Chapter XIX: Section IV: Advice suggested by the state of the times to true Christians

To those, who really deserve the appellation of true Christians, much has been said incidentally in the course of the present work. It has been maintained, and the proposition will not be disputed by any sound or experienced politician, that they are always most important members of the community. But we may boldly assert, that there never was a period wherein, more justly than in the present, this could be affirmed of them; whether the situation, in all its circumstances, of our own country be attentively considered, or the general state of society in Europe. Let them on their part seriously weigh the important station which they fill, and the various duties which it now peculiarly enforces on them. If we consult the most intelligent accounts of foreign countries, which have been recently published, and compare them with the reports of former travellers; we must be convinced, that Religion and the standard of morals are every where declining, abroad even more rapidly than in our own country. But still, the progress of irreligion, and the decay of morals at home, are such as to alarm every considerate mind, and to forebode the worst consequences, unless some remedy can be applied to the growing evil. We can depend only upon true _Christians_ for effecting, in any degree, this important service. Their system, as was formerly stated, is that of our national church: and in proportion, therefore, as their system prevails, or as it increases in respect and estimation, from the manifest good conduct of its followers; in that very proportion the church is strengthened in the foundations, on which alone it can be much longer supported, the esteem and attachment of its members, and of the nation at large. Zeal is required in the cause of Religion; they only can feel it. The charge of singularity must be incurred; they only will dare to encounter it. Uniformity of conduct, and perseverance in exertion, will be requisite; among no others can we look for those qualities.

Let true Christians then, with becoming earnestness, strive in all things to recommend their profession, and to put to silence the vain scoffs of ignorant objectors. Let them boldly assert the cause of Christ in an age when so many, who bear the name of Christians, are ashamed of Him: and let them consider as devolved on Them the important duty of suspending for a while the fall of their country, and, perhaps, of performing a still more extensive service to society at large; not by busy interference in politics, in which it cannot but be confessed there is much uncertainty; but rather by that sure and radical benefit of restoring the influence of Religion, and of raising the standard of morality.

Let them be active, useful, generous towards others; manifestly moderate and self-denying in themselves. Let them be ashamed of idleness, as they would be of the most acknowledged sin. When Providence blesses them with affluence, let them withdraw from the competition of vanity; and, without sordidness or absurdity, shew by their modest demeanour, and by their retiring from display, that, without affecting singularity, they are not slaves to fashion; that they consider it as their duty to set an example of moderation and sobriety, and to reserve for nobler and more disinterested purposes, that money, which others selfishly waste in parade, and dress, and equipage. Let them evince, in short, a manifest moderation in all temporal things; as becomes those whose affections are set on higher objects than any which this world affords, and who possess, within their own bosoms, a fund of satisfaction and comfort, which the world seeks in vanity and dissipation. Let them cultivate a catholic spirit of universal good will, and of amicable fellowship towards all those, of whatever sect or denomination, who, differing from them in non-essentials, agree with them in the grand fundamentals of Religion. Let them countenance men of real piety wherever they are found; and encourage in others every attempt to repress the progress of vice, and to revive and diffuse the influence of Religion and virtue. Let their earnest prayers be constantly offered, that such endeavours may be successful, and that the abused long-suffering of God may still continue to us the invaluable privilege of vital Christianity.

Let them pray continually for their country in this season of national difficulty. We bear upon us but too plainly the marks of a declining empire. Who can say but that the Governor of the universe, who declares himself to be a God who hears the prayers of his servants, may, in answer to their intercessions, for a while avert our ruin, and continue to us the fulness of those temporal blessings, which in such abundant measure we have hitherto enjoyed[131]. Men of the world, indeed, however they may admit the natural operation of natural causes, and may therefore confess the effects of Religion and morality in promoting the well being of the community; may yet, according to their humour, with a smile of complacent pity, or a sneer of supercilious contempt, read of the service which real Christians may render to their country, by conciliating the favour and calling down the blessing of Providence. It may appear in their eyes an instance of the same superstitious weakness, as that which prompts the terrified inhabitant of Sicily to bring for the image of his tutelar saint, in order to stop the destructive ravages of AEtna. We are, however, sure, if we believe the Scripture, that God will be disposed to favour the nation to which his servants belong; and that, in fact, such as They, have often been the unknown and unhonoured instruments of drawing down on their country the blessings of safety and prosperity.

But it would be an instance in myself of that very false shame which I have condemned in others, if I were not boldly to avow my firm persuasion, that _to the decline of Religion and morality our national difficulties must both directly and indirectly be chiefly ascribed; and that my only solid hopes for the well-being of my country depend not so much on her fleets and armies, not so much on the wisdom of her rulers, or the spirit of her people, as on the persuasion that she still contains many, who, in a degenerate age, love and obey the Gospel of Christ; on the humble trust that the intercession of these may still be prevalent, that for the sake of these, Heaven may still look upon us with an eye of favour._

Let the prayers of the Christian reader be also offered up for the success of this feeble endeavour in the service of true Religion. God can give effect to the weakest effort; and the writer will feel himself too much honoured, if by that which he has now been making, but a single fellow creature should be awakened from a false security, or a single Christian, who deserves the name, be animated to more extensive usefulness. He may seem to have assumed to himself a task which he was ill qualified to execute. He fears he may be reproached with arrogance and presumption for taking upon him the office of a teacher. Yet, as he formerly suggested, it cannot be denied, that it belongs to his public situation to investigate the state of the national Religion and morals; and that it is the part of a real patriot to endeavour to retard their decline, and promote their revival. But if the office, in which he has been engaged, were less intimately connected with the duties of his particular station, the candid and the liberal mind would not be indisposed to pardon him. Let him be allowed to offer in his excuse a desire not only to discharge a duty to his country, but to acquit himself of what he deems a solemn and indispensable obligation to his acquaintance and his friends. Let him allege the unaffected solicitude which he feels for the welfare of his fellow creatures. Let him urge the fond wish he gladly would encourage; that, while, in so large a part of Europe, a false philosophy having been preferred before the lessons of revelation, Infidelity has lifted up her head without shame, and walked abroad boldly and in the face of day; while the practical consequences are such as might be expected, and licentiousness and vice prevail without restraint: here at least there might be a sanctuary, a land of Religion and piety, where the blessings of Christianity might be still enjoyed, where the name of the Redeemer might still be honoured; where mankind might be able to see what is, in truth, the Religion of Jesus, and what are its blessed effects; and whence, if the mercy of God should so ordain it, the means of religious instruction and consolation might be again extended to surrounding countries and to the world at large.

