to a state of  
loathsome ulceration1 it had to contend 
for  existence1 and to work its own     
renovation1 at the moment of the most   
extraordinary expansion of the human    

intellect that has ever happened4  ,at  
that moment1 when the splendid          
literature of the ancient world  started
 from its tomb1 and kindled a blaze of  
universal admiration2 at  that moment1  
when the first beams of sound philosophy
 broke over the  nations2 and when the  
revival of the useful arts gave at once 
elasticity  to the minds of the million1
 and a check of practical influence to  
the  minds of the few2 at the moment    
when the necromancy of the press came   
into play to expose and explode         
necromancy of every other kind2 and when
  the discovery of new continents1 and  
of a new path to the old1 tended to     
supplant a taste of whatever is         
visionary1 by imparting a vivid taste   
for what is substantial2 at such a time1
 which seemed to leave no chance  of    
continued existence to aught that was   
not in its nature vigorous1  might it   
not confidently have been said--,this   
must be the crisis of  ,christianity8 if
 it be not inwardly sound1 if it have   

not a true hold of  human nature1 if it 
be a thing of feebleness and dotage1 fit
 only for  cells1 and cowls1 and the    
precincts of spiritual despotism2 if it 
be not  adapted to the world of action1 
if it have no sympathy with the feelings
  of men--of freemen2 nothing can save  
it3 no power of princes1 no devices  of 
priests1 will avail to rear it anew1 and
 to replace it in the  veneration of the
 people2 at least not in any country    
where has been  felt the refreshing gale
 of intellectual life4 ,the result of   
this crisis  need not be narrated4      
,it may even be doubted1 had not        
,christianity been fraught with power1  
if  all the influence of kings1 or craft
 of priests1 could have upheld it in    
any part of ,europe1 after the revival  
of learning2 and certainly not in  those
 countries which received1 at one and   
the same time1 the  invigoration of     
political liberty1 of science1 and of   
commerce4    ,whether the religion for  
which the reformers suffered1 was from  

heaven  or of men1 is not our question2 
but whether it is not a religion of     
robust constitution1 framed to endure1  
and to spread1 and to vanquish  the     
hearts of men8 ,with the history of the 
fifteenth and sixteenth  centuries in   
view1 it is asked if ,christianity be a 
system that must  always lean upon      
ignorance1 and craft1 and despotism1 and
 which1 when  those rotten stays are    
removed1 must fail and be seen no more8 
,yet another species of trial was in    
store to give proof of the              
indestructibility and victorious power  
of ,christianity4 ,it remained to  be   
seen whether1 when the agitations1      
political and moral1 that were          
consequent upon the great schism which  
had taken place in ,europe had          
subsided1 and when the season of slumber
 and exhaustion came on1 and  when human
 reason1 strengthened and refined by    
physical science1 and  elegant          
literature1 should awake fully to the   
consciousness of its  powers2 whether   

then the religion of the ,bible could   
retain its hold of  the nations2 or at  
least of those of them that enjoyed1    
without limit1  the happy influences of 
political liberty1 and intellectual     
light4 ,this  was a sort of probation   
which ,christianity had never before    
passed  through4    ,and what were the  
omens under which it entered upon the   
new trial of its  strength8 ,were the   
friends of ,christianity at that moment 
of portentous  conflict awake1 and      
vigilant1 and stout-hearted1 and        
thoroughly armed to  repel assaults8    
,the very reverse was the fact2 for at  
the instant when  the atheistical       
conspiracy made its long-concerted1     
well-advised and  consentaneous attack1 
there was scarcely a pulse of life left 
in the  ,christian body1 in any one of  
the ,protestant states4 ,the old        
superstitions had crawled back into many
 of their ancient corners4 ,in  other   
quarters the spirit of protestation     
against those superstitions  had        

breathed itself away in trivial         
wranglings1 or had given place to       
infidelity--infidelity aggravated by    
stalled hypocrisy4 ,the ,church of      
,england1 the chief prop of modern      
,christianity1 was then1 to a great     
extent1 torpid1 and fainting under the  
incubus1 either of false  doctrine1 or  
of a secular spirit2 at least it seemed 
incapable of the  effort which the peril
 of the time demanded3 few indeed of her
 sons were  panoplied1 and              
sound-hearted1 as champions in such a   
cause should be4  ,within a part only of
 a small body of ,dissenters1 7for a    
part was  smitten with the plague of    
heresy7 and that part in great measure  
disqualified from free and energetic    
action by rigidities1 and scruples1  and
 divisions1 was contained almost all the
 religious life and fervor  anywhere to 
be found in ,christendom4    ,meanwhile 
the infidel machinators had chosen their
 ground at leisure1  and were wrought to
 the highest pitch of energy by a       

confident1 and1 as  it might seem1 a    
well-founded hope of success4 ,they were
 backed by the  secret wishes1 or the   
undissembled cheerings of almost the    
entire body  of educated men throughout 
,europe4 ,they used the only language   
then  common to the civilized world1 and
 a language which might be imagined to  
have been framed and finished designedly
 to accomplish the demolition of        
whatever was grave and venerated2 a     
language1 beyond any other1 of          
raillery1 of insinuation1 and of        
sophistry2 a language of polished       
missiles1 whose temper could penetrate  
not only the cloak of imposture1  but   
the shield of truth4    ,at the same    
portentous moment the shocks and        
upheavings of political  commotion      
opened a thousand fissures in the       
ancient structure of moral  and         
religious sentiment2 and the enemies of 
,christianity1 surprised by  unexpected 
success1 rushed forward to achieve1 as  
they thought1 an easy  triumph4 ,the    

firmest and the wisest friends of old   
opinions desponded1  and many believed  
that a few years would see ,atheism the 
universal  doctrine of the western      
nations1 as well as military despotism  
the only  form of government4    ,it is 
difficult to imagine a single advantage 
that was lacking to the  promoters of   
infidelity1 or a single circumstance of 
peril and ill-omen  that was not present
 to deepen the gloom of the friends of  
religion4 ,the  actual issue of that    
signal crisis is before our eyes in the 
freshness  of a recent event4           
,christianity--we ask not whether for   
the benefit or  the injury of the       
world--has triumphed2 the mere fact is  
all that  concerns our argument4 ,but   
shall it be said1 or if said1 believed1 
that  the late resurrection of the      
religion of the ,bible has been managed 
in  the cabinets of monarchs8 ,have     
kings and emperors given this turn to   
public opinion1 which now compels       
infidelity to hide its shame behind  the

 very mask of hypocrisy that it had so  
lately torn from the face of  the       
priest8 ,to come home to facts with     
which all must be familiar3 ,has  there 
not been heard1 within the last few     
years1 from the most  enlightened1 the  
most sober-minded1 and the freest people
 of ,europe1 a  firm1 articulate1       
spontaneous1 and cordial expression of  
preference1 and  of enhanced veneration 
towards ,christianity8 ,again1 then1 we 
ask--not if  this religion be true1 but 
if it have not1 even beneath our own    
observation1 given proof of             
indestructible vigor8    ,the spread of 
the ,english stock1 and language1 and   
literature1 over the  ,north ,american  
continent1 has afforded a distinct and  
very significant  indication of the     
power of ,christianity to retain its    
hold of the human  mind1 and of its     
aptness to run hand-in-hand with        
civilization1 even  when unaided by     
those secular succors to which its      
enemies in malice1  and some of its     

friends in over-caution1 are prone to   
attribute too much  importance4 ,the    
tendency of republicanism1 which        
obviously has some  strong affinity with
 infidelity1 and the connection of the  
colonies1 at  the moment of their       
revolt1 with ,france1 and the prevalence
 of a  peculiarly eager and uncorrected 
commercial temper1 and the absence of   
every sort and semblance of restraint   
upon opinion1 were concurrent           
circumstances1 belonging to the infancy 
of the ,american ,union1 of a kind      
which put to the severest test the      
instrinsic power of ,christianity1 in   
retaining its hold of the human mind4   
,could infidel experimenters have       
wished for conditions more equitable1   
under which to try the respective       
forces of the opposing systems8    ,and 
what has been the issue8 ,it is true    
that infidelity holds still its  ground 
in the ,united ,states1 as in ,europe2  
and there1 as in ,europe1  keeps company
 with whatever is debauched1 sordid1    

oppressive1 reckless1  ruffian-like4    
,but at the same time ,christianity1 has
 gained rather than  lost ground1 and   
shows itself there in a style of as much
 fervor and  zeal as in ,england2 and   
perhaps1 even it has the advantage in   
these  respects4 ,wherever1 on that     
continent1 good order and intelligence  
are  spreading1 there also the religion 
of the ,bible spreads4 ,and if it be    
probable that the ,english race1 and    
language1 and institutions1 will1 in  a 
century1 pervade its deserts1 all       
appearances favor the belief that  the  
edifices of ,christian worship will     
bless every landscape of the  present   
wilderness that shall then blossom as   
the rose4           99       99       99
       99       99    ,before1 in       
pursuing this method of frigid          
calculation1 the ,christian  doctrine be
 weighed against the several systems    
with which it must  contend ere it wins 
its universal triumph1 it is proper to  
inquire--what  is the probability that a

 collision will actually take place4 ,to
  estimate fairly this probability1     
those who are but slenderly acquainted  
with the religious world1 in the        
,british ,islands1 in ,america1 and in  
the  ,protestant states of the          
continent1 must understand1 much better 
than  generally they do1 the precise    
nature of the remarkable revolution that
  has1 within the last thirty years1    
been effected in the sentiments of      
,christians on the subject of the       
diffusion of their religion4 ,such      
slenderly-informed persons may very     
naturally imagine that the  prodigious  
efforts that have of late been made to  
diffuse ,christianity  through the world
 have sprung simply from a heat and     
excitement1 in its  nature transient1   
and which1 therefore1 must be expected  
soon to  subside4 ,but this supposition 
will be found to be incomplete and      
erroneous4 ,a stir and kindling of      
feeling has no doubt happened2 but  this
 feeling1 and the activities which      

followed from it1 have given  occasion  
to the resurrection1 so to speak1 of a  
capital article of  ,christian morals1  
which1 after lying almost latent for    
centuries1 stands  forth in undisputed  
and prominent authority in the modern   
code of  religious duty4 ,this recovered
 principle is now constantly recognized 
and enforced2 and it is seen to exert   
its influence1 not merely within  the   
circles of central movement1 but even in
 the remotest orbits of  religious      
feeling1 where warmth and energy are    
manifestly not excessive4    ,the       
founder of ,christianity left with his  
disciples the unlimited  injunction to  
go forth into all the world1 and to     
preach the ,gospel to  every creature4  
,this command1 corroborated by others of
 equivalent  import1 and enforced by the
 very nature of the ,christian doctrine1
 and  by the spirit of ,christian       
charity1 is now understood and          
acknowledged1  in a manner new to the   
church1 to be of universal obligation1  

