TWO SERMONS VIZ.
- I. The present State of Europe compared with Antient Prophecies; PREACHED ON THE FAST-DAY IN 1794; WITH A PREFACE, CONTAINING THE REASONS FOR THE AUTHER'S LEAVING ENGLAND.
- II. The Use of Christianity, especially in difficult Times; BEING THE AUTHER'S FAREWELL DISCOURSE TO HIS CONGREGATION AT HACKNEY.
By JOSEPH PRIESTLEY, L.L.D. F.R.S. &c.
PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED BY THOMAS DOBSON, AT THE STONE-HOUSE, NO 41, SOUTH SECOND-STREET. MDCCXCIV.
The present State of Europe compared with Antient Propheciecs; A SERMON, PREACHED AT THE GRAVEL PIT MEETING IN HACKNEY, FEBRUARY 28, 1794, Being the Day appointed for a General Fast. WITH A PREFACE CONTAINING The Reasons for the Author's leaving England. THE FOURTH EDITION.
PREFACE.
THIS discourse, and those on the Evidences of Divine Revelation, which will be published about the same time, being the last of my labours in this country, I hope my friends, and the public, will indulge me while I give the reason of their being the last, in consequence of my having at length, after much hesitation, and and now with reluctance, come to a resolution to leave this kingdom.
After the riots in Birmingham, it was the expectation, and evidently the wish, of many persons, that I should immediately fly to France, or America. But I had no conscioussness of guilt to induce me to fly my country * On the contrary, [Page vi] I came directly to London, and instantly, by means of my friend Mr. Russel, signified to the king's ministers, that I was there, and ready, if they thought proper, to be interrogated on the subject of the riot. But no notice was taken of the message.
Ill treated as I thought I had been, not merely by the populace of Birmingham, for they were the mere tools of their superiors, but by the country in general, which evidently exulted in our sufferings, and afterwards by the representatives of the nation, who refused to inquire into the cause of them, I own I was not without deliberating upon the subject of emigration; and several flattering proposals were made me, especially from France, which was then at peace within itself, and with all the world; and I was at [Page vii] one time much inclined to go thither, on account of its nearness to England, the agreeableness of its climate, and my having many friends there.
But I likewise considered that, If I went thither, I should have no employment of the kind to which I had been accustomed; and the season of active life not being, according to the course of nature, quite over, I wished to make as much use of it as I could. I therefore determined to continue in England, exposed as I was not only to unbounded obloquy and insult, but to every kind of outrage; and after my invitation to succeed my friend Dr Price, I had no hesitation about it. Accordingly I took up my residence where I now am, though so prevalent was the idea of my insecurity, that I was not able to take the house in my own name; and when a friend of mine took it in his, it was with much difficulty that, after some time, the landlord was prevailed upon to transfer the lease to me. He expressed his apprehensions, not only of the house that I occupied being demolished, but also a capital house in which he himself resides, at the distance of no less than twenty miles from London, whether he supposed the rioters would go next, merely for suffering me to live in a house of his.
[Page viii] But even this does not give such an idea of the danger that not only myself, but every person, and every thing, that had the slightest connection with me, were supposed to be in, as the following. The managers of one of the principal charities among the Dissenters applied to me to preach their annual sermon, and I had consented. But the treasurer, a man of fortune, who knew nothing more of me than my name, was so much alarmed as it, that he declared he could not sleep. I therefore, to his great relief, declined preaching at all.
When it was known that I was settled where I now am, several of my friends, who lived near me, were seriously advised to remove their papers, and other most valuable effects, to some place of greater safety in London. On the 14th of July, 1792, it was taken for granted by many of the neighbours, that my house was to come down, just as at Birmingham the year before. When the Hackney association was formed, several servants in the neighbourhood actually removed their goods; and when there was some political meeting at the house of Mr. Breillat, though about two miles from my house, a woman whose daughter was servant in the house contiguous to mine, came to her mistress, to entreat that she might be out of the way; and it was not without much [Page ix] difficulty that she was, pacified, and prevailed upon to let her continue in the house, her mistress saying that she was as safe as herself.
On several other occasions the neighbourhood has been greatly alarmed on account of my being so near them. Nor was this without apparent reason. I could name a person, and to appearance a reputable tradesman, who, in the company of his friends, and in the hearing of one of my late congregation at Birmingham, but without knowing him to be such, declared that, in case of any disturbance, they would immediately come to Hackney, evidently for the purpose of mischief. In this state of things, it is not to be wondered at, that of many servants who were recommended to me, and some that were actually hired, very few could, for a long time, be prevailed upon to live with me.
These facts not only shew how general was the idea of my particular insecurity in this country; but what is of much more consequence, and highly interesting to the country at large, an idea of the general disposition to rioting and violence that prevails in it, and that the Dissenters are the objects of it. Mr. Pitt very justly observed, in his speech on the subject of the riots at Birmingham, [Page x] that it was "the effervescence of the public mind." Indeed the effervescible matter has existed in this country every since the civil wars in the time of Charles I. and it was particularly apparent in the reign of Queen Ann. But the power of government under the former princes of the House of Hanover prevented its doing any mischief. The late events shew that this power is no longer exerted as it used to be, but that, on the contrary, there prevails an idea, well or ill founded, that tumultuary proceedings against Diffenters will not receive any effectual discouragement. After what has taken place with respect to Birmingham, all idea of much hazard for insulting and abusing the Dissenters is entirely vanished; whereas the disposition to injure the Catholics was effectually checked by the proceedings of the year 1780. From that time they they have been safe, and I rejoice in it. But from the year 1791, the Diffenters have been more exposed to insult and outrage than over.
Having fixed myself at Clapton; unhinged as I had been, and having lost the labour of several years; yet flattering myself that I should end my days here, I took a long lease of my house, and expended a considerable sum in improving it. I also determined, with the assistance of my friends, to resume my philosophical and other pursuits; [Page xi] and after an interruption amounting to about two years, it was with a pleasure that I cannot describe, that I entered my new laboratory, and began the most common preparatory processes, with a view to some original inquiries. With what success I have laboured, the public has already in some measure seen, and may see more hereafter.
But though I did not choose (notwithstanding I found myself exposed to continual insult) to leave my native country, I found it necessary to provide for my sons elsewhere. My eldest son was settled in a business, which promised to be very advantageous, at Manchester; but his partner, though a man of liberality himself, informed him, on perceiving the general prevalence of the spirit which produced the riots in Birmingham, that, owing to his relationship to me, he was under the necessity of proposing a separation, which accordingly took place.
On this he had an invitation to join another connexion, in a business in which the spirit of party could not have much affected him; but he declined it. And after he had been present at the assizes at Warwick, he conceived such an idea of this country, that I do not believe [Page xii] that any proposal, however advantageous, would have induced him to continue in it; so much was he affected on perceiving his father treated as I had been.
Determining to go to America, where he had no prospect but that of being a farmer, he wished to spend a short time with a person who has greatly distinguished himself in that way, and one who from his own general principles, and his friendship for myself, would have given him the best advice and assistance in his power. He, however, declined it, and acknowledged some time after, that had it been known, as it must have been, to his landlord, that he had a son of mine with him, he feared he should have been turned out of his farm.
My second son who was present both at the riot, and the assizes, felt more indignation still, and willingly listened to a proposal to settle in France; and there his reception was but too slattering. However, on the breaking out of the war with this country, all mercantile prospects being suspended, he wished to go to America. There his eldest and youngest brother have joined him, and they are now looking out for a settlement, having as yet no fixed views.
[Page xiii] The necessity I was under of sending my sons out of this country, was my principal inducement to send the little property that I had out of it too; so that I had nothing in England besides my library, apparatus, and household goods. By this, I felt myself greatly relieved, it being of little consequence where a man already turned sixty ends his days. Whatever good or evil I have been capable of, is now chiefly done; and I trust that the same consciousness of integrity, which has supported me hitherto, will carry me through any thing that may yet be reserved for me. Seeing, however, no great prospect of doing much good, or having much enjoyment, here, I am now preparing to follow my sons; hoping to be of some use to them in their present unsettled state, and that Providence may yet, advancing in years as I am, find me some sphere of usefulness along with them.
As to the great odium that I have incurred, the charge of sedition, or my being an enemy to the constitution or peace of my country, is a mere pretence for it; though it has been so much urged, that it is now generally believed, and all attempts to undeceive the public with respect to it avail nothing at all. The whole course of my studies, from early life, shews how little politics of any kind have been my object. Indeed to have written so much as I have in theology, and to have [Page xiv] done so much in experimental philosophy, and at the same time to have had my mind occupied, as it is supposed to have been, with factious politics, I must have had faculties more than human. Let any person only cast his eye over the long list of my publications, and he will see that they relate almost wholly to theology, philosophy, or general literature.
I did, however, when I was a younger man, and before it was in my power to give much attention to philosophical pursuits, write a small anonymous political pamphlet, on the State of Liberty in this Country, about the time of Mr Wilkes's election for Middlesex, which gained me the acquaintance, and I may say the friendship, of Sir George Savile, and which I had the happiness to enjoy as long as he lived.
At the request also of Dr. Franklin and Dr. Fothergill, I wrote an address to the Dissenters on the subject of the approaching rupture with America, a pamphlet which Sir George Savile, and my other friends, circulated in great numbers, and it was thought with some effect.
After this I entirely ceased to write any thing on the subject of politics, except as far as the business [Page xv] of the Test Act, and of Civil Establishments of Religion, had a connexion with politics. And though, at the recommendation of Doctor Price, I was presently after this taken into the family of the Marquis of Lansdowne, and I entered into almost all his views, as thinking them just and liberal. I never wrote a single political pamphler, or even a paragraph in a newspaper, all the time that I was with him, which was seven years.
I never preached a political sermon in my life; unless such as, I believe all Dissenters usually preach on the fifth of November, in favour of civil and religious liberty, may be said to be political. And on these occasions, I am confident, that I never advanced any sentiment but such as, till of late years, would have tended to recommend, rather than render me obnoxious, to these who direct the administration of this country. And the doctrines which I adopted when young, and which were even popular then (except with the clergy, who were at that time generally disaffected to the family on the throne) I cannot abandon, merely because the times are so changed, that they are now become unpopular, and the expression and communication of them hazardous.
[Page xvi] Father, though I by no means disapprove of societies for political information, such as are now every where discountenanced, and generally suppressed, I never was a member of any of them; nor, indeed, did I ever attend any public meeting, if I could decently avoid it, owing to habits acquired in studious and retired life.
From a mistake of my talents and disposition, I was invited by many of the departments in France, to represent them in the present National Convention, after I had been made a citizen of France, on account of my being considered as one who had been persecuted for my attachment to the cause of liberty here. But though the invitation was repeated with the most flattering importunity, I never hesitated about declining it.
I can farther say with respect to politics, concerning which I believe every Englishman has some opinion or other (and at present, owing to the peculiar nature of the present war, it is almost the only topic of general conversation) that, except in company, I hardly ever think of the subject, my reading, meditation, and writing, being almost wholly engrossed by theology, and philosophy; and of late, as for many years before the riots in Birmingham, I have spent a very great proportion [Page xvii] of my time, as my friends well know, in my laboratory.
If, then, my real crime has not been sedition, or treason, what has it been? For every effect must have some adequate cause, and therefore the odium that I have incurred must have been owing to something in my declared sentiments, or conduct, that has exposed me to it. In my opinion, it cannot have been any thing but my open hostility to the doctrines of the established church, and more especially to all civil establishments of religion whatever. This has brought upon me the implacable resentment of the great body of the clergy; and they have found other methods of opposing me besides argument, and that use of the press which is equally open to us all. They have also found an able ally and champion in Mr Burke, who (without any provocation except that of answering his book on the French Revolution) has taken several opportunities of inveighing against me, in a place where he knows I cannot reply to him, and from which he also knows that his accusation will reach every corner of the country, and consequently thousands of persons who will never read any writings of mine * They have [Page xviii] had another, and still more effectual vehicle of their abuse in what are called the treasury newspapers, and other popular publications.
By these and other means, the same party spirit which was the cause of the riots in Birmingham, has been increasing ever since, especially in that neighbourhood. A remarkable instance of this may be seen in a Letter addressed, but not sent, to me from Mr. Foley, rector of Stourbridge, who acknowledges the satisfaction that he and his brethren have received from one of the grossest and coarsest pieces of abuse of me that has yet appeared, which, as a curious specimen of the kind, I inserted in the Appendix of my Appeal, and in which I am represented as no better than Guy Fawkes, or the devil himself. This very Christian divine recommends to the members of the established church to decline all commercial dealings with the Dissenters, as an effectual method of exterminating them. This method has been actually adopted in many parts of England. Also great numbers of the best farmers and artizans in England have been dismissed because they would not [Page xix] go to the established church. Defoe's Shortest Way with the Dissenters * would have taught the friends of the church a more effectual method still. And yet this Mr. Foley, whom I never saw, and who could not have had any particular cause of enmity to me, had, like Mr. Madan of Birmingham, a character for liberality. What, then, have we to expect from others, when we find so much bigotry and rancour in such men as these?
