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Les diagrammes suivants illustrsnt la mAthode. i' J,- 1 2 3 'o.,' 'i''v 1 2 3 4 5 8 cc S' THE LOVE OF COUNTRY, CONSIDERED UPON CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES, WITH A SPECIAL APPLICATION TO THE CASE OF ENGLISHMEN. A SERMON FRBACHKD IK Tti^ CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF QUEBEC^ dSl'OBE THB ST. GEORGE'S SOCIETY OF THAT CITY, On the 23rd of April, 1844, BY G. J. MOUNTAIN, D. D., LORD BISHOP OF MONTR RAL. VR(^jr^l> 'Ai! TIJB> !>!%}&( eF^qB.SOCIEiXXt J M^ * * * • ? ■ A^^k • m^ • » ■ ' * I I ■ « ■ t « SERMON. k^iM^^«M««^^W^^^«AA^^^V^M^MV> Rom. IX, 3, 4. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh ; who are Israelites, to whom pertainetb the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises.'* XT is difficult to conceive a stronger expression of af- fection^ concern, and devotedness than that which the Apostle here employs to describe his feelings towards his countrymen the Jews. We are not, indeed, to imagine that the curse to which, if it were possible so to save them, he professes his readiness to be exposed for their sakes, refers to the eternal world. He does not put before us such a supposition or such an idea, as that the perdition of bis own soul could operate their rescue from the doom which they had brought and in- deed had imprecated upon their heads. There are dif- ferent meanings which may be attached to the expres- sion which he makes use of, but this is not one of them. If his being accursed after the esamplCf (for the original words would perfectly bear that translation,) accursed after the examplcy of Christ who died what was consi- dered an accursed death,* could do his own people good, — or if, as others understand the passage, he could take upon himself in their stead, the calamities ordained for them which marked the malediction of Heaven, he felt as if he could so sacrifice himself in their cause. The words, however understood with reference • fJal, iii, 13 cf. Dcul. xxi, 23. 59591 to the particular nature of the curse, convey still the same sentiment ; and as we have already said, a stronger evidence of deep and tender interest can hardly be conceived. Let us fix our attention, then,upon the grounds on which the Apostle entertained these feelings towards the Jews. My brethren, my kinsmen^ according to the ^e^^j— this is the first which is stated ; and the words apiiear pregnant with natural affection : Natural affection, to be devoid of which he marks down, in another place, among the odious characteristics of evil men in the latter times. St. Paul, therefore, who in the highest and amplest sense was a cosmopolite, who ranged the world, as the Apostle of the Gentiles, to carry the message of salvation, whose zeal impelled him in all directions and to all distances, to preach among the Gentiles the un-^ searchable riches of Christ, who breaks down all the fences of exclusiveness, and sweeps aside all the assumpr tions of privilege from caste or country, with reference to the blessings of the covenant, — who proclaims that under the Gospel there is neither Greek nor Jew, circum- cision nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all, — St. Paul, neverthe- less, does not refuse to recognize the claim of kindred and naiionality upon his own heart. My brethren, my kins- men according to the flesh : — ^The same voice of the love of country and kindred, speaks out in other examples recorded in Scripture : we hear it from King David when he addresses the tribes of Judah after his restora? tion. Ye are my brethren ye are my bones and my flesh : we hear it in the questions of Queen Esther, For how can 1 endure to see the evil tphich shall come upon my I jPBOPLB, OT how can I endure to see the destruction of mv KINDRED f— We hear it again, in touching accents^ from the Jews in their captivity, as their feelings are spoken by the Psalmist, By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembered thee, O Zion : A^for our harps we hanged them up upon the trees that are therein. They that carried us away captive required of us then a song and melody in our heaviness. Sing us one of the songs of Zion : Hoiv shall we sing the Lord^s song in a strange land ? Jf I forget thee, O, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning ! • When, therefore, such a call is sounded as that ad- dressed to the father of the faithful, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will sheiu thee, or such a charge is given as that to the Church, in her bridul preparation. Hearken, O daughter, and consider : in- dine thine ear : forget also thine own people and thy father's house, — it is not that these connections are to be in themselves held as worthless, or these attachments to be discarded from the heart, — but it is rather that these being admitted to be things w: ub do, in their due mea- sure, deserve our love and challenge our respect, are nevertheless to be unhesitatingly set aside if they conflict with the higher claims of religious duty, or present im- pediments to our faithful adherence to the Gospel. It is, in fact, the admitted value of these temporal objects, which constitutes the force of tho lesson, and sets in its just light the superiority of the appeal made on behalf of God. The commands jus^t considered are to be * The quotations from the Psalms which occur in this Sermon, are fiom tue translation ip the Book of Common Prayer. 