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nefit they otherwise might from the preaching of the Gospel; and "when for the time they ought to be teachers of others, they have still need that one teach them again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God." "Hence it is," says a celebrated preacher, "that the greatest part of our sermons produce so little fruit, because sermons are, at least they ought to be, connected discourses, in which the principle founds the consequence, and the consequence follows the principle: all which supposes in the hearers a habit of meditation and attention. For the same reason, we are apt to be offended when any body attempts to draw us out of the sphere of our prejudices, and are not only ignorant, but ignorant from gravity, and derive, I know not what glory from our own stupidity. Hence it is, that a preacher is seldom or never allowed to soar in his sermons, to rise into the contemplation of some lofty and rapturous objects, but must always descend to the first principles of religion, as if he preached for the first time, or as if his auditors for the first time heard. Hence our preachers seem to lead us into obscure paths, and to lose us in abstract speculations, when they treat of some of the attributes of God, such as his faithfulness, his love of order, his regard for his intelligent creatures. It is owing to this that we are, in some sense, well acquainted with some truths of religion, while we remain entirely ignorant of others. Hence also it is, that some doctrines, which are true in themselves, demonstrated in our Scriptures, and essential to religion, become errors, yea sources of many errors in our mouths, because we consider them only in themselves, and not in connexion with other doctrines, or in the proper places to which they belong in the system of religion."

Were we then, without delay, to set on foot plans of universal instruction, on a rational principle-were the young generation to be universally trained up in rational exercises and habits of reflection, first at Infant Schools, and afterwards at seminaries of a higher order, conducted on the same intellectual principle, and this system of tuition continued to the age of manhood, we should, ere long, behold a wonderful change in the state of society, in the intelligence of the Christian people, and in the illustrations of religion which would be introduced into the pulpit. We should behold thousands of intelligent worshippers crowding our religious assemblies, with minds preparea or receiving instruction, and eagerly listening to arguments and illustrations in reference to the most sublime and important subjects. We should behold our preachers explaining the first principles of religion with such clearness and energy, that they should seldom need to recur to the subject, "soaring in their sermons," rising into the contemplation of some lofty and rapturous objects"displaying the majesty and supremacy of God in

the operation of his moral government among the nations, descanting on his glorious attributes. exhibiting his wisdom in the arrangements of nature and the movements of his providence, illustrating his omnipotence and grandeur from the glories of the firmament, and the magnitude of the universe-directing their hearers to the contemplation of the works of his hand as illustrations of the declarations of his word--demonstrating the truth of revelation from its powerful and beneficient effects-enforcing the holy tem pers and the duties which religion requires from every rational and scriptural motive-illustrating the effects of moral evil from the history of nations and the miseries in which it has involved individuals and societies-expatiating on schemes of philanthropy for the improvement of mankind, and the conversion of the heathen, and displaying the love and mercy of God towards our race, and the connexions and bearings of the work of redemption, in its relation to the angelic tribes and other beings, and in its glorious and happy consequences on unnumbered multitudes of mankind, throughout the ages of eternity. In such a state of Christian society we should have no dull monotonous preachers, skimming over the surface of an abstract subject, in a twenty minutes' sermon, and leaving their hearers as dull, and lifeless, and uninformed as they found them; but all our public services would be conducted with life, and energy, and pathos, and by men of sanctified dispositions and enlightened understandings, "not given to❞ idleness and "filthy lucre," but having their whole faculties absorbed in the study of the word, the ways, and the works of God. And, in order to expand the minds of the Christian people, and to prepare them for listening with intelligence to such instructions, we should have Courses of Lectures on Natural History, Philosophy, Astronomy, and General History, attended by thou sands of anxious inquirers, instead of the tens which can now be induced to attend on such means of instruction. For knowledge, when it is clearly exhibited, and where a previous desire has been excited for its acquisition, is a source of enjoyment to the human mind in every stage of its progress, from the years of infancy to the latest period of mortal existence.

