iJlillllllUlilliilUi
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 /
 
 POSTHUMOUS WORKS 
 
 m 
 
 OV THE 
 
 • 
 
 REV. HENRY B. BASCOM, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 ffine of tfie i3is5ops of tijc iKttrjotiigt Episcopal (Efuncf), ,Sout5. 
 
 ET3ITED BY THE 
 
 4# 
 REV. THOMAS N. RALSTON, A.M. 
 
 " By it, he being dead, yet speaketh."— Paul. 
 
 NASHVILLE, TENN.: 
 
 ^ PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & P. A. OWEN. 
 
 . Book Agents of the M. E. Church, South. 
 
 1856.
 
 Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
 
 MRS. ELIZA BASCOM, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Kentucky 
 
 m 
 
 
 4 • * 
 
 • • • 
 
 ,.i . . . ••• • • • 

 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introdpction, ..-.--•••••5 
 
 Lectures on the Relative Claims of Christianity and Infidelity, • 15 
 
 Lecture I, • " 
 
 ■ Lecture II, -..----••- 39 
 Lecture III, ...... ----54 
 
 Lecture IV, 83 
 
 Lecture V, 1^2 
 
 Inaugural Address, delivered before the Board of Trustees of 
 
 Madison College, Uniontown, Penn., 125 
 
 Glance at the Natural History and Philosophy of Agriculture, as 
 indicating its prohable influence upon the destinies of the human 
 
 . 177 
 
 race, -i" 
 
 Centenary of Methodism. A brief Address, ... - 227 
 Clahns of Africa ; or an Address in behalf of the American Colo- 
 nization Society, ..--- 247 
 
 Use and Abuse of Lettered Attainment. Address at Commence- 
 ment, Transylvania University, 291 
 
 Address on Temperance, 307 
 
 Comprehensive Analysis of the Elements and Purposes of Litera- 
 ture.— Address on Commencement Day, 321
 
 / 
 
 >- 
 
 or 
 
 C3C 
 CO 
 
 3 
 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In introducing to tte reading public the Posthumous "Works 
 of the late Bishop Bascom, some remarks by way of preface will 
 naturally be expected from the editor. To prepare for any 
 literary work of value or importance, an appropriate preface, 
 at once concise and perspicuous, minute and comprehensive, is 
 justly considered a task of difficult performance. But when 
 called upon to prepare for the press, and introduce to the public, 
 the posthumous works of one so eminent and distinguished as 
 ^ the late Bishop Bascom, we must be allowed to invoke a generous 
 in indulgence ; for we feel deeply impressed with a sense of the 
 ^ delicacy and responsibility of our position. To meet the expec- 
 3 tations and secure the approbation of all, even of such as feel a 
 deep interest in the subject, we know to be impossible. A con- 
 scious assurance, however, that so far as we have progressed in 
 «$ our labors, we have spared no pains to perform the task assigned 
 us to the best of our ability under the circumstances, while it 
 S allows us, with becoming difTulence, to submit to public scrutiny 
 ^ the performance of our work, at the same time leaves us without 
 ui any disquieting apprehensions as to the result. 
 
 Our engagement in this labor was not a matter of our own 
 seeking. When first solicited to undertake it by the respected 
 widow of the late Bishop Bascom, we for a time declined, namlni^ 
 several other individuals whom we recommended as more suitable 
 persons; but when the request was still urged upon us, and 
 especially when it had been sanctioned and approved by reso- 
 lution of the late General Conference, at Columbus, Georgia, 
 
 461:1 
 
 z4 , c>2
 
 VI INTRODUCTION, 
 
 we addressed oui'self to the task before us without hesitation or 
 delay. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, that notwithstanding the great fame of 
 Dr. Bascom as an orator, comparative!}- little had ever been 
 published from his pen up to the time of his death. This resulted 
 in part from his peculiar nervousness of sensibility, combined 
 with the exquisite delicacy and refinement of his taste. Such 
 was the acuteness of his sensibility, that he instinctively shrunk 
 from submitting his productions to the scrutiny of public criticism, 
 so long as he could see anything in them in the slightest degree 
 defective, or falling short of the most complete finish. And such 
 were the keenness of his perception, and the rigid exquisiteness 
 of his taste, that he could scarcely ever persuade himself that 
 any of his productions were wrought up to that state of finish 
 and degree of perfection, which met his own ideal of what was 
 requisite and proper. However severe the process of refinement, 
 his acute sensibility could always detect too much of alloy yet 
 mixed with the pure gold, to allow him to be willing to send it 
 forth for general circulation. Hence, although ever and anon, 
 during the course of his brilliant career, he was called upon both 
 by distinguished individuals and reputable associations, for copies 
 of his sermons and addresses for publication, he almost Invariably 
 declined. Except In shape of conference documents, when he 
 acted as chairman of committees, or was called upon under 
 Imperative circumstances, he seldom or never appeared before 
 the public in print, with his own consent. Perhaps these con- 
 ference papers, one inaugural address, his articles In the Quarterly, 
 his small volume on " Methodism and Slavery," and one volume 
 of sermons published a short time before his death, comprise 
 about the whole of his published writings. His conference 
 documents, however, were numerous and able. It is notorious, 
 that for a long period it seldom occurred, whether in his annual 
 or the general conference, that an elaborate report was demanded 
 on an important and delicate question, when Dr. Bascom was not 
 put forward as chairman of the committee. Witness his famous 
 report on the " Westmoreland Case," at the General Conference 
 in Baltimore, in 1840; his immortal " Protest," in New York,
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 in 184-1; and his report as chairman of the committee on 
 "Organization," at the Louisville Convention, in /1845; liis 
 " Review" of the " Reply " to the " Protest," and other pa))ers 
 that might be named. These documents, however, were suffi- 
 ciently numerous and extensive to evince that their author was 
 not only the accomplished pulpit orator that public fame had 
 enrolled him, but also the profound thinker and the' masterly 
 logician. 
 
 The great fame of Dr. Bascom as an orator and public 
 lecturer, and the admiration with which entranced thousands 
 hung upon his pulpit eloquence, may readily account for the 
 eager anxiety which had possessed the public mind, years before 
 his death, for the publication of his sermons and addresses. 
 And what contributed no little to the fanning of the flame of 
 this anxiety, was the peculiar character of his oratory. His 
 mode of thought and style of diction were both unique. He 
 neither laid down his propositions and principles, and arrayed 
 his arguments and illustrations, according to the regulai", sys- 
 tematic, and measured order of the schools, nor shaped his 
 sentences, or rounded his periods, molded his metaphors, or 
 chiseled his figures, according to any studied, staid, minute 
 regard for the punctilious rules of the rhetorician. Fired by the 
 heat of his own genius, and soaring aloft on the proud wing of 
 his own glowing imagination, the strait-laced formula of the mere 
 schoolman, and the petit niceties of the mere logomachist, liko 
 the buzzing of an insect amid the rushing of a tornado, were 
 overshadowed and obliterated amid the lightning-glance of his 
 thought, and the earthquake-power of his argument! In his 
 oratory there was a startling vividness, — a magnificent grandeur 
 that enchained and transported his auditory, — that so captivated 
 the mind, and enkindled the imagination, with the scenes of 
 beauty and the visions of sublimity, which, by the magic influence 
 of his pencil, were bursting to view in successive flashes upon 
 the canvass, as to leave the mind almost overwhelmed and 
 paralyzed by the force of the shock ! And when it was over, so 
 overpowering had been the influence of these sublime panoramic 
 exhibitions, that each successive one had almost obliterated the
 
 • •• 
 
 VIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 memory of its predecessor, leaving the mind in a state of 
 electrified excitement of anxiety to recall the bright visions that 
 had passed before it, but without the power to perform the task. 
 Hence, the general wish, under such circumstances, that Avould 
 naturally arise for the publication of those masterly productions. 
 Sermons and addresses, possessed of such thrilling interest and 
 matchless power in their delivery, we wish to have before us in 
 print, that we may pause and gaze at leisure upon their beauties, 
 and dwell upon their excellencies, — treasure them up in our 
 minds, and preserve them for future meditation and profit. 
 
 Such being the character of his oratory, it is not surprising 
 that the publication of a volume of his sermons, a few years ago, 
 should have excited so general an interest ; and that the work 
 should have commanded so rapid and so extensive a circulation. 
 Multi[)licd thousands, who had been charmed and edified by the 
 delivery of these discourses, were now impatient to re-enjoy an 
 intellectual and spiritual repast, the memory of which, in by-Tone 
 years, they cherished with so much pleasure. The general 
 impression had gone abroad, too, that the volume published was 
 soon to be succeeded by others of a similar character. Expec- 
 tation to this effect was rife, and the public anxiety had been 
 excited on the subject, at the time Dr. Bascom was set apart 
 to the Episcopacy, in 1850. But in a few months after this 
 event, amid the strength and vigor of his laborious and brilliant 
 career, he fell in death, and that eloquent voice was silenced on 
 earth forever. In his death the church lost one of her ablest 
 ministers, — the pulpit, tlie cause of virtue and religion, one of 
 its mightiest champions. But he died in peace, expressing his 
 unshaken confidence in " Almighty Goodness," for salvation. 
 
 No sooner had the general shock occasioned by his death 
 subsided, than the greatest anxiety was manifested for the publi- 
 cation of the manuscripts of the eloquent Bascom, which were 
 supposed to be numerous and valuable. At the first cursory 
 examination of his papers by one or two of his special friends, it 
 was supposed, and tiie impression went abroad, that there was 
 but little to be found in a state of preparation, or that could, in 
 a suitable manner, be prepared for the press. This was matter
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 of deep and general regret, for it was known to some of liis 
 friends at least, that be had frequently spoken of bis manuscripts, 
 to the amount of several volumes, as being nearly as well 
 prepared for the press as he expected ever to be able to render 
 them. And especially, was it known, that among other lectures 
 and addresses, on pliilosophical and other subjects, he had 
 frequently referred to his " Lectures on the Relative Claims 
 of Christianity and Infidelity," (which he bad delivered in 
 several of the principal cities of the United States,) as tho 
 master production of his life. 
 
 It was not long, however, before it was ascertained, on further 
 and more careful examination, that the first impression as to the 
 extent of bis available manuscripts, was, fortunately, erroneous. 
 As well as we can 7ioio judge, there will be about three volumes 
 of his posthumous works, the size of the published volume of bis 
 sermons. These will consist of sermons, and lectures and 
 addresses, on philosophical and other important subjects. — Among 
 these, are his celebrated Lectures on Infidelity, which are 
 embraced in the present issue. 
 
 It may be due to the public as well as ourself, to give some 
 idea of the condition in which we find these manuscripts, and 
 the amount and difliculty of the labor devolving upon the editor. 
 Suffice it then to say, that the manuscripts, so far as form is 
 concerned, are none of them found in a state of complete 
 preparation for the press. The substance or matter has doubtless 
 received the finishing touch of the author. That is, the maturest 
 thoughts, and the most elaborated conclusions of his mind are 
 here presented. They are, however, in such a state, that every 
 line and word must be rewritten in extenso. They are found in 
 the author's own peculiar, small, (and to one not familiar with 
 it,) exceedingly diflicult band ; and the pages are so crowded with 
 corrections, erasures, interlineations, and reinterlineations, that 
 to decipher and transcribe them correctly, great care and pains- 
 taking are requisite. Besides, as the general rule, the division 
 into paragraphs and the punctuation are to be attributed to the 
 editor. As to the punctuation, however, in some instances, 
 •we have not taken the libertj- to change it, even when we con-
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sidered it variant from the best established rules of the art ; for 
 the simple reason, that it accords better with the author's peculiar 
 manner ; and -where wo do not consider it radically erroneous, 
 we choose to let it stand, as more expressive of his own mode of 
 thought, and peculiarly emphatic style of expression. In some 
 instances, we have taken the liberty of dividing a very long 
 sentence into two or more shorter ones. This is sometimes 
 effected merely by a change of punctuation, and in other cases, 
 by a transposition of some of the adjuncts, or a change of 
 connective particles. But in all cases, we have been careful to 
 preserve the identity of the sense and style; and shall retain 
 the original manuscript, as our security against any charge of 
 inattention or unfaithfulness in the work assigned us. 
 
 It will readily occur to the reader, that in the matter of 
 deciding what ought, and what ought not to be published, a task 
 of delicacy, and one for the performance of which, a maturity 
 and discretion of judgment, beyond what we have any right to 
 claim, are requisite. But on this, as on other points, we have 
 acted in view of our best light, and reserve all further defence 
 till occasion may demand it. 
 
 A brief notice of the contents of the present volume, may not 
 be out of place. It opens with five Lectures on the " Relative 
 Claims of Christianity and Infidelity." These, we find in the 
 manuscript, in the form of three lectures, but as it could be done 
 without any violence to the connection, for the sake of ease and 
 convenience to the reader, we have divided them into five 
 lectures. When we reflect on the number and variety of the 
 points of controversy mooted between the friends and opponents 
 of Christianity, it cannot be expected that in a single volume, 
 much less in five lectures comprising but a fraction of a volume, 
 every point connected with this subject, considered by some of 
 importance, should be embraced. To spread so brief an argument 
 over so wide a surface, would be so to dilute it, as to render it 
 comparatively nugatory and useless. Our author has pursued 
 a wiser method. He has, with remarkable discrimination and 
 sagacity, selected a few prominent points in the controversy, — 
 points that are radical, and upon which the whole question must
 
 INTRODUCTION, XI 
 
 obviously turn, and tbo settling of which must necessarily settle 
 the whole matter. Here, he has taken his position in first 
 principles. He has planted himself on universally admitted 
 truths, — on incontrovertible facts, and with great care, and 
 masterly clearness and force, has advanced, step by step, diving 
 profoundly into the depths of things, planting himself, at every 
 movement of the foot, on solid rock, and rearing around him on 
 every hand as he advances, a wall of adamant, impregnable to 
 the assaults of every assailant, and erecting upon it his own 
 death-dealing artillery, charged with the thunder and lightning 
 of invincible truth and all-conquering demonstration, utterly 
 scattering the hosts, and demolishing the intrenchments of Infi- 
 delity ! He has commenced his argument by appealing to 
 undeniable facts, admitted alike by the Infidel and the Christian ; 
 and from these, ho reasons upward and onward, in a concatenated 
 chain of argument, elaborating in a manner the most profound 
 and masterly, each successive process of liis reasoning, compelling 
 Infidelity to travel with him, every step he takes, till he reaches 
 his final and triumphant conclusion, or renounce common sense 
 itself! Without aiming, in this introduction, at anything like an 
 analysis of his argument, we give it as our judgment, that Dr. 
 Bascom has seized upon the strongest point in the controversy, 
 and has conducted the argument in a manner more thorough and 
 convincing, than we have anywhere else seen the same argument 
 presented. Indeed, so far at least as the elaboration of the 
 argument is concerned, we consider his course remarkable, as 
 well for its originality of method, as the clearness and solidity of 
 its logic. It were saying too much, to pronounce these lectures 
 against Infidelity faultless, but to pronounce them unanswerahlei, 
 and to hazard the opinion, that none of us shall live to witness 
 an attempt to answer them, is only to award the meed of intrinsic 
 merit. If our illustrious author, by his eloquent sermons and 
 addresses, has arisen to the highest pinnacle of fame as a Christian 
 orator, these lectures alone, must enroll him with the most 
 profound philosophical thinkers, and the ablest logical reasoners 
 of the age. 
 
 The "Address on Agriculture" in this volume, is remarkable,
 
 XH INTRODUCTION. 
 
 both as it regards the profound manner in wliicli the author 
 conducts liis invcstiiiation of this interestiii"; theme, and the 
 laborious care with which he has culled and collected facts for 
 the establishment and illustration of his principles. Some of his 
 positions will doubtless be controverted, but no one can read the 
 lecture without being instructed and interested witli the fund of 
 information, the grasp of thought, and the beauty of diction it 
 exhibits. 
 
 Passing over the " Address on Temperance," the " Centennial 
 of Methodism," the "Inaugural Address"at Madison College, and 
 various other Addresses in this volume, all in character with the 
 author's finest productions, we call attention especially to the 
 famous " Address on the Claims of Africa." This Address, 
 substantially the same as we have it now before us, was delivered 
 in 1833, in many of the principal cities and towns of the 
 United States, when Dr. Bascom was traveling as Agent of the 
 " American Colonization Society." The matchless beauty and 
 eloquence of this appeal in behalf of Africa, is yet vivid in the 
 memory of thousands, who heard it as it rolled in peals of 
 burning pathos from the lips of the orator, and who will hail its 
 publication as the revival of scenes of impassioned delight in 
 by-gone years. Its power and sublimity are better felt than 
 described, nor shall we impair it by any attempt of the kind. 
 Some will, perhaps, consider portions of it too highly painted, 
 but the coloring was in the theme itself, and the orator, with his 
 enlarged viev/s and philanthropic soul, could neither be true to 
 himself or the cause he pleaded, by adopting a tamer manner, or 
 painting in colors less deep and glowing. Not many months 
 since, a celebrated politician of our country advanced the idea, 
 in an address In favor of African colonization, that it would not 
 be unconstitutional for Congress to appropriate money to aid the 
 cause of African colonization ; — several of our public journals 
 applauded this politician, and gave him credit, as the Jirst who 
 had dared ])ubllcly to advocate this principle. Read tlie address 
 of Dr. Bascom, and you will find that in 1838, he publicly con- 
 tended for, and elaborately argued out the same principle ! Was 
 he not ahead of the times, by more than a quarter of a century ?
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIU 
 
 One wliosfi life has been mainly devoted to literary, scientific, 
 or professional pursuits, may naturally be expected to infuse into 
 his works his own peculiar spirit and character. Tiiis was 
 emphatically the case in regard to Dr. Bascom. By perusing 
 the detail of his life, and the record of his acts and doings, we 
 see the external man, — we survey the outer court. But by 
 retiring with him to his closet, and perusing his works, Ave gain 
 a more intimate fellowship, — we enter the inner temple of his 
 soul, and read the thoughts, and catch the emotions of his heart. 
 
 The writings of Dr. Bascom, though not sufficient to impart 
 to the reader who never heard him, an adequate view of his 
 eloquence and power as a pulpit orator, are well calculated to 
 reflect the character of his mind. They lead us to the sanctum 
 of his silent musings, — they admit us to intimate fellowship and 
 communion with his intellectual and spiritual nature, — they 
 vividly impress us with an idea of his mental habits — his modes 
 of thought, and texture of soul. To such as have known him 
 in life, and been fomiliar with him in social intercourse, the 
 perusal of bis writings, now that we can no longer look upon his 
 manly form, or listen to his eloquent voice, is well calculated to 
 present to the imagination a vivid picture of Bascom as he was. 
 Tracing the lines as they dropped from his pen, we almost see 
 him ensconced in his studio — we mark the movement of the 
 intense thought as it stirs the brain wiihin, and sits enthroned 
 upon the spealcing countenance, and seem to be seated in his 
 presence, and holding a personal interview with his lofty spirit. 
 His style may not be deemed faultless. An exuberance of 
 language, and an inattention to the minor niceties of composition 
 essential to the smoothly rounded period, may, in the critic's eye, 
 constitute a defect ; but this blemish is amply atoned for by more 
 important excellencies. His Avrltings exhibit a distinctness of 
 perception, a clearness of discrimination, a depth and grasp of 
 thought, and a connected chain of sound, logical, consequential 
 reasoning, seldom equaled. His taste for the beautiful, the 
 harmonious, the grand, the sublime, was exquisite. His love 
 for the good, the true, the noble, the pure, was intense. Higher 
 aims than mere niceties of composition, engrossed his thoughts —
 
 xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 more lofty aspirations inflamed his genius. He reveled in the 
 rejTion of thought — thought intense, profound, vast, important. 
 This was the shining gold he coveted ; and his main object, as 
 it regards style, was, so to clothe his thoughts in language, as to 
 impart to others a clear, forcible, and vivid impression of what 
 lie saw and felt. This was the secret of his power as an 
 orator. He perceived clearly. No man labored more intensely 
 than he, to rid his subject of all obscurity and confusion. His 
 mind instinctively abhorred all ambiguity. He would submit 
 to nothing that lacked definltiveness. And having gained a 
 clear and distinct perception of truth, ardent and intense as 
 were his feelings, he could not but perceive and feel forciUij, 
 and perceiving and feeling thus himself, he labored to impart to 
 others liis own views and emotions. In a word, his aim was to 
 imbue others with his own soul of thought and emotion. Hence, 
 his style, though frequently diffuse and exuberant, was always 
 perspicuous, always animated, always vivid and impressive. 
 But Ave wiH no longer detain the reader. He is impatient to 
 peruse the volume. We therefore retire from view, and allow 
 him to examine and judge for himself. 
 
 T. N. Ralston. 
 Lexington, Ky., October, 1854.
 
 LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 THE RELATIVE CLAIMS 
 
 OP 
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY.
 
 gtlati))^ Claims iof C|iistianii]| m\)i lufbtliis. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 In the Lectures we are about to submit to your judg- 
 ment, we shall find ourselves in direct conflict with all the 
 various forms and manifestations of unbelief as it regards 
 Christianity. And by how far such a position may 
 involve considerations of interest or delicacy, fitness or 
 responsibility, by so much it behooves us to be able to assign 
 valid reasons for the course we have adopted. These rea- 
 sons will appear at length in the body of the lectures ; but 
 it may be well to assign a general reason here. We remark 
 then, it must be obvious to all, that imless the Infidel can 
 prove Christianity to be false, it may be true, and may 
 afiect, and to the full of its pretensions too, not only man's 
 present condition, as it regards the character and fortunes 
 of his being, but his future and final doom, as a subject of 
 the moral government of God. And this fact alone, clear 
 and undoubted as it is, entitles the subject to examination, 
 and conclusively authorizes, at least, the investigation we 
 are about to institute. 
 
 The fact of my having appeared in difi'erent places, as an 
 occasional lecturer on the Evidences of Christianity, did not 
 originate with myself, but owes its origin to a series of reso- 
 lutions adopted in due form in a special meeting called for 
 the purpose by an association of gentlemen in the West, — 
 VOL. II — 2. 17
 
 18 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 distinguished alike for literary attainment and high moral 
 and Christian worth. By these resolutions I was respect- 
 fully solicited to deliver a course of lectures in one of our 
 Western cities during the last winter, ('37 and '38) on the 
 "Relative claims of Christianity and Infidelity." The 
 resolutions, without participation of mine, and before I knew 
 of their existence, specified the subject of the lectures, as 
 also the method and terms of their delivery. With this 
 call I complied, and have yielded to similar solicitations in 
 different places since. The course I have pursued has been 
 sanctioned by the corporation of the literary institution in 
 which I hold a Professorship, and also by unanimous reso- 
 lution of the ecclesiastical body of which I am a member ; 
 and to these might be added the approval of some twenty 
 other respectable associations, and numerous other facts of 
 a similar character, beside my own convictions of propriety 
 in the premises. Thus accredited and sustained, the occa- 
 sional carping and caviling, meddling and vituperation of 
 the ill-natured and the interested can be borne with, as 
 doing little more than challenging the contempt of the 
 high-minded and well-disposed, in any community where 
 such demonstrations may be met. 
 
 At our present interview, we propose the first of four 
 parts of a preliminary argument for the truth of Christian- 
 ity, based exclusively upon the facts and principles of 
 Natural Theology, admitted alike by the Christian and the 
 infidel. This argument will be complete in itself, and 
 will be felt, in all its force, independently of the other 
 classes of evidence usually appealed to in the defense of 
 Christianity. Of documentary proof, — the historical 
 argument for the truth of the Christian religion, we shall 
 not avail ourselves in the present investigation, except 
 collaterally. The position we assume, and intend elabo- 
 rating, is, that the intellectual disclosures and moral laws
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 19 
 
 promulged by Christianity, are traceable to physical 
 grounds, and rational, undeniable data found in nature. 
 Or, more comprehensively, we take the system of nature 
 and providence on the one hand, and that of revelation 
 on the other, and after the most minute and inductive 
 survey, "vve find the truths of the latter sustained and 
 illustrated by the facts of the former. It will be neces- 
 sary, hoAvever, to throw a more definite boundary around 
 the ground we intend to occupy. Among those whose 
 religious opinions and moral habits have attracted the 
 general denomination of infidels, there is great diversity 
 of opinion, as it regards the religion of nature itself. 
 Some, as Herbert and Tindal, assuming natural religion 
 to be, what all mankind necessarily know of God, and 
 their relations to him. Others again, affirm it is not 
 what all do know, but what all may know, by proper 
 effort and application in the study of nature. And there 
 is a third class, who are imbelievers alike in relation to 
 both natural and revealed religion. The argument we 
 propose will apply with equal point and force to the first 
 and second of these classes, without including the third, 
 which constitutes the atheistic school, and with which we 
 Lave nothing to do. In the general use we make of the 
 term infidel, therefore, we request it may be understood 
 with the limitation just suggested. 
 
 If we prove the truth of Christianity by documentary, 
 historical evidence, however ample and unquestionable 
 the evidence may be, or clear and irresistible the demon- 
 stration, the infidel instantly appeals the argument to the 
 great volume of nature, and pointing to its revelations, 
 assumes at once, that they are at variance with the Chris- 
 tian religion ; and hence, as he alleges, the reasons and 
 grounds of his unbelief. This is the last strong-hold, — the 
 fkvorite retreat, — in fact, the only constantly occupied for-
 
 20 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 tress of infidelity ; and here the whole corps of its friends 
 and partizans will be found entrenched, ready to do battle, 
 and make good its claims against all aggression. Now, it 
 occurs to us, if the friends of infidelity prefer being met 
 upon this ground, they ought to be met here ; and we con- 
 cede, moreover, that if we are vanquished here, it will be 
 useless to renew the attack, as all else we can do, will be 
 but fruitless border warfare. We must be allowed, how- 
 ever, to remind our enemies, at the same time, that should 
 the odds, in this contest, be against them, the fjiilure will 
 be still more decisive, and they will be left to reconstruct 
 their demolished entrenchments, and repair their battered 
 shields, as best they may. And upon this issue we are 
 Willi np- to risk all we have at stake, in the examination of 
 the subject pending. 
 
 It may be urged, that too little attention has been paid 
 to the subject of the argument proposed, to allow the hope 
 of exciting general or popular interest. This we doubt. 
 The supposition conflicts with a Avell known principle of 
 human action. The lectures engrossing us, although 
 adapted principally to the habits and apprehension of men 
 of reading and reflection on moral and philosophical sub- 
 jects, are, nevertheless, intended for more general effect. 
 They are delivered before popular, miscellaneous audiences, 
 accordingly, because it was believed that the great mass 
 of the Christian community, felt sufficient interest in the 
 refutation of the prevalent infidel philosophy of the day, to 
 encourage and sustain them ; such refutation being the 
 only kind of mission likely to be of any service to philo- 
 sophical unbelievers, and the only method of defense against 
 their attacks. The argument is altogether too weighty and 
 important to trust to extemporaneous eft"ort. We would 
 not risk our own reputation, — we would not risk the honor 
 of Christianity, — and especially, we would not hazard an
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDEUTV. 21 
 
 onslaught from infidelity by such a course. The subject, 
 moreover, is not adapted to the pulpit, and requires special 
 treatment and management. And beside, the public mind 
 in this country, if we have studied it correctly, has been so 
 long and intemperately drugged vs^ith the familiar dogmas 
 of the pulpit, and the common-places of religious excite- 
 ment, that it seems to be laboring under a kind of dys- 
 peptic debility, which precludes the proper digestion of 
 thought and reflection, reason and argument, on this sub- 
 ject. Hence, we have believed something else necessar}^ 
 — something different in character, and diverse in etfect. 
 And with all due deference to the opinion of others, we 
 shall risk the experiment fearlessly. If we fail, others can 
 learn wisdom by our folly, and adopt a different course. 
 We select no man as our model — we ask no man to share 
 the responsibility with us. When we need it, we do not 
 decline medicine, because Ave do not comprehend the phi- 
 losophy of the prescription ; — we may know the general 
 characteristics of a country, without a knowledge of its 
 botany and geology ; — we avail ourselves of the use of air 
 and water, without knowing the component elements of 
 either ; — we appreciate the value of education, without 
 being educated ourselves ; — we confide in the watch, the 
 chronometer, and the steam-engine, although unable to 
 construct either ; — the soldier obeys the Napoleon of the 
 field, and fights effectively, although ignorant of military 
 science, and the order of battle; — we may have some 
 knowledge of the laws and principles of mathematics and 
 astronomy, without any claim to proficiency as it regards 
 either ; but because each claimant is not Sir Isaac Newton 
 in the one, or Sir William TTcrschel in the other, does it 
 follow, we can take no interest in these sciences ? And so, 
 in relation to the subject in hand, the general force of the 
 argument from natural theology for the truth of Chris-
 
 22 RELATIVE CLAIMS OP 
 
 tianity, may be felt and appreciated, even wliere tlie mind 
 may fail to comprehend the logic of all its parts. 
 
 To proceed, however, the foundations of Christianity, as 
 an intellectual creation, claiming an intelligible basis, are to 
 be sought deep in the philosophy and nature of things, as 
 found in man, and the external universe about him. And 
 in order to anything like a comprehensive understanding 
 of its principles and claims, viewed as a complex system of 
 moral relations, it is indispensable that the inquirer com- 
 mence with preliminary, general views of the subject ; or 
 otherwise, appeal to them as ultimate data, in the examina- 
 tion he conducts. And to this task we mainly address 
 ourselves, in the present and succeeding lectures, which aro 
 intended to be introductory, in character and purpose, to 
 a brief series of lectures, the specific object of which is, a 
 summary examination of the " Relative Claims of Chris- 
 tianity and Infidelity." 
 
 Lord Bacon has somewhere remarked, with his usual 
 sagacity, and with reference to intellectual accumulation of 
 whatever kind, that "the opinion of plenty ranks among 
 the causes of want y" and his reasoning elsewhere applies 
 the truth and force of the maxim to the subject now under 
 notice. The excepted systems and abstracts — the de- 
 fenses, the summaries and the illustrations of Christianity, 
 are so ample, volumnious, and formidable, that both the 
 opinion and the feeling of plenty seem to obtain in common, 
 among a large proportion of its friends and adherents, 
 who seem to prefer assumption to proof, and would much 
 rather dream than reflect on the subject. The direct 
 tendency of this conviction, or rather assumed result, is to 
 check solicitude, and repress inquiry, and the effect must 
 prove greatly injurious to the cause and interests of Ciiris- 
 tianity ; and this will perhaps explain sufficiently, why 
 we have not deem.ed it out of place to appear before you
 
 CHRlSTrXNITY AND INFIDELITY. 83 
 
 on the present occasion, and for the purposes specified, 
 believing as we do, that it is much safer for those in the 
 interest of Christianity to err by excess than by defect 
 of efibrt. 
 
 We assume, however, (so far as feeling and method are 
 concerned,) no warlike attitude, — we intend no bellige- 
 rent movement. It is not our intention to play gladiator or 
 pugilist. We regard deep, earnest thought, and honest, 
 fearless inquiry, leading to action and achievement, as the 
 most effective elements of counteraction, in any conflict 
 between Christianity and unbelief. And to such means, 
 mainly, whether successfully or not, it is our intention to 
 appeal. It will no doubt be objected to the character of 
 the lectures upon which we are entering, that they are not 
 sufficiently popular in structure and adaptation, — that they 
 have too much to do with first principles and abstract 
 truths, — that they betray too much freedom and temerity 
 at the outset, in fixing as they do, upon those principles 
 of natural theology which have generally been regarded 
 as hidden and elementary ; — and this apprehension will 
 operate as a feeling of discouragement in their delivery ; — 
 fearing we may fail to secure the interest and sympathy 
 of the audience as we proceed. Still, the evil or difficulty, 
 if such it be, could not well be avoided. These first truths 
 and principles, ostensibly, are made to constitute the bone 
 and sinew of the infidel argument, and hence, require to be 
 examined with intelligence and discrimination. They are 
 made to ally themselves with the very anatomy of that 
 argument, and to become, in fact, the opera basilica of the 
 whole system, and must, therefore, always challenge a full 
 share of the enlightened attention of those who reject it, as 
 absurd and unphilosophical. Hence, in every controversy 
 between the respective claims of Christianity and Infidelity, 
 an appeal to first principles in natural theology, as verified
 
 24 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 by facts, becomes of necessity, the starting point or else 
 the goal, and this, by common consent of all concerned. 
 Called upon, therefore, as we have been, and committed as 
 we are to a summary examination of this subject, we have 
 been compelled to adopt the usual course, (and by conse- 
 quence, ) addressing ourselves, not so much to the vulgar 
 scoffer, as the skillful antagonist ; and if, in some things, 
 we may happen to fall into the condemnation of originality, 
 or it may be, mere eccentricity from the common orbit of 
 inquiry, we can only, for the present, express the hope that 
 it will be seen, that such divergence has not been arrived 
 at, or fallen into, with any other view than that of conducting 
 to impartial ulterior conclusions. 
 
 A clear perception of truth is perfectly- compatible with 
 want of ability to explain and explore its relations. Chris- 
 tianity, in its more direct aspects, is a subject of familiar 
 recognition, and perhaps general comprehension ; and with 
 this but too many are satisfied without further inquiry. It 
 has, however, other aspects, and other and far-reaching 
 relations, but little understood, and seldom or never attended 
 to, by the multitude, and yet important to be attended to, 
 in order to its general and more effective diffusion. The 
 ao-o-reo-ate evidence for the truth of Christianity, is, it occurs 
 to us, susceptible of a more primary and original classifica- 
 tion than it has usually received. The usual division is 
 ^into external, internal, and collateral or miscellaneous. The 
 more primary division, we would propose, is into presimip- 
 tive, probable, and demonstrative ; — clear presumptive 
 proof, high probable evidence, and moral demonstration. 
 In our first lecture, we shall ask attention to several pre- 
 sumptive arguments for the truth of Christianity, in which 
 we take notliing fur granted, not adm/itted by the infidel. 
 The other classes of proof will be brought to bear in the 
 subsequent lectures.
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 25 
 
 Our Jirst presumptive argument we derive from tlie 
 intellectual conslilution and moral nature of man. Our 
 second, from his singular confoimation, as a compound 
 being, consisting of soul and body. Onv third, from man's 
 known condition, as a fallen being, — a subject of sin and 
 dealh. Our fourth, from the fact, that aUliough natural 
 theology certiiies us of this evil, it proposes no remedy. 
 And our Jifth argument is deduced from the obvious 
 identity existing between the intellectual and moral mani- 
 festations of natural theology and Christianity. Such is a 
 brief programme of the presumptive argument, which we 
 request you will bear in mind. 
 
 First, allow us to premise then, that in constructing a 
 general argument, having for its object the truth and illus- 
 tration of Christianity, it is as impossible as it would be 
 improper, to overlook the essential structure and distinctive 
 attributes of our common nature ; and especially, the hio'h 
 capabilities of man, and the destinies resulting, in view of 
 his intellectual and moral confiormation. This, we regard 
 as the starting-point in the argument. Overlooking this 
 first, — this basement principle, in the philosophy of Chris- 
 tianity, the whole subject is without foundation in nature, 
 and becomes an unmeaning mockery. For it is only in 
 virtue of such peculiar constitution, that man becomes a 
 reasonable being, — a self-determining agent: and by con- 
 sequence, a subject of moral government, to be influenced 
 and directed by the intellectual conviction, and reasoned 
 conclusions of his own understanding. As the adaptations 
 of Christianity must have special reference to the peculiar 
 constitution, and corresponding relations of man, ignorant 
 of these, how can we decide upon the claims of the Christian 
 revelation ? As well might you understand the physics and 
 philosophy of the material universe, without a knowledge of 
 the elements composing its parts, as to understand Chris' 
 
 VOL. II — 3.
 
 ♦41 
 
 ^6 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 tianity without a knowledge of the peculiar powers and attri- 
 butes of man, as an intellectual and moral being. Of man's 
 intellectual nature and moral relations, no proof is required. 
 Belief to this effect, is the inevitable result of an intuition 
 which is a part of himself; and into this belief, he is 
 further lessoned by a thousand inductive processes, from 
 which mind can never be withheld, under any circumstan- 
 ces. Unresistingly conscious, therefore, of the possession 
 of intellect and moral impulses, man finds himself in the 
 midst, and a member of a vast moral commonwealth, and 
 subject to the restraints and control of a moral constitution, 
 every way kindred and coincident, both in character ai d 
 development. And thus viewed, as the image and repr i- 
 sentative of infinite Intelligence, his intellectual freedom and 
 moral agency can only be appealed to, by reason and motive, 
 as connected with conviction and feeling. Apart from such 
 views of his abstract, intellectual character and moral 
 relations, man loses the peculiar and distinctive grandeur 
 of his nature, and the high destiny, claimed and accredited 
 alike by his hopes and his fears, is reversed forever ! It 
 would be, to deprive human nature, at once, of all moral 
 dignity, and take from it all moral expression, of whatever 
 kind. And thus conceived of, man ceases to be a moral 
 being. Continuous moral personality, connected with 
 action and responsibility, is no longer predicable of him. 
 He loses his rank in the intellectual universe ; and the low 
 and the groveling usurp the regency of his being. The 
 possession of the powers implied in the premises, those of 
 intelligence and moral freedom, especially, furnishes the 
 inference, and in fact, gives the philosophy of human 
 responsibility. It invests man with the fearful prerogative 
 of controlling his own destiny ; for in view of his peculiar 
 conformation and relations, conduct is destiny, and his 
 character depends upon himself. And the possession of
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 27 
 
 these powers, moreover, furnislies the moral grounCh? of his 
 transfer from his state of trial, to a scene and system of 
 final retributive consciousness in the future. Without the 
 powers for example, of comprehension and analysis — of 
 comparison and abstraction ; there can be no belief, except 
 intuitive. Without the moral susceptibilities of approbation 
 and disapprobation, — the felt discriminations of moral 
 difference, as it regards action and feeling, in himself, — in 
 the social scene about him, or in the abstract contemplation 
 of any intellectual system, he would be destitute of con- 
 science, and all moral preference, of whatever kind. And 
 without the corresponding power of choice, extending to 
 action, conduct, and consequences, he would be incapable 
 of every thing like moral character, or moral relations, — 
 would, in fact, be the mere bondman of necessitj'. Without 
 these, therefore, right and wrong, vice and virtue, law, 
 government, trutli, and duty lose their signihcance, — so far 
 as man is concerned, are no longer the proper correlatives 
 of his being, or essential elements of his character ; and he 
 becomes a mere accident, plaything, or thrall, in the 
 common chain of cause and effect. 
 
 Christianity implies rational intercourse between God 
 and men ; and if man lack capacity for the terms and 
 conditions of such intercourse, the claims of Christianity 
 cannot be admitted. We institute no inquiry into tlie 
 peculiar constitution of the human mind, — its essential 
 and distinctive physiology. We aim at no analysis of its 
 powers and susceptibilities. This would not be pertinent ; — 
 it is not called for. But it is in place, at the same time, 
 and important to the object we have in view, to notice the 
 one and the other, so far as is necessary to exhibit man in 
 those grand and distinguishing aspects, in view of which, 
 Christianity is brought more directly to bear upon his 
 condition and destiny, Man must not only be capable of
 
 28 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 the discriminations of intelligence, and the preferences of 
 moral sentiment, but must possess co-existing and commen- 
 surate power of choice, and liberty of action, or many of 
 the relations, and much of the philosophy of Christianity, 
 will be found inapplicable to his nature, and incapable of 
 giving character to his history. So far as action is fated 
 and compulsory, it is purely derivative, and man, essentially 
 passive, — a mere patient, and not an agent. Such neces- 
 sity may be postulated of man, as an animal — a sensitive 
 being, affecting his appetites and sensations, but not as a 
 moral being. Involuntary action, not the result of purpose 
 and motive, derive the coercion from what source you will, 
 can never become the subject of moral estimation ; — the 
 two results are invincibly opposite in nature, and the 
 human understanding is mocked by the attempt to reconcile 
 them. As well might you summon the pulsations of the 
 heart, or the helplessness of the paralytic to a moral 
 reckoning. It is an attempt to blend elements which, by 
 the ordination of God, can never coalesce. If, in the 
 intellectual and moral departments of our being, thought, 
 emotion, action, and their results, are all found in necessary, 
 avoidless sequence, having no dependence upon the mind's 
 purposes and volitions, as efficient causes and impellents in 
 their production and character, but merely to be viewed as 
 predetermined counterparts of the organic phenomena, and 
 fated results of our physical conformation, then praise or 
 blame, vice or virtue, are words without meaning, and 
 should be stricken from every language tinder heaven, for 
 we have no conceivable use for them. Force, as applicable 
 to physical substances and phenomena, can never become 
 an element of moral government, and in proportion to its 
 entrance into any system of discipline or control, that system 
 ceases to be a moral government, and takes its rank among 
 the mechanized results of physical causation, unconnected
 
 CimiSTIANITY AND INFIDELITV. 29 
 
 with moral causes oi* consequences. Not belonging to the 
 identity, and constituting no part of the uniformity of the 
 external universe, man as a moral being, is not, — cannot 
 be subjected to its laws. Unless vitally and fundamentally 
 free, man cannot act for himself, and acting only for another, 
 can never be regarded as accountable. In a word, mind, 
 as now under review, is a distinct creation — an individual, 
 independent polity — an indestructible constitution of being, 
 among the elements and specific distinctives of which, are 
 the powers of self-agency and freedom of action, undoubted 
 and insubvertible as the existence of mind itself. This 
 grand truth sunders general nature, and we have the world 
 of matter, and the world of mind. It is the dictate of the 
 religion of nature, not less than the testimony of revelation, 
 that man, as it regards his origin and being, is not only a 
 separate and distinct creation, apart from the universality 
 of things about him, called nature, but takes his place, high 
 in distinction and pre-eminence, among the innumerable 
 creations of the God and Father of all. While it cannot 
 be affirmed of any portion of the material universe, that it 
 is an exhibition of the image of God, and cannot be 
 regarded as true, in whole or in part, as it afiects general 
 nature ; yet, that man, apai't and distinguished from these, 
 as an independent order and section of being, was created 
 in the image of God, is as cej-tainly taught by the inductions 
 of natural theology, as it is clearly revealed by Cliristianity ; 
 and the announcement by Christianity is sustained by the 
 data and disclosures of natural religion, as certainly and 
 irrefutably as any proposition can be, the truth of which 
 depends upon the laws and force of probable evidence. It 
 will occur to the philosophic mind at once, that by the 
 creation of man in the "image of God," we have the 
 implication, not merely of intellectual resemblance and 
 moral similitude, (and by consequence, the intelligence and
 
 30 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 self-agency assumed,) but of official regency and supremacy, 
 as it regards terrestrial creation in all its fullness and variety, 
 and he could not, therefore, be subjected to the same laws 
 and destiny as external nature, — could not be judged by the 
 one, or controlled by the other. All known theories of vice 
 and virtue, right and wrong, reward and punishment, heaven 
 and hell, proceed upon the assumption, expressed or implied, 
 that the moral actions of man are self-originated as it regards 
 final determination, and that, therefore, he is accountable for 
 them. The very nature of the human soul forbids the suppo- 
 sition we oppose. Its constitution — its essential philosophy, 
 as known by its powers, and capacities, — its hopes, its 
 fears, and its hazards — its creative might and wondrous 
 achievements — the expansive power of thought — the 
 unconquerable energy of feeling, and all the regal. Godlike 
 furniture of mind, surveying the past, communing with the 
 present, and living in the future, with the irresistible con- 
 sciousness of immortality ; — these, all assert the separate 
 Divine origin of the soul, as an independent existence ; 
 and indicate its perpetual progression in the intelligence, 
 the pursuits, and the sympathies, unknown in the physical, 
 and peculiar to the intellectual world. The abstract power 
 of mind — of thought and emotion, is essentially a dif- 
 ferential quality from any and all the objects and elements 
 which, in concatenation, constitute the physical universe. 
 Man, therefore, stands illustriously distinguished from all 
 surrounding nature. Immortality is an element, and not a 
 mere elaboration of the human mind. It is not an abstract 
 category — a pandect of reason — or a figment of philosophy. 
 It is not the persuasion of a school, or the creed of a party, 
 although that school may divide the light of a continent 
 from its darkness, and that party marshal nations in its 
 ranks. The conviction — the feeUng of immortality, and 
 of consequent dignity in the scale of existence, is essentially
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFlDELITr, 31 
 
 * connatural -with our being ; and its origin — its genesis — 
 must be sought deep in the elements of our nature. In nc 
 exclusive sense does it belong to any division of earth, or 
 portion of her children. It is pre-eminently the creed of 
 collective, universal man, and became the birthright of 
 humanity when the majesty and grandeur, not less than 
 the moral lineaments of Godhead, were creatively impressed 
 upon the human soul ! 
 
 Man's high capabilities, therefore, of good and evil, and 
 his subjective relations as a moral being, furnish, a -priori, 
 strong complex probability in favor of the truth of the 
 Christian revelation. For why created capable of so illus- 
 trious a destiny, unless it awaited him ? And hence, the 
 strong presumptive force of our first argument. 
 
 But there is a second class of elements and susceptibilities 
 predicable of human nature, to which we would ask atten- 
 tion, as among the premises of the general argument we 
 are about to submit ; and this leads us to our second 
 argument in the scale of presumptive proofs. In addition 
 to the preceding views of man, it is more or less material 
 to the discussion, that we notice him in another aspect, 
 a mere glance at which, however, will be sufficient for the 
 purposes rendering it necessary to introduce the topic at 
 all. It has been objected by the sceptical philosophy, for 
 the correction of which these lectures are principally 
 intended, that the adaptations of Christianity have con- 
 siilted, almost exclusively, the less tangible, and more 
 impalpable elements of human nature ; such as the intel- 
 lectual and moral powers of man, to the great, if not utter 
 neglect of the more obvious physical principles and devel- 
 opments of his nature ; and contrary to fact, many have 
 " regarded the objection as well-founded. Hence, having 
 noticed his intellectual being and moral nature, man's 
 material formation from eai'thly elements, should not be
 
 >*3*' 
 
 32 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 entirely overlooked in an inquiry of the kind we are 
 conducting, but should be recognized among important 
 data in the argument, as Christianity has elements and 
 relations, otherwise unintelligible. 
 
 Let us first look at man's relations to the physical 
 universe, and then see how Christianity has disposed of 
 these relations. All correct knowledge, — the discoveries 
 of philosophy and the discriminations of science, unite in 
 establishing an unerring, universal distinction between the 
 material and immaterial substances givina: birth to the 
 phenomena which constitute their only foundation. This 
 classification of all things and beings, facts and phenomena, 
 as connected with one of the two only grand substantive 
 entities in the formation of the universe, (matter and mind,) 
 throws a fixed boundary around mind and thought, beyond 
 which nothing is known, and nothing can become even an 
 object of conception. Of ivhat can you conceive, having 
 no connection with matter or mind ? It is a classification 
 bounding the fields of discovery, and terminating the paths 
 of science. It is essentially inclusive of all known phe- 
 nomena. All the mind can know, or thought revolve of 
 the illimitable grandeur of Godhead on the one hand, or 
 the infinitude of things, — the immensity of subordinate 
 existence on the other, comes, not only legitimately, but 
 necessarily within the range of this classification. JS^ow, 
 man, and it is certainly a very remarkable fact, unites in 
 himself these great primary distinctions of all substantive 
 being, — matter and mind — the material and the imma- 
 terial, and is thus presented to the gaze of our astonishment, 
 as a divinely conceived and constructed epitome of universal 
 being, — an essential abstract of all existence external to 
 himself; — " connection exquisite, not only of distant, but 
 of unresembling worlds ; and thus partaking of tlieir nature, 
 must be more or less participant in their fortunes and
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY, 33 
 
 tendencies. These great primal elements of the whole of 
 things — of the imiverse,are the true, grand prototypes of 
 the soul and body, — the spirit and materialism of man, 
 who in this aspect, stands alone, invested with a distinction, 
 so far as our information extends, denied to every other, 
 among all the unnumbered creations of Almighty Goodness. 
 And these elements of being, whenever found, together or 
 apart, invariably furnish diverse, if not antagonistic phe- 
 nomena, — presenting to the consciousness of intelligence 
 two classes of facts, always and readily distinguishable. 
 The one class, such as the extension and divisibiHty of 
 ^ matter furnish, mind involuntarily attributes to the material 
 agents and masses external to itself; and the other, say 
 thought and feeling, is so truly and invariably ascribed to 
 mind alone, as to assume, with regard to many of the 
 phenomena, at least, that they might exist, were mind not 
 sentient of the existence of any cause or agency ad extra, 
 or from without, in relation to its own existence. The 
 whole current of human consciousness resolves itself into 
 these elements, by having to do with their separate and 
 invariable phenomena. You know nothing, in fact you 
 can know nothing — by possibility, you never even thought 
 of anything else. It is in vain the materialist, or the 
 Berkleyan spiritualist attempts to fuse and melt down into 
 one, these immutably different elements, and thus annul 
 the distinction between them. The resistance of both 
 intuition and science, and the remonstrances of common 
 sense, render the attempt, at once, rash and fatuous. And 
 as the worlds of matter and spirit, at which we have 
 glanced, co-exist in relative contact, (all know the co-exis- 
 tence of the facts, and yet, the difference between the sun 
 shining, and the mind perceiving it,) so mind and body, 
 and a consequent mysterious duality of nature, belong 
 properly to man; — the one allying him to the material,
 
 34 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 and the other to the intellectual universe. As human 
 nature is noio constructed, and affected and controlled by 
 the Divine arrangements, the w^ll known decay and disso- 
 lution of the one, is perfectly compatible mth the survivancc 
 and immortality of the other. It is necessary, however, to 
 attend to a distinction here. When we speak of the 
 essentially different, and independent substances of matter 
 and mind, in the instance of general nature, — a solid 
 globe, for example, and the mind of man, it is important 
 to remark, that something more, and quite different is 
 meant, when in the instance of human nature, we speak 
 of body and mind in intimate connection. The affinities 
 between the human body and a block of granite, are few 
 and far apart. Body, indeed, in the case of all animal, 
 sentient existence means something more than mere matter. 
 The diversity, it is true, relates more to modification than 
 substance, still, the difference is real, and especially, in the 
 instance of the human body. Nor is this difference the 
 same in kind with that existing between charcoal and the 
 diamond. Take the physical organization of man, — its 
 functionary play of parts and powers — the principle of 
 vitality, and the equally mysterious principle of nervous 
 excitability, and then turn to the walls enclosing you, — a 
 cedar of Lebanon, or the peak of Teneriffe, and you will 
 comprehend us. Matter and mind, we have seen, are 
 unlike, and unresembling substances, and where they 
 co-exist in union, as in the conformation of man, there 
 must be some organic medium, as the necessary means of 
 reciprocity. And accordingly, in the physiology of man's 
 nature, body is such a medium, connecting him with the 
 external world, and with the qualifications implied; — 
 (that is, essential, without absolute identity,) becomes a 
 more or less distinctive and separate essence from either, — 
 an organic structure, instinct with life, it becomes a kind
 
 CHRISTIANITY' AND INFIDBLITT. 36 
 
 of third intermediate nature, found in what the mathema- 
 tician would call a tangential relation to the one and the 
 other. The worlds of matter and mind require a connecting 
 link, not merely matter nor purely spirit, as the means of 
 mutual interaction, and body as here understood, furnishes 
 the tie of connection. This medium-substance is con- 
 stituently the same with matter, yet functionally different 
 as a living organism, and bearing no similitude to spirit, 
 except as possessing life, yet existing, the organic medium 
 of many of its powers and operations, otherwise impossible. 
 It may be looked upon as occupying a place in intermediate 
 relation between the original independent substances of 
 matter and mind. The result is a vast augmentation of the 
 powers of action and development, on the part of both. 
 We might instance, for example, all the vocal phenomena 
 of lano-uacre, — all the social relations, activities, and inter- 
 course of life ; none of which could exist, but for the 
 supervention of the intermediate organization of the human 
 body, although the universe might everywhere be crowded 
 with simple matter and mind. To this arrangement too, 
 we owe all the demonstrations of animal power, and human 
 achievement, of whatever kind. There belong, therefore, 
 to himian nature two grand elements, — body and spirit, and 
 the severance of these elements at death, is a fixed law in 
 the economy of man's existence, and whether its super- 
 vention has been in consequence of the cause assigned 
 by Christianity or not, it occurs as a regular stage in the 
 progress of his being. 
 
 It is further true, that this separation of soul and body, — 
 this fearful breaking up of the physical economy connecting 
 man with earth, ranks high among the deductions of natural 
 theology, as a punitive visitation on account of sin, and has 
 always spoken to the reason and moral sense of man, of 
 aboriginal transgression, and the displeasure of Heaven,
 
 36 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 It has been necessary, in our judgment, to advert briefly 
 to tliis very singular union, — this admirably adjusted 
 amalgam of mind and matter, in order to just views of the 
 hidden and occult, as well as more obvious constitution of 
 human nature, without a knowledge of which, it is impos- 
 sible to understand many of the more distinctive provisions 
 of Christianity. We do not, therefore, venture upon ground, 
 which many may regard as more or less untrodden, — we 
 do not appear in a field, Avhich may be looked upon as one 
 of remote and imfamiliar abstraction, merely because it has 
 fallen in our way, and we find it practicable to do so, but 
 in view of what we consider important deductions and 
 conclusions, and apart from which Christianity would be a 
 chaos of unintelligible assumptions, and unrelated dogmas. 
 Similar views to these, in part, may be found in the 
 admirable works of Drew and Taylor, but they are intro-. 
 duced by both, for purposes having very little connection 
 with our argument. The ultimate truth in which we would 
 land, is not suggested by either. 
 
 To proceed, however, without the notices of human 
 nature with which we are occupied, (we mean their sub- 
 stance, of coiirse, Avithout reference to form,) the great 
 law of sin and death, which lies at the foundation of all 
 religion, natural and revealed, would not only be unintel- 
 ligible, but in fact, could not be conceived of. The same 
 is true of mortality, and physical suffering of every kind ; 
 also, death, and the resurrection of the human body, 
 together with other important data and disclosures of 
 revelation. As we intend an examination, to some extent, 
 at least, of the philosophy of Christianity, rather than its 
 external credentials, we have deemed these preliminary 
 views important and indispensable, as preparing the way 
 for others more directly explanatory of the positive natui-e, 
 elements, and tendencies of the Christian religion ; many
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 37 
 
 of which, without proper reference, direct or implied, to 
 the views we have taken, would bear no more analogy 
 to nature and fact, than the infidel objection to which we 
 are replying, does to good sense and sound philosophy ! 
 How could Christianity be understood, in many of its 
 relations and bearings, and these most important, without 
 adverting to man's peculiar nature, as blending the diverse 
 elements of the two great systems, — the physical and the 
 intellectual, pervading, so far as science has been able to 
 discover, the entire universe of worlds ; and from which, 
 in the instance of man,. mixed and modified principles and 
 sentiments, affecting both his nature and character, must 
 necessarily result ! And these, as disposed of by Chris- 
 tianity, can only be understood by proper reference to 
 man's extraordinary conformation, as a compound being. 
 It is hence, and thus viewed, that man becomes a visible 
 manifestation, and in some sense, impersonation of Deity ; 
 and the persuasion to this effect, has, with greater or less 
 variation, obtained wide as the earth, and commensurate 
 with its history. As the adaptations of Christianity adjust 
 themselves to this specific structure of man's nature, it 
 furnishes high presumptive proof, that the author of the 
 one must be the author of the other. Without proper 
 reference to man, in the two very distinguishing aspects in 
 which we have just considered him, as an intellectual 
 being, — a free moral agent, also a compound being, con- 
 sisting of soul and body, the Christian doctrine of man's 
 moral accountableness to God, would be a senseless fable, 
 — an insulting fiction ; and that of his resurrection from 
 the dead, would present itself, not merely as a philosophical 
 absurdity, defying all rational belief, but as something 
 quite too monstrous for the gullibility of even the most 
 stupid and visionary ! The view of the subject we have 
 taken, however, refers all the assumed results of Christianity 
 
 461-132
 
 38 KELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 to causes and desiderata, i-ationally accounting, both for 
 their assumption and occurrence. Hence, the strength of 
 the presumption, that Christianity originated in the will and 
 the wisdom of the Creator of man, as it has obviously 
 seized upon the grand ground-laws of our being, as its 
 only subjective basis. And thus, the objection, that Chris- 
 tianity adapts itself to the latent and invisible elements of 
 humanity, overlooking, at the same time, the physical, the 
 external, and the obvious, is without any foundation in truth 
 or fact ; and it would have been much better for infidel 
 philosophy, had it never been urged. 
 
 We are now prepared for some additional views of human 
 nature, very important to the general argument of these 
 lectures, and severally evincing, that the objections to 
 Christianity urged by infidelity, are much more formidable 
 in aspect than they are found to be when examined in the 
 light of nature and philosophy. The value of ouv first and 
 second arguments will be more fully appreciated hereafter. 
 The third, although equally important is less metaphysical, 
 and to most persons, will be more interesting, but we 
 reserve it for our second lecture. 
 
 i
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 It is within the competency of the religion of nature, as 
 ti-uly as that of Christianity, to ascertain and accredit to 
 the mind, beyond all doubt, that our common nature is 
 not -what it ought to be, and by consequence, not what it 
 was when received from God, as the all-wise, and bene- 
 ficient source of existence and its blessings. This view of 
 the subject must, of necessity, give color and character to 
 the whole inquiry. Christianity consults the welfare of 
 man, as a fallen being; and if we ascertain, beyond doubt, 
 that man is a fallen being, and learn this fact, too, incon- 
 testably, independently of Christianity, it furnishes a third 
 grand presumption of its truth. 
 
 If natural religion teaches anything at all, with clear 
 and convincing emphasis, it is the existence of God, as an 
 infinitely intelligent and benevolent being ; and the crea- 
 tion of man by him, for purposes essentially benevolent in 
 ranee and effect ; and that man, therefore, in conformity 
 with the Divine purpose, should cherish, and extend to his 
 fellows, — co-heirs of the same destiny with himself, kin- 
 dred regards, and similar solicitude to those challenged by 
 the question and interests of his own immediate, personal 
 well-being ; and that, turning to the Author of his existence, 
 and the gifts and hopes with which it is enriched, he 
 should regard Mm with affection and confidence, reverence 
 and gratitude, at once supreme and undivided. All this 
 is admitted. It is disputed by none. It is inscribed on 
 the altars of nature, as legibly as on those of Christianity, 
 and is taught alike by the theist and the Christian. Let ua
 
 40 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 appeal then to facts and developments, of wliich nature is 
 as cognizant, and can judge as competently, as the Chris- 
 tian religion, and see w^hether such facts will bear out the 
 assumption, that man as we now find him, and as he has 
 been found for ages, has been led by the moral intuitions 
 of his nature, and the religious impulses of his being, to 
 contemplate and admire the character and works of God, 
 and making his will, so far as known, the standard of 
 excellence, to imbibe his thoughts and seek his likeness. 
 We submit the question to the arbitrament of fact and 
 experience, — actual history and every-day consciousness 
 of mankind. Speculation and hypothesis are out of the 
 question, — creeds, codes, and authority are laid aside. 
 Let the inquiry be reduced to a question of simple history, 
 — a naked appeal to the actual conduct of mankind. Has 
 man then, been actuated supremely by regard for the 
 Creator ? Has cheerful submission to his will and dispen- 
 sations motived and determined his character and actions ? 
 Has he sought to make the plans and purposes of God, the 
 measure and model of the action and achievement of which 
 he was capable, and to which he was inclined ? Has he 
 practically admitted these first truths of natural religion to 
 be the voice of God ? Has he submitted to the reio-n of 
 conscience within him, as a part of the supreme legislation 
 of Heaven with regard to man ? Has he shown himself 
 under tlie control of the moral order of the universe ? 
 These questions must all be answered in the negative. 
 Man has not done this ; and the negative is accredited by 
 the most convincing testimony of natural theology itself. 
 All perceive and feel it at once as undeniably true. It 
 follows, therefore, that our nature is disordered — a moral 
 disruption has taken place between man and Deity. Alien- 
 ation has interrupted the original harmony between heaven 
 and earth. The intellectual mechanism and moral struc-
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 41 
 
 ture of man's nature have been impaired. Irregularity and 
 ruin have succeeded to the purity and perfection claimed 
 for his original nature and condition. Disorder and mis- 
 rule obtain among all our passions and propensities, 
 extending alike to our animal appetites and intellectual 
 powers. It is a common distinctive of man's moral nature, 
 that he is unmindful of his God, and loves not his brother. 
 It is a root of bitterness mingling with, and tempering the 
 whole fruitage and environment of life. In this, there is 
 no mystery — no revelation, beyond the ordinary disclo- 
 sures of nature and time. Failure to discover it, apart from 
 Christianity, is impossible. It is equally known to the 
 savage, the sophist, and the sage ; and is felt alike by all. 
 It is asserted alternately, and in unison, by conscience and 
 consciousness ; the one being busied Avith moral, and the 
 other with intellectual distinctions. The mind feels its own 
 fearful collapse, and the heart is burdened with the evidence 
 of its own alienation. Let this inquiry be reduced to a 
 science, and let it never be baptized into Christ, and yet, 
 bringing the inductive philosophy to bear upon it, making 
 facts the foundation of theory, an overwhelming multipli- 
 city of this class of proofs, will, by clear and pervading 
 implication, conduct us to the conclusion assumed — the 
 fall of man, and the moral perversion of his nature. Select 
 but one or two specimens of this mode of reasoning, and 
 you can easily judge of the force of others. 
 