Many times, by the encouragement of persons from whom better things might have been expected, I have been burned in effigy along with Mr. Paine; and numberless insulting and threatening letters have been sent to me from all parts of the kingdom. † It is not possible for any man to have conducted himself more peaceably than I have done all the time that I have lived at Clapton, yet it has not exempted me not only from the worst suspicions, but very gross insults. A very friendly and innocent club, which I found in the place, has been considered as Jacobine chiefly on my account; and at one time there was cause of apprehension that I should have been brought into danger for lending one of Mr. Paine's books. But with some difficulty the neighbourhood was satisfied that I was innocent.
[Page xx] As nothing had been paid to me on account of damages in the riot, when I published the second part of my Appeal to the public on the subject, it may be proper to say, that it was paid some time in the beginning of the year 1793, with interest only from the first of January of the same year, though the injury was received in July, 1791; when equity evidently required, that it ought to have been allowed from the time of the riot, especially as, in all the cases, the allowance was far short of the loss. In my case of it fell short, as I have shewn, not less than two thousand pounds. And the losses sustained by the other sufferers far exceeded mine. Public justice also required that, if the forms of law, local enmity, or any other cause, had prevented our receiving full indemnification, it should have been made up to us from the public treasury; the great end of all civil government being protection from violence, or an indemnification for it. Whatever we might in equity claim, the country owes us, and, if it be just, will some time or other pay, and with interest.
I would farther observe, that since, in a variety of cases, money is allowed where the injury is not of a pecuniary nature, merely because no other compensation can be given, the same should have been done with respect to me, on account of the destruction of my manuscripts, the interruption of [Page xxi] my pursuits, the loss of a pleasing and advantageous situation, &c. &c. and had the injury been sustained by a clergyman, he would, I doubt not, have claimed, and been allowed, very large damages on this account. So far, however, was there from being any idea of the kind in my favour, that my counsel advised me to make no mention of my manuscript Lectures on the Constitution and Laws of England, a work about as large as that of Blackstone (as may be seen by the syllabus of the particular lectures, sixty-three in all, published in the first edition of my Essay on a Course of liberal Education for civil and active Life) because it would be taken for granted that they were of a seditious nature, and would therefore have been of disservice to me with the jury. Accordingly they were, in the account of my losses, included in the article of so much paper. After these losses, had I had nothing but the justice of my country to look to, I must have sunk under the burden, incapable of any farther exertions. It was the seasonable generosity of my friends that prevented this, and put it in my power, though with the unavoidable loss of near two years, to resume my former pursuits.
A farther proof of the excessive bigotry of this country is, that, though the clergy of Birmingham
I, however, foreseen what I am now witness to, I certainly should not have made any attempt to replace my library or apparatus, and I soon repented of having done it. But this being done, I was willing to make some use of both before another interruption of my pursuits. I began to philosophize, and make experiments, rather late in life, being near forty, for want of the necessary means of doing any thing in this way; and my pursuits have been much interrupted by removals( never indeed chosen by himself, but rendered necessary by circumstances) and my time being now short, I hoped to have had no occasion for more than one, and that a final, remove. But the circumstances above mentioned have induced me, though with great and sincere regret, to undertake another, and to a greater distance than any that I have hitherto made.
I profess not to be unmoved by the aspect of things exhibited in this discourse. But notwithstanding this, I should willingly have awaited my fate in my native country, whatever it had been, if I had not had sons in America, and if I did not think that a field of public usefulness, which is evidently closing upon me here, might open to more advantage there.
[Page xxiv] I also own that I am not unaffected by such unexampled punishments as those of Mr. Muir and my friend M. Palmer, for offences, which, if, in the eye of reason, they be any at all, are slight, and very insufficiently proved; a measure so subversive of that freedom of speaking and acting, which has hitherto been the great pride of Britons. But the sentence of Mr. Winterbotham, for delivering from the pulpit what I am persuaded he never did deliver, and which, similar evidence might have drawn upon myself, or any other dissenting minister, who was an object of general dislike, has something in it still more alarming. * But I trust that conscious [Page xxv] innocence would support me as it does him, under whatever prejudiced and and violent men might do to me, as well as say of me. But I see no occasion to expose myself to danger without any prospect of doing good, or to continue any longer in a country in which I am so unjustly become the object of general dislike, and not retire to another, where I have reason to think I shall be better received. And I trust that the same good Providence which has attended me hitherto, and made me happy in my attended and bless me in what may still be before me. In all events, The will of God be done.
[Page xxvi] I cannot refrain from repeating again, that I leave my native country with real regret, never expecting to find any where else society so suited to my disposition and habits, such friends as I have here (whose attachment has been more than a balance to all the abuse I have met with from others) and especially to replace one particular Christian friend, in whose absence I shall, for some time at least, find all the world a blank. Still less can I expect to resume my favourite pursuits, with any thing like the advantages I enjoy here. In leaving this country I also abandon a source of maintenance, which I can but ill bear to lose. I can, however truly say, that I leave it without any resentment, or ill will. On the contrary, I sincerely wish my countrymen all happiness; and when the time for reflection (which my absence may accelerate) shall come, my countrymen, I am confident, will do me more justice. They will be convinced that every suspicion they have been led to entertain to my disadvantage has been ill founded, and that I have even some claim to their gratitude and esteem. In this case, I shall look with satisfaction to the time when, if my life be prolonged, I may visit my friends in this country; and perhaps I may, notwithstanding my removal for the present, find a grave (as I believe is naturally the wish of every man) in the land that gave me birth.
FAST SERMON,
THIS was the great burden of the preaching of both John the Baptist and of our Saviour. But as that kingdom of heaven, the approach of which they announced, and which, by our Saviour's direction, is the subject of our daily prayers, is not yet come, but much nearer than it was in their time, there must be a greater propriety in urging this exhortation at present, than there has ever yet been. It is nothing but repentance that can prepare sinful men (and all men are more or less sinners) to derive any advantage from this kingdom, in which Christ and the saints shall bear rule; that new state of the heavens and of the earth, in which righteousness only will dwell. And being a second time called upon by our rulers to humble ourselves before God, on account of the calamities we already feel, and those that we have reason to fear, and repentance being the only means of averting his anger, and procuring a cessation, or mitigation, of his heavy judgements, I shall take this opportunity [Page 28] of urging it, from that very critical and truly alarming situation, in which almost the whole of Europe now finds itself, and this country of ours, as having most at stake, perhaps more than any other.
If we can learn any thing concerning what is before us, from the language of prophecy, great calamities,such as the world has never yet experienced, will precede that happy state of things, in which ‘the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ’ and these calamities will chiefly affect those nations which have been the seat of the great antichristian power; or, as all Protestants, and I believe justly, suppose, have been subject to the see of Rome. And it appears to me highly probable, as I hinted in my last discourse on this occastion, that the present disturbances in Europe are the beginning of those very calamitous times. I therefore think there is a call for unusual seriousness, and attention to the course of Divine Providence, that when ‘the judgements of God are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants thereof may learn righteousness,’ so as to be prepared for whatever events the now rapid wheels of time may disclose. Let us then, my brethern, make a serious pause. Let us look back to the antient prophecies, and compare them with the present slate of things around us, and let us then look to ourselves, to our own sentiments and conduct, that we may feel and act as our peculiar circumstances require.
The future happy slate of the world, when the Jews shall be restored to their own country, and be at the head of all the nations of the earth, was suit distinctly mentioned by Isaiah, and other prophets who were nearly [Page 29] cotemporary with him; but it was first denominated the kingdom of heaven, and announced as to be administered by the Son of Man, or the Messiah, by Daniel. It was, however, by other prophets, given to a descendant of David. All Christians consider Jesus as this descendant of David, or the promised Messiah. The mistake which the Jews were under, arose from their wholly overlooking the suffering state of the Messiah, and imagining that his first coming would be that mentioned by Daniel, in the clouds of heaven; and consequently that this kingdom would commence on his first appearance.
Jesus, knowing himself to be the Messiah, never denied that, at a proper time, he would appear as a king; nor could there have been a [...] that time any uncertainty about the meaning of the term king. When Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king, he acknowledged it, and added that he was sent to bear witness to that, as well as to other truths; though, to obivate the jealousy of Pilate, and the Roman government, he said that his kingdom was not of this world; so that it did not interfere with the governments which then existed in the world, being that kingdom of heaven which was to take place hereafter, and to be exercised upon maxims very different from those of the then existing kingdoms.
Jesus also said that, when he should reign, his apostles would reign with him, and that they should 'sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' Paul also said, that 'the saints shall judge the world.' And it is remarkable that, in the original prophecy of Daniel, the administration of this kingdom of heaven is not said to be confined to one person, but to be [Page 30] extended to many, Dan. vii. 18. ‘The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever;’ ver.27. ‘And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve, and obey him,’ or rather, 'obey it.'
That this will be a proper kingdom, though a kingdom of righteousness, the object of which will be the happiness of the subjects of it, is farther evident from the other kingdoms which are to be overthrown in order to make way for it. For had it been that purely spiritual kingdom which some suppose, what occasion was there for the destruction of the other kingdoms; since they would not have interfered with it, but might have subsisted at the same time?
In the first vision of Nebuchadnezzar, interpreted by Daniel, this future, kingdom of heaven is represented by 'a little stone, cut out of a mountain without hands,' which smote the image representing the preceding kingdoms, Dan. ii. 34. and 'brake it to pieces,' when itself 'became a great mountain, filling the whole earth.' In the interpretation of this vision, ver. 44, it is said, ‘In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever;’ evidently in the place of the other kingdoms. It is, therefore, an institution adapted to answer the purpose of them, but in a much better manner.
[Page 31] This kingdom, however, a kingdom of truth and righteousness, will not be established without the greatest convulsions, and the violent overthrow of other kingdoms. Every description, figurative or otherwise, of this great revolution, clearly implies violence, and consequently great calamity. The little stone smiling the image, and breaking it in pieces, is far from giving an idea of a peaceable revolution, but one that will be effected with great violence, and in a short time. The following language is peculiarly emphatical. ‘Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold,’(all the materials of which the image consisted) ‘broken to pieces together, and became as the chaff of the summer floor, and the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.’ In the interpretation it is said, ver. 44. ‘that this new kingdom shall break in pieces, and consume all the other kingdom.’
The same awful conclusion may be drawn from the language used in the corresponding vision of Daniel himself, in the first year of Belshazzar, in which the four great empires, which in Nebuchadnezzar's dream had been represented by the four metals, of which the image that he saw consisted, are represented by four beasts. and the last of them is said (Dan. vii. 11.)not to die a natural death, but to be stain, and moreover, his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As, in the former vision, the ten kingdoms, into which the last, or the Roman empire was to be divided, were represented by the ten toes of the image; in this vision of Daniel they are represented [Page 32] by the ten horns of the last beast. These are said to be ten kingdoms, or thrones, and these thrones are said to be cast down, Dan. vii. 9. clearly implying violence in their dissolution.
In the language of prophecy, great, and especially sudden revolutions, in kingdoms and states, are frequently represented by earthquakes; and also the supreme powers on earth by the sun, moon, and stars in heaven. And, in agreement with the preceding view, suggested by Daniel, the prophet Haggai, who wrote after him, to comfort his countrymen in their low and distressed circumstances, and gloomy prospects, when they were erecting a poor and contemptible temple, compared with that of Solomon, assures them, that the glory of the latter house, (meaning, I am persuaded, not the house they were then building, for that was taken down by Herod; nor yet that of Herod, but the last house, the glorious temple described by Ezekiel, as to be built after the return of the Jews to their own country) should be greater than that of the former house built by Solomon. Haggai describes the great revolution that is to precede it in the following manner. Hagg. ii. 6. ‘For thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Yet once it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of Hosts.’ What can be this peace, but the future peaceful and happy state of the world under the Messiah? and [Page 33] what can be this shaking of the nations, that is to precede it, but great convulsions, and sudden revolutions, such as we see now beginning to take place?