so that no  ,christian1 how obscure     
soever may be his station1 or small his 
talents1  or limited his means1 can be  
held to stand altogether excused from   
the  duty of fulfilling1 in some way1   
the last mandate of his ,lord4 ,thus    
understood1 this command makes every    
believer a preacher and a  missionary2  
or at least obliges him to see to it1 so
 far as his ability  extends1 that the  
labors of diffusive evangelization are  
actually  performed by a substitute4    
,before the commencement of the recent  
missionary efforts1 there had been      
missions to the heathen4 ,but these1 if 
carried on with anything more  than a   
perfunctory assiduity1 were anomalous to
 the general feeling of  ,christians1   
and sprung from the exemplary zeal of   
individuals4 ,but the  modern missions  
are maintained neither by the zeal of   
the few1 nor by  the mere zeal of the   
many2 but rather by the deep-seated     
impulsive power  of a grave conviction1 
pressing on the conscience even of the  

inert and  the selfish--and much more on
 the hearts of the fervent and          
devoted--that  a ,christian has no more 
liberty to withhold his aid and service 
from  these evangelizing associations   
than he has to abandon the duties of    
common life2 and that1 for a man to     
profess hope in ,christ1 and to deny    
what he might spare to promote the      
diffusion of the ,gospel1 is the most   
egregious of all practical solecisms4   
,those who are ignorant of this         
remarkable revolution of sentiment1 or  
who may be sceptical concerning it1     
would do well to take up1 at hazard1    
any dozen of the discourses1 and        
reports1 and tracts1 that are yearly1   
and monthly1 and weekly1 flowing from   
the religious press1 and among  which   
they will hardly find one that does not 
assume this as an admitted  principle1  
and as the ultimate motive of every     
hortatory appeal4 ,and if1  among these 
ephemera1 there are any1 and such are   
not seldom to be  found1 that bear the  

stamp of superior intelligence1 it will 
be seen  almost invariably1 that the    
reasoner summons all the force of his   
mind1  not so much to prove that every  
,christian is bound to promote the      
diffusion of scriptural knowledge1 as by
 some new ingenuity of  illustration to 
place the acknowledged duty in a        
stronger light1 or to  show in what     
manner it bears upon the specific object
 for which he  pleads4 ,and it is to be 
noted that these popular addresses      
exhibit1 for  the most part1 much more  
of the gravity and calmness which       
naturally  belong to the style of those 
who feel that they are standing upon    
undisputed ground1 than of the          
solicitude1 or the inflammatory         
verbosity  and turgidness of writers who
 are laboring to fan a decaying blaze of
  indefensible enthusiasm4    ,or again3
 it may well be inferred that the modern
 missionary zeal  springs from motives  
of a substantial and permanent kind1    
since they  affect1 without exception1  

every body of ,christians 7holding the  
doctrines of the ,reformation7 and are  
felt in the same manner by the          
,christians of every ,protestant        
community of ,europe4 ,and moreover the 
feeling has not declined1 but has       
sensibly increased since the first      
years of its activity2 and it has       
endured the trial1 in some instances1   
of severe and long-continued            
discomfitures1 or of partial success4   
,these  are indications of a spring of  
action far more sedate and enduring than
  any feverish excitement can ever      
supply4    ,but if the extent1 and the  
power1 and the promise of the existing  
missionary zeal are to be duly          
estimated1 the inquirer should visit the
  homes of our religious folks2 or enter
 the schools in which their  children   
are trained1 and there learn what is the
 doctrine inculcated  upon those who are
 rising up to take their place on the   
arena of life3  or let him listen to the
 hymns they lisp1 and examine the tracts

 they  read1 and he will meet the same  
great principle in a thousand manners   
enforced1 namely--,that it is the duty  
of every ,christian1 young or old1  rich
 or poor1 to take part in sending the   
,gospel to all nations4 ,or let  the    
observer notice the ,missionary ,box1 in
 the school-room1 in the  nursery1 in   
the shop-parlor1 in the farm-house      
kitchen1 in the cottage1  of the        
religious2 and let him mark the         
multiform contrivances for  swelling the
 amount of the revenues of ,christian   
charity1 devised1 and  zealously        
persisted in1 by youths and by little   
ones1 whose parents1 at  the same age1  
thought of nothing but of cakes and     
sports4    ,and does all this steady    
movement1 this wide-spreading and       
closely-compacted system of united      
effort1 this mechanism in which  infancy
 as well as maturity takes its part1    
indicate nothing for  futurity8 ,shall  
it all have passed away and be forgotten
 with the  present generation8 ,if      

indeed it were confined to a sect1 or to
 a  province1 or to a country1 it might1
 though that were unlikely2 but not  if 
it be the common style of ,christian    
feeling in every part of the  world     
where spiritual ,christianity exists at 
all4 ,particular  associations may be   
dissolved1 and particular schemes may be
 broken up2  and standard-bearers in the
 sacred cause may faint2 and the zeal of
  certain communities may fade2 or      
political disasters may here and there  
bring ruin upon pious labors2 but unless
 devastation universal sweeps  over the 
face of the civilized world1 the        
doctrine of missionary zeal1  which has 
been broad-cast over ,christendom1 in   
the present day1 will not  fail of      
coming to its harvest4 ,and now1 if     
there are any who wish ill to           
,christianity1 let them hasten to       
prevent the measures of its friends1    
let them teach their babes to hate the  
,gospel2 for those who love it are      
taking such means to insure its future  

triumph as can hardly fail of  success1 
and such as1 on common grounds of       
calculation1 make it likely  that even  
the sons and the daughters of the       
present race of infidels may  be        
involved in the approaching conquests of
 the ,son of ,david2 and that  they     
shall actually join in the loud hosanna1
 announcing his accession  to the throne
 of universal empire4           99      
99       99       99       99    ,it is 
then more than barely probable--it is   
almost certain--that the  attempt to    
offer ,christianity to all nations1 will
 not soon be  abandoned4 ,the next      
question is this--whether1 on grounds of
 frigid  calculation1 such attempts are 
recommended by any fair promise of      
success4    ,when the term calculation  
is used in reference to the diffusion of
  ,christianity1 a use of the word which
 perhaps may offend the ear of  piety1  
an important distinction must be kept in
 view between that  cordial admission of
 the ,gospel which renovates the hearts 

of men  individually1 and that change of
 opinion and profession which may be    
brought about among a people by means   
that fall short of possessing           
efficiency to produce repentance and    
faith4 ,and while the former must       
everywhere1 at home or abroad1 be the   
great object aimed at and desired  by   
the ,christian ministry1 the latter is  
both in itself1 even if nothing  more   
were done1 and as a preliminary1 and a  
probable means conducing to  the        
production of genuine piety1 a most     
desirable and happy revolution4  ,it is 
moreover a revolution which may be      
reckoned to lie within the  range of    
human agency1 when judiciously and      
perseveringly applied4 ,for             
,christianity is a species of knowledge1
 in its nature communicable2 and1  as a 
system of opinions1 or as a code of     
morals1 it possesses a manifest         
superiority1 if fairly brought into     
comparison with any existing  religious 
system4 ,and if it may reasonably be    

asked concerning any  people--how shall 
they believe without a preacher8 the    
converse question  might1 with little   
less confidence be put--how shall they  
not believe  with one8    ,pagan and    
,mohammedan nations ought to be thought 
of by a ,christian  people just as the  
master of a numerous household1 if he be
 wise and  benevolent1 thinks of the    
untutored members of his family2 for    
although  no actual subjection is owned 
on the one side1 or can be exercised on 
the other1 there exists1 virtually1 the 
relationship and the  responsibilities  
of that domination which is ever        
possessed by  knowledge1 intelligence1  
and virtue1 over ignorance and          
degradation4  ,now1 as the master of a  
family may1 to a greater or less extent1
  infallibly succeed by zeal1 affection1
 skill1 and patience1 in  dispelling the
 superstitions and the ignorance which  
have happened to  come under his roof2  
so1 with zeal1 affection1 skill1 and    
patience1  proportioned to the greatness

 of the work1 may the ,christian nations
 at  length effect a cleansing of the   
earth from the cruelties and impurities 
of polytheism4    ,nothing inconsistent 
with the humblest and most devout       
dependence upon  the divine agency is   
implied in this supposition1 any more   
than in the  belief that our children   
and servants may be trained in the      
knowledge of  ,god1 and in the decencies
 of ,christian worship4 ,is there not   
reason to  think that an inattention to 
this plain principle has prevented1 in  
some  measure1 the adoption of those    
vigorous and extended operations which  
common sense prescribes as the proper   
and probable means of diffusing at  once
 civilization and religion through the  
world8    ,the probability of a change  
of religion on the part of an entire    
people  may1 it is true1 be argued on   
the adverse1 as well as on the favorable
  side1 and with great appearance of    
reason4 ,the obstinacy of the human     
mind in adhering to the worse1 even when

 the better is presented to its  choice1
 seems not seldom to possess the        
invincibility of a physical law2  and it
 has been found as impracticable to     
reform an absurd usage1 as to  remodel  
the national physiognomy4 ,how often    
have both reason and  despotism been    
baffled in their endeavors to effect    
even a trivial  alteration in ancient   
usages or costumes2 and there has been  
room to  suppose1 that the tenacity of  
life belonging to customs or opinions1  
bears direct proportion always to their 
absurdity and their mischievous         
consequence4 ,the high antiquity1 and   
the still unbroken force of the         
,asiatic idolatries1 in themselves so   
hideous1 so burdensome1 and so          
sanguinary1 stand forth as appalling    
confirmations of the truth1 that        
whatever has once gained for itself the 
sanction of time1 may boldly  defy the  
assaults of reason4 ,and then1 when     
religious opinions and  practices are to
 question1 we have not merely to break  

through the iron  law of immemorial     
usage1 but to encounter the living      
opposition of the  priesthood1 already  
firmly seated in the cloud-girt throne  
of supposed  supernatural power1 and    
interested as deeply as men can be who  
have at  stake their civil existence1   
and their credit1 and their means of    
luxurious idleness4 ,again1 in most     
instances1 ancient religious opinions   
have sent down their roots through the  
solid structure of the civil            
institutions of the people3--the old    
superstition is an oak that was sown  by
 the builder of the state1 and has      
actually pervaded the entire            
foundations1 and forms now the living   
bond-timber1 to remove which would  be  
to bring to the ground the whole        
tottering masonry of the social  system4
    ,when this side of the question has 
been long and exclusively  contemplated1
 the schemes of missionary zeal may seem
 to be utterly  chimerical2 or if not   
chimerical--dangerous4 ,but the friends 