 "We have seen it taught in the creed of nature and reason, 
 contended for by all and denied by none, that man — all 
 men, as the children of one common Father, and subjects 
 of the same moral discipline, — one in nature, one in condi- 
 tion, and one in want, and actuated by the same, or similar 
 hopes, and fears, and aspirings, should cherish the regai-ds 
 of kindness and good-will, the one to the other, in all the 
 
 aspects and distributions of social relationship. Deny then, 
 .VOL. II — 4.
 
 42 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 as infidelity does, that man is fallen, and his nature in 
 ruin, and how will you account for the hatred and malig- 
 nity, the oppression and wrong, the war, the blood, and 
 the murder, by which earth, not only in the present age, 
 but during its sixty predecessors, has been transformed 
 into a vastaceldama — the burial-place of the life and hopes 
 of millions, every one of whom had access to the altars and 
 temples of nature ! Who does not perceive that this result 
 is utterly unaccounted for upon the infidel hypothesis ? 
 
 Or again, we have seen it taught by the same creed, and 
 with equal force and universality, that all are under the 
 strongest and equal obligation, to accord to the Creator the 
 claims of reverence and affection in conduct and action. 
 Turn we then to the idolatry and superstition, the poly- 
 theistic creeds and religions of the pagan world, in all ages 
 and divisions of its history, and tell us how these deluded 
 millions could love and trust a. being — a god, they knew 
 little or nothing about ? With no just conception of him, 
 how could they reverence or worship him ? Knowing no 
 divinity but the godhead of stocks and stones, — beasts 
 and men, — and so of the rest, how could their morality 
 and religion be other than the negation of everything 
 deserving the name ? And yet, if the religion of nature 
 be true in its premises, and man's nature noiv what it was 
 — Avhat \i must have been when God created him, we 
 have a result, in the deep, moral perversity of our race, 
 for the production of which, no conceivable cause can be 
 foimd in the history of man, or the councils of Heaven. 
 And how, we beg to know, will infidelity dispose of the 
 difficulty ? In every attempt to do so, it is seen halting 
 on both feet, and at every step. The evidences — the 
 mementoes — the sad remembrances, many and oft, of this 
 fearful change in the condition and moral aspects of 
 humanity, have multiplied upon the notice of the world
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 43 
 
 for nearly six thousand years ! Its face and history are, 
 stained and disfigured by them. Its records groan with 
 the recital. The great primeval apostasy is no discovery 
 of Christianity. It has been felt and acted upon, by all 
 men in all time ; by the pagan and the infidel, as fully 
 and truly as by the Christian. It is attested by the expe- 
 rience of ages and nations as they blend in the world'.s 
 history. That man is estranged from God — estranged 
 in thouo-ht and affection from the character and claims of 
 the Creator, is not a mere abstraction of philosophy or 
 relio-ion, — it is not an occult truth whose demonstration 
 depends upon the laws and indirection of an extended pro- 
 cess of reasoning. It is a truth mapped out upon the 
 face of man's moral history ; and taking the wants and 
 necessities of our nature — its cares and solicitudes — the 
 invention and enterprise of man, as our guide, it will be 
 found that throughout immemorial time, the common 
 course of effort and endeavor, however modified by human 
 interest and earthly vicissitude, has been planned and 
 charted upon the basis of the truth we assume, — the 
 damao-ed, disordered condition of man's moral nature. 
 Christianity is not now our witness — is not noio under 
 examination. Let her stand aside. Let her voice be 
 hushed in the silence of her own archives. We appeal to 
 other sources of information. We appeal to man's univer- 
 sal history ; — to the facts of his being, and the philosophy 
 of his nature ; — to common truth and common sense ; — 
 to his moral feelings and the inductions of experience, and 
 thus conceiving and judging of man and his relations, is 
 God, we ask, in man's appreciation, (according to the dic- 
 tates of natural theology, ) the eternal source and prototype 
 of moral excellence ? Is man, does man, what he was 
 formed to he and to do ? 
 
 Allow man intuitive intellection, moral emotion, and the
 
 44 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 powei" of conscience, in relation to the immutable princi- 
 ples of right and Avrong, and the conformity or want of it, 
 of his own actions in the premises, yet, is it not equally 
 certain, that the ever-restless domination of his inferior 
 passions and appetites, withholds him from the choice of 
 rectitude, and renders him incapable of the love and 
 pursuit of moral excellence, without extrinsic moral aid, 
 such as Christianity assumes to furnish ? The most 
 essential element of moral goodness, as predicable of man, 
 is proper regard for God who made him, and who in his 
 administration of the world, has never ceased to care for 
 him. Of this essential elementary principle of goodness, 
 man, as shown by the tendencies of his nature, is destitute. 
 The evidence of the fact is the common consent of all in 
 any way attentive to the subject. Indeed, we would offer 
 the impossibility of doubting it, as the strongest proof the 
 human mind is capable of receiving with regard to it. In 
 order to such a result, therefore, must not the order of 
 things have been disturbed and inverted by some great 
 moral cause ? Could moral consequences, evil in kind, 
 have proceeded from other than moral causes, evil in nature 
 too ? If God be either good or just, it could not be. Infi- 
 nite perfection never could have produced man as he noiv 
 is; — a defaced image, a mutilated likeness of himself! 
 In a state of such intellectual derangement and moral 
 perversity, man never left the hand of God. Created 
 obviously for benevolent purposes, as we have seen, — 
 sublime in capacity, and illimitable in desire, is it conceiv- 
 able, unless for some hisfh moral cause oriofinatina: with 
 himself as a self-determining agent, that God who made 
 him in goodness, would abandon him to a destiny which 
 may level him with the brute in time, and exhibit him a 
 spectacle of majestic desolation — of fallen, perverted 
 grandeur in eternity ! In trying to reach such a conclu-
 
 CIIRISTIANIxr AND INFIDELIXr. 46 
 
 sion common sense and all moral principle will be found to 
 rebel ! On no subject, it occurs to us, of moral belief, is 
 the proof more perfect and indubitable than against such a 
 supposition. It is a conviction, the certainty of which, 
 cannot be increased by any kind of evidence whatever. 
 The evidence has augmented in fullness and force, with 
 every age, until, every way full, it is satisfying and 
 overwhelming ; and even that derived from the senses, and 
 the laws of geometry, can never be more so. When 
 conviction is perfect and entire, it can never be anything 
 more. It is not within the competency of any kind of 
 proof to affect it further, nor is it at all material whether 
 the evidence affording the conviction be moral or mathe- 
 matical. We can no more doubt the moral fitnesses 
 connecting themselves with the virtues of truth, justice 
 and benevolence, and the vices of falsehood, dishonesty, 
 and oppression, than we can doubt the correspondence of 
 mathematical relations, or the existence of physical affini- 
 ties. And the result is, in this adaptation of the provisions 
 of Christianity, to the fallen, disordered condition of our 
 nature, we have an additional argument for the Divine 
 original of the system, the speciality and relevancy of 
 which, must be felt by all. 
 
 But let us take another view of this subject. It has 
 been noticed, that however clearly and forcibly the 
 theology of nature may point to the existence of God, 
 his works and his ways, furnishing imperfect, but still 
 convincing manifestation of his natural and moral perfec- 
 tions — recognizing man, moreover, as a subject of moral 
 government, and indicating his moral relations and immor- 
 tality, notwithstanding the sin and misery in which, by the 
 same light, he is found to be involved, yet there are aspects 
 of man's moral condition, as ascertained and assiimed by 
 nature, which the theology of reason and conscience has
 
 ' ^ 
 
 46 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 never been able to dispose of ; and amoBg tbese will bo 
 found man's peculiar relations to Heaven, viev/ed as a 
 lapsed intelligence — a subject of sin and death. That 
 man is such an intelligence — such a subject, is as irresist- 
 ably, although not as satisfactorily taught by the lessons 
 of nature, as by those of revelation. It ranks familiarly 
 amono- its initial lessons — its axiomatic truths. It has been 
 the burden of nearly all the religions of the world, and has 
 given birth to their most significant symbols and ceremo- 
 nies, and especially the mysterious rite and practice of 
 animal sacrifice, so universally appealed to for the purposes 
 of propitiation — the atonement of conscious and dreaded 
 guilt. This question — (how to approach offended heaven) 
 has always been an enigma with natural religion ; and one, 
 of which, her expounders and pupils have never been able 
 to furnish a solution. The very thought has carried with 
 it the force of a gloomy and damping visitation, which has 
 thrown back for ages the hopes and the fears of paganism 
 upon itself, and left more enlightened worshipers in the 
 temple of nature, "without hope and without God!" 
 Even the disclosures of natural religion, in this respect, 
 enhance its difficulties by its felt — admitted inability to 
 accomplish what it proclaims indispensable, and its hopes 
 and aspirings are thus seen to expire in its own birthless 
 ashes 1 The evil of sin, as taught by natural religion, is 
 not a mere obscuration of moral perception — not mere 
 derangement and error as it regards conscience, — not a 
 vac-ue unhinofement of the moral constitution of man, but 
 alienation from the source and principles of virtue — 
 estrangement from God — guilt and condemnation 1 Nor 
 is this regarded as an item of belief only, but as an undoubted 
 verity. It is, in fact, the implicit creed of all mankind ; 
 because none doubt — all feel that they are guilty ! To 
 teach this lesson to man, it was not necessary that the
 
 CHRlSTIANlir AND INFIDELITY. 47 
 
 heavens should break silence, or the oft'ended Majesty of 
 the universe send us a special embassy ! It is written upon 
 tlie living tablet of every heart, and forms a part of its 
 consciousness. It is voiced in the depths of our moral 
 nature, and its peremptory and pealing echo has thrilled 
 and disquieted the conscience of each successive generation 
 of earth, since death and want were known to man. In a 
 word, it is the eternal language of the heart, " known and 
 read of all men ! " 
 
 Natural theology, therefore, involves us, beyond all 
 doubt, in the great problems, not merely of Christianity, 
 but of all religions; and among these, the guilt and ruin of 
 our common nature. Thus far, the induction is complete. 
 But it is equally true, equally demonstrable, that natural 
 religion cannot extricate us. Viewed as a system, it has 
 been casting about for a remedy for ages, but in vain ; and 
 the utmost it has been allowed to hope was, that its imper- 
 fect discoveries might harbinger to the hopes of man the 
 higher lessons of some adequate, but still undiscovered 
 system of recovery. And all the oracles of pagan sages, 
 and the dreaming of infidel philosophy, has been to the 
 same effect. The moral — the ethical voice of natural 
 religion, was heard and felt with anxious awe, but the great 
 ends — the grand objective interests it involved, as neces 
 sary to a solution of its difficulties, were seen only in 
 dimness and mystery — glimmered faintly in the distance, 
 or were utterly unknown, even to the ideal shapings of belief 
 and hope ! We see the tree, and seize the promise of its 
 bloom, but the fruit for which we looked and longed, drops 
 prematurely, mildewed in its own shadow ! The liistory 
 of all religions, the Christian excepted, confirms this. It 
 is chronicled in all that God or man has preserved to us of 
 tlie fortunes of our race. Want, disease, and death, — guilt, 
 fear, and despair, have preached it for six thousand years,
 
 y 
 
 48 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 from one end of heaven to the other ! None can doubt ; 
 even the most laborious endeavor to do so, ends only in 
 more confirmed conviction. Tlie question may be started, 
 as it often is, with studied ambiguity of thought and 
 feeling, but before the induction is half completed, demon- 
 stration throws the sophist on his knees, and the helpless- 
 ness of nature involuntarily offers homage to the hopes of 
 Christianity — "Wherewith shall a man appear before his 
 Maker, or bow himself before the most high God ?" Here, 
 broods a mist nature has never been able to dissipate. 
 Allow that the beautiful science of natural theology does 
 much towards adorning the path, and gilding the hopes 
 of life, the existence and paternal goodness of Deity — the 
 rational, exalted nature, and probable immortality of man, 
 — these, and other kindred lessons, in the shape of thoughts 
 and conceptions, the prismatic mouldings of imagination, 
 and the droppings of impassioned fancy and feeling, 
 together with the stirring alternations of life and society, 
 and their perpetual vicissitude of contribution to our wants 
 and wishes, play like sunbeams about our path and pilgrim- 
 age, often rendering us buoyant Avith hope, and grateful 
 alike for the present and the past ! Viewed only in such 
 aspects, we seem to enjoy a charmed existence, imbibe 
 inspiration from a thousand streams, and revel in the poetry 
 of heaven and earth ! 
 
 Reflect, however, that in the tender physiology, even of 
 the infant's bosom, there is a mortal taint, — that there, 
 by an inevitable law, the seeds of death are sown, — that 
 birth is the invariable antecedent of quick succeeding 
 death ; — that the bud is opening, but to be nipped, — the 
 flower expanding, only to wither ! Look at disease, decay, 
 and death ; — look at suffering and want, — anguisli witliin, 
 and desolation without ; — life receding in gloom, and the 
 shadows of the future settling upon its close ! See the 
 
 #
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 4D 
 
 light of nature guiding us thus far, and then deserting us ; 
 — its torch extinguished at tlie mouth of the grave, and 
 all that was gay or blissful in life imbittered by the appal- 
 ling desolation of its closing scene ! And gazed at from 
 this point of observation, from which all, sooner or later, 
 must look upon it, earth, instead of a gay panorama of inter- 
 est and excitement — an Eden of passion and enjoyment, 
 presents the spectacle of a vast — a world-entombing 
 sepulchre, where its mouldering generations have no inher- 
 itance but that of forgetfulness ! Now, what we assume 
 here, — that death and its ravages, whether it be the result 
 of primeval transgression or not, is an essential fact of the 
 phenomena of our nature, — is in fact, a part of its physi- 
 ology, and the only mystery attaches to the fact itself, 
 admitted by the objector, and not the account of tho 
 manner of its origination, as furnished by Christianity, 
 We repeat, the great improbability in the case, the only 
 staggering unlikelihood, belongs to the fad, not the manner 
 ■ in which it is accounted for ; which last, however strangely 
 and unaccountably, becomes the only subject of exception 
 with the infidel. And the philosophic unbeliever is thus 
 found chasinii- his own shadow, and battlinsf with the 
 ghosts of his own admissions ! It follows, therefore, that 
 the adaptation of the special provisions of Christianity to 
 the specific failure of nature, upon which we have been 
 enlaro-infj, is another arsfument for the truth of the Chris- 
 tian revelation. 
 
 One other view of this subject and we close the present 
 lecture. Who can reflect upon the unity subsisting 
 between the intellectual and moral manifestations of natural 
 theology and Christianity, whether as it regards God or 
 man, without beina^ forcibly struck with the manner in 
 which the former seems to have anticipated the truths and 
 
 facts of the latter, so as to make the one prophetic and 
 VOL. II — 5.
 
 #0 HKLATIVB CLAIMS OF 
 
 prototypical of the other ? Infidelity is thus silenced by 
 the very weapons it has turned against Christianity. Take 
 the existence of moral evil, for example, Christianity details 
 the manner of its introduction into our world ; and this 
 may be true or false, without afiecting the corresponding 
 truth in natural theology. There all is silent, as it regards 
 the manner of its introduction ; but that it exists is a fact 
 of human consciousness, and a fact so interwoven with the 
 history of man, that with all the darkness of his under- 
 standing or condition, he has never been able to overlook 
 it. The fact exists apart from human theory or Divine 
 discovery. Christianity assumes it, as a pre-existmg truth, 
 and although she rationally accounts for it, is no more 
 responsible for it, than is the history of Greece, for the 
 reign of the thirty tyrants ; or that of Rome, for the murder 
 of Julius Caesar, or the destruction of Pompeii and Hercula- 
 neum ! Christianity does not originate the evil ; she merely 
 furnishes a solution of the difficulty. Now, the iise we 
 would make of this is, that the pervading resemblance 
 between the fact, as attested by natural ^theology and 
 accredited by Christianity, furnishes another strong pre- 
 sumption, that the one and the other are manifestations of 
 the same intelligence, and exhibitions of the same moral 
 nature. That is to say, the origin of both must be sought 
 in God. It would require no elaborate eflfort to show, tliat 
 upon the basis of the great truth, that our world is a fallen 
 one, natural theology has constructed its only theory of 
 the administration of its aflfairs, by its offended, yet gracious 
 Sovereign; — referring the blended good and evil, — the 
 enjoyment and suffering of our earthly lot, to the goodness 
 and forbearance of God, on the one hand, and to the original 
 delinquency and subsequent sinfulness of our race, on the 
 other. The ills of life, and the sufi'orings of mankind, have 
 been looked upon immemoriully, and by all, as judicial
 
 CHRISTIANIiy AND INFIDELITY. 6l 
 
 visitations, proclaiming the displeasure of Heaven on 
 account of sin ; and yet, in a way partly penal and partly 
 gracious ; while the goodness and benevolence lavished in 
 a thousand forms upon the family and children of earih, 
 have been received as evidences of the patience and long- 
 suffering of God, in his providential administration with 
 regard to man. And it is a most remarkable fact, that this 
 fundamental principle in natural theology, is in perfect 
 harmony with the discoveries and announcements of Chris- 
 tianity on the same subject. The inference is, that the same 
 mind — the same presiding intelligence gave birth to both 
 these kindred results. 
 
 It may be received as an axiom from which none will 
 dissent, that if the systems usually denominated those of 
 nature, providence, and revelation, come from God, — if as 
 systems, they are conceptions of his, they cannot be at 
 variance — they must be found coincident and in harmony. 
 The two former must be expected to exhibit principles of 
 character with which the latter must accord ; and precisely 
 in conformity with such a supposition, the lessons of revela- 
 tion assume, explain, and accredit those of nature and 
 providence, and these last, in the order and history of the 
 Divine administration, seem to be the intended precursors 
 of the first ; nor can there in the one, be found any intima- 
 tions of the character of God, or condition of man, incon- 
 sistent with those found in the other two. 
 
 It is admitted, and the admission is essential, that there 
 is cormected with Christianity, much that is peculiar — 
 much that belongs to no other system, of moral remedy or 
 religious belief. But this very speciality — this grand 
 peculiura of the gospel, which turns mainly upon the origi- 
 nation of a scheme or system of recovery and restoration to 
 the favor and image of God, as the great bui-den of its 
 communication, — is, as we have seen, and clearly shown.
 
 62 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 pointed at by nature and providence, as a desideratum, 
 involving not only the most important of man's moral 
 relations, but even the destinies of immortality. We need 
 not add that here is a gulf, infidelity has never been able to 
 bridge, without appealing to Christianity ; and hence, 
 another coincidence, which tells upon this argument with 
 no common weight, or equivocal bearing. 
 
 Again, that in Christianity, which has most ofi'ended the 
 pride and independence of infidel philosophy, is the doc- 
 trine of redemption by the cross of Christ. The scene on 
 Calvary, in the history of man's redemption, has been the 
 stumbling stone of the world, and significantly, the rock of 
 offense to its wisdom and pretensions, among all its tongues 
 and tribes ! And yet, the principles involved, apart from 
 the dramatic accompaniments and scenic exhibitions of the 
 tragedy, all have their counterpart in nature and provi- 
 dence. There, as noticed at length before, the moral 
 Governor of the world blends judgment with mercy. He 
 not only attracts by the loveliness of the one, but awes and 
 deters by the fearful grandeur of the other ! God reveals 
 himself, displeased with sin, and intolerant of its commis- 
 sion, but at the same time, disposed to bear with, and 
 reclaim the delinquent 1 
 
 Turn now to the cross as the great symbol of man's 
 redemption, and losing sight of Judas and the mob — the 
 disciples and the sanhedrim — Herod and Pilate — the nail 
 and the tree — the darkened heavens and trembling earth — 
 the opening graves and rising dead, fix attention only upon 
 the great principles, of which these are but the incidental 
 exponents and credentials, and what, we ask, are tlie 
 lano-uage and the lessons taught ? What have we here, 
 but justice and mercy? Offended majesty proclaiming 
 that sin must be punished, and yet, relenting kindness 
 providing for the return of the sinner, through the univer-
 
 4 
 
 CHRISTIANITT AND INFIDEnTT, 63 
 
 sal propitiation of tlie Son of God ! And the result is, we 
 have, published from the cross, " whether we will hear or 
 whether we will forbear," the same laiio-uaue to which we 
 listened a moment since from nature, with the docility of 
 children ; and the only philosophical inference is, that these 
 are but varied developments — diverse revelations of the 
 same mind and purposes, thus proclaiming- the God of 
 nature and providence to be the God of Christianity ! 
 
 Or finally, for the purposes of simplification, let us 
 merge nature and providence, so as to form one great 
 department ; and let revelation, admitting its claims for the 
 present, be the other; and we ask the question, why are 
 these considered, not only separable, but absolutely and 
 irreconcilably separate ? Is the difterential barrier-line of 
 distinction found in their nature — their principles, or their 
 provisions ? We have seen, and we think, demonstrably, 
 that it is otherwise. As well might you deny, in the physi- 
 ology of man, all affinity between the brain and the nervous 
 system existing in continuity with it ! As well might you 
 say, the auroral light of morning before the sun appears, is 
 constituently different from that which gilds our world 
 at his highest point of culmination ! 
 
 We reserve, however, the further solution of this diffi- 
 culty for the next lecture. Meet us on that occasion, and 
 although you will still find yourselves toiling up the acclivi- 
 ties of the mountain-height to which we would conduct 
 you, yet, with God's blessing we hope to place you upon 
 an elevation, from which you will clearly discern 7nuch that 
 must noio appear but dim and shadowy. For a summit- 
 view of this grand moral landscape, you must accompany 
 us to the last lecture.
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 A DUE consideration of the mischievous tendency of 
 language, and restricted modes of conception, connected 
 Avith preconceived theories, will enable us on philosophicaL. 
 principles to account for the difficulty in which intidehty 
 is involved, by considering the departments of nature and 
 providence on the one hand, and revelation on the other, 
 as absolutely separate and unconnected systems. All history 
 shows that the world has always had its jealous modes of 
 thought, however vague and preposterous, and its current 
 vocabularies, however unmeaning and senseless, appropri- 
 ated as mere fixtures to the safe keeping and propagation 
 of religious and philosophical opinions and dogmas, and 
 operating as a drag-chain upon the higher aspirations, and 
 more o-enerous tendencies of our nature. And is it not 
 much more likely that the divorce, at the suit of infidelity, 
 between the great departments of the Divine administration 
 we are now considering, originated in this way, than that it 
 Las resulted from any clearly discerned discrepancy between 
 the principles and provisions they severally disclose? 
 Indeed, if we appeal to the light and the labors of induc- 
 tion, as applicable here, we have already reached the only 
 allowable conclusion at wliich, by such a process, we can 
 arrive. That is, that tlie systems are intimately related, 
 and in no way discrepant. It is a singular fact, that after 
 taking into the estimate of analogies all the modes of 
 thought, and methods of concatenation, with Avhich the 
 subject has been encumbered in all time, and even without 
 
 discounting the turgid generality or supple vagueness of 
 
 54
 
 CHRISTIANITy AID INFIDSLITV. £& 
 
 terms, so generally employed in its service, it will be found, 
 that it is a first truth in natural theoloy-v, to connect naturo 
 and man, pre-eminently, with God as the Creator and 
 Sovereign of all. So, revelation introduces its higlier and 
 more detailed discoveries, by the inculcation of the same 
 great truth. And accordingly, in the great comprehensive 
 summary — that matchless abridgment of natural religion 
 and law, known as the decalogue, the first announcement 
 — Jirst in order and Jirst in importance, binds man as 
 nature had done before, to the throne of the universe, in a 
 way that cannot fail to produce the conviction, that it is a 
 republication, and by tl;e same author, of the great prime- 
 val code to which we have adverted. 
 
 Once more, it is the principal business of natural religion 
 to direct the attention and interest of man to the claims of 
 the Creator, through the medium of his works ; and upon 
 this, the whole priesthood of unbelief has most pertina- 
 ciously insisted. The appeal is based upon data and 
 phenomena everywhere accessible ; and in a precisely 
 similar way — a process of ordinary induction, Cliristianily 
 challenges for its Author the faith and homage of the world, 
 and demonstrates its common oritjin with the lelifriou of 
 nature, by the most urgent appeals to tlie works of his 
 hands and the ways of his providence, and especially, the 
 evolution of his plans and purposes as inferred from nature, 
 and authoritatively announced by revelation, centuries 
 before the drama of their final accomplishment ! 
 
 But to resume the train of argument in the preceding 
 lecture; — there is another great fact, connected with the 
 essential nature of man, of which it would be manifestly 
 improper for us to lose sight in this argument. We allude 
 to the moral judgments and emotions of our nature, viewed 
 as the dictates and decisions of an original, uncompounded 
 element or power in the mechanism of our being ; and by
 
 56 RELATIVE CLAIMS OE" 
 
 consequence, received from God, usually denominated the 
 moral sense or conscience — the power or susceptibility 
 of moral approbation and disapprobaiion. We have already 
 adverted to the subject in general terms ; but it is enliiled 
 to more specific notice. We are aware, that as usually 
 conceived of, — that when viewed as taking only common 
 rank among our moral emotions, the evidence of conscience, 
 when inductively examined, is not by any means as conclu- 
 sive as many have supposed. More correct views, however, 
 of this power of man's moral constitution, render the ai'gu- 
 ment for the truth of Christianity, from the indications of 
 natural theology, and the power of conscience, particularly, 
 much more conclusive and final in its application. Tlie 
 views to which we allude, are those which accord to 
 conscience, as an element of our moral constitution, an 
 independence and precedence among our moral emotions, 
 hitherto very generally denied to it. Tlie proper view of 
 conscience appears to be, that it is by riglit — by intention 
 of the Creator, the great master-power, the sovereign 
 regulator of the moral system in man, and placed there, by 
 God himself, for this specific purpose. It is not our 
 intention to affirm such mastery and sovereignty always in 
 point oi fact, but in point of right — of lawful precedence, 
 invariably. Conscience is, we conceive, by Divine appoint- 
 ment, a natural right — an ascendant principle of high, and 
 undoubted superiority. It is the supreme faculty, riglit- 
 fully claiming, although not always exercising sovereignty, 
 over the rest ; for in too many instances, it has been des- 
 poiled of this Heaven-invested supremacy, by sin and 
 ignorance. There has been a general concurrence of 
 mankind, however, according such high ultimate jurisdic- 
 tion to conscience, whatever may have been, at the same 
 time, the rebellious and insurgent sway of the other 
 passions and principles of our depraved nature. It is
 
 CURTSTIANITT AND INFIDELITY. 57 
 
 necessary, liowevcr, to the integrity of the argument, that 
 we notice briefly the office — the appropriate jurisdiction of 
 conscience. — A subject on which mankind have been very 
 prone to err. It is not tlien the business of conscience to 
 say what is right or wrong, abstractly. — The objective 
 nature of virtue, and interests of morality, are not subjected 
 to the legislation of conscience, any more than the proper- 
 ties of a mathematical figure or diagram, depend abstractly, 
 upon the reasoning process of the geometrician. It is the 
 business of conscience to decide on man's oavu right or 
 wrong, subjectively, as it regards his own personal, moral 
 relations. Conscience does not attempt to settle, but 
 assumes as settled, the great principles of moral rectitude; 
 and adjudicates upon the thoughts, feelings, and actions of 
 man accordingly; always premising that our own actions 
 only are involved. In no conceivable case has conscience 
 right of jurisdiction, with regard to the conduct of others. 
 Regarding man in his physical, intellectual, and moral 
 aspects, the moral part is, undoubtedly, the great ultimate 
 principle of our nature. It is that which draws after it 
 finally, and also decides the character of every other part. 
 All other parts are subordinate to specific purposes and 
 given ends, connected with the moral. In every survey of 
 human nature, we are obliged to return to the affections and 
 moral emotions, as the primary and final principles of the 
 whole mysterious mechanism of our nature. These, in 
 their elements, are unalterably permanent, and place man 
 in direct relation with God who made him ; and the whole 
 philosophy of Christianity tends to elaborate the truth, that 
 upon the character of these, in view of such relation, 
 depends our final destiny. We ask you then, to readvert 
 to the fact assumed, — that among all the moral sentiments 
 and emotions of our nature especially, including also the 
 operations of intelligence and volition, conscience, by -xn
 
 68 EELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 original law of nature, — by special, Divine ordination, 
 reigns, or by right, at least, ought to reign supreme. And 
 wliat, it may be asked, has all this to do with the argument? 
 The answer is, — "much every way." As conscience occu- 
 pies, by a law of our nature, the place of command, and 
 as the right of arbitrament, among all its principles and 
 properties, belongs to it, as pre-eminent and controlling, the 
 inference is not to be resisted, that it exists, — a. law toman, 
 given, asserted, and proclaimed by the Author of his 
 nature ; and from the nature and functions of the law, we 
 infer the character and purposes of the Lawgiver. And 
 every instance of the misdirection, or perversion of con- 
 science, is but another argument in proof of the disorder 
 and sinfulness of our common nature. 
 
 Let us take the moral and religious history of the world, 
 as in truth we should, as the memories of conscience, under 
 every diversity of moral control and religious influence, and 
 do we not find the most important, if not all the great truths 
 of revelation, so far as regards the grand primary reasons 
 of the Christian dispensation ; — the holiness of God, and 
 the sinfulness of man, especially, vigorously operating upon 
 conscience, or fairly implicated by its decisions ? It demon- 
 strably follows, therefore, that by how far this is the case, 
 to the extent of such influence and this implication, con- 
 science becomes an argument for the truth of Christianity, 
 and renders its revelations as probable as they are felt 
 to be needful. In this way we secure additional basis 
 — more extended groundwork, in the progress of the 
 ai'gument. 
 
 We have now reached a point at which natural religion 
 clearly suggests, and desiderates the necessity of a revelaiion, 
 such as Christianity assumes to be ; and it follows, thei-e- 
 fore, that unless Christianity be true, nature has erred in 
 her indications. Natural religion has always, and in all
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 69 
 
 lauds, betokened the inquietude of unaccomplished ends 
 and purposes, and has indicated its infirmity to this effect, 
 in a thousand different ways and forms. For example, no 
 proposition has received a larger share of notice and promi- 
 nence, in the system of the philosophical theist, than the 
 one which recognizes man's present allotment, not as final, 
 but a state of trial in which evil and suffering are admitted 
 constituents of the state assumed. But, unable to proceed 
 further, this disclosure becomes the basis of a common, 
 universal want, which some other system must supply ; and 
 if we except Christianity, no other system on earth even 
 assumes to supply it. 
 
 Again, that moral obligation is, in some sense, and to 
 some extent, deducible from the character and attributes 
 of Deity, as known to the pupil of natural theology, is 
 admitted by all ; but this deduction is so very uncertain 
 and unsettled the moment we address ourselves to details, 
 that the necessity of more perfect manifestations of the 
 will of God has been a felt want, and matter of common 
 concession, among all concerned. In this way, paganism, 
 which has been the predominant livery of natural religion 
 among all nations destitute of revelation, has immemorially 
 invoked spectres it could not quell. These are universal 
 facts, and require no proof; and taking into view the 
 character of God, and the intellectual and moral constitution 
 of human nature, they furnish a strong antecedent proba- 
 bility of the truth of the Christian revelation ; but unless 
 Christianity be true, the strong presumption thus furnished 
 by nature is utterly deceptive. It is a fundamental article, 
 moreover, in the creed of natural religion, that the will of 
 God, through the medium of his works, and by direct 
 communication to the mind itself, is so far revealed to all 
 men, as to afford, at least, imperfect moral-guidance, and 
 become a rule of conduct. It is equally, however, an
 
 » 
 
 60 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 article of the same religion, that the principle tlius assumed 
 involves important relations and inferences, wliich we are 
 compelled to refer to some other source — some higher 
 calculus for satisfactory solution ; for without such solution, 
 nature has only mocked us in all she has done. It will 
 thus be perceived, that every height won by natural 
 theology in its ascending search after God and immortalitj', 
 seems to have been clung to as the warrant and herald of 
 a still higher — of something beyond, more enlarged, and 
 better defined ; but unless we turn to Christianity, we are 
 utterly disappointed, and all is hopelessly dark and void ! 
 Our data, however, in this specific argument, are not 
 limited to the hopes and aspirings of man after immortality. 
 We, precisely in the same way, and to the same extent, 
 bring in and appeal to the irrepressible inquietude, and 
 appalling apprehensions — the haunting dread and mantling 
 gloom of conscience, connected with the future, in the 
 instance of the vicious and guilty of every age and clime. 
 Both classes appear equally persuaded of an eternal future, 
 and both look forward to it with equal, although very dis- 
 similar interest. And yet it is true of both, that much in 
 which all have the deepest interest, — the most eventful 
 stake, remains undisclosed by the light of nature ; and 
 that, so far as we can see, can only be furnished us by a 
 direct communication, having for its burden and object, the 
 disclosures needed. And here again, nature gravitates to 
 nought, unless Christianity be from God. 
 
 You need scarcely be reminded, that there belongs to 
 the human mind, a kind of philosophical ii^tinct by which 
 we naturally, and almost invariably, proceed fi'om tlie 
 partial to the general ; and from contact with what is par- 
 ticular to an acquaintance with wliat is universal. And 
 this law gives to tlie mind conversant, or Jiaving to do with 
 natural theology, a receptive aptitude — a respondent incli-
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 6l 
 
 nation to lay hold of the superior light and information of 
 revelation, provided it reach us avouched by evidence 
 unexceptionable in kind, and ample in amount. Reject 
 Christianity, however, and we have nothing to lay hold of, 
 and we find ourselves again misled by nature as interpreted 
 by infidelity. It is thus, the defects of natural theology 
 point to a system, at least, analogous to Christianity, as the 
 only remedy for the helplessness under which it labors. 
 And it is equally certain, unless Christianity be that remedy, 
 it does not exist ; and nature is found bequeathing only 
 folly and disappointment to the children of earth. Man's 
 immemorial need and want of some mode of direct, available 
 communication with his Maker, is taught by the whole 
 system of naural religion, and equally by the common 
 experience of all mankind, as in the absence of extrinsic 
 religious stimulus, such as the revelations of Christianity 
 afford, under the most solemn and fearful sanctions, man 
 has always been found to sink into utter forgetfulness of 
 the Creator, and indifference to all, except the interests and 
 engrossments of the present life. You do not require to be 
 told, that this evil, belonging to the whole religious history 
 of man, has never been remedied by, nor has it ever met 
 any effective counteraction from, the principles or sanctions 
 of the moral code of nature. This fact is perfectly notorious. 
 Even our enemies cannot regard it as incumbent on us to 
 assign any reason, a priori, that this should be as it is ; but 
 inasmuch as it is so, we are not only allowed, but com- 
 pelled to adopt it as an elementary truth, and proceed to the 
 necessary inferences, without which it cannot be understood 
 in its relations and bearings. Human nature has confessedly, 
 amid all the revolutions and varying vicissitudes of external 
 condition, aspired after, and sighed for lights and aids of 
 the specific character of those furnished by revelation- 
 and if these, therefore, be subtracted from the sum of its
 
 62 RELATIVK CLAIMS OF 
 
 hopes and its fears by infidelity, a dark and cheerless void 
 ensues, from which all that is immortal in man recoils with 
 intuitive horror ! The proof of tliis, is interwoven with 
 the history, religion, and language of every nation under 
 heaven ; and to doubt, is to avow utter ignorance of the 
 whole subject. In the case, moreover, of those nations, 
 who feeling the incompetency of natural religion as a 
 moral guide, and despairing of the adventitious helps and 
 direction of any other and further revelation, have aban- 
 doned themselves to the dominion of the inferior principles 
 of their nature, who does not know the utter degeneracy — 
 the hopeless and revolting debasement into which idolatry 
 and irreligion have sunk them ! And here again, nature's 
 doubtful guidance is appealed to in vain, and we are left 
 without remedy, unless Christianity be true ! But we 
 have, perhaps, elaborated this subject sufficiently to satisfy 
 the candid and well-informed, that taking the known moral 
 condition, and the actual facts and Avants of human nature, 
 as the basis of the argument, and allowing ourselves to be 
 jruided bv nature's indications, as far as they reach — 
 that having done this, we find a striking appositeness — an 
 irresistible relevancy in the Christiaii revelation, to the 
 facts and wants of our nature, which renders its Divine 
 orio-in, in common with the religion of nature, conclusive 
 and irresistible. 
 
 We thus perceive, that natural theology prepares the 
 mind to receive further disclosures, in relation both to the 
 objects it reveals, and the morality it inculcates. The 
 inquirer is conducted to a point at which he descries much, 
 dimly however, and unsatisfactorily, and the effect is, to 
 give sobriety and earnestness of inquiry, in view of further 
 and more conclusive information. It pre-occupies the 
 mind, both with the hope and the conviction of the necessity 
 in future and more decisive manifestations. By an irre-
 
 CHRISTIANIxr AND INFIDELITY. 63 
 
 sistible law of our common nature, we make what we 
 know, the standard of what we do not know ; and in this 
 way, the partial light and glimmerings of nature, would 
 fix attention upon other kindred developments, rendered 
 probable by these. The human mind would naturally 
 subject the Divine conduct, so far as known, to the 
 classification which all related phenomena receive, and 
 from what had taken place, would be led to infer what 
 might; and in view of antecedent facts and data, probably 
 would. 
 
 But laying Christianity aside, here again we are bewil- 
 dered by nature. Unity of operation is one of the most 
 distinctive characteristics of the Divine conduct, and having 
 satisfied ourselves of the infinite benevolence of Deity, 
 assured, moreover, that he has once made a direct commu- 
 nication of his mind and will to man, by impressing his 
 love upon the hearts of all, in the event of the obliteration 
 and inefficacy of this fii'st impression, is it not infinitely 
 likely from what has preceded, that he would repeat such 
 direct communication, and with additional clearness and 
 sanctions, furnish man with the information so essential to 
 his eternal interests ? If there be no further — no after 
 disclosures, beyond the reach and range of those of natural 
 theology, then it follows, from fair implication of the 
 general argument already attende'd to, that hopes, unequivo- 
 cally inspired by natural religion, must perish, and perish 
 forever ! And the moral blight becomes not only the ruin 
 of earth, but the dishonor of Heaven ! 
 
 But further, the human mind is confessedly a creation ; 
 its primary character, therefore, — the law of its being, 
 was received from the intelligence and purposes giving id 
 birth, and so far, all mind is a revelation of Godhead. 
 Take then, the original intellectual habitudes, and moral 
 tendencies of the human mind, and what they indicate,
 
 64 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 must be presumed to be true. It is the remit of Divine 
 arrangement. — It is God's own handwriting, and pointing 
 lo future and furtlier revelations of his character and 
 perfections, and especially his purposes with regard to 
 man, we must receive these pre-ordered phenomena of 
 mind, as prophetic of something, equivalent, at least, to the 
 revelations of Christianity. Reject Christianity, however, 
 and all these phenomena are deceptive and unmeaning ! 
 It is a fact which must always compel the admiration of 
 intelligence, that all the great difficulties, and most per- 
 plexing problems started, and formally, or by implication, 
 hypothecated by natural theology, are defects resolved by 
 Christianity. Thus teaching us the salutary lesson, that 
 while natural theology is only adapted to our nature, in a 
 state of unsinful vigor and moral health, the adaptations 
 of Christianity proceed upon the datum — the humbling 
 truth of its disordered and fallen condition. 
 
 Among the difficulties under which natural theology 
 labors, we may notice, by way of further specification, not 
 its paucity, but its absolute want of information respecting 
 the character, views, and conduct of the early part of 
 mankind ; for it must occur to every philosophic observer 
 of the operation of moral causes and effects, that the 
 conduct of men for a succession of ages, first after their 
 creation, ought to be considered, as furnishing very impor- 
 tant data, in the construction of any system of natural 
 theology. Such data, however, natural theology cannot 
 appeal to ; nor can any system of ethical inquiry do so, 
 without borrowing from Christianity, whose history of the 
 world, for nineteen hundred years at least, after the reputed 
 date of its creation, is the only one, authentic or otherwise, 
 extant under heaven. And when we gravely turn to such 
 facts as these, which accumulate upon our notice at every 
 step, what, we ask, is the lesson taught ? Is it not, that
 
 
 CIlRISTIANITr AND INFlDELITr. 65 
 
 want and supply, on the part of natural and revealed 
 religion, are convincingly correlative and coincident in all 
 their known relations ? And is this, we would further ask, 
 a chance result, or is it traceable to omniscient design? 
 
 In reply to this reasoning, it may be urged, — if the 
 necessity of such a system as the Cliristian revelation be 
 so conclusively desiderated by natural tlieology, why was 
 the needed, indispensable boon so long withheld ? and the 
 suggestion is certainly entitled to notice. In answering 
 the objection, it may be suggested in return, that what 
 degree of revelation was best suited to the early condition 
 and circumstances of mankind, may be a question of mucK 
 more importance than is ususally supposed. Heaven may 
 have seen that the rude and unsettled state of mankind 
 during the earlier ages of the world's history, was incom- 
 patible with a just appreciation, and faithful transmission 
 of the momentous truths of revelation, subsequently given 
 to man. The importance and immensity of the interest 
 involved may have rendered it necessary, in the Divine 
 judgment, to withhold the communication until a more 
 advanced state of knowledge and civic improvement should 
 prepare the world for its reception. Meanwhile, the inter- 
 mediate manifestations of the character and attributes of 
 God would be gradually applaining the way for the more 
 perfect communication of his will. If the depravity of 
 man, in the early ages of the world, revolted from the 
 ethical purity of natural religion, what must not have been 
 the effect, had that depravity been disturbed by the clear 
 and culminating effulgence of revelation ? Or further. 
 Heaven may have had judicial purposes and punitive 
 issues in view, by the withholdment, until the accomplish- 
 ment of which, it was not proper to furnish mankind with 
 the light of revelation, except partially, and through the 
 media to which we have asked your attention ; that is, 
 
 VOL. II — 6.
 
 41 
 
 66 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 nature and providence. These problems may be too dififi- 
 cult for the solution of mortal wisdom, but they speak, at 
 least, more in our favor than against us. 
 
 It belongs to the very nature — it enters into the speci- 
 fic essence of moral government, that it must have sanctions. 
 This is a truth of natural theology. We learn it without 
 going beyond the catechism of nature, and the whole 
 lesson taught by God's moral administration of our world, 
 is to the same effect. Heaven and earth, with a thousand 
 oro'ans, and in accents and characters not to be misunder- 
 stood, have proclaimed it to each succeeding generation. 
 By eternal ordination, affecting all created intelligence, 
 virtue and obedience are rewarded, and vice and rebellion 
 punished. In the instance then, of those who have declined 
 the authority, and cast from them the friendship of Heaven, 
 what provision is there, — what warrant for reconciliation ? 
 What indemnity asserts the majesty of offended law, or 
 vindicates the purity of injured Godhead ? Can nature 
 furnish any ? Alas ! so far from it, the first cry of guilt 
 struck her oracles dumb, ages back beyond the memory of 
 history, and no echo has since been heard ! It will be 
 said, that repentance and contrition are available. This 
 position is at variance with all the principal facts in man's 
 religious history. But grant it, for the sake of advancing 
 a step in the argument. Allow that God is gracious to 
 the penitent, but what, we ask, secures the first result ; 
 that is, sorrow for sin ? What warrant have we, that man, 
 in a state of rebellion and alienation from God, will become 
 contrite ? What is it guarantees his penitence ? What 
 cause is assicfned to the effect ? Admit that God will for- 
 give sin on condition of repentance, what is there to 
 enlighten man, and lead him to repentance ? What law 
 in the statute book of nature secures repentance on condi- 
 tion of .'sin ? Say, he that repents shall be forgiven, is
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDEUTV. 67 
 
 this to say, he that sins shall repent ? We have an effect 
 here, utterly unaccounted and provided for — vi'iihout any 
 adequate cause. Here nature teaches nothing ; in the long 
 roll of ages, no voice has proceeded from her. It is a 
 department in the great school of nature, in which there 
 has never been a teacher. The very interposition which 
 revelation assumes, is necessary to give, even repentance, 
 to man, as the condition of forgiveness. And here again, 
 the greater and the lesser lights — the hemispheres of light 
 and darkness, nature and revelation, must as heretofore, 
 the one supply what the other lacks. Natural theology, it 
 is true, assumes the goodness, — the beneticence of Deity ; 
 but man's rebellion, as we have seen, is equally assumed, 
 and how does nature dispose of the difficulty ? Intidelity 
 says, it is enough if God be good ; Christianity replies, if 
 God be good, he must be just ; if just, he must punish sin ; 
 and in the person of the sinner too, unless there be a reason 
 for his not doing so, superior to the claims and dignity of 
 the law violated by sin. Is such a reason found in mere 
 rearet ? Is human sorrow such a reason ? Are these 
 superior to the eternal law of moral order in the govern- 
 ment of God ? Does such regret or sorrow disarm sutTer- 
 ino- and want, disease and death, among the weeping 
 families of earth ? Does it kindle the relentings of the God 
 and Judge of all, in the ordinary infliction of his judicial 
 chastisements ? And not effectual here, will it be in the 
 instance of the extraordinary ? Does repentance turn away 
 the stroke of death ? Does it stay the visitations of pesti- 
 lence and famine ? If not, (and all know the negative to 
 be true,) neither can it prevent the higher and more fearful 
 retributions incurred by sin. The dream to this effect, we 
 know is indulged by many — when that of ignorance, it is 
 folly, but the supposition by philosophy is madness ! It 
 may be asked, does Christianity remove these evils ? It
 
 68 KELATIVE CLAIMS OP 
 
 does ; securing a method of forgiveness, it remedies the 
 great failure of nature, and throws up a pathway of com- 
 munication between heaven and earth ; and the lesser evils 
 JUS the offspring of the greater, say, suffering and death as 
 the result of sin, are modified and controlled by their incor- 
 poration into a system of moral discipline, effectively 
 inservient to all the interests of both life and immortality ! 
 Revelation assumes no change in the great principles of 
 moral rectitude, although it accounts for a modification of 
 their application and influence. It is a republication of the 
 law of nature, but with material additions ; and the great 
 specialities of revelation, not found in natural religion, are 
 to be accounted for on the grounds of the very distinctive 
 fact, that it is given to supply the defects of that system. 
 It is ostensibly a Divinely furnished and accredited mani- 
 festation of the will and purposes of God, a manifestation 
 of his character in relation to those subjects and interests 
 on which the religion of nature is silent, or at least defec- 
 tive. 
 
 It has been strongly and ably urged against the claims 
 of revelation, that it is not universal — is not found in 
 the hands of all. The same, however, is true of natural 
 religion. Its, disclosures are accessible to all, and yet 
 comparatively few avail themselves of these disclosures, 
 to any practical purpose, and the objection is as valid in 
 the one case as the other. This philosophical exception, 
 however, is entitled to respectful and considerate notice, 
 and so of every other urged with any semblance of reason 
 or fairness. We would challenge rather than repress free- 
 dom of inquiry; and prejudice and prepossession, — the 
 cant and paralysis of creed and party, as such, we abjure. 
 If we tread on the thistle of pliilosophical unbelief, it is 
 not because it does not bear figs, this was never expected, 
 but because it is found upon ground we have a right to
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 69 
 
 occupy for other and more important purposes, and cannot 
 occupy without such aggression. In reply then, it may 
 be remarked, that the original law of God, the internal law 
 of the heart, in the state, and during the dispensation of 
 man's innocence — a state and dispensation assumed alike 
 by natural and revealed religion, — this law was, by the 
 voluntary defection of mankind, soon obliterated, in whole 
 or in part, and hundreds of millions of the human race 
 have lived and died in all periods and parts of the world, 
 without the knowledge or worship of God, required by 
 this law. But is this an argument found deep in the 
 philosophy of things, and invalidating the claims of natural 
 religion ? Certainly not. And if not, no more can the 
 objection just urged hold good against Christianity, If 
 the earlier revelation was rejected and abused by man, 
 why not the latter ? 
 
 Two other views, however, may be taken of this subject 
 especially. In view of the ruin and debasement of our 
 moral nature, it may have been seen, that the ignorance 
 and perverseness of man, which led to the abuse and rejec- 
 tion of natural religion, Avould lead to a similar result in 
 the instance of the revealed, and that a universal, unre- 
 stricted publication of Christianity, would only enhance the 
 guilt of time, and the horrors of eternity, with the great 
 mass of mankind ; and hence, goodness would withhold it. 
 Or again, and most probably, as the want of universality 
 with regard to the first, taking into the estimate the 
 successive generations of man, was the result of human 
 purpose — of determined impiety, so Christianity, which 
 is addressed to all, but for such purpose and impiety, 
 might long since have been the religion of the world. The 
 fault therefore, — the cause of the limited prevalence of the 
 one and the other, belongs to man and not to God. It 
 results from human wickedness, and not Divine arranoe-
 
 #r 
 
 70 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 ment. Noi- should it be overlooked, tlial Cliristianity, 
 aware of such cause, repeatedly announced its operation 
 and result to the world in terms the most explicit, and 
 thus, by prophetic anticipation, made the world familiar 
 with a fact — man's rejection of Christianity, a hundred 
 years since, which infidelity without shame now pleads in 
 bar to her reception, although the objection itself, however 
 urged, involves a demonstration of the unearthly origin of 
 the system it impugns ! 
 
 There is another aspect in which tliis topic in entitled to 
 be considered. — Millions of the human family, (and a 
 tabular view of the comparative spread of the gospel for 
 the last eighteen centuries, will include perhaps more than 
 seven thousand five hundred millions of the human race,) 
 have manifested little or no aversion to the great objective 
 truths of Christianity, — the favor and friendship of Heaven, 
 together with the high recompenses of eternity, and have 
 confined their repugnance and distaste, or hostility and 
 rejection, as the case may be, to the ethics, — the require- 
 ments of the gospel, thereby furnishing proof that what 
 may be termed the light of Christianity, has approved 
 itself to the intelligence, but its holiness has been revolted 
 from by the depravity of the world. We have seen that 
 the steps and stages taken and achieved by natural theology 
 are only, and yet obviously initial, and their importance — 
 indeed, their having any value at all, depends upon the 
 series which is to follow. No series following, however, 
 we have only signs without significance ; and all must per- 
 ceive at once, that by such a process, we are transferred 
 from the pupilage of nature to ihe training and direction 
 of Christianity, or else it follows, that we have been deserted 
 by nature, and left to ourselves. And as if more fully 
 to develop this truth, even the feelings of mankind contain 
 "within themselves the assurances of greater good and more
 
 f • 
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 71 
 
 formidable evil, and these of longer date than would seem 
 to be fully accredited, although certainly suggested by 
 nature. To understand, therefore, fully the basis and the 
 Dourne of our hopes and fears, it is necessary that the two 
 systems be taken into the account, and studied correla- 
 tively. Natural theology as presentient of something better, 
 and Christianity, as the wider and more perfect dispensa- 
 tion, intended to supply its defects. As an illustration of 
 this, it has been noticed that death, even in the light of 
 natural theology, is regarded as an evil, and part of a penal ' 
 dispensation connected with transgression ; but beyond this, 
 nature has never been able to penetrate. Christianity, how- 
 ever, takes up the subject where nature left it, and following 
 in the path of nature's indications, so far as to show the 
 strictly penal aspects of death, as conjectured by the reli- 
 gion of nature, stops not here, but proceeds to connecc 
 death with ulterior and specifio purposes in the Divine 
 procedure as it regards man. Christianity assumes that 
 death is not a final dissolution of the elements of human 
 nature, but a temporary severance, in view of ultimate 
 re-union and renovated perfection. And how much more 
 satisfactory are these disclosures than the guesses and 
 conjectures of those who reject them! — Who obstinately 
 continue in a state of dream and reverie, however rebuked 
 by facts, or upbraided by expedience 1 Who, having 
 learned the alphabet of theology, doggedly assume there 
 is nothing more to learn ! and who are, ever and anon, 
 vauntingly presenting you with the net quotient of a pro- 
 blem iu morals they boast to have solved, indulging in 
 self-felicitations of extraordinary sagacity, at the same 
 time, iu having done it, without either divisor or dividend! 
 Allow that nature, as contended, is a vast volume of reve- 
 lation, yet its light is found to be too shadowy and indistinct 
 to be relied on finally. It i^i indeed, a God- written apoca-
 
 • 
 
 72 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 lypse, but one of symbols and mysteries, and given, doubt- 
 less, to be solved and interpreted by another. Beside, its 
 revelations are partial and imperfect, applying bulh to the 
 subjects embraced, and others not included at all, and 
 hence, requires to be both explained and supplemented. 
 We see the rainbow before us in beauty and enchantment, 
 but we can only understand its philosophy and significance 
 by an appeal to the sun shining behind us. — Nature is 
 only understood in the light of Christianity; — the last 
 must explain the first. In nature we have much, in Chris- 
 tianity all, even more than was prophesied in nature. 
 
 Once more, the general argument we are conducting is 
 farther strengthened by the fact, — a fact of the utmost 
 relative importance in this inquiry, that the amount of 
 Christian evidence has been immeasurably enhanced by the 
 direct and incidental contributions of the various divisions 
 of literature and science, in their gradual progress and 
 development towards their present state of comparative 
 perfection. The accessions to the great mass of Christian 
 evidence from this quarter, especially for the last half 
 century, have been splendid and imposing ; and as these 
 accessions, as such, were, in most instances, unstudied and 
 tinintended, they are the more valuable on this account. 
 In this way, the early origin and after history of the 
 Christian religion have received additional light and splen- 
 dor, to an almost incredible extent, from the recovery, 
 reproduction, or bringing to light of much that is curious, 
 and it may be useless in itself, but, as connected with the 
 ancient grandeur of Eastern civilization, in the center, and 
 at the height of which, Christianity made her appearance, 
 the effect has been to throw around the latter an addiiional 
 halo of interest and honor. This view of the subject is 
 entitled to a moment's amplification. — Reflect then, tiiac 
 the great Ciiristian document — the Bible, is a singular, —
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 73 
 
 a most extraordinary production., viewed only as a question 
 of literary interest. It is from five to seven hundred years 
 older than any other literary offspring of the human mind. 
 For modern research has shown that the boasted antiquity 
 of the Sanscrit literature, and the rival claims of the Chi- 
 nese, require confirmation they are never likely to receive. 
 Between the dates of the composition of its first and its last 
 parts — the Genesis and Apocalypse of revelation, full sixteen 
 centuries intervene. Its historical information covers forty- 
 one hundred years of the world's history ! Look also at 
 the extent of territory, as well as time ; look too at the 
 epochs, the persons, the events, the customs, and the 
 usages included, and certainly we shall be prepared to 
 expect that the comparatively recent resurrection of ancient 
 literature, science, and art, would contribute, if not to 
 strengthen, why of necessity, to re-awaken the Christian 
 argument. One or the other must supervene upon the 
 result. Instead, however, of weakening, or invalidatino- 
 in any way, or to any extent, Christianity has been rela- 
 tively, but eflectively fortified by collateral evidence and 
 incidental illustration which no ingenuity or sophistry will 
 ever be able to impair. And the effect is, that that which, 
 heretofore, was found impregnable upon trial, is now 
 becoming so formidable as to ward off even attack. The 
 same is true, moreover, in relation to the whole ran^-e ot 
 the sciences ; and the more modern, though lust, not least. 
 What science, existing in any state of tolerable perfection, 
 has not contributed to the cause of Christian evidence ? 
 And especially, have such contributions been derived from 
 the increasing perfection of the philosophy of mind and of 
 morals ; also, from nearlv the entire catalofrue of the natu- 
 ral sciences, and pre-eminently, have astronomy and geology 
 been laid under contribution to this effect. And it is a very 
 remarkable fact in the history of these coincidences, that 
 
 VOL. II — 7.
 
 71 BELAXIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 they have more generally been developed, not in the early 
 stages of the progress of the sciences, but when they have 
 reached a degree, — a manhood of perfection, in which they 
 were prepared to descend to the nature of things, and con- 
 nect consequences with the causes controlling their occur- 
 rence. Nearly all the sciences, in the early stages of their 
 progress, owing not to their native tendency, but the 
 character of the men and minds, by which they have been 
 cultivated, have been so far subjected to misdirection, as to 
 manifest a prurient inclination to declare themselves inde- 
 pendent of Christianity. Helvetius and La Place are 
 examples to this effect in the departments, respectively, of 
 moral and natural science, Nor has philosophical inlidelity 
 been without its gleanings in this way. Objections and 
 exceptions, however, originating in this way, have had very 
 little Jinal influence upon the collective mind of mankind. 
 They have been not unlike the "sunbeams falling upon the 
 uureceiving earth ; " while, in the more perfected state of the 
 sciences, this tendency to insubordination and revolt, has, 
 as a general rule, been repressed ; and more extended and 
 profound induction has led to a different, — a directly 
 opposite result. True philosophy, in the investigation of 
 final causes in nature, has always, and often unintentionally, 
 furnished large accessions of evidence confirmatory of the 
 truth of revelation ; and it has been reserved for sciolism, 
 pedantry, and pretension, resting in, and busied among 
 second causes only, to affect a contempt for Christianity 
 rarely, perhaps, never felt, except by the sciolist, the 
 pedant, and the pretender ! In the hands of such men, the 
 theology of nature has been little better than an iynusfatiins, 
 makino- the dark still darker ! In nature's statute book, 
 they read nothing aright, — they consti'ue nothing fairly, 
 and it becomes a huge, shapeless, unmeaning, inane, — 
 instead of the great ground-plan of the government and
 
 CHRISTIANIxr AND INFIDELITY. 76 
 
 administration of Deity, iu relation to our fallen wovld. 
 And it is not unworthy of remark, ihat this pseudo-semi- 
 inlidel philosophy has usually found itself so far in the rear 
 distance, that not seeing the true ahead, it has actually, and 
 perhaps honestly, supposed itself to be in the very van of 
 discovery ! This class of discoverers, in religion and 
 morals, are the victims of a self-deception, as absurd as it is 
 fatal, and might be resembled to the unfortunate Ixion of 
 classic memory, who, springing forward with bounding 
 rapture to the embrace of Juno, found the object of his 
 inspiration to be a cloud ! 
 
 The general views of the subject we have presented, 
 have, in almost every variety of form, been brought to the 
 test of facts and experience ; and the common methods of 
 scientific examination are applicable to them, with scarcely 
 any limitation. The necessary inferences are numerous 
 and weighty; and cannot fail, we think, in the estimation 
 of those upon whom the force of evidence is not lost, to 
 give Christianity a broad and natural basis in the moral 
 order of the universe. 
 