FINIS.

INDEX.

A

_Abuse_ of things, unfairness of arguing from it against their use, 53.

_Acceptance_ with God, commonly prevailing notions respecting it, 85-88.
--Scripture, and Church of England, doctrine respecting it, 88-92.
--practical consequences, of common notions respecting it, 89.
--true doctrine vindicated from objection, 93-94.

_Addison_, quoted, 162.

_Affections_, of their admission into Religion, 57, 58.
--their admission into Religion reasonable, 59-62.
--true test and measure of them in Religion, 62-65.
--in Religion, not barely allowable, but highly necessary, 66-69.
--our Saviour the just object of them, 69, 70.
--objection, that they are impossible towards an invisible Being,
discussed, 71-77.
--little excited by public misfortunes, and why, 75, 76.
--towards our Saviour, special grounds for them, 77, 78.
--divine aid promised for exciting them, 79, 80.
--our statements respecting them in Religion verified by facts,
80, 81.
--religious, St. Paul a striking instance of them, 61.

_Ambition_, votaries of, 125, 126.

_Amiable_ tempers, discussion respecting, 178-198.
--substituted for Religion, 179, 180.
--value of, estimated by the standard of mere reason, 180.
--false pretenders to them, 181.
--real nature, when not grounded on Religion, 181, 182.
--precarious nature, 182-184.
--value of, on Christian principles, 186.
--life, Christian's most so, 190, 191.
--Christians urged to this, 192-196.
--its just praise, 197, 198.
--apt to deceive us, 198.

_Applause_, desire of, universal, 146, 147.

B.

_Babington_, the reverend Matthew, 259.

_Benevolence_, true Christian, its exalted nature, 287, 288.

_Bacon_, Lord, quoted, 229.

C.

_Calumny_, considerations which reconcile the Christian to it,
169, 170.

_Charity_, true, what, and its marks, 311, 312.

_Christianity_, vital revival of, would invigorate church establishment,
294.
--vital, alone suited to lower orders, 295, 296.
--the common system, falsely so called, 305.
--the truest patriotism, 287-292.
--of the world, its base nature, 324.
--not a gloomy service, 326-332.
--relaxations compatible with, 327, 328.
--its solid texture, 332.
--general, what so called, 334, 335.
--true, requires incessant watchfulness and care, 336.
--state in which it finds us, 30-33.
--its present critical circumstances, 265-272.
--reduced to a system of ethics, proofs of this, 273, 277, 278.
--causes, which have tended to produce neglect of her peculiar
doctrines, 269, 270, 274-276.
--peculiar doctrines of, taught by the oldest divines and highest
dignitaries of the English church, 273, 274.
--peculiar doctrines gradually fallen into neglect, 276-278.
--sad symptoms of its low state among us, 278-280.
--objection, that our system of it too strict, stated and answered,
280-283.
--vital, its happy influence on temporal well-being of communities,
283-285.
--not hostile to patriotism, 285-287.
--from its essential nature, peculiarly adapted to well-being of
communities, 290-292.
--vital, can alone produce these effects, 293.
--excellence of it, in some particulars not commonly noticed, 252-259.
--general state of, in England, 262.
--its tendency to promote the well-being of political communities,
262-288, 292, 293.
--has raised the general standard of practice, 264, 265.
--sickens in prosperity and flourishes under persecution, 266, 267.
--peculiarities of, naturally slide into disuse, 269.

_Christians_, true, duties especially incumbent on them in these times,
350-353.
--should pray for their country, 351.
--their prayers intreated for the success of this work, 353.
--ready made, who esteemed such, 318.
--real, how different from nominal, 214, 215.
--life, illustrated by figure of a traveller, 217-219.

_Commons_, House of, proves inordinate love of worldly glory, 159.

_Consistency_ between Christianity's leading doctrines and practical
precepts, 231-252, 253.
--between Christianity's leading doctrines amongst each other, 253.
--between Christianity's practical precepts amongst each other,
253-257.

_Contact_, necessary to produce any interest in our affections,
73-78, 81.

_Corruption_ of human nature, common notions of it, 14-16.
--of human nature, Scripture account of it, 16, 26, 27.
--of human nature, arguments suggested in proof of it, 16-26.
--of Heathen world, and striking instance of it, 18, 19.
--of savage life, 19, 20.
--proof of it, furnished by the state of the Christian world, 20-24.
--by the experience of the true Christian, 24, 25.
--human, its general effects, when suffered to operate without
restraint, 25, 26.
--human, firm grounds on which it rests, 35.
--human, practical uses of the doctrine, 36.

_Cowper's Task_, recommended, 234-352.
--quoted, 251.

D.

_Defective_, conceptions generally prevailing concerning importance of
Christianity, 1-5.
--conceptions concerning human corruption, 15, 16.
--conceptions concerning the evil spirit, 28.
--conceptions concerning the doctrines, which respect our Saviour and
the Holy Spirit, 70, 71, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50.
--conceptions concerning the means of acceptance with God, 84-91.
--conceptions prevailing concerning practical Christianity, 102-104,
117-205.
--conceptions of guilt and evil of sin, 206-210.
--fear of God, 210.
--sense of the difficulty of getting to heaven, 214, 215.
--love of God in nominal Christians, 219-221.
--love of God, proofs of it in nominal Christians, 221-224.
--conceptions general, concerning peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
231.
--conceptions of peculiarities of Christianity, practical mischiefs
from them, 232.

_Depths_, of the things of God; and our proneness to plunge into them,
41-43.

_Devotedness_ to God, duty of it, 107-110, 113, 116, 118.

_Dissipated_ and indolent, class of, 121, 122.

_Dissipation_, seems to have prevailed in the antediluvian world, 213.