of mankind  do not forget that the very 
same objects may be viewed in another   
light4  ,even before particular facts   
are appealed to1 an hypothesis of an    
opposite kind may plausibly be advanced4
 ,it may be alleged that  ,opinion--the 
invisible power that rules the world--is
 a name without  substance1 which1      
though omnipotent so long as it is      
thought to be so1  vanishes quicker than
 a mist1 when once suspected to be      
impotent4 ,it  might also with great    
appearance of reason be affirmed as a   
universal  law of the moral world1 that 
the better1 when fairly brought into    
collision with the worse1 possesses an  
infallible certainty of ultimate        
prevalence4    ,on this same principle1 
it is common to affirm that the improved
  mechanical processes of a scientific  
people will at length necessarily       
supplant the operose1 and wasteful1 and 
inefficient methods practised by        
half-civilized nations4 ,and thus       
probably will the ruinous and           

depopulating usages of despotism give   
way before the wealth-giving  maxims of 
legal government4 ,and thus also may it 
be hoped that a pure  theology1 and a   
pure morality1 shall1 if zealously      
diffused1 prevail  till they have       
removed all superstitions1 with all     
their corruptions4  ,even on the lowest 
principles of natural theology1 some    
such meditative  power may be presumed  
to have been imparted to the human      
system1 as a  provision against the     
progress of utter moral dissolution4    
99       99       99       99       99  
,but while an argument of this sort is  
at issue1 the simple method of          
appealing to such facts as may seem to  
bear conclusively upon the  question1   
will assuredly not be neglected2 and it 
will be asked1 whether  there are on    
record any instances which give a       
peremptory negative to  the assertion   
that a national change of religion ought
 to be thought of  as an event in the   
last degree improbable4 ,and why should 

not the spread  and triumph of          
,christianity in the first ages of its  
promulgation be  accepted as an instance
 absolutely conclusive1 and in the      
fullest sense  analogous to the problem 
that is to be solved4 ,to whatever      
causes that  first prevalence of the    
religion of the ,bible may be           
attributed1 it is  still an unquestioned
 fact that entire nations--not one or   
two1 but many1  and in every stage of   
advancement on the course of            
civilization--were  actually brought to 
abandon their ancient superstitions1 and
 to profess  the ,gospel4    ,these     
amazing revolutions took place under    
almost every imaginable  variety of     
circumstances1 and they occupied a      
period of not more than  three          
centuries1 and the change had been      
wrought1 to a great extent1  before the 
aid of political succor came in2 and    
even in the front of  political         
opposition4 ,people after people fell   
away from their  idolatries1 and assumed

 7with how much or how little of cordial
 feeling  matters not7 the ,christian   
name and code4    ,here once more the   
objector must be urged to select his    
alternative4--,if  it be granted that   
,christianity won this wide success by  
aid from  heaven1 then who will profess 
to believe that a religion1 so          
supported1  shall not in the end        
vanquish mankind8 ,or if not1 then      
manifestly1 the  fact of the spread of  
,christianity in the east1 and in the   
west1 in the  north1 and in the south1  
destroys altogether the supposed        
improbability  of its again supplanting 
idolatry4 ,it has been proved that      
nothing  inseparable from human nature1 
nothing invincible1 stands in the way of
  the diffusion of our faith among      
either polished or barbarous            
polytheists2 for already has it been    
victorious in both kinds4 ,let it be    
affirmed that the religious infatuations
 of mankind are firm as adamant2  still 
it is a fact that a hammer harder than  

adamant once shattered the  rock to     
atoms4 ,and now1 when it is proposed    
again to smite the same  substance with 
the same instrument1 are those to be    
deemed irrational  who anticipate the   
same success8 ,in such an anticipation  
neither the  superior purity and        
excellence of ,christianity need be     
assumed1 nor its  truth3 nothing is     
peremptorily affirmed but its           
well-attested efficiency  to subvert and
 supplant other religious systems4 ,a   
myriad of  philosophists may clamorously
 affirm the missionary project to be    
insane4 ,nevertheless ,christians1      
listening rather to the history of      
their religion than to the harangues of 
its modern oppugners1 will go on  to    
preach in every land1 ,that men should  
turn from dumb idols to serve  the      
living ,god4    ,that during a period of
 more than a thousand years             
,christianity should  hardly have gained
 a foot of ground from polytheism1 and  
should1 in some  quarters1 have been    

driven in from its ancient frontiers1 is
 only  natural1 seeing that1 in the     
whole course of that time1 no extended  
endeavors1 or none guided and impelled  
by the genuine principles of the        
,gospel1 were made to diffuse it4       
,angels have no commission to become    
evangelists2 and if men neglect their   
duty in this instance1 no means  remain 
for supplying their lack of service4    
,the modern missionary  enterprises     
7exclusive of some very limited         
attempts7 do not yet date  fifty years2 
and while the fact that this spirit of  
,christian zeal has  maintained itself  
so long1 attests its solidity1 and gives
 a promise of  its perpetuity1 its      
recentness 7recent compared with the    
work to be  achieved7 may justly be     
alleged in reply to those who ask--from 
whatever  motive--,why are not the      
nations converted8 ,within this short   
space of  time the religious public has 
had to be formed to a right feeling on  
the  new subject2 and all the practical 

wisdom that belongs to an enterprise  so
 immense and so difficult has had to be 
acquired2 and the agents of  the work at
 home and abroad1 to be trained2 and the
 initiatory  obstacle--that occasioned  
by diversity of language--to be removed4
 ,the  preparatives have now been passed
 through1 and successes obtained1 large 
and complete enough to quash all        
objection1 and more than enough to      
recompense what they have cost4 ,and    
these successes1 moreover1 warrant  the 
belief that the universal prevalence of 
,christianity 7considered  simply as an 
exterior profession7 is suspended upon  
the continuance of  the missionary zeal 
among the ,christians of ,europe and    
,america4    ,instead of allowing       
speculation to flit vaguely and ineptly 
over all the  desolate places of the    
earth's surface1 it will be better1 if  
we would  make our calculation definite1
 to fix upon a single region2 and while 
we  assume it as probable that the      
existing spirit of missionary vigilance 

and assiduity and self-devotion will    
continue in vigor during the  ensuing   
half-century1 endeavor roughly to       
estimate the chances 7if the  word may  
be used7 of the entrance and spread of  
,christian light in that  one region2   
and let us select the region which may  
be deemed altogether  to occupy the     
place of an ultimate problem of         
evangelical enterprise4  ,thus          
announced1 every one will of course     
think of ,china4    ,nothing is more    
difficult than to view1 in the nakedness
 of mere truth1  any object remote from 
personal observation1 which has once    
filled the  imagination with images of  
vastness and mystery4 ,thus it often    
happens  that benevolent schemes are    
robbed of their fair chance of success  
by  the fond illusions which are        
suffered to swell out an empty bulk1 so 
as  to hide from view the real          
difficulties that ought to be           
deliberately  met4 ,and thus it is usual
 for the timid to amuse their inaction  

by  contemplating spectral forms of     
danger or obstruction that exist only in
  the mind4 ,hindrances and             
impossibilities may even yield a sort of
  delight to the imagination1 by the    
aspect of greatness and terror they     
assume2 at least while we resolve to    
view them only at a distance4 ,and  in  
such cases he must be singularly        
destitute of poetic feeling1 or         
singularly conscientious and abstinent  
in the use of language1 who1 in         
describing the proposed enterprise1 does
 not impart to the mere facts a  form   
and coloring of unreal greatness and    
wonder4    ,this sort of illusiveness   
and exaggeration unquestionably belongs 
to the  subject of ,christian missions  
to ,china4 ,who does not feel that the  
high  numbers of its dense and          
far-spread population1 amounting perhaps
 to  more than a sixth part of the human
 family1 and the yet unpenetrated  veil 
of mystery which hangs over the origin  
of the people1 and over  their actual   

condition1 and even over the geography  
of the country2 and  then the           
singularity of the national character1  
and the anomalous  construction of the  
language1 altogether raise a mist of    
obscurity which  rests in the way of the
 inquirer who asks--,is the attempt to  
introduce  ,christianity among these    
millions of our brethren utterly vain   
and  visionary8    ,the natural         
exaggerations which infest this subject 
have indeed been  sensibly reduced      
within the last few years3 twenty years 
ago cautious  and sagacious ,protestants
 would have thought themselves bound1 in
  deference to common sense1 to deride  
the idea of converting ,china to the    
faith of ,europe4 ,what the ,de         
propaganda1 with its store of           
accommodating measures might attempt1   
none who must adhere to the  guileless  
methods of ,christian instruction would 
undertake3 or even if  an enterprise of 
this sort were commenced1 it must be    
allowed a date of  five hundred years   

for achieving any considerable success6 
,but better  information1 and the actual
 accomplishment of the initiatory       
process1  must now1 by the least        
sanguine minds1 be deemed greatly to    
have  lessened the improbabilities of   
such an attempt1 and to have shortened  
the date of our ,christian hopes4 ,what 
has been accomplished of late by  the   
assiduity1 and the intellectual vigor1  
and the moral intrepidity of  a few     
individuals1 has turned the beam of     
calculation2 and it is now  rational to 
talk of that which1 very recently1 might
 not have been  named1 except among     
visionaries4    ,the brazen gate of     
,china1 sculptured with inscrutable     
characters1 and  bolted and barred1 as  
it seemed1 against western              
ingenuity--the gate of  its anomalous   
language1 has actually been set wide    
open2 and although  the ribbon of       
despotic interdiction is still stretched
 across the  highway that leads to the  
popular mind1 access1 to some extent1   

has been  obtained2 and who shall affirm
 that this frail barrier insurmountable 
as  it may now seem1 shall at all times1
 during another fifty years1 exist1  and
 be respected8 ,within even a much      
shorter term1 is it not probable1  that 
revolutions of dynasty1 or popular      
commotions1 may suspend or  divert1 for 
a moment1 the vigilance of jealous      
ignorance8 ,in some such  manner it may 
be supposed that1 the means of diffusing
 religious  knowledge being1 as they    
are1 accumulated1 and headed up above   
the level  of the plains of ,china1 the 
dam bursting1 or falling into decay1 the
  healing flood of ,christian truth     
shall suffuse itself in all directions  
over the vast surface4    ,but we are   
told that the national intellect is     
spellbound in a condition  of           
irremediable imbecility4 ,the people1 it
 is said1 have no ideas but  such as are
 fixed under the petrifactions of their 
ancient usages2 or  even if they had a  
mind in which ideas might float1 they   