6 III hi classed with those solemn warnings of Christ, which teach us tliat, in the event of such a competition, all rival considerations of an earthly kind, all ties of natu- ral affection, all compliance with what otherwise would be proper calls of feeling and duty, must instantly and unreservedly give way. Suffer me first, to go and bury my father : Follow me and let the dead bury their dead,-^ those who are not alive to any sense of their eternal in- terests, let the task, at such a moment, be left to them. Jf any man come to me and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple, I conceive, therefore, that the love of country, if in perfect subordination to those exalted principles which teach us to seek a better country, that is an heavenly, and to regard ourselves as strangers and pilgrims upon earth, is to be ranked among the dispositions which it is desirable to cultivate and foster among men ; and con- sequently that institutions which have for their object the encouragement and perpetuation of such feelings in those who are separated from the land of their fathers, may upon this ground, independently of other conside- rations to be yet touched upon, commend themselves to our support. And I, the more readily make this avowal, as the result of some thought and examination bestowed upon the subject, because 1 was at one time rather in- clined to a different opinion, and disposed to regard them as having some tendency both to divert our contempla- tions from our everlasting home and to interfere with theCatholu: spirit of Christianity, in one of the legitimate senses of that word. Against the former of these effects, it may certalnl y be nesessary for believers who would cherish their inheritance in ChriM, to stand upon their guard when mixed in the proceedings of this association : but so it is in a multitude of other affairs in which they are law fully and perhaps laudably engaged in life. With reference to the latter, i. e. the prejudice to be apprehended as likely to ensue to the comprebenslTe character of christian charity, it is not seen in other cases^ that charitable undertakings which are founded for special objects or formed for the exclusive benefit of particular clashes and descriptions of human beings, such as asylums for the fatherless or the widow, institutions for the blind, associa- tions for the extinction of slavery, the relief of distressed mariners, or the care of other particular interests, have the slightest tendency to blunt our feelings of compas- sion or cripple our exertions for suffering humanity at large ; and in the same way, I do not imagine that our connection with a society instituted with the view of knitting the attachments ot Englishmen to their parent land, and assisting English strangers who may be found upon our shores in distress, will prompt us to forget that God has mtule of one blood all the nations of the earth, to pass by on the other side, if we witness the spectacle of want and woe exhibited in the person ofoFie whose national extraction, and perhaps whose language and religion also, differ from our own, or to close the band of charity against his appeal, and throw overboard his claim upon our compassion, unless we can sufficiently identify him with ourselves after demand- ing of him as the mariners demanded of Jonah, what is thine occupation ? and whence earnest thouf what is thy country ? and of what people art thou ? There is indeed a principle of discrimination to be ob- ficrvcd in our charitieii, flhd there at'e preference^ not id be Io»t sight of, in upportioning the measure of Christiati beneficence. We are charged, as we have opportuUitpy to do good into all men, specially unto them that are of th6 HousHOLD OF FxiTif. And in a similar way, the lovfj of country, like all other human attachments and predi< lections, must be viewed in connection with the prin- ciples of our r^^ligion, and must then receive its noblest zest when we can look upon the land which we love, as the home of fuith, and the chosen depository of blessings for mankind. My brethren, says tlie Apostle, my kins' men, according to the flesh, mourning over them, indeed, because they had lost their privileges, but yearning in his bowels at the retrospect, my brethren, who»ard Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory imd the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promised. The glow of national feeling v^ithin the bosom of the Israelite kindled up with redoubled brightness in catching its fire from the altar of God, and the sentiment became sanctified with which he was enabled to say of the Palestine in which he gloried, '* This is my own, my native land.