_Doddridge's_ Sermons on Regeneration, referred to, note, 83.

_Duelling_, its guilt, &c. 159-161.

E.

_Error_, innocence of, considered, 10-12.

_Establishment_, religious, in England, how circumstanced, 267.

_Estimation_, desire of, universal, 146, 147.
-- common language concerning it, the effects of the love of it, and
the nature of the passion, 148-150.
-- commendations of it questioned, 151.
-- essential defects of inordinate love of it, explained, 152, 153.
-- love of, Scripture lessons concerning, 152-156.
-- value of, analogous to riches, 156.
-- love of, common notions respecting it, 157, 158.
-- proofs of our statements respecting it from House of Commons, 159.
-- proofs of our statements respecting it from duelling, 159-161.
-- real nature of inordinate love of it, 162, 163.
-- true Christian's conduct respecting love of it, 164-173.
-- true modes of guarding against excessive love of it, 171, 172.
-- advice to the true Christian respecting love of it, 174-178.
-- love of, best moderated by humility and charity, 176.
-- true Christian's temper respecting it, 177.

_Evil_ spirit, the existence and agency not contrary to reason, 28, 29.

_External_ actions substituted for habits of mind, 134, 135.

F.

_Faith_, Christian's life, a life of, 137, 138.

_Families_, two, the righteous and the wicked, 212.

_Ferguson_, the historian, 290.

_Fuller's_ Calvinism and Socinianism compared, 344.

_Fundamental_ practical distinction between systems of nominal and real
Christians, 237, 250, 251.

G.

_General_ tone of morals, Christianity has raised it, 104.
--established by consent in every country, 263, 264.

_Geneva_, the effect of theatres, 223.

_Gloomy_ service, false charge that we make Christianity such, 327.

_Glory_, true and false, what properly so called, 153.
--Mistakes concerning it, 153.

_Good hearted_ young men, term misapplied, 310.

_Good hearted_ young men, the title disproved, 315.

_Gratitude_, true signs of, 49.

H.

_Habits_, of mind forgotten in Religion, 134-146.

_Heavenly mindedness_, best promoted by being much conversant with
peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 250.

_Holy Spirit_, Scripture doctrine concerning, 44, 82, 83.
--popular notions concerning, 50-53.

_Honour_, false notions respecting it, 162, 163.

_Horne_, Dr. quoted, 61.

_Humility_, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of Christianity,
244, 245.
--the ground of Christian graces, 146.
--excellent practical effects of, 176.

I.

_Ignorance_ of Christianity, common, 5, 6.
--criminal, 6, 7.

_Importance_ of Christianity, inadequate conceptions generally
entertained of it, 1-13.
--of Christianity, proofs of the inadequate ideas generally
entertained of it, 2-5.
--of Christianity, ideas of it given by the Holy Scriptures, 8-10.
--of Christianity, best enforced by peculiar doctrines of
Christianity, 240.

_Inconsistency_ of the world's practical system, 255, 256.

_Indifference_ about Christianity generally prevalent, 9.
--general towards our Saviour, proofs of, 46-48.

_Infidelity_, common progress of it, 338-342.
--a disease of the heart more than of the understanding, 342.

_Innocent_ young women, term how misapplied, 310.
--young women, the title disproved, 315.

_Intellectual_ attainments, rated below moral by Christianity, 257-260.
--low degree of excellence within our reach, 258.

J.

_Jones_, Sir William, a champion for Christianity, 348.

K.

_Kenyon_, Lord Chief Justice, commendations of, 302.

L.

_Language_, common, concerning the importance of Christianity, 5.
--concerning human corruption, 15.
--concerning affections towards our Saviour, and Holy Spirit's
operations, 51, 52.
--concerning terms of acceptance with God, 85-87.
--concerning mode of relaxing the strictness of Christian precept,
132, 133.
--concerning human judicatures, 133.
--concerning amiable tempers and useful lives, 179.
--common to people desirous of repenting, 235.

_Learning_, votaries of, 127.

_Life_, Christian, illustrated under figure of a traveller, 217-219.
--Christian's, a life of faith, 137-140.

_Liturgy_, bad effects to be feared from its disuse, 297.

_Lives_, several mentioned, 336.

_Love_, true signs of it, 46, 47.
--of God, its essential characters, 110.
--of Christ, justly to be expected of us, 69, 70, 77, 78, 107, 108.
--means of exciting it, 99, 100.
--of God, defective in nominal Christians, 219, 220.
--of God, proofs of its being defective, 220-224.
--of fellow-creatures, nominal Christians defective in, 225.
--of fellow-creatures, true marks of, 226-229.
--of God, best enforced by Christianity's peculiarities, 242.
--Christians to cultivate this grace above all others, 324.
--its excellent effects in the true Christian, 325.
--of fellow-creatures best enforced by peculiar doctrines, 243, 244.

_Low_ standard of practice generally prevailing, 102, 103, 117-135.

_Lower_ classes, not unfit that true doctrine of acceptance should be
stated to them, 93, 94.

M.

_McLaurin_, his essays and sermons referred to, 83, 97.

_Maurice_, Mr. a defender of Christianity, 348.

_Maxims_, which prove human corruption, 21.

_Medium_, religious, almost lost, 130.

_Milton_, quoted, 43.

_Moral_, attainments rated above intellectual, by Christianity, 257.
--attainments, how much more we can excel in them than in
intellectual ones, 259.

_Moravians_, commendation of, 56.

N.

_Natural_ condition of man without Christianity, 31-33.

_Nature_, essential, of true practical Christianity, 129.

_Necessity_, excuse on the plea of, stated, and answered, 36-42.
--opponent on the ground of, how best opposed, 37, 38.

_Nominal_ and real Christian, distinction between them most important,
306.

_Novels_, prove how peculiarities of Christianity have fallen into
neglect, 277, 278.

O.

_Objections_ against the religious affections towards Christ, and
against the operations of the Holy Spirit, 50-53.
--against human accountableness, discussed, 36-42.
--against the religious affections towards Christ, and against the
operations of the Holy Spirit, discussed, 53-83.

_Outgrowing_ vices mistaken for forsaking them, 308, 318.