 From the cursory, yet general argument subniitt^d, we 
 derive the irresistible inference, that as Christianity has 
 stood the test of all former time, has f5een under the exam- 
 ination of tiie intellect, the malignity, and the interest of the 
 world, for more than eighteen centuries, without suffering 
 any diminution of her evidence or power, — battling with 
 the passions and interests of ages and nations, — the uncom- 
 promising enmity of a world "without God," and yet 
 steadily holding on her course, she is destined, and is thus 
 preparing to bring, not only every thought, as giving color 
 and character to action, but the whole encyclopedia of 
 learning and science as the offspring of mind, "into cap- 
 tivity to the obedience of Christ !" And we infer this, as 
 rationally from the theology of nature, and the philosophy
 
 76 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 of facts and things, as certainly from the prophetic assur- 
 ances of revelation. Look at the lights, the notices, and 
 aids of natural theology which have passed under review, — 
 its extended apparatus of means and appliances — of train- 
 ino" and trial, and all lookincr forward to somethinf!- further 
 and future, as the realization of its hopes and convictions, 
 and then, as an argument ad absurdum, assume, as infidel- 
 ity does, the whole to be a lie and a cheat ! No binding 
 principle of harmony in the moral system, by which moral 
 data connect themselves with moral results, — no law of 
 unerrino- arrano-ement in the moi'al constitution of things, 
 answering to the principle of gravitation in the physical, 
 but all tending to nought — unfit — out of place, and 
 chance-begotten, — nothing in the ever-living universe, 
 external to man, to meet and satisfy the irrepressible anxi- 
 eties, the unutterable longings, which thrill and agitate his 
 being ! Assume this, and what a waste have we here of 
 thought and feeling, — thought, that added to the light of 
 the universe, and feeling, worthy of glowing in the bosom 
 of God ! And what an insulting superfluity of endowment 
 too, upon the infidel hypothesis ! Capacity, measureless as 
 thought and feeling, — high as heaven, — ^deep as hell, and 
 yet, damned wiihout*liope to the cruelty of immortal disap- 
 pointment! And not only this, (for consequences of less 
 magnitude are not unworthy of note, — they show the 
 unphilosophical, as well as irreligious tendency of unbelief,) 
 — not only this, but into what unmeaning insignificance, — 
 into what miserable sesquipedalia verba, are the very lan- 
 guage and poetry of natural religion, despite their conse- 
 cration by the use of ages, made to degenerate ! And let 
 it not be forgotten, that it has been an attempt to solve the 
 diflicult problems of natural theology, (to which we have 
 asked attention) without appealing to Christianity, which 
 has driven infidelity thus to prejudice and dishonor its own
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELlxr. 77 
 
 claims, by putting such a degrading mockery upon the 
 character, both of God and man ! 
 
 You will perceive, the burden of the present lecture is, 
 an attempt to estimate further than was found practicable 
 in the former, to what extent, and with what exceptions, 
 natural theology and Christianity are related systems. The 
 nature and extent of the relations implied, constitute what 
 may be termed the identity of the systems; while the 
 exception — the qualifications with which we assume such 
 identity, will fix attention upon the systems, viewed in 
 contact, and will lead us, especially to notice the distinctive 
 character of Cliristianity, as a system of moral discovery. 
 We are not yet prepared, however, for this last view of the 
 subject. There is intermediate ground to be occupied, — 
 difficulties to be disposed of, — and advantages of which we 
 have a right to avail ourselves, the neglect of which might 
 betray us into scarcely obvious, if not illogical conclusions. 
 This, we would avoid ; and hence, the reason of the char- 
 acter of the present lecture. To give the subject now 
 engaging our attention, a fair and impartial examination, 
 we should approach it, as if for the first time, and with all 
 possible fi-eedom from every thing like biased feeling or 
 prepossession. But owing to the fact that this is well nigh 
 impossible, the discussion, on the part both of the lecturer 
 and the audience, becomes as difficult as it is important. 
 It need scarcely be suggested, for example, tliat to project 
 the mind beyond the ordinary sphere of its accustomed 
 range, is always attended with danger as well as difficulty. 
 The hazard is incurred of going too far, or of not aroina: 
 far enougli, — of transcending or of falling short of the 
 specific point of view, best calculated to secure the object 
 aimed at. 
 
 These hazards and difficulties meet us at almost every 
 step, and have to be guarded against. There is also another
 
 78 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 difficulty, connected with the examination of this subject, 
 into which all are but too prone to plunge. It is the vanity 
 — the folly of supposing it possible to explain every thing, 
 and thus relieve the subject of all difficulty and obscurity. 
 We candidly avow the conviction, however, that neither is 
 possible. What work of God, — what production of infinite 
 Intelligence can the human mind grasp and analyze in all 
 its relations and bearings ? The most we can hope to 
 accomplish, will be to produce a conviction of the truth 
 of Christianity, too strong to be overcome by any difficul- 
 ties we may meet with in the investigation ; and this 
 imperfection of knowledge is an inevitable condition of every 
 kind of truth, every class of evidence, and every species 
 of conviction or persuasion, with which the human mind 
 ever has been, or perhaps ever will be conversant on earth. 
 We have, therefore, no cause of surprise, or right of com- 
 plaint in this instance, as it is a limitation applicable to all 
 human knowledge, of whatever kind. And beside, the force 
 even of truth, is always more or less contingent, depend- 
 ing upon the condition of the understanding addressed. 
 If the mind be in an unhealthy state, — if it be engrossed 
 or pre-occupied with other interests and excitements, truth 
 may be presented — may be unveiled in all its beauty and 
 majesty without effect ; and no moral system has noticed 
 this fact in the philosophy of mind, in our common history, 
 with greater emphasis than Christianity ; for it concedes 
 that even the unrivaled teaching of the Son of God, attested 
 as it was by unprecedented manifestations of power and 
 goodness, exerted no commanding influence, except among 
 the thoughtful, the candid, and the well-disposed. 
 
 But to resume the argument in th§ preceding lecture, 
 we have noticed at length, the very important, yet obvious 
 postulate in the prosecution of this inquiry, that, to a great 
 extent, the truths of natural theology — its principal facts
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITT. 79 
 
 and data, constitute tlie more ultimate and necessary 
 premises of Christianity. The one is to be regarded as a 
 scliool or discipline of primary instruction — a «ystem of 
 initiation, properly, with reference to the greater purity and 
 perfection of the other. And accordingly, we may proceed 
 to remark, all the great and fundamental truths which have 
 been found to dawn upon us in nature, re-appear in Chris- 
 tianity with noonday brightness. It is a fact worthy our 
 special notice, that in a comparative estimate of the two 
 systems, we have, not a iew occasional resembling elements, 
 or points of identity, but a pervading unity of j^firpose and 
 provision. And so entirely true is this remark, that natural 
 theology does not furnish a single indication, turning upon 
 the question of human happiness, undisposed of by Chris- 
 tianity. It is as strictly universal as the religion of nature. 
 It is all-comprehensive in its relations and application. It 
 disowns all limitation to country, age, or class. It knows 
 no distinction of clime or tribe. It connects man's illimita- 
 ble capacities for improvement and progress with all that is 
 unbounded and eternal in the Creator. Pre-eminentlj', 
 above anything in natural theology, does it "honor all 
 men," and thus assert the dignity of our common origin 
 and nature. Found in harmony with the universality of 
 thino-s, and external toman; — perfectly consistent with 
 the intellectual attributes and moral tendencies of his 
 nature, as isolated and peculiar, for such it unquestionably 
 is ; — confirmed and illustrated by all anterior revelations ; 
 — addressed like knowledge of every kind, to the reason of 
 man, and its claims subjected to the test of this reason ; — 
 its evidences augmenting with the progressive advance- 
 ment of our race ; — the light not of a single age or nation, 
 but of the world, not of time, with its interests and vicissi- 
 tudes only, but of eternity, v.-it]i its awards and destinies ; 
 we can only view it, as the perfection of reason, — a mani-
 
 80 RELATIVE CLAmS OF 
 
 festalion of eternal truth, exhibiting to man a system of 
 moral relations, intended as the bond and condition of inter- 
 course -w^th God. 
 
 As the general argument we are conducting, is based 
 upon the theology of nature, it may be necessary to remark, 
 that the term nature is generally used witli great latitude 
 and indistinctness of meaning, and by this very indetermi- 
 nate application of the term, many who are disposed to 
 reason and examine with candor, are led astray. In the 
 use we make of the term, we mean no independent unde- 
 rived existence, power, or authoriLy. So used, the term is 
 without meaning. It is a fiction of man's creation ; — a 
 kind of semi-Deity of his own setting up. The very term 
 itself — its Latin primitives, and the cognate Greek terms, 
 whence we have the kindred derivatives — physics and 
 physical, together with the corresponding terms in other 
 languages with which immemorial use has made the term 
 nature to synonymize, all convey the idea of derivative, 
 productive creation. The term is used to denote the aggre- 
 gate, or more properly the whole of things in the sum of 
 existence about us. Nature is not an independent sovereio-n 
 system. It is the creation, the property, and polity of 
 another ; and the only energy, necessity, or action known 
 in nature, is derived from a superior, extrinsic agency, ante- 
 cedent or concurrent, as the case may be. In nature, we 
 find only second causes — and this is as certain as any 
 demonstration in Euclid or Newton. It is not the ultimate 
 cause of anything, not even of an insect or a flower. Nature, 
 as such, and rightly understood, produces nothing, owns 
 nothing, does nothing, except subordinately. Voltaire lias 
 shrewdly remarked, in that matchless compound of Avisdom 
 and folly, learning and ignorance, known as his Philosophi- 
 cal Dictionary, that that which is called nature, has been 
 sadly misnomercd, and is not nature, in ordinary accepta-
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND IN-FIDELlTT. 81 
 
 tion, but art — the work and contrivance of another. Inex- 
 orably unintelligent, we find nature finely geometrized in 
 all her parts. Not in herself — then where resides the 
 skill ? Where look for the eternal geometrician, who has 
 so admirably adjusted her laws and phenomena ? When 
 we speak, therefore, of the works, the laws, the lessons, 
 and the indications of nature, it is not intended that any of 
 these are predicable of nature, in any ultimate sense. We 
 mean the works, the laws, and the authority of God, 
 together with the intimations and disclosures of his charac- 
 ter and purposes to man. Those philosophers, therefore, 
 who use the term nature so as to exclude the agency of the 
 Author of nature, and thus outlaw him from his own works 
 and dominions, in attempting to mislead others, by weigh- 
 ing truth in the warped balance of a perverted judgment, 
 much more effectually deceive and wrong themselves. 
 And others, who seem to recognize Divine agency, by way 
 of compromise, that they may get rid of the responsibility 
 created by the admission, are equally inconsistent, and the 
 subjects of a s^lf-deception not less fatal. The philosophy 
 of such men is not unlike the religion of a class of devotees 
 satirized by Horace, who calling noisily, and with boister- 
 ous vehemence upon Janus and Apollo at the public sacri- 
 fices, did not fail to remind, apart and in a whisper, the 
 beautiful Laverna, that they should still rely upon her 
 protection, in their more private and interested villanies ! 
 There are those, you know, in every department of life, 
 who are wiser than others only as they know better how 
 to play the fool ! 
 
 To return, however, mind, in strict propriety of languao-e, 
 does not belong to what we call nature — does not blend 
 with the mechanism of cause and effect — is not massed 
 and geometrized among the elements and results of matter. 
 It is not included among the forms and modifications of
 
 82 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 time and space, and borne along amid the vortices and 
 catenations of physical cause and effect. It is an indepen- 
 dent agency, as it regards all these, and occupies a point 
 in the universe from which it looks down upon all, and 
 feels itself free and superior to the whole ! In itself, it is 
 ^capable of originating thought and action, apart from the 
 common mechanism of nature ; and but for such isolation 
 and independence in relation to general nature, freedom of 
 Avill and responsibility, could not, in any philosophical 
 sense, be predicated of mind. Nearly all the religious and 
 philosophical fatalism in the world has originated in this 
 error ; and on this vital distinction, overlooked as if by 
 conspiracy, by most philosophers and theologians, the con- 
 troversy concerning freedom and necessity, should be made 
 principally to turn. Admit the distinction just made, — a 
 distinction accredited by the well ascertained conclusions 
 of all science, physical as well as moral, and the principal 
 difficulty vanishes at once.
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 It is a singular fact, and one that has exerted great 
 influence, in the history of religious opinions, that revelation 
 has been looked upon, both by infidel philosophy and 
 popular ignorance, as something out of the way — as some- 
 thing not in place — something irregular and discordant, 
 as it regards the current and ordinary views of mankind, 
 in relation to nature and providence. Taking the common 
 course of nature, and the admitted dispensations of Provi- 
 dence, revelation is looked upon as anomalous, and more or 
 less discrepant, in view of the data these are supposed to 
 furnish. This error, for we doubt not we shall convince 
 you it is an error, has exerted a most fatal influence upon 
 the views and opinions of a large portion of mankind, 
 aflecting their reception of the Christian religion. It is 
 important, therefore, to show, that there is no fact connected 
 with the consciousness of our being, — no established truth 
 belonging to the experience of mankind, — no ascertained 
 views of God or nature, interfered with in any way, 
 amounting to inconsistency, by a revelation, suck as Chris- 
 tianity assumes to be. Indeed, the only real difficulfy in 
 the ease it occurs to us, is not that revelations have been 
 received from the Creator by his intellectual off'spring — 
 his intelligent creatures, but that these revelations have not 
 been received in greater number and fullness, or rather, that 
 revelations more ample and minute respecting himself, his 
 works and his pui'poses, have not been communicated Lo 
 man, as the only earthly intelligence capable of receiving- 
 such communication. Is not God dishonored bv the 
 
 L3 ^
 
 84 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 supposition, that he would create man, boundless in intel- 
 lectual capacity, and yet keep him in ignorance of himself? 
 Man has not existed alwa}'s. The human race is not 
 eternal ; and the madness of the atheistic philosophy 
 excepted, such is the common — the universal conviction 
 of the human mind. Man then, must have been created. 
 And existing only in virtue of a special creation, the first 
 primeval pair, the great protoplasts of the human family, 
 must of necessity, as the terms imply, have been without 
 predecessors or associates, and of course, the relations of 
 paternity and companionship, of whatever kind, must have 
 been excluded. And hoiv was human nature taught, and 
 wnence instruction deiived, under sticli circumstances ? — 
 Circumstances admitted alike by the theist and the Christian? 
 Without earthly parentage or human associates, if instructed 
 at all, (and the fact of instruction is an inevitable inference,) 
 it must have been by superior intelligence ; that is, by God 
 himself, or those commissioned by him ; and this is what 
 all understand by revelation. Revelation, therefore, was 
 the first mode — the very genesis of human knowledge. 
 Tlie history of the human race begins with it. It is the 
 basis, — the ofrand substratum of all knowledge. Revela- 
 tion was the starting point of all improvement — of all 
 advancement, on the part of mankind. The course of God's 
 providence in relation to our planet as the residence of man, 
 and the theater of his action and development, began with 
 it. It is the most original — the most primary of all the 
 methods of instruction known to the history of man ; and 
 is hence, the most natural — the most directly suggested, 
 both by his nature and relations. Would God create man, 
 and leave him without instruction ? As the univeral Fatlier 
 of all, would he deny to his own intelligent ofllspring, all 
 intercourse of thought and feeling with himself? And 
 yet, such instruction and intercourse could only begin in
 
 \ 
 
 CHRISTIANITt AND INFIDELITY. 85 
 
 revelation. Revelation must have furnished the first data 
 for the exercise of both reason and conscience; and if 
 revelation was essential to human nature, in its early and 
 utmost perfection, can it be otherwise than necessary, in its 
 degeneracy? Let infidelity answer at its leisure. This 
 view of the subject is confirmed by the subsequent course 
 of nature and providence, and the general, established 
 order of God's moral government, so far as man is con- 
 cerned ; and we ask you to notice it with the emphasis its 
 importance demands. Whence has man, in all ages and 
 conditions, received the initial elements of knowledge ? 
 Has it been from nature, directly, Avithout the process of 
 interpretation, by superior wisdom and information ? Or 
 rather, is he not indebted to the advanced intelligence of 
 others, in the shape of teaching and instruction, for all the 
 most valuable stores and treasures of elementary informa- 
 tion ? But for this could he have advanced a single step ? 
 Would not his ignorance have been invincible and per- 
 petual ? Are not millions in our world, even now, but a 
 single remoN'e from this, with all their advantages ? And 
 what is such teaching — such instruction but revelation? 
 Is it not a direct communication of knowledge from 07ie 
 mind — from the superior intelligence of another, and is 
 not this all that, in sti-ictness, is ever meant by revelation ? 
 In no direct sense, can the external universe about us 
 become our teacher. So far from it, it is itself a volume 
 which has to be unsealed by instruction — a rock that has 
 to be smitten with the rod of intelligence before the waters 
 of knowledge flow. 
 
 The natural and necessary ignorance of the human mind 
 — of our common nature, requires that the system — the 
 laws and the operations of nature surrounding us, have an 
 interpreter. Mind, in this aspect, can only be enlightened 
 and advanced, by mind possessing superior illumination.
 
 86 RELATIVE CLAIMS OP 
 
 And every such method or measure of illumination, is 
 properly, and to all intents and purposes, revelation. In 
 revelation, therefore, as taught by Christianity, which in 
 strictness, is direct, Divine teaching", simply and nothing 
 else, we are introduced, so far as method is concerned, to 
 no novel principle or foreign element not recognized in the 
 common course of nature and providence. Indeed, educa- 
 tion familiarly, in all its forms, and of whatever kind, is 
 revelation, and nothing more or less. 
 
 Nor is this true, merely, as it regards the direct method 
 — the manner and medium of communication between the 
 teacher and the taught, but the great objective interests — 
 the prospective advantages of all education, on the one 
 hand, and revelation on the other, as commonly understood, 
 bear to each other a very striking analogy. Education, for 
 example, does not in any proportion, consult the present or 
 the ]past, as directly and truly as the future. The wants, 
 the hopes, and the interests of the future are its immediate 
 and specific objects, and in like manner, revelation appeals 
 to the present and the past, in relation to man, as the data 
 of more important arrangements and disclosures connected 
 with the future. Preparation for the future is alike the 
 object of the first and the last, and as we are taught by the 
 one, to prepare for the coming duties of life, so it is the 
 burden of the other, to prepare us for the immortality 
 which is to succeed our present mode of existence. It is 
 a well-known fact in the philosophy of our being, that the 
 susceptibilities and aptitudes of mind, call for action and 
 fruition such as can only be furnished by the communica- 
 tion of the knowledge education implies ; and this state of 
 advancement only places the mind in an attitude to ask for 
 something beyond, answerable to the mind's receptive 
 enlargement, (by the processes of instruction) which seems 
 to expand, at every step, in something like geometrical
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 87 
 
 progression. Now, as the mind's natural thirst and appe- 
 tence, iu the first instance, are met by the revelations of 
 intellectual and moral training, under the guidance of minds 
 of superior mental rank, does not analogy fairly promise, 
 that the awakened notice and anxieties of the mind, in the 
 last instance, shall be met and satisfied, in like manner ? 
 Thus viewed, revelation is a want of our nature, and is 
 demanded by the exigencies of our being; and when we 
 reflect that this want and these exigencies are the result of 
 Divine appointment, to assume, as infidelity does, that there 
 are no arrangements in the Divine economy respecting man, 
 answerable to what they call for, is to charge God with 
 want both of wisdom and goodness. Even a slight exami- 
 nation of the subject in this light, must satisfy the inquirer 
 that the whole stream of knowledge is thus traceable to two 
 distinct sources — revelation and self-acquisition, from 
 which it descends with a uniformity, at once invariable 
 and necessary. Nor can either source be deemed sufficient 
 without the other. 
 
 The power of reason in man, which prepares him for the 
 inductions of experience and observation, is not an inde- 
 pendent — an ultimate, self-sufficing power. It must have 
 data whose existence is extrinsic to itself, or reason can 
 accomplish nothing, and exists in name only. Examined 
 inductively, all reason will be found to terminate in first 
 principles, in the ultimate facts of our own nature and 
 consciousness. And these facts and principles, as derived 
 from God, are as truly a Divine communication, as the 
 disclosures of the Christian revelation, by which they are 
 succeeded and perfected. And revelation thus becomes 
 the alpha and omega, — the principium and principitus of 
 all knowledge in all its possible forms, with which, in any 
 conceivable way, the human mind can become enriched ! 
 So far from being opposed to nature, as absurdly assumed
 
 88 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 by many, viewed abstractly, — so far from being in con- 
 travention of her laws, as alleged by infidelity, it is in fact 
 one of the elementary arrangements of the great moral 
 system — one of her own chosen methods of instruction, 
 and beyond all doubt, characteristic of the whole circle of 
 God's providence in relation to man ; and the stupidity, it 
 occurs to us, which does not perceive it, must be worse 
 than assinine. The whole difficulty then, is reduced within 
 a very limited range. It is strictly confined, not merely to 
 the Christian revelation, as such, but the inquiry is further 
 simplified by an analysis of the premises, so tliat our only 
 concern is with the medium through which this communi- 
 cation has reached us, and tlie proper authentication of its 
 claims, as a revelation from Heaven. 
 
 In conclusion, had the knowledge derived from. the Chris- 
 tian revelation, reached us through some other medium, 
 natural and ordinary, in all respects, as we have seen it to 
 be in many, and these most material, what would have 
 been the probable effect ? As regards opinion and theory, 
 would there have been an infidel on earth? Is it not most 
 probable the subject would have taken its rank among, and 
 been studied and applied, side by side, with the sciences 
 and researches constituting the common sum of human 
 knowledge ? This, at least, would have been the case, so 
 far as its truth and certainty are concerned, without refer- 
 ence to its influence as a system of ethics. And as the 
 subject is now presented, it remains for us to inquire, with 
 what reason — with what claim to philosophical consis- 
 tency, infidelity rejects information, merely because of a 
 quarrel with the means of its communication, Avhich, had 
 it reached us through a different channel, would have been 
 received as veritable, whether acted upon consistently or 
 not? Subjected, therefore, to the test of philosophy and 
 the findings of experience, revelation, so far from losing
 
 CHKISTIANITT AND INFIDELITY. 89 
 
 any thing, is daily receiving the light and ilhistration of a 
 constantly increasing confirmation; and is rapidly becoming 
 the great text-book of human study and interest, side by 
 side, with the great volumes of nature and providence ! 
 
 Deep, enduring, and re-produced in every age, is the 
 conviction tliat man's interest, in the distant and invisible, 
 is of more importance than the relations and engrossments 
 of the present life ; and that the intellectual universe, with 
 its interests and destinies, is, in the scale of relative conse- 
 quence, infinitely superior to the universe of space and 
 matter, with which he is more immediately conversant. 
 Were the universe of mind laid open to our view, assured 
 as we are by consciousness, that of this universe we are 
 individual, integral parts, — could we survey by a glance, 
 the boundless drama of its fortunes and destinies, — could 
 we witness the intellectual achievements, and moral mani- 
 festations, — the stupendous purposes and issues of thought 
 and emotion, from the infinite mind of the Almighty Creator 
 of all, down to the least exalted order of intelligence in the 
 vast family of worlds, (known to science and rendered 
 probable by its conjectures,) what Avould be our estimate 
 of the immensity of matter and the wonders of its combina- 
 tions ? We know by consciousness, and all argumentation 
 is superseded by intuition, that mind is every way superior 
 in the scale of existence, and incomparably more excellent 
 than matter, whatever may be its laws or collocations. 
 And the presumption of science, even when it does not 
 symbolize with Christianity at all, is, that this higher order 
 of existence — the great intellectual system, is essentially 
 co-existent and commensurate with the material, every- 
 where spread out upon its vast platform, and occupying it 
 as the theater of action and display ; and the magnificence 
 of the physical, is overborne by the superior grandeur of 
 the moral ! Science, apart from Christianity, seems to 
 VOL. II — 8.
 
 90 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 have settled the question, with high philosophical certainty, 
 that the whole material frame-work of nature, is hut the 
 unintelligent means — the inert instrumentality intended to 
 subserve other ends and higher purposes. And these ends 
 and purposes must be intrinsically superior to the means 
 employed to accomplish them. The ultimate purpose of 
 the existence of matter, must transcend immeasurably, in 
 grandeur, and consequence, the instrumentality intended 
 merely to aid in the effectuation of that purpose. The 
 material universe, with all its countless globes, solid and 
 luminous, and their varied and gorgeous furniture, is 
 found to dwindle and disappear, when viewed in contrast 
 with the intrinsic dignity — the imperishable grandeur of 
 mind. 
 
 But further still, take the intellectual and moral consti- 
 tution of man, and you find him indissolubly connected 
 with the great moral system, outspread upon the surface 
 of the material, — a member of the stupendous assemblage 
 of intelligences constituting the empire of mind — the 
 universe of thought and emotion, action and achievement ! 
 Such is the postulatum furnished by science, and the moral, 
 philosophical inference is, that mere existence, even in such 
 a system, and necessary relation to it, to the whole and all 
 its parts, gives to man a consequence which authorizes the 
 presumption, that to enable him to accomplisli the destiny 
 indicated, other light and succor, and higher and more 
 effective evidence than those furnished by nature and provi- 
 dence, are indispensable ; and hence, another argument for 
 the heavenly origin of the Christian revelation. Would 
 Almighty Goodness so distinguish man, and yet leave him 
 in the dark, in relation to all that most interests him? 
 
 But it has been objected to Christianity, that there is 
 about it, viewed as a revelation of the will of God, too 
 much reserve and limitation ; first, as it regards the subjects
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 91 
 
 ostensibly disposed of in the system ; secondly, others not 
 introduced at all. The infidel assumes, that a revelatiou 
 from God should be more explicit and detailed in its dis- 
 closures, than Christianity is found to be, and that many 
 questions of alleged interest and importance are omitted 
 entirely, which should have been introduced, and deter- 
 mined at length; and it is further assumed, that the style 
 and manner of Christianity, in addressing man, are not 
 sufficiently striking, — are too ordinary — too perfectly 
 human to arrest attention and secure the notice challenged. 
 In reply, it might be stated, and the statement, at least, 
 neutralizes the force of the objection, that what is com- 
 plained of here, as a defect in Christianity, is equally true 
 as it regards natural theology, and to a much greater 
 extent; and will be found, moreover, to affect seriously 
 the pretensions of all science ; for it is undeniably true of 
 both, that the same want of universality, and minuteness 
 of detail, attaches to the one and the other. Whatever 
 there may be of truth in this charge of reserve and limita- 
 tion, in the instance of Christianity, it will not be difficult 
 to prove that it arises out of the inevitable necessity of the 
 case, as found in the constitution of the world, and the 
 nature of man. To these, we have elsewhere asked your 
 attention at length, and shall not dwell upon them here. 
 
 It is as true of universal nature, in science as in revela- 
 tion, that it is a unit — a whole; and of course, it is made 
 up, and consists of parts, and all these paits essentially 
 related. To the scientific student of nature, we need only 
 name, in proof of this, the law of universal gravitation, 
 binding world to world — the laws and phenomena of light, 
 pervadingly affecting all worlds, and the theory and trajec- 
 tion of comets, traversing illimitable space, as if bearing 
 despatches from one to another ! These, and other facts 
 of kindred bearing, prove incontestably, that globe is allied
 
 92 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 to globe, and system to system, throughout immensity, as 
 known to us. And yet it is well known that however well 
 we may understand the history and philosophy of our ovm 
 planet, we know nothing of its connection with other 
 worlds, beyond the mere fact that such connection is too 
 evident to doubt, although impossible to be understood 
 with man's present means of information. That is to saj'^, 
 we "know in part" only; and in this way, we know a 
 thousand things we are utterly unable to account for. 
 
 Turn now to the universe of intelligent beings, — the 
 various worlds, and orders of intelligent agents, so fre- 
 quently, although only allusively introduced in the Christian 
 revelation. Is not the argument irresistibly forcible from 
 analogy, that all these various intellectual tribes and orders 
 are related and connected ? And if Heaven, by means of 
 Christianity, should allow us to know this fact — (that they 
 are so related) — and at the same time withhold other than 
 general information, what right have we to complain ? 
 We know no more in the instance of the physical. In 
 what does it really concern us to know more than we do ? 
 Would not such knowledge, in relation to other provinces 
 of the vast dominions of the Creator, have called off atten- 
 tion from the interests of earth, and the destinies awaiting 
 us here ? As it is, are not our dreamers about other 
 worlds, — our ambitious explorers and topographers of 
 other distant provinces of God's creation, very apt to 
 indulge dissatisfaction, and be guilty of trifling with their 
 own ? Is God under any obligation to lift or rend the veil 
 which hides his universal kingdom from the gaze of earth? 
 If so, let the impatient demand of infidelity, which, it 
 would seem, must know all, or receive none, extend in the 
 same way to nature ; and if the infidel would be consistent, 
 it must be so extended. Let the reserve so legibly inscribed 
 upon the face of the heavens be torn away ! Let earth,
 
 CHRISTIANITV AND INFIDELITY. 93 
 
 whose bosom everywhere imposes the same law of limita- 
 tion, open to our objectors, and silence them, by giving 
 them a highway at once to her center ! And if not, why 
 then, demolish your planetarium, and give the discoveries 
 of Newton and the demonstrations of La Place to the 
 "moles and the bats;" for why, according to the infidel 
 logic, receive anything as true, unless you can know all ! 
 We deem this reasoning valid, inasmuch as all reasonintj 
 must be based upon pre-existing data, which data must be 
 sought in man, or the constitution of nature about him, 
 and any objection to Christianity, the basis or prototype of 
 which, cannot be found in nature, is absurd, because 
 unnatural. It is unphilosophical ; for it is attempted to 
 reach a result which cannot be traced to, or derived from 
 any known fact or principle, and can only be regarded, 
 therefore, as an abortion of ignorance or presumption, or 
 it may be both ! 
 
 We remai'k further, — the information and evidences of 
 Christianity, are ample and irrefragable, and the sufficiency 
 and demonstrativeness, we assume, relate both to quantum 
 and kind. But to estimate them properly, and feel their 
 force, it is necessary that they be duly attended to ; for 
 although fixed and unambiguous, the doctrines and evi- 
 dences of revelation are not obtruded or forced upon the 
 consideration or acceptance of man. As the principles 
 and ethics of natural theology may be neglected, con- 
 temned, and cast aside, by the careless, the indifferent, and 
 the vicious, as millions are in the habit of doing, the world 
 over, notwithstanding their certainty and reasonableness, 
 as well as great moral force, when carefully and consider- 
 ately appealed to ; so, under the influence of inattention, 
 dissipation, and folly, but especially, the more hopeless 
 forms of vice, profligacy, and determined sin, — piety — 
 the Christian religion may share the fate of the religion of
 
 94 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 nature, — be neglected, overlooked — the homage and atten- 
 tion it requires indefinitely postponed. Or it, may be treated 
 with scorn and mockery, obloquy and contempt. Mean- 
 while, however, it is true, in the creed of the one, that 
 " the heavens declare the glory of God," and in the other, 
 that "life and immortality are brought to light by the 
 Gospel." Had the proofs of revelation been so strangely 
 and stupendously imposing — so marked with force and 
 violence of motive, as to compel attention and submission, 
 on the part of mankind, the arrangement, all must see, 
 would have precluded both trial and virtue. The one 
 woidd have existed but in name, and the other been no 
 more rewardable than is the passive thirst of the desert as 
 it drinks in the descending shower 1 This would have 
 been, to set one part of the Divii>e economy in direct antag- 
 onist relation to another ; and the discrepancy would have 
 been so obvious and tangible, as to render belief in the 
 system extremely difficult, if not impossible. The tendency 
 would have been to defeat all the great objective aims of 
 revelation ; and hence, instead of this, Christianity reaches 
 us with as little of the extraordinary, and as few unearthly 
 and trans-human accompaniments as was consistent with a 
 clear and conclusive authentication of the Divine original 
 of the system. 
 
 But let us select another point, — a different turret of 
 observation, from which to bring the same scrutiny to bear 
 upon this subject. If Christianity have a native, indispu- 
 table tendency to develop, and bring out into perfection and 
 action the intellectual and moral powers of our nature, 
 beyond that of natural theology, literature, or science, it 
 must afford strong presumptive proof, that the Author of 
 our nature is the Author of Christianity. In this way, we 
 can explain the whole field of facts and relations on the 
 part of revelation, and yet remain on strictly philosophical
 
 CHRISTIANITY A\» INFIDELMT. 95 
 
 ground — the boasted terra firma of infidelity. It would 
 not be difficult to prove that owin<^ to the essential oneness, 
 — the absolute unity of the human mind, the intellectual 
 and moral powers, in the progress of enlarged development, 
 are mure or less deranged and depressed, unless trained and 
 cultivated in unison. It is true, virtue may consist with 
 great ignorance, and there may be high mental culture in 
 union with great depravity, but the alliance is unnatural, 
 and involves intellectual hazard, not less than moral danger. 
 What real success, in any department of intellectual achieve- 
 ment, can there be, where mind proves faithless to virtue, 
 and betrays the heart? There may be ability and achieve- 
 ment distinguishing such minds, we know, but when it is 
 recollected, how much more decided and comprehensive 
 these might have been, allied with the pure and elevated 
 sentiments inspired by the proper cultivation and direction 
 of the moral powers, we are obliged to feel the disparage- 
 ment, as a humiliation of our common nature ; and by how 
 far they have failed to be just to themselves and true to 
 others, by the neglect and abuse of their moral powers, by 
 so much they have subtracted from the general happiness ; 
 and they rank among the enemies of a virtuous universe, 
 to the precise extent they have thus contravened the pur- 
 poses of their being. Very mistaken notions are alioat and 
 common, even in the philosophical world, as it respects 
 success in intellectual progress and distinction. There is 
 no real success in such progress, without a harmonious 
 development of all the powers of mind. And as the moral 
 powers are the ultimate principles of our nature, the neglect 
 of these is even more hurtful, than the neo-lect or misdi- 
 rection of the mental. All must be balanced, and move 
 and play in ec^uilibrium or the mind can never preserve its 
 proper energy, or perform its just functions ; and this 
 equilibrium can never be maintained, except by the subor-
 
 96 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 dination of the mental, to tlie monil part of our nature. 
 Would you trace the lightning of intellect home to its cloud, 
 you must study well the moral nature of man ! 
 
 Intellect is always without anything like effective power, 
 unless characterized by order and calmness ; and where 
 the moral system is deranged, and the passions in a state of 
 misrule and vicious propensity, the mental powers become 
 the criminal instrumentality by which the objects of ambi- 
 tion and selfishness, and often profligacy and crime, are 
 sought to be accomplished. We all know that the moral 
 feelings convey a secret, yet controlling influence to the 
 more intellectual powers of mind ; and hence, it is indis- 
 pensable, that they be subjected to proper discipline. 
 Proper action is the end of man, not aimless thought ; and 
 hence the reasoning we have urged. The question arises, 
 however, in what way is this to be eftected ? Shall man 
 rely upon himself absolutely, or appeal to higher, extrinsic 
 aids, confessedly within his reach ? And allowing, as all 
 must, that such appeal is essential, an additional question 
 intrudes ; — to what code of moral legislation — to what 
 salutary regimen, shall man turn, with a view to the self- 
 government and moral training so necessary, even to his 
 intellectual dignity and success ? It occurs to us, the 
 question may be settled fairly by an appeal to fact. Take 
 those countries and ages, where and during which, the influ- 
 ence of the theology of nature alone has been felt, and 
 compare them with those under the influence of Chris- 
 tianity principally, and then decide upon the intellectual 
 character of each class. On which side the line we have 
 drawn will you find the greater grandeur and magnificence 
 of mind ! In which of these moral hemispheres do you 
 meet with the most stupendous aggregate of intellectual 
 production and moral achievement ? What is your answer ? 
 We need not wait for it — a witness of your own has fur-
 
 CIIRISTIANITy AND INFIDELITY. 97 
 
 nisbed it. Infidelity decided the question in our favor, 
 some fourteen centuries ago. So thoroughly convinced was 
 the learned and acute, yet infidel Julian, of the direct ten- 
 dency of the Christian religion to increase the moral power, 
 and thus elevate the intellectual character of mind, that 
 from the throne of the Csesars he attempted to legislate 
 Christianity into utter ignorance, by denying education to 
 the Christian part of bis empire, and thus accomplish what 
 he believed, could be accomplished in no other way ! And 
 other examples, numerous and pertinent, are to the same 
 effect. 
 
 The moment chosen for giving Christianity to the world 
 is proof, that it is in close and intimate alliance with the 
 biglier powers of our nature, and seeks and secures its 
 own advancement, by means of such alliance. At the time 
 selected, learning and civilization were at a higher point t)f 
 progressive perfection, than at any former period in the 
 history of the world ; and were also much more widely 
 diffused and generally deferred to ; and does not this 
 demonstrate the design of Heaven, that there should be an 
 essential coalescence of the higher principles of the one 
 and the other ? And this coalescence is even now takina" 
 place, not, it is true, with glaring publicity, by shock and 
 convulsion, but by silent, unnoticed agencies, impercepti- 
 bly, yet certainly ;and bids fair, at no very remote period, 
 to accredit the great moral inference, that Christianity is in 
 strict alliance with all that is profound in science, or exalted 
 in intellect ! A knowledge of natural theology furnishes 
 with an inference, from the principle of analogy, which 
 connects the discipline and trial of the present life, with a 
 state of things in the future essentially corresponding — 
 substantially analogous in its higher elements, concerning 
 Avhich, however, we have no satisfiictory infurnuition from 
 nature, and must, therefore, impugn the wisdom of her 
 
 VOL. II — 9.
 
 98 KELATIVE CLAIMS OP 
 
 arrangements, or seek the solution elsewhere. Infidelity 
 adopts the former, Christianity the latter hypothesis. If 
 we admit, as we are compelled to do, the inference from 
 analogy, and have no higher calculus by whicli to deter- 
 mine their bearing, we are sixbjected to an incertitude, at 
 once painful and perplexing. Can it be believed, that the 
 God of wisdom and goodness would appoint for man in this 
 life, a rigorous state, or process rather, of discipline and 
 training, unrelaxed in its exactions, until tlie hour of bis 
 death, and yet no ultimate end to propose, — no after-state 
 of consciousness and action to succeed, as the object of its 
 appointment ? If so, the analogies of nature, and the uni- 
 versal scheme of tilings, as known to man, are insignificant 
 and unworthy of confidence ; and the God of eternity, so 
 far as we can see, is found trifling with the children of 
 time ; for in every age lie has hung the golden clouds of 
 another life, bigh and glowing, about the setting sun of 
 this ! Is it possible to conceive, that there is no instituted 
 correspondence between the means and the ends of this, 
 and another life ? When nothing else is left, must the dia- 
 mond cressets of hope and joy connected witb the future, 
 be torn from the worn and wasted cordage of the heart, 
 by the ruthless hand of infidelity ? If the present be not 
 an education for the future, why at infinite cost, — at the 
 expense of unremitting trial and endeavor, sympathy and 
 succor, are we trained to lessons and habits of patient efibrt 
 and high exertion, — of order and discipline — of constancy 
 and self-denial — of high moral daring and unblenching 
 courage ? Why are the elements and energies of our being 
 taxed by a state — a constitution of things, confessedly of 
 God's own appointment, to the utmost it is possible to bear 
 or to do ? Does not all analogy demand, that these moral 
 qualities and habits be brought into further exercise, and 
 much more fully and intensely, in another state of being?
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITT. 99 
 
 We do not mean to say, that the same objects which exer- 
 cised these high and strenuous virtues here, will exist in 
 the futurity destined to develop them. There will doubt- 
 less be a substitution of different scenes and theaters of 
 consciousness and action ; still, no change is implied of 
 these moral powers ; and it will be seen, that the pupilage 
 of earth and time, was only intended to commence the 
 development and formation of powers and habits whose 
 final manifestation can only be realized in eternity ! 
 
 We might urge you, moreover, to bring the logic of 
 induction to bear upon this subject, in another particular. 
 Christianity exists. — It is before you. It has existed in 
 the eye, and before the direct notice of the most enlightened 
 parts and portions of the world for near two thousand 
 years, as truly and undoubtedly as the letters of Greece, 
 or the empire of Rome. We know the time of its intro- 
 duction. We know the place of its birth and first appearance. 
 We know who was its founder. We can trace the lines of 
 its first propagation. We can fix upon the localities of its 
 early spread, and primitive wonders. We know the cost of 
 natural feeling — the rending of societies — the hardship, the 
 want and the suffering, — the persecution, the self-sacrifice, 
 and often death, inevitably attendant upon its profession. 
 We know whence it suddenly broke forth, like live waters, 
 bounding from the bosom of the mountain ! It divero-es 
 from Jerusalem in a thousand directions under the adminis- 
 tration of the successor of the imperial Tiberius. North, 
 it is soon heard of in inaccessible Scythia ; South, in 
 central Africa ; East, in Parthia, and distant India ; and 
 West, in barbarian Spain, and the British Isles ! All this 
 is matter of liistory ; — is perfectly notorious throughout 
 the whole commonwealth of well informed minds ; and 
 men of sense have long since ceased to dispute it. The 
 fact then is before you, and we ask you to account for it.
 
 100 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 And in doing so, you are not to lose sight of the nature 
 and philosophy of the result ; its character and tendency ; 
 and rejecting the assumption that Christianity is a revelation 
 from Heaven, what adequate cause can you assign, as the 
 solution of a problem vy^ithout parallel in the history of the 
 human mind ? In the instance of paganism in general, 
 and Mahommedanism in particular, usually relied upon by 
 infidelity, as analogous cases, there is, in fact, the absence 
 of everything like analogy. For the existence and preva- 
 lence of these systems of religion, the history and philosophy 
 of the times furnish us with causes, materials and elements 
 in abundance, naturally and almost necessarily leading to 
 the results appealed to. In the case of Christianity, 
 however, there is nothing of the kind to be urged; — no 
 such predisposing causes ; no materials on hand, or elements 
 at work ; and the infidel and the Christian are alike com- 
 pelled to look upon it as a new creation. It exists noiv, and 
 never did before ; and hence, the inevitable conclusion. 
 See Christianity springing up, and gaining upon the notice 
 of the world, in Jerusalem, Corinth, Athens, Ephesus, 
 and Rome! Its origin at first scarcely known, — the 
 country of that origin proverbially despised, — denouncing 
 the whole calendar and rabble of pagan gods in the very' 
 centers and capitals of the most idolatrous nations, — 
 proscribing pleasure in the midst of wealth, pomp, and 
 luxury, — urging the care and interests of the soul among 
 tlwse who regarded its immortality as a fable, — inculcating 
 the fear and worship of God where his very existence was 
 unknown or denied, — original, austere, and exacting in 
 the reprobation of sin, — explicit and uncompromising in 
 demanding purity of heart and self-denial of life, and this, 
 amid unbounded licentiousness and crime, — what were its 
 chances, upon any hypothesis involving only human agency, 
 to become the religion of the civilized world ! Who could
 
 CHRISTIA'NITY AND INFIDELITY. 101 
 
 have supposed, that under such circumstances of discour- 
 agement, that notwithstanding the paucity of her means, 
 and the poverty of her friends, — the resistance of civiliza- 
 tion and tlie liostihty of barbarism, — with persecution's 
 ban-dogs loud and lean everywhere howling over the wreck 
 of her lirsL altars and early homes, she would, in less than 
 three centuries, see the land of the pyramids and the realm 
 of the Caesars bow, and subverting the giant might of the 
 imperial Palatine, give her banner to the breeze upon the 
 ruins of the capital of nations ! And this general inference 
 is confirmed further by the fact, that Christianity as a 
 system, was as perfect — as every Avay complete, at first as 
 it is noAv. It was not gradually produced. It is not, in 
 any sense, a growth. It exhibited all its perfections — its 
 absolute entireness at once, without anytliing like pro- 
 gressive elaboration. No formative, perfecting process 
 was appealed to. Original, singular, and apart, it met 
 Avith no countenance or support from the age in which it 
 appeared. It superseded the systems, by reversing the 
 decisions of antiquity ; and stood alone in uncompounded 
 oneness and wholeness, in the isolated, unborrowed grandeur 
 of its own nature and pretensions !
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 Resuming the theme of the preceding lecture, we proceed 
 to remark, that if Christianity be true, the reason and good 
 sense of mankind require that there should be exhibited, 
 a perfect agreement between the code and contents of 
 revelation, and the history and experience of mankind, in 
 all time subsequent to its first publication. Tliat is, the 
 latter must be expected to afford verification of what the 
 former assumed, with regard to the real state and con- 
 dition of the hiiman family. To limit the inquiry, — take 
 the five historical books of the New Testament. One 
 of the first lessons taught by their examination is, that 
 Christianity places man, when subjected to the influence 
 of the gospel, in an essentially new relation — an entirely 
 novel position, with regard to other men ; and that, in 
 consequence of the new and separate relations of the 
 disciples of Christianity, — the novelty and originality of 
 their position with reference to the rest of mankind, they 
 should be subjected in all time to come, to the ill nature, 
 distrust, and persecution of the world, as distinguished 
 from them. And this, not because they belonged to a 
 sect, a party, or a school, but irrespective of all, for 
 righteousness' sake. — Because of the high, unworldly 
 bearing, the integrity and purity of their lives and conduct. 
 
 The position of the first Christians was every way 
 
 insular and untried ; and the predeclared result is, that it 
 
 will provoke the hostility of the world. And what is the 
 
 evidence of history on this subject, from the early notices 
 
 of Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny, down to our own times ? 
 
 102
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 103 
 
 Is the prescience of Christianity, in any way, falsified ; 
 or has tlie announcement been sustained by the experience 
 of a succession of ages ? The time has been ample. The 
 means of information infinite. Eighteen centuries have 
 intervened. Fifty generations of skeptics and philosophical 
 and vuljTfar scoffers have rolled throusrh the orbit of doubt 
 and unbelief, like herculanean rakers gleaning exceptions 
 from every section and segment of the whole circuit of 
 objection and cavil, and what is the result ? What do 
 the findings of infidelity amount to, against the claims of 
 Christianity ? 
 
 Again, it was assumed, that from inconsiderable — 
 almost imperceptible beginnings, Christianity should spread 
 and prevail, to an extent without any parallel in the anterior 
 history of the world. Thus, inconsiderable and unobtrusive 
 at first, it was silentl}'', but securely, to operate its functions, 
 diflfusing everywhere its renovating views of God and man, 
 until it should mould and color the eras of time, and the 
 character and fortunes of nations, and finally, control for 
 good or evil, the destinies of the world, in view of her 
 reception or rejection. All this was original — was new, 
 and not to be expected. The Jewish religion had existed 
 fifteen centuries without spreading. The religions of 
 Persia, Greece, and Italy, had continued for ages without 
 change or progress. All was calm and quietude. The 
 elements of the religion of paganism appeared to be 
 settled, its diflferent systems adjusted, and the opniions of 
 philosophy, and the dreams of poetry and sentiment and 
 affection, on the part of confiding millions, were rapidly 
 crystalizing about them. Religious inquiry and earnestness 
 were unknown throughout the world ; — all had to bo 
 awakened and excited ; and yet, amid this dead calm — 
 this universal stagnation of moral sentiment and reliirious 
 feeling, Christianity announced her purpose of proselyting
 
 104 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 the world. Tlie very conception, is proof of the Divinity 
 of the mind in which it orii>inated ! It was hke the 
 sceptered blazonry of Heaven, in the vision of the young 
 patriarch, bowing to a reaper's sheaf ! 
 
 But we ask you to advert once more to the contradic- 
 tion, at least in common deeming, between the precepts 
 enforced, and the conduct foretold, by Christianity. What, 
 short of omniscient discernment, could have predicted the 
 result ? And we would ask you, also, to re-advert to the 
 evidence of history, in relation to the promised diffusion 
 and triumphs of Christianity, and decide for yourselves. 
 We will not trace her progress. We make no attempt to 
 map out her spread — to number her myriad temples, or 
 count the homes of her missions ! We have, however, no 
 fears of the result. Look at her when she commenced only 
 with the fishermen of Galilee, and in a provincial dialect 
 of Palestine, — confined to a depressed and enslaved popu- 
 lation of not more than a million and a half ! And look 
 at her noiv, issuing her mandates to the (900,000,000) 
 nine hundred millions of our world, in two hundred lan- 
 guages of the babbling and lettered earth ! Has infidelity 
 no misgiving? If not, it will be a deadly conflict; for 
 rely upon it, Christianity has none ! 
 
 But to return — Those conversant with the philosophy of 
 analogy, or capable of examining related subjects analogi- 
 cally, duly comparing and estimating analogous elements 
 and resembling features, may institute an inquiry, a priori, 
 based upon first principles as found in Christianity, assum- 
 ing that if these be true, corresponding principles will bo 
 met with in natural theology, to give them sanction and 
 verification ; and hence, deduce an additional argument for 
 the truth of the Christian revelation. A few examples, 
 miscellaneously selected, will explain our meaning, as well 
 as a more scientific arrangement. Whether we believe or
 
 CHRISTIANITV AND INFIDELITY. 106 
 
 reject Christianity, we are obliged to look upon it as a 
 regular whole; — the progressive development of a well- 
 defined plan. Its ditterent parts are so truly consecutive — 
 so admirably concatenated, that we are compelled to con- 
 ceive of it as the offspring of an exclusive individual master 
 intelligence. Its perfect individuated unity of character 
 forbids any other supposition. The force of the separate 
 argument we are about to introduce here, will require but 
 little elaboration. A few examples will show what the 
 effect would be, were the examination carried out in exienso. 
 Take any production of antiquity — say a book or history, 
 and the illustration and support of any one part of it, by 
 other incidental evidence, tends, even beyond the abstract 
 weio'ht of the accessory evidence, to the authentication of 
 the whole. But assume that evidences of this kind are 
 multiplied, from time to time, and derived from different, 
 and unexpected sources, for a succession of ages, and these 
 attestations to the truth of the whole, become at once con- 
 vincing and irresistible. And this is precisely the state 
 of the case as it regards Christianity, and the support it is 
 continually receiving from the different provinces of natural 
 theology, and from other sources, of which natural theology 
 is competent to judge and d<'termine. In this way, the 
 absolute strength of the Christian argument is indefinitely 
 augmented, by collateral and concurrent evidence, derived 
 from innumerable, unrelated facts, scattered over the fields 
 of nature and the tracts of observation. 
 
 It is characteristic of Christianity, that while it furnishes 
 evidence, every way competent and adapted to impress its 
 truths and conclusions upon the human mind, it abstains 
 from anything like coercive control, or overwhelming influ- 
 ence. Its disclosures and deductions, however convincing, 
 leave man a moral agent, as befoj'e, with his power of self- 
 determination, unfettered and entire. And this seems to
 
 106 RELATIVE CLAIMS OP 
 
 be but tlie archetype of an arrangement in natural theology, 
 to tlie same effect. The evidences and principles of natural 
 religion, are presented in a way to secure a proper under- 
 standing a!id just appreciation of their nature and value; 
 but in order to this, candid attention, and patient investi- 
 gation, are required. The discovery of truth and the 
 encouragement of virtue, reward the candid and consider- 
 ate, while the idle and vicious are abandoned to the folly 
 and presumption of their course. 
 
 Again, revelation furnishes as much information, in 
 relation to the great definite object of its bestowment, as 
 the question of man's earthly or immortal welfare requires ; 
 but it does not go beyond — it does not aim — it is not 
 intended to dissipate all obscurity, or gratify unreasonable 
 curiosity. And precisely analogous to this, are the reserve 
 and caution of natural religion ; and a thousand inexplica- 
 bilities of the latter are in close affinity with the mysteries 
 of the former. 
 
 It is equally true, moreover, that every science under 
 heaven is burdened with the same conditions. We know 
 tliat heat and moisture promote vegetation, but how, or by 
 what process these elements adapt themselves to the suscep- 
 tibility of the plant, so as to enlarge and expand the leaf, 
 is a question, in reference to which, our ablest phjj^siologists 
 avow utter ignorance. From effects and phenomena, we 
 know the power of gravitation, but what it is that essen- 
 iiallv constitutes attraction of (rravitation, we know nothino- 
 about. It is as absolutely unknown to us as the locality 
 and natural history of the heaven or hell of the Bible. 
 
 Further, Christianity is explicit and peremptory in 
 refusing anything like exemption by privilege, from the 
 high jurisdiction she extends over all. Rank, station, 
 civic distinction, and social inequality, are all merged, and 
 man, as a subject of the Divine government, together with
 
 CHRISTIANITV ANll INFIDELITV. 107 
 
 his moral relations and interests, is alone consulted. In 
 like manner, the reliu'ion of nature extends her counsels and 
 warnings to the palace and the cottage, the prince and tlie 
 subject ; nor are the privileges of dignity on the one hand, 
 or the hardships of poverty on the other, any valid plea for 
 inattention to her claims. 
 
 Christianity, as all know, inculcates the renunciation of 
 present indulgence, and the exercise of patience, fortitude, 
 and self-denial, in view of distant and final recompense ; 
 and nature abounds with lessons, that to obtain objects of 
 first importance, even of merely earthly interest, such as 
 wealth, wisdom, or fame, it is indispensable to forego and 
 suffer. Each inculcates the duty of self-sacrifice as the 
 price of future or greater good. 
 
 Revelation recognizes the existence of machinations of 
 evil, invisible spirits, and infernal agency ranks among the 
 principal causes of the prevalence of impiety and irreli- 
 gion, and ranks foremost also, among the evils and enemies 
 vanquished and overcome in the triumph of the faith and 
 virtue of Christianity. Natural theology, it is true, knows 
 nothing of fallen angels — nothing of the malignity and 
 industry, with which revelation represents them as em- 
 barked upon the ruin of our kind ; but natural theology 
 recognizes the same great moral conflict between good and 
 evil, and is as conversant as Christianity, with vicious and 
 abandoned men, utterly depraved, and hopelessly profligate, 
 who devote life, with all its means and appliances to the 
 accomplishment of the very object which revelation ascribes 
 to the devil and his angels; — that is, the destruction of 
 human happiness, hope, and virtue, by beguiling and 
 enticing those within the circle of their influence, into 
 the practice of every species of moral debasement, from 
 the first timid essay of vice to its fiendisli revelry in 
 crime. Natural theology, therefore, afibrds the full force
 
 108 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 of analogy in support of the Christian doctrine upon this 
 subject. 
 
 Moreovex", according to revelation, the consummation of 
 God's moral government in relation to man, connects itself 
 Avith a day of general — of universal judgment, when the 
 virtuous and good shall be rewarded, and confirmed in rec- 
 titude and happiness forever; and the finally and incurably 
 vicious, punished in view of their deservings. Now, if this 
 be true, it is reasonable to expect, that in the administration 
 of nature, and the laws of providence, by which God 
 governs the world, and regulates the course of human and 
 earthly events, there will be found a state of things suffi- 
 ciently analogous, to furnish man with plain and undoubted 
 pre-intimations to this effect. And what, we ask, are the 
 consequences. Heaven, even in this life, has severally 
 annexed to vice and virtue, — to good and evil conduct ? 
 There is not a precisely proportioned retribution of good 
 and evil, we know, for it would seem tlie purposes of moral 
 discipline, and man's earthly probation would be better 
 subserved by a different arrangement, leaving the existing 
 inequalities of his earthly state to be adjusted by future 
 arbitrament, in the closing account indicated by nature 
 and providence, and fully disclosed by Christianity. And 
 accordingly, God has, in his general dealings with mankind, 
 taught them most conclusively, that virtue tends directly — 
 (being vested with such aptitude) — to promote the happi- 
 ness of man, and that vice is cursed and branded with an 
 equally indelible tendency to render man worthless and 
 miserable. 
 
 In the Christian revelation, it is distinctly assumed, that 
 the death of Jesus Christ, the reputed Son of God, pro- 
 visionally ransomed man from the punishment due to sin, 
 and that his voluntary sacrifice of himself in behalf of our 
 guilty nature, exists in its relations and bearings, as an
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITV. 109 
 
 eventful expedient connected with the principles and pro- 
 visions of the Divine government, in virtue of which man 
 may be received into favor Avith Heaven, at the same 
 time that the tnitli and justice of God receive the ful]ei?t 
 vindication, and the dignity and stability of the Divine 
 administration, are maintained in all their purity and per- 
 fection. And what is there in nature analofrous to this ? 
 Turn to the infancy, the childhood, and the education of 
 man, and his establishment and fortunes in more advanced 
 life. What has been the medium of the conveyance of the 
 most substantial benefits of life ? Has it not been the 
 agency — the voluntary interposition of another ? What 
 security or success, has ever distinguished the lot of man, 
 for which, in greater or less degree, he was not indebted 
 to the kindness and instrumentality of others ; and generally 
 at the expense of toil and suffering, involving the very 
 principle of substitution found in the atonement of the Son 
 of God ? Who does not see, that in the general adminis- 
 tration of this world's aflfairs by the God and Judge of all, 
 evil is often averted and good secured, by the kind, and it 
 may be, undeserved intervention of one in behalf of another, 
 who, in subjecting himself by such interposition, to a larc-e 
 share of the eft'ects of the evil he would remove, is found 
 essentially in the place of the party aided ; and assumino- 
 the responsibility of the sufferer, so as to meet the claims, 
 and secure the satisfaction of law, cancel obligation, and 
 change relations, and thus effectually remove the whole 
 burden of disability and distress, under which the party 
 labored ? Such an instance, by no means uncommon, or 
 rather of every-day occurrence, in the history of human 
 intercourse, is essentially a vicarious expedient, and analo- 
 gous in principle, to the great sacrifice of the Christian 
 system. The principles most essentially implicated by the 
 reasoning, as found in nature and Christianity, are so
 
 110 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 entirely analogous, that it is only necessary to divest them 
 of the mere environment of circumstances, to establish 
 their identity beyond the possibility of misconception. 
 
 Once more, Christianity assumes the doctrine, and reveals 
 the fact of Divine aid and influence — the communication 
 of trans-human ability connected with the interests of man's 
 immortality ; and the illumination of mind and change of 
 heart implied, constitute a grand specialty in the Christian 
 scheme. Such illumination and change, are regarded as 
 essential to the final happiness of man. This heavenly 
 influence cannot be claimed on the ground of worth or 
 merit in us. — It is the gift of Almighty Goodness, unde- 
 served by man. And further, it must be sought for, 
 earnestly, humbly, and with perseverance, in the way 
 prescribed in the only system of moral truth, in which 
 the hope and promise of it are found. An arrangement 
 perfectly analogous to this, will be met with, regulating 
 the bestowment upon man of temporal gifts and earthly 
 good. These, as a general rule, have been placed within 
 the reach of all who properly exert their natural powers, 
 in the use of appropriate means, in view of their attainment; 
 and the certainty and facility of acquisition are made to 
 depend upon the effective application of such powers and 
 means ; while success is endangered, and the good thrown 
 away, by the neglect or rejection of the means necessary 
 to secure the boon we are in quest of. In the latter case 
 not less than in the former, there must be a conviction that 
 the good in question is needed, — that it will not be 
 gratuitously bestowed as matter of right and debt, whether 
 we exert ourselves or not ; and finally, must be sought for 
 by an appeal to means and methods directly connected 
 with the end to be obtained. So that the arrangement in 
 nature seems to create, even abstractly, a strong proba- 
 bility in favor of a kindred arrangement, in any system
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. Ill 
 
 intended to supply the defects, and supplement tlie imper- 
 fection of natural theology. 
 
 But ■why, it has been asked, if there be so much of truth 
 and self-evidence connected with the Christian system, has 
 it been so generally neglected, rejected, or at best, received 
 with indiflference, by so large a portion of the thinking part 
 of mankind who have been favored with its liuht ? This 
 anomaly, as it is thought by some, and which has been 
 alluded to elsewhere, may be accounted for, it occurs to us, 
 both on philosophical and moral grounds. We all know, 
 because all must have seen, with what unyielding pertina- 
 city, opinion clings to its accustomed course and current 
 of operations ; and how extremely difficult it is always 
 found to be, to give it a different, and especially opposite 
 direction. When the mind has bestowed sentiments of 
 approval and confidence, it is always reluctant, and even 
 after conviction, slow to withdraw, and particularly to 
 re-bestow them upon objects and qualities, by which they 
 have not been familiarly excited. And the moral reason 
 for this result is found in the fact, that the prevalent dispo- 
 sitions and tendencies of our fallen nature, array themselves 
 directly against the moral restraints and ethical exactions 
 of Christianity ; and hence, an additional proof of its 
 truth, in the fulfillment of its own prediction of this very 
 result, — "many are called," but "few are chosen." There 
 is scarcely a discovery in philosophy, or improvement in 
 science, which has not met with similar reception and 
 resistance from the human mind. 
 