The last great power that is foretold, as to arise among the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire is to be divided, is represented by the little horn, which is said to arise after the ten, signifying, I doubt not, the Papal power. It is said, Dan. vii. 20, ‘to have eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows, which made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the antient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.’ This power, in the interpretation of the vision, is said to be one that should ‘speak great words against the Most High, and to wear out the saints of the Most High, and to think to change times and laws.’ It is added, ‘They shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of time,’ the very period for the duration of the great antichristian power in the Revelation.
When the termination of this last power is described, it is said, ver. 26, ‘The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end,’ which clearly implies nothing of a peaceable nature, but something exceedingly violent and calamitous.
This is, no doubt, the same awful period that is spoken of in the last chapter of Daniel, ch. xii. ver. 1. ‘And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which [Page 34] standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.’ For that the resurrection, at least in part, will take place at the commencement of this great period, is agreeable to the uniform language of scripture on the subject.
All the prophecies in the New Testament concerning the fall of antichrist, and the commencement of the proper kingdom of heaven, and of Christ, exactly correspond with those which I have quoted from the Old Testament. The second coming of Christ is represented by the apostle Paul, 2 Thes. i. 7, as an event exceedingly awful, and dreadful to the wicked. ‘He will be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God.’
That the great antichristian power is to be destroyed at this second coming of Christ, and not properly before, and therefore that its final destruction will be sudden, is evident from what the same apostle says afterwards, 2 Thes. ii. 8. ‘Then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, in them that perish;’ characters sufficiently evident of the church of Rome.
[Page 35] The account that is given, in the book of Revelation, of the commencement of the last great period, signified by the blowing of the seventh trumpet, when the kingdoms of the earth are to become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. ii. 15, is immediately preceded by the third, and probably far the greatest of the three woes, the first of which was occasioned by the conquests of the Saracens, and the second by those of the Turks, as the order of the events described under the preceding trumpets evidently implies. And the state of things at this time is described in the following emphatical language of the four and twenty elders, who are said, on this occasion, to fall on their faces, and to worship God, Rev. xi. 17. ‘We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and wast, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they must be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward to thy servants the prophets, and shouldest destroy them that destroy the earth *.’
We have here a wonderful concurrence of great events, and among these is the anger of the nations, followed by the destruction of them that have destroyed the earth. Now how has the earth been destroyed by the men who have destroyed it, but by desolating wars, and the destruction that has thereby been made of mankind? In like manner, then, may we conclude that those destructive powers will themselves be destroyed, probably by one another, in [Page 36] those wars which the apostle James says arise from men's lusts, the lust of ambition and revenge. And when, my brethren, have we seen, or heard of, such anger and range in nations, such violence in carrying on war, and such destruction of men, as at this very time? It is thought that the last campaign only has destroyed many more men than all the eight years of the American war, and probably more than the long war before it; and from the increased armaments of the belligerent powers, and their increasing animosity, it is probable that the approaching campaign will be more bloody than the last.
What has more eminently contributed to destroy the earth, than the antichristian and idolatrous ecclesiastical establishments of Christianity, that have subsisted in these western parts of the world; many more persons having been destroyed by Christians, as they have called themselves, than by Heathens? And do we not see one, and one of the principal, of those establishments already, and completely, destroyed?
A more highly wrought picture of the destruction and slaughter of men, that will precede this glorious period in which 'God will take to himself his great power and reign,' we find in the 19th chapter of the Revelation, which describes the triumph of the saints on the occasion. ‘After these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia, Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God; for true and right are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whose, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.’ That this has a connexion with the second [Page 37] coming of Christ, appears from what immediately follows, ver. II. ‘And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he shall judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written which no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called THE WORD OF GOD. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean; and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture, and on his thigh, a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.’
That there will be literally great slaughter of men on the occasion, is clearly indicated in what follows, figurative and hyperbolical as the language is, ver. 17. ‘And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together, unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains; and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.’
The same is evident from the account of the pouring out of the third vial, Rev. xvi. 14, &c. ‘And the third angel poured out his vial on the rivers and fountains of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel [Page 38] of the waters, say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, who art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy.’
That this great slaughter will be made on the destruction of the antichristian power, called in this book the beast, supported by the kings of the earth, is evident from the next verses, ver. 19. ‘And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together, to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These were both cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were stain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the sowls were filled with their flesh.’
After this follows the description of the millenium, chap. xx. ver. 4. ‘And I saw thrones and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their forehead, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but [Page 39] they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years.’
To me it appears not improbable, that several circumstances in our Saviour's prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and the desolation of Judea, relate to this great and more distant period. For it was delivered in answer to a question put to him by his disciples, which respected both the events, on the idea of their being coincident. 'Tell us,' say they, Matt. xxiv. 3, ‘When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age?’ In answer to this, he says, first, as it is in Luke, whose account in this case seems to be the most orderly and distinct of any, chap. xxi. ver. 9. ‘But when ye shall hear of wars, and commotions, be not terrified; for these things must first come to pass, but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights, and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my names sake.’
I am the more inclined to think that some things in this prediction have this farther reference, because in them Jesus expressly quotes the language of Daniel recited above, which unquestionably has this reference; as when he says, Mat. xxix. 20. ‘There shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be: And except those [Page 40] days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened.’
It seems still more evident that this prediction admits of this interpretation, from what follows, which exactly corresponds to the more antient prophecies. Mat. xxiv. 29. ‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken;’ which are almost the very words of the prophet Haggai quoted above. ‘And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.’
That this great tribulation was a distant event, and did not respect the Jews, but the Gentiles, is probable from Jesus calling it, Luke xxi. 25, 'the distress of nations,' or 'the nations,' i.e. 'Gentiles,' 'men's hearts,' he subjoins, ‘failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken,’ that is, there will be great convulsions, and violent revolutions, in kingdoms and states; ‘And then shall they see the [...] Man coming in clouds, with power and great glory.’
That this tribulation is coincident with that which is to precede the restoration of the Jews, is probable from his saying immediately before, ver. 24. ‘Jerusalem shall [Page 41] be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled,’ that is, till it shall come to be their turn to be punished; the destruction of the Gentiles, who had oppressed the Jews, commencing with the restoration of that highly favoured nation.
Jesus farther says, Luke xxi. 22. ‘These be the days of vengeance, that all the things which are written may be fulfilled’ Now the only days of vengeance particularly announced by the antient prophets, to which Jesus here alludes, relate to the judgments of God upon the Gentiles who had shewn enmity to the Jews, and especially in their opposition to their re-settlement in their own country.
There is nothing more clear in the whole compass of prophecy, as I have shewn on another occasion, than that after the destined period for the dispersion and calamities of the Jews, the heaviest of all the divine judgments will fall upon those nations by whom they shall have been oppressed; and this will involve almost all the nations of the world, but more especially those of these western parts, which have been subject first to the Roman empire, and then to the see of Rome.
Moses says, Dent. xxx. 7. ‘The Lord thy God will put all these curses’ (those which were threatened to fall upon them) ‘upon thine enemies, and upon them that hate thee, and persecute thee.’ Isa. xliii. 25. ‘I will contend with them that contend with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine, and all flesh [Page 42] shall know that I, Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.’ Zeph. iii. 19. ‘Behold at that time I will undo all that afflict thee.’ Jer. xxx. 11. ‘Though I make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in measure.’ Ezekiel, speaking of the happy times that will take place on the restoration of the Jews, says, chap. xxviiii. ver. 26. ‘Yea they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them, and they shall know that I am Jehovah their God.’ Lastly, Zechariah says, chap. xii. ver. 9. ‘It shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.’
That there is to be a day of visitation for all the nations in this part of the world (all of whom have distinguished themselves by their oppression and massacre of the Jews) will now, I presume, be sufficiently apparent, if there be any truth in prophecy. You will therefore naturally ask, whether there be any ground for thinking, that those judgments are now about to take place; if so, how long they will probably continue, and when will be the commencement of the glorious and happy times that are to follow.
That those great troubles, so frequently mentioned in the antient prophecies, are now commencing, I do own I strongly suspect, as I intimated the last time that I addressed you on this occasion; and the events of the last year have contributed to strengthen that suspicion; the storm, however, may still blow over for the present, and the great scene of calamity be reserved for some future time, though I cannot think it will be deferred long.
[Page 43] As to the precise time when the scene of calamity will terminate, and the proper kingdom of Christ will commence, he himself did not know, either before his death and resurrection, or afterwards. When he was questioned on the subject, he expressly said, Mark xiii. 32, ‘But of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.’ When, after his resurrection, the disciples asked him, saying, Acts i. 6, ‘Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?’ he replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.’ It is enough for us to know the certainty of these great events, that our faith may not fail on the approach of the predicted calamity, confident that it will have the happiest issue in God's own time. For the same Being who foretold the evil which we shall see come to pass, has likewise foretold the good that is to follow it.
That the second coming of Christ will be coincident with the commencement of the millenium, or the future peaceable and happy state of the world (which, according to all the prophecies, will take place after the restoration of the Jews) is evident from what Peter said, in his address to the Jews, on the occasion of his healing the lame man at the gate of the temple, Acts iii. 19. ‘Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you, whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.’ Now [Page 44] nothing is more evident than that the only period that can be called the time of the restitution of all things, or the paradisiacal and happy state of the world, foretold by the antient prophets, will follow the restoration of the Jews to their own country. This, and nothing else, is the great burden of all antient prophecy.
That this will be a joyful event to the Jewish nation, when they will be convinced, perhaps by his personal appearance among them, that he is their promised Messiah, actually coming in the clouds of heaven, appears from what our Saviour himself says, Mat. xxi. 9. Luke xiii. 35. ‘Verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;’ the very cry at which the Scribes and Pharisees were so much offended in the children, when Jesus entered Jerusalem. This very cry would then be that of the whole nation.
But though our Saviour could not fix the time of his second coming, or the commencement of his proper kingdom, he sufficiently forewarned his disciples of the signs of its approach, and of some circumstances that will immediately precede it, to which it certainly behoves us to be attentive.
Before this great event the gospel is to be preached to all the world. Mat. xxiv. 14. ‘And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached through all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come.’ If by the whole world, we mean the Roman empire, this was accomplished before the destruction of Jerusalem, and therefore may refer to that event. But it may have [Page 45] a farther reference, and now there is hardly any nation that has not had an opportunity of having the gospel preached to them; and the late wonderful extension of navigation, by which the whole of the habitable world has been explored by Christians (though this was by no means the object of the navigators) will, no doubt, be the means of carrying the knowledge of the gospel to a greater extent than ever; and the troubles of Europe will greatly contribute to the same end. Times of trouble make men serious. With these serious impressions on their minds many will fly to distant countries, and carry the knowledge of the gospel with them; and, it may be hoped, in greater purity, and consequently more worthy of their acceptance, than it has hitherto appeared to them.
Another preceding event, and of a more definite kind, is the great prevalence of infidelity, Luke xviii.8. ‘When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith in the earth.’ Now the prevalence of infidelity of late years has been very remarkable in all countries in which antichristian hierarchies have been established. And certainly all civil establishments of Christianity, in which power is claimed to prescribe articles of faith, to make laws to bind the consciences of Christians, and inflict temporal punishments for the violation of them, are properly antichristian. For, as Christians, we are commanded to acknowledge no man master upon earth, since one is our master, even Christ.
Moreover, such absurd doctrines have been established by human authority, and such horrid punishments have been inflicted upon men for obeying the dictates of conscience, [Page 46] under all those hierarchies, protestant ones not excepted, that the minds of men have revolted at them; and, shocked at such enormities, have thrown off the belief and profession of Christianity altogether. This was long ago the case in Italy, where the enormities of the court of Rome were the most conspicuous; and many of the cardinals, and some of the popes themselves, are well known to have been unbelivers.
That this has long been the case in France, is what no person acquainted with that country the last fifty years will deny. It is now become more generally known, because it has had a better opportunity of showing itself. That, in similar circumstances, the same, or something approaching to it, would not appear to be the case with us, is more than those who are acquainted with the state of things in this respect will vouch for.
When I was myself in France in 1774, I saw sufficient reason to believe, that hardly any person of eminence, in church or state, and especially in the least degree eminent in philosophy, or literature, (whose opinions in all countries are, sooner or later, adopted by others) were believers in Christianity; and no person will suppose that there has been any change in favour of Christianity the last twenty years. A person, I believe not living, and one of the best informed men in the country, assured me, very gravely, that (paying me a compliment) I was the first person he had ever, met with, of whose understanding he had any opinion, who pretended to believe Christianity. To this all the company assented. And not only were the philosophers, and other leading men in France, at that time unbelievers in Christianity, or deists, but [Page 47] atheists, denying the being of a God. Nay Voltaire himself, who was then living, was considered by them as a weak-minded man, because, though an unbeliever in revelation, he believed in a God.