_Owen_, Dr. referred to, 275.

P.

_Paley_, Mr. his defence of Christianity noticed, 260, 281.

_Partiality_ in the religious views of nominal Christians, 119-121.

_Particular_, Christians must not fear to be so when required by duty,
167.

_Pascal's_ thoughts referred to, 245.
--thoughts recommended, 348.

_Peculiar_, doctrines, use, in promoting humility, 244, 245.
--in promoting moderation in earthly pursuits, 246.
--in promoting cheerfulness in suffering, 247.
--in promoting confidence in danger, and patience in suffering,
248, 249.
--in promoting heavenly mindedness, 250.
--doctrines, demand our utmost attention, 94-97.
--doctrines, use of, 239.
--doctrines, use of, in enforcing importance of Christianity, 240.
--doctrines, use of, in enforcing entire surrender to God, 240.
--doctrines, use of, in enforcing guilt of sin, and dread of
punishment, 241.
--in promoting love of God, 241, 242.
--in promoting love of fellow-creatures, 243, 244.

_Philosophy_, epicurism and stoicism, 59.

_Pitt_, Mr. slander respecting him refuted--Note 272.

_Pleasure_, the true Christian finds in Religion, 139, 140.

_Pleasures_ of true Religion, 325-332.

_Policy_, mistaken, of compromise with immorality, 301.

_Polished_ state of society no security against progress of immorality,
298, 299.

_Political_, good effects from the prevalence of Christianity, as above
described, 283-295.
--good effects from revival of vital Christianity, 296.
--bad effects from its farther decline, 297, 298.
--happiness of a Christian nation, 283-287.

_Pomp_ and parade, votaries of, 124.

_Poor_ the, more favourably circumstanced as to Religion, 93, 292.

_Pope_, the Poet, referred to, 246.

_Popular_ notions concerning our Saviour and the Holy Spirit, 46-48.

_Practical_ hints, on importance of Christianity, 13.
--on human corruption, 35.
--on mode of dealing with a certain description of infidels, 37, 38.
--on the means of exciting our affections towards our Saviour,
99, 100.
--respecting love of estimation, 174-178.
--respecting amiable tempers and useful lives, 192.
--to naturally sweet tempered, 193.
--to naturally rough and austere, 194-199.
--to true Christian, when engaged in hurry of worldly affairs,
199-204.
--to persons desirous of repenting, 235.
--respecting uses of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 240-251.
--for revival of Religion, 300-304.
--to various descriptions, 305-318.
--to such as, having been hitherto careless, wish to become true
Christians, 318-332.
--to some who profess their full assent to fundamental doctrines
of Christianity, 333-336.
--to Sceptics and Unitarians, 337-345.
--to half-unbelievers, 346-348.
--to true Christians, from state of times, 349-354.
--Christianity, chapter on, 100-251.
--prevailing low views of it, 102-104.
--Christianity, its real strictness, 105, 106.
--its true nature, 107-110.
--charged on all without exception in its full strictness, 111-115.
--mischiefs of neglect of peculiarities of Christianity, 232.
--distinction, fundamental, between systems of nominal and real
Christians, 231-234.
--precepts of Christianity, most excellent, 260.
--use of peculiar doctrines of Christianity, 238.

_Prevailing_, low views of practical Christianity, proofs of them, 104.
--inadequate sense of peculiar doctrines of Christians, 231, &c.

_Probation_, notion of, disproves prevailing system of Religion, 317.

_Proof_ of Christianity's divine origin, 260-262.

_Puritans_, many of their writings commended, 275.

R.

_Religion_, practical hints for its revival, 300-305.
-- the only true support in trouble and peril, 332.

_Repentance_, advice for such as are disposed to, 318-324.

_Reputation_, true Christian's conduct respecting it, 164-178.
-- true Christian preserves, without over-valuing it, 167-170.

_Richardson_, mentioned, 278.

_Robertson_, Dr. censured, 279.

_Rousseau_, school of, 204, 205.

S.

_Scepticism_, natural history of it, 338-340.

_Sceptics_ and Unitarians, advantage they have in attacking
Christianity, 344, 345.

_Scripture_ doctrine, importance of, to Christianity, 8-10.
-- doctrine, concerning human corruption, 14-27.
-- doctrine, concerning Christ and the Holy Spirit, 43, 44.

_Self-deception_, frequent sources of, 306-318.
-- another common kind, 333-335.

_Self-examination_, helps in, 306.

_Selfishness_ of common practical Religion, 121-127.
-- the disease of political societies, 288.
-- peculiarly counteracted by Christianity, 291, 292.

_Sensibility_, exquisite, how little truly valuable, and how different
from true practical benevolence, 204, 205.

_Sensualists_ class of, 123.

_Sin_, how spoken of in Scripture, 211.
-- defective conceptions of, 207.

_Sincerity_, false notion of it, 10-12.
-- true what, 13.

_Sins_, no little ones, 210, 211.
-- little, what accounted such, 208.

_Smith_, Dr. _Adam_, 76. 188, 189. 279.

_Soame Jenyns_, his View of the Internal Evidence of Christianity
referred to, 6. 281.

_Sophistry_, with which Religion is explained away, 133.

_Stage_ the, proof from its being frequented by nominal Christians of
their defective love of God, 221-224. 230, 231.
-- proof from, illustrated by political analogy, 223.

_Statutes_, Religion made a set of, 131, 132.

_Sterne_ strongly censured, 206.

_Strictness_ of true practical Christianity, 105, 106.
-- of our system, objected to, as not suited to the state of the
world, 280, 281.
-- the charge refuted, 281, 282.

_Sunday_, hints for its employment, 141, 142.
-- common modes of unhallowing it, 143-145.

_Supreme_ regard to be set on God, 60. 112-129.

_Swift's_ Tale of a Tub, quoted, 132, 133.

T.

_Taste_, votaries of, 127.

_Tempers_, Christian, not cultivated, 136-146.
-- respecting human estimation, 165-168.
-- respecting calumny and disgrace, 170.
-- when too much immersed in worldly business, 201-204.

_Theatres_, Parisian, 223.

_Theatrical_ entertainments prove defective love of God, 222.