have no medium  of communication1 or    
none which can take up even an atom of  
knowledge or  of sentiment that is of   
foreign growth4 ,how then shall such a  
people be  converted to ,christianity8  
,were it not as well to attempt to      
inform and  persuade the sculptures of  
,elephanta1 or the glazed images of     
their own  pottery8 ,to all this show of
 impossibility1 a full and sufficient   
reply  is contained in a single         
affirmation of ,scripture1 not less     
philosophically just than it is         
beautiful and sublime--,the ,lord       
looketh  from heaven1 he beholdeth all  
the sons of men3 from the place of his  
habitation he looketh upon all the      
inhabitants of the earth3 he  fashioneth
 their hearts alike4    ,the old        
doctrine that there are certain generic 
and invincible  inferiorities of        
intellect which must forever bar the    
advancement of  some branches of the    
human family1 has of late received so   
signal a  refutation in the instance of 

the ,african race--long and             
pertinaciously  consigned by interested 
philosophers to perpetual               
degradation--that it  now hardly needs  
to be argued against4 ,and assuredly1 if
 the negro  cranium is found1 spite of  
phrenologists1 to admit of mathematical 
abstraction1 fine taste1 and fine       
feeling1 it will not be affirmed that   
the skull of the ,tartar or ,chinese    
must necessarily exclude similar        
excellences4 ,to assert1 either that    
nature has conferred no physical        
superiorities1 favorable to the         
development of mind1 on particular      
races1 or to maintain that the          
comparative disadvantages of some       
nations  are so great and unalterable as
 to constitute impassable barriers in   
the  way of civilization1 is equally a  
quackery which history and existing     
facts condemn1 and which nothing but the
 love of theory or  simplification could
 ever recommend to an intelligent       
observer of  mankind4 ,with the uniform 

evidence of history before us1 it may   
well be  assumed as probable that       
certain races will always retain the    
intellectual pre-eminence they have     
acquired2 nor is it at all less         
reasonable to suppose that every tribe1 
even the most degraded1 is              
intrinsically capable of whatever is    
essential to a state of social  order   
and moral dignity4    ,if the lowest    
degree of proficiency in the mechanical 
arts is justly  held to give proof of   
the existence of those powers of        
abstraction  whence1 with proper        
culture1 the sciences may take their    
rise1 so1 with  equal certainty1 may we 
infer a susceptibility of the religious 
emotions  from even the feeblest        
indications of the moral sense4 ,when a 
people  diffused over so extensive a    
surface1 and so thickly covering that   
surface1 is seen to submit itself       
intelligently to the patriarchal form   
of government1 which implies the        
constant and powerful influence of a    

moral abstraction1 and a vivid sense of 
unseen power1 no doubt can  remain of   
its capacity to admit the motives of    
,christian faith4    ,the ,chinese are  
what they are1 more from the natural    
consequence of  having sustained1 during
 many successive generations1 what may  
be termed  national imprisonment1 than  
from the operation of any physical      
disabilities4 ,so complete and          
successful an interdiction of           
intercourse  with strangers has not been
 known to take place in any other       
country2  and a closer fitting of the   
restraints of custom and etiquette upon 
the  manners than has elsewhere been    
effected1 has not failed to impart to   
the national character that peculiar    
gait--if the phrase maybe  used--which  
must distinguish one who had been       
released from his  swaddling-bands only 
to be encumbered with a chain1 and had  
worn that  chain through life4 ,of the  
,chinese people it may truly be said    
that the  iron hath entered into their  

soul4    ,but even without resting upon 
the probability of the subversion of the
  existing despotism1 the defeat of its 
jealous precautions may be  anticipated 
as what must at length result from the  
present course of  events4 ,that portion
 of the ,chinese population which may be
 termed the  extra-mural1 and which1 in 
numbers1 exceeds some ,european nations1
 may  be considered as the depository of
 the happy destinies of the empire2  for
 these expatriate millions are          
accessible to instruction2 and if once  
they become1 to any considerable extent1
 alive to religious truth1 no           
prohibitions of paternal despotism will 
avail to exclude the new  principles    
from the mother country4 ,it is a false 
feeling that would  draw discouragement 
from the comparative diminutiveness and 
small actual  results of the operations 
that are carrying on for imparting      
,christianity to this people4 ,these    
measures ought1 in philosophical        
justice1 to be viewed as the            

commencements of an accelerative        
movement1  acting incessantly upon an   
inert mass1 which1 by the very laws of  
nature1 must at length receive impulse  
enough to be carried forward in  the    
course of the propelling cause4 ,to be  
assured of this result1 all  that we    
need is to be assured of the continuance
 of the spring of  movement4    ,if the 
several spheres of missionary labor are 
reviewed1 none1 it is  presumed1 can be 
deemed to offer more serious obstacles  
than the one  already referred to2 or if
 there be one such1 yet have fact and   
experiment already given a full reply to
 all objections4 ,may it be  permitted  
to say that a voice from heaven1 full of
 meaning1 is heard in  the particular   
character of the successes1 how limited 
soever they may  be1 which have crowned 
the incipient attempts to convert the   
heathen8  ,the veriest reprobates of    
civilization and social order have been 
the  first to be brought in to grace the
 triumphs of the ,gospel in its recent  

attempts at foreign conquest2 as if at  
once to solve all doubts1 and to  refute
 all cavils1 relating to the            
practicability and promise of the       
enterprise4 ,if it had been thought or  
affirmed that the stupefaction and      
induration of heart produced upon a race
 by ages of uncorrected ferocity  and   
sensuality must repel forever the       
attempts of ,christian zeal1 it is      
shown1 in the instance of the extremest 
specimens that could have been          
selected1 that a few years only of      
beneficent skill and patience are       
enough to transform the fierce and      
voluptuous savage into a being of  pure1
 and gentle1 and noble sentiments2 that 
within a few years all the  domestic    
virtues1 and even the public virtues1   
graced with the decencies  of rising    
industry1 may occupy the very spots that
 were recking with  human blood1 and    
with the filthiness of every abomination
 which the sun  blushes to behold4      
,if one islet only of the ,southern     

,ocean had cast away its idols and its  
horrific customs1 if one hamlet only of 
the ,negro or ,hottentot race had       
become ,christian1 there would have been
 no more place left on which the        
objector against missions could rest his
 cavils2 for the problem of the         
conversion of the heathen would have    
been satisfactorily solved4 ,but in     
truth1 these happy and amazing          
revolutions have taken place with such  
frequency1 and under so great a         
diversity of circumstance1 and in front 
of so many obstacles1 that instead of   
asking whether barbarous nations  may be
 persuaded to forsake their cruel       
delusions1 it may with more  propriety  
be asked--if anything can prevent the   
progress of such reforms  universally1  
where ,christian zeal and wisdom        
perseveringly perform their  part4      
,the relative political and commercial  
condition of nations at the  present    
moment1 affords several special grounds 
of reasoning1 on which  the extention of

 ,christianity may be anticipated as a  
probable event4  ,among topics of this  
class may be named that of the diffusion
 of the  ,english language--the language
 which beyond comparison with any other 
is  spreading and running through all   
the earth1 and which1 by the commerce   
and enterprise of two independent and   
powerful states1 is colonizing the      
shores of every sea2 this language1 now 
pouring itself over all the  waste      
places of the earth1 is the principal   
medium of ,christian truth  and feeling1
 and is rich in every means of          
,christian instruction1 and is  fraught 
with religious sentiment1 in all kinds1 
adapted to the taste of  the            
philosopher1 the cottager1 and the      
infant4 ,almost apart1 therefore1  from 
missionary labor1 the spread of this    
language insures the spread of  the     
religion of the ,bible4 ,the doctrine is
 entwined with the language1  and can   
hardly be disjoined4 ,if the two        
expansive principles of  colonization   

and commercial enterprise1 once diffused
 the language and  religion of ,greece  
completely around every sea known to    
ancient  navigation1 it is now much more
 probable that the same principles of   
diffusion will carry ,english           
institutions1 and ,english opinions1    
into  every climate4    ,but in         
calculations or speculations of this    
sort1 merely secular as they  are1 much 
less is included than truly belongs to  
the question at issue4  ,not to assume  
the truth of ,christianity1 and not to  
argue on the ground  of its divine      
excellence1 and not to confide in those 
prospective  declarations1 the certainty
 of which has been attested beyond      
possibility of doubt1 is not only to    
grope in the dark when we might  walk in
 the light of noon1 but to exclude from 
the working of our  problem the very    
facts of most significance in its       
determination4 ,to  estimate fairly the 
probability of the universal triumph of 
true  religion1 a second method must be 

pursued1 in which the existing          
condition of the ,christian church is to
 be contemplated with a ,christian      
feeling4 ,when thus viewed it will      
appear that a promise of a new kind is  
now bursting from the bud2 and the      
inference may confidently be drawn  that
 summer is nigh4    ,for the purpose of 
measuring the progress of religion1     
attempts have  sometimes been made to   
effect a sort of ,christian statistics1 
or  calculation of the actual number of 
true believers throughout the world4    
,but the propriety of such an           
application of arithmetic is far from   
being  conspicuous2 and seeing that the 
subject of computation lies confessedly 
beneath the reach of the human eye1 its 
accuracy may be absolutely  denied4     
,endeavors1 again1 have been made to    
judge of the advance or  decline of     
religion by comparing the state of      
devotional feeling and of  morals in the
 present and in other times4 ,but all   
such comparisons must  be deemed1 at the

 best1 extremely vague1 and open to     
immense errors1  arising either from the
 prepossessions of the individual who   
makes the  comparison1 or from the want 
of data sufficiently ample and exact2   
and  probably from both4    ,no attempts
 of this delusive kind will here be     
offered to the reader2  but instead of  
them1 certain unquestionable and obvious
 facts will be  assumed as affording    
reasonable ground of very exhilarating  
hopes4    ,if any one were required1    
without premeditation1 to give a reply  
to the  question--,what is the most     
prominent circumstance in the present   
state of  the ,christian ,church8 he    
would1 if sufficiently informed on the  
subject1  almost certainly answer--,the 
honor done to the ,scriptures4 ,such an 
answer  may be supposed as suggested by 
the conspicuousness of the fact4 ,now in
  order to gather our inference safely  
from this fact1 it is necessary to  look
 back for a moment to past times4    ,in
 the first and best age of the church1  