When I asked these gentlemen what it was that appeared to them so incredible in Christianity, that they rejected it without farther examination (for they did not pretend to have employed much time on the subject) they mentioned the doctrines of transubstantiation, and the trinity, as things too palpably absurd to require any discussion. It is, without, doubt, the civil establishment of such Christianity as this, at which the common sense of mankind will ever revolt, that makes so many unbelievers of persons who will not take the trouble to read the scriptures for themselves, or who have been so long put upon them. These systems, and the blindness and obstinacy in the governing powers, in rejecting every proposal for reforming the most palpable abuses, and the most manifest oppressions, make unbelievers much faster than all rational Christians can unmake them.
Nothing, however, can ever counteract the fatal influence of such corrupt Christianity, as is supported by these hierarchies, which are also intolerbaly expensive and oppressive, but the exhibition of rational Christianity, with its proper evidence, by unitartian Christians. But these are yet so few, compared with the bulk of Christians, who are trinitarians, that superficial observers, as unbelieve's in general who judge by the great mass are, pay little regard to their representations.
[Page 48] Happily, this infidelity is, in its turn, destroying those antichristian establishments which gave birth to it; and and when this great revolution shall be accomplished, genuine unadulterated Christianity, meeting with less obstruction, will not fail to recommend and establish itself by its own evidence, and become the religion of the whole world. True Christianity stands in no need of the aid of civil power.
This was the idea of the great Sir Isaac Newton, as appears from the evidence of the excellent Mr Whiston, in the following passage of his Essay on the Revelation,2d edition, p.321. ‘Sir Isaac Newton had a very sagacious conjecture, which he told Dr. Clarke, from whom I received it, that the overbearing tyranny and persecuting power of the antichristian party, which hath so long corrupted Christianity, and enslaved the Christian world, must be put a stop to, and broken to pieces by the prevalence of infidelity, for some time, before primitive Christianity could be restored; which seems to be the very means that is now working in Europe, for the same good and great end of Providence. Possibly he might think that our Saviour's own words implied it: When the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith on the earth? Luke xviii.8. See Constitut. Ap [...]. vi. 18; vii. view.32; or possibly he might think no other way so likely to do it in human affairs: it being, I acknowledgeledge, too sadly evident, that there is not at present religion enough in Christendom, to put a stop to such antichristian tyranny and persecution, upon any genuine principles of Christianity.’
[Page 49] The concluding observation of Mr. Whiston appears to me to be very just. It seems probable that no Christians, not even the freest, and boldest, would ever have done what was necessary to be done, to the overturning of these corrupt establishments of Christianity, and what unbelievers have lately done in France.
This great event of the late revolution in France appears to me, and many others, to be not improbably the accomplishment of the following part of the Revelation, chap. xi.3. ‘And the same hour, there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men (or literally, names of men) seven thousand, and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to God.’
An earthquake, as I have observed, may signify a great convulsion, and revolution, in states; and as the Papal dominions were divided into ten parts, one of which, and one of the principal of them, was France, it is properly called a tenth part of the city, or of the mystical Babylon. And if by names of men, we understand their titles, such as those of the nobility, and other hereditary distinctions, all of which are now abolished, the accomplishment of the prediction will appear to be wonderfully exact. It is farther remarkable, that this passage immediately precedes what I have quoted before concerning the nations being angry, and the wrath of God being come, for the destruction of those who have destroyed the earth.
It is no less remarkable, that the kings of France were those who gave the Popes their temporalities, and the rank they now hold among the princes of the world. [Page 50] And it is foretold, Rev. xvii. 16, that ‘those kings who gave their power and strength unto the beast, shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree to give their kingdoms unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.’
May we not hence conclude it to be highly probable, that what has taken place in France will be done in other countries? But the total destruction of this great antichristian power seems to be reserved for the second coming of Christ in person, by the brightness of whose appearance, and not before, he is, according to the apostle Paul, to be completely destroyed. And with this view, as well as others, every Protestant Christian should say, 'Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.' In the mean time, let us attend to the solemn admonition in the Revelation, xviii. 4. ‘I heard a voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities *.’
[Page 51] As the second coming of Christ will be during the general prevalence of insidelity, so it will be sudden, and most unexpected. This is the language of our Saviour himself, Mat. xxiv. 37. ‘As the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, unto the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not till the flood came, and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.’ Luke xvii. 28. ‘Likewise, also as it was in the days of Lot. They did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, he rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be when the Son of Man is revealed.’ The apostle Paul also says, 1 Thes. v. 2. ‘Yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.’
But sudden and unexpected as the coming of Christ will be, it will be most conspicuous. Speaking of his return, he says, Mat. xxiv. 26. ‘If they shall say unto you, Behold he’ (i.e. the Messiah.) ‘is in the desert, go not forth. Behold he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of [Page 52] the Son of Man be.’ As the ascent of Jesus was conspicuous, and probably leisurely, so will be his descent. While the disciples were viewing him as he ascended, we read, Acts i. 10, ‘two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.’ Here is no figurative language, no ambiguous expression. Neither is there any in what the apostle says concerning the resurrection of the virtuous dead, which will take place at the coming of Christ, and which, in the Revelation is called the first resurrection, 1 Thes. iv. 14. ‘If we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even so them also who sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him. For this we say unto you, by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall have no advantage over those who are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive, and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’ Again he says, 1 Cor. xv. 51. ‘We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’
The certainty of this great catastrophe should be a sufficient motive with all Christians, who, as such, entertain no doubt with respect to the fact, to keep it constantly in view, and to regulate their whole conduct with a view to [Page 53] it. But if we apprehend it to be in a stricter sense of the word really near, which, from the present aspect of things, I own I am inclined to think may be the case, our attention is drawn to it in a most forcible manner. Did we really expect to see this great event, viz. the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, we should hardly think, or speak, of any thing else; and the present commotions in the political world, extraordinary as they certainly are, would appear as nothing in comparison with it. What would otherwise be great, would, with respect to this, event seem exceedingly little, and insignificant.
What then, my brethren, is the practical inference that we should draw from finding, or even suspecting, ourselves to be in this situation, the kingdom of heaven being at hand, but to repent, and by a change of heart and of life to be prepared for it; that ‘when our Lord shall return, and take an account of his servants, we may be found of him without spot and blameless, and not be ashamed before him at his coming?’ 'Seeing,' as the apostle Peter says, ‘we look for these things, what manner of persons ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness.’
The aspect of things, it cannot be denied, is, in the highest degree, alarming, making life, and every thing in it, peculiarly uncertain. What could have been more unexpected than the events of any one of the last four years, at the beginning of it? What a total revolution in the ideas, and conduct of a whole nation! What a total subversion of principles, what reverses of fortune, and what a waste of life! In how bloody and eventful a war are we engaged, how inconsiderable in its beginning, how rapid and wide [Page 54] in its progress, and how dark with respect to its termination! At first it resembled Elijah's cloud, appearing no bigger than a man's hand; but now it covers, and darkens, the whole European hemisphere!
Now, whatever we may think, as politicians (and with us every man will have his own opinion, on a subject so interesting to us all) I would, in this place, admonish you not to overlook the hand of God in the great scene that is now opening upon us. Nothing can ever come to pass without his appointment, or permission; and then, whatever be the views of men, we cannot doubt, but that his are always wise, righteous, and good. Let us, therefore, exercise faith in him, believing that though ‘clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are for ever the habitation of his throne.’ All those who appear on the theatre of public affairs, in the field, or the cabinet, both those whom we praise, and those whom we blame, are equally instruments in his hands, and execute all his pleasure. Let this reflection, then, in our cooler moments, (and I hope we shall endeavour, in all the tumult of affairs, to make these as many as possible) lead us to look more to God, and less to man; and consequently, in all the troubles in which we may be involved, repose the most unshaken confidence in him, and thence 'in patience possess our own souls,' especially when it is evident that it is wholly out of our power to alter the course of events. If we be careful so to live as to be at all times prepared to die, what have we to fear, even though, as the Psalmist says, the ‘earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea?’ Whatever turn the course of things may take, it cannot then be to our disadvantage. What, then, should hinder our contemplating [Page 55] the great scene, that seems now to be opening upon us, awful as it is, with tranquillity, and even with satisfaction, from our firm persuasion, that its termination will be glorious and happy?
Lastly, the more there are who indulge these enlarged and just views, who cultivate a sense of piety to God (which will always lead us to suppress resentment, and to promote good-will towards men) the more favour, in the righteous administration of Providence, will be shewn to the country in which they shall be found. God, we know, would have spared even Sodom, if so many as ten righteous men had been found in it; and our Saviour, alluding, as I am inclined to think, to these very times, which seem to be approaching, says, that ‘for the elect's sake they will be shortened.’ For our own sakes, therefore, for the sake of our friends, of our country, and of every thing that is dear to us in it, let us attend to the admonition of my text, 'to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' It is 'righteousness that exalteth a nation,' and 'sin' only is the 'reproach,' and will be the ruin, 'of any people.'
APPENDIX.
HAVING originally got the leading ideas that are enlarged upon in the preceding discourse from Dr. Hartley's Observations on Man, a work published in 1749, I think it may not be amiss to subjoin to it some extracts from that work, as, from his authority, the serious apprehensions with which I have, ever since I read it, been impressed, will receive more weight, than they could acquire from any person, who, writing in these times, might be supposed to be particularly influenced by the aspect of them, and by his own situation with respect to them. I wish likewise by this, as well as by every other means, to direct the attention of my readers to that most excellent work, to which I am indebted, if I may so say, for the whole moral conformation of my mind.
How near the dissolution of the present governments, generally or particularly, may be, would be great rashness to affirm. Christ will come in this sense also ‘as a thief in the night.’ Our duty is therefore to watch and to pray; to be faithful stewards; to give meat, and all other requisities, in due season, to those under our care; and to endeavour by these, and all other lawful means, to preserve the government, under whose protection we live, from dissolution, seeking the peace of it, and submitting to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. No prayers, no endeavours of this kind can fail of having some [Page 58] good effect, public or private, for the preservation of ourselves and others. The great dispensations of Providence are conducted by means that are either secret, or, if they appear, that are judged feeble and inefficacious.—No man can tell, however private his station may be, but his servent prayer, may avail to the salvation of much people. But it is more peculiarly the duty of magistrates thus to watch over their subjects, to pray for them, and to set about the reformation of all matters civil and ecclesiastical, to the utmost of their power. Good governors may promote the welfare and continuance of a state, and wicked ones must accelerate its ruin."
"The sacred history affords us instances of both kinds, and they are recorded there for the admonition of kings and princes in all futur times." Vol. ii. p. 368.
"There are many prophecies which declare the fall of the ecclesiastical powers of the Christian world. And though each church seems to slatter itself with the hopes of being exempted; yet it is very plain that the prophetical characters belong to all. They have all left the true, pure, simple religion, and teach for doctrines the commandments of men. They are all merchants of the earth, and have set up a kingdom of this world, abounding in riches, temporal power, and external pomp. They have all a dogmatizing spirit, and persecute such as do not receive their own mark, and worship the image which they have set up. They all neglect Christ's command of preaching the gospel to all nations, and even that of going to 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel;' there being innumerable multitudes in all Christian countries who have never been taught to read, and who are in other respects [Page 59] also destitute of the means of saving knowledge. 'Tis very true that the church of Rome is ‘Babylon the great and the mother of harlots,’ and of the ‘abominations of the earth.’ But all the rest have copied her example more or less. They have all received money like Gehazi; and therefore the leprosy of Naaman will cleave to them, and to their seed for ever. And this impurity may be considered, not only as justifying the application of the prophecies to all the Christian churches, but as a natural cause for their downfall. The corrupt governors of the several churches will ever oppose the true gospel, and in so doing will bring ruin upon themselves." P. 371.
"As the downfall of the Jewish state under Titus was the occasion of the publication of the gospel to us Gentiles, so our downfall may contribute to the restoration of the Jews, and both together bring on the final publication and prevalence of the true religion. Thus the type and the thing typisied will coincide. The first fruits and the lump are made holy together." P. 375.
The downfall of the civil and ecclesiastical powers must both be attended with such public calamities, as will make men serious, and also drive them From the countries of Christendom into the remote parts of the world, particularly into the East and West-Indies; whither, consequently, they will carry their religion, now purisied from errors and superstitions. P. 377.