III. Such a diffusion of knowledge as that tc which we have now adverted, would introduce a spirit of tolerance and moderation, and prevent the recurrence of those persecutions for conscience' sake, which have so much disgraced the world,

It is a striking and most melancholy fact in the history of man, that the most dreadful sufferings and tortures ever felt by human beings, have been inflicted on account of differences of opinion respecting the dogmas and the ceremonies of religion. Men have been suffered to remain

villas, cheats and robbers, deceitful, profligate and profane, to invade the territories of their unoffending neighbours, to burn cities and towns, to lay waste provinces, and slaughter thousands of their fellow-creatures, and to pass with impunity; while, in numerous instances, the most pious, upright, and philanthropic characters have been hurried like criminals to stakes, gibbets, racks, and flames, merely for holding an opinion different from their superiors respecting a doctrine in religion, or the manner in which the Divine Being ought to be worshipped. In the early ages of Christianity, under the emperor Nero, the Christians were wrapped up in the skins of wild beasts, and some of them in this state worried and devoured by dogs; others were crucified, and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axle trees, and set on fire, and consumed in the gardens at Rome. Such dreadful persecutions continued, under the heathen emperors, with a few intervals, to the time of Constantine, a period of more than two hundred and thirty years. It might not be so much to be wondered at that pagans should persecute the followers of Christ; but it was not long before pretended Christians began to persecute one another on account of certain shades of difference in their religious opinions. The persecu tions to which the Waldenses and Albigenses were subjected by the Popish church, and strangling and burning of supposed heretics, and the tortures inflicted on those suspected of favouring the doctrines of Protestantism by the Spanish inquisition a court whose history is written in flames, and in characters of blood,-exhibit a series of diabolical cruelties, the recital of which is enough to make "the ears of every one to tingle," and to make him feel as if he were degraded in belonging to a race of intelligences capable of perpetrating such dreadful enormities.

Even in the British isles such persecutions have raged, and such cruelties have been perpetrated, and that, too, in the name of the benevolent religion of Jesus Christ. In our times, the more appalling and horrific forms which persecution formerly assumed, have been set aside by the civil laws of the country, but its spirit still remains, and manifests itself in a variety of different shapes. What other name can be given to a power which prevents a numerous and respectable body of men from holding certain civil offices and emoluments, because they do not be long to an established church, and yet compels them to contribute to the maintenance of the ministers of that church, although they do not recognise them as their religious instructors? that denies to a dissenter, or his children, the privilege of being interred in what is called consecrated ground, and refuses to allow a bell to be tolled at their funerals ?—that, in Scotland prevents a person, however distinguished for moral qualifications and intellectual acquirements, from

being eligible as teacher of a parochial school, i he is not connected with the established church y and in many other ways attempts to degrade thou sands of individuals on account of their thinking and acting according to the dictates of their con science? It is true, indeed, that fires, and racks, and tortures, and gibbets, and thumb-screws are no longer applied as punishments for differences of opinion in religion, for the strong hand of the civil law interposes to prevent them. But were no such power interposed, the principle which sanctions such deprivations as those now mentioned, if carried out to all its legitimate consequences, might soon lead to as dreadful persecutions as those which have already entailed idelible disgrace on the race of man.

Such a spirit of intolerance and persecution is directly opposed to every rational principle, to every generous and humane feeling, to every precept of Christianity, and to every disposition inculcated by the religion of Jesus. It is the height of absurdity to enforce belief in any doctrine or tenet, by the application of physical power, for it never can produce the intended effect; it may harden and render persons more obstinate in their opinions, but it can never convey conviction to the understanding. And if men had not acted like fools and idiots, as well as like demons, such a force, in such cases, would never have been applied. And, as such an attempt is irrational, so it is criminal in the highest degree, to aim at producing conviction by the ap plication of flames, or by the point of the sword; being at direct variance both with the precepts and the practice of the Benevolent Founder of our holy religion.

We have, therefore, the strongest reason to conclude, that were the light of science and of Christianity universally diffused, the hydra of persecution would never dare, in any shape, to lift up its heads again in the world. As it was during the dark ages that it raged in its most horrific forms, so the light of intelligence would force it back to the infernal regions whence it arose, as the wild beasts of the forests betake themselves to their dens and thickets at the approach of the rising sun. Wherever reason holds its ascendancy in the mind, and the benevolence of Christianity is the great principle of human action, persecution will never be resorted to, either for extirpating error or enforcing belief in any opinions. An enlightened mind will at once perceive, that in punishing erroneous opin ions by fines, imprisonment, racks, and flames, there is no fitness between the punishment and the supposed crime. The crime is a mental error, but penal laws have no internal operation on the mind, except to exasperate its feelings against the power that enforces them, and to confirm it more strongly in the opinions it has embraced. Errors of judgment, whether religious or political, can only be overturned by arguments and