the deference paid to the  inspired     
writings1 whether of prophets or        
apostles1 was as great as can  be       
imagined to exist3 and whatever of      
beneficial influence belongs to  the    
,sacred ,volume1 was then actually in   
operation2 or it was so with a  single  
drawback1 namely--that arising from the 
scarcity of the book1 and  its          
non-existence in the hands of the       
,christian commonalty4 ,to estimate     
duly the greatness of this disadvantage1
 let it be imagined what would  be the  
effect1 among ourselves1 of a sudden    
withdrawment of almost all  but the     
church copies of the ,scriptures4 ,this 
supposition need not be  enlarged upon1 
for every devotional ,christian1 and    
every master of a  family feels that1 in
 whatever way the loss might be         
attempted to be  supplied1 it would     
still be afflicting and injurious in the
 extremest  degree4    ,in the next1 and
 the declining period of church history1
 if the  above-named disadvantage was in

 some small degree remedied by the      
multiplication of copies1 the benefit   
was much more than overbalanced by  the 
promulgation and general prevalence of a
 false and very pernicious  system of   
exposition2 a system which sheathed the 
sword of the ,spirit1  and scarcely left
 it its power or penetrating the        
conscience4 ,the  immediate consequence 
of this abuse of the rule of faith and  
practice  was the rapid growth of a     
thousand corruptions4 ,thus1 while in   
lip and  in ceremonial the ,scriptures  
held their seat of authority1 they were 
dislodged from the throne of power4 ,a  
night of a thousand years  succeeded1   
during which the witnesses of ,god lay  
in their tomb1  literally and virtually 
hidden1 and silenced1 and degraded4     
,the ,reformation was1 in all senses1 a 
resurrection of the ,bible3 it was  its 
recovery and restoration as an ancient  
document2 and the recognition  of its   
authority as the word of ,god2 and the  
discovery of its meaning as  a rule of  

faith1 and worship1 and life2 and its   
new diffusion through  the ,christian   
body4 ,the restoration of the           
,scriptures to their place of  power and
 honor brought with it a revival of true
 piety1 scarcely1 if at  all1 inferior  
in extent and fervency to that which    
attended the  preaching of the apostles4
 ,there were1 however1 deductions from  
the full  influence and permanent       
benefit that might have resulted from   
this  recovery of the sacred canon4 ,of 
these deductions1 the first was the     
limited and imperfect diffusion of      
copies2 for though the publication of   
the ,bible by means of the press was    
actually great1 it fell very far  short 
of being complete4 ,the next deduction  
arose from the infant state  of the     
science of biblical criticism2 the next1
 from the still unbroken  influence of  
scholastic systems and modes of         
expression1 which spread a  dense       
coloring medium over the lucidness of   
the apostolic style2 the  next1 and the 

most considerable and pernicious of     
these drawbacks1 arose  from the        
acrimony of controversy1 and from that  
spirit of contumacious  scrupulosity    
which is the parent of schism4 ,these   
imperfections were  great enough to bar 
the progress of ,christianity1 and to   
sully its glory  at the time1 and to    
procure the speedy decline of piety in  
all the  ,protestant countries4    ,but 
when the present aspect of the church is
 compared with its condition  at the era
 of the ,reformation1 several           
circumstances connected with the  state 
of the ,scriptures offer themselves to  
observation1 that are  decidedly in     
favor of our times2 and such as seem    
pregnant with hope for  the future4 ,of 
these1 the first is the unexampled      
multiplication and  diffusion of the    
sacred volume3 the second1 is the       
progress that has  been made towards    
bringing the original text to a state of
 undisputed  purity2 as well as the     
advancement of the science of biblical  

criticism1  by which means the verbal   
meaning of the inspired writers is now  
ascertained more satisfactorily than at 
any time since the apostolic  age3 and  
the third1 is the incipient adoption of 
an improved method of  exposition2      
attended by an increasing disposition to
 bow to the ,bible1  as the only arbiter
 in matters of religion4 ,it remains1   
then1 briefly to  point out in what     
manner these auspicious circumstances   
support the hope  of an approaching     
revival of genuine religion4    ,for the
 first of them1 namely1 the             
multiplication and diffusion of the     
sacred volume3    ,whenever the true and
 the false in matters of religion are   
brought into  conflict1 two things are  
necessary to secure the triumph of the  
better  side1 namely1 in the first      
place1 that the sound opinion should be 
set  forth in a perspicuous and         
convincing manner2 and then1 that it    
should  be borne forwards over the      
resistances of antiquated prejudice1 and

  worldly interest1 and secular power1  
by the momentum of public feeling4  ,it 
is not the single preaching even of an  
archangel1 that could effect  the       
renovation of the church when it really 
needs to be brought back to  purity and 
health4 ,all the logic of heaven would  
die unheeded on the  ear1 unless it were
 re-echoed from the multitude4 ,now if  
it may for a  moment be assumed that a  
general rectification of doctrine and   
practice1  and a revival of primitive   
piety is actually about to take place1  
what  is that preliminary measure which 
might be anticipated as the necessary   
means of giving irresistible force1 and 
universal spread to such a  reformation8
 ,what but the placing of the sacred    
canon1 the arbiter of  all dispute1 and 
the fountain of all motives1 previously 
in the hands of  the people of every    
country8 ,if1 in the coming era1 the    
teachers of  religion are to insist upon
 its doctrines and duties with new force
 and  clearness1 their success must be  

expected to bear proportion to the      
existence of scriptural knowledge1 or to
 the means of acquiring it1  among those
 whom they address4    ,an extraordinary
 excitement of religious feeling1       
arising previously to  the general      
circulation of the ,scriptures1 can     
hardly be imagined to  take so          
prosperous and safe a course1 as it     
would1 if it followed that  circulation4
 ,so far as a conjecture on the methods 
of divine procedure  may be hazarded2 it
 must be believed that the extensive    
dissemination of  the ,scriptures1 which
 has of late been carrying on1 and which
 is still  in active progress1 in all   
those parts of the world that are       
accessible  to ,christian zeal1 is a    
precursive measure1 soon to be followed 
by that  happy revolution of which it   
gives so intelligible an augury4    ,let
 it be said1 and perhaps it may be said 
with some truth1 that the  actual       
religious impression hitherto produced  
by the copious issuing of  ,bibles among

 the common people in our own and other 
countries1 is less  remarkable than     
might have been anticipated2 then1 with 
so much the more  confidence may the    
belief be entertained that this         
extraordinary  publication of the will  
of ,god to man is1 on the part of him   
who  overrules all events for the       
furtherance of his gracious designs1    
altogether a prospective measure2 and   
that the special intention of  these    
many translations1 and of these         
countless reprints of the ,bible is  yet
 to be developed4    ,is there much of  
gratuitous assumption1 or of            
unwarrantable speculation  in picturing 
the present position of mankind in some 
such manner as the  following8--,during 
a long course of ages a controversy1    
managed with  various success1 has been 
carried on here and there in the world1 
on the  great questions of immortality1 
and of the liability of man to future   
punishment1 as the transgressor of the  
divine law2 and concerning the  terms of

 reconciliation4 ,hitherto1 there has   
stood1 on the affirmative1  or religious
 side of this controversy1 only a small 
and scattered party2  while on the other
 side1 there has remained1 with more or 
less of active  hostility1 the great    
majority of mankind1 who have chosen to 
pursue the  interests of the present    
life1 as if no doctrine of immortality  
had been  credibly announced2 and who   
have dared the future displeasure of the
  ,most ,high2 and have ventured the    
loss of endless happiness2 and have     
spurned the conditions of pardon4 ,but  
it is imagined that now1 events of  a   
new order are to bring this momentous   
controversy to a final crisis4  ,yet    
before the moment of awful decision     
comes on1 and while all minds  remain in
 the listlessness of the ancient apathy1
 and while the winds of  high commotion 
lie hushed in the caverns of divine     
restraint--in this  season of portentous
 tranquillity1 those writings1 upon the 
authority of  which the issue is to     

turn1 are put into every hand2 and      
although the  hands that receive them1  
seem now to hold the book with a        
careless  grasp1 ere long an alarm shall
 be sounded through all nations2 and all
  shall be roused from their spiritual  
sleep1 and shall awake to feel that  the
 interests of an endless life are in    
suspense3 then shall it appear  for what
 purpose the ,bible has first been      
delivered to every people6    ,these    
views1 it is granted1 are in part       
conjectural1 and yet1 who that          
entertains a belief of the providential 
guidance of the ,christian  church1 can 
suppose that the most remarkable course 
of events that has  hitherto ever marked
 the history of the ,scriptures1 is not 
charged with  the accomplishment of some
 unusual revolution8 and what revolution
 less  than the installment of the      
inspired volume in the throne of        
universal  authority1 can be thought of1
 as the probable result of the work that
 is  now carrying forwards8 ,if the     

prejudices of the sceptical spirit1     
which1  in some degree1 blind even the  
most devout1 were removed1 every eye1   
accustomed to penetrate futurity1 would 
see1 in the recent diffusion of  the    
,sacred ,writings1 an indubitable sign  
of their approaching triumph  over all  
forms of impiety and false religion4    
,the friends of ,bible ,societies might1
 on this ground1 find a motive for      
activity that would be proof against all
 discouragement4 ,when missionary       
efforts meet disappointment1 and when   
accomplished teachers are removed  in   
quick succession by death1 and when     
stations where much toil has been       
expended are abandoned1 and when        
converts fall away from their           
profession1 the whole fruit of zeal     
perishes3 but it is otherwise in the    
work of translating and of multiplying  
the ,scriptures2 for although  these    
endeavors should at first be rejected by
 those for whose benefit  they are      
designed2 still1 what has been done is  

not lost2 the seed sown  may spring up1 
even after a century of winter4 ,even if
 the existing  ,bible ,societies1 at    
home and abroad1 should do nothing more 
than  accomplish the initiative labors  
of translation1 and should spend their  
revenues in filling their warehouses    
with an undemanded stock of ,bibles1    
they would almost insure the universal  
diffusion of true religion in the       
ensuing age4 ,immediate success is      
doubtless to be coveted2 but though     
this should be withheld1 the work of    
translation and of printing is  pregnant
 with an infallible promise4    ,the    
restoration of the ,sacred ,text to a   
state of almost undisputed  purity1 the 
accumulation of the resources of        
biblical criticism1 and the  great      
advances that have been made in the     
business of ascertaining the            
grammatical sense of the inspired       
writers1 are circumstances in a very    
high degree conducive to the expected   
prevalence of genuine religion4  ,both  