 But we derive a most important argument here from 
 negation. The burden of the affirmative argument upon 
 wh.ich we have mainly dwelt, is, that the admitted principles 
 and existing facts of natural theology, strikingly concur in 
 the suggestion and support of conclusions which constitute 
 the essential foundation of the Christian system. A diflerent
 
 112 RKLATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 train of reasoning, however, based upon entirely diflferent, 
 and even opposite premises, will conduct to the same gen- 
 eral inferences. We mean, the absence of facts and ascer- 
 tained principles in the system of nature and providence, 
 adverse to the inferences upon which we rely. The non- 
 ascertainment of any such principles, and the non-existence 
 of all such facts, will go far in bespeaking for Christianity 
 a candid and considerate hearino-. The onus or burden of 
 proof here, you will perceive, changes sides in the argu. 
 ment, and devolves upon infidelity. In failure, however, 
 to show such principles, or produce such facts, we are 
 allowed to avail ourselves of the strong collateral evidence 
 thus aflforded to the truth of Christianity. Nature has 
 been severely and perseveringly interrogated to this effect, 
 by a most formidable band of censors ; and the examina- 
 tion has been alternately conducted by schools of philosophy 
 and individual assailants. — Witness the insanity of atheistic 
 France and the abjuration of Christianity by her God- 
 rejecting millions at tlie close of the last century; — the 
 Black Sea of German neology and transcendentalism, cast- 
 ing up the mire and dirt of infidel conjectures ; — the 
 matchless sophistry of the penetrating Hume, and his 
 philosophical associates of kindred caliber and guild ! To 
 effect the purpose in view, nature has been questioned by 
 torture, and examined upon the rack ! The sybil-caves 
 of doubt, and the Delphine shrines of unbehef have been 
 appealed to in every age : — the priests of the one and the 
 other, have shouted their impatient demands in the ear of 
 destiny, but the only answer returned has been the echo 
 of the questions asked ! The inquisition, however varied, 
 has failed. — The attempted demonstration by such methods, 
 — in fact, the whole crusade of unbelief in this way, has 
 been despoiled alike of potency and pretension ; and the 
 field, thus left open to more candid and less interested
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 113 
 
 inquiry, lias united with other tracks of discovery and 
 sources of evidence, in furnishing a ricli quota of proof, in 
 the sliape of a strong antecedent probability, that Chris- 
 tianity is in aUiance Vfith nature, and by consequence, has 
 proceeded from the same autlior. 
 
 It must not be overlooked, however, that a hypothesis 
 has often been brought forward by infidel philosophy, to 
 the effect, that were Christianity what it assumes to be, 
 and its benefits and blessings so essential to human happi- 
 ness, it is incredible to suppose that a being of infinite 
 goodness would not, at once, obtrude it upon the notice, 
 and place it directly within the reach of all. This objection, 
 in part, has been answered at length in another place, but 
 it may be worthy of some further notice, as it is oflen very 
 much relied on. In further replying to this objection, the 
 first step will be, to inquire whether there is anything anal- 
 ogous to tlie arrangement complained of, in the constitution 
 and administration of nature — (the text-book both of infi- 
 delity and Christianity in this inquiry,) or whether it is 
 entirely anomalous. Take then the range of science and 
 art, discovery and invention, as a starting point, and how- 
 ever viewed, we can only regard them as an interpretation 
 of nature. Are these, we ask, essential to human happi- 
 ness ? What has been the contribution, to this effect, of 
 each; — of science — of art — of discovery — of inven- 
 tion ? And now inquire when, how, and to whom, such 
 contribution was made ? Was it in the early ages of the 
 world, and to the multitudinous nations of the East ? Was 
 it by a sudden and general divulgement, or by slow and 
 scarcely perceptible degrees ? Was it a gratuitous bestow- 
 ment, or the fruit of ages of toil, and the most elaborate 
 investigation ? To propound these questions is to answer 
 them. How long is it, for example, since the philosophy 
 
 of the higher mathematics began to be applied to the useful 
 VOL. II — 10,
 
 1 1 4 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 purposes of life ? What of astronomy, of mechanics, of 
 chemistry, especially, as it regards such purposes ? Why 
 withheld from the countless millions of antiquity? Why 
 are some six hundred millions of the human family, at this 
 very moment, in a state of similar destitution ? Why was 
 not the telescope known to the rude Ptolemaic astronomy, 
 and found in the hands of Chaldean star-gazers ? Why 
 did not the needle and compass guide the mariners of 
 Tarsus on the ancient Mediterranean ? Why was not the 
 printing-press in the days of the Pharaohs, and groaning 
 with indignant rebuke upon the banks of the Nile, and throw- 
 ing oft' the memoirs of the Abrahamic family, as the avowed 
 receivers of a revelation from Heaven, upon the plains of 
 Mesopotamia ? Why was not the inductive philosophy, 
 as the great calculus by which we become acquainted 
 with the infinitude of the universe, connecting earthly 
 littleness with heavenly grandeur, known to the ancients ? 
 What an incalculable amount of degradation and misery 
 it must have prevented 1 Why was the knowledge of even 
 the lunar indications and influences, most necessary to the 
 purposes of human life, withheld from man for five thou- 
 sand years and more, after his creation ; and so of the rest ? 
 All these are, by common consent, immeasurably useful 
 and necessary; and in view of their late bestowment or 
 discovery, how will infidelity upon its own hypothesis 
 here, vindicate nature and providence from the imputation 
 of want, both of wisdom and kindness ? Can it be done at 
 all, except by supposing that the discovery and application, 
 in each instance, has taken place by the pre-appoiutment 
 of the universal God who owns and governs all, at a time 
 and under circumstances, best calculated to secure the 
 utmost possible good to all concerned, and in view of all 
 contingencies? 
 
 Let Christianity, then, be governed by the same rule.
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITT. 115 
 
 and we ask no indulgence for her. We dread no scrutiny ; 
 for it will be seen at once, that revelation blends the good 
 of mankind with the comprehensive laws and generalities 
 belonging to the universal system over which God presides, 
 and whose administration he conducts, so far as man is 
 interested, with the double intention of bestowing, not only 
 immediate benefit, but of training, educating, and preparing 
 him for the future, — the immortality of being which is his 
 natural inheritance, and by consequence, a part of his 
 essential physiology, and without just reference to which, 
 it is impossible to understand his nature, or appreciate his 
 destiny. And thus, by a preliminary examination of the 
 great systems of nature and revelation, — an outline sum- 
 mary of the coincident, and yet diverse dispensations of 
 natural religion and Chistianity, we are presented with the 
 very striking, — the converging tendency of all the differ- 
 ent integral parts of each to the same determinate point, — 
 the revelation and establishment of the momentous truths, 
 — the fundamental principles of Christianity. And the 
 Bible, given by God to man, thus becomes significantly 
 the book of earth, because the great expounder of the laws 
 and principles of nature. 
 
 In conclusion, let us briefly review the general argument, 
 and leave it with you. After proposing, we commenced 
 the examination of this subject, by asking attention to the 
 intellectual constitution and moral nature of man, as furnish- 
 ing the great subjective basis of Christianity, and without 
 just views of which, its principles are unintelligible, and 
 its provisions and relations, without application or signifi- 
 cance. His intellectual freedom and moral agency — his 
 undoubted power of self-determination, so as to secure the 
 result of giving character to himself and color to his des- 
 tiny, were viewed as necessary data to understand and 
 explain the relations and application of the Christian system ;
 
 116 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 and. the provisional adaptations of this system, prove tlie 
 author of the one to have been the author of the other. It 
 was found important, moreover, to notice man's singular 
 conformation, as compounded of the two great substantive 
 elements of universal being — matter and spirit, in order 
 to account for some of the doctrines and hopes of Chris- 
 tianity, such especially as the death of the body, — the 
 dissolution of the organic, animalized materialism of man's 
 nature, known to all, and his resurrection from the grave, 
 assumed by revelation. To see what Christianity is, it is 
 necessary to understand human nature in its grander ele- 
 ments, and more fearful liabilities. It was shown too, by 
 a great variety of arguments, and in a diversity of aspects, 
 which, we think, must place it beyond all dispute, that 
 human nature is not now, what it must have been when in 
 primeval purity it left the hand of the Creator ; but is fallen 
 and in a state of ruin and disorder ; and as the whole 
 Christian system turns upon this, it is a strong — an irre- 
 sistible presumption of its truth. 
 
 It was also shown, that however clearly natural theology 
 may reveal the being and attributes of God, especially those 
 distinguished as the natural perfections of Deily, and how- 
 ever forcibly it may suggest man's moral relations, yet 
 there are aspects in which natural theology is in the habit 
 of viewing man, whose ultimate bearings are not disposed 
 of by the light of nature in any way ; and this, it was seen, 
 is especially true of man as a fallen being, — a lapsed intel- 
 ligence, and as such, a subject of sin and death. And 
 from the fact that this defect is supplied by Christianity, 
 we derived an additional argument for its truth. 
 
 An argument also for the truth of Christianity, was 
 deduced from tlie power and functions of conscience, 
 regarded as a supreme and ascendant principle in the intel- 
 lectual and moral constitution of man. Not such — notthu3
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELTXr. 117 
 
 sovereign and ascendant, it is true, in fad — in the actual 
 history of man, but such, beyond all doubt, by rirjU — by 
 the intention and appointment of the Creator. And the 
 fact of conscience being despoiled of actual precedence and 
 sovereignty, proves irrefutably, and to all, the disordered 
 condition of human nature ; and this, without depriving 
 us of the evidences of conscience to the truth of Chris- 
 tianity ; inasmuch as its teachings and decisions have, in 
 all ages, implicated the great and leading truths of the 
 Christian religion. They are found in the very contexture 
 of the moral frame of man, engraven by the finger of 
 God, and thus prove that they must have had a common 
 origin. 
 
 It was seen also, that the striking — the almost patent 
 resemblance between the intellectual and moral manifesta- 
 tions of natural theology and Christianity, render the 
 former, not only suggestive, but literally prophetic of the 
 latter ; particularly as regards the nature and origin of 
 moral evil, the immortality of man, the method of recon- 
 ciliation with Heaven, and the rewards and punishments of 
 a future state ; and the inference was found to be, beyond 
 all doubt, the same. 
 
 It was shown that the views and lessons of natural 
 theology, on these topics, most clearly and impressively 
 desiderate the necessity of such a system as the Christian 
 revelation is known to be. The millions of earth, in every 
 diversity of condition, felt it as a want of the heart, and 
 such want existed as the text of common regret ! 
 
 We reached the further conclusion, that the defects of 
 natural religion alone, are sufficient to suggest to the 
 inquirer the importance of some adequate, effective remedy 
 for the removal of the evils under which it has labored 
 imraemorially, and must always continue to labor. And 
 as Christianity answers the purposes indicated, we infer it
 
 1 1 8 RELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 must be the system to whicli the prophecies of nature 
 pointed, and therefore true. 
 
 We hkewise attempted to demonstrate that these lessons 
 and revelations of the religion of nature, and especially the 
 felt, universal conviction of its defects, and insufficiency for 
 the purposes of man's recovery to the forfeited favor of the 
 God and Judge of the universe, naturally and necessarily 
 predispose and prepare the mind of the student of nature 
 for further and more explicit disclosures, relating both to 
 the principles and ethics of natural theology; and it follows, 
 Christianity must be true or nature false. 
 
 It was assumed, and the proof elaborated, that even the 
 more distinguishing peculiarities of the Christian system, 
 involve no principles, the counterpart of which may not be 
 found in nature and providence, if we except, merely, the 
 manner and special conditions of its manifestation; and 
 hence, they are related systems. It was shown, too, at 
 length, tliat no change has taken place in the great princi- 
 ples of moral rectitude found in nature, by their reappear- 
 ance and relative position in the system of revelation. That 
 they have been modified and varied as it regards form and 
 application, is certain, but the only change relates to their 
 clearer manifestation and more enlarged development. 
 
 And thus, we wei^ led to notice the disclosures of nature, 
 as inceptive, and introductory to the superior and conclu- 
 sive revelations of Christianity. God is the author of both 
 systems in common, because the same universal truths 
 pervade both. And in addition, it was seen, that the 
 A'arious compartments and divisions of science, with all its 
 well-ascertained conclusions, have most unexpectedly and 
 certainly, in most instances imintenLionally, contributed to 
 illustrate and confirm the great mass of Christian evidence, 
 both as it regards the philosophy of Christianity, and its 
 external credentials. Now, as science is a knowledge of
 
 CHRISTIANITV AND INFIDELITY. 1 1 9 
 
 nature, this fact confirms all our reasoning, as an appeal to 
 nature. 
 
 It was further shown, that the whole amount of the 
 evidence for the truth of Christianity from natural theology, 
 has been brought to the test of facts and experience, and 
 the ordinary methods of scientific investigation, and there- 
 fore, cannot be rejected as illegitimate evidence. The truth 
 of the whole was inferred and insisted upon, in view 
 of the manifest inconsistency — the self-evident, eternal 
 absurdity of an opposite system of belief, necessarily 
 involved in the negative of the argument, or the infidel side 
 of the question. 
 
 We saw, in continuation of the same train of reasonino-, 
 that although we cannot furnish a solution for every 
 diflaciilty — cannot dissipate all obscurity, yet, we reach 
 the satisfactory consummation, that the truth "and claims of 
 Christianity, are too strong to be materially aftected by any 
 difficulties or obscurity with which we may have to contend 
 in the investigation; and this is all we can expect as il 
 regards truth of any kind, and it should therefore satisfy 
 us here. 
 
 We have also seen, that the facts and data of natural 
 theology constitute the great ultimate principles of Chris- 
 tianity, and that the truths dawning upon us in the one, 
 give us their meridian splendor in the other, and thus we 
 are driven to the same conclusion. Revelation, abstractly, 
 and in its most material aspects, has been shown to be 
 natural, and perfectly coincident with the ordinary dispen- 
 sations of providence ; and viewing the agency of mind as 
 essentially distinct and separate from the mechanism of 
 nature, and taking into the account its dignity and rela- 
 tions, it has been seen with what propriety it is appealed to 
 by a revelation from Heaven, as it cannot be governed by 
 the laws, regulating tlie masses and movements of the
 
 120 KELATIVE CLAIMS OF 
 
 intelligent universe ; and moreover, requires a high moral 
 regimen, such as revelation provides. Had revelation not 
 been given, therefore, the wonder would have been whu 
 it was withheld. It was inferred further, and the proba- 
 bility shown to be so strong as to evince irrefragably, that 
 had such a code of moral legislation reached us through 
 some perfectly ordinary medium — a method of commu- 
 nication every way earthly and merely human, instead of 
 being neglected and rejected, as a system of moral truth, 
 it would have been hailed as a desideratum of unrivalled 
 importance — the summuvi bomim of our race ! Hence, its 
 rejection is chargeable with caprice and absurdity. 
 
 It was also attempted to strengthen the argument from 
 natural theology for the truth of Christianity, by calling 
 your attention to the material universe as the mere platform 
 or theater for the display of the intellectual and moral 
 manifestations of the universe of mind, and by inquiring 
 what must probably be the relations and consequence of 
 each individual mind in the a^'oreo-ate estimate of the uni- 
 versal system ; and they were found to be such as to justify 
 and require a revelation from Heaven. An appeal to the 
 inevitable condition of all knowledge, has clearly evinced 
 the impossibility of knowing anything in all its relations, 
 and tlie actual disservice that would probably i-esult to 
 human interests, were such knowledge attainable by man ; 
 and hence, the mysteries of Christianity take their place, 
 side by side, with those of nature and science ; and cannot 
 be complained of without an abuse of the human under- 
 standing. 
 
 It was likewise seen, in the progress of the argument, 
 that clear and unambio-uous as the evidence and claims of 
 Chi-istianity may be, it does not destroy man's moral agency, 
 by compelling his faith and obedience, and in tliis respect, 
 stands related to us precisely as natural theology, does, —
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 121 
 
 addressing the reason of man, and urging motives, but 
 never appealing to violence or compulsion ; and hence, the 
 close analogy between them. We urged a presumption in 
 favor of the truth of Christianity, based upon the fact, that 
 incoutestibly beyond anything found in nature, science, or 
 art, its tendency is to develope and bring into eflectivo 
 action, the intellectual and moral powers of our nature ; 
 and the inference is, that God must be the author of both. 
 It was argued still further, and the same inference reached, 
 from the correspondence between our known state of earthly 
 discipline and trial, and the futurity disclosed by revela- 
 tion — and the one can mean nothing unless the other be 
 true ! 
 
 It was demonstrated, furthermore, — for the question is 
 one of fact and history, and therefore admits of demonstra- 
 tion, — that the experience of mankind, in all time, since 
 the first publication of Christianity, accredits its disclosures, 
 and confirms its pretensions ; and Christianity is credible 
 to the extent that history and experience are reliable sources 
 of information. 
 
 We also adverted to the strong collateral evidence, 
 derived from the rapid spread and unprecedented triumph 
 of Christianity, under circumstances of discouragement 
 and repulsion, which, but for the Divinity of its origin, 
 must have crushed and given it to oblivion ! And we 
 must proclaim our want of sense in denying the fact, or 
 admit the hand of God in the result ! 
 
 We have but just now turned to Christianity, and lookino- 
 at her first principles, turned away, and said if these be 
 true, similar lessons, as their prototypes, will be found in 
 nature ; and on appealing to nature, we met them there, in 
 proof of what we had assumed. The reasoning which fur- 
 nished us with an argument from negation, assures us, that 
 there are no ascertained truths or principles, making up the 
 
 VOL. 11 11.
 
 122 BELATIVK CLAIMS OP 
 
 code of nature and providence, or liaving any relevancy to 
 the subject in question, tlie archetypes of which are not 
 found in Christianity, as conclusive evidence of its truth ! 
 
 And it was shown too, with equal clearness, and force 
 of inference, that the want of absolute universality as it 
 reo-ards the diffusion of revelation amono- all the nations of 
 the world, and during its ages, is in perfect analogy with 
 nature, and the whole course of human improvement, and 
 cannot, therefore, affect injuriously the general argument 
 for the truth of the Christian religion, upon which we have 
 been insisting. 
 
 And thus, finally, by an inductive elaboration of facts 
 and principles found in nature, we reach the weighty con- 
 clusion, that natural theology is, in strictness, an antecedent 
 dispensation from God to man ; and as such, the great 
 precursor of Christianity ; — that it is, with all its defects 
 and insufficiency, essentially kindred in character and pur- 
 pose, and that the latter, in consequence, receives an 
 indefinite augmentation of evidence and illustration, from 
 the coincidence and sanction of the former. And thus, to 
 the utter confusion and dismay of infidelity, the lessons 
 and indications — the external and internal revelations of 
 tlie theology of nature and conscience, fix the inquisitive 
 gaze — the concentrated attention of interested, anxious 
 millions upon the Christian religion, as the word of a more 
 full and explicit communication from God to man, and the 
 only accredited, living inter-medium between Heaven and 
 earth ! We only add, may we be allowed to hope, the force 
 of the argument will be felt, notwithstanding its imperfec- 
 tions ! Phidias left many a wrinkle upon the brow of Jove, 
 and yet preserved the features of the god ! The dust in 
 the sunbeam playing before you, proves its presence still 
 more clearly, and enhances, by contrast, its beauty and 
 brilliancy ! Who can examine the subject, as proposed.
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND INFIDELITY. 123 
 
 without being more than ever persuaded of the heavenly 
 origin of Christianity ; and that victorious over every 
 enemy, and all doubt, she is destined to extend and prevail, 
 commensurate with the reign of reason, and the empire of 
 time, and that having thus, by a slowly evolving process, 
 from ao-e to ase, wrought out the solution of her own truth 
 and mystery, earth, with all her unnumbered tongues and 
 tribes, shall be seen, baptized from the past, and rising from 
 a thousand thrones to do her homaoe !
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF MADISON COLLEGE, 
 
 UNIONTOWN, PEKN., 
 
 SEPTEMBER 15, 1827. 
 
 #
 
 Inaugttral |iiriirus» 
 
 Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees — 
 
 AND MY audience : 
 
 On the subject of education, you will expect 
 but little that is new. — All definitions of the same thing 
 
 — all illustrations of the same subject, must necessarily 
 resemble. 
 
 In the remarks we have to offer, on the present occasion, 
 we have attempted to sketch an intelledual chart — imper- 
 fectly presenting what we conceive to be the essential 
 elements of useful knoioledge. 
 
 The range of thought proposed, will embrace, 
 
 1st. The origin, dignity, and destination oi man, together 
 with, his powers and passions — his relations and duties: — 
 
 2d. Education — its nature and uses : — 
 
 3d. Its influence upon man, as an intellectual, moral, 
 and social being : — 
 
 4th. A brief survey of the history and advantages of 
 enlightened education : — 
 
 5th. The present j^rospeds of Literature, throughout the 
 world : — 
 
 6th. The union of Science and Religion: — And fljially 
 
 — concludinfj: Remarks. 
 
 Han is perhaps, the most singularly constituted being, 
 
 in the hiffh scale of Heaven's mvsterious workmanship ; 
 ,> a " 127
 
 128 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 and if we except the heavenly intelligencies, he stands pre- 
 eminent amono- all the works of God. Unitincj in himself a 
 thousand modifications of matter, and the endless varieties 
 of mind ; by his material part, connected with things 
 terrestrial ; by the immaterial, claiming alliance with a 
 higher and nobler world above ; mortal and immortal, in 
 his complex nature ; tending to the tomb, and yet superior 
 to its ravages ; ever converging to corruption, and the 
 darkness of the grave — and yet, conscious of undying 
 energies within ; he presents us with a problem in the 
 science of being, the solution of which, can only be 
 realized, in a direct communication from the Creator to 
 the creature — of whose mysterious formation and attri- 
 butes, we are now speaking. Man seems in himself, to 
 unite the diversities of created nature, and stand forth, not 
 unaptly, to the contemplation of intelligence, as an epitome 
 of being — an abridgment of the universe ! Of the primitive 
 condition and ultimate destination of man, it cannot be 
 necessary for us to speak at length, here. Nature, tradition, 
 and inspiration, unite in their testimon}^ that he left the 
 hand of the Creator, combining in himself, the elements 
 of an existence, splendid in its structure, and boundless in 
 prospect. 
 
 Indued with the high and distingixishing attributes of 
 intelligence, volition, and emotion, man is distinguished as 
 occupying the summit of creation's visible pyramid — and 
 prepared to move forward forever, with firm and unfettered 
 tread, in the paths of virtue, of science, and of moral 
 illumination. 
 
 The phenomena attendant upon the original formation of 
 man, stamped upon him the signature of his value ; and 
 intimated in no obscure way, the part he was to act, in the 
 great drama of existence. The manifestations of nature — 
 his own consciousness — and the affirmation of the Beinir
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 129 
 
 who made him — all gave notice, that he was destined to 
 run a high career, amid the eventful and unknown fortunes 
 of creation. 
 
 Man's intellectual dominion is almost without limit ; his 
 knowledge of the present, compared with the past, and 
 reaching forward to the future, enables him to arrange 
 and classify important and kindred facts, upon the grand 
 principle of induction; and hand them down to future 
 generations, as the well attested record of experience. New 
 and more ample fields of discovery, continually open before 
 him ; and he only ceases to learn, with the termination of 
 his earthly being. And, indeed, it is not at all improbable, 
 that the virtuous and good, beyond the grave, will continue 
 to increase the sum of knowledge, by observation, intuition, 
 and intercourse, until universal nature shall be spread out 
 before the eye of the heavenly inhabitant, as a boundless 
 exhibition of the Infinite God ! It is the distinguishing pre- 
 rogative of man, while all the living creatures, with which 
 he finds himself surrounded, are necessarily confined within 
 the narrow and groveling limits, fixed and defined by 
 instinct — to extend his researches beyond his own imme- 
 diate wants and concerns, and delight and improve himself 
 in the contemplation of the Universe. 
 
 The wide and impressive prospects of this fair creation, 
 are all before him — the glory of the heavens — the 
 beauty of the earth, and the grandeur of the ocean, the hill, 
 the dale, the mine, the quarry, afford an intensity of delight, 
 a force of appeal, calculated to improve and m.end the 
 heart. They all hold one common language, and that 
 language is directed to man, the only terrestrial being who 
 is capable of intelligent admiration. 
 
 2d. Education — Its nature and uses. 
 
 Education is a term, to the meaning of which, it is diffi- 
 cult to set limits ; it is a phrase comprehending in the
 
 130 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 range of its application, all the efibrts and contingencies, 
 both of design and accident — as they tend either to 
 develop or influence the powers and passions of a sentient 
 being. Education, whether systematic or miscellaneous, 
 is intended to give suitable and salutary direction, to the 
 physical and intellectual energies of man ; fixing his atten- 
 tion, and attaching his ambition to an ever increasing infinite 
 good — imperfectly enjoyed in the present state of being, 
 and destined to be boundlessly unfolded in the world to 
 come. Education is, therefore, good or bad, hopeful or 
 defective — as it tends to promote or injure the interests 
 of our common nature — connected, as it is, in the light of 
 duty and destiny, with the pursuits of this world, and the 
 recompenses of another. Viewed in this light, no one who 
 is capable of reaching any just conclusion, by the laws 
 of correct investigation, can for a moment, doubt the 
 great importance, of a well-directed, enlightened education. 
 Writers on the subject of education, have divided it into 
 physical, intellectual, and moral ; but as we do not deem 
 this classification of the nature and objects of education, of 
 essential importance, we shall not call it up again. 
 
 Education is designed to diminish the evils, and increase 
 the comforts and quiet of human life ; it is intended to 
 prepare man for usefulness and happiness ; and should be 
 principally conducted so as to qualify the student for any 
 conceivable destination allotted him by Providence. To 
 live well, in whatever station, is the great business and 
 interest of man ; and to this purpose, the efforts of instruction 
 should be mainly directed. As a solitary, or as a social 
 being, man must be partially wretched, if devoid of proper 
 instruction ; but if possessed of the advantages of education, 
 nothiog but an evil, an upbraiding conscience, can make 
 him miserable. In the city, or the desert — a palace, or a 
 cottage — in robes, or in rags — standing on land, or rolling
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 131 
 
 on the ocean — buried amid the snows of Iceland, or 
 burning beneath the fervors of the Torrid Zone — he has 
 resources of whicli he can only be deprived, by the Potuer 
 that conferred them. Beggared by misfortune — exiled by 
 friends — abjured by society, and deprived of its solace — 
 the interior of the intellectual structure, continues unaffecled 
 and underanged, amid the accumulating wretchedness 
 without ; and the temple of the soul is still sacred to the 
 cherished recollections of "Nature and Nature's God!" 
 Hence, arises the importance of education : it is intimately 
 connected with the happiness of man, in whatever aspect 
 we view him. He may, indeed, do without it ; for we can 
 compel no one to become either respectable or happy — 
 but we hesitate not to afl&rm, that he cannot answer the 
 end of his being, without some share of the moral culture, 
 for which we plead. If it be alleged, that Christianity 
 supersedes the necessity of education, we reply, it is one 
 of the first and most obvious lessons of revealed religion, 
 that we cultivate our minds, and store them, with useful 
 knowledge. 
 
 Ignorance has, in all ages, tended to the dishonor of the 
 Creator, and the degradation of the creature ; she has 
 successively plucked "attribute after attribute from the 
 diadem" of the Deity — and one glory after another, from 
 the escutcheon of man — until, in her eye, and with her 
 votaries, the proud distinctions of man are reduced to the 
 moito of a beast — "eat, drink, and die!" It has been the 
 business and glory of science, in all ages, to awaken the 
 fears and disturb the repose of ignorance, without infringing 
 upon the right of men to remain ignorant, if it be their 
 choice and purpose to do so. Science, in all its forms, and 
 during the entire progress of ixs history, has persecuted 
 vice, without opposing the vicious, or contravening the 
 freedom of the human will. In order to effect successfull^s
 
 132 iNArrcuRAL address. 
 
 the valuable purposes of education, it should commence 
 with the earliest sensations of the infant ; and it should be 
 tiie aim of those concerned, not to oppose nature, in any of 
 her apparent intentions or ope'rations ; but, by all possible 
 means, aid and second her efforts and processes, in the 
 development of the infant powers, whether physical or 
 intellectual. Hopeful impressions should be made — valu- 
 able sensations should be streuo-thened — and ao-reeable 
 associations created ; these to "grow with the growth, and 
 strengthen with the strength " of the child. The natural 
 inquisitiveness and docility of the infant mind, render it 
 necessary, in order to ultimate success, that the important 
 business of ' education, be commenced at an early period, 
 and gradually carried on, in view of the advancing powers, 
 and opening promise of the pupil. Such a process will 
 place those who are subjected to it, in a situation, in which 
 they can avail themselves of all the advantages, both of 
 nature and art, in acquiring a good education. This view 
 of the subject, is based upon the well-known fact — that 
 for the faculties of his mind, man is indebted to nature ; 
 but for the evolution of faculty, and the furniture of his 
 mind, he must depend on education. 
 
 3d. We may further trace the influence of education upon 
 man, as an intellectual, social, and moral being. 
 
 It is a remark of Lord Bacon, that human nature will 
 rise and luxuriate, in the character, either of useful plants 
 or Avorthless weeds ; and man's distinguishing qualities, in 
 this respect, will depend materially upon education. If 
 habit, as the same writer remarks, is the "Magistrate of a 
 man's life," it must at once appear important, that education 
 be not only attended to, but well chosen and well directed. 
 It has been pertinently observed by the celebrated Rollin, 
 that the university of Paris founded by the kings of France, 
 had three principal objects in view — science, morals, and 
 
 f
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 133 
 
 religion. These constitute the legitimate objects of educa- 
 tion. Education is, to the intellectual eye, what light is to 
 the natural ; it enables it with safety and fidelity, to distin- 
 guish between right and wrong — truth and error ; and is, 
 therefore, vitally and philosophically connected with the 
 intellectual, social, and moral character, as well as final 
 destiny of man. That natural inequalities and a diversity 
 of intellect, obtain among mankind, cannot be denied ; but, 
 that education is the great and most common source of dis- 
 tinction between man and man, is equally certain. It is 
 not at all improbable, that there are men in this audience, 
 possessed of as good natural intellect as Euler or Leibnitz, 
 Newton or Boyle ; and why not men of equal greatness ? 
 The answer is, the want of education and application, and 
 proper direction given to both. This, we have no doubt, is 
 the grand differential ground of distinction between the 
 large majority of human minds. It is the design of educa- 
 tion, not only to impart knowledge, but to strengthen the 
 mental powers. It is intended to develop the native 
 treasures and resources of the mind, and give proper tension 
 and force, and suitable direction, to all the intellectual ener- 
 gies of a rational being. As exercise is necessary to the 
 growth and health of the body, so is mental action to the 
 s;rowth and regular expansion of the mind : and a well 
 selected coiwse of education, is as important to the matu- 
 rity and usefulness of the latter, as the labors of husbandry, 
 a gymnasium, or some corresponding exercise, for the 
 strength and activity of the former. Education is necessary 
 to direct and fix attention upon proper objects of pursuit 
 and contemplation — to correct and control the will — to 
 enlighten and direct the judgment — to chastise and guide 
 the imagination, as well as manage and discipline the 
 passions ; this cannot be extensively effected, by the essays 
 of the moralist, the speculations of the philosopher, or the
 
 134 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 appeals of the preacher, witliout great and continued efforts; 
 whereas, the way is directly and effectively applained, by a 
 proper and judicious system of education. 
 
 Knowledge has immemorially presented a man in a lofty 
 and commanding aspect; its immediate tendency, is to 
 enlarge his capacity and improve his character. Tlie happy 
 and humanizing influence of letters upon the mind and 
 morals of man, is matter of universal notoriety and consent. 
 In confirmation of this, we need only appeal to the age of 
 Pericles, Augustus, and the Medicii. England, Scotland, 
 and the United States, are living and glowing examples of 
 its truth. Indeed, we feel no hesitation in supposing, that 
 the arts and sciences contain within their indefinite ranee, 
 the great germinating principles of human melioration ; by 
 the agen(;y and means of which, civilized life, domestic 
 comfort, useful knowledge, and moral principle, are to be 
 extensively diffused among the nations of the earth. We 
 find ourselves greatly confirmed in this impression, from 
 the well known fact, that almost every subject of classic 
 lore — of natural and moral science, is to bo met with 
 in the Holy Scriptures — languages, history, antiquities, 
 chronology, arts, philosophy, biography, geometry, sketches 
 of nature and character, geograpliical delineations and 
 statistical views — poetry, epic, pastoral, and elegiac — agri- 
 culture, commerce, architecture, phenomena of earth, air, 
 and water — botany, mineralogy, astronomical allusions, 
 voyages, travels, epistles, graphic descriptions, scenery, 
 memoirs, and tactics ; — and the catalogue raisonnee, miglit 
 easily be swelled, were it necessary. — Now if these tilings 
 did not enter into the ^:»Zarts of Providence, for the improve- 
 ment of man, they would doubtless have been excluded 
 fi'om the Scriptures of Truth — containing ihe register of our 
 faith, and record of our redemption. Moral obligation stands 
 intimately connected with the happiness of man : knowledge,
 
 / 
 
 INAUGURAL ADURE6S. 135 
 
 however, is necessary, that we may cherish a proper sense 
 of duty : — it is the design and business of education to 
 impart this knowledge, and so promote the present and 
 future well-beino; of our common nature. It will, therefore, 
 follow, that every attainment in education, is strictly, a 
 religious acquisition, and will have a direct bearing iipon 
 the ultimate destiny of man. 
 
 Equally striking is the influence of education upon the 
 government and policy of nations, states and kingdoms. 
 It has, from the earliest dates of history, been the policy 
 of despotic governments, and illiberal establishments, of 
 whatever kind, to prevent the free difiusion of knowledge 
 among the great mass of the people. Freedom of inquiry, 
 and public discussion, have been suppressed, in some shape 
 or other, even by legislative enactment; and the result has 
 been, ignorance and servility among the lower classes — 
 and insolence and oppression among the higher inlvilcged 
 orders. No country can be happy and prosperous, without 
 an intelligent, enterprising peasantry ; — universal history 
 evinces the truth of this remark ; and its correctness is 
 most happily illustrated, in the present condition of Scotland, 
 the Protestant divisions of Switzerland, and many portions of 
 the United States. But for the blessings — (we had almost 
 said, the miracles) of education, many of the Northern States 
 of this Union, must have been a comparative desolation : — 
 us it is, the difficulties of soil, the want of territory, and a 
 paucity of almost all the natural means of individual com- 
 forts and national prosperity, have yielded to the magic 
 influence of progressive improvement. In proportion, there- 
 fore, to the truth of the maxim — that every community, 
 in order to happiness, should be wise and good — and every 
 nation Or people should be governed by laws of their own 
 making, upon the grand principle of representation — is the 
 importance of intellectual culture, and general education.
 
 136 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 Further, to illustrate our position, we would select an 
 example or two from history. Look at the Goths, the 
 Celts, the Scythians, and the Scandinavians — an innumer- 
 able horde of barbarians, covering all the north of Europe — 
 from the Caspian sea to the Thames. These savages were 
 as rude and uncultivated, as the summit and declivities of 
 the Caucasus, from whence they came. Nursed and reared 
 amid " cliff's, and cataracts, and torrents, and tempests," 
 they were the rudest, the boldest, and the most desperate, 
 of human beings. But after their final settlement in 
 Europe, then civilization, the arts, and the sciences are 
 introduced among them ; the darkness gradually retires ; 
 the ritual of murder and death, is proscribed ; the radiance 
 of hope and improvement dawns ; and, superstition, uncon- 
 sciously dropping her "circlet of snakes," listens to the 
 soothing song of reason, religion, and truth. That these 
 effects of education have been permanent, you will not 
 doubt, when history informs you, that the persons we 7iow 
 address, are the descendants of these very barbarians : — 
 and you owe it to religion and science, that you are not 
 now, what your ancestors were, at the period alluded to — 
 the slaves of savage passions — the victims of selfishness 
 and terror : these having been the reigning deities, or 
 rather, the " rival demons " of the barbarian state. 
 
 We select Greece as another example. — The Pelasgi 
 were the progenitors of the Greeks. From the most 
 savage, they became the most polished nation of antiquity. 
 This change was eflfected by letters : and Greece was every- 
 where celebrated as the Arcadia of the scientific world. 
 But the same causes that wrested the Em-pire of the world 
 from. Rome, removed its learning from Greece : — we mean 
 luxury, idleness, and effeminacy. And what has been the 
 mournful story of Greece, for ages ! Where, for centuries, 
 until lately, were lier heroes and her glory ? Alas ! no
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 137 
 
 longer free and happy ! no longer " wedded to immortal 
 verse " — the descendants of those who disputed for liberty, 
 with the millions of Persia, who " fell at Thermopylae, and 
 triumphed at the Granicus," have, century after century, 
 been laboring under the curse and scourge of Ottoman 
 tyranny. But thank God, a few of the Isles of Greece, for 
 some time past, have been under British and moralinfluence ! 
 these have communicated with the rest ; and the injured 
 Genius of long lost liberty, is rising, like the Phoenix, from 
 the ashes of a mouldering desolation, to re-assert its ancient 
 heritage ! — and without affecting any thing like prophetic 
 foresight, we confidently look forward to the period, as 
 rapidly nearing, when the beams of science shall again 
 visit the Acropolis, and once more shed their lustre, on the 
 land of Homer and Achilles ! 
 
 4th. Should the truth of these remarks be controverted, 
 a brief survey of the history and advantages of education, will 
 place the subject in a more eligible point of view. The 
 history of literature has beendivided into four grand epochs. 
 
 The first — embracing remote antiquity, when the study 
 of letters and philosophy was principally confined to a few 
 scattered groups of Pagan Priests, upon the banks of the 
 Euphrates, the Ganges, and the Nile. During this period, 
 the cultivation of letters was exceedingly limited, and a 
 single professorship in one of our modern Universities, 
 comprehends a wider range of knowledge than was then 
 known to the whole world. 
 
 The second era, commences with the rising glory of 
 Greece — carries us on through the whole of her classic 
 history, and the most splendid epoch of Roman story ; until 
 we arrive at the overthrow of ancient civilization, and weep 
 over the fall of liberty in Greece, and the death of genius 
 in Rome. — In Greece alone from the days of Orpheus and 
 Cadmus, to the time of Euclid, we have a catalogue of 
 VOL. II — 12.
 
 138 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 nearly nine hundred persons, who had devoted their lives 
 exclusively to the arts and sciences. In Rome, literature 
 flourished most successfully, during the dictatorship of 
 Scylla and the reign of Augustus. 
 
 The third era, embraces the dark or middle ages — from 
 the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, when the human mind for 
 a thousand years slumbered in death-like inactivity. During 
 this period a star occasionally arose, to twinkle amid the 
 general gloom: but "darkness covered the earth and thick 
 darkness the people;" until, finally, the soul of the noble 
 Saxon, and others, was roused to revolt, and deprecating 
 the debasement of man, the ignorance of the times, and the 
 trammels of an infallible hierarchy ; the world again swoz'e 
 to be free ! The struggle was long and severe, but Heaven 
 seconded the efforts of reformation, and God once more 
 said, at this new creation "let there be light and there was 
 light ! " 
 
 The fourth era, commences with the revival of classical 
 learning in Europe, and reaches down to the present times. 
 — We say the revival of learning, for dreadful and unpre- 
 cedented as were the ravages of the Moslems and Vandals, 
 during the dark ages, they did not succeed in extinguishing 
 totally the fire of Pindar or the spirit of Leonidas ; both 
 survive, and shall continue to do so, " until there be lost 
 in the flood of age, each bard, and song, and story." 
 
 It will be perceived, that in these remarks we have only 
 been able to take a cursory view of the progress of letters 
 and science. For want of accredited information it will be 
 impossible for us to do justice to the literature of the 
 ancient Hebrews, the Phenicians, and the Egyptians ; and 
 even our sketches of Greece and Rome must necessarily be 
 imperfect. During the age intervening between Herodotus 
 and Demosthenes, Greece furnished a long list of distin- 
 guished competitors, in the various departments of poetry.
 
 INAUGUEAL ADDRESS. 
 
 139 
 
 philosophy, eloquence, and ethics. In Rome we witness a 
 similar state of things, from Livius Andronicus, down to 
 the " old age of Roman literature ; " while the middle ages 
 furnish us with a few names and nations, by which the love 
 of science was more or less cherished, and its invaluable 
 treasures preserved. — Cassiodorus Charlemagne, Sylvester 
 II., Petrarch, Boccaccio, Poggio, Ambrosio, and the Medi- 
 cean Family, were the principal preservers and restorers 
 of classical manuscripts, — and to the vigilance of these 
 patrons of learning, and the laborious zeal of the monastic 
 scriptormm, in the different periods of Italian history, we 
 are principally indebted, for the classic treasures of 
 antiquity. 
 
 In order more fully, to illustrate the advantages of educa- 
 tion, it may not be improper, to notice the usual range of 
 study and science, prescribed for the academic student ; 
 and the influence such application will be likely to have 
 upon life and character. This, however, can only be done 
 in a very summary way. Our object is, simply to furnish 
 you with the principle, and exhibit a few of the modes of 
 lis illustration. We begin with Language : — 
 
 Among all the natural gifts of God to man, language 
 stands pre-eminent. — This remark extends not only to 
 vocal, or articulate language ; but especially, to what is 
 denominated legible or written language. — Without language, 
 we should be ignorant of the world's eventful story. — 
 Without it, we can have no conception of social happiness — 
 knowledge would be confined to sensation, and man could 
 claim no hiaher distinction than that of the brute — the 
 wisdom of the past, would be lost forever; and posterity 
 would derive no advantages from the consciousness and 
 achievements of the present generation — the chain of cause 
 and effect would be broken ; and the succession of events 
 in the light of history, dissolved forever — era would have
 
 140 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 no connection with era, nor pole with pole — creation would 
 be without a record, and man without a guide — unity 
 would be wrested from nature, and analogy from Provi- 
 dence — all communion between mind and mind, would be 
 limited to the laws of instinct — Heaven and Earth would 
 be aliens ; and the one would be silent because the other 
 would be dumb ! But, possessed, as we are, of this 
 peculiar and distinguishing advantage, stability is given to 
 the operations of human intellect — language is the living 
 image, the speaking organ, or written instrument of the 
 mind — our thoughts and purposes, our hopes and fears, 
 our deeds and doings, receive, by means of legible langiiage, 
 an adamantine, a time-enduring existence. Language has 
 been very justly distinguished, as the Barometer oi society. — 
 From its perfection or imperfection, in different ages and 
 parts of the world, we can pretty accurately judge of the 
 improvement or barbarism of the people. The mechanism 
 of language, is a subject which does not properly fall within 
 the province of the present discourse. We may be permitted 
 however, to remark, in reference to what are styled the Dead 
 Languages, that a competent knowledge of them, is highly 
 interesting, and in many instances, indispensably needful. 
 The Hebrew, the primitive language of man, the original 
 source, and therefore the most ancient, and the most sacred 
 of all languages, deserves peculiar attention as the great 
 fountain of oriental literature, and it is somewhat remarkable 
 that the analogy between the English language and the 
 Hebrew, is greater than that of either Greek or Latin. — 
 We speak now of the structure of the languages. The 
 Greek language possesses a vehemence, a terseness, a 
 copiousness, universally admired by all competent judges, 
 — while the Latin, if no other advantages were derived 
 from its study, serves as an admirable praxis, in forming 
 habits of close reflection and analytical investigation, but
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 141 
 
 in addition to this, it admits oi a dignity of enunciation and 
 a loftiness of accent, not to be found in any other language. 
 If we may rely upon those who have given their lives to 
 the study of these languages, there is a vividness, a 
 luxuriance of expression in them, not to be found in any 
 of the more modern languages of the polyglotic earth. 
 The French may boast of its prettiness and harmony — 
 the Italian its delicacy and touching mellowness — the 
 English its strength and well known perspicuity ; but the 
 overpowering force and enrapturing swell of Isaiah, of 
 Demosthenes, and of Cicero, are still wanting. 
 
 Again, these languages constitute the only genuine and 
 certain key to the records of antiquity, and the learning of 
 past ages. It is worthy of remark, also, that it must be a 
 source of peculiar gratification to the enlightened Christian, 
 to be able to trace the pages of inspiration in the same 
 languages in which they were originally given to man. 
 Many a valuable, laborious, and highly improved minister 
 of Jesus Christ, has wept over the Hebrew and Greek 
 Scriptures, as a "sealed Book," and almost murmured 
 against Providence, because he was not able to unlock 
 their sacred treasures ! The melodious flow of the Greek, 
 and the chaste majesty of the Latin, have been the subject 
 of panegyric, in all ages. Where is the merely English 
 reader, who, in poring over Pope's Homer, Murphy's 
 Tacitus, or Baker's Livy, has not sighed to consult them 
 in the immortal original ? Language is the great vehicle 
 of communication for our ideas. — It furnishes a correct 
 representation of our conceptions, as they rise in the mind. 
 It is the source — the parent of conversation and of books ; 
 by the one, the intercourse of society is kept up : by the 
 other, we become acquainted with the records and trans- 
 actions of preceding ages. By the study of other languages 
 than our own, we are introduced to the wisdom and opinions,
 
 142 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 the sons and the natives of distant ages and countries, 
 without any other introduction or interpreter, than a know- 
 ledge of the language in which we meet with the record. 
 And, moreover, it greatly facilitates the study of our own 
 language, by bringing etymology and analogy to the aid of 
 definition and construction — thereby, aiding and strength- 
 ening the laws of investigation — and giving force and 
 compass to the mental conceptions of the learner, in tbe 
 gradual accumulation of useful knowledge. Nevertheless, 
 we must be permitted to state, that we deem classical 
 learning of less importance than scientific, should necessity 
 compel a choice between the two. That a critical knowledge 
 of the learned languages, is absolutely essential to real 
 greatness and extensive usefulness, is a position triumphantly 
 refuted, in the history of Shakspeare, Washington, Franklin, 
 Drew, Arkwright, and others. Classical attainment, 
 however, is a necessary and powerful auxiliary, in order 
 to the formation and perfection of the literary character. 
 Milton has remarked, with his usual acuteness, that we 
 study the dead languages, *• for the sake of the solid things 
 they contain." 
 
 We must protest however against a practice which we 
 fear is but too prevalent in the institutions of this country. 
 We allude to the negligence or oversight, by which so 
 many young men retire from respectable seats of learning, 
 with some knowledge of the dead languages, but very 
 little of their own, and also the practice of confining the 
 attention of the student, during almost the entire of his 
 collegiate term, to a knowledge of past ages and events, to 
 the shameful neglect of the present history of the world 
 and its passing occurrences. It is true, as Cicero says, 
 that "not to know what has been transacted in former 
 times, is always to remain a child." — But at the same 
 time, we deem it important that a knowledge of science and
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 143 
 
 of life should be mutual and correlative ; each should 
 support and improve the other. Many heroes and giants 
 in literature, become contemptible, because they show 
 themselves inexcusably ignorant of what every man ought 
 to know in relation to the multifarious concerns of human 
 life. They may despise the common herd of mankind, for 
 want of learning, but they are themselves despised in 
 return, for want of sagacity and address, in getting through 
 the world without an affectation of privilege and consequence, 
 Avhich truth and common sense should always despise ! We 
 would submit another remark here ; — superficial training is 
 usually the bane of real merit ; and especially it contributes 
 to the damage of literature in the estimation of unlettered 
 common-sense people. — We allude to the multitude of 
 literary sparks and gallants, with which our world is filled; 
 men, whose parrot-powers have enabled them to store their 
 memories, with a few scraps of borrowed Latin, and some 
 of the technical verbiage of the schools; and who, therefore, 
 endeavor, by their garrulous prating, to make all with 
 whom they have to do, think them extremely wise. There 
 are others, who have made it their business to attend to 
 the smaller things — the pegs, and knobs, and tiles — 
 omitting things of more importance, in the architecture of 
 language — they devote themselves to the shadowy niceties, 
 and attenuated ^J^'^^^i'^esses of style, as well as to puerile 
 distinctions, about the laws of mind, the logomachies of 
 science, and the canons of criticism ; and seem forever, to 
 overlook the intellectual reach, the imaginative grasp, the 
 bold discursion, and impulsive energy : without which, 
 there is, and can be, no real greatness. It might be useful 
 to suggest here, that it is possible to make a good use of 
 language, without, in every instance, making a grammatical 
 use of it ; and a man may be extensively acquainted with 
 the whole encyclopedia of science, without having minutely
 
 144 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 attended to all the latent laws and principles of systematic 
 association. Few men ever made a better use of language, 
 than Dr. Johnson, Mr. Addison, Dr. Blair, and Sir Walter 
 Scott ; although it is known, that they have all, in their 
 best productions, occasionally fallen into violations of 
 syntax ; and yet, no one who is not paid for finding fault, 
 would ever tliink of detracting from the merits of these 
 distino-uished benefactors of the Engflish laniifuaofe. 
 
 Before we dismiss this subject, it is worthy of notice, 
 that, however estimable a knowledfje of the dead lanscuao-es 
 may be, it is only subsidiary to the attainment of a good 
 education. — We are not to think and converse in Greek and 
 Latin ; and no man deserves the title of a scholar, without 
 being accurately instructed in the knowledge of his own 
 native language ; for language is not only the medium of 
 communication, but the great instrument of thought. It 
 must be self-evident to every one, that we think through 
 the medium of lanouage, as it exists in the mind. In the 
 same proportion, therefore, that we cultivate justness of 
 expression in language, we facilitate the important work 
 and labor of thought and reflection. We may, also, add 
 here, that in the acquisition of science and general learning, 
 Greece and Rome should not be the exclusive models of 
 literary ambition. We would leave enough of the leaven 
 of antiquity, to prevent a distempered precocity in modern 
 erudition ; but would not admit so much devotion to what 
 has been, as to prevent a proper and extensive acquaintance 
 with what now exists. We would, likewise, discourage a 
 too miscellaneous course of application, as tending (as all 
 superfluity must) to mental debility, and often terminating in 
 intellectual poverty. He who thinks he can make himself 
 acquainted with all the bulki/ tomes, written and accessible, 
 on the subjects of history, antiquities, government, religion, 
 law, taste, criticism, and general philology — has imder-
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 146 
 
 taken a task, which a life of ten centuries could not 
 accomplish, — Much, therefore, will depend upon a jvidi- 
 cious selection of standard elementary works on these 
 various topics, both at school and subsequently. 
 
 From language, we proceed to the notice of history. 
 History is necessary to a proper knowledge of man, and 
 acquaintance with the world. Without its aid, it is impos- 
 sible to arrive at the truth respecting the former periods 
 of the world — and the character and operations of contem- 
 porary nations and individuals. History implies a " Inie 
 relation of facts and events;" and such a narrative is 
 always calculated to improve man — whether we contem- 
 plate him in a moral, political, or religious point of view. 
 The details of history inspire the ingenuous mind with 
 the love of virtue, and a hatred of vice. The student of 
 history has examples of every kind before him ; and from 
 the connection invariably found to exist between virtue and 
 happiness, vice and misery, he is led to the choice of the 
 one, and tl'.e rejection of the other. Of the utility or folly 
 of political associations and civil compacts, we can best 
 judge from history : here everything has been tested by 
 experience — and we are disposed to profit by example. 
 Scipio Africanus owed much of his greatness, to the pages 
 of Xenophon ; and the illustrious Eugene was led to the 
 creation of his splendid fortunes, by the study of Caesar's 
 commentaries. In fact, all scientific governments must 
 be founded upon history : it is the great school of the 
 legislator, the politician, and the prince. The Republic 
 of Plato, the Eutopia of More, and the Oceana of Har- 
 rington, are shaded in disrepute, when compared with a 
 history of accredited fjicts. Example is more efficacious 
 than precept. — We lose siglit of the lessons of Plato and 
 Socrates, in admiration of the stern virtues of Aristides 
 and Phocion. That history, on these accounts, is friendly 
 VOL. n — 13.
 
 146 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 to morality and devotion, as well as to the general happiness 
 of man, requires no illustration — having for its subjects, 
 tlie dispensations of God and the actions of men — both, 
 legitimately, come within the range of religious feeling 
 and contemplation. History is the record of past events, 
 and renders us familiar with the story of tlie world — and 
 without it, our knowledge of nature, of Providence, and 
 of man, would be exceedingly deficient : it is, therefore, 
 connected with the great interests of religion and piety. 
 History bears the same relation to ethics, in the department 
 of morality, that experiment does to physics, in the Baconian 
 philosophy : indeed, all knowledge is useless, only as it 
 becomes subservient to morals and virtue. Chronology 
 is essential to a proper knowledge of history : it teaches 
 the regulation and comjmtution of time, as ascertained and 
 defined by the revolutions of the earth and moon. It 
 relates, principally, to time past — and is concerned in 
 fixing and arranging the various events, which become the 
 subject of history. 
 
 Geograplnj, as connected with, and in some sense a part 
 of history, should have an early place in the progress of 
 learning. Like history, it will enlarge the comprehension 
 and weaken the prejudices of the learner — it will gradually 
 lead him beyond the control of sensation, and will prevent 
 undue confidence in abstract speculation. It will always 
 be the medium of important topics of information, con- 
 nected with general history, both civil and natural. Were 
 this the place, we Avould respectfully suggest, that the 
 study of geography, at first should be entirely confined to 
 the topography of the pupil's immediate vicinity, and that 
 of his own country ; gradually enlarging the sphere of 
 geographical knowledge, until the surface of the globe be 
 embraced in a practical and popular course of instruction. 
 The pupil will then be prepared to enter upon a Scientific
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 147 
 
 course of geography, especially iu connection with latitude 
 and lonuiUide. 
 
 Biography is also important to a proper knowledge of 
 history. If we would know mankind, we must study Tnan. 
 The best way to know the human heart, is, to study the 
 lives of imrticular men, in the various relations of life. 
 Tlie works of Suetonius and Plutarch will evince the 
 correctness of this remark. 
 
 The bare mention of Moral Science, presents a range of 
 remark, to which it is impossible to do justice, within the 
 limits of the present address. Philosophy has been defined 
 to be, a knowledge of nature, (in its largest sense,) variously 
 applied to practical and useful purposes. This knowledge, 
 when it respects physical objects, and has reference to 
 matter, is styled natural philosophy. When it relates to 
 the nature, laws, or operations of mind, it is called moral 
 philosophy, and is divided into two parts, — pneumatology, 
 comprehending the whole range of natural theology and 
 psychology, properly denominated the philosophy of the 
 human mind. It is the leoitimate and discriminatino- 
 province of moral science, to analyze the springs of intellect 
 and action. It teaches the syntax of mind and morals. 
 
 Logic, as a branch of moral science, will come in for its 
 share of the student's time and attention. It is the impor- 
 tant common-sense art, reduced to proper system, of 
 forming just ideas and premises, and deducing from them, 
 natural and right conclusions. It treats of the human 
 understanding, and is principally confined to perception, 
 judgment, reasoning, and method. Our remarks, on this 
 subject, might be extended, but we are compelled to omit 
 many of the subdivisions of moral science. 
 
 The natural sciences, are worthy of particular considera- 
 tion. Natural History embraces all the infinitely varied 
 forms of matter — the surface and internal structure of the
 
 148 INAUGUKAL ADDRESS. ^ 
 
 earth — tlie laws and phencmena of the ocean — the 
 atmosphere, and the heavens. Universal nature is the 
 workmanship of God, and natural history is the record of 
 his operations ; and hence we perceive at once, what may 
 be the moral influence of this delightful study. In its 
 almost illimitable range, natural history explores the animal, 
 the vegetable, and mineral kingdoms ; and these again 
 present themselves in various subdivisions, and each 
 department is a science. The business and limits of the 
 life of one man, forbid an acquaintance with all these 
 subjects, but much may be attained by diligence and 
 application, and be successfully applied to the common 
 interests of humanity. 
 
 It is the province of natural pJiilosophy, to exhibit the 
 causes of the phenomena of the universe, and the laivs of 
 motion, in relation to all known bodies throughout nature. 
 It belongs to natural history to present us with the facts 
 — and natural philosophy accowz^^ for them. The former 
 treats of the appearances of all natural bodies, separately 
 considered — while the latter discusses their properties and 
 mutual action upon each other. In this department of 
 science, if we would conquer, we must divide. Experiment 
 and analysis are indispensable. 
 
 Chemistry has for its object, to ascertain and determine, 
 the first principles — the elementary ingredients of which 
 all inatler is composed. The empire of Chemistry, is co- 
 extensive with the kingdom of nature, embracing all solids, 
 fluids, gases, and ethereal substances ; and in an infinite 
 variety of forms, is applied to practical purposes. It ascer- 
 tains the specific properties of bodies, by analysis and 
 combination ; analyzing them into their constituent parts, 
 and bringing to light the mysterious laws of their combina- 
 tion. Chemistiy extends to all the forms and combinations 
 of physical nature — rain, hail, snow, dews, winds, and
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 149 
 
 waves, are all subjected to her experiments. Chemistry is 
 especially essential to the existence and success of manu- 
 factures and agriculture — the smith, the glass-blower, the 
 potter, the tanner, the dyer, the bleacher, the farmer, are 
 all practical chemists. The mechanic arts, and all the 
 modes of husbandry, have this grand science as their basis. 
 Its importance, therefore, must be obvious to the most 
 superficial observer. 
 
 Botany will spread before the disciple of Linneus, the 
 whole kingdom of vegetation — the enchanting dominions 
 of Flora ; from the hyssop on the wall, to the cedar of 
 Lebanon ; from the attenuated fibre of the moss, to the 
 majestic oak and stately palm. It will display the beauty 
 and variety of nature, as well as the various uses for food, 
 for raiment, for comfort, for medicine, and for many of the 
 arts, to which vegetable productions are applied. It enables 
 us to select the esculents of the table — to furnish the 
 wardrobe — warm our apartments, and adorn the parterre. 
 It also supplies, to a great extent, the materials of the 
 chemical laboratory, and the materia medica. 
 
 Mineralogy will lead you below the earth's surface, into 
 mines, (from which the word is derived,) and subterranean 
 places, in search of the rich materials, embosomed beneath 
 the crust of the earth, embracing earth and stones, salts, 
 inflammables, and metals; all intended for use and ornament; 
 such as iron, clay, marble, gold, and diamonds. 
 
 The Fossil kingdom will also afford improving amusement, 
 introducing the student to the spoils of the ocean, and the 
 various phenomena of petrifactions. 
 
 Geology investigates and describes the internal structure 
 of the earth — the arrangement of its component materials 
 — the circumstances attendant upon its original organiza- 
 tion — the successive states under which it has existed, and 
 the many changes to which it has been subjected, since the
 
 1 50 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 creation of its primitive substance. It unfolds the solid 
 structure of the globe — it discovers, by what causes, its 
 several parts have been arranged, or disorganized, and from 
 what operations have originated the general stratification of 
 its materials ; the irregularities of its surface, and the vast 
 variety of bodies entering into its conformation. 
 
 Astronomy holds a high rank among the natural sciences. 
 It treats of the magnitude, motions, distance, arrangement, 
 phenomena, laws, and revolutions of the heavenly bodies. 
 On this subject, however, we deem it unimportant to enlarge. 
 
 The Mathematical sciences are worthy of peculiar regard 
 in a course of scientific instruction. From the days of 
 Thales to the present time, the study of mathematics has 
 been deemed of vast importance to the proper culture and 
 discipline of the human mind. The denomination of this 
 science originally as derived from the Greeks, properly 
 denoted discipline — a system of learning, or study — any 
 organized method of mental application ; but in its more 
 modern, and now universally received acceptation, it is 
 used to distinguish that science, which contemplates what- 
 ever is capable of being numbered or measured. The 
 popular division of the science is into arithmetic and 
 geometry: the first having mimhers for its object — the 
 second treating of magnitude. A more philosophical divi- 
 sion, however, is into pure or speculative mathematics, which 
 treat of abstract quantity — and mixed mathematics, which 
 contemplate magnitude, as existing in all physical bodies. 
 
 The dignity and value of mathematical knowledge, 
 have long been out of dispute. It was the first of the 
 sciences regularly reduced to order — the first human study 
 converted into a science. This was efl'ected by Euclid, 
 Archimedes, and Apollonius — the princes of ancient geom- 
 etry. This noble and masculine study, teaches us to 
 measure with indubitable certainty, time, space, and dis-
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 151 
 
 taiice; it determines the relations, comparison, and ratio of 
 quantities ; the earth's surface is measured, and apportioned 
 to its inliabitants ; seas and oceans are navigated with safety 
 and dispatch ; and the pupil of mathematical science, is 
 seen wanderino: amonff the stars, numberinfjc the multitude, 
 and reporting the dimensions of the heavenly bodies. The 
 direct tendency of mathematical study, is to produce in the 
 mind a habit of just conception, accurate research, and 
 correct deduction. It induces, to a great extent, a rational 
 mode of thought — and is eminently useful, in divesting the 
 mind of ambiguity and prejudice, in all the processes of 
 thought and inquiry. But this is not the invariable effect 
 of mathematical study, which principally directs our atten- 
 tion to the relations of figure and quantity. That it ig 
 extensively useful in promoting attentive investigation and 
 correct reasoning, is readily admitted and contended for ; 
 but should not, at the same time, be too much relied on, as 
 niecessarily creating correct habits of investigation, in the 
 department of philosophical inquiry. Some of the best 
 mathematicians on earth, have been bungling reasoners on 
 mind and morals ; while, on the other hand, some of the 
 ablest metaphysicians, the world has ever produced, have 
 been almost entirely ignorant of mathematical science. 
 