"That worldly-mindedness, and neglect of duty in the clergy, must hasten our ruin, cannot be doubted, These are 'the salt of the earth,' and the 'light of the 'world.' If they lose their favour, the whole nation, [Page 60] where this happens, will be converted into one putrid mass. If their light become darkness, the whole body politic must be dark also. The degeneracy of the court of Rome, and secular bishops abroad, are too notorious to be mentioned. They almost cease to give offence, as they scarce pretend to any function or authority besides what is temporal. Yet still there is great mockery of God in their external pomp, and prosanation of sacred titles; which, sooner or later, will bring down vengeance upon them. And as the court of Rome has been at the head of the great apostasy, and corruption of the Christian church; and seems evidently marked out in various places of the scriptures, the severest judgments are probably reserved for her. But I rather choose to speak to what falls under the observation of all serious, attentive persons in this kingdom. The superior clergy are in general, ambitious, and eager in the pursuit of riches; slatterers of the great, and subservient to party interest; negligent of their own immediate charges, and also of the inferior clergy, and their immediate charges. The inferior clergy imitate their superiors, and in general take little more care of their parishes than barely what is necessary to avoid the censure of the law. And the clergy of all ranks are, in general, either ignorant, or if they do apply, it is rather to profane learning, to philosophical or political matters, than to the study of the scriptures, of the Oriental languages, of the fathers, and ecclesiastical authors, and of the writings of devout men in different ages of the church. I say this is in general the case; i.e. far the greater part of the clergy of all ranks in this kingdom are of this kind. But there are some of a quite different character; men eminent for piety, sacred learning, and the faithful discharge of their duty, and [Page 61] who, it is not to be doubted, mourn in secret for the crying sins of this and other nations. The clergy, in general, are also far more free from open and gross vices, than any other denomination of men amongst us, physicians, lawyers, merchants, soldiers, &c. However, this may be otherwise hereafter. For it is said that in some foreign countries the superior clergy, in others the inferior, are as corrupt and abandoned, or more so, than any other order of men. The clergy in this kingdom seem to be what one might expect from the mixture of good and bad influences that affect them. But then, if we make this candid allowance for them, we must also make it for persons in the high ranks of life, for their infidelity, lewdness, and fordid selfinterest. And though it becomes an humble, charitable and impartial man, to make all these allowances, yet he cannot but see, that the judgments of God are ready to fall upon us all for these things; and that they may fall first, and with the greatest weight, upon those, who, having the highest office committed to them in the spiritual kingdom of Christ, neglect it, and are become mere ‘merchants of the earth,’ and ‘shepherds that feed themselves, and not their flocks.’ P. 450.
"These are my real and earnest sentiments upon these points. It would be great rashness to fix a time for the breaking of the storm that hangs over our heads, as it is blindness and insatuation not to see it; nor to be aware, that it may break. And yet this insatuation has always attended all falling states. The kingdoms of Judah and Israel, which are the types of all the rest, were thus insatuated. It may be, that the prophecies concerning Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Egypt, &c. will become applicable to particular kingdoms before their fall, and warn [Page 62] the good to flee out of them. And Christendom in general seems ready to assume to itself the place and lot of the Jews, after they had rejected their Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Let no one deceive himself, or others. The present circumstances of the world are extraordinary and critical, beyond what has ever yet happened. If we refuse to let Christ reign over us, as our Redeemer and Saviour, we must be slain before his face, as enemies, at his second coming." 455.
To these passages from Dr. Hartley, I shall add another from an excellent Sermon preached in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, December 13, 1793, the day appointed for the commemoration of the Benefactors that of Society. P. 13▪ &c.
"Nature recoils with horror at the spectacle now presented by their unfortunate country [France]. Under the guidance, however, of divine revelation, the contemplative mind may discern the signs of these times, and the hand of Providence directing the madness of the people. The oracles of truth, when foretelling the persecutions to be endured by Christians, assure us, ‘He that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword.’ They have shed (saith the angel) the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. Destruction awaits the persecutor. And it must excite our astonishment to see vestiges of this righteous dispensation in what is passing before us. Lyons is recorded in early history, as the spot where a company of Martyrs glorisied God. Lyons is now devoted, and its name erased from the memory of man. Paris once streamed with the blood of the Hugonots: Paris hath since been dyed with the slaughter [Page 63] of that court and clergy, which instigated the unutterable deed."
"Let us, too, be honest in declaring, whether if the massacre of Saint Bartholomew, the revocation of the edict of Nantz, or a spanish act of faith, were dictated by the spirit of Antichrist; the deprivation of the TWO THOUSAND ejected Ministers; the severities which forced our countrymen to take refuge in the wilds of America, and the two religious conflagrations which have disgraced our own days, demonstrated the presiding influence of a mind like that which was in Jesus."
"One particular in which the prophecy appears to enlighten us, is the fate of the Gallican church. The revolted city of the apocalypse is supposed to represent the antichristian community established in the European territory of the western Roman empire, still subsisting in its pollarchical and dismembered state. Of this city it is written, that the fall of a tenth part would a short time precede that of the rest; and that its overthrow would be accompanied by an earthquake, and the destruction of seven chiliads of the names of men. As France was one of the ten kingdoms founded on the ruins of the western empire; as violent commotions are now agitating the political world, from the Borysthenes to the Atlantic; as seven classes have lately been deprived of their privileges and titles; the curiosity of the Christian scholar is beyond measure excited; and will be gratified with the discovery of various circumstances which will confirm his faith; but which a desire of brevity obliges me to refer to his private consideration. One question, however, I cannot help proposing; that if we be of that chosen people who [Page 64] have in truth come out of Babylon, who partake not of her sins, and merit not her plagues, why should we appear unprepared, or disinclined, to comply with the angelic mandate, and begin, at least, some prelude to that song of triumph, 'Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.'
‘The legislators of France are Deists! While they expatiated freely in every region of useful science, they were enjoined to " take for granted" those controversial matters of religion, their forefathers had some good reason for adhering to *.’—"They were not permitted to distinguish the doctrines of our Lord from those of their church. Their mind arrived at maturity in some points, disdained the puerilities on which they dared not speculate; and rejected the gospel, on account of the meretricious dress in which it was introduced to them."
"The legislators of France are Deists! Much as we may lament their infidelity in their private capacities, we rejoice that, as law-givers, they are unbelievers. Indifferent alike to all professions, and all sects, they will not form an unnatural alliance with one, nor proscribe all others with civil incapacities, imprisonment, and death. Every persuasion will enjoy their equal and wise protection; and genuine Christianity undisguised with absurd confessions, and not made contemptible by ridiculous ceremonies, will exert her proper energies; will present to the understanding of the individual her miraculous [Page 65] credentials of prophecies completed in our time; and gain her establishment, not in word, but in deed; not in the civil code, but in the heart; not as a necessary engine of the state, but as the truth, and the way to eternal life. Superstition will no longer ‘rear her mitred front in their courts and parliaments *;’ but the dominion of Christ, triumphant in that country, will be an earnest of his obtaining the ‘heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.’
The Use of Christianity, especially in difficult Times; A SERMON, DELIVERED AT THE GRAVEL PIT MEETING IN HACKNEY: MARCH 30, 1794. BEING The Author's Farewell Discourse TO HIS CONGREGATION.
PREFACE.
HAVING been requested to publish this sermon, I have annexed to it my letter of resignation, for the sake of introducing the answer of the congregation, and the addresses that have been sent to me, on occasion of my leaving this country, from the two united congregations at Birmingham, from the Unitarian Society, and from the young men and women who have attended my private lectures on the subject of natural and revealed religion. I wish to express my gratitude for the affection that has been shewn me, by perpetuating, as far as I can, the marks that I have received of it. These addresses will also serve to shew that, though calumniated, and execrated, by many, this has been more than compensated by the warm attachment of others; which may encourage persons in similar situations to persevere in what appears to them to be right, fearless of any consequences that may result from it. These addresses contain some expressions that are too highly complimentary. But, as Dr. Franklin used to say, ‘undue praise may serve to balance undue censure.’
[Page 70] It is painful, no doubt, to take leave, as I do in this discourse, of such a congregation as that with which I have been so happily connected, and which promised increasing satisfaction. But such genuine marks of esteem and affection, as I have received from the members of it, cannot be unattended with pleasure. No joy, or sorrow, in this life, can be expected to be wholly unmixed. This is a world of trial and discipline; and we should be willing to take the painful, as well as the pleasurable ingredients in it. It will be happy if we be improved by them, and be thereby prepared for a state, in which this kind of discipline will not be necessary; where there will be ‘no more pain,’ and where ‘all tears will be wiped from our eyes.’
I also take this opportunity of expressing my satisfaction in the candid attention with which I have of late been heard by unusually crowded audiences, consisting chiefly of strangers; thinking it to be a symptom of abating prejudice, and of the prevalence of better information than has hitherto obtained. The time, I hope, is approaching, when all delusion will vanish; when men and things will be seen in their true light; and the prevalence of truth will, no doubt, be attended with an increase of general happiness.
FAREWELL DISCOURSE.
BEING now to resign my pastoral charge among you, my thoughts are naturally turned to the sentiments expressed by the apostle Paul, when he was in a similar situation with respect to the church of Ephesus. I do not pretend to his zeal or activity; but my wishes for your best interests are sincere and ardent, and I cannot shew it better than by directing your attention to sentiments most interesting to us all as Christians, and most conducive to our common edification.
With Paul I commend you to the good providence of God; praying that he would direct you in all your ways, and especially that you may be led to a right knowledge of the gospel, that you may imbibe the genuine spirit, and practise the duties of it, as the only way to ensure your present and future happiness. In his own emphatical [Page 72] language, in my text, ‘I commend you to God, and the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified.’ By securing the latter, you cannot entertain a doubt of your title to the former. For, as the same apostle observes, ‘all things work together for good to them that love God,’ the great object of the dispensation of the gospel being ‘to purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.’
This is also the great object of all Christian churches. They consist of persons who form themselves into societies for the purpose of promoting their mutual edification, and with this view they provide themselves with such ministers, or assistants (for such is the real meaning and nature of our office) as they deem best calculated to promote that end; giving them proper leisure for the study of the scriptures, for storing their minds with such knowledge as will best qualify them to instruct others, and for the acquirement of every other accomplishment that can enable them to do it to the most advantage. An office and employment the most truly useful, and therefore honourable.
The great importance of this object of Christian societies is strongly expressed by the apostle in my text. It is nothing less than to build up the members of them, that is, in faith and holiness, to raise and improve their characters, in order ‘to give them an inheritance among them that are sanctified;’ i. e. to prepare them for future happiness. It is, as it were, to take men out of the world, to wean them from the low pursuits and gratifications of it, and to make them citizens of heaven; to raise the sons of men to the high character, and honour, [Page 73] of the sons of God, and make them heirs of a happy immortality. And is not every other object low and mean compared with this? Give it, then, that place in your regards to which it is entitled, and, amidst all the necessary cares of this life, never lose sight of your great destination for another. Suffer not your minds to be fascinated by any thing that this world can present to you; but, as the apostle exhorts, holding all other things in deservedly low estimation, ‘walk worthy of God, and be fruitful in every good word and work to do his will.’ 'Seeing,' as another apostle observes, ‘that all these things must be dissolved,’ since all our connexions here must soon be broken, at least by death, and an infinitely more important state awaits us beyond the grave, ‘what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness?’
All the connexions we form here, the most endearing and important ones, are slight and transient. We may flatter ourselves that we are planning our destination for a long time to come, and make our arrangements accordingly, as I did when I was settled at Birmingham, and again with you; but unforeseen circumstances occur, and all our plans are deranged, new ones must be formed, and a great portion of life is often employed, and in, a manner wasted, in making new arrangements, which may prove to be as temporary, and to as little purpose.
But, my brethren, the gospel, the study and practice of which it has been my business to recommend to you, holds out to us an object as much more fixed and stable, as it is in itself of more value. On habitations here are perishable, liable to be destroyed by lawless violence; [Page 74] but there are ‘houses not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.’ Here we have no continuing city, no place of absolute security, where we can depend upon not being disturbed. But in heaven is ‘a rest for the people of God,’ a place where 'the wicked cease from troubling,' and where those who are weary with their unceasing persecution may depend upon being unmolested. Let us, then, when we are harassed and disturbed here, and especially when we are exposed to disturbance because we ourselves are disposed to be quiet, wishing to live at peace ourselves, and desirous of promoting a disposition to peace in others, look forwards to that peaceful and happy state, and cultivate a temper of mind most suited to it.