infidelity and heresy have1 till of     
late1 found harborage in the  supposed1 
or pretended1 corruption1 or uncertainty
 of the canon4 ,and the  whole of those 
small successes1 which have served1 from
 time to time1 to  keep alive the       
flickering hopes of heterodoxy1 have    
been drawn from the  detection of petty 
faults in the received text4 ,there was 
a season when  some1 even of the        
champions of orthodoxy1 became infected 
with  unwarrantable fears and suspicions
 on this ground4 ,but the utmost depth  
of the  has been probed4 ,the most      
sanguine sceptic can henceforward       
hardly hope to derive any new or        
important advantages from this source4  
,the text of the ,scriptures is now in a
 state more satisfactory than that  of  
any other ancient writings2 and though  
ignorance may go on to prate  as it is  
wont1 no theologian1 who would not      
forfeit his reputation as a  scholar1   
dares to insist upon objections which   
some years ago were  thought to be of   

the most formidable kind4    ,it is     
remarkable that this work of purgation  
and restoration1 which1  like that of   
the translation and diffusion of the    
,scriptures1 is  manifestly of a        
preliminary kind1 should have been      
completed at this  precise moment4 ,had 
these doubts and suspicions remained    
unexamined and  unsettled1 they might   
greatly have checked the progress of a  
future  religious revival3 they might   
have given birth to new heresies1       
vigorous  from the enhanced tone of     
general feeling2 they might have shaken 
the  minds of the faithful1 and have    
distracted the attention of the         
ministers of religion4 ,but this        
preparatory work is done2 and so fully  
have the holds of sceptical doctrine    
been searched into1 and so  thoroughly  
has the invalidity of its pleas been    
exposed1 that nothing is  now wanted but
 an energetic movement of the public    
mind to shake off  forever all its      
withering sophisms4    ,it is not as if 

even the most faulty translation of the 
,scriptures2 or  one made from the most 
defective text1 would not abundantly    
convey all  necessary religious truth2  
or1 as if ,christian doctrine and       
practice  were1 to any great extent1    
dependent upon philological exactitude  
of any  kind4 ,but in removing occasions
 for the cavils and insinuations of     
captious or timid spirits1 the literary 
restoration of the ,bible1 and  the     
abundant means of ascertaining the      
grammatical sense of its phrases1  is   
highly important4 ,and in looking       
towards the future1 it must be  regarded
 as a circumstance of peculiar          
significance that the documents  of our 
faith have just passed through the      
severest possible ordeal of  hostile    
criticism at the very moment when they  
are in course of delivery  to all       
nations4           99       99       99 
99       99    ,the recent progress made
 towards the adoption of an improved    
method of  exposition demands to be     

named amongst the most auspicious       
indications  of the present times4      
,insensibly1 and undesignedly1 and from 
the  operation of various causes1 all   
well-intentioned theologians have of    
late been fast advancing towards that   
simple and rational method of  inferring
 the doctrine of ,scripture which       
corresponds with the inductive  method  
of inquiry1 practiced in the pursuit of 
physical science4 ,just  as1 in the     
ancient schools of philosophy1 each     
pretended expounder of  the mysteries of
 nature1 first framed his theory1 and   
then imposed upon  all phenomena such an
 interpretation as would best accord    
with his  hypothesis2 so have biblical  
expositors1 in long succession1 from the
  ancient ,jewish doctors1 to the       
,christian divines of the last century1 
with very few1 if any exceptions1       
followed the method of interpreting     
each separate portion of ,scripture by  
the aid of a previously formed          
theological hypothesis4 ,and although   

these theories of divinity may have     
been1 perhaps1 fairly founded upon      
scriptural evidence1 partially          
obtained1 they have often exerted an    
influence scarcely less pernicious  than
 as if they had been altogether         
erroneous4 ,this system once admitted   
to constitute a synopsis of truth1 has  
been suffered to exercise the  most     
arrogant domination over every part of  
,scripture in detail4 ,certain  dogmas1 
awfully clothed in the clouds of        
metaphysical phraseology1 have  bid     
defiance to the most explicit evidence  
of an opposite meaning2 and  no text has
 been permitted to utter its testimony1 
until it had been  placed on the rack4  
,but the folly and impiety of this style
 of interpretation have become          
conspicuous2 and though not yet quite   
abandoned1 it is left to those  whose   
minds have been too long habituated to  
trammels to move at all  without them4  
,the rule of the new mode of exposition 
is founded on a  principle precisely    

analogous to that which forms the basis 
of the  inductive method of inquiry in  
physical science4 ,in these sciences it 
is  now universally admitted1 that1 at  
the best1 and after all possible        
diligence and sagacity have been        
employed1 we can scarcely penetrate     
beyond the exterior movements of the    
material system2 while the interior     
mechanism of nature still defies human  
scrutiny4 ,nothing then could be  more  
preposterous than to commence the study 
of nature by laying down1               
theoretically1 the plan of those hidden 
and central contrivances1 as if  they   
were open to observation2 and then to   
work outwards from that  centre1 and to 
explain all facts that come under       
observation in  conformity with         
principles so ignorantly assumed4 ,this 
is indeed to take  a lie in our right   
hand1 as the key of knowledge3 yet such 
was the  philosophy which ruled the     
world for ages6    ,the method of       
hypothetical interpretation is1 if      

possible1 more absurd  in theology than 
in natural science4 ,every mind not     
infatuated by  intellectual vanity1 must
 admit1 that it is only some few        
necessary  points of knowledge1 relating
 to the constitution and movements of   
the  infinite and spiritual world1 that 
can be made the matter of revelation  to
 mankind2 and these must be offered in  
detached portions1 apart from  their    
symmetry4 ,meanwhile the vast interior1 
the immeasurable whole1 is  not merely  
concealed1 but is in itself strictly    
incomprehensible by  human faculties4   
,metaphysical projections of the moral  
system1 how neat  soever1 and entire1   
and plausible they may seem1 can have no
 place in  what deserves to be called a 
rational theology4 ,we not only do not  
know1  but we could not learn1 the very 
things which the framer of a  scientific
 divinity professes to spread forth in  
all their due  proportions on his chart 
of the upper world4    ,the mode in     
which the necessarily incomplete        

revelation of that upper  world is      
conveyed in the ,scriptures1 is in      
harmony with that in which  the         
phenomena of nature offer themselves to 
our notice4 ,the sum or  amount of      
divine knowledge really intended to be  
conveyed to us1 has  been broken up and 
scattered over a various surface3 it has
 been  half-hidden1 and half-displayed2 
it has been couched beneath hasty and   
incidental allusions2 it has been doled 
out in morsels and in atoms4  ,there are
 no logical synopses in the ,bible2     
there are no scientific  presentations  
of the body of divinity2 no             
comprehensive digests2 for  such would  
have been not only unsuited to popular  
taste and  comprehension1 but actually  
impracticable2 since they must have     
contained that which neither the mind of
 man can receive1 nor his  language     
embody4 ,better far might a seraph      
attempt to convey the  largeness of his 
celestial ideas to a child1 than ,god   
impart a  systematic revelation to man4 

,on the contrary1 it is almost as if the
  vessel of divine philosophy had been  
wrecked and broken in a distant  storm2 
and as if the fragments only had come   
drifting upon our world1  which1 like an
 islet in the ocean of eternity1 has    
drawn to itself what  might be floating 
near its shores4    ,the abrupt and     
illogical style of oriental composition1
 and in some  instances1 the            
characteristic simplicity of untutored  
minds1 are to be  regarded as the       
appropriate means chosen for imparting  
to mankind such  loose particles of     
religious truth as it was necessary for 
them to  receive4 ,this inartificial    
vehicle was1 of all others1 the one best
  adapted to the conveyance of a        
revelation1 necessarily imperfect and   
partial4    ,now it is manifest that the
 mode of exposition must be conformed to
 the  style of the document2 and this   
conformity demands that the inductive   
method1 invariably1 should be used for  
gleaning the sense of ,scripture4       

,while employing all the well-known     
means proper for ascertaining the       
grammatical sense of ancient writers1   
each single passage of the  ,inspired   
,volume1 like a single phenomenon of    
nature1 is to be  interrogated for its  
evidence1 without any solicitude for the
 fate of a  preconceived theory1 and    
without asking--,how is this evidence to
 be  reconciled with that derived from  
other quarters8--for it is remembered   
that the revelation we are studying is a
 partial discovery of facts1  which     
could not be more than imperfectly made 
known4 ,whoever has not yet  fully      
satisfied himself that the ,scriptures1 
throughout1 were given by  inspiration  
of ,god1 should lose no time in         
determining that doubt3 but  if it be   
determined1 then it is a flagrant       
inconsistency not to confide  in the    
principle that the ,bible is everywhere 
truly consistent with  itself1 whether  
or not we have the means of tracing its 
agreements4 ,and  while this principle  

is adhered to1 no sentiment or fact     
plainly  contained in the words1 need be
 refused or contorted on account of its 
apparent incongruity with systematic    
divinity4    ,in this manner only is it 
possible that the whole amount of       
religious  knowledge intended to be     
imparted by the ,scriptures can be      
gathered from  them4 ,it must be granted
 as not only probable1 but certain1 that
  whatever relates to infinity1 to the  
,divine nature1 to the ultimate         
purposes of the ,divine government1 to  
the unseen worlds1 and to the  future   
state1 and even to the mechanism of     
motives1 must offer itself to  the human
 understanding in a form beset with     
difficulties4 ,that this  must actually 
be the case might be demonstrated with  
mathematical  certainty4 ,if therefore  
we resolve to receive from the ,inspired
 ,writers  nothing but what we can      
reconcile1 first to certain abstruse    
notions1  and then to a particular      
interpretation of other passages1 the   

consequence is inevitable--that we      
obtain a theology1 needlessly limited1  
if not erroneous4    ,it may fairly be  
supposed that there are treasures of    
divine knowledge  yet latent beneath the
 surface of the ,scriptures1 which the  
practice of  scholastic exposition1 so  
long adhered to1 on all sides1 has      
locked up  from the use of the ,church2 
and it may be hoped1 that when that     
method  has fallen completely into      
disuse1 and when the simple and humble  
style  of inductive interpretation is   
better understood1 and is more          
constantly  resorted to than at present1
 and when the necessary imperfection and
  incoherency of all human knowledge of 
divine things is fully recognized1  and 
when the vain attempt to fashion a      
miniature model of the spiritual        
universe is for ever abandoned1 and when
 whatever the ,inspired ,writers  either
 explicitly affirm1 or obscurely        
intimate1 is embraced in  simplicity of 
heart1 that then the boundaries of our  