_Theatrical_ entertainments prove defective love of our neighbour,
230, 231.
-- entertainments, illustrated by political analogy, 223.

U.

_Unbelievers, half_; a class of them, 346.

_Uncharitableness_, what falsely so called, 312.

_Unitarianism_ often results from same causes as absolute scepticism,
343.

_Useful_ lives, discussion concerning, 178.
-- substituted for Religion, 179.
-- value of, estimated by standard of mere reason, 185.
-- real worth of, on Christian principles, 186-188.
-- life, the Christian's life the most so, 191.
-- Christians urged to, 192.
-- its just praise given to, 197.
-- apt to mislead us, 198.

V.

_Vice_, some one always excused, 308-310.

_Vices_, outgrowing or changing them, mistaken for forsaking all sin,
308-310.

_Vulgarity_ in Religion, as to language, to be expected from vulgar
men, 56.

W.

_Wealth_, votaries of, 125, 126.

_Women_, more disposed than men to Religion, and uses to be made of
this, 313.
-- exalted office assigned to them, 314.

_Witherspoon_, 275.

Y.

_Youth_, simplicity of, mistaken for Religion, 313.

FOOTNOTES

[Footnote 1: It is almost superfluous to name Mr. SOAME JENYNS.]

[Footnote 2: Exempla duo, quae pravitatis humanae vim animo meo luculenter exhibent, non proferre non possum. Alterum decens ille Virgilius, alterum Cicero, probus idem verique studiosus, suppeditat. Virgilius, innocuam certe pastorum vitam depicturus, ita incipit.

"Formosum pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim."

Cicero in libro de Officiis primo, ubi de actionibus prout inter se apte & convenientes sint, loci, temporis, & agentis ratione habita, disserit, argumentum sic illustrat: "Turpe est enim, valdeque vitiosum, in re severa, convivio dignum, aut delicatum aliquem inferre sermonem. Bene Pericles, quum haberet collegam in praetura Sophoclem poetam, hique de communi officio convenissent, & casu formosus puer praeteriret, dixissetque Sophocles, O pueram pulchrum Pericle! At enim, inquit Pericles, praetorem Sophoclem decet non solum manus, sed etiam oculus abstinentes habere. Atqui hoc idem Sophocles, si in athletarum probatione dixisset, _justa reprehensione caruisset, tanta vis est, & loci & temporis_."

Quomodo sese res habuisse necesse est, cum vir antiquorum prestantissimis adscribendus, philosophiam, immo mores & officia tractans, talia doceret! Qualem sibi ipse virtutis normam proposuerat, satis liquet. Vide inter alia, _justa reprehensione_, &c. &c; & _tanta vis est_, &c. &c.]

[Footnote 3: Robertson, Vol. II. p. 130.]

[Footnote 4: Robertson, Book IV. Sect. 2. Head, Condition of Women, vol. ii. 8vo. 90, 91.]

[Footnote 5: Job xv. 14.]

[Footnote 6: Job xv. 16.]

[Footnote 7: Psalm xiv. 2, 3.]

[Footnote 8: Prov. xx. 9.]

[Footnote 9: Psalm cxxxix. 3.]

[Footnote 10: I Chron. xxviii. 9.]

[Footnote 11: Prov. i. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29.]

[Footnote 12: Vide Butler's Analogy.]

[Footnote 13: Heb. x. 27.]

[Footnote 14: Philippians, ii. 12.]

[Footnote 15: John, v. 29.]

[Footnote 16: James, i. 13.]

[Footnote 17: 2 Peter, iii. 9.]

[Footnote 18: Ezek. xviii. 23.]

[Footnote 19: Ezek. xviii. 32.]

[Footnote 20: Psalm cxlvii. 5.]

[Footnote 21: Rom. xi. 33.]

[Footnote 22: Psalm xcvii. 2.]

[Footnote 23: Deut. xxix. 29.]

[Footnote 24: Matt. xi. 28]

[Footnote 25: This was the motto on their banner.]

[Footnote 26: Title of Attila king of the Huns, whose desolating ravages are well known.]

[Footnote 27: Vide the testimony of West India merchants to the Moravians, in the Report of the Privy Council on the Slave Trade.]

[Footnote 28: Rom. xii. 1.]

[Footnote 29: Dr. HORNE.]

[Footnote 30: 2 Cor. viii. 12.]

[Footnote 31: Isaiah, liii. 2.]

[Footnote 32: Philip. ii. 6, 7, 8.]

[Footnote 33: Luke, ii. 10, 11.]

[Footnote 34: Col. i. 12, 13.]

[Footnote 35: Ephes. i. 18.]

[Footnote 36: Col. i. 27.]

[Footnote 37: Heb. xiii. 8.]

[Footnote 38: 1 John, iv. 20.]

[Footnote 39: Dr. ADAM SMITH. Vide Theory of Moral Sentiments.]

[Footnote 40: 1 Pet. i. 8.]

[Footnote 41: Heb. iv. 15.]

[Footnote 42: Isaiah, xl. 11.]

[Footnote 43: Isaiah, xlix. 10.]

[Footnote 44: The word Comfortless is rendered in the margin Orphans.]

[Footnote 45: John, xiv. 18.]

[Footnote 46: 1 Cor. xiii. 12.]

[Footnote 47: Eph. ii. 1. 5.]

[Footnote 48: Col. i. 13.]

[Footnote 49: Ephes. ii. 10.]

[Footnote 50: 2 Cor. vi. 16.]

[Footnote 51: Col. iii. 9, 10.]

[Footnote 52: Ephes. ii. 22.]

[Footnote 53: Vide DR. DODDRIDGE's eight Sermons on Regeneration, a most valuable compilation; and McLAURIN's Essay on Divine Grace.]

[Footnote 54: Rom. iv. 5.]

[Footnote 55: Ibid. v. 6-8.]