Permit me to add, that I flatter myself our approaching separation may furnish and additional motive for doing every thing in our power to secure a happy meeting, and a more permanent connexion, in a world of greater stability than this. On my part, I have thought the connexion a happy one, and was far from having any wish ever to change it on this side the grave; and such, I would hope, has been your disposition with respect to me. And what is it that makes heaven itself most desirable, but the society of such friends as we wish to live with here? This world, in its present state, would be sufficiently paradisiacal for men, if they were what they ought to be, and what they are capable of being, if they were as improved in all respects as we have reason to think they hereafter will be. If, then, our present separation be painful, let us be looking, and preparing, for a state in which no event so mutually disagreeable will occur.
[Page 75] Our present situation, and that of the Dissenters in general, calls in a particular manner for the exercise of Christian principles. The cause of the Dissenters may now be be said to be, what Christianity itself originally was, and long continued to be, viz. ‘a sect every where spoken against.’ We are exposed to insult and outrage, though not to open and avowed persecution, on this account. But this situation, though not to be desired by us, is most favourable to the cultivation of that temper of mind which is most eminently Christian, to the virtues of patience, fortitude, meekness, forgiveness of injuries, and heavenly-mindedness; virtues of the most exalted kind, contributing most to the dignity of human nature, but for which there is comparatively but little call, or occasion, in a season of prosperity.
'Woe unto you,' says our Saviour, ‘when all men speak well of you.’ But, ‘blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake.’ Let us, in the first place, then, shew that the evil that is spoken of us is falsely spoken, that is, give reasonable evidence of it; for to satisfy the violently prejudiced is impossible, and not to be expected of any man. It is what our Saviour himself and the apostles were unequal to. But this being done, with respect to those who are at all candid, and who will hear reason, conscious integrity is abundantly sufficient to support a man under any calumny.
Moreover, conscious of our own integrity, we can look down upon our enemies, not with hatred or ill will, but with compassion, as beings in a depraved and imperfect [Page 76] state, neither qualified to be happy themselves, nor to communicate happiness to others.
All persons under the influence of malignant passions are necessarily, and by the invariable law of our natures, in an uneasy state. Their habitual feelings, even when gratified, are unpleasant. But the feelings of those who are merely exposed to the malignity of others, without feeling any thing of the kind themselves, are serene, and highly pleasurable; besides being attended with a consciousness of superiority of character, and of greater advances in intellectual improvement.
The man who obeys the first impulse of natural appetite, corporeal or mental, gives no proof of his being even a rational agent; for brutes are governed by appetite. But the man who refrains from gratifying his appetite, and natural desire, whether that of revenging himself upon his enemy, or any other, must do it by the help of reason. He must have some degree of comprehension of mind, which takes in distant objects; and this is the thing that manifests a superiority of character.
The man who can even defer his revenge, and merely restrain his passion, is superior to him who gives way to the first impulse of it. But he who can so far make allowance for the hatred of his enemies, as to feel compassion and good-will towards them, while he knows the ill will they bear him, is infinitely superior. We are not moved to anger by the anger of a child. Neither, then, should we be by the anger and malignity of those grown persons, whom, with respect to intellectual and moral improvement, we regard in no higher a light.
[Page 77] On account of the low rank of every sentiment bordering on anger and resentment (requiring only particular impressions to excite them, and much reflection to suppress them) such as zeal for any particular cause, even that of religion, it is easy to excite it, and lead men to act upon it with the greatest violence, so as to hate and persecute others who differ from them. Men who have no real religion at all can do this, as is evident in all persecutions, in the history of the crusades, when hundreds of thousands, moved, as they imagined with holy zeal, went to drive the infidels from the Holy Land, and also in the riots in Birmingham. Also to suffer in any cause with the spirit with which men die in battle, that is, with obstinacy and hatred, is not very difficult. Mahometans fight for their religion, and the North American Indians die with the greatest heroism in this respect. But to suffer and die with meekness, with resignation to God, and good-will to men, not excepting our persecutors; to die praying with our Saviour, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ is a far more difficult attainment, but by no means uncommon among Christians.
Still less shall we be disturbed at the malignity of others, when we consider that our enemies, as well as our friends, are acting the part assigned them by the Supreme Ruler of the universe, that they are in their proper place as well as we in ours (though, being instigated by their own bad dispositions, this is no apology for their conduct) and that the plan of the great drama, in which we are all actors, is so arranged, that good will finally result from the evil that we experience ourselves, or see in others. 'The wrath of man,' says the Psalmist, ‘shall praise God.’
[Page 78] All the opposition we meet with makes part of the useful and necessary discipline of life, and no great character could be formed, or any great good be done, without it. Our Saviour, the apostles, the reformers from Popery, and the Puritans and Nonconformists, were equally exposed to it. And shall we complain? We ought rather to think ourselves honoured by it, and, with the apostles, ‘rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus;’ reflecting, that ‘if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him, and be glorified together.’ Of our Lord himself it is said, that ‘for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame.’ Ought we not, then, I will not say be displeased, and complain, but ought we not to rejoice, and be thankful, for every part of that dispensation of Providence, which we cannot doubt is calculated, and intended, to be so highly beneficial to us?
If we take a calm retrospect of our own past experience, we shall all of us, I am persuaded, be satisfied that many events, seemingly the most disastrous, were, in fact, the most beneficial to us; that they were really mercies, though in the disguise of judgments. And shall we not then conclude, that every other evil, coming from the same hand, equally leads to good, though we may not for the present see it to be so. When Jacob lost his beloved son Joseph, he said, ‘All these things are against me;’ though it appeared afterwards to be eminently for him. As the psalmist says with respect to God, ‘Clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.’
Thus instructed by the unerring word of God, and our own experience, as far as it goes, concurring with it, [Page 79] we may be prepared to adopt the noble language of the prophet Habakkuk; who, after enumerating the loss of every thing valuable to man, and that not only tended to his comfort, but was seemingly necessary to his existence in this life, could say, ‘Yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation.’ With respect to the society of friends, and every thing else that is most dear to us (and many of these I shall be deprived of in leaving this connexion) we must say with Job, ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away, and blessed be the name of the Lord.’ Something may arise our of our afflictions, or even accompany them, that shall be an abundant compensation for them. And if they only reach us patience, fortitude, and trust in God, it is alone an abundant compensation, though they should bring nothing else along with them.
While we are sensible that we live under the government of a good Being, we cannot doubt, but that every thing that befals us is intended for our good. We must not forget, that it is only by discipline, and often very severe discipline too, that great and excellent characters are ever formed; and no man can tell how much, or how severe discipline may be necessary for himself. David could say, that 'before he was afflicted he went astray.' And there is a source of satisfaction even in adversity, or nearly connected with it, that persons in prosperity and affluence have no idea of.
Of this I am myself not without some experience. My violent expulsion from a favourite situation at Birmingham was, to appearance, sufficiently disastrous, and I was not without feeling it to be so. Yet I have had more [Page 80] than a recompense, internal and external; so as to make me consider it even now as no evil upon the whole; and I am far from wishing, if it were possible, that it might not have happened.
Among other resources afforded me by a kind Providence, was the seasonable and generous reception I met with among you; an event which I hope you are convinced I have endeavoured to improve.
Having, without any previous expectation, found a sphere of usefulness, and a source of happiness, here, I shall not despair of finding a similar situation in America. But there is no situation in the world, in which they who are disposed to exert themselves in the service of mankind (which is the most proper service of God, our common creator and parent) may not find an opportunity of doing it, to more or less advantage; and no man is answerable for more than it is in his power to do.
But a state of suffering is a state of usefulness, no less than one of the most active exertion; and very frequently it operates in the most effectual and distinguished manner. Did not our Saviour effect more by his death, the apostles by their sufferings, and the Protestant martyrs by their various persecutions, than by their preaching? It is commonly, and just observed, that "example is before precept." And what is it that demonstrates the real force of religious principles so much as patient suffering for them? It is a clear proof of the value that the sufferer sets upon them, and such as is more likely to impress others than any argument. And the experience of ages confirms the observation, so as to have given rise to [Page 81] the proverb, that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."
Was the persecution of the early Christians, of the Protestants in France, in the Low Countries, or in England, of any disservice to their cause? Did the persecution of the Puritans by queen Elizabeth, and the Stuarts, diminish their numbers, or their zeal? It increased both, as appeared at the time of the civil wars. What do we learn on this subject from the different treatment that Dissenters have met with in late times? They have constantly melted away in the sunshine of prosperity, and have become numerous and zealous in adversity. It is even probable that their numbers were diminished one third, if not one half, and the rest were grown very lukewarm, in the reigns of George I. and II. princes who were friendly to them; but of late their numbers, and their zeal, are greatly increased.
Shall we hesitate, then, to suffer in the cause of important truth, when we see it to be so greatly promoted by this means? If we have any value for our principles, we shall rejoice in the opportunities that are afforded us of serving the cause of truth in seasons of persecution (occurring in the course of divine Providence, and not sought by ourselves, for that would be ostentation and presumption) as the only way in which many persons have it in their power to promote it, to any great purpose. For all can advance the cause by suffering, though but few have sufficient ability to argue for it. But doubly honoured is the man whom Providence enables, and disposes (for all is of God) to serve the cause of truth in both these ways.
[Page 82] Besides, such a degree of persecution as that to which we are exposed, will tend to purge our societies of lukewarm and unworthy members of men who prefer the world, and the things of it, to the cause of truth, and a good conscience; and such are many of the richer sort among us, and in all societies; men who, by associating with other rich and worldly-minded men, and especially those who are within the influence of a court, and the honours and emoluments derived from it, catch too much of their spirit, become assimilated to their manners, and adopt their views. Let all such go to their proper place: we want them not. We want not even their wealth. True Christianity does not suppose, or require it. But in all cases of persecution, some of the most wealthy have proved the most zealous.
True Christians, devoid of superstition, will meet for public worship, and edify one another, even without the aid, or expence, of regular ministers. These are, no doubt, a convenience, but by no means necessary, even to the administration of the ordinances of baptism, or the Lord's supper. And, in situations in which ministers cannot be had, Christian laymen will, I hope, have the good sense to do themselves every thing that has been usually done by their ministers. And at this time, there are helps abundantly sufficient for the purpose, even though Christian societies should be as destitute of talents, as of wealth.
This excellent lesson will be taught more effectually in a season of adversity, than of prosperity. And we ought to be thankful for every situation in which such valuable instruction is best inculcated. In the first and best [Page 83] ages of Christianity, not 'many wise men after the flesh,' and 'not many mighty were chosen.' And our Saviour even thanked his heavenly Father, that the gospel was hidden from the wise and prudent;' not the truly wise, but from worldly wise men, those who have the world and the things of it for their chief object.
When riches and honours are the reward of Christianity, it will be thought by the world, that the profession of it is adopted for the sake of those riches and honours, and no other reason of their conduct will be so much as looked for. But when a man's faith is attended with persecution, and abuse in every form, it will be evident that it has some other foundation, and such as will be thought worth enquiring into. And a dispassionate inquiry is all that truth, and Christianity, if it be founded on truth, requires. The same is the case with respect to any particular mode or form of Christianity. It disclaims all connexion with civil power, and worldly emolument.
It may justly be our pride, that, as Unitarians, our religion has been so far from being befriended, that it has, in all ages, and in all nations, been frowned upon, by the civil magistrate; and yet in these seemingly unfavourable circumstances, it has constantly gained ground, and of late in a tenfold proportion to what it has ever done before, with thinking and serious men. Can there be a surer indication than this, that it will continue to gain ground, till it establish itself universally? But even then, it will, I trust, be as independent, as it is at present, of that civil power which is now hostile to it. Hereafter, when time shall have abated the force of prejudice, it may be recorded to your honour, that you received not myself, as an individual, but an Unitarian, so obnoxious [Page 84] to popular odium as I have been, as well as to have had such a man as Dr Price (whose eulogium I need not make to you) for your minister.
Having shewn this Christian fortitude, and acted with so much true judgment, I hope you will continue to act the same part, unmoved by the censures of an unthinking world, and promoting the peace and welfare of your country; with being enemies to which we are most unjustly charged.
Should those calamitous times, the approach of which, (led, as I conceived, by the light of scripture prophecy compared with the present aspect of things,) I expressed my apprehensions of in my late Fast Sermon, ready come, the Christian principles which I have, in this discourse, endeavoured to recommend to you, will be your best security; teaching you both how to act, and how to suffer, as circumstances may require. In this case, though absent, I shall not exult in my safety from the storm, but sympathize with you, and almost wish to suffer along with you. For it is not any dread of this nature, but other circumstances, as you well know, that induce me to leave you.