prospect of the  hidden and the future  
world may be vastly enlarged4 ,nor is   
this all2 for  in the same manner the   
occasions of controversy will be almost 
entirely  removed2 and though small     
differences of opinion may remain1 it   
will be  seen by all to be flagrantly   
absurd to assume such inconsiderable    
diversities as the pretexts of          
dissention and separation4    ,no one   
cordially reverencing the ,bible1 and   
believing it to be given by  inspiration
 of ,god1 who is not the author of      
confusion1 but of order1  can imagine it
 to have been so worded and constructed 
as to necessitate  important diversities
 of interpretation among those who      
humbly and  diligently labor to obtain  
its meaning4 ,nor will any but bigots   
deny  that1 with those who differ from  
themselves1 there may be found          
diligence and sincerity quite equal to  
their own4 ,what account then is  to be 
given of those contrarieties of opinion 
which continue to sully  the glory of   

the ,christian ,church1 and to deprive  
it almost entirely of  its expansive    
energy8    ,in endeavouring to give a   
satisfactory reply to this important    
question1  we are1 of course1 entitled  
to dismiss from the discussion1 first1  
those  errors of doctrine which spring  
immediately from the prepossessions of  
proud and unholy minds1 and which are   
not to be refuted until such evil       
dispositions are rectified4 ,it is not a
 better exposition of ,scripture1       
merely1 that will afford an efficient   
remedy for such false opinions4 ,in  the
 next place it is proper to put out of  
the question all those                  
politico-religious divisions which1 as  
they originated in accident1 so  now    
rest for their maintenance much less    
upon reason1 than upon the  authority of
 habit1 and the pertinacity of party    
feeling1 or perhaps  even upon motives  
of secular interest4 ,all such causes of
 schism must be  scattered to the winds 
whenever the authoritative force of the 

divine  injunctions to peace and union1 
and mutual forbearance1 is vividly felt4
    ,there should moreover be dismissed 
from the question those differences     
that have arisen in the ,church on some 
special points of antiquarian           
obscurity4 ,these having been in a past 
age absurdly lifted into  importance by 
an exaggerated notion of the right and  
duty of ,christians  to stickle upon    
their individual opinions1 even at the  
cost of the great  law of love1 are now 
pretty generally felt by men of right   
feeling1 to  be heir-looms of shame and 
disadvantage to whoever holds them4 ,a  
very  probable return to good sense and 
piety is all that is needed to get rid  
for ever of such disputes4 ,if the      
utmost endeavors of competent and       
honest men1 on both sides1 have not     
availed to put certain questions of     
ancient usage beyond doubt2 then it is  
manifest that such points do not  belong
 to the fundamentals of faith or        
practice2 and therefore can never       

afford ground of justifiable separation2
 nor should the ,christian  commonalty  
be encouraged to suppose that the       
solemnities of conscience  are          
implicated in the decision of questions 
which1 even the most learned  cannot in 
fact decide4 ,what less than a grievous 
injury to right  feelings can ensue from
 the popular belief that the manifold   
evils of  religious dissension are      
mischiefs of small moment1 compared with
 the  breach of some niceties of        
ceremonial8 ,shall ,christianity spread 
in the  world1 and show itself glorious1
 while practical absurdities like these 
are persisted in8 assuredly not4 ,but   
there is reason to believe1 even in     
spite of the fixedness of some unsocial 
spirits1 that the date of schism  is    
nearly expired1 and that a better       
understanding of the great law of       
,christ will ere long bring all his true
 followers into the same fold4    ,when 
the deductions named above have been    
made1 the remaining  differences that   

exist among the pious are such only as  
may fairly  be attributed to the        
influence of the old theoretic system of
  interpretation2 and they are such as  
must presently disappear when the  rule 
of ,,inductive ,,exposition shall be    
thoroughly understood and  generally    
practised4 ,the hope therefore of an    
approaching prosperous era  in the      
,church depends1 in great measure1 upon 
the probability of a  cordial return to 
the authority of ,scripture--of         
,scripture unshackled  by hypothesis4   
,it is this return alone that can remove
 the  misunderstandings which have      
parted the body of ,christ2 and it is   
the  reunion of the faithful that must  
usher in better times4    ,that a torn  
church should be eminently prosperous1  
that it should be  favored as the       
instrument of diffusing the ,gospel with
 triumphant  success1 and on a large    
scale1 among the nations1 cannot be     
imagined2  for doubtless the ,head of   
the church holds the most emphatic of   

his  admonitions in higher esteem than  
that he should easily brook the breach  
and contempt of it1 and put             
extraordinary honor upon those who seem 
to  love their particular opinions more 
than they do his commandment4    ,even  
without laying any great stress upon    
that softening of party  prejudices     
which has of late actually taken place1 
the hope of a near  termination of      
controversy1 and of the healing of all  
permanent  differences among true       
,christians1 may still rest on solid    
ground4 ,an  intelligent faith in the   
divine origination of the ,scriptures   
contains  necessarily a belief in their 
power to bring the catholic church into 
a  state of unity1 so that division     
should no more be thought of4 ,that1    
during so many ages this has not been   
the condition of the ,christian  body1  
is satisfactorily to be attributed to   
causes which are by no means  of        
inevitable perpetuity2 but1 which on the
 contrary1 seem now to be  approaching  

their last stage of feeble existence4   
,meanwhile the ,oracles  of ,god are    
visibly ascending to the zenith of their
 rightful power4 ,the  necessary        
preparations for their instalment in the
 place of undisputed  authority are     
completed2 and nothing is waited for but
 a movement of  general feeling1 to give
 them such influence as shall bear down 
whatever  now obstructs the universal   
communion of the faithful4    ,an       
expectation of this sort will1 of       
course1 be spurned by those 7if  there  
are any such7 who1 were they deprived of
 their darling sectarism1  and robbed of
 their sinister preferences1 would      
scarcely care at all for  ,christianity1
 and to whom the idea of ,catholic      
,christianity1 if they can  admit such  
an idea1 is a cold abstraction4 ,and it 
will be rejected also  by those who1    
though their feelings are ,christian1   
accustom themselves  to look at the     
state of religion always with a secular 
eye1 and are  indisposed to admit any   

suppositions not obtruded upon them by  
immediate  matters of fact4 ,to all such
 persons the existing obstacles that    
stand  in the way of ,church union must 
seem utterly insurmountable1 and the    
hope of an annihilation of party        
distinctions1 altogether chimerical4    
,but it is not to such minds that the   
appeal is to be made when futurity  is  
in question2 for such are always slaves 
of the past1 and of the  present2 and   
they are destined to stand by1 and      
wonder1 and cavil1 while  happy         
revolutions are in progress2 and it is  
only when resistance to the  course of  
things becomes impracticable1 that they 
are dragged on  reluctantly1 more like  
captives than attendants1 upon the      
triumphant  march of truth4    ,this    
assuredly may be asserted1 that1 so far 
as human agency can operate  to bring on
 a better era to the church1 he who     
despairs of it1 hinders  it1 to the     
extent of his influence2 while he who   
expects it hastens it  so far as it may 

be accelerated4 ,this difference of     
feeling might even  be assumed as       
furnishing a test of character2 and it  
might be affirmed1  that when the       
question of the probable revival and    
spread of  ,christianity is freely      
agitated1 those who embrace the         
affirmative side1  are 7with few        
exceptions7 the persons whose temper of 
mind is the most  in harmony with the   
expected happy revolution1 and who      
would1 with the  greatest readiness1 act
 their parts in the new and better      
economy2 while  on the ,contrary1 those 
who contentedly or despondingly give a  
long date  to existing imperfections and
 corruptions1 may fairly be suspected of
  loving the things that are too well4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,there is yet another line of argument1 
wholly independent of the two  that have
 been pursued above1 in which the       
general spread of true  religion might  
be made to appear an event probably not 
very remote2  namely1 the argument from 

prophecy4 ,but besides that the subject 
is by  far too large and serious to be  
treated hastily1 the time is not arrived
  in which it might be discussed with   
the calmness it demands4 ,yet in        
passing this subject it may be suggested
 to whose who1 notwithstanding  that    
they admit the truth of ,christianity1  
constantly deride genuine  piety        
whenever it comes in their way1 that1   
though the apparent course  of events   
seems to indicate a gradual improvement1
 such as would give  time to oppugners  
to choose the wiser part1 and to range  
themselves  quietly in the train of the 
conquering religion1 the general tenor  
of  scriptural prediction holds out a   
different prospect1 and gives great     
reason to suppose that the final triumph
 of the ,gospel is to be ushered  in by 
some sudden and vindictive visitation1  
which shall arrest impiety  in its full 
career1 and deny for ever to the then   
impenitent the option  of making a      
better choice4          ,,notes4        

,,section ,,viii4    ,the following     
anecdote is reported by ,sulpitius1     
concerning ,st4 ,martin  of ,tours4 ,the
 ,emperor ,maximus1 a man of a haughty  
temper1 and elated by  victories over   
his rivals1 had received the unworthy   
adulation of a  crowd of fawning        
bishops2 while ,martin alone maintained 
the apostolic  authority4 ,for when     
suits were to be urged1 he rather       
commanded than  entreated the royal     
compliance1 and refused many            
solicitations to take a  place with     
others of his order at the imperial     
table1 saying1 that he  would not eat   
bread with a man who had deprived one   
emperor of his  throne1 and another of  
life4 ,but at length1 when ,maximus     
excused his  assumption of the purple by
 pleading the force that had been put   
upon  him by the legions1 the use he had
 made of power1 and the apparent        
sanction of heaven in the successes with
 which he had been favored1 and  stated 
also that he had never destroyed an     

enemy except in open fight1  ,martin1   
overcome by reason1 or by entreaties1   
repaired to the royal  banquet1 to the  
great joy of the emperor4 ,the tables   
were crowded by  persons of quality2    
among them1 the brother and uncle of    
,maximus2  between these reclined one of
 ,martin's presbyters2 he himself       
occupied a  seat near the emperor4      
,during supper1 according to custom1 the
 waiter  presented a goblet of wine to  
the emperor1 who commanded it rather to 
be  offered to so holy a bishop1 from   
whose hand he expected and desired to   
receive it again4 ,but ,martin1 when he 
had drank of the cup1 handed it to  his 
presbyter1 not deeming any one present  
more worthy to drink after  himself2 nor
 would he have thought it becoming to   
his character had he  preferred even the
 emperor1 or those next to him in       
dignity1 to his own  presbyter4 ,it is  
added1 that ,maximus and his officers   
took this contempt  in exceeding good   
part6--,sulp4 ,sev4 de ,vita ,b4        