calm reasoning, and all the civil and ecclesiastical despots on earth, with all their edicts, and bulls. and tortures, will never be able to extirpate them in any other way. For the more that force is resorted to to compel belief in any system of opinions, the more will the mind revolt at such an attempt, and the more will it be convinced, that such a system is worthless and untenable, since it requires such irrational measures for its support. It can only tend to produce dissimulation, and to increase the number of hypocrites and deceivers. An enlightened mind will also perceive, that such conduct is no less irreligious than it is irrational; for, where persecution begins religion ends. Religion proclaims " peace on earth and good will to men;" all its doctrines, laws, and ordinances are intended to promote the happiness of mankind, both in the life that now is and that which is to come." But actions which tend to injure men in their persons, liberty, or property, under the pretence of converting them from error, must be directly repugnant to the spirit of that religion which is " pure, and peaceable, gentle, and easy

to be entreated," and to the character of that Benevolent Being whose "tender mercies are over all his works." If our religion required for its establishment in the world, the infliction of civil pains and penalties on those who oppose it, it would be unworthy of being supported by any rational being; and it is a sure evidence that it is not the genuine religion of the Bible, but error and human inventions, under the mask of Christianity, that are intended to be established, when ⚫uch means are employed for its propagation and support. It requires very little reflection to perceive, that religion does not consist in mere opinions or ceremonial observances, but in the cultivation and excercise of those heavenly virtues and dispositions which tend to cement the family of mankind in brotherly affection, and to prepare them for the intercourses and employments of the celestial world; and if these are wanting or disregarded, religion becomes a mere inanity, and it is of little consequence what opinions men profess to entertain respecting it.

In short, in an enlightened state of society, men would be disposed to allow the utmost freedom of thought on every subject, not inconsistent with the good order of society, and would nevertheless hold the most friendly intercourse with each other. They would clearly discern, that the best way to reclaim the vicious, and to conve.t the erroneous, is, not to rail and to threaten, but to be affable and gentle, to bring forward cogent arguments, and "in meekness to instruct those who oppose themselves to the truth." They would see, that many of those opinions and dogmas, in regard to religion, which have created beart-burnings and dissensions, are comparative ly of trivial importance,--that the doctrines in

which all Christians agree are much more nume rous, and of far greater importance, than inose about which they differ,-that there are suojects on which the limited faculties of human beings are unable to form any clear or decisive opinions,—that the mind must form its opinions,-in accordance with the limited or the expansive range of its intellectual vision,-that where its mental view is narrow and confined, its conclusions must be somewhat different from those which are deduced by a mind qualified to take in a more extensive field of vision,-that the philosopner whose mind takes in at a grasp the general system of the world, and the diversified phenomena of the universe, must have ideas and modes of thinking materially different from those of the peasant, whose views are limited chiefly to the confines of his parish, and the objects immediately around him, that there are are few men wilfully erroneous, and that ignorance and vice are the principal causes of false and untenable opinions,— that due allowance ought always to be made for educational biasses, local prejudices, soc al influence, and the range of thought to which individuals have been accustomed,-that the exercise of love towards God and man is of ininitely greater importance than mere coincidence in opinion, and that a complete unanimity of opinion on every subject is not to be expected in the present state, perhaps not even in the future world. Were such considerations taken into account, (and they would be all recognised in an enlightened state of society,) those contentions and animosities which now rankle in the Christian church, and separate the different sectaries, would be laid to rest, persecution in every shape would be held in universal abhort ence, and peace, moderation, and candour would distinguish the friends of religion and all classes of society.

IV. A universal diffusion of knowledge would vanquish the antipathies of nations, and tend to produce union and harmony among mankind.