[Footnote 56: The Writer trusts he cannot be misunderstood to mean that any, continuing sinners and ungodly, can, by believing, be accepted or finally saved. The following chapter, particularly the latter part of it, (Section vi.) would abundantly vindicate him from any such misconstruction. Meanwhile, he will only remark, that true faith (in which repentance is considered as involved) is in Scripture regarded as _the radical principle of holiness_. If the root exist, the proper fruits will be brought forth. An attention to this consideration would have easily explained and reconciled those passages of St. Paul's and St. James's Epistles, which have furnished so much matter of argument and criticism. St. James, it may be observed, all along speaks of a man, not who _has_ faith, but who _says_ that he has faith. Vide James ii. 14. &c. &c.]

[Footnote 57: Vide Note Ch. iv. Sect. vi.]

[Footnote 58: Gal. vi. 14.]

[Footnote 59: I Cor. i. 30.]

[Footnote 60: Rev. i. 5.]

[Footnote 61: John, vi. 29.]

[Footnote 62: 1 John, iii. 23.]

[Footnote 63: Nec Deus intersit, &c.]

[Footnote 64: Vide Heb. ii. 1, &c.]

[Footnote 65: Any one who wishes to investigate this subject will do well to study attentively McLAURIN's Essay on Prejudices against the Gospel.--It may not be amiss here to direct the reader's attention to a few leading arguments, many of them those of the work just recommended. Let him maturely estimate the force of those terms, whereby the Apostle in the following passages designates and characterizes the whole of the Christian system. "We preach Christ crucified"--"We determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." The value of this argument will be acknowledged by all who consider, that a system is never designated by an immaterial or an inferior part of it, but by that which constitutes its prime consideration and essential distinction. The conclusion suggested by this remark is confirmed by the Lord's Supper being the rite by which our Saviour himself commanded his Disciples to keep him in remembrance; and indeed a similar lesson is taught by the Sacrament of Baptism, which shadows out our souls being washed and purified by the blood of Christ. Observe next the frequency with which our Saviour's death and sufferings are introduced, and how often they are urged as practical motives.

"The minds of the Apostles seem full of this subject. Every thing put them in mind of it; they did not allow themselves to have it long out of their view, nor did any other branch of spiritual instruction make them lose sight of it." Consider next that part of the Epistle to the Romans, wherein St. Paul speaks of some who went about to establish their own righteousness, and had not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. May not this charge be in some degree urged, and even more strongly than in the case of the Jews, against those who satisfy themselves with vague, general, occasional thoughts of our Saviour's mediation; and the source of whose habitual complacency, as we explained above, is rather their being tolerably well satisfied with their own characters and conduct? Yet St. Paul declares concerning those of whom he speaks, as concerning persons whose sad situation could not be too much lamented, that he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart, adding still more emphatical expressions of deep and bitter regret.

Let the Epistle to the Galatians be also carefully examined and considered; and let it be fairly asked, what was the particular in which the Judaizing Christians were defective, and the want of which is spoken of in such strong terms as these; that it frustrates the grace of God, and must debar from all the benefits of the death of Jesus? The Judaizing converts were not immoral. They seem to have admitted the chief tenets concerning our Saviour. But they appear to have been disposed to trust (_not wholly, be it observed also, but only in part_) for their acceptance with God, to the Mosaic institutions, instead of reposing wholly on the merits of Christ. Here let it be remembered, that when a compliance with these institutions was not regarded as conveying this inference, the Apostle shewed by his own conduct, that he did not deem it criminal; whence, no less than from the words of the Epistle, it is clear that the offence of the Judaizing Christians whom he condemned, was what we have stated; not their obstinately continuing to adhere to a dispensation the ceremonial of which Christianity had abrogated, or their trusting to the sacrifices of the Levitical Law, which were in their own nature inefficacious for the blotting out of sin.-- Vide Heb. vii. viii. ix. x.]

[Footnote 66: Rev. v. 12.]

[Footnote 67: ib. 13.]

[Footnote 68: 2 Cor. xiii. 14.]

[Footnote 69: 1 John, iii. 17.--Rom. xvi. 18.--Compared with Philippians, iii. 19.]

[Footnote 70: 2 Tim. iii. 4.]

[Footnote 71: Matt. x. 37.]

[Footnote 72: Jerem. ix. 23.]

[Footnote 73: It will be remembered by the reader, that it is not the object of this work to animadvert on the vices, defects, and erroneous opinions of the times, except so far as they are received into the prevailing religious system, or are tolerated by it, and are not thought sufficient to prevent a man from being esteemed on the whole a very tolerable Christian.]

[Footnote 74: Vide Tale of a Tub.]

[Footnote 75: Vide Tale of a Tub.]

[Footnote 76: Isaiah, ii. 11.]

[Footnote 77: Vide Hey's Tract, Rousseau's Eloisa, and many periodical Essays and Sermons.]

[Footnote 78: Vide "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her, &c." Matt. v. 28.]

[Footnote 79: The writer cannot omit this opportunity of declaring, that he should long ago have brought this subject before the notice of Parliament, but for a perfect conviction that he should probably thereby only give encouragement to a system he wishes to see at an end. The practice has been at different periods nearly stopped by positive laws, in various nations on the Continent; and there can be little doubt of the efficacy of what has been more than once suggested--a Court of Honour; to take cognizance of such offences as would naturally fall within its province. The effects of this establishment would doubtless require to be enforced by legislative provisions, directly punishing the practice; and by discouraging at court, and in the military and naval situations, all who should directly or indirectly be guilty of it.]

[Footnote 80: Vide, in particular a paper in the Guardian, by ADDISON, on Honour, Vol. ii.]

[Footnote 81: Vide SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]

[Footnote 82: The writer hopes that the work to which he is referring is so well known, that he needs scarcely name Mrs. H. More.]

[Footnote 83: See SMITH'S Theory of Moral Sentiments.]