,martin1 cap4 xx4    ,the same writer   
reports a not less characteristic       
incident in honor of  the holy bishop1  
in his dialogue concerning the          
miraculous powers of ,st4  ,martin4     
,this personage1 it seems1 was in the   
habit of frequenting the  palace1 where 
he was always honorably entertained by  
the empress1 who  not only hung upon his
 lips for instruction1 but in imitation 
of the  penitent mentioned in the       
gospels1 actually bathed his feet with  
her  tears1 and wiped them with her     
hair2 and he1 who never before had      
sustained the touch of woman1 could not 
avoid her assiduities4 ,she1  unmindful 
of the state and dignity and splendors  
of her royal rank1 lay  prostrate at the
 feet of ,martin1 whence she could not  
be removed until  she had obtained      
permission1 first from her husband1 and 
then by his aid  from the bishop1 to    
wait upon him at table as his servant1  
without the  assistance of any menial4  
,the blessed man could no longer resist 

her  importunities2 and the empress     
herself made the requisite preparations 
of the couch1 and table1 and cookery 7in
 temperate style71 and water for  the   
hands2 and1 as he sat1 stood aloof1 and 
motionless1 in the manner  proper to a  
slave2 with due modesty and humility1   
mixing and presenting  the wine4 ,and   
when the meal was ended1 reverently     
collected the crumbs1  which she deemed 
of higher worth than the delicacies of a
 royal  banquet4--,cap4 #f4    ,in how  
short a time may prodigious revolutions 
take place in the  sentiments of men6   
,this monkish bishop was removed by not 
more than  three or four lives from the 
,apostle ,john6 ,and this humble empress
  occupied the honors which1 within the 
memory of the existing generation1  had 
been sustained by the mother of         
,galerius6 ,it should be added1 that    
the auditor of the story above related1 
shocked at the inconsistency of  ,st4   
,martin in thus admitting the offices of
 a woman so near his devoted  person1   

requires from the narrator an           
explanation2 who1 in reply1  reminds his
 friend1 that the compliance of the     
bishop with the  solicitations of the   
emperor and empress was the price by    
which he  obtained1 from the former1    
release and grace for the persecuted    
,priscillianists4 ,the best thing1 by   
far1 related of the bishop of ,tours1   
is his firmness in opposing persecution4
 ,there is great reason to  believe     
that1 in common with several of the most
 noted characters of  church history1   
his true reputation has been immensely  
injured by the  ill-judging zeal of his 
biographer4           99       99       
99       99       99    ,the life of    
,st4 ,anthony1 by the pious and         
respectable ,athanasius1 would  alone   
afford ample proof of the assertion1    
that1 even in the third  century1 the   
spirit of fanaticism1 and the practices 
of religious  knavery1 had reached a    
height scarcely surpassed at any later  
period4           99       99       99  

99       99    ,the first ,christian    
monks followed the ,essenes in this     
particular also1  that they despised    
human science2 and it was not until     
learning had been  driven from among    
secular persons1 that it took refuge in 
monasteries4  ,if the monks had avoided 
the infection of the philosophy1 falsely
 so  called1 which the ,platonists      
brought into the church1 and instead1   
had  given their leisure to the toils of
 biblical learning1 they would not so   
soon and so completely have spoiled     
,christianity4    ,sulpitius affords    
abundant illustration of the topics     
adverted to in  this section4 ,perhaps1 
within so small a compass1 the          
principles and  practices of the ancient
 monachism are nowhere else so fully    
brought  into view1 as in his ,dialogues
 and ,epistles4 ,he may properly be     
quoted  in the present instance4        
,postumianus1 lately returned from the  
east1  that is to say1 from ,egypt1     
,arabia1 and ,palestine1 describes to   

his  astonished brethren of a monastery 
in ,gaul1 the abstemiousness the        
oriental monks1 as well as their piety  
and marvellous exploits4 7,on his       
outward voyage ,postumianus had gone    
ashore at ,carthage to visit the  spots 
dedicated to the saints2 especially--ad 
sepulchrum ,cypriani  ,martyris         
adorare47 ,his first specimen of a      
monkish dinner1 in the  oriental style1 
was the being invited to partake1 with  
four others1 of  half a barley cake2 to 
which was added a handful of a certain  
sweet  herb1 altogether deemed to       
be--prandium locupletissimum4 ,sulpitius
 hence  takes occasion to joke a        
brother1 who was present1 upon their own
  comparative appetites2 but he replies 
that it was extremely unkind to  urge   
upon ,gauls a manner of living proper   
only to angels4 ,hearty  eating1 says   
he1 in a ,greek1 is gluttony2 but in a  
,gaul--nature4      ,,section ,,ix4     
,the dictates of good sense are often   
curiously intermingled in the  writings 

of the fathers with the defence of the  
absurd system they  espoused4 ,the      
incongruous mixture1 has it not been of 
frequent  occurrence in every age8      
,cyril of ,jerusalem1 in the fourth of  
his  ,catechetical ,discourses1 and in  
the section  1 with great  vigor and    
propriety urges the consideration       
referred to above1 while  reprehending  
those1 in his time1 who affected to     
despise and maltreat  the body4 ,is not 
the body1 says he1 the excellent        
workmanship of  ,god8 and he reminds the
 ascetic that it is the soul1 not the   
body1 that  sins4 ,he goes on1 in a     
lively manner1 to hold forth the mean of
 wisdom  between opposite extremes2 and 
while he much commends the monkish      
celibacy1 nevertheless bestows upon     
matrimony its due praise4 ,the  fathers1
 by appropriating the words continence1 
chastity1  temperance1 virtue1 to the   
monastic life1 robbed the ,christian    
community of that standard of morals    
which belongs to all4 ,our ,lord and    

his apostles enjoined purity1 and       
continence1 and temperance1 and         
heavenly-mindedness1 upon ,christians   
universally1 married and unmarried1     
engaged or not engaged1 in the affairs  
of common life4 ,but the monks          
shuddered to talk of purity and celibacy
 as if separable4 ,what part then  could
 the married claim in the practical     
portions of ,scripture8 ,these  holy    
precepts were the property of the elect 
of ,christ1 that is1 of  the monks4     
,such are the consequences of           
extravagance in religion6    ,the story 
of ,symeon ,stylites1 told by           
,theodoret1 has been often  repented4   
,the well-attested exploits of the      
fakirs of ,india render this1  and many 
similar accounts related by the same    
writer1 by ,gregory ,nyssen1  ,sozomen1 
c41 perfectly credible in all but a few 
of the particulars2  and in these it is 
evident that the writers were imposed   
upon4 ,the fasts  professed to have been
 undergone by ,symeon1 by ,anthony1 and 

by others of  tho same class1 most      
certainly surpass the powers of human   
nature2 and  must be held either to     
convict those monks and their           
accomplices of  fraud1 or their         
biographers of falsehood4           99  
99       99       99       99           
,ignatius must be held to have set an   
example of unhappy consequence to  the  
church4 ,his ardor for martyrdom1 though
 unquestionably connected  with genuine 
and exalted piety1 was altogether       
unwarranted by apostolic  precept or    
example1 and stands in the strongest    
contrast imaginable with  the manner of 
,paul1 when placed in similar           
circumstances1 whose calm1  manly1 and  
spirited defence of his life1 liberty1  
and civic immunities1  on every         
occasion1 imparts the highest possible  
argumentative value to  his sufferings  
in the cause of ,christianity4 ,let it  
be imagined that  ,ignatius had         
acquitted himself in the same spirit2   
had pleaded with  ,trajan for his life1 

on the grounds of universal justice1 and
 ,roman law2  had established his       
innocence of any crime known to the law2
 and had  then professed distinctly the 
reasons of his ,christian profession2   
and  at the same time calmly declared   
his determination to die rather than    
deny his convictions4 ,how precious a   
document would have been the  narrative 
of such a martyrdom6 ,there can be no   
doubt that many such  martyrdoms        
actually took place2 but they were less 
to the taste of the  church historians  
of the third and fourth centuries than  
those that were  made conspicuous by an 
ostentation of eagerness to die4 ,the   
,first  ,epistle of ,peter holds forth  
the principle and temper of ,christian  
submission under persecution with a     
dignity1 calmness1 pathos1 good  sense1 
and a perfect freedom from fanatical    
excitement1 which1 if no  other document
 of our faith were extant1 would fully  
carry the proof of  the truth of        
,christianity4           99       99    

99       99       99    ,no serious     
consideration need be given to those    
miraculous narratives  which exist only 
in biographies composed in a turgid     
style of laudatory  exaggeration1 and   
not published1 or not fairly and fully  
published1 till  long after the deaths  
of the operator1 and of the witnesses4  
,an instance  precisely in point is the 
life of ,gregory of ,neocsarea1 by      
,gregory  ,nyssen3 another of like kind 
has also been frequently quoted--the    
life of  ,st4 ,martin1 by ,sulpitius    
,severus3 the life of ,cyprian1 by his  
,deacon  ,pontius1 might be included2 as
 well as that of ,st4 ,anthony1 by      
,athanasius4 ,in passing1 it may be     
observed that a perusal of the          
last-mentioned tract1 which fills only  
same fifty pages1 would convey a  more  
exact and vivid idea of the state and   
style of religion in the  fourth        
century1 than is to be obtained by      
reading volumes of modern  compilations 
of church history4 ,at once the piety   

and the strong sense  of the writer1 and
 the extraordinary character of the     
narrative1 give it  a peculiar claim to 
attention4 ,let the intelligent reader  
of this  curious document take the      
occasion to estimate the value and      
amount of  the information that is to be
 received from modern writers--even the 
best  of them1 such as ,mosheim and     
,milner1 for example1 of whom the first 
gives the mere husk of church history1  
and the other only some separated       
particles of pure farina4 ,but can we in
 either of these methods obtain  the    
solid and safe instruction which a true 
knowledge of human character  and       
conduct should convey8 ,it may be very  
edifying to read page after  page of    
picked sentiments of piety2 but do these
 culled portions1 which  actually belie 
the mass whence they are taken1         
communicate what an  intelligent reader 
of history looks for--namely1 a real    
picture and image  of mankind in past   
ages8 ,certainly not4 ,if nothing be    

wanted but  pleasing expressions of     
,christian feeling1 there can no need to
 make a  painful search for them in the 
bulky tomes of the ,greek and ,latin    
fathers4 ,nevertheless1 with all its    
defects1 ,milner's ,church ,history is  
one of the best that has been compiled4 
,a modern reader1 led astray by  the    
malign falsifications of ,gibbon1 and   
very partially informed of  facts by    
church historians1 has no means of      
correctly estimating the  state of      
,christianity in remote times2 or none  
but that of examining for               
99      99      99      99      99      
99          ,transcriber's note3        
,apparent typographical errors have been
 corrected4