"God hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth." But although they are all the offspring of one Almighty Being, and descended from one origi nal human pair, they have hitherto lived, for the most part, in a state of strife and variance, of contention and warfare. The history of the world contains little else than details of the dissensions of nations, the feuds of chieftains, "the tumults of the people," the revolutions of empires, and the scenes of devastation and carnage which have followed in their train. If we go as far back in our researches as the earliest historical records can carry us, we shall find that wars have prevailed, almost without intermission, in overy age, in every country, and among every tribe. No sooner has one series of battles ter

minated than preparations have been made for another; and, in such contests, magnificent eites have been tumbled into ruins, provinces desolated, kingdoms rent asunder, and thousands of thousands of human beings slaughtered with all the ferocity of infernal demons. It is not beyond the bounds of probability to suppose, that, in those scenes of warfare, the eighth part of the human race, in every age, has been destroyed, or, a number of mankind amounting to nearly twenty thousand millions, which is equal to twenty-five times the number of inhabitants presently existing in the world. And the leaders in such diabolical exploits, so far from repenting of their attrocities, have generally been disposed to glory in their crimes.

the other hurled with fury into the infernal regions.*

Is there no prospect, then, that such an'ipathies shall ever be extirpated, and harmony restored to the distracted nations? Shall the earth be for ever swept with the besom of destruction? Shall war continue its ravages without interraission? Shall hatred still rankle among ak nations, and Peace never wave its olive branch over the world? Are we to sit down in hopeless despair, that a union among the nations will ever be effected, because wars have continued since the beginning of the world? No,-we Łavo no reason to despair of ultimate success, when the moral machinery, calculated to effec.uate the object, shall be set in motion. As ignorance is the parent of vice, the nurse of pride, avarice, ambition, and other unhallowed passions, from which wars derive their origin, so, when the strongholds of ignorance shall be demolished, and the light of intelligence shall shed its influence over the world, and the opposite principles of humility, moderation, and benevolence shall pervade the minds of men, the foundations of the system of warfare will be shaken, and a basis laid for the establishment of universal peace. However long the ravages of war have desolated and convulsed the world, it is announced in the decree of heaven,that a period shall arrive "when wars shall cease unto the ends of the earth." And the era when warriors "shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and learn the art of war no more," is coeval with the period foretold in ancient prophecy, when "the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, and when all shall know him from the least to the greatest."

Hence the jealousies, the antipathies, and the hatred which have subsisted, and which still subsist, between neighbouring nations. The Turks hate the Greeks, and, as far as in their power, inflict upon them every species of cruelty and injustice. The Chinese hate the Europeans, cheat them if they can, and pride themselves in their fancied superiority over all other nations. The Moors of Africa hate the negroes, plunder their villages, and reduce them to slavery; the King of Dahomey wages almost continual war with the neighbouring tribes, and adorns the walls of his palace with the skulls of prisoners taken in battle. The Algerines and the emperors of Morocco live in a state of continual warfare with Christian nations, seize upon their ships, and reduce their crews to slavery. The Menucaboes, who inhabit the inland part of Malacca, live at variance with all around them, and never fail to set fire to the ripening grain in every field that is unprotected and uninclosed. The Arabians are set against every other nation, and roam through their deserts, attacking caravans and travellers of every description. The inhabitants of one part of New Zealand are almost in a continual state of enmity against those of another, and the natives of almost every island in the Indian and Pacific oceans, if not engaged in actual contests, are in a state of warlike attitude with regard to each other. Even nations advanced to high degrees of civilization, are found indulging the meanest and most unreasonable jealousies and antipathies in relation to one another. The French and the English, whom nature has separated only by a narrow channel of the sea, and who are distinguished above all other nations for their discoveries and improvements in the arts, have, for centuries, fostered a spirit of jealousy and rivalship which has produ- uttering the most virulent invectives against the ced political animosities, hatred, wars, and ruin to the financial and commercial interests of both nations. During the wars which succeeded the French revolution, this spirit of hatred and enmity rose to such a pitch, that a large portion of each nation would have, with pleasure, beheld

Knowledge has a tendency to unite the hearts of all who are engaged in its pursuit; it forms a bond of union among its votaries more firm and permanent than that which unites princes and statesmen; especially if it is conjoined with Christian principles and virtuous dispositions Congeniality of sentiments, and similarity of pursuits, gradually weaken the force of vulgar prejudices, and tend to demolish those barriers which the jealousies of nations have thrown around each other. True philosophers, whether English, Swedish, Russian, Swiss, German, or Italian, maintain an intimate and affectionate correspondence with each other on every subject of literature and science, notwithstanding the

• During the wars alluded to, a gentleman, (conversing with the author on the subject,) who was

French, concluded by saying, "After all I wish no great evil to the French, I only wish they were all safely landed in heaven," plainly intimating, that he considered them unworthy to live upon the earth, and that the sooner they were cut off from it and sent to the other world, so much the better, whether their fate should be to dwell in the shades of Tarta rus or the abodes of Elysium.