 While this engaging study strengthens and exercises the 
 reasoning faculty, it gives comparatively little employment 
 to the other intellectual powers, in the examination of moral 
 and probable truth, but unhappily, too often, leads the 
 mind to the admission of data, whose direct tendency is to 
 lead it astray, because the distinctive difference between 
 mathematical science and moral truth, is not duly preserved 
 and properly applied. Mathematical science, therefore, 
 can only be looked upon as an efficient auxiliary in the 
 attainment of moral and philosophical trutli. In point of 
 certainty, mathematical science stands pre-eminent. It not
 
 152 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 only demonstrates a proposition to be true, but proves its 
 contrary to be false — this, in any instance, is tlie height 
 of demonstration. In one word, the certainty of self- 
 evidence attends this science in every stage of its progress. 
 
 Polite literature and the arts, comprehending tlie inter- 
 esting topics of taste, criticism, music, painting, poetry, 
 sculpture, agriculture, commerce, and architecture — are 
 well worthy a niche in the temple of science. It properly 
 belongs to the department o^ belles-lettres to combine taste, 
 beauty and elegance, as the contingent and accidental 
 attributes of language. 
 
 Rhetoric teaches us to use lanrruage, so as to combine 
 splendor and efi'ect — and should be studied in reference 
 to both — especially the latter. It is, to a great extent, 
 according to Longinus and Quintillian, the Language of the 
 heart — the eloquence of feeling — the appeal of passion, 
 regularly reduced to rules of art. It is the language of 
 imagination, guided by judgment and taste — warm, abrupt, 
 interjective, exclamatory — full of image, energy, and per- 
 sonification : and these, as the natural symbols of feeling 
 and passion, make a strong and lasting impression. 
 
 We must, however, as peculiarly appropriate on the 
 present occasion, confine our attention in this place, prin- 
 cipally, to the subject of agriculture. 
 
 By Agriculture, we understand the art of causing the 
 earth to bring forth, in the greatest perfection and plenty, 
 the various kinds of vegetable production, essential to the 
 support and comfort of man. As it is intended to teach 
 agri(;ulture in this institution as a science, and practically 
 exemplify its principles in the gardens and grounds attached 
 to the institution, for this purpose — it will not be improper 
 to offer you a few remarks on this subject. It is a subject 
 of acknowledged importance, in every division of the 
 civilized world. The culture of the earth, is coeval with
 
 rNAUGURAL ADDRESS. 153 
 
 the existence of our race. When man came fresh and 
 immortal from the liands of his Creator, he was placed in 
 an enchanting well-furnished garden, and the command of 
 the Creator was, to "dress and keep it ;" and after the 
 fearful defection of man, the obligation to " till the ground " 
 was renewed. — The appointment of Heaven ordained, that 
 by the " sweat of his brow," he should cultivate the soil, 
 and procure his bread by a perpetual contention with the 
 " thorn and the thistle." The knowledge and the necessity 
 of primitive agriculture survived the flood, and its operations 
 were revived in the rural employments of Noah and his 
 sons. The interests of husbandry were extensively pursued 
 by Abraham and his descendants in Palestine. 
 
 The Chaldeans, in whose country agriculture had its 
 birth — and the first man was the first " tiller of the 
 ground " — seem to have carried the art to great pei-fection. 
 The Phoenicians were proverbially skillful and efficient, as 
 agriculturalists. The Athenians first introduced ao-riculture 
 into Greece ; and soon the herds of savages, then infesting 
 the since illustrious country of Greece, abandoned the 
 acorn and the root of the wood and the wild, for the 
 peacefid and productive occupations of domestic husbandry : 
 even their kings finally encouraged agriculture, not only 
 as ? laudable pursuit, but as an honorable employment. 
 A .nong the ancient Romans, the higliest honor they 
 attempted to confer on a citizen, was to award to him the 
 distinction of having a well cultivated farm. Even the 
 most renowned heroes, warriors, and senators, were practical 
 and laborious arrriculturalists. 
 
 During the dark ages, the arts and uses of husbandry 
 were greatly neglected. Even in England, but little 
 attention was paid to agriculture, until the fourteenth 
 century. Agriculture was first reduced to something like 
 a science in England, by Fitzherbert, in the sixteenth
 
 154 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 century; and has since been gradually improving — until 
 the establishment, some thirty years ago, of the celebrated 
 " Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement." To 
 this institution, the world is indebted, for more than one 
 hundred volumes of the most valuable ao-ricultural research. 
 Great interest is excited, at present, on this subject, in our 
 own country ; and agriculture bids fair, to become the 
 most accessible, and best understood science, in the whole 
 rana'e of human attainment. 
 
 Love of country is a natural and universal passion, and 
 no pursuit is so well calculated to inspire it, as that of 
 agriculture ; and in this respect particularly, it is preferable 
 to commerce ; the tendencies of which, especially foreign 
 commerce, are directly the reverse. In any country and 
 in every situation, agriculture is essential to the increase, 
 subsistence, and happiness of man. — In all the stages of 
 society it is alike needful to its well being, and accordingly, 
 it has been held in the highest repute from the most 
 remote ages. Gideon, the illustrious judge and warrior 
 of Israel, was called from the plow to preside over the 
 Providential fortunes of that nation. Cincinnatus, immor- 
 talized by the conquest of the Volsci, forsook his plow to 
 lead the Roman armies to battle and to victory. The 
 Emperor of China is seen at the plow every sprmg, anu 
 at the close of each harvest the best farmer is by him 
 created a Mandarin. Our own Washington, whose name 
 shall be hallowed by the homage of ages, was devoted to 
 agriculture even to passion, and one of his proudest dis- 
 tinctions was that of a good farmer. Hesiod has sung in 
 no mean verse the "praises of the plow." Xenophon in 
 his Economics has enlarged upon the importance of agri- 
 culture, and Cicero in his Dialogue on "old age," has 
 done the same. Hartlib, the friend and correspondent of 
 Milton, Marshall, Anderson, and Young, have all contributed
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 153 
 
 to the revival of agriculture, not only iu England, but 
 throuo-hout the world. Agriculture is peculiarly favorable 
 to freedom and independence. When Greece and Rome 
 were free, they Avere proverbially an agricultural people, 
 and only ceased to be such when tyranny overspread 
 those countries. The glory of Italy, and especially the 
 fruitfulness of the Camjmgna di Roma departed with the 
 reio-n of despotism, and the golden fields of the Campania, 
 suno- by Virgil, have long since, under the blasting inlluence 
 of oppression, been converted into swamps and morasses. 
 
 The Israelites after their settlement in Canaan, were an 
 agricultural people, and they doubled their population every 
 twenty-seven years. In the United States, the most perfectly 
 ao-ricultural nation on earth, this is done every twenty-five 
 years — while in modern Europe, if Adam Smith be correct, 
 it requires five hundred years to double the number of 
 inhabitants. Emigration will have a very partial bearing 
 upon this question, and the great disparity is no doubt 
 chiefly owing to agriculture. Universal history sustains 
 the position that whenever a nation becomes slack, in its 
 attention to the concerns of agriculture, it must be owing 
 in a great measure, to the want of a proper regard foi 
 freedom and independence, the tone of genuine patriotic 
 feelino- is lowered and enfeebled. In the Netherlands where 
 agriculture exists in great perfection, each square mile 
 averages two hundred and seventy-five inhabitants, while in 
 Russia where agriculture is but little attended to, the ratio 
 is only seventeen. One fact in the history of man on which 
 we cannot forbear to insist, is, that no nation of the eartii 
 has ever enjoyed the advantages of civilization in the total 
 neglect of agriculture. — They are inseparably connected 
 in the progress of society. The importance of proper eftbrc 
 to promote agriculture, is demonstrable from the prevailing 
 disinclination of mankind to attend to its peaceful but labi>
 
 156 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 rious pursuits. The savage himself is unwilling to abandon 
 the hunter state for that of the herdsman, and finally that 
 of the agriculturalist — while on the other hand civilized 
 man has shown himself but too prone to relapse into the 
 ease and idleness attendant upon the care of his migratory 
 flocks, and finally the pleasures and excitements of the 
 chase. As the command of Heaven therefore was originally 
 necessary to induce man to cultivate the earth, so are the 
 efforts of the enlightened and philosophic, now necessary 
 to keep up proper attention to this most important of all 
 human arts. The affinity between chemistry and agricul- 
 ture is striking, and the principles of the one should be 
 faithfully applied to the other. The chemist and agricul- 
 turalist, as Mr. Madison justly remarks, are " fellow 
 students." Accordingly agriculture is biught as a science 
 in the Swedish, Danish, and some of the German Univer- 
 sities. There is also an agricultural professorship in the 
 University of Edinburgh. The propriety of an academic 
 course of instruction on this subject is recommended by 
 Locke, Milton, and Watson of LlandafF. The celebrated 
 Fcllenberg school, near Berne in Switzerland, is mainly 
 devoted to the interests of agriculture, by its able and 
 judicious patron of the same name. A drill-farm where 
 all the operations of the field are carried on, and practically 
 illustrated in the garden, has been found by Mr. Fellenbei-g 
 the most advantageous method of instruction in the appli- 
 cation of the principles of husbandry. Commerce, is neces- 
 sarily precarious and fluctuating, it is always at the mercy 
 of the winds and waves wafting it from shore to shore, it 
 necessarily creates dependence and leads to slavery ; one 
 commercial nation is always subjected to the caprice, 
 extortion, and exorbitant claims of anotlier. Cast your 
 eyes along the streets of Antwerp and Glient — the grass 
 now waves, where three centuries ago the earth groaned
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 157 
 
 with wares, and was thronged with merchants. The whole 
 coast of Mauritania, once laden with the treasures, and 
 lighted Willi the splendors of commerce, agriculture and 
 the arts, is now the haunt of tigers and the retreat of 
 pirates. Bagdad once the mart of commerce, agriculture 
 and the arts, is now a desolation. The fertile fields and 
 harvest plains of Fez and Morocco, where agriculture 
 smiled in plenty for five centuries, are now deserts and 
 Avastes of sand and sterility ; and many other instances 
 might be adduced. Agriculture therefore, is the great basis 
 of human subsistence. It is strictly an art of necessity — it 
 is the only durable source and foundation of power and 
 plenty ; and with every intelligent and patriotic people, 
 should have precedence of the arts of convenience and 
 elegance. 
 
 Commerce has been aptly termed the younger sister, 
 always, in every emergency, looking to agriculture for 
 defense and supply. Agriculture doubly repays the hus- 
 bandman. She yields him harvest, "tliirty, sixty, and an 
 hundred fold " — and in the mean time, promotes health, 
 vigor, and activity. Dion the historian, has recorded of 
 Romulus, that the only employments he left for freemen, 
 were agriculture and warfare : and throughout Rome, at 
 this period, the agriculturalist and the soldier, met in the 
 same individual. Such was the high repute in which 
 agriculture was held in Greece, that Varro enumerates j^/y 
 authors, who, in his time, had written on the subject. In 
 Rome, it often happened, that the same hand guided the 
 plow and the helm of state, and erected the standard of 
 her victorious legions ! Regulus, in the midst of his 
 conquests in Africa, asked leave of the Roman Senate, to 
 return and cultivate his farm, which had been neglected, 
 during his absence, and attention to battle and arms. Cato, 
 whom Pliny styles the best farmer of his age, says '* those
 
 158 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 who exercise the art of agriculture, are, of all others, the 
 least addicted to evil thoughts," — that is, less exposed to 
 temptation. For, to conclude our remarks on this subject, 
 we consider agriculture, as the first and most respectable, 
 of all the arts and sciences. — It is the principal profession 
 of mankind — the most honest, the most useful, and the 
 most respectable secular profession, in the world. 
 
 Such is abrief outhne — averyimperfectsurvey,of aliberal 
 course of study — and such the advantages resulting from it. 
 
 Liberty has always been dependent on intelligence. Igno- 
 rant rulers seldom fail to be tyrants. The iisual resort of 
 those who fail to produce co?ivtc^40W, is to oj^press and punish. 
 Freedom duly balanced and properly regulated, has no 
 bulwark, except in the intelligence of the people : and all 
 history informs us, that political and religious melioration, 
 must result from the same source. 
 
 " Knowledge is power." — It gave liberty to Greece, and 
 glory to Rome : and their return to barbarism, was owing, 
 in a ffreat measure, to the manner in which their love of 
 wealth and pleasure, superseded that of Letters. England, 
 Germany, and France, owe their comparatively late improve- 
 ments, and partial regeneration, to the same and kindred 
 causes. — The principle, however, is most happily illustrated, 
 in the history of the United States. But without entering 
 into detail in relation to this or other countries, we would 
 remark, that it is of the very nature, and properly belongs 
 to the o-enius of Protestantism, as well as the civil institu- 
 tions of our country, to impart knowledge to every class 
 of society — to diffuse it through the great mass of the 
 people. All our established maxims of legislation and 
 jurisprudence, concede the right of private judgment and 
 liberty of conscience ; and hence the importance of inform- 
 inc^ the mind of the multitude, and promoting intellectual 
 in view of moral culture.
 
 rNAUG URAL ADDRESS. 159 
 
 Visit tlie classic, but profaned ruins of Athens and 
 Rome — and ask the genius of the place, or the page of 
 history, where is the freedom immortalized by the Philip- 
 pics of Demosthenes, and the orations of Cicero ? And the 
 one and the other will answer — knowledge departed, and 
 liberty was exiled ! Polished Greece, therefore, and impe- 
 rial Rome, owed their distinction to Letters. And what is 
 it knowledge cannot achieve ? — It has transformed the 
 ocean into the highway of nations. — Steam, fire, wind, 
 and wave, all minister to the comforts and elegancies of 
 life. The cold and insensible marble speaks and breathes. — 
 The pencil of Raphael gives body and soul to color, light, 
 and shade. — The magnet, the mysterious polarity of the 
 loadstone, conducts man over the bosom of the deep, to the 
 islands of the sea — while the glass introduces him to the 
 heavens, and kindles his devotion, amid the grandeur of a 
 thousand worlds ! 
 
 Splendid indeed are the effects, that the names and 
 productions of a few individuals, have realized to their 
 cotemporaries and posterity. Instance Moses, Homer, 
 Euclid, Columbus, Luther, Bacon, and Newton. The first 
 of these alone, has furnished incalculable millions with the 
 only authentic history of the world for twenty-three hundred 
 years. The second, astonishingly exemplifies the eflect of 
 learning ; the power of letters — possessed of unbounded 
 invention, the Epic splendor of his works has never been 
 equaled : to surpass their beauty and sublimity would be 
 impossible. Although he details the fall of thousands in 
 battle, no two of his heroes are wounded in the same 
 manner. His arrow is ever impatient to be on the wing — 
 and his weapon always thirsts for blood. Every sentence 
 is composed of living words, and teems with life and action ! 
 Poets, philosophers, legislators, historians, actors, and heroes, 
 have literally been created by the sovereignty of genius, and
 
 160 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 the power of invention, in the history of a solitary individual. 
 From him, Sparta and Macedon derived the love of glory, 
 and of war ; and from him, Athens and Egypt selected the 
 models of learning and poetry. In him the historian sought 
 his guide — the philosopher his defense, the poet his fire, 
 the critic his rules — and the hero his tactics: and had 
 Homer never sung, therefore, the republic of letters would 
 have been deprived of much that is valuable in literature. 
 What should we have known of the siege of Troy, and the 
 wanderings of Ulysses. The third produced a work, on 
 the essential elements of Geometry, tAvo thousand years 
 ago, which was never bent to the innovations or improve- 
 ments of any succeeding age : but to the present day, 
 stands unrivaled, as a work of superior merit and unpre- 
 cedented perfection. 
 
 The discoveries resulting from the nautical skill and 
 daring adventure of Columbus, have issued in the happi- 
 ness of past, present, and unborn millions. The labors of 
 Luther and his coadjutors under God, led to the emancipa- 
 tion of religion and science, from the accursed toils of 
 Ignorance and superstition througliout the world. The 
 Verulamian, or Baconian Philosophy dissipated the imper- 
 vious mist of intellectual darkness, which had hovered over 
 the nations for ages. While the Newtonian System, laying 
 bare the phenomena of the universe, in the discovery of 
 the principle of universal gravitation, and the composition 
 of light, reclaimed our isolated planet from its unnatural 
 expatriation, and gave it its proper rank and station in the 
 great family of surrounding worlds ! 
 
 It will be perceived that what we mainly insist upon in 
 this address, is the value of learning, of various learning, 
 in the formation of character, and its importance in order 
 to the individual happiness of man, as well as the beneficial 
 bearing it has upon the character and prosperity of com-
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 161 
 
 munities and nations. Its obvious and almost tinfailincf 
 tendency ia to enrich the mind, refine the taste, and improve 
 the heart. It renders communities happy and nations 
 invincible. Had Carthage loved letters in proportion to 
 her ambition for wealth, Rome had never been her historian; 
 and she might have vied with her conquerors on the page 
 of immortality, if indeed she had ever been conquered. 
 Look at Spain, once as learned, and until Charles V., as 
 free as any of the nations of Europe ; what were the causes 
 that contributed to her degradation ? They were evidently 
 moral causes — ■ implicit submission and passive obedience 
 to the Roman See, and civil despotism, led to a relapse into 
 all her ancient ignorance and servility. Science and peace 
 and plenty no longer adorn the plains of Castile and Arra- 
 gon, and the classic glory of Sierra Morena,of the Pyrrenees 
 and the Asturias has long since departed ! What has 
 become of the renowned universities of Cufa and Bassoro ? 
 Oppression banished knowledge, and they are buried in 
 the grave of years ! Bagdad and Cordova were once the 
 brightest spots in Saracenic story, the flourishing seats 
 of Arabian literature, but their sun has set for af^es, in 
 the cheerless gloom of Mohammedan barbarity and savage 
 debasement. Where now are the fundamental resources of 
 individual comfort and social grandeur — the plenitude and 
 the polish of means and morals, enclosed within the walls 
 of ancient Byzantium, as they rose to heaven, and bid defi- 
 ance to the world upon the Thracian coast of the Propontis 
 — the first city on earth dedicated and appropriated to the 
 service and furtherance of the Christian religion ? Alas ! 
 they have all found a grave in the living sepulchre of modern 
 Constantinople ! 
 
 Let memory for a moment sketch the desolate map of 
 Greece. Where now are the walks of Genius and the 
 retreats of the Muses, upon the banks of the Illisus, and 
 
 VOL. II — 14.
 
 162 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 the Argora of Athens ? Where is the Grove of Plato, the 
 Lyceum of Aristotle, and the Porch of Zeno ? We have 
 to repeat, alas ! Greece is no longer the theater of learning, 
 and Athens is only endeared to us as the Alma mater of the 
 literary world ! 
 
 The influence of Education upon political society has 
 been forcibly exemplified in all ages — inform the mind of 
 the multitude, and they will have discernment to discover 
 their real and best interests ; and their own welfare and 
 patriotic feelings will prompt them to seek the good of their 
 country. But when they are ignorant and liable to be 
 misled by every political ignis fatuus, they, always, inva- 
 riably, become the dupes of misguided zeal, and the property 
 of unprincipled demagogues. 
 
 We proceed to notice, the i^resent liros'pects of Literature 
 throughout the world. These fully justify the estimate we 
 have placed upon its value. The prevalence, to an unpre- 
 cedented extent, of the useful arts throughout the civilized 
 world, and their recent introduction among scores of savage 
 nations, strongly evince the cultivation and growth of science. 
 For the sciences are properly the basis of the arts, although 
 in some instances the arts precede them in the order of time, 
 and lead to their discovery. If we go back to the origin, 
 the genesis of scientific knowledge, and trace its varied 
 progress amid all its fluctuating fortunes, we shall be aston- 
 ished at its present extent and perfection. The spirit of 
 enterprise and the ardor of research are abroad in the earth; 
 former discoveries are improved upon, and new paths and 
 fields are explorijig — each generation is more active and 
 inquisitive than its predecessor, and the splendid march of 
 mind bids fair greatly to lessen the sum of human evil, and 
 meliorate the condition of the human race. The wide 
 diffusion of knowledge is the characteristic of the ao-e. 
 The aspects of the moral world indicate with encourao-ino-
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRKSS, ♦ 163 
 
 distinctness, that a new and nobler era in the progress of 
 knowledge, is opening- upon mankind. We apply this 
 remark with peculiar pride, to our own country. The 
 literary character of the United States is rapidly improving, 
 its eastern and northern sections are vieing with Europe in 
 the erection and endowment of colleges and universities ; 
 and science even in the valley of the West can boast her 
 schools and scholars, where but a half century ago, unvis- 
 ited by the foot of civilized man, the silence of the unbroken 
 wilderness, was only disturbed by the scream of the panther 
 and the yell of the savage. 
 
 And we feel a daring consciousness — an almost pro- 
 phetic persuasion, that should we add to an indulgence in 
 the lofty aims of an imperishable ambition, corresponding 
 vigor and skill of effort, this country is destined, at no 
 distant period, to rise and take its stand among the lettered 
 nations of the old world. Religion and science are, already, 
 taught in one hundred and forty difierent dialects : — hand 
 in hand, united in immortal wedlock, they are everywhere 
 extending their empire, and multiplying their votaries. 
 The collective mind of universal man, seems to have cauo-ht 
 
 o 
 
 the "classic contagion" — and it is difl'using itself, with 
 epidemic energy, over sea and land. We are aware, how- 
 ever, that the progress of knowledge will be opposed. 
 Ignorance, tyranny, and tyrants, have always been opposed 
 to light and knowledge : and as Caligula wished to destroy 
 the works of Homer, Livy, and Virgil, so have tliese, 
 whether in church or in state, aimed at the defeat of every 
 essay, calculated to inspire a love of liberty, equality, and 
 virtue. It is, indeed, to be regretted, that even in this ao-e 
 of moral illumination and virtuous chivalry, there are the 
 incurious and the careless, who take no interest in the im- 
 provement and march of mind — and whose only pleasure 
 pppears to be derived from an ignorance of duty. Swayed
 
 164 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 in the lower ranks of society, by a love of things present, 
 and in the higher, by the mania of property, if they can 
 only "eat, drink, and be merry" — if they can hoard 
 wealtli, count the miser's gains, and revel in luxury, it is 
 all they care for. These haters of knowledge — these 
 contemners of wisdom — these drudges of avarice and 
 cupidity, at once the curse and the nuisance of society, 
 coiud have seen at Alexandria and at Rome, without emo- 
 tion or a tear, the long regretted monuments of genius and 
 glory, perish in the flames ! " Away with your learning!" 
 is an argument with which we are met on every side. 
 And this language of Mecca — this motto of the Vatican, 
 comes from an American, a Christian, the father of a 
 group of children, flanking his door and yard, some of 
 whom will probably go from the gallows to the bar of God, 
 or rot in the penitentiary cells of their country, for the want 
 of that education, which the meanness of an unnatural 
 father, has murderously withheld from the " children of 
 his own bowels !" 
 
 In proportion, therefore, to the love you bear your chil- 
 dren — in proportion to the ardor with which you long for 
 their happiness — by how much you desire them to live 
 respectably and usefully, and hand their names down to 
 posterity, as worthy the brotherhood of man — by so much 
 will you endeavor by day and by night, and by all the 
 means in your power, to furnish their youthful and elastic 
 minds, with the fundamental principles of a good education 
 — of virtue, morality, and religion. In this event, natural 
 talent will evolve — the intellectual faculties and moral 
 powers, rooted in nature and cherished by art, will be 
 brought into successful and beneficial action. If it be 
 asked, then, why we contend for education, and how we 
 account for its present rapid and increasing diffusion — we 
 answer — because it is essential to human happiness — it
 
 INAUGURAt. ADDRESS. 166 
 
 is the declared will of God — and is destined, in many 
 important points of view, to harbinger the promised era, the 
 concluding epoch of the world — when the splendid objects 
 of education and religion, shall, everywhere, be realized 
 to man. 
 
 A thousand physical and moral causes, are now in suc- 
 cessful operation, to produce these grand results : and the 
 intellectual topographer, in casting his eye over the face of 
 the earth, can already see, that the first and fondest feelings 
 of the human heart, in every civilized nation, are co-opera- 
 tinc: with the desi"'ns and arrans^ements of Providence, in 
 the accomplishment of Heaven's beneficient and unfolding 
 purposes to man. The history, even of our own times, 
 has demonstrated, that the telescope is a more powerful 
 weapon than the cannon — and that knowledge is more 
 triumphant than arms, in the conquest of human pride and 
 passion. The observations of the philosopher, as well as 
 the notices of Scripture, unite in giving assurance to man, 
 that the ultimate regeneration of his race, will depend upon 
 the operation of principles, too sublime and heavenly in 
 their nature and origin, to derive any lustre from the 
 "Altar of Hannibal, or the victor standard of Scipio Afri- 
 canus!" It would seem, however, that in the moral 
 government of the world, owing to the wickedness of man- 
 kind, chastisement is, occasionally, in providential demand ; 
 and sometimes the God of heaven employs the evils of war, 
 as a rod of correction to the human family. War, there- 
 fore, with all its horrors, may be good, as an instrument 
 and scourr/e, in the hand of God — viewed in any other 
 light, it is to be deprecated as a universal curse, and when 
 the purposes of this world's chastisement, shall have been 
 effected by it, it shall subside forever. 
 
 Let freedom and science,^ virtue and religion, continue 
 their march ; let the deep-rooted and fondly-cherished prin-
 
 166 INAUGtJRAL ADDRESS. 
 
 ciples of civil and religious liberty, continue to flourish in 
 this country, in the South American Republics, in England, 
 in the German Empire, and in Greece — and the time is 
 not very far remote, when these and the opposmg elements 
 of ignorance and despotism, will meet in some decisive 
 struggle, or a succession of them, and the conflict will be 
 like the meeting of adverse comets — the shock will convulse 
 the world ; but it will prepare the way for its regeneration, at 
 the same time ■ — and the fearful elemental strife, will termi- 
 nate in the consummation of the wishes of philanthropy 
 and the hopes of religion ! 
 
 Of the tinion of science and religion, we have, perhaps, 
 already, said enough. It is the design of the one and the 
 other, to improve the condition of man, and further his 
 happiness. Science will impart more enlarged views, of the 
 nature, character, and operations of the Deity. The vast, 
 the stupendous whole of his creation, will be presented to 
 the eye of the observer — and tlie varieties of the universe, 
 will, impressively, adumbrate the grandeur and the resources 
 of the great Father of all. The laws and phenomena of 
 nature, unfold to the eye of science, the constant agency 
 of the Creator — and present us with a thousand proofs, of 
 our entire dependence upon his superior power. Science, 
 by spreading out before us, the unbounded range of being, 
 afibrds us a corresponding survey of the Empire of Jehovah ; 
 and without a knowledge of the extent of His dominions, it 
 is impossible, rightly, to conceive of His character and 
 claims. Science successfully enlarges our views of the 
 plans and operations of Providence — past, present, and to 
 come — in relation to the physical and moral concerns of 
 the world. It produces an expansion of mind, a liberality 
 of sentiment, a generousness of feeling, seldom to be met 
 with in any other connection — in reference to the works 
 and ways of God, and the opinions and actions of men. It
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 167 
 
 induces modesty of understanding, humility of heart — 
 furnishes powerful motives to piety, and leads to the love 
 and contemplation of the Creator, a knowledge of whom 
 and whose works, constitutes the soul and sum of science. 
 The well-instructed pupil of religion and science, walks 
 abroad upon the earth ; he surveys the works and the 
 wonders of created and uncreated nature : God is in all, 
 and all in God ; and he listens to the lessons of virtue and 
 piety, published by the all-subduing spectacle — the blended 
 voice of confederated worlds ! Such, therefore, is the 
 tranquil grandeur of a well-educated mind : the whole 
 store-house of knowledge lies at the feet of the Christian 
 philosopher — and the fundamental resources of the human 
 understanding, are ever ready to relieve and supply him, 
 in every emergence. He must, and will, in common with 
 others, be subject to the ordinary and allotted evils of life — 
 the ills and depressions incident to humanity ; from these, 
 virtue, itself, pleads no exemption ; for even, " The Eoliaii 
 harp, that Heaven's pure breezes fill, must breathe, at times, 
 a melancholy strain." But in every vicissitude of weal or 
 of woe, he stands like ocean's rock, breasting the rage of 
 the billow, and the wrath of the sky — secure in the 
 possession of a good, worthy indeed of the Giver — which 
 earth, elements, and fortune, are as unable to destroy as 
 they were originally to bestow ! 
 
 A few concluding remarks, and we have done. Of our 
 infant seminary, it becomes us to speak with modesty, 
 although authorized to indulge in the language of hope. 
 As it respects the character of Madison college, called, by 
 permission after the venerable Ex-President Madison, of 
 Virginia ; and the i>rinciples upon which it is established, 
 we have to remark, that it is purely and exclusively, a 
 literary institution ; we do not, we will not, compound with 
 anything sectarian or selfish. It is true, the institution has
 
 168 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 been established under the patrq^ge of the Pittsburgh 
 Annual Conference, of the Methodist Episcopal Church ; 
 and to that enterprising body, as well as to other sources, 
 we look for fiscal and other aid ; but as the authorized agent 
 and representative of that body, I am instructed to pledge 
 their public faith, that the only object we have in view, is 
 to promote the interests of religion and science, upon broad 
 and liberal principles, and upon a plan, excluding all local, 
 sectional, or party interests. With regard to the course of 
 study, and method of instruction, adopted in this institu- 
 tion, the necessity of detail, is, in a gi'eat measure, superseded, 
 by the publication of the laws of the college, in which is 
 contained an outline of the system of education intended to 
 be pursued. Our observations, therefore, will be general, 
 and of a miscellaneous character. 
 
 In conducting this seminary, we shall adopt no hackneyed 
 original — we shall endeavor to disabuse education of some 
 of its errors and defects — we shall scrupulously avail our- 
 selves of the best ancient models of instruction, as well as 
 the most judicious modern improvements. Some of our 
 maxims, not usual in the literary institutions of this country, 
 have been taken from the Fallenberg, and some from the 
 Pestallozian schools of Switzerland. 
 
 Ours is properly the inductive — the analytic system ; for 
 we deem it a desideratum in the history of education, that 
 some plan be adopted by the teacher, for the purpose of 
 rendering the processes of education throughout, an i7itel' 
 lectual labor, and not a bare effort of memory and imitation, 
 without reflection and analysis. The use of words without 
 proper inquiry into their meaning, is worse than absolute 
 ignorance, for it burdens the mind and memory with ware's 
 Avhich cannot possibly be of any service to the learner. 
 
 In the art of instruction, simplicity of plan and perspicuity 
 of style, are of great importance. Nothing can be more
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 169 
 
 detrimental to correct habits of thinking, than the "gothic 
 jargon" of indefinite technicalities, too often employed by 
 the scientific teacher, wlttiout sense or meaning ; and it often 
 happens that the pupil is longer ascertaining the significa- 
 tion of a single harharotis term, than he would have been 
 in mastering the whole connection in which it is found, had 
 it been presented in the language and livery of common 
 sense. We have no hesitation in supposing, that, were the 
 sciences disburdened of their present unnatural and super- 
 fluous nomenclature, they would be learned much more 
 readily and in nearly half the time. This remark applies 
 with peculiar force, to almost all the natural sciences. The 
 evils of which we complain, lead moreover, in but too 
 many instances, to pedantry and affectation in the teacher, 
 and to superficial smartness and quackery in his pupils. 
 Sensible teachers charged with the instruction of youth in 
 the present state of literature, will avoid this evil in the best 
 way they can. The maxim oi Lavoisier is a good one : — 
 " Let the word produce the idea, and the idea be a picture 
 of the/ad." " lAQiXii first and then words," says Rousseau, 
 or rather, in the intellectual creations of education, the 
 Avord and the idea should co-exist in the mind. — We mean, 
 without any sensible interval in the order of time. If some 
 method of study and instruction could be adopted in our 
 schools, by which a thorough knowledge of valuable 
 learning could be compassed, and at the same time abridge 
 the ordinary drudgery of protracted voluminous reading 
 and application, a great part of which, in many departments 
 of learning, is to little or no purpose, it would certainly 
 be desirable. This, however, appears to be impracticable 
 in the present stage of systematic education ; and it remains, 
 therefore, for those who are entrusted with the instruction 
 of youth, to conduct them by as direct methods as possible, 
 to the attainment of the great objects contemplated in a 
 
 VOL. II — 16.
 
 170 INAUGURAt. ADDRESS. 
 
 classical liberal education. Even in the incipient stages of 
 educalion., the young student should be taught to weigh 
 and estimate as he proceeds, and attend, at least, to some 
 extent, to the structure and anatomy of language, however 
 plain and simple in its forms. No student, in our judgment, 
 should be put to learning the dead languages, without some 
 acquaintance with his own ; nor should the grammar of any 
 language be systematically attempted, until the pupil can 
 read it fluently, and has some knowledge of its meaning and 
 general structure. At a subsequent period, the pupil will 
 much more readily acquire a critical knowledge of gram- 
 matical construction, and will be infinitely more apt to retain 
 this knowledge, than if acquired at an earlier period. We 
 lav it doAvn therefore, as a maxim in education, i\va.taffeneral 
 knowledge of language, ought always io irrecede grammatical 
 analysis. Meanwhile it should not be forgotten, either by 
 the teacher or the student, that even what is called a liberal 
 education, is not intended to perfect the learner in the acqui- 
 sition either of the languages or the sciences, but only to 
 prepare him to instruct himself, and finish his education 
 subsequently. 
 
 On the subject of discipline and incentives to industry a.\\6. 
 good order in this Institution, we submit one general remark. 
 
 In those Institutions where proper attention is not paid 
 to discipline, and where instruction is not imparted with 
 delight and vigor, instead of an effective seminary of 
 learninff, we are usually presented with an infirmary of 
 sickly and debilitated minds, without any encouraging 
 marks of intellectual culture and unfolding genius. The 
 mind, like the body, requires vigor of discipline, in order 
 to proper expansion — both are slow at arriving at maturity, 
 and rapid in their decays, unless properly managed. In 
 this Instiiulion, Ave intend to govern hy fixed laws, knov/n 
 to, and subscribed by the students, at the lime of raatiicu
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 171 
 
 lating. In the administration of these laws, we shall be 
 uniform and impanial; and we feel confident that authority, 
 influence and courtesy combined, will secure the aft'ection 
 and iidelitv of the students. We intend to avoid extremes. 
 It is not our design to introduce the "pungent girdle" of 
 Paschal, but we shall early and duly apprize our students 
 that they do not enter here, nor shall they remain here, to 
 play and sin ! Believing that education is important ; that 
 its claims arc paramount; that it tends greatly to increase 
 the sum of useful enjoyment ; persuaded that the masters 
 of education should lead instead oi following the minds of 
 those entrusted to their care, it shall be our aim and business 
 to create, as far as possible, an insatiable thirst for mental 
 accumulation, in all the progressive stages of liberal study. 
 
 As it respects economy, it will only be necessary to say, 
 that thoughtless expenditure is the ruin of literary institu- 
 tions. We have, therefore, resolved upon reducing it to 
 its minimum — and we shall make our means extend as far, 
 and accomplish as much, as possible. We recommend that 
 this maxim be most scrupulously adhered to, in the fiscal 
 manao'ement of the colle^'e. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees — To you, as the 
 corporation of Madison College, we naturally look with 
 confidence and peculiar solicitude. Upon your wisdom, 
 prudence, and management, the success of the institution 
 mainly depends. Having every assurance of your disposi- 
 tion and ability, to govern this infant seat of learning 
 judiciously, and render it respectable in the judgment of 
 your cotemporaries, and in the estimation of posterity — 
 we can only tender you our thanks — ask your assistance, 
 and bid you " God speed." 
 
 To the gentlemen of the Faculty — Upon whom will 
 de\olve more immediately, the details of collegiate instruc* 
 tion — we need not name our expectations. Of you,
 
 172 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 gentlemen, it will be expected, that you watch over the 
 morals, and budding genius, of those committed to your 
 charge — as Aurelia did, over the infant years of Julius 
 Csesar, or as the mother of the Gracchii, watched over the 
 juvenile hours of her illustrious sons. To those who have 
 presented themselves, on this occasion, as the Students of 
 Madison college, we cannot refrain from ofl'ering a few 
 remarks. 
 
 Young Gentlemen — We shall expect from you, sobriety 
 and decorum, on all occasions. We shall also expect in you 
 all, a love of learning. In order to this, diligence will be 
 essential ; and a well chosen application of your time, will 
 be imperiously necessary. The circle of fashionable levity 
 and dissipation, must be avoided ; or you will occupy the 
 back -ground, among your fellows, in academic attainments ; 
 and the finger of public scorn, will be pointed at you, as 
 college loungers, as literary sluggards, as students of idle 
 habits and dwarfish intellect. Let not these things be said 
 of you — of any who are, hereafter, to be known as the 
 alumni of Madison College. Let the jjresent be with you 
 the rival of the future. Time hastens on rapid wing, and 
 soon your hours are numbered forever. Occupy your 
 moments, therefore, as they fly — and prepare yourselves 
 for usefulness and for immortality ! Education, you will 
 find, to be a self-rewarding toil. You will be introduced 
 to the great and the good, of every age and every clime. 
 Some portions of your study, will fill you with the love of 
 virtue — and other portions, will teach you to abhor vice, 
 as the ruin of your best interests, and the overthrow of 
 your fairest prospects. 
 
 Among the classics you will be called upon to study, in 
 this institution, are Ovid, Virgil, Livy, Cicero, Horace, 
 Lucian, Sallust, Homer, Terrence, Tacitus, Quintillian, 
 Longinus, Demosthenes, Herodotus, Xenophon, and Thu-
 
 INATTGUBAL ADDRESS. 173 
 
 cydides — the most approved classics of Grecian and 
 Roman antiquity — ordinarily used in modern seminaries. 
 The exceptionable parts of the works of these celebrated 
 models of taste and composition, will be carefully excluded ; 
 but you will find much to admire, and much that is worthy 
 of imitation. Even here, you may wander with Homer, 
 upon the banks of the Simois and the Scamander — you 
 may gaze on the beautiful Helen, and enraged Achilles — 
 the chiefs of Greece and Troy, will engage in mortal com- 
 bat, before you — and you will dissolve in tears, at the 
 meeting of Hector and Andromache. Herodotus will 
 introduce you to the millions of barbarians, following the 
 standard of Xerxes. The brave Leonidas, and his Spartan 
 band, will dispute the passage of Thermopylee, before your 
 eyes. — Victory will disgrace Persia, and defeat bring glory 
 to Greece ! Horace and Virgil will introduce you to the 
 Palatine and Capitolium of Rome ; they will conduct you 
 along the banks of the Po, adorned on either side, by the 
 meadows of Mantua — and you shall regale and delight 
 yourselves, amid the enchanting groves of Umbria ! Go 
 on, then, young gentlemen, and seek a deserved and well 
 merited celebrity ; and if you cannot reach the summit of 
 Parnassus, linger at its foot, and imbibe the streams of 
 knowledge and science as they gurgle by ! 
 
 On the subject of local facilities connected with this 
 College, much might be said, but the information is acces- 
 sible elsewhere. We are aware, that distant only about 
 fifty miles, there are three other respectable Institutions, in 
 many respects of kindred character with oiir own. — And 
 long may they be sustained, and crowded with the aspiring- 
 youth of our country ! There is one advantage, however, 
 attending a reasonable multiplication of colleges. The 
 localities of habit, of association, of prejudice, and of 
 neighborhood, will always bring students to one institution,
 
 174 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 who would never go or be sent to another. By multiplying 
 our schools, a larger number of the youth of the country 
 will be educated ; and if they be educated, and toell edu- 
 cated, we care not where, or by Avhom. The members of 
 the corporation of this institution, have been selected from 
 four difterent states. — There are some of them resident in 
 this state, and some reside in the states of Virginia, Mary- 
 land, and Ohio. 
 
 The agricultural department is exciting considerable 
 interest, and students have already entered at the distance 
 of several hundred miles. No section of the United States 
 is more healthy, and the country all around is proverbially 
 fine and picturesque. Even the site selected, affords 
 facilities of no ordinary kind ; and should the principle of 
 association lead any of you at this moment, to reflect upon 
 the Tuscidan villas of classic memory — the Academy, the 
 Lyceum, the Alban mount, the gardens of Sallust, or even 
 the babbling rill that used to soothe the ear of Cicero, after 
 the toils of the forum — that same principle will direct 
 your attention here, to the mountain, the vale, the plain, the 
 heavens, " and the wild cascade with echo undefined." — 
 In a word, with scenery, all of whose diversities are classic. 
 
 And here, amid the cheerfulness of country, solitude, 
 and village comfort, the student Avill find himself shut in 
 with his book and his study — surrounded by a plain, 
 sensible, and unpretending population, devoted principally 
 to the interests of agriculture and manufactures. He will 
 have but little to tempt him from the duties and studies 
 assigned him. And like the young Agricola at Massilia, he 
 can happily blendin the language of Tacitus, "the refinements 
 of Greece with the sober manners of provincial economy." 
 
 Hei-e, then, may science come and fix her throne — and 
 long may it be thronged with ardent and aspiring votaries ! 
 And as the muses once communed with the Aschraen shep-
 
 INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 176 
 
 herd, upon mount Helicon, so may they come and commune 
 with the youth destined to be instructed here ! 
 
 Friends and patrons of Madison College — Let religion, 
 virtue, freedom, and literature, be our motto. Religion 
 shall always have our fond and first regards. — To virtue, 
 let us consecrate the hours of our being. Let the princi- 
 ples and institutions of religious, civil, and social freedom, 
 duly balanced and rightly proportioned, be cherished by 
 vigorous effort, and the plenitude of our resources ; Tvhile 
 literature shall extend its mild and improving influence, 
 over all the hours and movements of our existence ! Thus 
 we shall descend to our graves in peace, conscious that we 
 have contributed to the best means and methods of human 
 happiness, and that long before posterity shall realize the 
 final evolution of the plans of Providence, in relation to 
 our fallen world, the beacon fires we have attempted to 
 kindle, in our humble spheres of action, will everywhere be 
 lighted up upon the continents of the earth, and the islands 
 of the ocean, and shall diffuse their rich and mingled 
 radiance over the vast map of the nations 1
 
 GLANCE 
 
 AT TH£ 
 
 Natural Jmkq m\h '§\llmi^\iu ^f ^^xMim. 
 
 AS INDICATING ITS PROBABLE INFLUENCE UPON THE DESTINIES OF THB 
 
 HUMAN RACE. 
 
 Address before the State Agricultural Sociyty of Kentucky, 
 JANUARY 9, 1843,
 
 glgritultttral ^iritrr^s. 
 
 Wb cannot repress the feeling that the difficulty and 
 danger of the attempt, well nigh poise the honor of address- 
 ing you on this occasion. Without the accuracy of science 
 appropriate to the subject on the one hand, or the aid of 
 practical skill on the other, how, in a formal discourse, can 
 theory and practice be so blended and attempered, as to 
 instruct and interest the kind of audience we have before 
 us ? The subject on which we address you, must be 
 regarded as in a state of transition. Heretofore, a practical 
 art only, it is beginning to assume the shape and defini- 
 tiveness of a science. The process of formation, however, 
 is not completed. The scientific men agree in their data, 
 and practical men divide upon the application of data. 
 The most we can do, therefore, under the circumstances, 
 will be to offer you, what we consider as most important 
 in science, and available in practice, trusting that the 
 various elements, facts, and relations of the general subject, 
 will soon be found in a state of arrangement and collocation, 
 giving to the subject the exactitude and certainty of scientific 
 and practical demonstration. 
 
 The present is distinguished by great effort and activity : 
 the future promises still more ; and we have strong confi- 
 dence, that the result suggested will be fully realized at no 
 
 distant day. It is an interesting and hopeful characteristic 
 
 17a
 
 180 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS, 
 
 of modern times, and modern improvement, that in efforts 
 to diffuse science and advance art, and thus multiply the 
 elements and extend tlie range of human v/elfare, individuals 
 unite in large numbers and influential masses, upon a plan 
 sufficiently extensive and significant to represent the intel- 
 ligence and views of entire communities. The existence 
 of such associations furnishes the most conclusive proof of 
 their importance, and may also be received as pi-oof of the 
 extent to which they contribute to the objects of their 
 formation. In this way, new and increased interest is 
 given to effort and enterprise ; and an influence often 
 exerted, the effects of which, may be prolonged for ages. — 
 An influence affecting not merely the common interests 
 and current pursuits of humanity, but giving character to 
 its higher social and moral destinies. 
 
 One who knew well the value of what he said, has 
 remarked, that "it cannot be an unbecoming trial, at any 
 i'lme, and in any way, to improve the useful arts." Agri- 
 culture had existed for ages as an art, before it was 
 subjected to any thing like scientific arrangement. Viewed 
 as a science, it is but a collection of general truths and 
 principles, deduced from an accurate and extended exami- 
 nation of numerous collated f:icts, selected from all countries, 
 and during many centuries. — Tlie result, in fact, of the 
 enlarged and careful experience of ages and nations. It is 
 not so much a science, as the application of many sciences; 
 — a group of arts applied in subsidizing the powers of 
 nature to the service of man. 
 
 As in the instance of the application of all science and 
 art, so in agriculture especially, the hoxo must be deduced 
 from the why : and this renders an appeal to the natural 
 history and philosophy of agriculture, indispensable to a 
 proper understanding of the subject. Allow us to hope, 
 therefore, that it will not be unacceptable to you, to look
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS, 181 
 
 at the subject in some of its more enlarged extrinsic 
 relations, before we approach it, in view of those tangible 
 forms and practical relations, giving it the character of a 
 business pecuniary interest. We delight to uplift the eye 
 and gaze on the splendid scenery of the heavens. Intense 
 is the intellectual gratification, as the mind essays to grasp 
 and adjust the admirable mechanism! — the elaborate 
 architecture, so impressively displayed in the grand structure 
 of the planetary system, and grander extensions of the 
 stellar universe ! How infinitely does such a survey 
 enhance our conceptions of the grandeur of nature — the 
 majesty of creation ! Adequate knowledge of the subject 
 leads us to regard our firmament, with all its imposing 
 vastness, as but one of unnumbered clusters, of kindred 
 magnitude and interest, constituting the appropriate field, 
 and furnishing the only limitude of astronomical discovery! 
 Whenever we thus, by a glance or more extended obser- 
 vation, chart the heavens, engirting our planet, and of 
 which it is a part, although not included in the survey, the 
 interest felt is as vivid as it is varied. When, however, in 
 addition to this, we proceed to contemplate the laws and 
 relations, — the structural organic purposes, and especially 
 the complicate and expansive arrangements, by which the 
 destinies of the worlds of astronomy are planned ajul 
 circumscribed, the very sublimity of the conception, 
 exhausts the vigor projecting it, and leaves the mind weary 
 and bewildered, amid the reigning order and adjusted 
 relationships, — the discoveries enriching the science, and 
 unrolling the wonders of the mighty, the stupendous 
 organization ! 
 
 Looking upon this grand cortege of unresting worlds, 
 wheeling through space, in obedience to the law of their 
 respective centers, — reflecting upon their exactitude of 
 structure and vastness of extent, — the majestic march of
 
 182 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 the visible firmament, from change to change and phase 
 to phase ; — in a word, the grandeur and statistics of the 
 heavens — these, so viewed, not only strike and astonish, 
 but give birth alike to curious conjecture and lofty concep- 
 tion ! And, returning, what is the perspective below and 
 about ? What, of the one of many planets, which God has 
 made our home and habitation ? Are we oblitred to make 
 it a mere observatory, — the gate only of the august temple 
 of the universe, and look away beyond for scenes and dis- 
 plays of beauty and magnificence ! Is it true, that our 
 earth is a section of the heavens, — that it belongs to the 
 grand unity we have been considering ? As one of them, 
 has it existed in companionship with the stars of God, — 
 the hosts of heaven, since the great genesis of creation ! 
 If so, can it want attraction? While speculation and dis- 
 covery are intent upon the detection and proof of 
 established analogies between other planets and the earth, 
 extending this analogy to structure, constituent parts, 
 motion, surface, atmosphere, general physical phenomena, 
 and even sentient tribes, is there either truth or poetry, in 
 the seeming supposition of many, that our planet is 2^oor in 
 objects of interest and attraction ? Is all on earth little and 
 evanescent ? With the small and the fleeting, have we 
 not, side by side, and mingling in endless interlacement, 
 the grand and the enduring ? Is there any want of the 
 massive and mighty, in magnitude and extension ? En- 
 grossed as you may occasionally be, amid the revelations 
 of the telescope, and the infinitudes of space, returning to 
 earth, is there really any want of the sublime in aspect, or 
 the beautiful in form ? Is nature about you at fault in 
 furnishing the complicate in structure — the admirable in 
 mechanism ? Crowded and teeming as it is, with organi-' 
 zation, life, and intelligence, — its localities instinct with 
 vegetable, animal, and rational life, who can walk this
 
 AUBICULTUKAL ADDRESS. 183 
 
 beauteous earth, and mark its varied, constituent, visible, 
 and sensible phenomena, without feelings very different 
 from those with which we gaze upon the far-off orbs of sky 
 and space ? 
 
 It will, perhaps, be in place to extend the view of the 
 subject we propose, so as to present the general topic in 
 some additional aspects. Reflect then, for a moment further, 
 upon the astronomical relations of our globe. Take the 
 material constitution of the earth — all its various products, 
 the characteristics of its living tribes, as also, its more dis- 
 tinctive influences, with regard to all organized entities, 
 and it will be found that they all result, in greater or less 
 degree, from the presence and supply of solar light. How 
 such supply is connected with the annual succession of the 
 seasons, and the regular vicissitudes of day and night, in 
 view of the planetary arrangements to which we have ad- 
 verted, preventing oppressive excess on the one hand, and 
 deficient supply on the other, you need not be told. Such 
 allusion to the cosmical arrangements of our planetary 
 system is not uncalled for, as these arrangements confess- 
 edly influence nearly all terrestrial phenomena, especially, 
 the growth and functions of plants and animals. The phe- 
 nomena OT the whole vegetable world, (for instance) are 
 conformed to, and regulated by the revolution of the earth 
 around the sun. The well-known periodicity of habit, on 
 the part of trees, shrubs, plants and flowers, depends essen- 
 tially upon the seasons, as controlled by the celestial 
 arrangements in question. All the cycles of vegetable life 
 are regulated in this way. The vegetable year is con- 
 formed to the solar year. Our day, too, measured by the 
 earth's revolution upon its own axis, is an astronomical 
 arrangement, vitally affecting the life and growth, both of 
 plants and animals ; and they have diurnal cycles, 
 functions, and changes, exactly corresponding. There is
 
 184 AGRICULTTJRAL ADDRESS. 
 
 a perfect coincidence between the adjustments of inert 
 matter, and organic structures. Even the dimensions of the 
 solar system are adapted to the laws and wants of vegetable 
 life. The physiology of the daisy and snow-drop is inti- 
 mately connected with astronomical laws and relations. 
 Lifeless, is everjTvhere adapted to living nature : — the 
 inorganic, to the organic world. The planetary structure 
 itself, to the powers and wants of the vegetable and animal 
 tribes of earth. 
 
 Look at the vital forces of the organic world, the entire 
 vegetable and animal kingdoms, they bear direct, exact 
 proportion to the force of gravity, which is again regulated, 
 in the whole range of its influence, by the mass of the 
 earth. The power of propulsion, or mechanical force, which 
 propels the sap of the vegetable and tree, b}'' a pumping 
 hydraulic process, sometimes to the height of two hundred 
 feet, is indeed surprising, as it evinces a singular adjustment 
 between this organic force, and the law of gravitation, as 
 opposed to the result. You may cut off a luxuriant grape 
 vine at the proper season of the year, and attach to the 
 truncated part, a small tube, (it may be glass, and twenty, 
 or even forty feet in length, if we will,) and such is the 
 vital, vegetative power of the vine, it will force the sap to 
 the top of the tube ; thus showing incontestably, that the 
 forces of vegetable life have been mathematically adjusted 
 to the power of gravitation, as determined by the mass of 
 the whole earth. Who would suppose that the jasmin, or 
 honeysuckle, imbibes moisture and nutritive power at the 
 roots, and then propels the sap to the topmost branches and 
 leaves, in a way not only assuming, but by a singnilar 
 dynomic adaptation, actually measuring the exact force of 
 gravitation ? In like manner, the organic structures, and 
 muscular adaptations of animals, are adjusted with unerring 
 exactitude, to the force of gravity, as in the instance of
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 185 
 
 vegetable organisms. The same adjustment obtains between 
 the crops of your fields, the vegetables and flowers of your 
 gardens, and the size of the ocean. Vegetjition, you know, 
 depends in great measure, upon climate, atmospheric con- 
 ditions, the variations of weather, as wet and dry, and 
 kindred vicissitudes of season ; and of these, to a very great 
 extent at least, the ocean is the grand regulator. 
 
 Upon the ocean, by means of evaporation, depend rains, 
 and dews, and moisture. Were the ocean greatly less or 
 larger, the increase of dryness and heat, or dampness and 
 cold, would destroy vegetable growth and supply, almost 
 entirely. The same is also true of the bulk, or amount of 
 the atmosphere. Assume its size or amount to be doubled, 
 the pressure, winds, and tempests of the atmosphere, would 
 utterly destroy vegetation, as now organized and supported. 
 These organized adaptations of the vegetable kingdom, cor- 
 responding with the organic adjustments to which we have 
 asked attention, are indeed surprising, and well worth a 
 preliminary thought, in any essay to understand the phi- 
 losophy of the earth's culture, in view of the support of its 
 numerous animal tribes, dependent upon such culture. 
 Without, at least, adverting to the laws and mechanism of 
 the planetary system, any idea or impression we might have, 
 with regard to the nature and phenomena of terrestrial 
 physics, would be partial and defective. The subjective, as 
 it regards the structure and relations of our planet, is in 
 exact correspondence with the objective, — the laws and 
 arrangements of the more general system, of which it is a 
 part. If it can be rationally demonstrated, that in all the 
 widely extended generalities of universal nature, the stability, 
 order, and harmony of our world, have been consulted, and 
 that the sustentation and welfare ofits livins: ortcanizations, 
 and more especially, the well-being and pre-eminence of 
 
 man, in action and enjoyment, have been duly provided for, 
 VOL. II — 16. 
 
 /'
 
 186 AGUICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 it will give to man a tranquillity of hope, an invigoration of 
 confidence, in connection with his earthly destiny, not likely 
 to result from any other view of the subject he can take. 
 It has long been the wont, both of philosophy and religion, 
 to undervalue man's place in the universe, as either unworthy 
 of him, or a punitive arrangement on account of his sins. 
 Utterly dissenting from all such views, and believing man 
 should more frequently place in review before him, his 
 orio'inal destiny and primeval relations, as a sovereign of the 
 earth, by Divine appointment, and which appointment placed 
 him there, for the purpose, among others, of asserting his 
 dio-nity and dominion, in ministering to his own wants and 
 gratification, by the cultivation and adornment of earth, we 
 have deemed it proper to make these suggestions. And 
 cannot such views be taken without presuming to place the 
 contents and garniture of earth in rivalry with the spheres 
 and amplitudes of celestial scenery ? Let the majesty of 
 creation appear in these mightier masses, let them stand as 
 the synonyme of unapproachable infinitude ! Still, can you 
 even olance at the planetary relations of our globe, and 
 especially, the constitution of the earth's surface, the ocean 
 and atmosphere, with their tribes and tenants, their adjust- 
 ments and adaptations, without being struck with the beauty 
 of design and beneficence of purpose, so manifest through- 
 out the grand frame-work and architecture of the whole ? 
 Who does not perceive the effective harmony of adjustment 
 between the greater and the less, the higher and the lower; 
 and perceive also, at the same time, that while the former 
 challenges the admiration of thought, the latter secures the 
 devotion of feeling ? We admire, with rapt wonder, the 
 structure, masses, and phenomena of the heavens. The 
 vision is indeed impressive, but it is a vision in which 
 distance and immensity awe and repel. Not so, when we 
 return to earth, (but too truly) the home of our hearts and
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 187 
 
 our hopes, — the theater of interest and endearment. Her 
 forms of beauty and grandeur, thronging on the eye, are 
 loved with a child's affection. Ever, and everyv/here, her 
 voice is busy in the heart. With the earth, man feels a 
 community of nature, not only as in proximity and relation 
 with it, — springing from it, and returning to it, but because 
 it is only by means of the earth, he is introduced to an 
 acquaintance with the other divisions of the universe. It 
 is his birth-scene and homestead, and has about it a natal 
 charm and guardian sanctity. It is felt to be the common 
 inheritance of his kind. He is sustained by the feeling of 
 right and possession. Nature about him smiles in beauty, 
 and burdened with bounty, is ever prolific of supply. He 
 feels that his agency alone is wanting, in order to provision 
 and enjoyment. All his feelings and faculties find counter- 
 part objects in the scenes of nature surrounding him. And 
 the same is true of all the wants and necessities, the rela- 
 tions and duties of his being. In a word, regarded only as 
 the urn of existence, earth becomes endeared to us, beyond 
 all the brilliant masses of the sky. But it will be asked, 
 what has all this to do with the occasion, — the subject 
 ostensibly engrossing us ? How are such dreams and 
 fancies to blend with the plow and harrow, — muck and 
 manure ? This question, rather formidable, (certainly) 
 will perhaps be hest answered by suggesting, that we have 
 several other preliminary matters to attend to, before we 
 shall have any use for the plow and harrow, or shall know 
 what to do with muck and manure. Nature is, in strictness, 
 the text and archetype of science ; and must we not know 
 what nature has done, before we can determine what she 
 has left for us to do ? 
 
 About some of nature's arrangements and pre-adjust- 
 ments, we have perhaps said enough, — possibly too much. 
 But there are others, less complicated with the general struc-
 
 188 AGKICULT0RAL ADDRESS. 
 
 ture of things, and more directly applicable to the subject 
 in hand, •whose introduction may aid us in accomplishing 
 the object we have in view. If it be our aim to ascertain 
 the best means of culture and fertilization as it regards soils, 
 it may save an expenditure of all the means involved, to 
 pay some attention to the composite nature of soils, — the 
 elements and contingencies, the conditions and agencies, 
 necessary to vegetable growth, and especially, enlarged 
 effective agricultural production. The object oi science is 
 to ascertain the mode, — the hoio of nature's operations. 
 The means of such ascertainment, must, in every instance, 
 be observation and experiment. In this way, science 
 becomes a classification of general laws, from an induction 
 of particular facts. These facts, in the present inquiry, 
 must be sought in the elementary principles of soil, the 
 atmosphere, the living plant, comprehending all the agencies 
 knovv^n to affect the phenomena of vegetation. 
 