[Footnote 84: While all are worthy of blame, who, to qualities like these, have assigned a more exalted place than to religious and moral principle; there is one writer who, eminently culpable in this respect, deserves, on another account, still severer reprehension. Really possessed of powers to explore and touch the finest strings of the human heart, and bound by his sacred profession to devote those powers to the service of religion and virtue, he every where discovers a studious solicitude to excite indecent ideas. We turn away our eyes with disgust from open immodesty: but even this is less mischievous than that more measured style, which excites impure images, without shocking us by the grossnesses of the language. Never was delicate sensibility proved to be more distinct from plain practical benevolence, than in the writings of the author to whom I allude. Instead of employing his talents for the benefit of his fellow-creatures, they were applied to the pernicious purposes of corrupting the national taste, and of lowering the standard of manners and morals. The tendency of his writings is to vitiate that purity of mind, intended by Providence as the companion and preservative of youthful virtue; and to produce, if the expression may be permitted, _a morbid sensibility in the perception of indecency_. An imagination exercised in this discipline is never _clean_, but seeks for and discovers something indelicate in the most common phrases and actions of ordinary life. If the general style of writing and conversation were to be formed on that model, to which Sterne used his utmost endeavours to conciliate the minds of men, there is no estimating the effects which would soon be produced on the manners and morals of the age.]

[Footnote 85: Vide SMITH on the Wealth of Nations, Vol. iii.]

[Footnote 86: Vide the Grammarians and Dialecticians on the Diminutives of the Italian and other languages.]

[Footnote 87: Many more might be added, such as a good fellow, a good companion, a libertine, a little free, a little loose in talk, wild, gay, jovial, being no man's enemy but his own, &c. &c. &c. &c; above all, _having a good heart_.]

[Footnote 88: Gal. v. 19-21. Col. iii. 5-9.]

[Footnote 89: Job, xxviii. 28. Psalm, cxi. 10. Prov. i. 7.--ix. 10.]

[Footnote 90: 2 Peter, iii. 10, 11.]

[Footnote 91: Col. i. 13.]

[Footnote 92: It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the word is to be understood in a large sense, as including the Opera, &c.]

[Footnote 93: Geneva--It is worthy of remark, that the play houses have multiplied extremely in Paris since the revolution; and that last winter there were twenty open every night, and all crowded. It should not be left unobserved, and it is seriously submitted to the consideration of those who regard the stage as a school of morals, that the pieces which were best composed, best acted, and most warmly and generally applauded, were such as abounded in touches of delicate sensibility. The people of Paris have never been imagined to be more susceptible, than the generality of mankind, of these emotions, and this is not the particular period when the Parisians have been commonly conceived most under their influence. Vide Journal d'un Voyageur Neutre. The author of the work expresses himself as astonished by the phaenomenon, and as unable to account for it.]

[Footnote 94: The author is almost afraid of using the terms, lest they should convey an impression of party feelings, of which he wishes this book to exhibit no traces; but he here means by Democrats and Jacobins, not persons on whom party violence fastens the epithet, but persons who are really and avowedly such.]

[Footnote 95: LORD BACON.]

[Footnote 96: If any one would read a description of this process, enlivened and enforced by the powers of the most exquisite poetry, let him peruse the middle and latter part of the fifth Book of COWPER'S Task. My warm attachment to the exquisitely natural compositions of this truly Christian poet may perhaps bias my judgment; but the part of the work to which I refer appears to me scarcely surpassed by any thing in our language. The honourable epithet of _Christian_ may justly be assigned to a poet, whose writings, while they fascinate the reader by their manifestly coming from the heart, breathe throughout the spirit of that character of Christianity, with which she was announced to the world; "Glory to God, peace on earth, good will towards men."]

[Footnote 97: Here again let it be remarked, that faith, where genuine, always supposes repentance, abhorrence of sin, &c.]

[Footnote 98: Heb. xii. 1, 2.]

[Footnote 99: It has been well remarked that the word used, where it is said, that God "was PLEASED to bruise" and put to grief his only Son for us, is the same word as that wherein it was declared by a voice from Heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."]

[Footnote 100: Vide Chap. iii. Where these were shewn to be the elementary principles of the passion of love.]

[Footnote 101: Rom. v. 9. 10.]

[Footnote 102: John xiii. 13-17. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet, &c.]

[Footnote 103: Vide Pascal's Thoughts on Religion--A book abounding in the deepest views of practical Christianity.]

[Footnote 104: Pope.]

[Footnote 105: The _Hell_, so called, be it observed, not by way of reproach, but familiarity, by those who frequent it.]

[Footnote 106: Eph. ii.]

[Footnote 107: The Rev. Matthew Babington of Temple Rothley, in Leicestershire, who died lately at Lisbon.]

[Footnote 108: The author must acknowledge himself indebted to Dr. OWEN for this illustration.]

[Footnote 109: The author here alludes to what happened within his own knowledge; and he has been assured by others, on whose testimony he can rely, of several similar instances. But to prevent misconstruction as to the incident which mainly gives rise to the remark, he thinks it necessary to declare, that the account, which appeared in some of the news-papers, of an entertainment having been given by Mr. Pitt on the Fast Day, is untrue; and he is glad of the opportunity, which the mention of this subject affords him, of contradicting a statement which he can positively affirm to have been false. This is one of the many instances which should enforce on the readers of news-papers, the _duty_ of not _hastily_ giving credit to reports to the disadvantage of _any_ man, of _any_ party. A person in a public station must often acquiesce under the grossest calumnies; unless he will undertake the vain and endless task of contradicting all the falsehoods which prejudice may conceive, and malignity propagate against him.--The writer may perhaps express himself with the more feeling on this subject; because he has often been, and, indeed, at this very moment is, in the circumstances which he has stated.]

[Footnote 110: I must beg leave to class among the brightest ornaments of the Church of England, this great man, who with his brethren was so shamefully ejected from the church in 1666, in violation of the royal word, as well as of the clear principles of justice. With his controversial pieces I am little acquainted: but his practical writings, in four massy folios, are a treasury of Christian wisdom; and it would be a most valuable service to mankind to revise them, and perhaps to abridge them, so as to render them more suited to the taste of modern readers. This has been already done in the case of his Dying Thoughts, a beautiful little piece, and of his Saints' Rest. His Life also, written by himself, and in a separate volume, contains much useful matter, and many valuable particulars of the history of the times of Charles I. Cromwell, &c. &c.]