antipathies of their respective nations. During the late long-continued and destructive warfare between the French and English, which was carried on with unprecedented hostility and rancour, the naturalists, mathematicians, astronomers, and chemists of the two countries, held the most friendly correspondence in relation to the subjects connected with their respective depart nents, in so far as the jealousies of their political rulers would permit. In the communication of the French and English philosophers respecting the progress of scientific discovery, we find few traces of nationality, and should scarcely be able to learn from such communications that their respective nations were engaged in warfare, unless when they lament the obstructions which interrupted their regular correspondence, and their injurious effects on the interests of science. It is a well known fact, that, during the late war, when political animosities ran so high, the National Institute of France announced prizes for the discussion of scientific questions, and invited the learned in other nations, not even excepting the English, to engage in the competition; and one of our countrymen, Sir Humphrey Davy, actually obtained one of the most valuable and distinguished of these honorary awards.

When knowledge is conjoined with a recognition of the Christian precept, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," its possessor will easily be made to enter into such considerations as the following, and to feel their force :-That all men, to whatever nation or tribe they belong, are the children of one Almighty Parent, endowed with the same corporal organs, the same intellectual powers, and the same lineaments of the Divine image that they are subject to the same animal and intellectual wants, exposed to the same accidents and calamities, and susceptible of the same pleasures and enjoyments-that they have the same capacities for attaining to higher degrees of knowledge and felicity, and enjoy the same hopes and prospects of a blessed immortality-that God distributes among them all, thousands of benefits, embellishing their habitations with the same rural beauties, causing the same sun to enlighten them, the same vital air to make their lungs play, and the same rains and dews to irrigate their ground, and ripen their fields to harvest-that they are all capable of performing noble achievements, heroic exploits, vast enterprises; of displaying illustrious virtues, and of making important discoveries and improvements -that they are all connected together by numerous ties and relations, preparing for each other the bounties of Nature and the productions of art, and conveying them by sea and land from one country to another; one nation furnishing tea, another sugar, another wine, another silk, another cotton, and another distributing its manufactures in both hemispheres of the globe-in short, that they are all under the moral govern

ment of the same Omnipotent Being, who "hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth, who hath determined the boundaries of their habitations," who carries them yearly around the centre of light and heat, and who "gives them rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness." How various, then, the ties, how sacred and indissoluble the bonds, which should unite men of all nations! Every man, whether he be a Jew or a Greek, a Barbarian or a Scythian, a Turk or a Frenchman, a German or a Swede, a Hottentot or an Indian, an Englishman or a Chinese, is to be considered as our kinsman and our brother, and, as such, ought to be embraced with benevolence and affection. In whatever region of the globe he resides, whatever customs or manners he adopts, and to whatever religious system he adheres, he is a member of the same family to which we all belong. And shall we feel indifferent to our brethren, shall we indulge resentment and hostility towards them, because they are separated from us by a river. by a chan nel, by an art of the sea, by a range of mountains, or by an arbitrary line drawn by the jealousy of despots, or because their government and policy are different from ours? Ought we not, on the contrary, to take a cordial interest in every thing that concerns them-to rejoice in their prosperity, to feel compassion on account of the ravages, desolation, and misery which error and folly, vice and tyranny may have produced among them; and to alleviate, to the utmost of our power, the misfortunes and oppressions under which they groan? Reason, as well as Christianity, spurns at that narrow-minded patriotism which confines its regards to a particular country, and would promote its interests by any means, although it should prove injurious to every other nation. Whatever tends to the general good of the whole human family, will ultimately be found conducive to the prosperity and happiness of every particular nation and tribe: while, on the other hand, a selfish and ungenerous conduct towards other communities, and an attempt to injure or degrade them, will seldom fail to deprive us of the benefits we wished to secure, and to expose us to the evils we intended to avert. Such appear in fact to be the principles of God's moral government among the nations, and such the sanctions by which the laws of natural justice are enforced.

Were such sentiments universally recognised and appreciated, the antipathies of nations would speedily be vanquished, and union and harmony prevail among all the kindreds of the earth. And what a multitude of advantages would ensuewhat a variety of interesting scenes would bo presented-what an immense number of delightful associations would be produced, were such a union effected among mankind! Were men over all the globe living in peace and harmony, every sea would be navigated, every region ex

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