In all events, our separation, and that from any of our friends, by death, or otherwise, is, in the eye of reason, of short continuance. For what are the remains of life which separate us from the dead, to any of us? It is, a, the apostle says, but ‘as a vapour, which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.’ And then, my Christian friends, you will rejoin your late most excellent pastor, Dr. Price, and all your deceased worthy pastors [Page 85] and friends, where you will not stand in need of our instructions, but derive knowledge from purer sources than ours, by nearer approaches to the great fountain of light.
There every cloud of error and prejudice, and especially those which lead us to mistake each other's characters, and to think worse of one another than any of us, I hope, ought to do, will disappear. And the happy consequence of this will be many persons embracing one another as brethren, who were here the most hostile to each other.
Then every truth will be seen, not only in its whole evidence, but in its proper importance. Bigotry, consequently, will be unknown, and no mistakes but those of the heart will be thought to be of any moment at all.
Could we imbibe these sentiments here below, we should make earth itself a perfect heaven; and our doing this as well as we are able, will be our best preparation for that blissful state. To have assisted any of you in this most important preparation, for what the apostle in my text calls 'the inheritance of the saints in light,' would be my greatest praise; as to meet you there would be my greatest joy.
As an evidence of your having imbibed the true spirit of Christianity yourselves, and of your being sensible of its importance, you will, each of you, exert yourselves in your several spheres, to extend the knowledge of it to others, and also endeavour to infuse the same spirit into them. Do not imagine that this is the business of ministers [Page 86] only, Clergy and laity, in the sense in which the terms are now used, are unknown in the scriptures. All Christians are there distinguished by the phrase that is now rendered clergy. All Christians are there said to be 'kings and priests unto God;' and every man who can teach, should be a teacher; and without any ordination, besides the request of his fellow Christians, administer every Christian ordinance.
But independently of this, which may be said to require some talents and ability, not possed by all, there is a method in which all Christians, without exception, may be teachers of Christianity, and recommend it to others. It is by the open profession of it, and by a life and conversation conformable to it. This, though a silent, is, in many respects, the most effectual, method of preaching. ‘Let your light shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your father who is in heaven.’
But the mere open profession of Christianity by persons of respectable characters, that is, persons in general esteem for their good sense and good conduct, in an age like this, abounding with unbelievers, is of itself of great importance. Gladly would unbelievers have it to say that all men of sense are with them. On the contrary, I am confident that, whatever may be said with respect to good sense, or natural ability, which is often employed to the worst of purposes, men of real knowledge and reflection, as well as men of virtue and integrity, men who have given the most serious attention to the subject, and men of the most upright and unbiassed minds, without which natural ability will avail but little, are with us.
[Page 87] But to recommend Christianity to men of reason and reflection, it must be made to appear a rational thing. Men cannot embrace as sacred truth any thing at which their common sense revolts. Nor can that be considered as a truth of revealed religion, which is contrary to the most obvious and acknowledged truths of natural religion. And the greatest part of the unbelief of the present age, has evidently arisen from the gross abuses and corruptions of Christianity, especially such as are supported by the civil establishments of it. These it is the duty of every enlightened Christian, as he values his religion, and wishes to extend the knowledge of it, strenuously to oppose. And the present state of things calls for this in a peculiar manner.
Unbelievers must be shewn that their triumph over such Christianity as is supported by the state, will avail them nothing. It is only their triumph over error and superstition, which are the bane of Christianity. What do they gain by exposing such doctrines as those of transubstantiation, and the trinity? These are not the doctrines of the scriptures, but the absurd devices of men; doctrines which, indeed, naturally arose in the state of things in which Christianity was embraced by heathens, previously tinctured with their peculiar notions, but contrary to the plainest maxims and axioms of the scriptures.
The doctrine of the unity of God, is the one great object of the whole of the Jewish religion, and assumed as a fundamental principle in Christianity. The first of all the commandments is, 'Thou shalt have no other gods besides me;' and who was the speaker, but Jehovah, the great creator of heaven and earth, the same great Being [Page 88] who in the New Testament is stiled the ‘God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ and surely not Jesus Christ himself; because then there would be no such person as God the father at all; whereas the apostle says, ‘To us there is one God, even the Father; and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’
Again, in all the civil establishments of Christianity, the character of the one God and father of all has been greatly debased by the idea of his arbitrarily selecting certain individuals of the human race, as the objects of his especial favour, while all the rest are left under an irreversible sentence of condemnation; and also by the idea of the inexorableness of his disposition, in not receiving penitent offenders, till satisfaction had been made to his justice by the death of Christ. Whereas his most solemn declarations to Moses, and all the prophets, as a ‘God merciful and gracious,’ who 'for his name's sake,' and 'his mercy's sake' only, pardons offences, though ever so great; and all the discourses and parables of our Saviour, especially his most instructive parable of the prodigal son, exhibit him in a very different and much more amiable light, as requiring no atonement, or satisfaction whatever, besides the repentance, and return, of the worst of sinners.
If we have any real value for Christianity, we should exert ourselves to free it from these great incumbrances, which have already done it the greatest injury, and endangered its very existence. And if other well-meaning persons, from the fault of their education, and early impressions, exert themselves with great zeal in maintaining these spurious doctrines, we ought to shew no less zeal [Page 89] in favour of the great truths of which they are an infringement. If they imagine that they maintain the honour of Christ by asserting his divinity, are not we maintaining the honour of God, by refusing to allow any being whatever to share with him in those honours, which he has declared that he will not give to another?
Let this, however, be done with all due allowance for the innocent prejudices of others; so as to think no worse of the moral characters of men, or their final state, on account of any mere difference of opinion. True piety and benevolence, or the love of God and of our neighbour, to produce which is the great object of all religion, are not confined to Unitarians; though, thinking more favourably of the character of the Supreme Being, and not thinking any man the object of his displeasure on account of his opinions, these great virtues, the foundation of all the rest, may be expected to find an easier entrance into our breasts, than into those of Calvinists and Trinitarians, who, thinking those who differ from them to be the objects of the divine abhorrence, may imagine that they cannot do wrong in entertaining the same sentiments concerning them; and this is the foundation of all persecution.
It is to the honour of this society, an honour which I hope you will never lose, to be generally understood to hold the Christian faith in the purity that I have described; having obtained the honourable denomination of an Unitarian Society. For this implies all the rest. The opinions of single persons are often overlooked, or disregarded; but a Christian church is as a city set on an hill, that cannot be hid; and when these churches shall become numerous (and they are continually increasing) they cannot fail to attract universal [Page 90] attention. And this cannot but operate in the most favourable manner for the interest of Christianity in general. Indeed, it is sufficiently obvious at this day, that it cannot stand on any other ground.
I cannot conclude this Discourse, the last that I shall probably deliver from this pulpit, or in this country, without expressing my satisfaction in your choice of my successor. *. It has been such as cannot fail to do you honour with the truly enlightened part of the community. I would not, and least of all in this place, flatter you, or him. But this I will say, that by making choice, as you have done, of a person to succeed me, who will conduct your devotions, and carry on plans of instruction, public and private, as I am persuaded he will, on the same principles, and in all respects as much to the satisfaction of the judicious part of the audience, you have greatly lessened the pain that I shall feel from our separation. It will appear to me, as if I were still with you in his person.
May the connexion be long, and happy. Under his ministry, and that of his worthy colleague, may you be built up in the pure faith of the gospel, inspiring the genuine spirit, and discharging all the duties of it, that when the ‘Great Shepherd shall appear, and take an account of his servants, you may be found of him without spot and blameless, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.’ And then, in the mean time, though absent from you, I may hear of your welfare, which, next to continuing with you, and promoting the same great cause myself, will make me most happy.
[Page 91] Having now closed my discourse to the proper congregation, I shall take the liberty to address a few words to the many strangers, who, as I expected, I perceive to be present.
Most of you, I presume, are come hither from an innocent curiosity to see and hear a person of whom you have heard much evil, and perhaps some good, and whom you do not expect to see or hear any more. Others, though I hope not many, may have come for some less innocent purpose. These, let them have come whenever they pleased, must have found themselves disappointed; and I hope agreeably so; as instead of finding any occasion of harm to me, they may have found some good to themselves. Nothing else can they have heard here; nothing but what is calculated to confirm the faith of all Christians, and to inculcate those sentiments of the heart, and that conduct in life, which are the proper fruits of that faith. All the doctrines that have been taught here, are those relating to the being, the attributes, and the providence of God; the divine missions of Moses, and the prophets, of Christ and the apostles, and that future state of righteous retribution, which they preached. These great articles of faith you have heard not only asserted, but, if you have attended frequently, repeatedly proved by rational arguments.
This a person disposed to cavil will allow; but he may say that he has likewise heard many things heretical, and offensive to him. This is very possible: for every tenet contrary to that which any particular person has been used to consider as true, will, of course, be by him [...] false, and therefore heretical, and more or less offensive. But are we not at liberty in this country to think and judge [Page 92] for ourselves? And as to every reasonable cause of offence, all doctrines are to be judged of by their moral tendency, agreeably to the rule of our Saviour, ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’
Now, what is the apparent moral tendency of the doctrines concerning God, and his moral government, that have been constantly taught in this place, but a life of obedience to his will? And is this moral tendency lessened by the belief that this God is one Being; or is it at all improved, or strengthened, by the belief of there being three persons in the Godhead? On the contrary, is not the understanding confounded, and distracted, by the very attempt (which, after all, must be unavailing) to reconcile the doctrine of three divine persons, with the fundamental doctrine of the scriptures, that there is but one God. And by what conceivable operation can the temper and disposition of mind be improved by such confusion of ideas, and such embarrassment; to say nothing of the absurdity, and impiety, of the doctrine?
You have heard great stress laid upon the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. But besides that this is plainly setting up another God than the one God and Father of Jesus Christ; what is gained by it? Are the doctrines and precepts of the gospel of less force because the persons who taught them were not themselves gods? On this principle, the law of Moses would have no obligation; and every thing taught by the apostles, who certainly were not gods, must be disregarded; whereas, it is the authority by which doctrines are taught, and not the persons, or instruments, by whom they are taught, that is to be regarded; and this authority we all consider as properly divine.
[Page 93] Lastly, will the human character sustain any injury with respect to his love of justice and equity, in consequence of being taught that God, whom we are to resemble, is impartial in his regards to all his creatures of mankind, and shews no especial favour to any but for their superior virtue? Or will any man be less kind, or merciful, by believing God to be more so? Making the Divine Being our pattern, and pray that he would ‘forgive us as we forgive others,’ shall we not be even more disposed to entertain proper sentiments towards our offending brother, when we are taught that if he only repent we must forgive him; rather than if we were to be led, in imitation of the supposed conduct of God, to demand some other atonement, or satisfaction, of him?
These, however, are the most offensive doctrines that have ever been heard from this place, or inculcated in any of my writings. Judge then yourselves of the ground of the offence that has been taken.
As to the charge of sedition, nothing that can, by any construction, be supposed to have that tendency has ever been delivered from this pulpit; unless it be sedition to teach what the apostles taught before, viz. that we are 'to obey God rather than man,' and that in what relates to religion, and conscience, we disclaim all human authority, even that of king, lords, and commons. In these things we acknowledge only one father, even God, and one master, even Christ, the messenger, or ambassador, of God. If any doctrine be really false, being contrary to reason and the scriptures, it is not an act of parliament that can make it true. Or, if any action be morally wrong, as being contrary to natural justice and equity, it is not an act [Page 94] of parliament that can make it be right. But while we thus render 'to God the things that are God's,' we render to 'Caesar the things that are Caesar's.' We are 'subject to every' civil ‘ordinance of man for the Lord's sake,’ though not to their ordinances relating to religion. And whether we think any particular civil regulations to be wise, or not (and with respect to things of this nature, as well as others, different men will think differently) we submit to the decision of the majority, and are the friends of peace and good order.
Learn, then, not to give ear to mere calumny; but, according to the old English maxim, suppose every man to be innocent till he be proved to be guilty, and in all matters of opinion, allow to others the liberty that you take yourselves. As to us, I trust that we have learned of Christ to ‘bless them that curse us, and to pray for them that despitefully use, and persecute us.’ In the language of the liturgy we pray, that God would ‘forgive our enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, and turn their hearts.’
Whether, then, you come as friends, or as enemies; whether we shall ever see one another's faces again, or not, may God, whose Providence is over all, bless, preserve, and keep us. Above all, may we be preserved in the paths of virtue and piety, that we may have a happy meeting in that world, where error and prejudice will be no more; where all the ground of the party distinctions that subsist here will be taken away; where every misunderstanding will be cleared up, and the reign of truth and of virtue will be for ever established.