*' # It is part of tht^ prayer of King Solomon at the dedication of the temple, that wherever the people might be carried away to cap- tivity, they might be heard in their supplications when they should turn towards the place whereof the Lord had said that he would put his name there; and it was thus that Daniel prayed when in defiance of the tyrannical edict contrived for his distruction, his window being open towards Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three timet • Scott's lay. I! 9 a dny» Ai«l wo, my brethrtMi, my couiitryiiien, my kiiionien according to the fle»li, when we turn oiir thoiiglits to tlie homes of ohl Bngland, — among all the ussocitttions which are wafted to us across the wilderness of waters, are there none which are impregnated with holy and thankful aspirations, which are linked with our animated recognition of signal and distinguishing blessings vouchsafed to that country ? We do not indeed claim for her the exclusive poj>ses$ion of the seat of true Religion : the hour has long ago comCf and fervently do we bless God that it has, in which it wtxi neither at Jerusalem nor in any other single spot that the Father was to be worshipped ; but the true worshippers thenceforward, were in all places alike to be privileged to tvorahip him^ through his son Jesus Christ, in spirit and in truth, IFe do not say with reference to oilier nations in our pleadings before Ids throne, ffe are thine : thou never barest rule over them : thei/ are not catted by thy name. We exult, on the contrary, in the thought that all the barrierii of separation are broken down ; that the Gospel is travelling on to its appointed mark, till all the ends of the world shall remember themselves and be turned unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him ; — till the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Hut in the meantime, we cannot fail to see that, in this very work, there is a country which seems to carry u high and sacred commisisiun, which seems to be charged with the task of dispensing far and wide over the globe, the blessings and privileges, civil, social and religiou-s which, through the mercy of God, have been enjoyed by herself : — a country of which B -M&:-. \\ 10 wo may say, without qjialifylMg lite terms, that he fut/ft not dealt so with any naiiun — tlie fotiiitain, hi a man- ner, of extended civilization, the model of free institir- tion!», exhihiting a wisely temperejl freedom, blending with all tire bulwarks of an ancient and venerated monarchy, the no less jealous defences of po|Milar right — possessing an unparallelled extent of colonial dominion and an unequalled command of internal resources — her voice ascendant in the councils of the civilized world, and heard in the cause of Kiberty and mercy— her arms every where victorious by sea and by land— her uoldiers and her sailors covered with the rewards of valour, and help- lr>g to lift on high the power of her name,* — ht r merchants as princes , and lier traffickers among the honorable of the ear th—\\et adventurers in commerce, and her votarres of science alike pushing their enter- prizes into all region;:, and penetrating the remote>C corners of the globe — her people availing themselves with promptitude, sagacity, and perseverance, of every facility afforded by modern improvements and disco- veries ill all their prodigiiiluiatiun. «f the realm, — the Ciiristiuii Hcligioii carried in her f4ii|>ii and travelling, at la;$t, in cumpuny, with iier in- iflence — such a country there is — and that countuy is OVA OWN. VVe, therefore, her children, with all the common yearnings of children towards their mother at a distance, may mix some feelings of a lofty cast^ and of a thrilling ciiuracier when we consider that the fact of our belonging to hei* and her belonging to ii$>, stamps .u|>on us a sameness with all these mighty interests and varied achievementK. And are, then, these feelings to bo the feelings of ;wM/e/ Are we to be lifted up in heart be- fore Goi! and vainly bloated with an idea of personal im- portance, with a self attribution of superiority, with a •liaughty and unmannerly disdain of other nationss, per- haps in more than one point, excelling us, — with a pre- posterous appropriation of merit to ourselves, because our <:ountry is exalted? — Alas! poor sinful worms — pride M'as not made for such as us— and the lesson whicli we liave to learn in the contemplation of the picture just set -before u«, is far other indeed, than a lesson of security m^(\ insolence. The hearts of the children of England ni llie lighter class of poetry, which a mrnnory nut wholly nnrt-tentive of come earlier arquirementu, niA}-, at the moment, have sti;!gt'stiid, and which may be fittt'd to enlirrn the Htiention of hearers or of readers. Oo the cooirary I am not sorry forHo opportunity of pointing out how unfi>unded it the prejudice which may possibly in some qunrters exi»t ngainst such a practice. St. Paul quoted the Heathen poels. and among them a writer of comedy, to his [urpo^e. (Acts xvii, 28— Ist Cor. xv, 33— Tit. I, I 2.) The objection, in fact, belongs to a class of prejudices tvhich, where they are ronscientiiiUHly entertained, are entitled to be . treated with considera< tion. but nhicbit is veiy undesirable to cuUivate. Hadta nnA 7'artarua are features in the fabulous and monstrous mytho'ogy of the henihen, but the nainfs iu. 13 Athens^ could have beheld through the long perispective of ageii, wliut is now to be actually seen, — a Bishop of the Church of England with men of the two other orders of the Clergy, all of them converted Jews themselves, estab!i«hed at that very Jerusalem and Christian wor- ship there celebrated by them in the Hebrew tongue — and if he could have known also that, at this day, u Church, bearing his own name, St. Paul's Church, was consecrated by another Englitih Bishop, upon Mars' Hill, in