 Still further then, in order to place our subject in a 
 proper light, it will be necessary to glance at the geological 
 structure, relations, and phenomena of the earth's surface. 
 The matter of our globe must be judged of by the super- 
 ficial contents of that portion of its crust, accessible to 
 observation. The substances constituent of the solid crust 
 of the globe, are familiarly classified as rocks, earths, 
 minerals, water, air. Geology affects agriculture, only in 
 so far as it shows the true elements, — the proximate prin- 
 ciples of earth, and how far these component parts influence 
 the growth of vegetation ; and even this service requires 
 the aid of chemistry. So far as rocks are concerned, the 
 affinities found among them, as it regards constituent parts, 
 are so nearly uniform, that the idea of constitutional identity 
 is suggested at once. And the supposition that different 
 rocks, or kinds of rock, give character, in any sensible 
 degree, to the soils reposing on them, must be utterly
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 189 
 
 rejected. In this view of llie subject, ail soil is very nearly 
 the same ; and no material dill'erence, from geological causes, 
 is allowable iu our ueneral estimates of soils. Numerous facts 
 tend to establish this conclusion with the utmost clearness. 
 No greater diversity of production, no greater difference, 
 in kind or quc^ntity, is found connected with soils supported 
 by different classes of rock, than in the instance of soils 
 reposing upon the same specific bed : and^ it is a curious 
 fact, tested by the most rigid analysis, that soils reposing 
 upon immense beds of limestone, has less of the constituent 
 lime in their composition, than soils beneath which the 
 limestone is entirely absent. How far soil may be atfected 
 by the disintegration of rock, reducing it to a state of 
 pulrerulence in a long course of ages, and so blending it 
 Avith soil, is a separate question entirely. Our position, 
 contrary perhaps to the generally received opinion, is, that 
 imbedded rocks exert no known appreciable influence upon 
 the soils by which they are covered ; and should not be 
 relied upon, to any extent, by either the philosopher or the 
 cultivator. The supposition we here oppose has, no donbt, 
 been greatly strengthened by the equally fallacious assump- 
 tion, that all soil is the product of rocks, subjected to the 
 processes of disintegration ; — a supposition as improbable 
 aprlori, as it is unallowable on the ground of examined 
 facts. The doctrine that soils are geologically determined 
 by the rocks beneath them, is certainly not susceptible of 
 proof, except in relation to given localities, — limited tracts, 
 which instead of establishing, can only be regarded as 
 exceptions to the general rule. Soils do not take their 
 character from the rocks underlaying them: and in all soils 
 will be found all the inorganic elements, such as phospliate 
 and sulphate of lime, the alkalies, and other constituents 
 necessary to the common purposes of production. The 
 only difficulty is, to find them in due proportion, in a slate
 
 190 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 of proper equivalence in relation to each other, and also to 
 the organic elements composing the gein, or vegetable mold 
 of soils. . Tlie soils covering all the principal rock forma- 
 tions of geology, say thirteen, subjected to the most rigid 
 chemical tests, furnish within a very tritiing per cent, the 
 same amount of gein, soluble and insoluble, and selected from 
 a disti'ict of country nearly equal in territory to the whole 
 State of Kentucky ; and as the earthy and metallic ingredients 
 are seldom or never wanting, and it requires proof that the 
 salts are to any considerable extent, derived from the rock 
 foundations of soil, and gein being essentially organic in 
 origin, it furnishes strong presumption that the rock-soil 
 theoiy does not affect the character of soil, to the extent 
 usually assumed by its supporters. 
 
 The prin(;ipal fact, seemingly opposed to the assumption 
 that rocks do not affect the soils resting on them, is, that 
 the fossilliferous and trappean classes have a small per cent, 
 more of lime and magnesia in them, than the granitic and 
 non fossil! iferous ; and as these are known to influence soils, 
 it iuay be thought by some, that what we assume is not 
 correct. When, however, it is taken into the account, that 
 the excess of lime and magnesia in the former class, is 
 inconsiderable, and especially, that we have no reason to 
 believe, that in rocks underlaying soils, it is detached and 
 eliminated in sufficient quantities to be of any service to 
 the soil, our reasoning remains unaffected by the fact 
 alleged. Other circumstances being equal, all the food- 
 growing plants flourish equally over every class and kind 
 of rock formation known to belong to the crust of the 
 earth. 
 
 Take the extended belt of the earth's surface found 
 between twenty and seventy degrees north latitude, exhibit- 
 ing every variety of rock formation, and yet within tlic 
 entire range, no where are the cultivated crops affected by
 
 AORIOULTCRAL ADDRESS. 191 
 
 the chemical constiuitiou of difitirent rocks benoath the soil, 
 It is to be feared, that many are inclined to regard geology 
 as throwing more light on the subject of agriculture than 
 facts will warrant. If, for example, it be a fact that soil is 
 not essentially effected by the rock formations subtended 
 beneath, and that it is derived, in very small proportion, 
 from tlie gradual abrasion, and pulverulent matter of rocks, 
 — if it should turn out, as we have no doubt it will, in the 
 progress of science, that the mineral ingredients found in 
 soil, are only nutritive in combination with other elements 
 and agents, organic and inorganic, and especially the 
 former in the shape of gein, the gi'eat supplier of carbon 
 and the gases, it must be seen and felt at once, that we 
 may rely upon the contributions of mineralogy and geol- 
 ogy, in connection with practical agriculture, beyond their 
 actual ascertained value. While the value of each is, in 
 .some respects, real and important, it is. relative and con- 
 tingent, and must conditionate and determine production 
 much more limitedly than has generally been supposed. 
 
 The best soils we have exhibit the followinor elomeiits, 
 in very nearly the proportions named. In one hundred 
 parts, 60 silica — 15 or 16 alumina — lime 3 — oxide of iron 
 2 — manganese 7 — soluble gein 4 — insoluble gein 5 — 
 potash 3 — soda 1 — magnesia 1. The salts and gein, you 
 perceive, must be from four to ten per cent., in order to 
 decide fertility ; and the question arises, to what extent 
 can the different kinds of subjacent rock, such as o-ranite, 
 gneiss, and limestone, laying at a depth, generally, of from 
 fifteen to one hundred feet beneath the soil, exert any very 
 decided influence upon these ingredients ? And especially 
 to what extent are the salts and the gein, (the principal 
 elements of fertility,) afl'ected by the rocks beneath ? That 
 salts, in some instances, and to a limited extent, are sup- 
 plied by rocks, is admitted; but does it follow, or is it
 
 192 AGRICUI-TURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 possible to suppose, that they are furnished usually, and 
 in tlie requisite quantity, by the deeply imbedded strata 
 supporting soils ? Must there not be, and is it not known, 
 that there are other and less doubtful sources of supply ? 
 In the chemical and mechanical action and reaction going 
 on in successive ages, between the earthy materials of the 
 world's crust and surface, may we not have greatly tho 
 laro-er part of the dust and debris ascribed to the disinte- 
 gration of rocks ? A few specific kinds of earth constitute 
 tlie inorganic portion of soil. The principal are silex, 
 (sand) alumina, (clay) and limestone. Tlie word lime, is 
 used vaguely to denote all forms of calcareous earthy 
 matter, but its more common and restricted meaning is con- 
 fined to the artificial product, obtained from the carbonate 
 of lime by burning, such as marble or limestone proper. 
 In nearly all its known states and relations, however, it is 
 supposed to perform important functions. A more general 
 analysis of soils will give the following elements ; and in 
 decreased proportion, corresponding with the order in 
 •which they are named. Earths, (as above,) water, vegeta- 
 ble mold, decayed animal matter or substances, salts, ores, 
 alkalies, and gases. Ask yourselves now, in what proportion 
 the sands, the clay, the Avater, the salts, the ores, the alkalies, 
 the gases are derived from rocks ? Must not the proportion 
 be inconsiderable ? That there is a contribution to some 
 extent, is admitted ; but that it is sufficient to determine 
 quality, and give character to soil, is a position unsupported 
 by any evidence we have met with on the subject. 
 
 We do not object to a geological classification of soils. 
 It is convenient, and for general purposes proper ; and our 
 only motive for introducing the topic, has been to check 
 what we regard, as a prevalent propensity to over estimate 
 the manner in which soils are affected by geological forma- 
 tions in the earth's crust supporting them.
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 193 
 
 Chemistry admits of a much more extensive application 
 to agriculture, than geology. The rationale of vegetable 
 life must be sought in the elementary principles of vegetable 
 structures. The composite ingredients constituting the 
 fabric of a plant, must be ascertained, and chemical 
 anal3'sis enables the inquirer to reach the desired result. 
 By the aid of chemistry, most important conclusions havo 
 been arrived at, affecting the laws of vegetable life. The 
 principal earths found in vegetables are lime, silica, mag- 
 nesia, and alumina. The principal alkalies are potass, 
 soda, and ammonia, metallic oxides — iron, and maganese. 
 Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, viewed as con- 
 stituent uncompounded elements in physical nature, may 
 be said to form the substantial essence of the vegetable 
 "world. In this way, chemical analysis lays bare the 
 constituent properties, and unfolds the essential physiology 
 of vegetable organization, and furnishes innumerable data 
 for the guidance of the cullivator of the soil. It explains 
 the nature, elements, a«d changes of soil, as the source of 
 vegetable production. It teaches us the organic structure 
 of plants, and unfolds the processes of vegetation. It 
 makes us acquainted with the conditions and agencies most 
 essential to the vital functions of vegetable growth, indefi- 
 nitely enlarging the sphere, and improving the various 
 kinds of production. Among the conditions and agencies 
 essential to the living structure and growth of plants, the 
 most important are soil, air, water, food, gravitation, affinity, 
 light, heat, electricity, and in the instance of agriculture, 
 human agency comes in, as indispensable to the intended 
 result. 
 
 A slight acquaintance wdtli the vital functions of plants 
 
 renders it certain, that both chemical and mechanical laws 
 
 and tendencies, are resisted by the vital principle, and 
 
 subordinated to it. — Such as affinity, repulsion, cohesion, 
 VOL. II — 17.
 
 J 94 AGRICULTORAL ADDRESS. 
 
 gravitation, &c. All the agents and elements of veg-etable 
 production are subjected to the control of the vital principle. 
 Chemical affinity, as met with in vegetable compounds, by 
 which matter of one kind has attraction for matter of an 
 opposite kiad, performing offices entirely variant from those 
 of cohesion and orravitation, attractino* and holdino- toiretlier, 
 in the same compound, different kinds of matter, until 
 some third kind, by the same or some other law, leads to 
 decomposition ; and in this way, operating results in the 
 vegetable economy, as important as they are, in many 
 instances, inexplicable, are controlled by the vital action 
 of the plant. The laws of chemical affinity extend alike 
 to organic and inorganic elements and compounds, and are 
 susceptible of indefinite application in the practical pursuits 
 and relations of agriculture. As these affinities all operate 
 hy fixed, and generally unalterable laws, as it regards estab- 
 lished proportion, exact relative equivalence, each with the 
 rest in every compound, by means of chemical analysis, 
 the constitution of soils and plants is readily determinable. 
 The most important lesson thus learned aflfecting the interests 
 of agriculture, is, that the several kinds of soil, and the 
 almost infinite variety of vegetable productions, are inva- 
 riably compounded of a few simple substances, in nearly 
 given, and always ascertainable proportions. The chemical 
 forces too, of light, heat, and electricity, come in here for 
 a moment's notice ; not only operating numerous modifica- 
 tions of the action of affinity itself, but acting directly upon 
 all the vital functions of vegetation. It has been seen that 
 these chemical forces, are held in subjection by what is 
 called the vital force of the plant — its living power, 
 especially in connection with the organic and inorganic 
 elements of soil. Wliat this catalysis, or catalytic power 
 of the plant is, we do not attempt to explain ; but as its 
 presence in the soil gives birth to otherwise unknown
 
 AGRICULTURAL. ADDRESS. 195 
 
 phenomena, we are obliged to recognize life — the vitality 
 in qiieslion, as invested with special agency in relation to 
 all the proximate principles of vegetable growtli. Organi- 
 zation results only from this living principle ; and the vital 
 force of which we speak, is phenomenally different from 
 every other known force in nature. The process of the 
 absorption of food by the leaves, and its imbibition by the 
 roots, as the organs of nutrition, proves not only the exist- 
 ence of the vital energy of plants, but its power to resist 
 chemical affinities, gravitation, and the alternations of heat 
 and cold. 
 
 The great peculiarity of the living energy of plants, is 
 most strikingly exemplified in the productions of vegetable 
 life. These have never been, never can be produced by 
 any possible combination of merely chemical or mechanical 
 agents. These formatious exist nowhere, never can exist 
 anywhere in nature, however assisted by art, except under 
 the direction of the living -principle now claiming attention. 
 The great ftict to which we now advert, giving birth to a 
 thousand other facts, is most essentially connected with all 
 the proceses, and the entire system of tillage. The soil 
 and atmosphere are depositions of food for plants, and also 
 the media of communication to the roots and leaves ; but 
 the food from both soil and atmosphere has to be modified 
 and prepared, in order to reception and assimilation by the 
 plant; and here, the catalytic force alluded to, is indispen- 
 sable. The soil and the living plant form a galvanic battery 
 by which the decomposition of soil is effected for the 
 purposes of nutrition, and the vital functions of the plant 
 stimulated and developed. And is it not equally certain, 
 that a similar battery for similar purposes, is in action 
 between the leaves of the plant and the atmosphere ? The 
 principal substances thus eliminated and prepared for food, 
 are carbonic acid, water, (oxygen and hydrogen) ammonia,
 
 196 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 the alkalies, alkaline earths, metallic oxides, different kinds 
 of salts, and the several orijanic substances enterinf as 
 constituents into the formation of vegetable mold or the 
 gein of soils. Let an example explain what we mean. 
 Look at the electricity of soils. In pure silica or sand, it 
 is wholly negative. In the case of alumina, lime, magne- 
 sia, iron, and the alkalies, it is wholly positive ; and in 
 either case, absolute barrenness is the result. Nature and 
 art, however, furnish the corrective. Vegetable and ani- 
 mal substances in the soil, are constantly generating acids 
 and alkalies : the former negative, and the latter positive 
 in their electricity. These produce electric action and cur- 
 rents in the soil, directlj^ affecting the constituents of soil 
 and the functions of plants, as assumed above. If then, a 
 soil be predominantly acid and negative in its electricity, 
 or alkaline and positive, and of course, in both cases bar- 
 ren, let the farmer, as he can by well-known processes, 
 neutralize the acid and alkaline qualities, so as to balance 
 the electro powers of the soil, and fertility will be the 
 result. Such views, however, cannot be extended. 
 
 In an address, more or less miscellaneous in its charac- 
 ter, it cannot be expected that we enter very minutely, or 
 at any considerable length, into strictly scientific distinc- 
 tions. While it may be proper briefly to state, it cannot 
 be expected that we attempt to elaborate the chemical 
 conditions known to be essential to the existence and devel- 
 opment of vegetable life. It cannot be looked for that we 
 attempt to explain, in any detailed manner, how the pro- 
 cesses of organic nature are subject, primarily, to the 
 operation of chemical laws, and yet afterward superior to 
 them, in the instance of each specific organization. In the 
 instance of each specific vegetable, we have a well-known 
 complexity, an undoubted diversity of parts, variously 
 dependent upon each other, and jointly tending to secure
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 197 
 
 the same result ; and it is the business of organic chemis- 
 try, as applied to vegetation, to detect and illustrate the 
 agencies and conditions essential to the existence and repro- 
 duction of these living organisms. In each, the parts met 
 with are reciprocally means and ends. Each depends upon 
 the other, and they mutually subserve the complex pur- 
 poses of the whole. To understand the constituent 
 elements, therefore, the conditions of growth and develop- 
 ment, and the kindred facts of their philosophy, it is 
 necessary to take into the account whatever may serve 
 them as nutriment, the productive supply of substances 
 affording nourishment, together with the so2irces whence 
 these substances are derived, not less than the processes 
 of assimilation, implied in the changes they undero-o in 
 becoming the food of organized bodies. Whenever the 
 organic and inorganic divisions of nature, are subjected to 
 examinations in this way, we learn that, primarily, the 
 animal kingdom is dependent upon the vegetable for 
 growth and supply ; and the vegetable, in return, upon the 
 great mass of inorganic substances. Hence, no adequate 
 comprehension of the subject, in its more minute and phi- 
 losophical relations, is possible, without an extended appeal, 
 not merely to chemistry, but to the kindred sciences of 
 mineralogy, geology, botany and zoology, whose fixed laws 
 are directly connected with the vegetable kingdom ; and 
 either directly or indirectly with the animal, also. The 
 physical should always be distinguished from the chemical 
 properties of soil ; and yet, both studied in connection, 
 as it will often be necessary to consult each class of charac- 
 teristics, in order to secure the required combination. 
 Thus, soils distinguished as wet and dry, light and heavy, 
 warm and cold, may be more influenced by local physical 
 causes than by their actual chemical constitution, and 
 their cultivation and treatment should vary accordingly.
 
 J 98 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 On the subject of chemical conditions and agencies, it 
 may be proper to add, that in tlie vegetable economy, car- 
 bon performs a most important part. It constitutes from 
 forty to fifty per cent, by weight, of every part of all the 
 plants cultivated for the food of men or animals. Oxygen, 
 tangibly known only in its gaseous form, is the great sus- 
 tainer of animal life. It constitutes twenty-one per cent, 
 of the bulk of the atmosphere. It forms eight of every 
 nine pounds of water. It constitutes nearly one-half of all 
 the solid rocks, and of the entire crust of our globe, and 
 of all solid substances about us ; and in the instance of 
 animal and vegetable substances, more than one-half. Its 
 presence and action are essential to vegetable life. 
 
 Hydrogen, like oxygen, is only known to the senses in 
 the shape of gas. Of the bulk and weight of animal sub- 
 stances, it forms but a small per centage. Of the weight 
 of water, it constitutes one-ninth. Into the mineral 
 masses of the globe's crust, it does not enter, coal only 
 excepted. It does not exist in nature in a free state ; and 
 in such state is not necessary to the life and growth of 
 animals or vegetables. Its adaptation, therefore, to the 
 purposes of vegetable and animal life, is only in combina- 
 tion with other elements and properties. Nitrogen, too, is 
 known only as a gas. It forms seventy-nine per cent, of 
 the bulk of the atmosphere. It is found in some vegetable, 
 and in a large number of animal substances. It is not 
 found in any of the great mineral masses, except occasion- 
 ally it is detected, in very small quantity, in the vegetable 
 formations of coal, usually ranking among minerals. 
 As an organic element, it is not abundant in nature, and 
 yet is important to the vitality and development of plants 
 and animals ; and tli rough the medium of spring-water 
 and rain-water, imbibed from atmospheric air, it reaches 
 and nourishes vegetation.
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 199 
 
 These elementary bodies form the principal part of all 
 organic substances, and may be regarded as the raw mate- 
 rial upon which the chemistry of vegetable life and the 
 animal organism operates, and from which, in the one case 
 and the other, ils innumerable constructions are molded. 
 With very few exceptions, all organized bodies consist of 
 the four substances just described. In vegetable sub- 
 stances, however, they are very unequally distributed. la 
 a thousand parts of wheat, for example, we have four hun- 
 dred and fifty-five of carbon, four hundred and thirty-one 
 of oxygen, sixty-one of hydrogen, forty-two of nitrogen, 
 and the balance in organic matter, say ash. The uses and 
 modifications of these great constituent elements of physi- 
 cal nature, are endlessly varied, throughout all her produc- 
 tions, organic and inorganic. The principal ingredient of 
 water, is also the principal ingredient of rock or stone. 
 The sole constituent of the diamond, sparkling upon the 
 brow of beauty, enters, in the proportion of some fifty per 
 cent, into the composition of a potatoe or cabbage-head. 
 The elementary matter which, last season, pointed the 
 thorn and the briar, and prepared the sting of the nettle 
 and thistle, may this season, regale your senses in the rose, 
 the grape and the peach. The marble slab, the block of lime- 
 stone, tlie loaf of bread, the black lead pencil, the blushing 
 rose, beautiful hand, eloquent and lovely face — all the 
 same — one in substance in nature's laboratory ! Part of 
 the finest eye before me, brilliant with the coruscations of 
 thought and feeling, may have been the snuff of a candle, 
 and may yet be cinder ! 
 
 Such facts and data in the general constitution of nature, 
 give birth to important practical results. Let a single 
 e ample explain. A vigorous and abundant vegetation is 
 ■' iportant to health. Excess of carbonic acid gas, is deci- 
 
 edly injurious to animal life ; and it is known that its
 
 200 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 formation is constantly going on in every instance of com- 
 bustion, putrefaciion, fermentation, and animal respiration, 
 beside man)' other operations upon the surface of the earth, 
 unceasingly charging the atmosphere with this gas, while 
 the only general operation in nature, by which ii is 
 abstracted in necessary quantity from the atmosphere, and 
 neutralized in combination with the soil, is vegetation. 
 Hence, abundance of vegetation is favorable to life and 
 health ; and rural scenes and localities decidedly more 
 healthful and invigorating than any other. It was a part 
 of the religion of the ancient Persians to plant trees about 
 their homesteads, and it ought to be a part of your religion, 
 too ! 
 
 It has been seen that oiir world offers us five p-rand 
 divisions. The aerial, the aqueous, the mineral, ihe vege- 
 table, and the animal. Man is essentially dependant upon 
 each. Directly, he derives subsistence from the animal 
 and vegetable -kingdoms, as animal life can only subsist on 
 what has had life before. Indirectly, however, he subsists 
 alike upon the other three ; and in the most direct sense, 
 he is dependant upon them for life and habitation. How 
 important, then, that eaeli should be understood, in its 
 proper scientific relations ! How intimate is the connec- 
 tion between these several divisions of earth, and the 
 vegetable burdens and animal tribes, which it is the busi- 
 ness of tillage and husbandry to provide for the use of man ! 
 
 Fiirther, the theory of the action of manures can only be 
 understood by an appeal to chemistry. We must first 
 understand the action of the elements of soil upon each 
 other, and how vegetation is affected by them, at the same 
 time. No acquaintance, however exiensive, witli mineral- 
 ogy, geology, or descriptive botany, can possibly be of any 
 service without a resort to chemistry. Select a fact, impor- 
 tant to bo known. Carbonic acid, and the carbonates in
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 201 
 
 soil, let loose — set free the polasli, lime, soda, magnesia, 
 and alumina ; and with these, the organic parts unite, as 
 gein, and by the union, we have the formation of gein ; and 
 these geotes are again transformed by the carbonic acid, 
 from the carbonate of lime, into super geotes, readily dis- 
 solvable, and essential to fertility ; and we thus learn that 
 gein is a principal agent of nature in dissolving the earthy 
 constituents of soil, and preparing food for plants. The 
 alkalies, let loose as above, act upon the insolubility of 
 gein, and in this mutual reaction and introspection, we 
 have one of the grand secrets of fertilization, as it regards 
 soil. Introduce, now, the living plant into the soil, with 
 its well-known powerful catalytic action in changing the 
 relations of the constituents of soil, (organic and inorganic) 
 and you will have a most vivid perception of the galvanic 
 battery we named a short time since. The presence of the 
 plant in soil, separates the elements of the salts, the earthy, 
 or metalHc base remains the same, and the acid of the salt, 
 which thus let loose, acts upon the silicates of soil, pro- 
 ducing new salts which are constantly repeating the results 
 of the original salt. Thus, a salt containing in itself no 
 -nutriment, is found of the utmost importance in soils, 
 because of its chemical results in relation to the otherwise 
 useless ingredients of soils. Hence, a most interesting 
 oonclusion — without salts and gein we have no vegetable 
 production. The gein in sokdion is essential to fruit, and 
 yet, without the salts, the insolubility of gein would leave 
 the soil barren. 
 
 It has been seen, to what extent soil is influenced by its 
 electric tendencies. Dry, sandy soil, is a non-conductor 
 of electricity. A heavy, clayey, aluminous soil, is but a 
 weak, imperfect conductor ; while gein, which is positive 
 in its electric affinities, in relation to the other properties 
 of soil, necessarily become-s the principal medium in th«>
 
 202 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 electric circulation, indispensable to the results of effective 
 cuhivation. It has also been ascertained that the small per 
 cent, of nitrogen found in plants, and not only favorable, 
 but essential to veoetation, but which is never received 
 and assimilated in its gaseous state, enters through the 
 medium of the vegetable extract of mold or gein, (not 
 from rocks) and tends further to illustrate the importance 
 of this substance, as the prime element of fertility in soils. 
 
 We may not have elaborated this topic to the satisfaction 
 of cither the philosopher or the man of practice ; enough, 
 how^ever, has been submitted, should you regard what has 
 been said as of consequence at all, to challenge careful 
 examinaiion, and the result, we doubt not, will satisfy you, 
 that the great secret of fertility in soils, connects itself with 
 the fact that there must be the presence of matter, which 
 has formed the part of living structures, vegetable oi 
 animal, and now blends by chemical action, with the 
 silicates of soil, in the creation of food for vegetation. 
 Take into the account the entire vegetable kingdom, with 
 its hundred thousand tribes, annually coating the earth's 
 surface for six thousand years : include too, if you will, 
 thiC pre-existing vegetations of geology incorporated with 
 the earth's crust, and the subsoils of (perhaps) every 
 country, and add to these the unnumbered millions of the 
 animal kingdom, in the shape of man, beast, fowl, reptile, 
 and insect, augmenting incalculably the organic accumu- 
 lations of soil, and you will be able to form some idea of 
 the great constituent of soil, and source of fertility upon 
 which we have been enlarging. 
 
 The view we have taken of this subject is practically as 
 old as agriculture itself. It has been taught by experience 
 and practice, for at least, three thousand years. The tiller 
 of the ground, however unskilled in art and science, has 
 looked about liim, and disengaged the truth from nature.
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS, 203 
 
 He could not fail to perceive the necessity and importance 
 of manuring, as suggested by nature itself, according to 
 whose laws, the annual decays of the vegetable kingdom, 
 and the constant decomposition of animal substances, enrich 
 the soil, in a way obvious to every one. Centuries of 
 experience attest, that all soils require occasional correction 
 and stimulation, by some of the many fertilizing manures, 
 which the experiments of art and science have accredited 
 as efficient agents in the amelioration of poor, and the 
 renovation of reduced soils. It is one of nature's wise 
 appointments, that death in the vegetable world, becomes 
 a source of life, and one of the necessary conditions of 
 renewal. 
 
 The moral taught us is, that where soil is not found, it 
 can be created. Plants must have for food, the substances 
 of which they are known to be composed ; and where can 
 3'ou look for the requisite supply of carbon, oxygen, 
 hydrogen, and nitrogen, except in the organic accumula- 
 tions, in the shape of natural decomposition, composts, 
 manures, &c.; — that is the gein, upon which we have 
 been insisting ? That these elements are never supplied 
 by rocks, at least to the extent they are needed, is proved, 
 irrefutably, by the fact that without the organic matter 
 in question, as in the instance of deep subsoils, reposing 
 upon rock foundations, the power of fertility is essentially 
 absent. 
 
 Upon the real and relative importance of agriculture, we 
 shall not be expected to dilate, except in general terms. 
 Its true status in the range of art and science, — in the 
 cycle of productive operations of every age and country, — 
 in the general economies of mankind, and especially, as it 
 regards American husbandry, will appear with sufficient 
 force and clearness by keeping in view the relations between 
 the different parts of the general subject. If science be
 
 204 AaRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 brought to the aid of our natural advantages, no limit can 
 be set to tlie productiveness of our extended territory. 
 Some four thousand different kinds of plants are indigenous 
 to temperate America; to say nothing of exotics, and 
 leaving out of view the thirteen thousand of Equinoctial 
 America. Many of these, hitherto not thouo-ht of 
 as possessing value, are being annually appropriated to 
 important domestic and productive uses, such as food, 
 clothing, medicine, and other purposes. We notice the 
 topic here, merely to keep in view the indefinite power of 
 agriculture to improve soil, and increase and multiply its 
 productions. Merely physical causes, such as climate, 
 temperature, &c., must always exert a decided influence 
 on agriculture. Many of tlie difficulties, however, lono- 
 regarded as insuperable, are constantly yielding to the arts 
 and appliances of improved culture. Many ao-ricultural 
 products are now nearly universal, such as the annual hay 
 grasses, and the cereal products, — wheat, rye, and barley; 
 corn too, the oat, the potatoe, the pea, the bean, the turnip, 
 millet, and many other valuable agricultural growths, are 
 now produced in great abundance, where formerly it was 
 thought invincible physical causes forbid their cultivation. 
 All tending to show the correctness of the precedino- 
 position. 
 
 The great object of science, applied to agriculture, is the 
 improvement of soils, and the consequent augmentation of 
 their productive power. Tliere is seldom any material 
 defect as it regards the mineral ingredients of soil. The 
 principal difficulty relates to organic matter and salts, say 
 gein and salts. By reducing all the elements of soil to 
 three classes, the subject assumes a shape less complex 
 and ombarrassinp; to those not in the habit of makino- scien- 
 tific distinctions. Let the classes ha, first, silicates, that is, 
 silicic acid, in union with the several bases, as in the
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 205 
 
 instance of simple minerals. Secondly, salts, as the sul- 
 phates and carbonates generally. Thirdly, gein, as includ- 
 ing all organic matter. Without the two last, the first 
 class of elements would remain inactive, and their mutual 
 reaction upon each other, is essential to the fertility sought 
 in soils. Even the second could not secure fertility, without 
 the third in due proportion. The gein of soils is undoubt- 
 edly, the direct basis of agriculture ; and the proportion in 
 which it exists, and ought to exist, is the gi-eat problem 
 with the farmer. Tliis view of the subject, you will 
 perceive, throws us back iipon a former postulate, — that 
 organic decay, particularly vegetable decomposition, is the 
 great generator of fertility in soils ; and will in every 
 country and era, creatively determine tlie amount of pro- 
 duction. The vital power of vegetation must have its 
 appropriate conditions, and the practical tests of experience 
 evince, that what we assume, is essential to its finding them. 
 If the hitherto unexplored laws and causes of fertility, can 
 be satisfactorily delineated, it will be like the resolving 
 power of gravitation in astronomy ; — it will decide every- 
 thing else. And should it be found, tliat these laws and 
 causes operate mainly by the inorganic elements, the gein 
 of soils, (whose constituents are carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, 
 and nitrogen,) as this substance is inexhaustable in quantity 
 and readily under the control of husbandry, the discovery, 
 vitally affecting the life and comfort of unnumbered 
 millions, is too important to be overlooked, in investigations 
 having for their object the improvement of agriculture. 
 It is almost incredible, to what extent the productive power 
 of soil may be enlarged by the means thus suggested, com- 
 bined with a proper system of compact and vigorous tillage. 
 The ordinary capacity of the field is compressed within the 
 limits of the garden. Too many think an acre of ground 
 not worth inclosing, and yet it contains forty-three thousand
 
 206 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 five hundred and sixty square feet, and may yield an annual 
 product worth several hundred dollars. In our neglect of 
 the means of fertilization, and proverbial inattention to 
 compressed tillage, we meet with the principia malorum, — 
 the essential evils of our agricultural system. 
 
 The improvement suggested is variously desiderated as 
 most important. It decides the question oi food or no food. 
 — Whether manufactures shall be supplied with the raw 
 material, or perish. It is always matter of instant and 
 urgent importance ; and alike so, with producer and con- 
 sumer. It is absolutely essential to the common weal of 
 all concerned. Agriculture keeping pace with population 
 and want, is the life-blood of the state. It pi-esents the 
 more cohesive elements of the civic organizations of every 
 country. It is the hving source and symbol of comfort, 
 quiet, and sufficiency. It must always furnish the substan- 
 tial elements of gratification. Whatever other evils may 
 exist, it throws up a mound against the possible invasion 
 of want and suffei'ing. On this subject we have the evi- 
 dence of the world's history. In view of these facts, how 
 grateful must it be to know, that invariably, the useful in. 
 agriculture and horticulture, follows improved cultivation 
 over the face of the world. The vine followed the Greeks 
 into Europe. Wheat, the Romans : cotton, the Arabs. 
 The maize or corn, and potatoe, the first emigrations 
 to Southern America. And similar demonstrations are 
 going on every day, over the face of the world. In this way, 
 the extension of agriculture over the entire surface of the 
 cultivable earth, would, no doubt, greatly, almost infinitely, 
 reduce the number and intensity of the physical, and con- 
 sequent social and moral evils, now assailing humanity, 
 connected with climate, temperature, causes of disease, 
 want and suffering; and the reasoning applies as truly to a 
 single country (say our own) as to the earth at large.
 
 AOKlCULTUIiAL ADDRESS. 207 
 
 Indigence is the greatest evil of every social system ; 
 vice, alone, excepted. And where can the adequate remedy 
 be found, except in increased cultivation, as the only basis 
 of increase in the other departments of industry ? It is 
 here we have manifest the maximum of human interest, in 
 every sound aspect. — The art of arts by which we live, 
 time has settled and sanctioned the supreme importance of 
 agriculture, and shown how all others are nourished at her 
 table! 
 
 No limit can be set, no prediction oflfered as it regard^ 
 the possible amount of production, while the great basis 
 of production is kept properly in view. But blot out from 
 the map of industrial enterprise the pursuits, and gradually 
 enlarging power of agriculture, and then look at the sequent 
 extinction of other productive operations 1 Said a homely 
 poet, — 
 
 " If 6un-light from the dial be, 
 
 But for a moment banished, 
 Tiiru to the silenced plate, and see! 
 
 The hom-s themselves are vanished." 
 
 All productive industry may be reduced to a very simple 
 classification. — The necessaries, the conveniences, the 
 ornaments, and the luxuries of life. This classification 
 seems to exhaust the aims and purposes of production ; 
 and yet how essentially are all these traceable to agriculture ! 
 Assume the population of the earth to be ten hundred 
 millions. Say each inhabitant, upon an average estimate, 
 required only ten pounds sterling worth of food, for annual 
 subsistence ; then, the annual production of the globe, all 
 having a vegetable basis, would amount to ten billions 
 pounds sterling each year, in the article of food only ! You 
 can readily deduce the necessary inference as to the future. 
 The landed surface of the globe presents an area of forty- 
 nine millions of square miles. Were this entire area 
 peopled everywhere, as densely as in England, and the
 
 208 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 average cultivation equal, it would support a population 
 some fourteen times greater than that of the wliole world 
 at present. That is, the average agiiculture of the earth's 
 surface, being equal to that of England, it would sustain a 
 population of about fourteen thousand millions ! Such esti- 
 mates may help us to form some idea of what the power of 
 agriculture might become, by means of the application of 
 science and art. As it regards our own section of the 
 globe, — our country proper, with a territory extendino- 
 through some thirty degrees of latitude, and double the 
 number of longitude ; — with an area of about two millions 
 two hundred thousand square miles, — with every variety 
 of soil and climate, — unrivalled in geographical and phy- 
 sical advantages, (infinite in number and variety) as a 
 productive nation, we have the advantage of every other 
 on the world's surface, and are capable of becomino- 
 whatever we choose to be ; and how Kentucky, as a section, 
 will compare witli the balance of the territory, it is not 
 necessary to tell you. 
 
 Although agriculture be an essential element of civiliza- 
 tion, yet it is equally true, that it will always be greatly 
 influenced by the state of society, and especially of science, 
 in any country. Diffused scientific infoi'mation is essential 
 to perfection and finish. Multiply common schools, hio-h 
 schools, and colleges in a country, let natural philosophy, 
 chemistry, and physiology be tauglit extensively and 
 thoroughh"-, in connection with studies usually receivino- a 
 laro-er share of attention, and it will not be lono- until 
 agriculture will feel the impulse. This reciprocity of 
 influence, and intro-susception of elements, will be obvious 
 to all. Viewed in different aspects and relations, agriculture 
 is both cause and eff'ect, as it reijards civilization. It 
 always precedes, and yet is always improved and perfected 
 by it. Agriculture, meaning eartli's cidture, including
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 209 
 
 field, forest, garden and landscape, combines the xitile dulci. 
 It involves the elements of order, taste, and beauty ; 
 forcibly reminding us of the classic traditions, — that the 
 leaves of the acanthus growing round a basket accidentally 
 left among them, suggested, from the finenesss of the efi'ect, 
 tlie first idea of the Corinthian entablature ; and that the 
 interlacing, higher branches of a majestic grove, originated 
 the columns and arches of the grand Gothic catliedral ! JNor 
 is it at all unlikely that our taste for proportion, order, 
 elegance, and beauty, has been almost entirely excited and 
 formed, from the unconscious observation of tiie appear- 
 ences, figures, and constructions, found in the vegetable 
 world about us. Let those who choose to look upon 
 ao-riculture as one of the homlier arts, do so ; meanwliile, 
 those wlio are better informed, will not fail to perceive the 
 belle alliance between it and the arts of design and orna- 
 ment generally. Even the inspired similitudes, by which, 
 in the revelations of Christianity, the glory of her triumph 
 upon earth, and the consummation of her hopes in heaven, 
 are ima<>'ed to human conception, are selected from the 
 scenes and interests of vegetable life, and the laws and 
 relations of rural economy. 
 
 What truth, by its self-evidence, is more obviously 
 above reasoning, than that the study of nature tends to 
 enlarge, soothe, and purify the mind ? What passage in the 
 volume of nature can be read Avitliout interest ? Amid 
 rural scenes and occupations, what significaniic of purpose, 
 and grandeur of proportion, arrest and entrance ! Man is 
 in more direct communion with nature, and his mental 
 habitudes, the aft'ections, and the tendencies of his nature, 
 develop more equally, and with less of impulse and passion, 
 when engaged in agricultural pursuits, than amid other 
 scenes of secular and social activity. The mind, in constant 
 contact wath the quiet, yet varied and picturesque drapery 
 VOL. II — 18.
 
 210 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 of vegetation, must be insensibly influenced by it, in 
 everything relating to taste, and the gentler sensitivities of 
 our nature. The fair and the beautiful, the uniform and 
 abiding in nature above, must be prolitic of the gentler 
 Influences, and favorable to all the kindlier virtues, and 
 more endearing sympathies. Nature unperceived, exerts a 
 chief, — a foremost influence. Man finds himself breathing 
 an atmosphere of vigorous thought. Unobtrusive it may 
 be, but always ennobling is this fellowship with nature. 
 The starry vigil, the stilly dew, the stirless, brooding rest 
 of atmosphere, forest, and all, as if hushed by the angel 
 Df repose, — the tender and chastened alternations of light 
 and gloom, must give an elastic evenness of pulse, a 
 springy quietude of emotion, favorable to health and 
 virtue. The whole living panorama of nature gives its 
 impulse and inspiration. Amid expansions of vernal luxu- 
 riance, unfolding their vigor and beauty to the eye, soothed 
 by the music of the breeze, the whisper of the zephyr, the 
 chirp in the grass, the hum in the flowers, the sonorous 
 sounds, and sunny aspects of nature, blending with the 
 colors of the landscape and the azure of heaven, — he 
 who does not imbibe pleasure and instruction, must be a 
 miserable effigy of the image, whether of God or man ! 
 Who does not realize a rejuvenescence of his whole nature 
 at the approach of Spring, and under the reviving influence 
 of rural vernation ? Who does not feel the freshness of 
 the mountain, and the gladness of the rill 1 The life and 
 revelry of wood and bower ! The grand and picturesque 
 of nature's drapery ! Such a scene must leave itself upon 
 the mind. What kind of a heart is that, upon which the 
 music of nature, the toned gladness of hill and dale, tlie 
 seolian murmur of grove and forest, are thrown away ! 
 Have the beauty and bounteousness of nature been lavished 
 without meaning or moral ! Wliy this waste of loveliness ;
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 211 
 
 such grandeur unenjoyed ! Existing in natural fellowship 
 with earth, air, and ocean, and in constant intercourse with 
 the multitudinous forms of magnificence, beauty and life, 
 activity, passion and enjoyment, man has revealed to him, 
 Avhether he imbibe it or not, the true poetry of nature. 
 Here, he meets too with the primal 'sources of intelligence, 
 and all about him becomes the alphabet of useful know- 
 ledge. Who can be ignorant of the fact, that the physio- 
 loo-ical structure, and pathological habitudes and affections 
 of our physical nature, affect the character and destinies 
 of mind ; and yet how vastly, although it may be imper- 
 ceptibly, are these influenced by the inorganic, animal, 
 and veffetable worlds about us ? And whv should it be 
 regarded, by many, as strange ? A sylvan, intended as 
 God himself declared, to be an agricultural scene, with all 
 the attraction of vegetable supply and vernal beauty, was 
 the theater of man's creation, and the index of his earthly 
 destiny ; and would not a beneficent Creator pre-adapt his 
 nature to the aspects and phenomena of the physical world 
 about him ? 
 
 With the history of agriculture, as a simple registry of 
 facts, you are too familiar to allow its introduction. Its 
 natural history and philosophy are more important here. It 
 is the first, the oldest, and the broadest of all the fields of 
 human activity. It has always given direction to the course 
 of human destiny. It is the great foundation interest of 
 human society. It has always existed, a fundamental 
 arrangement in the economy of human life. It appears in 
 the first, and every subsequent era of human history, as the 
 great sustaining basis of supply and sufficiency as it regards 
 both want and gratification. It is a grand primeval inter- 
 est, vitally affecting the very existence of the living millions 
 of each successive generation. It alone meets the first great 
 want of man. It is a singular fact, that in the only history
 
 212 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 we have of man's creation, one of the final causes, — a 
 grand primal reason for his creation, is connected with the 
 culture of the earth. When God saw there was not a man 
 to till the ground, he proceeded to create man, and placed 
 him in the garden, " to dress and keep it." Before sin had 
 entered our world, before death had become a part of the 
 physiology of man, Divine appointment had connected his 
 physical and social destiny with the cultivation of the soil. 
 Agriculture, thus coeval with man's existence, and connatu- 
 ral Avith his being, has furnished not merely the antecedents 
 of important events in history, but of great historical eras. 
 It claims an originality, combination, and permanence of 
 relation, to which no other art or pursuit of man, can lay 
 claim. It may be depressed in a thousand ways, but can 
 only be destroyed by the extinction of our race ! As the 
 central point of unity in the whole field of production, 
 vitally aflFecting the internal economy of society, it must be 
 received as the genus, with regard to every species of pro- 
 ductive labor. To every man, it is nature's first mandate, 
 and obedience always practicable. It marked the dawn, 
 has distinguislied the progress, and is destined to crown the 
 last stage of human improvement. It has ever been the 
 grand school of invention, the birthplace of all the useful, 
 and nearly all the other arts. It is the great regulating prin- 
 ciple of vitality in the growth of nations, and the expansion 
 of civic improvement. All history shows it to be the true, 
 and only universal nursery of civilization ; and in every 
 respect, the most fundamental arrangement in the economy 
 of human life. 
 
 In aofriculture, we find the elements of duration and 
 increase as it regards all production. Even change gives 
 stability, and strength is derived from decline, in the ever 
 varying vicissitudes of fortune and trial, marking its history. 
 In the whole drama of national story, the truth obtrudes
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 213 
 
 itself upon our notice, in all countries and every era, that 
 the basis of ph3'sical improvement is to be sought in agri- 
 culture ; and as intellectual improvement can only keep pace 
 with physical, it must be seen at once, that the intellectual 
 and moral character of a people, must be largely determined 
 by the relative state of this great economic interest. You 
 point us to commerce and manufactures, trade and exchange, 
 the productiveness of the arts, professional skill, and all 
 the thousand etceteras, to which the hopeful industry, or 
 desifi-ning cupidity of man has given birth ; but did you ever 
 reflect how exactly all these, especially the principal, — 
 manufactures and commerce, co-ordinate witli the amonnt of 
 agricultural production ? What did Babylon, Tyre, and 
 Carthage know of commerce, for example, until the plains 
 of Messopotamia, and the valley of the Euplirates, the 
 fertile districts of Phenicia at the eastern head of the 
 Mediterranean, the rich fields of Fez and Morocco, and the 
 Avhole northern coast of Africa, were burdened with the 
 varied products of agriculture ? In all tlieir conventional 
 aspects, there exists the most intimate affinity, (shall we 
 call it appetency ?) between manufjictures and commerce, 
 on the one hand, and au'riculture, on the other. And bv 
 extending the examination, you find agriculture in close and 
 almost vital conjugation with all the arts and sciences of 
 life. All the arts of human subsistence and comfort, are 
 esseniially incidental to agriculture. The primary interests 
 of production must always be connected with the soil, and 
 all other forms must be lateral and subordinate, or want of 
 harmony, and unhealthy action, will be the result. Com- 
 merce, manufactures, and the arts, flourish best when they 
 turn to agriculture, as the common replenisher of the whole 
 field of life. 
 
 We wish the subject of agriculture not only to be looked 
 at, but carefully examined in aitu, in the relation it sustains
 
 214 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 to all the departments, subdivisions, and more minute 
 means and methods of production. We can only glance, 
 however, at a few, and often \mrelated particulars. When 
 Greece and Rome, in their better days, were found in the 
 field, amid the scenes, and devoted to the pursuits of hus- 
 bandry, wedded to the farm, the vineyard, the garden, the 
 rural liomestead, they were free, virtuous, and invincible. 
 But when Greece and Rome were afterward found in 
 crowded cities, and luxurious capitals, they began to degene- 
 rate ; and in the instance of both, a single capital became 
 the grave of Empire ! Take the mythology only of Phe- 
 nicia, Egypt, India, Greece, and Rome, and regarding it as 
 the exponent of the intellectual character of a people, it may 
 be seen at once, to what extent agriculture gave character to 
 their fortunes and destinies. The finest forms of civiliza- 
 tion known to history, found among the Celtic and Teutonic 
 races, have always been essentially rural. The pioneers 
 and missionaries, alike of civilization and Christianity, have 
 never, in any age or part of the world, been able to affect 
 the civic improvement or Christianization of savage and 
 nomadic tribes, until they first succeeded in attaching them 
 to the soil, as fixed rural cultivators. Where is patriotism 
 likely to be so strong and vigorous, as in the country 
 where the homes of the population are surrounded by the 
 comforts and elegancies of rural cultivation, creating the 
 most enduring local attachments ? 
 
 Were agriculture allowed its proper place, and permitted 
 to fulfill its purposes, it would, in every country, affect the 
 entire civic organization in some of its most importaul 
 features. Take the case of the learned professions so 
 called, as law, medicine, and the pulpit, not only burdened 
 by supernumeraiy thousands, embracing them for a liveli- 
 hood, but suffering disreputation and inevitable disgrace, 
 by a thronging multitude of mediocre aspirants, who, under
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 21. '> 
 
 a different state of things, would have added dignity ant 
 sufficiency to place and station, in a sphere of applicatiori 
 Avhere they might have excelled, and surrounding them 
 selves Avith the attractions of taste and utility, might hav( 
 maintained an enviable position in the social scene. It 
 not proudly high, at least, not meanly low. 
 
 The facts we adduce, although not, in many instances 
 related among themselves, bear, nevertheless, upon the 
 staple discussion — how far science and art may increase 
 the capacity of agriculture to produce ? And it is time, 
 perhaps, we were making the application of general data 
 and reasoning, to American, and particularly Kentucky 
 agriculture. Assume the wheat crop of the United States 
 to average twenty bushels to the acre ; the corn, the rye, 
 and the oat crops, thirty ; — the potato crop, two hundred. 
 Take now, the present aggregate of production, at current 
 average prices ; then assume further, that improved soil, 
 and methods of production, shall increase the average grain 
 crop, only six bushels to the acre, and the potato crop, 
 but twenty-five bushels, and these items alone, would add 
 to the annual aggregate income, about a hundred millions 
 of dollars 1 
 
 Apply similar data and reasoning to the entire hay and 
 root culture of the United States ; the tobacco, hemp, rice, 
 cotton, sugar, and other valuable products, and you have 
 at least fifty millions more. Let it be borne in mind now, 
 that this one hundred and fifty millions, is simply the 
 interest upon the additional capital created by the increased 
 productiveness of land and labor, by the method we have 
 been recommending. The capital, you can calculate at 
 your leisure. This is not poetry, nor yet a South Sea 
 dream. It is a plain question of facts and figures. Can 
 the average grain crop throughout the United States, be 
 increased six bushels per acre ? The potato crop, twenty-
 
 216 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 five ? And other items of agricultual production, in pro- 
 portion ? If so, oii the ordinary principles of political 
 economy, the result is mathematically demonstrable. 
 
 Still further, take the several States of the nation, the 
 character and productive power of the soil in each, the 
 kinds of production, &c., and in striking the dividend, say 
 what portion of the one hundred and fifty millions would 
 fall to the share of Kentucky ? Reduce our estimate, even 
 one half, and yet, how incalculably would the State be 
 enriched ! Kentucky is essentially an agricultural State ; 
 and as a State, can never be anything else. And as a 
 State, she must adopt a plan, (and there is no time to be 
 lost) — a plan, comprehensive, stable, and effective; the 
 results of which, will be, to clierish and develop her agri- 
 cultural I'esources ; or she must tamely submit to become 
 but a third rate member of the great family of South West- 
 ern States. As things now are, a large proportion of our 
 cultivators, for want of proper stimulus, ambition, and 
 encouragement about them, instead of enriching, and so 
 cultivatino- one acre as to render its production equal to 
 two or three, are annually leaving the State by emigra- 
 ^;ion ; seeking elsewhere, what they despair of finding 
 here. 
 
 In relation to agricultural improvement among us, the 
 majorily, perhaps, are ready to approve and applaud ; but 
 this does not meet the emergency. Mere otiose assent will 
 not do. Action, prompt and decisive, is called for. We 
 have been amateur theorists, and holiday patrons long 
 enouoh ! That Kentucky should do something for agri- 
 culture, and do it soon, seems to be admitted by all. 
 Conviction and feeling to this efiect, are strong and preva- 
 lent throughout the State. The obvious, urgent necessity, 
 of a rigidly scientific — geological survey of the State, 
 developing its natural resources, for productive purposes,
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 217 
 
 has been so often and so ably presented to the notice of 
 the legislature of Kentucky, I despair investing the topic 
 with any additional interest or urgency, by anything I 
 could add on the subject. The light that would thus be 
 thrown upon our natural resources, in relation particularly 
 to the iron and coal, imbedded as we know, in inexhausti- 
 ble quantities, beneath a large portion of our territorial 
 surface, and also in reference to kindred mineral treasures, 
 the varieties of soil in different sectional locahties, tOi>-ether 
 .with the means and methods by which both — all, mio-ht 
 be turned to most effective account, would soon, not only 
 indemnify the State on the score of expense, but augment 
 her productive power, almost incalculably. Let a thoroui»-h 
 and skillful survey of this kind be instituted by the legisla- 
 ture, and prosecuted by a competent corps of engineers 
 and scientific persons, for minute, accurate investigation 
 and repoit. Let the survey proceed under the supervision 
 of an enlightened board of commissioners, constituting a 
 regular, scientitic bureau, at the seat of government, 
 receiving quarterly reports from the corps of survey, and 
 reporting (themselves) annually to tlie legislature. Let 
 such a policy be adopted, and vigorously acted upon, and 
 before the survey is completed, the entire system of produc- 
 tion in the State, will assume a new aspect. New sources 
 of wealth will be brought to light. New chamiels of pro- 
 ductive industry will be opened. Extensive demand will 
 be immediately created for skillful voluntary labor, without 
 which, no improvement can take place, and the state must 
 always labor under a dead palsy. The feudal policy, 
 as found in Kentucky, in the satrapies and principalities 
 of landed lordship, by which production and consumption, 
 are now so fatally obstructed and impoverished, would 
 yield to a more natural state of things. The unmeani no- 
 madness by which half the best lands of the state, are 
 
 VOL. II — 19.
 
 218 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 rendered, not only utterly unproductive, but a constant 
 source of pauperism within, and banishnaent of the best 
 class of laborers, beyond the limits of the state, would be 
 too well understood to produce further mischief. The 
 sagacity of self-interest would soon teach the lesson, — that 
 land is onlj' valuable in the ratio of its actual contribution 
 to the sum and purposes of production. Who can estimate 
 the effect of a survey, such as we propose, upon the eastern 
 division of the state ? This whole division, from the Ohio 
 river south to the Tennessee line, would soon become a 
 rich agricultural and manufacturing region. The coal, the 
 iron, the salt, the copperas, the nitre, and other mineral 
 treasures of this entire region, together with fine soil, fine 
 timber, abundance of water, and all their kindred etceteras, 
 are destined to render it one of the most productive divisions' 
 of the state. In the articles of iron and coal, no limit can 
 be fixed to the natural wealth of the state. With the finest 
 geographical advantages — a soil not surpassed by that of 
 Tuscany or Andalusia two thousand years ago, — with a 
 territory of forty thousand five hundred square miles — 
 forty thousand of which may be cultivated to advantage 
 — with a population of eight hundred thousand — with 
 credit and character at home and abroad, as managing your 
 affairs with economy, and maintaining honor and good faith 
 in all your relations — with such advantages properly 
 improved, what may you not become, as a state ? 
 
 The two great topics, with regard to which we are most 
 deficient, are education and agriculture : (for hitherto, you 
 have not recognized the former as including the latter.) 
 Much has recently been done for both. — For education, by 
 the State. For Agriculture, by the Association I have the 
 honor of representing on this occasion ; and by fractional 
 portions of the people ; but much remains to be done. Our 
 system of popular education is greatly deficient, and as yet,
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 219 
 
 has not the suffrage of popular feeling in the state. Agri- 
 culture has derived no practical encouragement from the 
 state at all. That something should be done fur the latter, 
 and something further for the former, is felt, it is believed, 
 by all, and questioned by none. In view of the common 
 welfare, these topics present themselves as desiderata, 
 requiring the most mature — the gravest consideration. I 
 ask attention to this whole subject, suggestively. I have 
 nothing formal to propose. As the organ of the State 
 Agricultural Society of Kentucky, I have been left perfectly 
 free, to offer opinion, or avow conviction, as I might think 
 proper. It is almost a matter of course, that a variety of 
 plans should have been offered for the action of the state, 
 should the legislature be inclined to entertain the question 
 in any form. Among these, it has been proposed to 
 establish an independent school or college, as an institute 
 of Agriculture, endowed by the state, and under its control, 
 and the project, I believe, has numerous able advo'-^^tes, in 
 different sections of the State. Another plan has been, for 
 the state to endow professorships of agriculture, in the 
 colleges of the state generally, with a view to scientific 
 instruction in this department of knowledge. Others have 
 suggested, the endowment by the state of a single profes- 
 soi'ship in some one of our colleges. If the state is 
 prepared for it, the first plan — the establishment of au 
 agricultural college, where the whole range of instruction 
 — the several departments of natural science especially, 
 shall be brought to bear upon the subject of agriculture, is 
 no doubt the best. The second plan, might undoubtedly 
 be rendered extensively available, should the bounty of the 
 state, be so extended to the several colleges of the state. 
 Or finally, much might be effected for the interests of 
 agriculture by the endowment of a single professorship, in 
 some one of our colleges. The utility of either project.
 
 220 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 would depend almost entirely upon its constitution and 
 management. Unless well constructed and managed, fail- 
 ure would, no doubt, mark the result. On the other hand, 
 rightly constructed, and well conducted, an independent 
 college, or a single department in one or more of the 
 colleges of the state, would, there is every reason to 
 believe, secure the object aimed at. Should the establish- 
 ment of a professorship, in some one, or several of our 
 colleges, be preferred to a separate institute, it will be well 
 worth while to inquire, whether a single professorship of 
 agriculture, as commonly understood, would meet the 
 wants of the people of Kentucky ? Are we sufficiently 
 advanced for this ? Is sufficient interest felt in the state to 
 justify an attempt to reach the first object, without interme- 
 diate preliminary steps? Would not a professorship of 
 geology, chemistry, and agriculture, be preferable, as an 
 initiatory step ? Whether the professorship be in all, or 
 one of your colleges, should not its organization aim first, 
 at the study of geology and chemistry, as applicable to 
 ao-riculture, and when the advanced state of information on 
 the general subject, the resort of pupils in sufficient num- 
 bers, and the popular interest felt, shall require it, then, 
 let agriculture be erected into a separate, substantive 
 department. 
 
 Long before the agitation of this subject in Kentucky, or 
 perhaps, in any other section of our country, to any 
 considerable extent, my attention was practically directed 
 % to the subject, in all its more important details, at least. 
 During my connection with a college in Western Pennsyl- 
 vania, some years since, I succeeded in the establishment 
 of an agricultural professorship in the institution — the first 
 attempt of the kind, I believe, ever made in this country. 
 The legislature of Pennsylvania was so favorably impressed, 
 as to grant a donation of five thousand dollars ; and I
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 221 
 
 receivjd numerous letters from some of the most distin- 
 guished men in the United States, warmly expressing 
 interest and approval, with regard to this, then novel 
 experiment. In a letter addressed me by Ex-President 
 Madison, he says, — "It gives me pleasure to find that 
 the trustees are about to attach to the institution, an 
 ao-ricultural department, — an improvement well meriting a 
 place among the practical ones, which the lights of the age, 
 and the genius of our country, are adding to the ordinary 
 course of public instruction. I wish I could give value to 
 my commendation, by pointing out the best mode of adapt- 
 ing the experiment to its useful object." The venerable 
 Charles Carroll of Carrolton, wrote me on the occasion, as 
 follows, alluding to the fact, that the professorship had 
 received his name, as the "Carroll Institute of Agricul- 
 ture," he remarks, — "I consider it a distinguished honor 
 conferred upon me, and it is indeed surprising, that 7/our 
 college should be the first to establish a professorship, for 
 teaching and diffusing the science of agriculture, so essen- 
 tial to the welfare of every country, particularly the United 
 States. Great advantages will undoubtedly be derived 
 from the institution. That such may be reaped, and the 
 example you have set, be followed by other colleges, are 
 my ardent wishes." In a letter addressed me by Chief 
 Justice Marshall, he says, " That agriculture is a science, 
 in which society is deeply interested, no man will deny, 
 and that it may be greatly improved by scientific I'esearches, 
 will, I presume, be generally admitted. A student may 
 certainly derive advantages from such a department. It 
 seems to me to be connected with the department of chem- 
 istry. Such a professorship may, I should think, furnish 
 valuable information to the public." In'a letter from John 
 Quincy Adams, he remarks, " The institution of a profes- 
 sorship of agriculture in your college, I believe, will be
 
 222 AGRICULTUKAL ADDRESS. 
 
 attended with salutary effects, and a similar professorsliip, 
 at other colleges in our country, would constitute an 
 improvement of the system of education pursued in their 
 halls." In a letter addressed me by De Witt Clinton, and 
 only a short time before his death, he expresses the opinion, 
 " That a complete course of agricultural education should 
 be taught, developing the principles of the science, illus- 
 trating the practice of the art, and restoring the first and best 
 pursuit of man, to that intellectual rank which it ought to 
 occupy in the scale of human estimation. As agriculture 
 is a science as well as an art, the benefit of such an institu- 
 tion must be great and extensive." Mr. Clay, of our own 
 state, in a letter I received from him on the subject, 
 observes, (writing from Washington city,) "I think such 
 a professorship, properly filled, and its duties performed 
 with zeal and industry, would be productive of much 
 benefit, and it would be no where better situated, than in 
 the fertile reo-ions beyond the mountains. It should be the 
 leading object to teach the practical application of chemistry 
 to aijriculture." 
 
 I have quoted from the letters of these distinguished 
 scholars, statesmen, and public economists, only those 
 portions which relate directly to the abstract propriety, 
 and probable utility, of agricultural professorships in col- 
 leges. Abstractly, you perceive, all are in favor of the 
 policy. The when, the where, and the hoiv, would, of 
 course, have been made a separate question by each of the 
 writers ; and will be separately considered by you. Sup- 
 posing the state of Kentucky inclined to do anything in the 
 premises, I have no personal preferences as to localit)', or 
 mode of operation ; and the only conviction I feel any 
 interest in avowing is, that in the present state of the 
 science and art among us, any attempt at scientific instruc- 
 tion, should aim, principally, at the application of chemistry
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 223 
 
 to agriculture, as the best means of diffusing available 
 information on the subject. The relation and application 
 of geology and mineralogy, would, of course, be included. 
 With these remarks I have no more to say on the subject, 
 here or elsewhere, and shall cheerfully submit to the 
 decision of public opinion. 
 
 One other chief item, and we are done. It is to be 
 feared that many of us are in the habit of deferring to 
 opinions and prejudices adverse to labor, and but too 
 prevalent in most of our circles, — looking upon labor as 
 unworthy the dignity and hopes of social cultivation, except 
 in particular classes of general society ; and who, on this 
 very account, are regarded as existing in a state of relative 
 serfhood, in relation to the other classes. Deference, wo 
 say, to such prejudices, existing only in the vulgar inferi- 
 ority of paraded wealth, and the vagrancy of sentimental 
 idlers, it is to be feared, exerts no small influence, in 
 withholding many from proper action and effort, in relation 
 to the great economic interest we have been advocating. 
 Let us not, however, be discouraged. God and nature, 
 truth and history, all point to labor, as that without which, 
 the requirements of human destiny can never be fulfilled. 
 