[Footnote 111: Let me by no means be understood to censure all the sectaries without discrimination. Many of them, and some who by the unhappy circumstances of the times became objects of notice in a political view, were men of great erudition, deep views of Religion, and unquestionable piety: and though the writings of the puritans are prolix; and according to the fashion of their age, rendered rather perplexed than clear by multiplied divisions and subdivisions; yet they are a mine of wealth, in which any one who will submit to some degree of labour will find himself well rewarded for his pains. In particular the writings of Dr. OWEN, Mr. HOWE, and Mr. FLAVELL, well deserve this character: of the first mentioned author, there are two pieces which I would especially recommend to the reader's perusal, one, on Heavenly Mindedness, abridged by Dr. MAYO; the other, on the Mortification of Sin in Believers. While I have been speaking in terms of such high, and, I trust, such just eulogium of many of the teachers of the Church of England; this may not be an improper place to express the high obligations which we owe to the Dissenters, for many excellent publications. Of this number are Dr. EVANS'S Sermons on the Christian Temper; and that most useful book, the Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, by Dr. DODDRIDGE; also, his Life, by ORTON, and Letters; and two volumes of Sermons, one on Regeneration, the other on the Power and Grace of Christ: May the writer be permitted to embrace this opportunity of recommending two volumes, published separately, of Sermons, by the late Dr. WITHERSPOON, President of the College of New Jersey.]

[Footnote 112: Vide Section vi. of the ivth Chapter, where we have expressly and fully treated of this most important truth.]

[Footnote 113: No exceptions have fallen within my own reading, but the writings of RICHARDSON.]

[Footnote 114: It is with pain that the author finds himself compelled to place so great a writer as Dr. ROBERTSON in this class. But, to say nothing of his phlegmatic account of the reformation; a subject which we should have thought likely to excite in any one, who united the character of a Christian Divine with that of an Historian, some warmth of pious gratitude for the good providence of God; to pass over also the ambiguity, in which he leaves his readers as to his opinion of the authenticity of the Mosaic chronology, in his disquisitions on the trade of India; his letters to Mr. GIBBON, lately published, cannot but excite emotions of regret and shame in every sincere Christian. The author hopes, that he has so far explained his sentiments as to render it almost unnecessary to remark, what, however, to prevent misconstruction, he must here declare, that so far from approving, he must be understood decidedly to condemn, a hot, a contentious, much more an abusive manner of opposing or of speaking of the assailants of Christianity. The Apostle's direction in this respect cannot be too much attended to. "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." (2 Timothy, ii. 24, 25.)]

[Footnote 115: Mr. HUME.]

[Footnote 116: Vide Dr. A. Smith's Letter to W. Strahan, Esq.]

[Footnote 117: What is here stated must be acknowledged by all, be their political opinions concerning French events what they may; and it makes no difference in the writer's view of the subject, whether the state of morals was or was not, quite, or nearly, as bad, before the French revolution.]

[Footnote 118: SOAME JENYNS.]

[Footnote 119: PALEY'S Evidence.]

[Footnote 120: See especially that great historian, FERGUSON, who, in his Essay on Civil Society, endeavours to vindicate the cause of heroism from the censure conveyed by the poet:

"From Macedonia's madman to the Swede."

]

[Footnote 121: Such seems to be the just rendering of the word which our Testament translates, "did not like to retain God in their knowledge."]

[Footnote 122: It is a gratification to the writer's personal, as well as public feelings, to pay this tribute of respect to the character of Lord Chief Justice KENYON.]

[Footnote 123: This is not thrown out rashly, but asserted on the writer's own knowledge.]

[Footnote 124: "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God," (says David) "of that which doth cost me nothing." 2 Sam. xxiv. 24.

"They," (the Apostles) "departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus." Acts v. 41. See also 1 Thess. i. 6. Heb. x. 34. James i. 2. 1 Peter iv. 13, 14.

Such are the marks exhibited in Scripture of a true love to God: and though our regard for our common Lord is not put to the same severe test, as that of the Apostles and first Christians was; yet, if the same principle existed in us also, it would surely dispose us to act in the _spirit_ of that conduct; and prompt us rather to be willing to exceed in self denials and labours for Christ's sake, than to be so forward as we are to complain, whenever we are called upon to perform or to abstain from any thing, though in an instance ever so little contrary to our inclinations.]

[Footnote 125: It may not be amiss to mention a few useful publications of this sort. Walton's Lives, particularly the last edition by Mr. Zouch; Gilpin's Lives; the Lives of Bishop Bedell and Bishop Bull; of Archbishop Usher; some extracts from Burnet of the Life of the incomparable Leighton, prefixed to a volume of the latter's Sermons; Passages of the Life of Lord Rochester, by Burnet; the Life of Sir Matthew Hale; of the excellent Doddridge, by Orton; of Henry, father and son; of Mather; of Halyburton; Hampson's and Whitehead's Life of Wesley; Life of Baxter, by himself, &c. &c. &c.]

[Footnote 126: The author is aware, that he may perhaps be censured for conceding this term to the class of persons now in question, since orthodox Christians equally contend for the unity of the Divine Nature: and it perhaps may hardly be a sufficient excuse, that, it not being his object particularly to refute the errors of Unitarianism, he uses the term in its popular sense rather than give needless offence. He thus guards, however, against any false construction being drawn from his use of it.]

[Footnote 127: The author of this treatise has, since its completion, perused a work entitled, Calvinism and Socinianism compared, by A. FULLER, &c; and, without reference to the peculiarities of Calvinism, he is happy to embrace this opportunity of confessing the high obligation which, in common with all the friends of true Religion, he owes to the author of that highly valuable publication for his masterly defence of the doctrines of Christianity, and his acute refutation of the opposite errors.]

[Footnote 128: It is almost superfluous to state, that Sir WILLIAM JONES is here meant, who, from the testimony borne to his extraordinary talents by Sir John Shore, in his first address to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, appears to have been a man of most extraordinary genius and astonishing erudition.]

[Footnote 129: Mr. MAURICE.]

[Footnote 130: This argument is pressed with uncommon force in PASCAL'S Thoughts on Religion, a work highly valuable, though not in every part to be approved; abounding in particular with those deep views of Religion, which the name of its author prepares us to expect.]

[Footnote 131: Vide, some exquisitely beautiful lines in the last book of Cowper's Task, wherein this sentiment is introduced.]

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES

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