that very Athens, and on the identical spot in that City, where he preached the Gospel himself, — his heart would surely have been gladdened by so good a beginning of the work in those places, and he would have legarded as happy and highly favured, that island of Britain, which he is believed by not a few learned persons* to have once visited himself. And there are many things done by Britain, for which he would have blessed Gud. But carry that holy devoted and heavenly minded Apostle into other scenes, — mix that man of God with all the elements which are at work in the political and social system of the country — make him acquainted with all the transactions, public or domestic, familiar with all the pursuits, habits, sentiments and practices, put him in possession, in detail, of all the modes of spending time, money and other talents bestowed by the hand of God, which prevail among a great mass , of the inhabi- tants of this mighty Christian Empire, with all its enormous resources, and consequent tremendous resj)ou* • Si-e on the nppoftio stdfs of Mils qnest'ion, tie writinirs of ihe l^te Biilicp of ?«liiil,u V (IJurgt B'} nod of llic iHtc Rev. Dr. Jlnles if KiUisandra. V I II «ibilitie.<, as jiisit now enumerated, iiow would it ttt4 luok in the eyes of him who. himself willing to upend and to be spent in the cause of Christy exclaiming God forbid that 1 should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ J says also if any men love not th& Lord jKSUii let him be anathemOf Maranatha, and tvhalsoever ye do, do all things to the glory of God? would noi his joy be soon shaded by sadnei^s, and would lie nut be prompted, upon many grounds, to say of us, afier his «pecial interest had been awakened fur us, as he said of his own people, that for our sakes he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart 1 O England, England, thou art high and lifted up: but heed the solemn warn- Ings of thy God : Think in how many grander and more striking instances tlie early malediction against Amalek iias since been fulfilled, Amalek was the first op the NATIONS, &u< his latter end shall be that he perish fur ever. On thee is showered goodness from the hand of God — // thou continue in his goodness — otherwise thou also shall be cut off", But we must be carried away no farther by this contemplation. It is quite time to come more closely to the point — and before dismissing these reflections, to «ay a few words in support of that appeal, my brethren, which the St. George's Society of Quebec makes this flay to your bounty. But here w-e need not lose sight of the Apostle. We have just had occasion to notice him «s one who was willing to spend \ss> wqW as to be spent for his brethren. And we know from his writings, and -what is recorded of him in Scripture by another hand, how warm and active a part he sustained in works of chiwity and collections for the Suinls — i.e. simply the hclicvas^ ( dl ol 15 (nnA would to Go(! i!mt profesfcd believers of our own (lay would till remember that they nre called to be Suhits ! would to God that they wouhl remember what manner of person!!, in common consistency, they ought to be in till hofi/ conversation and godliness. Whether St. George wujt or WHS not buch a Saint, we are not here concerned to en()uire : it is not with any pledge to the maintenance of his saintly pretensions or any reference to him of a religious kind, that the occasion has drawn us together.) But to proceed. The St. George's Society of this place is a charitable Society ; and its charitable department 1 believe 1 am quit safe in affirming, has been remarkably well managed, and has been productive of extensive be* nefit. The love of country of which I have spoken nui»k like other human feelings and attachments, have its vi- sible developements and its active manifrstations : And what better manifestation, — in fact what other manifes- tation of any real value and importance, than that which consists m doing good to the objects who, upon the prin- ciples ofthe Institution, " claim kindred here and have their claim allowed?^' Indulgenceof feelings, cultiva- tion of sentiments, zealous assertion of principles, warm adherence to national and hereditary inslUutions, — what are tliey all worth if they serve only for food to self-compUcent reflection, or evaporate in talk ? — Mere profession, in all shapes, is well exposed by the A|)ostle James in his pointed reprobation of an unfruit- ful faith : 1/ a brother or a sister be naked and destitute (jf daily food and one of you say unto them, depart in peace f be ye warmed and filled : notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful for the bady^ what doth it profit f—Even so faith, if it hath not works, is deady being alone. IG 1 The things needful for the hndy have been diiipeiiiied by thU Institution to many u destitute brother and sister, and they have been tohl to depart in peaces with some- thing more than the empty expression of go(>d will, — enabled indeed in many instances to depart back to their own country in peace, when all their stay, through ilia visitation of God, had failed them in this. It is his ordinance that rraverty and suffering should exist, that //ie;!)oor should never cease out of the land, and it is to the himds in which his own goodness has reposed the means, that he commits the task^of di