APPENDIX.
To the Congregation of Protestant Dissenters at the Gravel-Pit Meeting in Hackney.
AFTER spending little more than two years with you, I find it expedient to leave you. But you will believe me when I assure you, that this resolution is not occasioned by any complaint that I have to make with respect to you. On the contrary, it was singularly generous in you to receive me when you did, driven, as I was, by violence from a favourite situation, and likely, from the prejudice of the times, to bring suspicion on any congregation that should make choice of me.
I have been happy to find that, though many (as, on several accounts, was very natural) objected to the conduct of the majority, and left the society, some partially, and others altogether, your numbers are not on the whole diminished; and especially that, contrary to the expectations of most, I have found a sufficiently ample field of usefulness in the classes of young persons who have attended my lectures. These I leave with peculiar regret, having had peculiar satisfaction in my attention to them, and in their improvement in religious knowledge; many of them, I doubt not, being well qualified to instruct others. I hope that, in your choice of a successor to me [Page 96] (in which I pray for your best direction) their interest will not be neglected; more substantial good, I am from long experience, well persuaded, being done in this way, than in the best discharge of any other part of the ministerial duty.
Distant as is the country to which I find it expedient to remove, I shall always rejoice to hear of your welfare, both as men, and as a Christian society. But infinitely happier will it be if our conduct in life be such, as shall secure our meeting where the wicked will cease from troubling, where all the prejudices and misunderstandings that disturb the harmony of Christians here will vanish, and where we shall never be separated from one another any more.
P. S. As the time of my departure is uncertain, though not far distant, I cannot fix any particular time for the dissolution of our connexion; but I hope no great inconvenience will arise from this degree of uncertainty.
The Answer of the Congregation.
WE have received with extreme concern the communication of your intention to resign your pastoral office in this congregation; a connextion, from which we had promised ourselves a great degree of benefit and happiness, [Page 97] and which our short experience has abundantly justified.
Whatever are the circumstances which have induced you to think of removing, it is some consolation to find, that it is not owing to any complaint to which we have given occasion; since you are pleased to bestow more praise upon our conduct, than is its due.
We shall always reflect, with the highest satisfaction and with real gratitude, on your public services among us; and on none more than your establishment of lectures to the different classes of young persons. Convinced, as we are, that the most important advantages are likely to be derived to the rising generation, from this institution, we shall be careful to keep this great point in view, in the choice of your successor.
In lamenting the separation which is about to take place between us, we feel particularly concerned, that your removal is to be to a country so distant, as wholly to cut off our personal intercourse with you: but we trust that Providence intends, by this event, to open to you a scene of greater usefulness; and it is this consideration, which better reconciles us to the great loss, which we ourselves are about to sustain.
Remote as may be the situation to which you find it expedient to remove, our hearts will go with you, and our affections embrace you; and nothing will afford us greater comfort, than to hear of your happiness and increasing means of doing good. If the attachment of those with whom you are about to live, is at all in proportion [Page 98] to the regret of those whom you are about to quit, you will have a sure pledge of future satisfaction.
We can take no merit to ourselves for having been ambitious to receive you into this society, at a time when persecution raged against you; since we consulted herein our duty and our best interests. But it gives us the deepest regret, that it was in this country that you should have suffered for the freedom of well-intentioned inquiries on subjects, respecting which every man is bound diligently to search for truth, and on which no man can assume a right to think for his neighbour. Without free discussion, truth cannot be ascertained, and it is the absence of free discussion which alone can perpetuate error.
Unable to deny the propriety of your retiring from a scene of things, where you can promise to yourself so little comfort, or perhaps even safety, we are at least bound to bear testimony to your irreproachable conduct, and to the patience with which you have borne your sufferings. At the same time, we must lament the stigma which our nation will have brought upon itself, both with Europe and with posterity, for having forced one of the first of men, of Christians, and of philosophers, to seek in foreign countries an asylum from the insults and injuries, which he had experienced in his own in the pursuit of religious truth.
In the pleasing hope of a happy and indissoluble union hereafter, to which time cannot put an end, we remain [Page 99] with every sentiment of gratitude and esteem in behalf of the congregation,
Signed by all the members of a Committee deputed for this purpose by the congregation.
The Address of the Young Men and Young Women, who attend the Lectures on the subject of Natural and Revealed Religion.
To the REV. DR. PRIESTLEY.
YOUR intention of quitting this country being now made known, accept the warmest sentiments of gratitude from those who, besides having benefited by your pastoral services, have also profited by your Lectures to young persons on the subject of religion. The merit of this institution, which is all your own, has its best evidence in the impression it has made on the minds of us your pupils. Through your means we not only feel confirmed in our faith in religion, but better disposed to the performance of our various duties; the knowledge of which you have thus rendered clearer to our judgment, and the practice of which you have enforced to us by new and animating motive exemplary in your own life, and firm under persecution, you have hereby superadded the strongest proof of the sincerity and the efficacy of your different precepts.
[Page 100] It is not permitted to us to deprecate a separation which is judged necessary for your comfort and safety, and which Providence has perhaps designed, in order to extend your usefulness; but we must at least lament, that our own happiness is no longer to remain so intimately connected with yours.
It is some consolation, however, that we can at least give you pleasure, by endeavouring to pursue your pious and wise instructions, and shewing that you have not laboured in vain to make us firm Christians and virtuous characters. Among other marks of our attachment, we shall hold it as a principal duty to promote at all times, in the congregations to which we belong, the institution of Lectures to young persons, of which we consider you as the founder, being firmly persuaded, from our own experience, of their religious and moral advantages.
Permit us to add our thanks for the present you have made to the library, of your valuable works, by the perusal of which, both ourselves, and those who follow us, must endeavour to mitigate the memory of the loss sustained, by the discontinuance of your personal instructions.
That your voyage may be safe and expeditious, and that, during the remainder of your life, you may enjoy an uninterrupted series of happiness, is the earnest wish, and ardent prayer, of
Signed by forty-one names.
The Address of the Unitarian Society. To the REV. DR. PRIESTLEY.
YOUR friends, the members of the Unitarian Society, address you on the present interesting occasion, to express the regret with which they are penetrated, at your approaching departure from this country, and their warmest wishes for your happiness, in the place of your future destination.
So little as you have at any time interfered in national politics, it is but too obvious that the outrageous violence which you have experienced, and the atrocious calumnies which have been circulated with such unexampled industry to injure your character, and to render your residence in your native country unpleasant, and even unsafe, are entirely owing to that manly spirit, with which you have avowed and defended, what you firmly believed to be the pure and rational doctrines of the gospel; and to that truly Christian zeal, with which you have entered your protest against those prevailing errors, by which the religion of Jesus has been corrupted, and debased.
But you, Sir, have instructed us, both by your doctrine and example, to refer events to a higher cause: and while we regard with pity the conduct of men, who, under the cover of religious zeal, are gratifying their own perverse passions, we also view them as instruments, under the direction of a superior power, for the accomplishment of purposes, the most distant from their own intentions; and we bow with humble acquiescence to the allwise [Page 102] wise disposing will of Heaven. The history of the Christian church from its first origin, through the revolutions of successive ages, has taught us this lesson: that it is the order of Providence, that religious truth should be promulgated and confirmed by the sufferings of its most enlightened, and most zealous advocates. In this part of the world, you, Sir, have kindled a resplendent light, which no length of time, nor violence of opposition, will be able to extinguish; and you have been honoured as the instrument of dissusing religious knowledge, beyond almost any individual in later ages: we anticipate therefore, with pleasing hope, the extensive success of your future labours in America. Favoured as we have been with your rising, and your meridian lustre, we ought not to envy our brethren on the western continent, the benefit of your evening say,
Hitherto, Sir, you have been our pattern in every meritorious exertion in the investigation of religious truth, in every thing open and courageous in the profession of it. And when you are removed to a distant region, we trust that you will occasionally hear, that your illustrious example has not been so long exhibited before us in vain. We shall think it our duty upon every proper occasion, and at all hazards, to avow our attachment to the genuine truths of the Christian religion; and if, in the discharge of this duty, we should be exposed even to severer persecutions than those which you have encountered, we hope that our conduct will not disgrace the honourable cause in which we may suffer.
We, Sir, rejoice with you, in the assurance of the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God, and of Christ, [Page 103] and of the universal dominion of truth and virtue, of order, liberty, and peace. And though we deplore the probable distresses of the intervening period, we are happy in the persuasion, that infinite wisdom will direct and controul the storm, and that all the intermediate calamities will be as an evanescent point, in comparison with that glorious and happy state of things, of which they are the necessary means, and to which they ultimately tend.
In the mean time, we shall regard it as our indispensable duty, to prepare ourselves and others for these interesting events; not only by the zealous propagation of what we judge to be important truth, by every fair and honourable method, but likewise by exemplifying in our whole conduct, the tendency of the principles of the Christian religion, when properly understood, to form the human mind to that strength and elevation of character, in which the true dignity of our nature consists; and by which we may most effectually put to shame the calumnies of malignity, the prejudices of ignorance, and the scoffs of infidelity.
That your voyage may be prosperous, that your future lot may be happy, beyond the most sanguine expectations of your warmest friends; and that your sphere of usefulness may be widely extended, and prolonged to the most distant period of human exertion, is the ardent wish, and servent prayer, of
The Address of the United Congregations of Protestant Dissenters at Birmingham.
KNOWING the near approach of your departure from this country, we cannot but think we should be guilty of a culpable neglect, did we not previously bid you an affectionate farewell.
We have beheld with mingled indignation and regret, that spirit of persecution which kindled the flames of ninety-one, spreading through the realm its baneful influence, and pursuing into his retreat, the friend and ornament of his country.
A spirit which was thought, in this country at least, to be for ever extinct, inspiring its barbarous violence into a lawless mob, drove you from this place, and broke those bonds, which form the sacred connexion of a pastor with his flock.
Wanton in malice, the same spirit has continued to persecute you with private molestation, and with public calumny. The prostituted abilities of Mr. Burke have industriously seized each public occasion of exciting against you the public odium, while the dark assassinating spirit of anonymous abuse, has been busy in the public prints, and found means to assail and wound the tranquillity of your most private retirements.
From a country where you have met with injustice instead of reward, with calumny and persecution instead of praise and esteem—we cannot wonder you should depart.
[Page 105] The hope, that in America you will find that asylum which is here denied you; the confidence, that a free country will receive a veteran son of liberty, with all the respect that is due to his worth; the belief that those who have fought and bled for their own rights will reverence one who has been deprived of his; the certainty, that the implacable enemies of liberty will never permit you, in this country, to enjoy repose; and the strong suspicion, that they would gladly seize an opportunity, to aim not only at your personal freedom, but even at your life itself,—reconcile us to the prospect of your departure, by demonstrating its necessity.
Wherever you go, renown will attend you. In England alone are you calumniated. In every other land, each grateful science will crowd around, and offer a garland to him, whose genius has enlarged their sphere, or added to their stability. Liberty will warmly welcome you to any of her dominions. Virtue and Religion will hail, with joyful smiles, the arrival of their intrepid champion, their ardent votary.
We have, on a former melancholy occasion, expressed our sense of the services you rendered us—we expressed less than we felt, and we again send you our thanks.—While tyranny will rejoice; while bigotry and superstition will clap their hands at your departure—all that have been enlightened by your labours will give, in the tribute of a silent tear, more than those powers, with all their boasted influence, can bestow on their most favourite vassals.
[Page 106] Though you depart, your labours remain. The propagation of truth is silent, and slow, but it is irresistible. The feed that you have strewn around, will not lie buried in the earth for ever. It is arising, and it will arise, till it ripen into a glorious harvest.
To your talents, your integrity, and love of truth, we shall, while we live, bear testimony. We rejoice, that of these no enemy can deprive you. While it will afford consolation to you to reflect, that no virtuous effort you ever made can possibly be lost, it shall be some consolation to us, that we have enjoyed, that we do still enjoy, so many of their effects.
Though the waters of a wide sea will soon roll between us—your example, your precepts, and your principles, shall not be absent. These shall continue present in our minds, and shall inspire our conduct.
May he who curbs the ocean, who stills the wild winds, and the tumultuous biliows, grant you a prosperous passage, and safely land you on the shores of America.
Signed by the unanimous desire of a numerous meeting of subscribers, belonging to the two societies of Protestant Dissenters, assembling in the Union Chapel, Livery-street.
- RADCLIFFE SCHOLEFIELD,
- JOHN EDWARDS.