 Labor is the great law of human improvement. It alone 
 gives man his proper place in the world. God intended 
 our world as the school of industry. Life, with man, is a 
 dispensation of labor. Whether physically or intellectually 
 considered, labor is the great functional vocation of man. 
 It has always been the scepter of power and influence upon 
 the face of our planet. It connects itself with tlie secular 
 resources, and moral feelings of every country. It is not 
 only man's terrestial destiny, but is, as we have seen, in 
 direct harmony with his heavenly relations — the final pur- 
 poses of his being. What is all history, but the record of 
 labor ? What historic antiquity, but its ruins ? What is
 
 224 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 
 
 there in it, ennobling our world, not the fruit of labor? 
 What, but labor, has stamped upon the face of the earth, 
 the impress of man's intelligence ? It is by the ministry 
 of labor, men are made. It is only by labor, the laws of 
 character are determined. Its tendency is, to invigorate, 
 enlarge, and elevate the whole man. Who so likely to 
 feel an interest in the order and welfare of society, as 
 those who create and sustain, the one and the other, by 
 labor ? An honest laborer is indefeasibly noble, and we 
 trust him involuntarily. The man who toils for daily bread, 
 and the man who toils for the light and guidance of mind, 
 we revere. While on the other hand, the man who earns 
 nothing, having it in his power to do so, cannot in the eye 
 of sound philosophy, be considered, as either virtuous or 
 respectable. — He is neither. The man who habitually 
 violates the law of industry, is unw^orthy of being trusted. 
 Life, by God's own appointment, is a ministration of toil 
 and endeavor, and he who declines the probation, and 
 resorts to other expedients, as the means of subsistence, 
 outlaws himself from the pale of worth and virtue, and 
 society is called upon by his own challenge, to treat him 
 accordingly! The true dignity of labor is admitted — is 
 felt by every well-ordered mind, in every social scene. 
 Where do you look for manly energy, lofty talent, and 
 unbending virtue, the nobler endeavors, and higher efforts 
 of human achievement ? Who, but fulfill the conditions 
 of human welfare ? Where do you expect high-minded 
 resolve, and moral elevation, force of character, and rugged 
 manhood of purpose and intellect ? Upon whom would 
 you rely, to further the progress, and advance the well- 
 being of society ? Would you look among those who have 
 spent life without care or occupation ? Would you look 
 to the schools of ease and self-indulgence ? Would you 
 appeal to the leisured opulence, or unchallenged indolence,.
 
 AGRICULTURAL ADDRESS. 226 
 
 with which our world abounds ? Ratlier, would you not 
 look to those, and those only, who by labor, have made the 
 earth ours? — The theater and means of enjoyment and 
 usefulness. Would not your appeal be to those, who by 
 the ministry of labor, supply alike the highest and the 
 lowest wants of humanity — constantly achieving individual 
 and social good, — the good both of body and mind ; — 
 diffusing the elements of happiness everywhere, and by 
 all means ; and thus gathering about themselves the only 
 veritable distinctions and signatures of manly worth and 
 moral virtue ? In conclusion, how forcibly does such a 
 view of the subject, remind us of a maxim of Revelation, 
 the relevancy of which, no one will question! — It is, 
 *<that if any man will not work, neither shall he eat." A 
 truth not more certainly proclaimed from heaven, than it 
 is sure to find an echo in every honest heart !
 
 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 
 
 BRIEF ADDRESS 
 
 DECEMBER 25, 1839. 
 
 'ISp^
 
 Cnitnurg 0f lldl]0ljism. 
 
 The object of our meeting this morning is special and 
 peculiar. It is in commemoration of the past, and at the 
 same time, with no less reference to the future. One 
 hundred years since, in 1739, the great Methodist body- 
 had its first organization, among a select few of the ahtmni, 
 and amid the academic halls and groves of the mother- 
 university of England. This then, is i\\Q first centennial 
 year of our existence, and we would cherish and distinguish 
 it accordingly. Again, on this day fifty-five years ago, 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, 
 was organized in the city of Baltimore, by an authorized 
 deputation from Mr. Wesley, and the European body in 
 connection with him ; and hence, we have deemed this day 
 of the year peculiarly appropriate for our celebration, 
 
 "We repeat, therefore, we meet in commemoi'ation of the 
 
 Origin of Wesleyan Methodism. And in doing so, we 
 
 unite with our trans- Atlantic brethren of the great Methodist 
 
 family, and all other divisions of it throughout the world. 
 
 In order, however, that the heart may engage in the 
 
 celebration upon which we are entering, it is necessary 
 
 that i\\Q judgment approve. And that this may be so, it is 
 
 further necessary, that we be definitely informed of the 
 
 objects and interests involved. And to eflfect this, so far as 
 
 any present may need information, we submit a brief 
 
 229
 
 230 CENTENARY OF METHODItJM. 
 
 statement; glancing, comprehensively, at the whole subject. 
 Not indeed, in the shape of a formal address — not with 
 anything like the formality of a speech, but with the 
 brevity of narration and argument belonging to a mere 
 preface or introduction, to be followed by appeals of a 
 somewhat different character, but perhaps, much more 
 interesting to your feelings. 
 
 That the centennial year of our denominational existence, 
 should become memorable in our calendar, is, to say the 
 least, natural and befitting. Events infinitely less useful 
 and illustrious than the birth of Wesleyan Methodism, 
 annually become the subjects of periodical or occasional 
 celebration, in this, and every other country ; and the 
 effect may be considered as decidedly beneficial, and worthy 
 of commendation. Numerous examples and precedents of 
 Divine appointment, as well as secular ones, originating in 
 the prudential discernment of the wise and good, might 
 be instanced, but the limits of a sketch forbid. The 
 Jubilee-reverence of a great event — the birth of a great 
 people — the hundredth birth-day anniversary of the great 
 Wesleyan family, now spread out upon the length and 
 breadth of the earth, cannot fail to exert a salutary 
 influence upon the character and fortunes of the disciples 
 and friends of a system that can never be reviewed 
 without admiration, and that we are anxious to per- 
 petuate by all the means in our power. We take it for 
 granted, that your views and feelings have already done the 
 subject justice, in the main, if not in detail. Bear in mind 
 then, that we meet to discharge a debt, both of gratitude 
 and service. We would erect a monument for the past, and 
 an altar for the future ! It is a covenant dedication, by 
 which we consecrate ourselves to the cause of God and 
 virtue, personal and relative, including person, substance, 
 and itijiuence, now and/orevcr. The question presented by
 
 CENTENARY OF METHODItSM. 231 
 
 the occasion is, " Wliat lias Methodism effected for us ? " 
 And another question, coincident!}', yet irresistibly sug- 
 gested, at the same time, is, — What in return should we 
 do for Methodism ? The principle of appeal, is that of 
 relative justice. If nothing has been done for you, you 
 owe nothing, nor do we ask it of you. But on the other 
 hand, if much has been done for you, we ask for a corres- 
 ponding return. Even Judaism annually tithed one-tenth 
 for the benefit of others. Methodism is a system of 
 unsalaried, gratuitous labor. Its founder gave away his 
 entire income for sixty years ; and it remains to be seen, 
 what we intend to do in the premises. The pecuniary 
 bounty bestowed by the Methodists, in this great centennial 
 solemnity, has been, and is to be presented by the donors, 
 as a thank-offering to the Great Head of the church, for 
 the benefit of every kindred, through the instrumentality 
 of Wesleyan Methodism, as the distinctive denomination 
 of the faith and practice of the body. We acknowledge a 
 debt of gratitude, and we would discharge it, not only by 
 thankfulness for the glory of the past, but by the contri- 
 bution of means to augment the glory of the future, that 
 we may secure to those who succeed us, the blessings and 
 advantages bequeathed us by our predecessors. 
 
 Methodism is to be regarded as a modification of Chris- 
 tianity. In substance, exhibiting nothing new, or diverse 
 from it ; and only to be looked upon as a distinct system, 
 in view of its model manifestation as an organic economy, 
 wielded solely for the moral welfare of mankind ; and only 
 operating other results, as subservient to this. It is a 
 revival, — (at least, we so regard it,) a restoration of 
 primitive Christianity, disabused of a cumbrous load of 
 surreptitious accompaniment and machinery, not belongino- 
 to its nature, and immensely detrimental to its interests. 
 It is to be looked upon, simply, as an exposition, and 
 
 «k
 
 232 CKNTENART OF METHODISM. 
 
 practical illustration of the religion of the Bible. All 
 its authority, sanctity, and usefulness is derived thence. 
 There is no system, of government, legislation, law, policy 
 or philosophy, with which it symbolizes. The Bible, and 
 the salvation of men, the Christian revelation, and the 
 present and immortal welfare of those to whom it is 
 addressed, constitute its point of departure, and the goal 
 of its termination. It has never confederated — it has 
 never been embroiled with any other system. Take the 
 two great bodies — British and American — the one will 
 be found loyal, and the other patriotic. And take the 
 representatives of these bodies in every part of the world, 
 and you will find them neutral in every thing affecting 
 " the rights of Caesar." They have been in the English 
 Parliament, and American Congress, for fifty years, without 
 ever attempting to influence legislation or poHcy, in any- 
 thing affecting themselves. We only ask, for the system, 
 that it may be judged by its fruits. 
 
 Conceiving of Methodism as a revival of Christianity, in 
 its primitive power and simplicity, the time of its introduc- 
 tion was both remarkable and appropriate ; as a revolution 
 of the kind was never more needed, in the history of the 
 church or world. The former was corrupt and sensual in 
 its ministers and members, beyond all Protestant example. 
 With a few honorable exceptions, (comparatively) a licen- 
 tious priesthood mingled with the mass of vicious population 
 about them, in all the overt excesses of immoral indulgence, 
 such as gaming, profaneness, sports of the turf and chase, 
 and other kindred irregularities, equally debasing. The 
 world, as distinguished from the church, in England of 
 which we are speaking particularly, was every where has- 
 tening to cast off the restraints of religion and morality, 
 and holding up their sanctions as objects of derision, 
 or vulgar contempt. And to facilitate such a result, the
 
 • 
 
 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 233 
 
 godless philosophy and infidel speculations of Hobbes, 
 Tindal, Toland, Collins, Woolston, Chubb, Blunt, Morgan, 
 Shaftsbury, and Mandeville — followed by Bolingbroke and 
 Voltaire, and a host of infidels upon the continent, had 
 flooded the nation with opinions and parties, utterly subver- 
 sive of every thing valuable in religion, or wholesome in 
 morals. But at the very moment wlien this state of things 
 was at the acme of its rifeness and virulence, John Wesley, 
 descended of a long line of worthy ancestors, was in course 
 of training at Epworth and Oxford, as if brought forward 
 by special Divine interference to arrest and counteract the 
 abuse of Christianity toithin the Church, and its denial 
 without. And thus, the providence and grace of God syn- 
 chronized with events — the moral wants and necessities 
 of the times, in producing the revolution we are met to 
 celebrate in this day's exercises. 
 
 Methodism had its birth on classic ground — in a uni- 
 versity, then as now, the first in the world, at the very 
 meridian of the Elizabethan — tlie Augustan age of English 
 literature, and intellectual distinction. Our providential 
 leader was no obscure fanatic, appealing to the lower 
 passions, and baser interests of mankind. A distinguished 
 scholar of the ripest attainments — a clergyman of the 
 English Establishment — a bold and fearless defender of tlie 
 rights of private judgment — a severe and masterly dispu- 
 tant — indefatigable in labor, and reproachless in character, 
 he presented himself in the attitude of a liberal, but unyield- 
 ing reformer — the builder up of a new order of thino-s. 
 It was "Athanasius against the world!" The field of 
 battle was a fair one, and long and perseveringly was it 
 fought. Wesley, however, under God, was destined to 
 triumph, and become the father of a great people, of which 
 we form an integral part, and here present ourselves as 
 witnesses. 
 
 VOL. II — 20.
 
 234 CEKTENARY OF METHODISM. 
 
 What the world has long; asrreed to call Methodism; 
 viewed as a structure, is of providential origin and growth. 
 In its founder, as a whole, it was not the result of design ; 
 but, as is often the case, accidental development carried with 
 it more than the force of design, and no preconcerted plan, 
 under the circumstances, could have succeeded so well. 
 All this was seen by tliose interested, if not by others, and 
 (regarded as Providential) was readily and gladly submitted 
 to. In this way, it not unfrequently happens, that a single 
 occurrence or event decides and forms a character, and a 
 single character subdues or controls a nation or kingdom. 
 Often, in this way, has a single voice or pen shaken dynasties, 
 and moulded the fortunes of empire. And of this class in 
 the moral world, were Luther and Wesley. And the revo- 
 lution effected by the one, in relation to papal Rome, 
 was scarcely greater than that effected by the other, in 
 relation to modern Protestant Christendom. Both were 
 distinguished reformers, and the leaders in great moral 
 revolutions, unique in kind, and unprecedented in the his- 
 tory of the world. Popery attempted to counteract the 
 reformation, by the institution of the order of Jesuits, 
 but with what signal want of success, we need not say. 
 Protestant establishments, at first, essayed the overthrow of 
 Methodism, by the hue and cry of disparagement, and by 
 persecution, — but failing in this, are now rather tamely 
 attempting to rival her, by imitating her plans and modes 
 of operation, under various names and guises. Tlie struggle 
 was fearful and protracted, involving grave and important 
 elements and interests. As Tertullian says, it was a con- 
 troversy in which "no wind blew, but what was cold and 
 keen." But finally, the energies and developments of the 
 system, successively broke upon the lethargy of an enslaved 
 church and sensual world, with a momentum not to be 
 resisted.
 
 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 235 
 
 One of the great and most obvious distinctions of Meth- 
 odism, as such, and which distinguishes it from every other 
 church and pohty, is, that it has from the first assumed, 
 that to be reformed and saved, men must be sought. In 
 this respect, it is to all intents and purposes aggressive. 
 Not waiting (as is the wont of others) for men, places, and 
 localities, to call, and invite, — but to c/o, see, and inqicire. 
 The "waste and the solitary places," as well as " the city 
 full," are startled by its trumpet notes, without any pre- 
 vious negotiation or understanding, and in this respect, at 
 least, we have a revival of apostolic practice, not to be met 
 with, unless in excepted cases, in any other church. The 
 effect has been unrivaled success. Success without a par- 
 allel, except in the instance of their great prototypes, — the 
 apostles themselves. Nearly eight hundred thousand living 
 converts, and more than three millions of stated hearers, 
 in this country alone, beside those who have died and gone 
 to their final account, will explain our meaning. Wesley 
 and his coadjutors were first styled Methodists. And 
 subsequently, all his societies, as raised and organized by 
 him, were called the " United Societies." He gave them 
 an absolutely connectional, instead of a congregational 
 character, both as it regards organic form, and modes of 
 operation. And with very slight modification, this grand 
 feature distinguishes the whole body to the present day. 
 They are eviphatically one, with the great Wesleyan fea- 
 tures indelibly impressed upon them, the world over. 
 
 We have spoken of your indebtedness to Methodism. 
 Do any doubt their obligations, but let them review their 
 whole lives, and especially, their contact with Methodism. 
 What knowledge, what varied information have they gained 
 from the pulpits, the presses, and complicated labors and 
 instrumentaUties of Methodism ! What moral impressions, 
 religious views, sentiments, and feelings, have they imbibed
 
 236 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 
 
 and received from the same prolific source ! What vices 
 have been restrained, what follies checked, what aspira- 
 tions and ambition awakened and excited ! What healthful 
 hopes, and salient fears has it given birth to 1 What share 
 of time and attention has been called off from vicious and 
 degrading pursuits, while worthier thoughts and actions 
 have been the result ! What might, what would you have 
 been, but for all these ? If not directly, and immeasura- 
 bly benefited yourselves, look at the influence of the 
 system upon others nearly allied to you, and in whom you 
 are deeply interested ! See them refoi-med, and elevated, 
 as it regards character and rank in society, and now minis- 
 tering to the happiness of those they formerly injured and 
 disgraced ! Look about you in the world, and see the 
 amount of ignorance and vice, bigotry and illiberality, 
 general dissoluteness of morals, and inattention to religion, 
 everywhere removed or reduced, by the aggressive move- 
 ments, and moral revolutions efi'ected by Methodism ! 
 Look at all this, and if you see not grounds of obligation, 
 then, with yoth — with such, we liave nothing to do, and 
 we gladly turn to others. Take our own country for 
 illustration, and let it be at once deprived of nine thousand 
 ministers, with more than half a million of members, throw 
 down and abandon more than thirty thousand churches, 
 chapels, and preaching houses, let twenty effective presses 
 be destroyed, demolish as many colleges and universities, 
 and then say what the effect would be ! And in the pro- 
 portion that moral desolation would ensue, you are bound 
 to admit your obligations to that form of Christianity we 
 are now considering. 
 
 We have seen that it is to Mr. Wesley we are indebted 
 for that peculiar and admirable form of Christianity, which 
 we meet to distinguish, both by religious acknowledgments, 
 offered to Heaven, and benevolent demonstrations, in rela-
 
 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 237 
 
 *::ri to man. Upon tlie character of Wesley, we can barely 
 touch. Brought up at the feet of a female Gamaliel, never, 
 perhaps, excelled among the daughters of Eve, admirably 
 trained and drilled by the talent and example of the Father, 
 and the masterly tact and discretion of the Mother, early 
 placed at school with the best of masters, passing his uni- 
 versity course, not only with credit, but distinction, — from 
 his Alma Mater, especially, as the best Grecian in it, early 
 brought to a knowledge of the truth, and burning with zeal 
 for the salvation of others — of all, — refusing a local cure, 
 and the trammels of an exclusive establishment, and jealous 
 hierarchy, he is thrown by Providence, upon the bosom of 
 the world, to battle with his enemies, and champion his 
 own cause, as best he may ! Trusting in God, and relying 
 upon moral resources alone, he went forward, not knowing 
 whither he was going, or what awaited him ! Thousands, 
 however, soon flocked about him, reformed in morals, and 
 devout in life. And in this Avay, most unexpectedly, 
 Wesley became the leader of a Christian Israel, of which 
 we now rejoice to form a part. Deeply imbued with the 
 literature of all ages and languages, profoundly versed in 
 the scliools of classic and ecclesiastical antiquity, and his 
 labors and eflforts signally crowned with the extraordinary 
 blessing of God, every year marked the increase of his 
 success, and attested the impotence of opposition. With 
 the Bible always before him, he was emphatically, homo 
 tcnius lihri — a man of one book. All his steps and all his 
 studies, tended to this, and evinced the truth of his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 As it regards his talent and fitness for government and 
 control, as the father and founder of a numerous people, 
 he seemed born to command and govern, both by ascen- 
 dancv of intellect, and the moral force and grandeur, both 
 of character and action. Thus armed and furnished —
 
 238 CENTENART OF METHODISM. 
 
 with means and weapons sanctioned by Heaven, without 
 the fierceness of Lutlier, or the ferocity of Knox, but 
 ratlier the learning of Erastus, and the mildness of Melanc- 
 thou, he addressed himself to the comprehensive purpose 
 of evangelizing- the world. In his search after primitive 
 Christianity, he disdained no aids, however humble and 
 unimposing. For his first correct views on this subject, 
 he was providentially indebted to the mountains and forests 
 of Moravia, from whence he met with Christian teachers, 
 on his way to America. About this time it was, that he 
 anxiously felt after, and haply found what he had so long- 
 been in search of — personal assurances of justification by 
 faith, and the renewal of the heart in the image of God. 
 The entireness of his consecration to God, and the service 
 of mankind, subsequently, has been matter of commen- 
 dation, in the better part of the church of God, for the 
 last hundred years. On the subject of the variety of his 
 labors, the rapidity of his movements, and his matchless 
 skill as leader, all may be said in one word — he was the 
 Napoleon of the church. For thus viewed, he belonged 
 to the Church and the world, and not to a party. This, 
 however, was but a general right of property in him, and 
 it is pre-eminently true, that he has bequeathed an eternal 
 inheritance to those who follow in his steps, — to you; and 
 it is this fact Ave would, if possible, bring before you in 
 living picture. 
 
 There is another topic not to be overlooked, although we 
 can '-'-ive it but a single glance. It is the organic construc- 
 tion of the principal division of the Wesleyan ministry; — 
 not as local, but traveling, combining, at the same time, 
 the functions both of the missionary and the pastor. It 
 was the plan of the apostles and evangelists. This itinerant 
 system is a moral lever, annually achieving results produced 
 by no other means in Christendom. It is now no longer aa
 
 CENTENAKV OF METHODISM. 239 
 
 experiment. Its capabiliiies are unprecedented, bearing upon 
 all men and all means, wherever it has been subjected to trial. 
 We appeal to past history. What was Methodism one hun- 
 dred years ago? Seventy-live? Fifty? Twenty-five? What 
 is it now ? Look at it, existing in the meditations of a single 
 mind; then in the concurrent opinions of a few! Look at 
 the classic band at Oxford ! — The first group of penitents 
 at Fetter Lane ! Another and another appears ! We may 
 not note them ! Finally, Methodism finds its first temple 
 in Moorfield foundery ; erected for the destruction of men's 
 bodies, but now consecrated to the salvation of their souls. 
 Tlie next appears in Bristol; but here we pause. — The 
 kingdom was soon dotted with them. They multiplied in 
 every direction ; and were crowded with worshipers, until 
 "one became a thousand," and "a little one a nation ! " 
 So that the celebrated Dr. Southey said, twenty years ago, 
 that they were in England, even at that time, " iniperium 
 in imjjerio,'^ — a distinct and independent people. And 
 since that period they have more than doubled their 
 numbers, and especially their means of influence and 
 usefulness. 
 
 Within the comprehension of its range, Methodism 
 includes all the elements, the means and appliances which 
 can be brought to bear upon the welfare of the huniuu 
 mind, whether in its moral or civic relations. It covers 
 the entire efround of relioion and morals : of social order 
 and various accomplishment. It is applicable to all men, 
 and all their sin and folly, as well as virtue and worth. It 
 appeals to all human interests, whether of time or eternity. 
 Looking upon it as the most effective dispensation of trutli, 
 committed by the Great Head to any section of the church, 
 we cannot but regard its destinies as transcendent in 
 Interest, and well worthy the Centennial Monument, to 
 which the attention of the church has been so generally
 
 240 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 
 
 attracted. The diffusion of Christianity, and the consequent 
 extension of holiness and happiness, is the grand funcliun 
 of Methodism : and has been from the beoinnin^ : and in 
 this respect it continues to unfold its energies with unre- 
 laxed vigor and force. At this very moment it is preaching 
 the gospel in thirty different languages, with nearly a dozen 
 presses employed in heathen lands in the circulation of the 
 Scriptures, and tracts, and publications expository of their 
 more obvious and important contents. Take into the 
 account too, that in all the countries, centers, and capitals 
 of civilization and taste, where the Eniilish lanu'uao-e is 
 spoken, she is exerting her share of influence, as well as 
 in heathen lands, and at every annual numbering, is seen 
 marshaling her militant hosts upon a thousand different 
 shores ! Allow us to add, by the way, that a large portion 
 of the grand moral machinery of Christendom, has been 
 put in motion shice the great Wesleyan reformation; — 
 such as Bible, Missionary, and Tract societies. How far 
 traceable, under God, to this cause, let all judge for 
 themselves. George the Third of England, gave it as 
 his deliberate opinion, that Wesley and his coadjutors had 
 done more for the interests of religion and morals, than all 
 the other subjects of the establishment in his kingdom put 
 together. A distinguished prelate of the church of England 
 said that Baxter's "Reformed Pastor," was a book no 
 clergyman in the kingdom could read without blushino-, 
 save one — and that was John Wesley ! And this general 
 I'esult connected with Wesley and his associates, has, no 
 doubt, been mainly owing to the fervor and simplicity — 
 the force of thought and eloquence of feeling, with which 
 they have insisted upon the great practical truths and 
 doctrines of the Bible ; everywhere giving to the world, in 
 the language of Dr. Chalmers, "the Methodism of its 
 actual contents." Most of the facts to which we have
 
 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 241 
 
 asked your attention, are matters of public notoriety, and 
 
 are rapidly becoming- incorporated witli our common history 
 
 and literature. Methodism has done nothing in a corner. 
 
 No bushel has concealed her light. Nothing hidden or 
 
 exclusive belongs to the system. She has been examined 
 
 by the ablest censors ; she has been questioned by torture. 
 
 Talent and abuse, sneer and banter have been arrayed 
 
 against her ! She has been arraigned by hierarchies, and 
 
 kings have been her jurors ! How she has passed the 
 
 ordeal, you can all judge for yourselves. Wherever she is 
 
 found, she holds herself accountable to the country, the 
 
 ao;e and the world. 
 
 With the origin, character, toils, and struggles, you 
 
 should connect the triumphs of Methodism. More than a 
 
 milHon of disciples within lier fold, tells the tale, in brief. 
 
 But with a membership numbering one million and more, 
 
 we are to include friends and adherents, amounting- to at 
 
 least six millions in addition. So that, at least, seven 
 
 millions, to classify them as we do society in general, 
 
 amonsr the most enlio-htened and influential of the civilized 
 
 word, may be regarded as i7i the interest, and promoting 
 
 the objects of that peculiar modification of Christianity, 
 
 called Methodism. These are all, in their spheres and 
 
 places, contributing their dividend to the grand moral 
 
 result. — But especially, the ministry, annually appointed 
 
 and removable, by the executive organs of the church. 
 
 And while we would not disparage others, we look upon 
 
 them as the moral engineers of the world, found upon the 
 
 highwa3's of truth and duty, leading from earth to heaven. 
 
 They are found in either hemisphere — every zone, and 
 
 nearly every degree of latitude and longitude througliout 
 
 the circling earth, in all its length and breadth. We iind 
 
 them upon the Thames and the Gambia — in the AVest 
 
 India Archipelago and South America — iu New Zeahind 
 VOL. 11 — 21.
 
 2'l2 CENTENABV OF Mlii'HUDISM. 
 
 and Botany Bay — at Calcutta and the Cape of Good Hope 
 — at Madras and Malta — Ceylon and Madagascar. At 
 Feejee and Vavow, and throngliout the Polynesian Isles. 
 You will find them throughout all the densely populated 
 kingdoms of Europe, from the Island-Mother of our own 
 country, to where once stood the primeval forests of the 
 Goth and the Vandal ! They are found alike in the 
 palaces of kings, the halls of legislation, and the temples of 
 science ; — in the homesteads of competence and industry, 
 and in the huts and hovels of the poor and the lowly ! 
 
 But let us not lose sio'ht of ourselves. We have seen 
 the obligations of other's, what are ours ? What has been 
 accomplished in this country in seventy years ? We need 
 not be minute. They have spread from the Atlantic 
 border to the shores of the Pacific — from the Bay of 
 Hudson to the Capes of Florida ; and from the Gulf of the 
 St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi ! The Ameri- 
 can branch, like the European, is annually numbering its 
 increase by thousands. The present year, will give us a 
 net increase of some fifty thousand members. But let us 
 look at the West, particularly. Select ten points, upon 
 any section of western territory, and who first carried the 
 gospel to those ? An average moderate estimate is, that 
 in nine instances in ten, throughout the whole West, it was 
 done by the Methodists. With very few exceptions, they 
 have pioneered the whole evangelization of this entire 
 country. — And do you owe them nothing in return ? Do 
 you owe the cause nothing ? Will you not contribute your 
 influence and your bounty, to enhance and extend instru- 
 mentalities, which by the blessing of God, have been 
 rendered so subservient, not only to your earthly and 
 eternal interests, but to those of thousands beside, to say 
 nothing of the common welfare — the hope and promise of 
 •youi rising country J
 
 CENTENARi' OF METHODISM. 243 
 
 You have the premises, in outline. Wlmt conclusions 
 shall we reach ? I know of no logic that would make 
 these plainer, or give them additional force. I leave it to 
 your conscience and convictions, and the record must tell 
 the rest. When our descendants shall inquire, in 1939, 
 what example we set them, I cannot now say with what 
 emotions, whether of joy or shame, they will turn from the 
 record, which the church has ordered to be preserved 
 among its archives, and thus handed down to posterity ! 
 
 One word more and we have done. The pecuniary 
 contributions connected with the centenary are all sacredly 
 applied to religious purposes. The objects proposed by 
 the Kentucky conference, are fimt. Missions, — secondly, 
 Education — thirdly, a permanent fund for the support of 
 those ministers of the church, (their wives, widows, and 
 children) who have worn themselves out in its service, and 
 either rest in their graves, or are the subjects of physical 
 disability and superannuation. Such then, are the purposes 
 to be met and answered by the centennial thank-offerings 
 of the church. 
 
 We have seen that Methodism is essentially missionary 
 in origin, constitution, and action. One hundred and five 
 years since, Wesley himself was a foreign missionary 
 among the aborigines of this country. It belongs to the 
 very genius of Methodism, when the gospel is to be taken 
 to any point, domestic or foreign, for its ministers not to 
 inquire, by whom it can be sent ? But to be themselves 
 ready to take it. Their practical motto is, not to send, but 
 go themselves. And this is absolutely true of the whole 
 itinerant college — the advanced militant corps of the 
 church, in every age and division of its organization. But 
 in addition to this, our regular missions, in the common 
 acceptation of the term, are more numerous, more expan- 
 sive as it regards territory, and return a much larger
 
 244 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 
 
 number of converts, than those of any other religious body 
 in the world ; and it is to the support of these, we appro- 
 priate one-third of the centennial fund. 
 
 Education is an interest about which we need not 
 enlarge. Our academies, colleges, and universities, are 
 the objects of appropriation. And as it regards us, our 
 own college is the only object. The several dividends are 
 to be funded, and the interest only used. If, as a church, 
 we would keep up with the advance of the age, we must 
 sustain a competent number of effective literary institutions, 
 elevating their cluiracter, and multiplying their number from 
 time to time. Three or four millions of the rising generation 
 have been handed over to us, by providence, to educate 
 and train for life and usefulness, and if we fail to perform 
 the duty, the loss and injury of the church must be irre- 
 trievable. If other interests have so much engaged us, 
 heretofore, as to lead us to neglect this great collateral one, 
 it behooves us to make the necessary atonement, by show- 
 ing the world that we were only waiting until we became 
 able and readv. Now it behooves us to organize formida- 
 bjy, and proceed to action. It is as difficult to retain as to 
 make conquests, and this is strikingly applicable to us, in 
 our peculiar position as a church and people. The litera- 
 ture of a highly civilized country, wields an immeasurable 
 influence ; and unless it be found, in due proportion, in the 
 hands of a church, that church instantly loses its influence, 
 in the ratio of such deficiency. To keep, even our present 
 ground, — to retain our present conquests, it is indispensa- 
 ble that the interests of education be duly consulted. 
 
 In England and this country, contributions have been 
 made by individuals, in behalf of themselves and fomilies, 
 of from one to fourteen thousand dollars ! Largely over a 
 million of dollars has been contributed in the British con- 
 vection, and altliough we are to be distanced, we trust we
 
 CENTENARY OF METHODISM. 245 
 
 shall not be heggared by the comparison. Several liuudred 
 thousand dollars have been already contributed, and wo 
 trust much more is yet to be ; and that at tlie next centen- 
 nial meeting of the church, our children's children will 
 have occasion to speak well of what their fathers did at this ! 
 The subject is now before you. We have spoken plainly, 
 but we trust not arrogantly. We glory in the subject of 
 this celebration, but we would not boast. We would not 
 detract from the claims of others. They are doing much 
 good, and we bid them " God speed." Sincerely do we 
 wish how much good they may do. It will be seen by 
 all, however, that oiir business connects us with a review 
 of Methodism, not other forms of Christianity, however 
 respectable, or extensively useful they may be. To return 
 then, and in conclusion Ave take the economy and the 
 effects of Methodism, and we are perfectly satisfied beyond 
 all speculation, that no merely human cause or causes, can 
 be regarded as adequate to the production of such I'esuits. 
 The induction leads us to seek a higher agency ; and we 
 are compelled to refer the propagation and success, not less 
 than the origin of Methodism, to the grace and providence 
 of God. The first century of Methodism is gone by, and 
 we have to ask ourselves, " What hath God wrouaht ?" 
 This, we have seen. Now let us ask, what he intends to 
 effect, probably, by our instrumentality, if. we meet our 
 own obligations, and the claims of others ? We conjure 
 you by the mercies of God, and the wants of your kind, 
 not to wrong yourselves ! Let not the curse of the needv 
 rest upon your habitations, give your memory to scorn, or 
 fail like blight upon your graves ! Yet again, look at the 
 living hosts of Methodism, congregated on occasion of the 
 first centenary of our ecclesiastical existence, and emulously 
 hasten to identify yourselves with them in the noble sacri- 
 fice of doins: opod.
 
 246 CENTENARY OF MKTHODISM, 
 
 Tlie term of human life allows us to celebrate but one 
 centennial meeting. If we have anything to do then, 
 specially identifying ourselves with the centenary of Metho- 
 dism, it must be done now or never ! The centennial altar 
 is before you, hallowed by a thousand clustering, endearing 
 recollections ! Approach it with adoring gratitude for the 
 past, unrestricted consecration as it regards the present, 
 and with delighted, believing anticipation connected with 
 the future ! Let us suitably commemorate the Divine 
 goodness, now and heretofore extended to us, and trust that 
 goodness in all time to come ! Let us do, and lining done 
 our duty, address ourselves with deeper care and higher 
 joy, to the widening interests and anxieties of coming life ! 
 Let the heart's ambition rejoice in the friendship of Heaven 
 and the welfare of others, and be satisfied ! And in this 
 way, a life of vicissitude and toil, will- close in the hopes 
 of a tranquil death, and the promised rewards of immor- 
 tality ! But should we fail to do our duty, and prove 
 faithless to the high trust reposed in us, the work we cele- 
 brate will still go on, and the cause we plead, continue to 
 advance in unobstructed triumph ! And when summoned 
 to our final audit, when the lightning of heaven shall scorch 
 the world, and its thunder rock it into ruins, the book of 
 God's remembrance, containing the registry, shall show 
 that that which we refused to do, had been done by others I
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA; 
 
 OR 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 IN BEHALF OF 
 
 THE AMEKICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY 
 
 Delivered in Wilminr/ton, Del., April 2, 1832 ; — in Dover, Del.^ 
 
 April 6, 1832; in St. Louis, Mo., March 4, 1833; in 
 
 Louisville, Ky., March 17, 1833. And in 
 
 various other jdaces al different times.
 
 Claims at Jlfrita. 
 
 Truth, virtue, and happiness, are the Heaven-intended, 
 heritage of man : and their ultimate triumph over the broad 
 surface of tlie moral world is the promise of the Bible. 
 This maxim is the great basis of all the active charities of 
 every Christian community. God has laid the universe 
 under contribution to promote the happiness of man ; and 
 where untoward circumstances have withheld from man 
 facilities allowed him by Heaven, you are called upon by 
 the great "Father of all," to correct the evils, if you have 
 it in your power to do so, by supplying the deficiency. — 
 " It is what the happy to the unhappy owe." It is not a 
 pleasant task to urge you to this. — It is in many respects 
 an ungrateful one. But as the representative of a hundred 
 thousand of the first citizens of the United States, and a 
 hundred millions of the colored children of Ham, I must 
 not, I will not shrink. I will do my duty, if you refuse to do 
 yours, and leave me a good conscience as my only indem- 
 nity — asking God for his blessing, and claiming an interest 
 in the prayers of piety, and the wishes of philanthropy.. 
 
 The intuitions of good sense, and the doctrines of the 
 gospel, unite in furnishing a principle of estimation, in 
 view of which, the intrinsic value of action, the essential 
 magnanimity of conduct^ the absolute grandeur of all exploit 
 
 249
 
 250 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 are made to depend exclusively upon their moral character, 
 and relative bearings. It is the wise and the good alone 
 who can discern and relish the discriminating traits and 
 lofty achievements, the genuine actings and moral triumphs 
 of heroic virtue. It is to such, and upon such grounds 
 we make our appeal on this occasion. In the present age 
 of beyoino- and beoQ^ary, in the derisive lano-uaye of the 
 worldly minded million, it is a difficult and a delicate task, 
 and we feel it such, for a man to appear before an audience 
 with only the poor, — the oppressed for his clients, and a 
 call for fiscal and other relevant aid, the alleged ultimatum 
 of his plea. Deputed, however, to represent the views 
 and wishes of a hundred thousand of the first citizens of 
 the United States, the wants of a hundred millions of the 
 human race beside, and ask your assistance in relieving 
 them, I may falter, but it does not become me to temj^orize, 
 nor shall I do it. I may fail, but even failure will leave 
 me the consciousness of having essayed to do my duty. 
 Be this then as it may, and whether of the twain, I hasten 
 to lay before you, however inadequately, the objects and 
 claims of an enterprize, involving the elements of every 
 other charity in the wide range of human benevolence, 
 which may, from time to time, solicit your succor, or 
 challenge your admiration. — An enterprise which com- 
 mends itself to the understanding and heart of all, as a 
 ministration of blessing and prosperity to this country, 
 and of hope and salvation to an entire continent beside ! 
 
 I. We base our plea for African colonization first, upon 
 the general question and benevolence of the object. We 
 make our appeal to the upright and humane, and our cause 
 is ffendered peculiarly interesting, — is hallowed by its 
 alliance with the image of God, on the one hand, and 
 the rights of man, on the other. And in the same pro- 
 portion that you regard these, you will heed the claims
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 251 
 
 of those we propose as the much injured beneficiaries of 
 our liberality. 
 
 The American Colonization Society was projected and 
 gotten up by the friends of humanity, some fourteen or 
 fifteen years since. Its one great, engrossing, and exclusive 
 object, as shown by its constitution, and the record of its 
 operations, accessible to all, is, to colonize and settle 
 comfortably upon the Western coast of Africa, the free 
 people of color in the United States, who may be disposed 
 to go. No compulsion is used. — None is allowed. — All 
 is voluntary: — is matter of reflection, counsel, and choice, 
 from first to last, in relation to all concerned. With tho 
 subject and system of domestic slavery, as they exist in 
 this country, sanctioned by law, we have nothing to do iu 
 any direct form. In view of all the aggressive efforts and 
 provisional relations of the society, slaves and their masters 
 are apart from our enterprise altogether. We are confidently 
 assured, however, nor can it be disguised from the discern- 
 ment of common sense, that the successful operations of 
 the society whose cause we plead, will in all moral likeli- 
 hood, have a serious, and we hope, a redeeming reflex 
 bearing upon this very delicate, much contested question 
 of American, or rather local policy. And the remedy 
 we propose is, perhaps, the only discovered hope of the 
 country on this subject, as it consults the rights and 
 promotes the interests of every portion of the Union. It 
 is alike advantasreous to the free, and the slave-holdinof 
 states. 
 
 We have in the Unitxid States at this time, exceeding 
 three hundred thousand free persons of color. They exist 
 here a separate caste, — an anomalous, alien portion of 
 society, necessarily subjected to legal disabilities, and social 
 degradation. Our object is to give them a home, — a 
 comfortable, an independent, a veritable home. Such a?
 
 252 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 they have not, and judging the future from tlie past, cannot 
 have among us. Africa, tlie country Heaven has assigned 
 them, and from whence, by the way, they had never been 
 exiled, but for the avaricious cupidity of their stronger 
 neighbors, offers to receive them, with the necessary 
 resources and faciUties to render them a prosperous and 
 happy people. Many of them are willing and anxious to 
 go. We confidently believe it would be best for them to 
 go. We are able to send them. We owe them the 
 assistance asked. It is due to consistency, to the common 
 weal, to our country's reputation, to the expectations of 
 Christendom, and the hopes of posterity ! And we take 
 signal pleasure and pride in saying, it is the sole aim of 
 the Colonization Society, in the furtherance of whose 
 objects we labor, to promote this grand national charity. — 
 An enterprise destined, in our judgment, to bless largely 
 and inimitably, both the continents concerned, — Africa 
 and America. — The descendants alike of Ham, and of 
 Japheth. 
 
 More of this description of population tender themselves 
 for transportaiion, from time to time, than we have the 
 means of sending, and the truth of this remark has been 
 confirmed by the experience of every month for the last ten 
 years. And as the objects of the society become developed, 
 and the knowledge of its operations and success more exten- 
 sively diffused, the ratio of applicants for transportation will 
 be o-reatly increased. The presumption we think is not 
 visionary, that in something like the third of a century, the 
 larger and more enterprising part, if not the whole, with but 
 few exceptions comparatively, will consent to go. And the 
 numerous descendants of unfortunate Ham, thus removed 
 to Africa, may be free and happy in their own country. 
 Possessed of the soil of their ancestors, and of the society 
 of their fellows, they may be what the declaration of our
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA, 253 
 
 nation's independence broadly avouches all men have a 
 
 right to be, — the subjects of a government of their own 
 
 choice and ordination ! — without v^hich no man is free, 
 
 but stands criminally abridged in the manifest rights of his 
 
 beinaf. 
 
 II. The obvious and entire lyracticahillty of the schema. 
 
 The proof on this point is easy of access, and amounts to 
 
 the most stubborn kind of demonstration. We already have 
 
 a colony upon the Western coast of Africa, possessed of a 
 
 constitutional government, laws, and liberty, based upon 
 
 the model of the civil institutions of this country, far as 
 
 circumstances would admit, in the infant state of the colony, 
 
 and duly adopted, and conventionally ratified by the colonists 
 
 themselves. 
 
 This new Americo- African settlement is rapidly assuming 
 a national aspect, and proudly and permanently rising into 
 political consequence. A colony with its territory, com- 
 merce, and manufactures, — its treaties and negotiations, — 
 its laws and arms, — its domestic and foreign relations, — 
 claiming public faith and diplomatic credit, — declaring war 
 and making peace. — Law and justice have their tribunals, 
 judges, and advocates. — Education her friends, schools and 
 scholars. — Religion her temples, ministers, and ceremonies; 
 and contemplating all the varied interests of society, here is 
 a wide and imposing field for laudable ambition and growing 
 emulation. In a word, we have a settlement in African 
 Liberia that presents all the grand elements and energies 
 of national glory and independence. Active and adequate 
 effort on the part of the United States, is all that is wanting 
 to render this project a source of everlasting good to the 
 deu-raded race of Africans. 
 
 Why do we assume the impracticability of colonization 
 in Africa, by the free people of color in the United States, 
 constitutionally adapted to residence in a tropical climate,
 
 254 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 as we know tliem to be, when it is known that European 
 colonies, formed of emi^a-ants from nearly the same paral- 
 lels of latitude, or rather from more northern latitudes, have 
 succeeded, even in the most southern divisions of Africa ? 
 
 The French, the Portuguese, the Danes, the Dutch, the 
 English, all have colonies there with from ten to twenty- 
 thousand colonists. The French go with a more northern 
 constitution than ours, by several degrees. The Portuguese, 
 from nearly the same latitude. The Danes, from fifteen to 
 twenty degrees farther north — quoting the latitudes of 
 Albany and Copenhagen. The Dutch, ten degrees. The 
 English, from ten to fifteen. The site of our colony is 
 between the sixth and seventh degrees of north latitude, 
 and the tenth and eleventh west longitude ; and do not 
 North Americans, after the most satisfactory experiment, 
 enjoy perfect health at the Isthmus of Panama, in the vale 
 of Quito, at Guyaquil, and at Cayenne ? Do not Euro- 
 peans, from the fifty-fifth to the sixty-fifth degrees of north 
 latitude, enjoy perfect health in the island of Ceylon, in the 
 Bay of Bengal ; also at Sumatra, Batavia, and Java, in the 
 East Indies, between the sixth and seventh decrees of north 
 latitude? And if so, other circumstances equal, as they can 
 be shown to be, upon an avc.age, why not in Western Africa? 
 
 From all which, and other facts and considerations that 
 might be adduced, it is entirely clear, (and the moral 
 convictions of the nation are with us,) that nature and 
 Providence have erected no barrier to the accomplishment 
 of our wishes. Climate and constitution cannot be made to 
 place their negative upon the proposed project ; nor can it 
 be found in the want of means on our part ; but if found at 
 all, it must be sought for in the want of disposition. And 
 this at last turns out to be the only element into which we 
 can consistently resolve the impracticability of African 
 Colonization ! !
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 265 
 
 III. The judicious and discerning in litis coxintry and- 
 even in Europe, have been looking forioard to a project of 
 this kind from the foundation of our Rejmblic. Such a 
 measure was proposed by Granville Sharp, the friend of 
 the negro, in 1783. — By Dr. Fothergill, the great apostle 
 of philanthropy, in 1784. By Dr. Thornton, in this 
 country, in 1787. By Dr. Hopkins, of New England, in 
 1789. By Mr. Fairfax, of Virginia, in 1790. By the 
 Virginia Legislature, in 1802. Thirty years since, Mr. 
 Monroe, then governor of Virginia, was directed by the 
 Legislature to request Mr. Jefferson, then President of the 
 United States, to correspond with the British company of 
 Sierra Leone, and also with the Portuguese government, 
 on the subject of a suitable site in Africa for such a colony. 
 The proposition was renewed by the Virginia legislature 
 in 1816. It was also renewed by Mr. Jefferson in 1811, 
 who approved a measure proposed by the Society of 
 Friends of Pennsylvania and North Carolina, to have a 
 colony on the Western coast of Africa. Nothing decisive, 
 however, was effected in favor of our cause, except that 
 the friends of African Colonization continued to increase, 
 until December 1816, when by the exertions of Dr. Finley, 
 of New Jersey, a public meeting was had in Washington 
 City, to deliberate upon this subject, which meeting 
 resolved upon the formation of the American Colonization 
 Society. A short time after, a second meeting was had, 
 sustained, principally, by the zeal and efforts of Mr. Cald- 
 well, late Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States ; 
 and the Society was accordingly organized. But no colo- 
 nial establishment took place upon the Western coast of 
 Africa, till 1821, when eighty emigrants arrived there, 
 and commenced their operations. Since that time forts, 
 batteries, fortifications, manufactories, churches, court- 
 houses, schools, a hospital, infirmary, a printing establish-
 
 256 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 nient, and kindred buildings and improvements liave sprung 
 lip, as though produced by magic, — by the wand of an 
 enchanter ! Among some scores of native Liberians we 
 have there, a child cannot be found five years old, but, 
 what can read. — And this is not true of every village in 
 the United States, or Kingdom of Great Britain, of the 
 size of Monrovia. 
 
 After thirty years experiment, the first colonies of 
 Virginia, New England, and Maryland were not as pros- 
 perous as ours, only ten years old ! We have better health, 
 more wealth, and a larger share of contentment. No 
 system of credit is allowed in the colony, and ardent spirits 
 are prohibited by the law ; we shall not, therefore, be 
 annoyed by bankruptcy and drunkenness. 
 
 IV. The Political Consistency of the measure. 
 
 The depression and degradation of this description of 
 population in the United States, have been, on their part, 
 involuntary and unavoidable. On otirs, it was originally 
 the result of aggressive oppression, and since, of withheld 
 justice. A refusal, therefore, on our part, to assist a people 
 we have thus deliberately injured, is a direct implication of 
 the national honor, and a practical falsification of our hio-h 
 pretensions to the love of man and liberty. These preten- 
 sions, known and read of all men, have virtually, have in 
 all good faith, committed us, in the eye of every civilized 
 nation, to the result we propose, be the means of its 
 accomplishment what they may. And to us it is entirely 
 clear, that a majority of the national legislature have thought 
 and felt, pretty much as we do on this subject. The Acts 
 of Clongress of the third of March, 1819, and the fifteenth 
 of May, 1820, direct the President of the United States to 
 station public armed vessels, and appoint resident agents 
 upon the Western coast of Africa, whose duty it should be 
 to carry into eff"ect the laws of Congress, for the suppression
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 257 
 
 of the slave trade. This trade is pronounced piracy, and 
 death is fixed as its punisliment. It is made the duty of 
 these vessels to recapture all the slaves they can, and of 
 these agents to receive, settle, and colonize them upon the 
 Western coast of Africa, at the expense of the United Slates. 
 
 At the date of these acts of Congress it was presumed 
 that there existed upon the Western coast of Africa, a 
 regularly organized government to receive and recognize 
 such agents, and they were accordingly instructed not to 
 do anything upon the principles of colonization. But when 
 it was ascertained that no such government existed there, 
 they were directed to colonize and protect them indepen- 
 dently. We mention these facts to show that the designs 
 of the American Colonization Society, involve no object 
 but what has already received, indirectly, the sanction of 
 the General Government. If if be constitutional and in 
 character, for the General Government to recapture slaves, 
 and return them to Africa ; and not only those brought 
 away iinder the American flag, but under the flags of 
 other nations, with whom we are in alliance, and have a 
 diplomatic understanding on this subject, can it be uncon- 
 stitutional, and out of character, to restore those, or their 
 descendants, who were originally brought here by the 
 public sanction of American law ? 
 
 A few facts connected with the history of our colony 
 will further evince that the policy of the General Govern- 
 ment is in accordance with ours on this subject. Lt. 
 Stockton, of the United States Navy, assisted the colonists 
 with all his force, in their first settlement of Liberia. He 
 was one of the signers of the treaty, ceding the territory 
 from the natives to the American Colonization So^'^ioty. 
 The General Government, however, is not committed ^j us 
 by any terms of stipulation, nor are we in co-operation 
 
 with the government, except in conviction and feeling. 
 VOL. II — 22.
 
 258 CJ.AIM8 OF AFRICA. 
 
 We cannot refrain, however, from expressing the hope that 
 we soon shall be ; — and why not, should the source of 
 power, the people at large, say to their representatives in 
 Congress, that this is their will? Be this as it may, the 
 state legislatures will espouse the cause of the Society, and 
 the work will be accomplished. Several legislatures have 
 already declared in favor of it by public resolution, and 
 others will soon follow the example. What we propose 
 is plainly for the general welfare and prosperity, in view 
 of tiie common defense of our country. And does the 
 constitution of the country point its warning finger at the 
 impending danger, in one clause, and in another deny us 
 the rights and the means of averting the ruin ! 
 
 If it be right to appropriate several hundred thousand 
 dollars, as has been done by this government, to purchase 
 the good will of the pirates and vagabonds of Algiers and 
 Tripoli on the Northern coast of Africa, can it be uncon- 
 stitutional to appropriate for those who have cultivated the 
 soil, and increased the wealth of this country, and now 
 wish to remove to its Western coast ? If it be consti- 
 tutional to appropriate money for those who fought the 
 battles of this country, can it be unconstitutional to give 
 those something who raised bread to support them while 
 they were doing it ? Is it constitutional to avenge, in 
 behalf of Africa, the wrongs of other nations, but uncon- 
 stitutional to repair the injury we have done her ourselves ? 
 If Congress may appropriate money to the individuals and 
 corporation of a city, to repair a loss sustained by the 
 accidental ravages of fire, (a thing that has been done by 
 the American Congress,) by what law will you preclude 
 the free people of color from a share in the national bounty ? 
 If Congi-ess may appropriate money for the relief and 
 removal of the Indians, why not for the relief and removal 
 of tlio Xcrjroes ? If for the suppression of the slave trade.
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 269 
 
 ■why not for the benefit of those who have been cursed and 
 ruined by it ? If for the relief of recaptured slaves, why 
 not for the relief of emancipated slaves, or those whose 
 condition has been rendered intolerable by the system of 
 slavery in this country ? If it was constitutional to appro- 
 priate money for the relief of the distressed inhabitants of 
 a town in South Ameriiita, is it not strange reasoning to 
 suppose it unconstitutional to appropriate money for the 
 relief of our own citizens ? If it was no violation (and 
 certainly it was not,) of our constitutional charter, to 
 appropriate a large sum of money as a debt of gratitude to 
 a foreigner, — I mean the noble Lafayette, surely it cannot 
 be considered such, to pay a debt of common justice to a 
 portion of our own population ! 
 
 It will be said, however, that if we plant a colony there, 
 
 we must protect it; — and further, that it would be a 
 
 capital blunder in the pohcy of a republic, to aid in the 
 
 establishment of a foreign colony. In reply, we remark, 
 
 it is not intended that Liberia shall ever exist in colonial 
 
 subjection to this country. We do not ask you to plant, 
 
 we simply ask you to assist them that they may plant 
 
 themselves. We onl}' propose assisting the free people of 
 
 color, until they are able to take care of themselves, and 
 
 like ourselves, become an independent republic : and in 
 
 doing so, we have the example of the most distinguished 
 
 republics of antiquity, — Greece and Rome, Greece had 
 
 her independent, as well as tributary colonies in Italy and 
 
 elsewhere. Rome had her legion of colonies, as one of 
 
 her historians expresses it, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
 
 and many of them upon the same principles. The Greeks 
 
 also had large and flourishing colonies in Africa, upon its 
 
 Libyan coast ; and the Adyrmachidae and Nasamones of 
 
 Herodotus, upon this coast, afterwards removed into tlio 
 
 inland parts, occupying the vast region of Libya, between
 
 260 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 Egypt and Fezzan, in one of the oases of which rose the 
 impwal temple of Jupiter Ammon, against which Camby- 
 ses, ikiug of Persia, sent an army of fifty thousand men, 
 not 01:0 of whom, according to Herodotus, ever saw Persia 
 after enterinar the African kinoxlom of Barca ! The first 
 head of the objection, therefore falls, because it does not 
 apply to us, and the second is premature, and contradicted 
 by the examples of Greece and Rome. 
 
 V. The impracticability of colonization in this country, or 
 any of the neighboring islands. 
 
 In fifty years we shall have millions to remove somewhere. 
 Where can, these be accommodated in this country 1 Or 
 in which of the western islands will you dispose of them ? 
 "Will you place them between the base of the Rocky 
 Mountains and the shores of the Pacific ? The only part 
 of this region that can be assigned them, cannot subsist 
 them, for the whole of it, except fractional parts, is a 
 comparatively barren rocky desert, unproductive of any of 
 the necessaries of life. Again, the difficulties of removal 
 would be infinite. The distance is greater than to Liberia. 
 If you send them by land or sea, the cost of transportation 
 would be ten-fold. If sent by land, it is likely the fatigue, 
 privations, and distance of the journey would kill one-half 
 of them. If b}' water, increased distance and danger would 
 be added to the expense. The voyage would be nearly 
 equal to the circumnavigation of the globe. And if colo- 
 nized here, what relation will they sustain to us? Will 
 you hold them in colonial subjection ? Will you tax them 
 without representation? Will you rule them by a new set 
 of masters ? — and thus commute domestic slavery for a 
 system of wholesale oppression ? Or will you admit them 
 into the American confederation of states? — This is too 
 palpably improbable to admit of discussion. Or, finally, 
 shall they exist a separate and independent nation ? If so.
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 261 
 
 will they not recollect the wrongs, and distrust the justice 
 of this government? Will they not, as they rapidly 
 increase in a poor and unproductive country, be incessantly 
 disputing with the whites for territory, and other coionial 
 advantages ? Or presuming that the present state of things 
 (wliich God forbid !) is to continue, will not the slaves be 
 incessantly escaping from the slave-holding states, and 
 winding and worming their way, finally take refuge in the 
 colony ? Will not these states demand the refugees ? And 
 will not the sympathies and policy of the colony refuse to 
 give them up ? The next step will be a resort to arms, 
 and war, bloodshed, and revolution will be the appalling 
 issue ! And recollect, you have upon the Western Conti- 
 nent and in its islands, at this time, nine millions three 
 hundred and fifty thousand negroes. — South America 
 two millions, West India Islands two millions, Mexico 
 two millions, the United States three millions, and Canada 
 fifty thousand. Select which alternative you may, infinite 
 mischief is likely to accrue. If this remark shall have 
 excited a smile of contempt in any, let the bloody placers 
 and sanguinary fields of St. Domingo tell our paper poli- 
 ticians what the negro can do, when roused to action and 
 battle by the impulse of desperation ! Let the troops of 
 Napoleon, the world's imperial master, who were trium- 
 phantly vanquished by undisciplined negroes, say whether 
 they can fight ! If such a victory had been obtained over 
 the forces of France by some nation of distinction, it 
 would have been enrolled in the archives of the earth, and 
 the bureau of war as the humiliation of Bonaparte ! But 
 because, forsooth, it was done by slaves, we could hardly 
 get any body to print it ! 
 
 The Haytian project next claims attention. It is said our 
 colored population can take refuge here, as members of a 
 growing republic ; and that the government of Hayti will
 
 262 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 p;iy the expense of transportation. On this subject a few 
 remarks must suffice. To say nothing of the grossly vio- 
 lated faitii of the Haytian government, in relation to six or 
 ei"ht thousand emiorants that went there a few years since, 
 and the larger share were compelled to return, it must not 
 be forgotten, that comparatively few can be accommodated 
 tliere. We shall soon have millions for transportation; and 
 Hayti will, in a short time, be overstocked with her oAvn 
 population. This Republic of St. Domingo, of which we 
 hear so much, does not possess a single foot of territory, 
 except the little island of Hispaniola, of not more than forty 
 thousand square miles, with a population of more than a 
 million already. From the nature of the soil and climate, 
 the former will always be owned by an aristocracy of rich 
 planters, and the poorer classes, so far as the laws of prop- 
 erty operate, must be vassals. Owing to the semi-barbarian 
 character of the population, the affairs of the Republic must, 
 for a long time, remain in a very unsettled state. No 
 religion is known in the island, except a loose kind of 
 mongrel Papacy. The Protestant religion is without a 
 pulpit in the island. They have no regular schools : no 
 systematic education whatever. The institution of marriage 
 is seldom heard of, and its rights, with few exceptions, held 
 in universal contempt. It seems, therefore, but a refine- 
 ment upon our former cruelty to send them to Hayti. 
 Indeed, in the deluge of oppression that surrounds the man 
 of color, Africa is his only home — his only resting place: 
 and here we may successfully plant, and triumphantly rear 
 a young colored America on the shores of Africa, and no 
 reasonable objection can be urged from any quarter ! TJiose 
 who think that we wronr/ them by sending them to Africa, 
 seem to be better informed on this subject than God and 
 nature, for the finger of the one, and the indications of the 
 other, point to Africa, as their only appropriate domicil,
 
 CLAIMS OF AFUICA. 263 
 
 chosen by him who made of one blood all iialions of the 
 earth, and fixed the bounds of their habitation. 
 
 VI. The moral and relative advantages 'presented in 
 Africa. 
 
 We need not tell 3'ou, that Africa is a peninsular conti- 
 nent, of prodigious extent, ten-thirteenths of which is found 
 between the tropics. From its more northern extremity to 
 its soutliern angle, at the Cape of Good Hope, is five 
 thousand miles. And from Cape Verd to Cape Guardafui, 
 it is aboiit four thousand miles. An immense territory ! 
 What a field for exploration and improvement ! Paganism 
 reigns from the mountains of Good Hope to the tropic of 
 Cancer ; and is disputing with Mohammedanism and Chris- 
 tianity for Egypt, Barbary, Zohara, Negroland, Guinea, 
 Nubia, Congo, Abyssinia, and CaflTraria. This vast field 
 everywhere whitens for the harvest of civilization and the 
 gospel. The great central division of Africa from east to 
 west, is drawn by the Niger, and Senegal, and the Moun- 
 tains of the Moon. Throughout the whole northern division, 
 a kind of semi-civilization obtains, and the country is gen- 
 erally fertile and productive. Liberia is on the western 
 shore of Africa, nearly in the center of the vast extent of 
 coast stretching from the straits of Gibralter to the Cape of 
 Good Hope. And it therefore possesses, in point of locality, 
 the key of influence over both the great geographical divi- 
 sions of Africa. The depth of the territorial purchase into 
 the interior, is such as to extend the trade and influence of 
 the colony, several hundred miles from the ocean ; and a 
 communication has already been opened to the central cities 
 of Africa. 
 
 The tract of country purchased, as the site of the colony, 
 lies at the mouth of the river Montserrado, To this, addi- 
 tional territory has been added by subsequent purcliase. 
 The Montserrado is between three and four hundred miles
 
 264 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 in length, penetrating directly into the interior, and empty- 
 ing into the Atlantic. It is the largest river, except the 
 St. Paul's, between the Rio Grande of the North, and tlie 
 Congo of the South. The cape or promontory at the mouth 
 extends into the sea about four miles, and forms an admi- 
 rable Bay or Road for vessels, where a Avhole fleet may 
 anchor near the shore, in ten fathoms water. The soil is 
 immensely fertile, equal to any in the world. The forests 
 are lofty, and the rivers numerous — the pride of the Afri- 
 can race. The springs abundant and perennial. The whole 
 coast and interior are stocked with cattle, and vast herds of 
 useful animals, of every kind proper for food and labor. 
 There we find the cow, the ox, tlie mule, the stag, and tlie 
 butfalo. Add to these the elephant, the zebra, and the 
 majestic giraffe. 
 
 Among the productions of the soil are sugar-cane, cotton, 
 indigo, coffoo, rice, tobacco, camwood, palm, sandalwood, 
 and over}' variety of dyestuffs, spices, and tropical growths 
 of various dcscriptluns, embracing the luxuries of the East 
 and West Indies. The corn, the millet, and the holcus 
 yielding two hundred fold. The oats, the cocoanut, and the 
 bread-iVuit, p^jjper, ginger, nutmeg, and ebony ; the fig, 
 the pine-apple, the tamarind, the banauna — gums, fruits, 
 and flowers of greatest variety and abundance. 
 
 Again, Africa is the source of nearly all the gold of the 
 continent; also its ivory and tortoise-shell, copper and 
 precious stones. In a word, the sources of wealth and 
 comfort are as abundant here, as in any other part of the 
 world. 
 
 Nor is it as unhealthy as many represent it to be. Some 
 portions of it are certainly not healthy, as is tlie case in 
 every country. The Bay of St. George, for example, 
 where the Sierra Leone colony is located. But the general 
 healthiness of Western Africa is proverbial, compared with
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 265 
 
 Other parts of it. The heat, at our colonies is far from being 
 excessive. The thermometer seldom rises above eighty 
 degrees, rarely sinks below sixty, Farenheit. The breath 
 of Zohara, the burning sands of the desert, the hot sirocco, 
 and the deadly malaria are not known here. No sickness 
 has prevailed in the colony, except among emigrants arriv- 
 ing during the rainy season ; and it is confidently believed, 
 that as the forests retreat, and the country opens before 
 the busy hand of industry, the unhealthiness, even of this 
 season, will disappear, as it is almost exclusively owing 
 to vegetable putrefaction. Tiie boundless luxuriance of 
 vegetation, and the length of the rainy season, being cir- 
 cumstances favorable to such a conclusion. But when 
 proper care is taken to become acclimated, it is entirely 
 certain, that our colored people hold life by a stronger tenure 
 there, than in the southern parts of the United States. Many 
 of the colonists who went there sickly and debilitated, are 
 now healthy and vigorous. Some who went there without a 
 dollar, are now worth from five to twenty-five thousand. 
 
 VII. On the ground of its congruity with the 7noveme7iis 
 of civilization and social improvement, throughout the world, 
 and during every period of its history. 
 
 If we turn to the history of nations, and consult the 
 progress of empire, as developed in the interesting records 
 of past ages, we shall find that colonization has invariably 
 opened and applained the way, for the improvement of the 
 barbarian state, and the transition from a savage to a 
 cultivated condition of society. Look at the polished 
 nations of antiquity, and the proud monuments of modern 
 refinement ! Egypt was civilized by a colony from Meso- 
 potamia. — Greece, by colonies from Egypt and other parts 
 of Africa. — Italy and Rome, by colonies from Greece. — 
 Europe by colonies from Rome. — And America, North 
 and South, by colonies from Europe. — And fiillen Africa, 
 
 VOL. 11 — 23,
 
 266 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 tamid ihe sad fortunes of her loiin' defjradation must bo 
 civilized and Christianized in the same way. And if we 
 go to work in a proper manner, Morrtserrado will soon be 
 to Africa, what Plymouth and Jamestown are to the 
 United States. — Sacred to the recollections of freedom 
 and glory ! — The birthplace of national independence ! 
 
 VIII. Tlie Necessity of svclt, a measure. — TJ>.e Policy 
 of its speedy adoption, and, rp-adual accomplishment. 
 
 1 . It Avould be to the United States a measure of economy, 
 in view of its wealth and revenue. In Massachusetts, 
 Connecticut, and New York, the free colored population 
 amounts to less than sixty thousand. Of this number, a 
 sufficient proportion, (say one-third of all the convicts,) is 
 found in the state prisons and penitentiaries, to cost these 
 three states, in the short time of ten years, the enormous 
 sum of one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars, Now, 
 this sum, expended every ten years, for the term of thirty 
 years, would send every person of color in these states to 
 Liberia ; and then they would be rid of the evil, and rid 
 of it forever. As it is, it is only increasing on their hands, 
 and will continue to do so. The same is true, in some 
 proportion, of eveiy state in the Union. There is not a 
 state in the Union, that does not pay enough every year, 
 for the correction of the crimes of its free colored population, 
 to send the yearly increase to Africa. We pay more money 
 to Iceej) them, than is necessary to send them away ; and 
 3'et, we say we are not able to transport them ! 
 
 But look at this evil a few generations to come. At 
 present, you estimate the population of this country, at 
 thirteen millions. Three millions of these, equal to the 
 whole population of the United States fifty years ago, are 
 Afi-icans. The number will double in about one-third of a 
 ucntury ; and the increase of the blacks will considerably 
 exceed that of the whites. This excess of increase will be
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 267 
 
 from seven to fifteen per cent. Now, prevent the total 
 increase of the colored population, and you have nothing 
 to fear, even if you stop here. At the first period of 
 duplication, you will have twenty millions of whites, ai^d 
 only tliree millions of blacks. At the second, forty millions 
 of whites, and only three millions of blacks. At the third, 
 eighty millions of whites, and still, but three millions of 
 blacks. But let the present state of things continue, — 
 shut 3'-our eyes, close your ears, lock your coffers, and 
 resolve that you will do nothing, and you have everything 
 to fear! When you have twenty millions, the blacks will 
 have seven millions ; when you have forty millions, they 
 will have fifteen millions ; when you have eighty millions, 
 they will have thirty-five millions ! Where will they be 
 found? What will they be about? Whose epitaph will 
 tell the rest ! Thirty-five millions of oppressed human 
 beings, goaded to madness by the aggressions of tyranny, 
 can never be removed from this, or any other country, 
 except by law, and with their own consent. 
 
 The annual increase of the free colored population of 
 this country, is about seven thousand. The transportion 
 of these would cost about one hundred and thirty thousand 
 dollars, and require about eight or nine thousand tonnage 
 of our shipping, calculating two persons to every five tons, 
 (whicli is the provision, I believe, of existing law in the 
 marine department,) and estimating that each vessel could 
 accomplish two trips in the year, which can be easily done, 
 as the distance is not greater than from hei"e to Liverpool, 
 — say thirty days sail, more or less. But as our mercantile 
 and military marine might be occasionally employed upon 
 this collateral service, it would operate an abatement of 
 tonnage, and reduce the expense to something like one 
 hundred thousand dollars. Strike the dividend then, and 
 it is less than five thousand dollars to each state. In fact,
 
 263 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 Tve have vessels enough upon pay, doing nothing, that 
 might be tluis employed without any additional expense to 
 the United States. The increase of colored population, free 
 and slaves, is from fifty-five to sixty thousand annually ; 
 and agreeably to the preceding data, the cost of transpor- 
 tation would be one million, fifty or sixty thousand dollars : 
 and if the evil we propose to remedy were removed, every 
 dollar of it would return to the public treasury, with 
 interest, in less than fifteen years. This measure would 
 call for seventy or eighty thousand tonnage of our shipping, 
 and what is this ! — Not more than one-fifteenth or sixteenth 
 part of our mercantile, to say nothing of our military 
 marine ! 
 
 Look at the amount of money expended in this country 
 
 every year, upon a long catalogue of useless items, that 
 
 might advantageously be dispensed with. — The petit- 
 
 maitreism of hiii'h life, — The exclusiveness and insularism 
 
 of privileged orders, — a kind of mushroom noblesse, rising 
 
 up among us; upon cockney clubs and reading rooms, — 
 
 the coff'ee house, the park, and the levee; — the village 
 
 dance, the palace route, and the reign of revelry ; — the 
 
 publications, conventions and subscriptions of demagogues 
 
 and office hunters; — the money-loving lazaroni of the 
 
 church and pulpit; — languid and fashionable wealth, 
 
 interest, intrigue, and gallantry, on pilgrimages to our 
 
 watering places, where the elegant extract of society meet 
 
 to bathe and bibe, and tattle and promenade ! Now, let 
 
 vanity and self-love compound with philanthropy, and turn 
 
 over a part of this expenditure to our enterprise, and we 
 
 will blacken the Ethiopian sea with the returning children 
 
 of Africa ! Look at the one hundred thousand tobacco 
 
 consumers in each state. One-tenth the amount of money 
 
 thrown away on this worthless weed, would send to Africa 
 
 tlie whole free colored population in the Union '
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 269 
 
 For a term of some fifty years, you brought from Afiica 
 here fifty or sixty thousand colored persons annually. The 
 nation is now worth at least ten times as much as it was 
 then, and when we ask you to send only six or seven 
 thousand, you tell us you are not able, piteously bewail 
 your want of means and money, and heg beggars not to 
 beggar you ! How is this ? With one dollar, by the law 
 of pi'oportion, you bought sixty, but with ten dollars you 
 are unable to send six ! What kind of logic, what kind 
 of arithmetic is this ? Or is it your religion that has 
 penned this singular scale of calculation ! But I check 
 myself, I now appeal to interest, not conscience ! 
 
 Look at the Brazilians, shall they be able to import from 
 Africa fifty thousand every year, and you, with all your 
 wealth, not able to send a few thousand? In the years '26 
 and '27, in the single port of Rio Janeiro, seventy-seven 
 thousand slaves were landed from Africa, and driven before 
 the lash to the fields and mines of their brutal masters. 
 
 The little island of Cuba brings twenty-five thousand 
 from Africa, annually, and cannot you send six thousand ? 
 Atone period, from twelve to fifteen thousand were annually 
 smuggled into these United States, and yet, you cannot send 
 half the number away ! Shall the treasonous cupidity of a 
 few southern and northern pirates, be able to do more than 
 the energy and benevolence of the whole United States 1 
 Is it not a libel on human nature, to say that fraud and 
 violence and crime, can do more than justice humanity and 
 religion ? 
 
 Only give us one-fourth the amount of money expended 
 in this country, in formnt; chains and irons, and fittino- out 
 slave vessels for Africa, and we will remove, every year, 
 the sf.t increase of free colored population in tlie United 
 State:-; ! 
 
 Only give us a small part of the wealth, and revenue
 
 270 CLAIMS OF AFHICA. 
 
 accruing to the country, upon a single article of con- 
 sumption and commerce, an article that bids fair soon to 
 present us with a nation of drunkards, and we will accom- 
 plish the object we have in view ! Forty millions would 
 send every person of color in the United States to Africa, 
 and yet, treble this amount was paid on account of the late 
 war, and yet no one tolled of the insolvency of the nation ! 
 And more than this amount is paid annually — what for ? 
 Why, for the exquisite, inimitable pleasure, the dignified, 
 the ennobling luxury of getting drunk ! — In making this 
 estimate, we allow fifty millions for temperate drinking, as 
 it is pertly misnomered. 
 
 We have said, five thousand dollars expended annually 
 by each state, would send the net increase of this people to 
 Africa. And need I say, that quadruple this amount is 
 paid in each state every year, for the support of the theater, 
 the circus, the quadrille, the gaming table, sports of the 
 turf, and political intrigue ? where thousands meet to give 
 away character, and sell their souls, sometimes for a penny, 
 and sometimes for a place ; where in but too many instances, 
 impurity presides and corruption gilds the entertainment: 
 where the polished and the gallant — the refined exquisites 
 of the age purchase amusement, and witness with rapture 
 conduct that would make a modest pagan blush ! 
 
 The move for temperance in this country, has saved to 
 the nation more than two millions of dollars, the last two 
 years, and this sum would transport to Africa ninety-five 
 thousand free persons of color. Let then, a half million of 
 drunkards in the United States, crawl out of tlie stye, and 
 turn to men, as once they crawled in and bristled into 
 swine, and let each give us the price of his annual degra- 
 dation, and we will place in Liberia a half million of souls 
 every year ! What note will the accusing angel take of th'.s 
 in the day of retribution !
 
 CLAIMS OF AFKICA. 871 
 
 IX. We urge our flea further : — On the score of 
 Obligations and Gratitude, in view of the advantages derived 
 from the ancestry of Africa. 
 
 Africa claims a high and an early origin, in the scale of 
 empire. On this subject, we know not where to begin, 
 or how to express ourselves. The recollections of history 
 for four thousand years crowd upon us, and we shall not 
 hesitate to avail ourselves of the views and language of 
 philosophers and historians, moralists and poets, jurists and 
 divines, from Herodotus and Homer down to Wilberforca 
 and Watson, casting and coloring all, however, in the mold 
 of our own reflections and feelings, and representing a 
 wljole for which we alone are responsible. When Asia was 
 a land of tents and shepherds, Greece a waste, Rome a 
 desert, and the Western continent imkiiown in song or 
 story, Africa rose the proud mother of nations, and the 
 central source of civilization and social refinement! 
 
 It was once said, that " no good thing can come out of 
 Nazareth : " and it is now thought, that the mere color of 
 the African, places him under the general ban of nations, 
 and renders preposterous and absurd the idea, that this 
 race ever could have occupied a position of dignity, or 
 contributed to the general advancement of the world. If 
 external aspect, (and the assumption admits of triumphant 
 vindication), is considered a mere accident of being, iiow 
 can it render nugatory all contravening evidence ? If so, 
 then reason is a clieat, and Bacon and Newton were sophists ! 
 Why tlie African is black, I know not, nor do I pause to 
 inquire, any more than why you are white. One is as 
 great a ray:-tery to me as the other. It may be the effect, 
 of climate and condition ; or, which is much more likely, 
 il ms'.v he a moiciiul arrangement of Heaven and nature, lo 
 prnpare them for residence and suffering in the hot inter- 
 troijijal regions assigned them, as the bounds of tlieir
 
 272 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 habitation. I do not profess to be an adept in tlie science 
 of climatology, nor can I fathom the deep designs of 
 Providence. I leave both to be comprehended and ex- 
 plained by others. But certainly, if the mere extrinsic 
 circumstance, the adventitious adjunct of color, is to expel 
 the African from the pale of humanity, of which we deem 
 ourselves such fair specimens, the decision reflects but too 
 injuriously upon the magnanimily of earth, and the jusiice 
 of Heaven ! If more tiian a hundred millions of uc'Toes 
 are to be disfranchised of the rights of brodierhood in this 
 way, what will you say of nearly five hundred millions «.>f 
 the copper colored, the olive, and the tawn}', wiliioris uf 
 whom resemble yourselves as little, and myriads less t)u.a 
 the negro, and thousands of whom are as ugly and hattjful 
 to the eye of a polished European, as the impersonations 
 of Scandinavian mythology ? Will you reject these too ? 
 And suppose, on the other hand, that this overwhelming 
 plurality of the great family of man, shall turn on the high 
 pretenders, and expel tliem by way of recrimination ? 
 How is the question to be settled? The result of the whole 
 is, that they possess all the essential distinguishing elements 
 of our common nature, — the physical and moral constitution 
 of man. 
 
 But w^e return to glance at the African history. This 
 race can boast an ancestry as bright as any of her oppres- 
 sors ; we care not where you look for them. Of whom, for 
 example, have we descended? — Of the European Goths 
 and Vandals. And what was their ancestry ? Not to be 
 compared w^ith that of Africa, but infinitely inferior. 
 Adojiting the language and sentiment of the sagacious and 
 philanthropic Richard Watson, we affirm, that "tlie con- 
 temned race of Africa, as to intellect arid genius, c:^r\ 
 exhibit a brighter ancestry than our own. They siv the 
 off-shoots — wild and untrained, it is true, but. sii.U 'h".
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 273 
 
 off-shoots — of a stem which was once proudly luxuriant 
 in tlie fruits of learning and tas-te ; while that from wliich 
 the Goths, their calumniators, have sprung, remained hard, 
 and knotted, and barren!" Africa could boast her her- 
 aldry of science and of fame with any kingdom found upon 
 the vast map of nations. " The only probable account,'' 
 the same author remarks, "which can be given of the 
 negro tribes is, that, as Africa was peopled, through Egypt, 
 by three of the descendants of Ham, they are the offspring 
 of Cush, Misraim, and Phut. They found Egypt a morass 
 and converted it into the most fertile country of the world ; 
 they reared its pyramids, invented its hieroglyphics, gave 
 letters to Greece and Rome, and through them, to usl" If 
 it be objected that we received letters from Plienicia, we 
 reply, Phenicia was an Africo-Egyptian colony, and Cad- 
 mus himself, a Cushite, and one of the ancestors of the 
 African race. The descendants of Cush first settled 
 between the Euphrates and Tigris, and the region was 
 styled, the country of the Cushdim, also Chaldea, and the 
 land of Shinar ; and Nimrod, a sou of Cush, erected here 
 the first kingdom on earth. 
 
 Ethiopia proper, lying on the south of Egypt, in Africa, 
 was also settled by a colony of Cushites, together with an 
 admixture of the descendants of Misraim ; and to these we 
 must trace the present Ethiopian race. As the Cushites 
 in Asia gradually became lost in other names and nations, 
 these alone, therefore, are to be viewed as the ancestry and 
 representatives of the vast negro family, of whom it is said, 
 " Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands ;" which prophecy 
 was incipiently fulfilled in the conversion of the Ethiopian 
 Eunuch, and the introduction of Christianity into Nubia, 
 Carthage, and Abyssinia, in Apostolic times. The Cushites 
 are evidently the origin, and stand in history as the face 
 of the great negro world. They are the only branch of
 
 274 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 Ham's posterity that are black. And that they were black 
 twenty -five centuries ago, is affirmed by Jeremiah ; and 
 that they were so, ages before this, is the testimony of 
 Sockman the Arabian, and other historians. For a thou- 
 sand years, the Cushites, except in the article of religion, 
 were the most distinguished nation upon earth. They 
 founded the first kingdom ; they instituted the first national 
 police known in history, they constituted the priesthood 
 and literati of Egypt and Chaldea, and were, in fact, the 
 first abode of the arts and sciences. They originated the 
 worship of departed heroes. They were the first authors 
 of all that complicated machinery of gods and goddesses, 
 which has come down to us in classic story. For ten suc- 
 cessive centuries, they lifted (done the torch of science to 
 a darkened globe, and philosophy traveled, an awe-struck 
 pilgrim, to learn the wisdom of their obelisks and temples ! 
 Nor is this allj the everlasting architecture of Africa, resist- 
 ins: alike the exhumations of time and the ravages of 
 barbarism, exists to this day ; — though in ruins, the won- 
 der of the world ! Witness the pyramids of Egypt, the 
 ruins of Thebes and Hermopolis, of Alexandria and Jupiter 
 Ammon ! Look at the palace of the Ptolemies — the cata- 
 combs of Sycopolis — the ancient capitol of Abyssinia, 
 where forty pillars, and one hundred and thirty pedestals 
 of granite are still standing in gloomy magnificence to tell 
 you what Africa once was ! "Her mighty kingdoms have 
 yet their record in history," and live in the breathings of 
 song ! 
 
 "She has poured forth her heroes on the field." Look 
 at the mighty Shishak, the great Sestostris, the victorious 
 Hannibal, before whose martial step the majesty of Rome 
 trembled upon the Alpine battlements ! She has " given 
 Bishops to the church." Ecclesiastical history enumerates 
 seven hundred of them, that met in council in Africa to
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA, 276 
 
 dfilibci'ate upon tlio fortunes of the Church of God. She 
 has given " her martyrs to the fire," where they shouted 
 the Jiitnes of glory amid the flames, that burnt them up ! 
 And if this is not enougli, let those who affect to think that 
 avf^To physiognomy shuts out the light of intellect, visit the 
 capiul of the British empire, and there "contemplate the 
 fyai'ires of the colossal head of Memnon, and the statues 
 of the divinities on which the ancient Africans impressed 
 their own forms, and see, in close resemblance to the neffro 
 feature, the mould of those countenances which once beheld, 
 as the creations of their own immoi-tal genius, the noblest 
 and most stupendous monuments of human skill, and taste, 
 and grandeur! In tlie imperishable porphyry and granite, 
 is the unfounded and pitiful slander publicly, and before all 
 the world, refuted!" Look at the world-astonishing cor- 
 ruscations of the genius of Africa, which so splendidly 
 illustrated the morning of her bright and bold career! Her 
 glory commences in the depths of a remote antiquity, and 
 holds the unbroken tenor of its way over the ruins of fifty 
 generations, until we are presented with its consummation 
 in the most polished of the three grand divisions of the 
 ancient world ! Africa has furnished her " generals, physi- 
 cians, philosopheivs, linguists, poets, mathematicians, and 
 merchants, all eminent in their attainments, energetic in 
 enlf.rprise, and honorable in character." But I see the 
 smile of disdain curling upon the lip of a pragmatic politi- 
 cian, and he points me to the intellect of modern Africa. 
 This i.s a most unfortunate reference, and one that should 
 crimson the national cheek with shame! What could be 
 expected from the intellect of modern Africa, when it is 
 known that despair, ages since, sat down upon the s;ime 
 throne wiih reason, and disputed for empire ? Hushed has 
 been tlie voice of hope, and the dream of fame ; and e^en 
 memory, among her children, bought and sold, whipped
 
 276 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 and brutalized, lingered only to survey the desolation, and 
 to let fall a tear over the mighty ruin, and tell tliem all w^h 
 lost ! Yet the celebrated Blumenback, the father of G(,Tman 
 naturalists, has a large library, exclusively the production 
 of negroes ; and he affirms, pioudly and fearlesslv, that 
 there is no branch of science or literature, in which they 
 have not excelled, have not distiiiguislied themselves ! 
 And Gregoria, ex-bishop of Blois, in France, has a large 
 glass case filled with the works of negro authors, exclusively, 
 to which he points witli exulting' pride, as a refutation of all 
 that can be said against the mental claims of Africa. Read 
 her history, and you will find it a thinking story ! You will 
 meet with the studious and the brave ; the masters of arts 
 and of arms, and the heroes of many a tale of danger and 
 of glory. Even now, in her mysterious records and mould- 
 ering greatness, Africa stands, like her own Egyptian Iris, 
 dark and impenetrable, shrouded in the mystic drapery, 
 which ages, long neglected, have let fall upon her gigantic 
 wonders ! 
 
 X. The invohmtary Degradation and Misery of Africa, 
 Tiiese, by many, have been resolved into the purposes 
 and plans of heaven ; and her baptized oppressors even lay 
 their finger, with an air of triumph, on the very prophecy 
 which is said to legitimate the slavery of Africa. The 
 reference is to the curse of Noah. This, however, was 
 exclusively confined, by the very terms in which il vvas 
 uttered, to the descendants of Canaan ; and these nov«r 
 eiitorad Africa, except a few on the coast of Barbary. which 
 nov'or belonged to the land of negroes ; and wljore if.«j 
 soon became extinct. Of course, the curse did not affect 
 Afrif-a, but had its consummation in the destvuciion of the 
 seven Canaanitish nations. The fact is, Africa h.-^r- be-en 
 ^tithout provocation, unceremoniously plundered of her 
 bloud and treasure for near two thousand years ! European
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 277 
 
 avarice alone, since the commencement of the slave-trade, 
 has murdered at least one hundred millions of her cliildren. 
 Merciful God ! what a hecatomb offered at the shrine of 
 blood and murder ! ! 
 
 During all this murderous term, she has bowed a sup- 
 pliant to every nation, Christian, infidel, and Pagan, and 
 humbly sued for redress ; but the prayer has been answered 
 by the clanking of additional chains, and the ear of God 
 and solitude has listened to the story of her wrongs, told 
 only in curses and in sighs ! 1 
 
 As said by the eloquent Watson, "ages which have 
 produced revolutions in favor of other countries, have left 
 Africa still the common plunder of every invader who 
 has had hardihood enouo-h to obdurate his heart against 
 humanity, to drag his lengthened lines of enchained captives 
 through the desert, or to suftbcate them in the lipids of 
 vessels destined to carry them away into hopeless, foreign, 
 and interminable captivity! It has been calculated that 
 Africa has been annually robbed of one hundred and fifty 
 thousand of her children. Multiply this number by the 
 ages through which the injury has been protracted, and 
 the amount appalls and rends the heart! What an accumu- 
 lation of misery and wrong ! Which of the sands of her 
 deserts has not been steeped in tears, wrung out by the pang 
 of separation from kindred and country ? What wind has 
 passed over her plains without catching up the sighs of 
 bleeding or broken hearts ? " The children of Africa 
 have been the most unhappy of all the family of man. 
 More oppressed, and more abused; — I do not, I ivill not 
 medd'e with the question of domestic slavery, as sanctioned 
 by law in this country. I speak of the oppression of Afri<!a 
 as a country ; — as a member of the great family of nations. 
 I speak of the slave trade, in all the extent and malignity 
 of its hateful and hated visitations. And among all the
 
 278 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 national obliquities that the recording angel, in the councils 
 of eterniry, has ever reluctantly traced upon the damning 
 page of Heaven's black register, is there any to equal this 
 oppression ? What can you think of the infernal man- 
 stealer, the hell-incited kidnapper that would take by force, 
 and drive a human horde from motives of sheer cupidity ? 
 Is he not an outlaw, alike from the reach of humanity, and 
 the mercy of Heaven! Is there a virtuous intelligence in 
 God's universe, or even a devil in hell, that would not blush 
 to claim kindred with him ! Pardon me, my friends, I 
 cannot disguise my feelings, sincerely, I cannot think of the 
 woe-worn world of Africa, — that once flourishing, but now 
 desolate continent, without exclaiming, a thousand times 
 accursed be the oppressor, that has withered the verdure 
 of her banks and fields, and spread sterility over her soils ! 
 As the voice of God, conscience, and duty cannot aft'ect 
 liim, as he cannot be arrested "by national, or municipal 
 law, — as the claims of Heaven, the fear of hell, and the 
 interests of eternity, are recklessly blotted from his ledger 
 of blood and murder, and he remains uninfluenced, even 
 by the last hope of the depraved, — a sense of shame, he 
 deserves, and should receive at once, the execration of his 
 species! The indignant scorn, the unleavened, undying 
 hate of humanity, should drive him out with the mule, to 
 feed upon the thistle, and when he dies, the burial of an 
 ass should give immortality to his infamy ! 
 
 Two considerations must furnish our justification in using 
 such language on this subject. First, the truly execrable 
 elements and features of this infernal scourge of humanity, 
 into the details of which, we will not now enter. The bare 
 recital would be torture. It would make the nerves of a 
 savage quail, and curdle the blood of a cannibal, whatever 
 its effect might be on a Christian audience ! And secondly, 
 the warrant we have, in the history of the past and present,
 
 CLAIMb OF AFRICA. 279 
 
 and especially in llie Word of God, that the time is rapidly 
 nearing, when the dark and lurid torch of slavery in all its 
 forms, a torch, fueled with the image of God, and the 
 rights of man, and lit up at the flames of hell, shall be seen 
 flickering in its socket to go out in darkness, deep and utter, 
 dense and enduring! The children of Africa shall not 
 always be treated as things and chattels ; shall not always 
 be sorted with the monkey and ourang-outang. — Shall not 
 always be outlawed from the circle of human beings by the 
 slave-monger, as a horde of tattling babboons ! No, the tone 
 of humanity shall be elevated there, the rights of man shall 
 be asserted, the justice of God shall interpose a defense, 
 and every attribute of his nature shall be active, in throwino- 
 over that country, and the oppressed of every other, a 
 canopy of protection. Upon the coasts and deserts of 
 Africa, upon the banks of the Antilles and Mississippi, the 
 savannas of Georgia and the plains of the Carolinas, the 
 sun shall rise on freemen and Christians, and shall never 
 again go down on serfs and slaves ! Enslaved and tributary 
 man is everywhere beginning to look up, and ere it be 
 long, the life-blood of an injured world will collect at the 
 heart, and by one convulsive effort throw off the load that 
 oppressed it for ages ! Already, the beacon-fires of mora!, 
 political, and religious improvement, are everyvzhere upon 
 the continents of the earth and islands of the ocean, risinfr 
 into brilliance, and soon human tyranny and J'.'prada- 
 tion shall perish in the blaze, and all nations revel in tlie 
 splendor of the illumination ! Fancy almost becomes 
 rwaiiiy while the mind luxuriates amid the magnificence of 
 the vimon ! 
 
 "'JTake, Freedom, take thy radiant round, 
 When dLinmed, revive — when lost, retiu'ii, 
 Till not a shrine on earth be found, 
 In which thy glories will not buru."
 
 280 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 XI. The good that is to come to Africa. 
 
 The prospect already affords direct encouragement. 
 Civil and religious liberty, may be hereby given to an 
 entire continent ; together with a reversion to national 
 consequence, glory, and grandeur. All the arts of civilized 
 life, all the means of religious instruction, will go with the 
 colonists. It will be of signal advantage to those who go, 
 as well as the native African. It will inspire them with 
 ambition and enterprise, when they find that they are free, 
 without legal disabilities and public degradaiion — as is 
 the case in this and every slave-holding country. It will 
 especially have a tendency to prevent the slave-trade upon 
 the coasts, and in the interior. Africa has ten thousand 
 miles of exposed coast, and the only way to prevent the 
 rava'TCS of this godless traffic, is to flank her coasts, at 
 convenient intervals, with -a circumvallation of colonies; 
 and thus, enlighten her tribes, and then the trade is at an 
 end. It is now contraband, by the laws of all the most 
 powerful nations of the old and new world ; and is only 
 carried on by a confederation of pirates. They are, there- 
 fore, not strong, and may be resisted. In the Sierro Leone 
 colony, it is banished trom five thousand square miles, from 
 whicli twenty thousand, slaves used to be taken every year. 
 It is also baiiisLed from three hundred miles of coast, right 
 and left of Monrovia. 
 
 And if such a system were adopted as the ono we recom- 
 mend, if tho nian-stealer, a quarter of a century hence, 
 were to go there to try his infernal experiments, Africa 
 would treat with him, in a language he would have to 
 read while he was running! He would find lier shores 
 bristling with spears, her heavens darkened with arrows, 
 and the death-dealing roar of her cannon, pealing the 
 thunder of African independence, and the brute, with 
 his "floating hell," his minions and his chains, would be
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 281 
 
 driven baok into the ocean, to curse his stars, (in his own 
 ianu^iiag'.),) and tiy his hick again ! 
 
 Liberia is even now a Pliaros of h2:ht to Western Africa, 
 and points the hopes of phllantliropy to her approaching 
 tjcfranchisement and civihzation ; Avhich are to be viewed 
 as ao event of more general importance than anytliing that 
 has occurred during the last century, except the universal 
 emancipation of the Western Continent. 
 
 XII. It may prevent iticalculaUe mischief and ruin to this 
 country, and finally save it from premature decay and ulti- 
 mate overthrow, or at least from internal civil dissensions. 
 
 Our free people of color are mocked, when we call them 
 citizens. We disown them as our fellows and peers ; and 
 yet, refuse them the protection afforded to slaves. In the true 
 spirit of Egyptian slavery, we curse them for not making 
 brick, but are careful at the same time, to withhold from 
 them the only materials with which it could be made. 
 They are natives, but still strangers and aliens ! We bru- 
 talize them, and then urge this brutality in bar to the grant 
 of their rights ! This state of thin^-s has rendered this 
 portion of our population, a cancer, in the body politic ; — 
 a living contagious pestilence ! Virtue and enterprise are 
 left without motive, because in this country, they can have 
 no reward. And hence this unhappy people, (the misfor- 
 tune is theirs, — the crime is ours) are rapidly spreading a 
 fearful taint, — an alarming virus, through all the relations 
 of general society. This taint, this virus, not only affecting 
 the morals, but even the blood, — the genealogy of the 
 n;-iii'jK.s. my country ! where is thy blush ! Can it only 
 be found upon the cards of our ministers in foreign courts ! 
 
 Xill. Gn the ground of laudable co-operation with cdt 
 tJi-e most dislhiguished philanthroinsts of modern times. 
 
 Vi'ho Would not wish to be identified, in this labor of 
 ioYO, with such men as Penn, Wilberforce, Howard, Sharp, 
 VOL. II — 24.
 
 282 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 Clarkson, Pitt, Fox, Buxton, Brougham, Stoj.'b.ea, Rosooe, 
 Watson, Rush, Finley and Caldwell? — Numci--, de.ained 
 in their connection with Africa, to sparkle Witli uixmort^i 
 splendor on the rolls of worth and fame! — Namr;b Uiat will 
 live in a thousand languages as long as the majesuo Krg«r, 
 the father of rivers in the land of the negro, shall r(»li iiia 
 thundering tide to the bight of Benin, or the bosom of the 
 ocean! — Names, that shall be handed down to posterity, in 
 characters of endearing remembrance ! 
 
 XIV. We urge it on the score of Duty. 
 
 You owe it to yourselves, to your country, to humanity 
 and religion. God requires it in every language earth can 
 understand. The Jews were required to recollect that they 
 had been slaves in Egypt ; but they refused to do so. 
 When they saw their thrifty, gain-loving thousands distri- 
 buted over the hills and valleys of Judea, when they saw 
 the glistening skies of the eternal city, and tlie heaven- 
 impaling dome of their God-hallowed temple, they forgot 
 the slavery of Egypt ; and a long captivity in Babylon, was 
 necessary to remind them of it ! And Heaven will deal 
 with you in the same way, unless you do your duty. You 
 aie directed to "look unto the rock whence you were 
 hewn." Polished as you are now, the quarry* that pro- 
 duced you was rough enough 1 Also, to '• look to the hole 
 of the pit whence you have been digged," Although you 
 may now stand in a place of generous enlargement, recollect 
 the mire of the pit once held your feet! In the figurative 
 language of the Bible, recollect that 5^our " father was an 
 Ammonite, and your mother a Hiltite!" How many ttvere 
 are in our world who avail themselves of a recnac vrVnn of 
 fortune to tell us what they have long been, as U> fiuoily 
 distinction, prating and swelling about ancestry, tracing its 
 labyrinths with peculiar certainty, when perhaps, in fact, 
 if the truth were known, their blood has been coursini;
 
 CLAIMd OF AFRICA, 283 
 
 throuofli slaves and vassals ever since the flood ! And it 
 now lies puddled in the veins of childien worthy of their 
 sires ! Kefloct then upon the humility of your origin. 
 
 You are required to do to others as you would that they 
 should do to you. Now place yourselves in the condition ot 
 my clients, and let them take your place. In a change of 
 circumstances, what would you want them to do for you ? 
 Assist you in bettering your condition ? Certainly. Well, 
 this you must, therefore, do for them, or you have no claims 
 to piety : for on this maxim " hang all the law and the 
 prophets." 
 
 XV. On the ground of Brotherhood. 
 
 God has made of one blood all nations of the earth. — 
 That is, one man of his creation, is the common father of 
 us all. If any difference exists, affecting the rights of 
 humanity, he disavows the distinction. We are all alike 
 descended from Adam and Noah in the same line, the same 
 unbroken succession of posterity. We are all children of the 
 same father. One God has made us all. So says the Bible. 
 Our nature and physiology, our aptitudes and inclinations 
 are the same. Jesus Christ, by the assumption of our nature, 
 became brother to every human being. Of course, to the 
 African. He tasted death "for every man." Africa, therefore, 
 is the purchase of his blood, and is included in the covenant 
 giant of his promise. We think, therefore, that you must 
 be prepared to admit the indefensibility of the position we 
 oppose. If then, we refuse to assist them, we sin against 
 our own nature, and insult the Author of our redemption, 
 in the bargain ! As you hope, therefore, for the succor of 
 humanity, and the mercy of Heaven, you are bound to 
 yield us the co-operation asked I 
 
 XVI. We urge ourj)lea on the ground of Benevolence. 
 This is the distinguishing property of the Divine Nature, 
 
 *' God is love." — It is the pervading principle, the most
 
 284 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 prominent feature of his administration ; and until you 
 resemble him in this respect, you are not liis children, 
 lie has decided that it is "more blessed to give, than to 
 receive." But where is the man who forms his character 
 upon this maxim ? Where is the man who would not 
 rather receive, even in the proportion of one, than give in 
 that of ten? Do you know him ? Who would not rather 
 receive, even a small estate, than give a large one ? And 
 yet, the arithmetic of doing and receiving good, conducts 
 to a directly different conclusion. If you see your brother 
 need and close your bowels of compassion against him, the 
 love of God is not in you. You might as well look for 
 heaven and hell in embrace, as to meet a man wantonly 
 oppressing his brother, or refusing lo assist him possessed 
 of the relio'ion of Jesus Christ ! What confidence can I 
 have in the benevolence of a man, having it in his power 
 to assist me, when misfortune entitles me to aid, and refus- 
 ing to do so ? Still less, when by acts of aggression, he 
 proceeds to oppress me ; and none at all, when he seeks 
 to deprive me of personal liberty. No ! my soul is my self, 
 and my body is my own! This compound of bone and 
 muscle, belongs to me, and lie who would depiive me of 
 it, for purposes of gain, would do anything else, for tho 
 same purpose that law and custom would seem to sanction. 
 He would rifle the tomb of his father! — he would light the 
 grave yard thief, torch in hand, to the tomb of her that 
 bore him ! he would plunder the tree of life, and damn the 
 nations by the sale of its fruit, if he could make money by 
 it, and secure the gratification of his passions ! 
 XVII. / appeal to you as American Citizens, 
 I appeal to the sacred charter of your freedom ; that 
 hallowed scroll, which once redressed the wrongs of this 
 country, and we trust, is yet to redress the wrongs of 
 Africa. I only ask you to give her, what that instrument
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 285 
 
 says, belongs to her inalienably. While gratitude is rising 
 to Heaven, in one vast exhalation, from ihe hearts of len 
 millions of freemen, for your own liberty ! convened and 
 rejoicing liere, in all the vigor and manhood of nalional 
 independence, will you despise the day of small things, 
 and say to Africa, as the world lately said to the land of 
 Homer and Achilles, "help yourselves!" Rather does 
 not this occur most opportunely, as an occasion on which 
 you are to give tone to the freedom and rights of man ? 
 Away then, with every avaricious feeling, and pour your 
 charities into the lap of Africa! She will bedew your 
 offerings with the tears of her gratitude ; and what eloquence 
 could better tell you, " it is all she has to give !" But if 
 you refuse to assist her in this, or in some equally ade- 
 quate way, will not your conduct be a burning satire upon 
 your hollow and hypocritical professions? Will not 
 posterity laugh at the cheat, and nations yet unborn ridi- 
 cule the farce ? And with infinite justice too ! 
 
 It remains for you, therefore, to exert yourselves in 
 wiping away the most defacing stain, — that of slavery, — 
 that is seen lingering in the azure heaven of your country's 
 reputation. I appeal to you in the name, and invoke you 
 by the sanctity of the day and the occasion, lay not the 
 Mattering unction to your soul, that all is well ! The 
 %"uloano is sleeping we know, but the fire is burning in its 
 depths ! Your altars are fuming with the offerings of 
 Lbortv, — vour annual harantrues clow with the scorn of 
 servitudo ; every crowd you see is inflated with the boasted 
 disdain of a Yiiaster ; but in the midst of all, the hated per- 
 petual chain clanks the chorus of the song ; and the eye 
 rests but a moment upon the temple of liberty, until the 
 ear catches the echoes of the groans and hot dungeon 
 cenoath !
 
 286 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 XVIII. TVe a])pectl to the generous feelinys, — the 
 redeeming Hympathies of the human heart. 
 
 Ill contrasling Africa noio, with what she has been, will 
 it be possible to name her sunburnt plains and blood- 
 stained shores, without exciting commiseration ? Look at 
 her once illustrious, but now deeply desolate plains ! Look 
 at her — crippled and cursed by the devastations of ages, 
 casting on her oppressors an imploring look, and in accents 
 of agony, that would move the thrones of heaven with pity, 
 and inspire compassion, even in the bosom of the damned, 
 saying, spare, spare my curse-devoted children, and 
 leave me a remnant ! And this prayer, from a nation that 
 originally produced, not solitary examples, but races of 
 heroes ! Eighteen Ethiopians were, at different times, 
 reigning monarchs in Egypt ! Abyssinia alone could, at one 
 time, bring a hundred thousand horse, and as many camels 
 into the field at once ! Ethiopia, in the days of Asa, king 
 of Israel, mustered a million of men for the field of battle! 
 History records twenty thousand African cities existing 
 contemporaneously ! Two of the Popes of Rome, in the 
 reputed regular episcopal succession, were Africans ! Afri- 
 cans tauiiht letters and the arts in the lano-uas2;e of the 
 Pharaohs ! And even now, in confirmation of all this, 
 large portions of ancient Africa are strewed with the ruins 
 of cities, pyramids, and temples ! And does all this excite 
 no commiseration ? No fellow-feeling for the wretched ? 
 Must additional seas of blood be shed by Christian capital, 
 before we will consent to sympathize with this country? 
 Do wc still hope, in the language of the whip and scourge- 
 to educate them in a love of tyranny and oppression ? 
 
 XIX. Ladies, I a'p'peal to you. 
 
 Permit me to remind you, that Africa has given to ths 
 world many distinguished females. The renowned qucon 
 of Sheba, of Scripture memory, was an African. Candace,
 
 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. SfJ? 
 
 queen of Ethiopia, mentioned in the New Testament, was 
 an African ; and her name was common to several succes- 
 sive queens of Ethiopia, whose history reminds us of the 
 Caesars of Rome, and the Ptolemies of Egypt, one of 
 whom, in the days of Nero, met, repulsed, and vanquished 
 tlie victorious legions of Rome. Tiie princess of Meroe, 
 who swayed the scepter of Ethiopia, and once dictated 
 terms of peace to Augustus Csesar, was an African! — 
 Cleopatra, whose beauty was a shrine, before which rival 
 kings knelt in madness, was a daughter of African Egypt! 
 Several A frican females swayed successively, the Abys- 
 sinian scepter. The maternal parent of St. Cyprian was 
 an African. Augustine, Tertullian, and Terrence the 
 classic poet, were tlio sons of African females. Tlie wife 
 of Moses was a Cusliite. The immortal mother of Han- 
 nibal, — Hannibal, whose armies hung, like the tempests of 
 heaven, on the declivities of the Alps, was an African! 
 
 Again, we ask you to look at sufiering humanity in the 
 shape of woman, all over the wilds of Africa, and lend us 
 your aid, in helping them to dash from their recoiling lips 
 forever, the empoisoned cup of hopeless degradation ! 
 Look at fifty thousand African wives and mothers, who 
 love as fondly, and feel as tenderly as you do, annually 
 robbed and plundered of husband and children, and all 
 those nameless felicities that create the heaven of love and 
 of home ! I invoke you by the spectacle of ten millions 
 of females, having the same physiology Avith yourselves, 
 doomed to be beasts of burden, and strangely, strangely 
 doomed to purposes, disavowed by the sacred character of 
 womanhood! I conjure you, by the outraged dignity and 
 violated sanctity of your kind, to rise and alleviate tlie 
 sufferings of those who were created to be as free and as 
 happy as yourselves ! 
 
 Many of you will be able to do but little ; some of you
 
 288 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 notliing ; but she wlio does not send to Heaven, a wisli for 
 the success of our cause, in this respect at least, is not h 
 woman, and ought to be known by some other name ! 
 Tell us not that woman cannot be elevat.(-d in Africa! 
 Woman, like man, can be elevated anywhere. Look at 
 Iceland, — the Cain of inanimate nature, the very Nod of 
 all God's earth beside, — a land here bound by frost and 
 there heaving with fire, — a country which seems to have 
 incurred the wrath of all the elements at once, — yet, even 
 here, woman is dignified ; nor can she marry, until she is 
 acquainted with the literature, and especially the history 
 and poetry of her country! 
 
 And finally, let it not be assumed that you can do 
 nothing worthy of effort; you can accomplish much if you 
 will to do it. Take an instance from historv. — Durin^- the 
 civil wars long protracted in England, three hundred patri- 
 otic females went in solid column to the Briiish house of 
 parliament, and demanded i^eace, in the name of God and 
 an outraged nation, and their voice was heard ! It was 
 more than the eftbrts of senates and armed ley-ions. "Go, 
 and do you likewise." Then leave tlie event to God, and 
 history will take care of your names! 
 
 XX. In view of the recompenses of eternity. 
 
 The day of reckoning is approaching. Soon you will 
 be summoned to your final audit ; and what will the day 
 of the manifestations of consciences reveal, on this awful, 
 this most momentuous subject? God of mankind! what 
 a fearful array, what an overwhelming accumulation of 
 anger and destiny will then arrest you ! If you have 
 wronged your bmtlier, if you have refused to assist him, 
 when his condition obviously indicated the duty of doin--'- 
 so — the maxim upon which judgment shall proceed in 
 Heaven's chancery, is, — "He shall have judgment witli- 
 put mercy, who hath shown uo mercy " I dare not tliink.
 
 CLAIMS OF AlfKiUA. """ 
 
 especially, of the robbers, tlie plunderers, and the oppres- 
 sors of Africa in that day ! How appalling the account ! 
 How confounding the liquidation ! The souls of a thou- 
 sand ages, ruined by the curse of involuntary captivity and 
 exile, shall accuse them before the throne of ultimate 
 appeal ! Almighty God has not a single attribute in his 
 nature, that can lake sides with them in such an adjust- 
 ment as this ! Will their tears avail ? Alas 1 the bottles 
 of Heaven witness that Africa has shed a thousand to their 
 one, wrung by their injustice ! Will their prayers avail ? 
 No ! the oroans of Afiica will drown them in the ear of 
 God, and they will not be heard ! But I leave the picture 
 untinislied, — a few fleeting years, and then — would to 
 God it were not so ! — the wormwood and gall of the 
 damned must tell the rest, and finish a story, for the utter- 
 ance of wliich I have no organs ! 
 
 XXI. Ojice more and family, we base our plea upon the 
 Prophetic Assurances of the Bible ; and urge it upon 
 Christian and Missionary principles, in hope of the world's 
 conversion. 
 
 God is interested in our cause. Messiah is engaged for 
 the success of our enterprise, and the Holy Spirit will co- 
 operate with our eflPorts. Address yourselves then to the 
 task, and let your eye, penetrating the future, roll ardent 
 over the gladdening scene of a regenerated continent : for, 
 in the certainly of prophetic vision, it is done ! Ethiopia, 
 from the roek-bound shores of the Mediterranean, to the 
 mountains of Good Hope, is " stretching out her hands to 
 God." Africa is redeemed, her deserts are blooming, her 
 hamlets and cities are rising, the seats of science and the 
 temples of piety adorn her Congo and her Senegal, while 
 the Niger and Gambia are everywhere wafting the floating 
 monuments of her commerce ! We see, and God ! what 
 a vision ! the captive mother of a thousand generations, 
 VOL. II — 25.
 
 290 CLAIMS OF AFRICA. 
 
 bought and sold at the caprice of fortune, casting away 
 from her the blood-encrusted fetters of slavery, and the 
 tattered insignia of pauperism, and once more linking her- 
 self in confederation with her Maker ! — God is in her 
 midst with a shout! — she joins the family of the first born, 
 and takes her rank, her elevated rank, among the Nations 
 of the earth ! Come forward then, in the name of God, 
 every one of you, — man, woman, and child, and pour your 
 patriotic and pious offerings into Heaven's exchequer for 
 the relief of humanity, and having done so, draw your bills 
 on futurity, and we pledge the truth of all history, and the 
 veracity of Heaven, your drafts shall be honored ; and you, 
 instead of disappointment, shall repose in the consumma- 
 tion of your wishes !
 
 USE AND ABUSE 
 
 OP 
 
 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 ADDRESS AT COMMENCEMENT 
 
 TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY, 
 
 AUGUST, 1845.
 
 y
 
 fUtntlj gittahmnU. 
 
 Having finished your collegiate course and academic 
 studies in this institution, you will soon have permission to 
 retire from the scenes and interests of these halls, to the 
 intercourse of home, family, and friends, for the purposes 
 of relaxation, and more formal preparation for the active 
 duties of life. We cannot dismiss you, however, from 
 under our care, without submitting some suggestions, and 
 ofiering you a few remarks, by way of advice and admo- 
 nition. The brief time allowed us will necessarily confine 
 us to a concise classification of hints, suggestive it may be, 
 of important principles and rules of action. Allow us to 
 suggest, then, that whatever may be your destination in 
 life, important duties will devolve upon you, and serious 
 difficulties and dangers will beset your path. And par- 
 ticularly will this remark be signally verified in the history 
 of every one of you, if we assume that you are to become 
 men of letters, or aim at distinction in professional life. 
 
 I need hardly remind you of the maxim of antiquity, 
 that " to be idle is to be vicious." This truthful and pithy 
 aphorism will apply with equal point and force to every 
 department, and all the varieties of human avocation ; and 
 to none more aptly, than the field in which we meet the 
 intellectual producers. Without industry and application, 
 as well as proper economy in the redemption and use of
 
 294 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 time, you never can excel in the acquisition of knowledge, 
 or its application to useful purposes ; nor will it be possible 
 for you to become respectable in the walks of literature, or 
 tlie enterprise of professional adventure. Would you 
 become familiar with classic ground, and imbibe the inspi- 
 ration of its primeval haunts, would you habituate yourselves 
 to the rigor and abstraction of scientific study, and the 
 retreats of the muses, expatriation from the common 
 concerns of life, and the usual enjoyments of society, will, 
 to a great extent, be found indispensable. It is the price 
 you must pay for literary or professional distinction ; and 
 without making the sacrifice, the eminence you ostensibly 
 emulate, but in part decline, can never be attained. To 
 be truly learned or great, is an elevation reached by com- 
 paratively few. The ascent is steep and difficult, but must 
 be essayed and overcome, at whatever cost, in order to the 
 repose of the summit. 
 
 It will always rank among the relative duties devolving 
 on you, that in all your intellectual associations and relations, 
 you steadily assume and preserve the habits of the student. 
 All dissipation and frivolity, should be scrupulously avoided, 
 as leading to vagrance of thought, and looseness of habit. 
 Whatever may be your station or condition of life, every 
 scene or sally of dissipation in which you indulge, will 
 operate upon your energies and prospects, as an accursed 
 mildew, and will prepare you for the repetition of it, by 
 reducing your voluntary power to resist. Dissipation is 
 the tyrant of modern society. It is a vic« which reigns 
 triumphant over the human mind in every part of the 
 globe, excepting only those instances in which the expulsive 
 power of a nobler intravening passion operates to produce 
 a contrary result. The same remark will apply to the 
 cultivated nations of antiquity. The civilization of the 
 world, ancient and modern, has been marked by the fatal
 
 LETTERED ATTAINMENl!!. 295 
 
 prevalence of this ruinous vice. To exemplify tlie truth 
 of the assumption, without referring to other instances, you 
 need only turn to the page of history, stained with the 
 story, among a thousand kindred ones, of the haughty 
 Nero. Of this imperial monster it is recorded, that in 
 early life, a discreet sobriety, and devotion to the business 
 and interests of his station, were among the many charac- 
 teristics of his rising merits ; but rank and station affording 
 and suggesting the means and appliances of dissipation, he 
 lost the strength and virtue of early habit, and so abandoned 
 himself to its sway, that before the noon of life, with 
 avowed recklessness, he neglected the affairs of his empire, 
 and opportunities of almost boundless usefulness, to roll in 
 his chariot and 2^loy on his fiddle ! 
 
 Dissipation invariably introduces self-anarchy and internal 
 misrule. It is the bane and curse of all mental and moral 
 improvement. It will lead you to the practice of every 
 species of vice, and terminate in incalculable mischief to all 
 your best interests. Practise the self-denial we recommend, 
 and you will never regret your partial sequestration from the 
 gay and giddy world in which you live. The student who 
 finds himself imbued with the love of letters, would much 
 rather follow Aristides in his exile from Athens, and Cato 
 in his retreat at Utica, than to mingle with the crowd, and 
 listen to the prate and prattle of fools and sciolists ! Let 
 it be a maxim with every one of you, that in literary 
 attainment, he who does not know many things, knows 
 nothina: well. Knowleds^e is not derived from nature or 
 chance. It is the reward of application — the rich recom- 
 pense of pains-taking laborious industry. We therefore 
 urge upon you all to study conduct, as it respects yourselves ; 
 giving it all the distinctive importance of a separate topic. 
 Pliny has somewhere said, with his usual force and felicity 
 of expression, that " the perfection of behavior is, for a
 
 296 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 man to retain and evidence his own dignity, without 
 iufrinying upon the claims and liberty of others." 
 
 Purity and integrity of purpose, connected witli the 
 pursuits of literary and professional application, will be found 
 equally necessary. You should become learned, not because 
 others about you desire it, but because you esteem and 
 appreciate the distinction yourselves. No young man is fit 
 to graduate in any respectable institution, who would not 
 prefer association with an enlightened and virtuous few, to 
 connection with even the mightiest empire of the world, 
 distinguished only by its vastness ! The slightest attention 
 to the history of human destiny and earthly grandeur, will 
 satisfy you of the justness of this estimate. What do we 
 know of the internal history and fortunes of the unlettered 
 empires of the East ? And of the unrecorded scenes of 
 blood and carnage, amid which they rose, and stood, and 
 fell ? The far-extended conquests of the Assyrian mon- 
 archy, and the rival dynasties of olden time, detain us 
 scarcely a moment in the annals of the world ; while the 
 little state of Athens will ever prove the delight of the 
 historian, and the pride of letters. Wliere is the student 
 who would not have considered it infinitely more lionoiable 
 to have been a citizen of the lettered republics of Florence 
 and Geneva, than to have wandered a prince, amid the vast 
 dominions of the Russian Czar ! Who would not prefer 
 the talents and learning, the mental energy and intellectual 
 fame of Cicero, to all the splendid magnificen(;e of Helioga- 
 bulus, or the luxurious elegance of the accomplished 
 Lucullus ! I need not pause for your answer. 
 
 With you then, young gentlemen, solid learning, and 
 extensive usefulness, should constitute the givat object 
 — the redeeming motive of all your toil. Seek to acquire 
 an expansion of intellect, a comprehensiveness of nnder- 
 stauding, and these will naturally detach you from the
 
 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 297 
 
 "tess valuable eng-rossraents and calculations of time and 
 sense. 
 
 Self-examination, and a proper estimate of your present 
 attainments, is a topic replete with practical utility. This 
 will teacli you how little you know, and how much you 
 have to learn. It will withhold you from the senseless 
 folly of pluming yourselves upon your superiority over 
 others, without reflecting that you too have your superiors, 
 in every department of human accomplishment. Self- 
 examination will promote humility, without which there is 
 no real q-re.-vtness. It will chasten the imaiiination, and 
 improve the judgment. It will lead you to reflect that all 
 you have, should be looked upon, as only furnishing facili- 
 ties for the attainment of that which you have not. It will 
 induce you to distrust yourselves, at the same time that it 
 inspires you with increased confidence in the cause you seek 
 to advance. Every honest man will find frequent occasion 
 to accuse himself. The pangs of remorse and emotions of 
 regret will, ever and anon, admonish him that he is a child 
 of imperfection ; and that his frailties plead for indulgence 
 from heaven and earth. By turning an inverted eye 
 within, — by sojourning occasionally in the solitude of your 
 own bosom, you will perceive that happiness is not the 
 destination of man on earth. The present state is a scene 
 of sacrifice, not enjoyment ; and the most we can efl'ect this 
 side the grave, is an advance toward moral perfection. 
 
 The practice of sound morality, — umoavcring rectitude 
 of conduct, is imperiously requisite, in order to healthy, 
 vigorous habit, whetlier of soul or body. All vice is 
 enervating in its tendencies, and if persevered in, will 
 fatally determine every other function of your nature, to 
 premature decline, and final inactivity. It is the groat 
 enemy of all improvement. All intellectual eff"ort especially, 
 is retarded by its intrusion. All the finer, kindly feelings
 
 298 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 of the heart are blunted and blighted, and mental and moral 
 gloom, dark and enduring, settles over all the prospects of 
 the soul. The future is spread out before you, a land of 
 dimness, doubt, and mystery ; and in the same ratio that 
 the path of your pilgrimage lengthens, the light and 
 buoyancy of life and hope will be found to retire, until by 
 Heaven's ordination, based upon the abuse of your own 
 endowments, and connected with the regular operation of 
 moral causes, you successively, one after another, mingle 
 with the dead, and lay down with the damned 1 We 
 cannot, therefore, insist too strongly upon your attention to 
 the duties of morality and religion. Without such esteem, 
 you will soon lose the esteem of those who know you. You 
 will incur the contempt of society, and lose your reputation, 
 both as students and as men. In the instance of the edu- 
 cated, vice is tolerated in the public mind, with less 
 extenuation, than in any other portion of community. In 
 your attention, therefore, to these cardinal obligations — 
 these great, primary, paramount principles of action, your 
 safety and happiness will mainly consist. Amid all the 
 windings and doublings of society, you should never feel at 
 liberty to depart from the purest rectitude of principle and 
 action ; for without such moral excellence, no man can be 
 really good, or truly great. 
 
 We may further suggest, that the attainment of truth, 
 and conformity to its laws, in every department of inquiry, 
 in the whole range of human study, should be the supreme 
 object of your ambition. With an honest mind, truth 
 cannot be an object of fear or aversion. Truth, in the 
 universal sense in which we use it here, is alike an attribute 
 of Deity, and an essential element of all excellence, in any 
 way implying a knowledge of God — of nature, or of man ; 
 the impress and love of which, as an element of character, 
 ought to control every thought and wish of the heart. The
 
 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 299 
 
 search for truth is the noblest of employments, and its 
 promulgation the duty of every human being. Not to seek 
 after truth, and publish it when found, is to stamp the 
 signature of value upon ignorance, and avow the love of 
 error, if not falsehood. " He who hateth the truth," ia 
 the burning language of one of the finest poets in our 
 calendar, " shall believe a lie, and delusion, strong as hell, 
 shall bind him fast." Truth is the distinguishing charac- 
 teristic of human and heavenly worth. The want of it, 
 introduces disorder into the Divine kingdom, and disturbs 
 the harmony of the universe. It dissolves the connection 
 between heaven and earth : angels become devils, and men 
 are found to be their minions. In every vicissitude of 
 life, you will, therefore, guard with angel-vigilance against 
 any the least departure from truth and sincerity, always 
 cherishing the conviction, that the straightest line is the 
 shortest line, as well in morals as in geometry. 
 
 Among the difficulties and dangers to which men of letters 
 are subject, those arising from vanity and presumption are 
 by no means the least. " Knowledge," in the instance of 
 but too many, " puffeth up." It is the misfortune of some 
 students, reputed scholars, that when they have plucked a 
 few flowers, and some early fruit, it may be, in the garden 
 or fields of literature, they imagine they are really learned, 
 and have nothing to do, but to revel amid the fancied 
 creations of excellence with which they find themselves 
 surrounded. Knowledge with them, instead of being made 
 subservient to the practical purposes of life, is converted 
 into a mere idol, and worshiped accordingly ; and thus 
 becomes the tutelar divinity, the presiding genius of life 
 and fortune. And when these effeminate devotees of taste 
 and sentiment, of Numa and the muses, are called upon to 
 take their share in the duties and activities of useful life, 
 they plead their exemption, and furnish their apology, by
 
 300 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 poiniiiig us to the summits of Parnassus, and the far-oflF 
 windings of the Castalian brook ! A life of retirement, and 
 sedentary seclusion, A'ery naturally generates the idea of 
 innocence and moral security ; and this self-gratulation, in 
 its practical issues, ofien leads the individual devotee to tlie 
 isoiaied object of his own contemplation and complacency. 
 A litei'ary pedant recluse of this description, reminds one of 
 a palace of ice in the regions of the North, lighted up with 
 artificial lustre and beauty, but cold, useless, and uninhab- 
 ited ! The student, the scliolar should always recollect, 
 that simple unprofitableness, by a law of God's own 
 appointment, is crime in any man. The pressure of the 
 gentle sloth, so often felt by the lover of books and poetical 
 reveries, should be resisted. Under the impulse of virtuous 
 resolution, you should endeavor to become useful members 
 of society, at the same time ihat you are engaged in the cul- 
 tivation of the various provinces of letters and science. And 
 as a question of the utmost moral magnitude, jou ouaht 
 never to forget, that afier all, a knowledge of nature — of 
 language, and of calculation, can only be viewed, as means 
 to an end; and especially, can never bring you to an approv- 
 ing acquaintance with the Creator. Would you learn his 
 nature, his plans, and Ms purposes, you must repair to tlie 
 only Book of wiiich he is tlie author ; and receive the message 
 of his word, as an exclusive exhibition of the way of liU', 
 and science of salvation. 
 
 Another evil against which we would warn you, is lUc- 
 rary envy — an alienation of affection from men of kiiuhvd 
 pretensions with yourselves. Of all " the pedant humors 
 of learning," as Bacon says, none perhaps are more com- 
 mon than this. We need not dwell upon the love ol 
 singularity, the lilerary vanity, the endemic pedantry, liie 
 writhing, furtive sensibility, and especially, tln' pi<)\er- 
 bial "odium theologicum," connected with tiii.-, unhapp)
 
 LETTERKD ATTAINMENT. 301 
 
 infirmity of literary men. It -will be sufficient merely tc 
 refer you to Milton and Salmasius, and particularly to 
 Newton and Leibnitz. These immortal geniuses wrangled 
 foi- years about the differential calcvlus, as though the desti- 
 nies of immortality had been staked upon the issue ! Strange 
 infatuation ! One might almost as soon expect a collision 
 in the celestial spheres, they were in the habit of contem- 
 plating, as to have looked for it between these illustrious 
 pupils of the heavens ! We are obliged to add, however, 
 that a great portion of the whole literary Ciilendar is blotted, 
 blurred, and defaced with similar instances of ill-nature, and 
 mutual recrimination. Scholars, certainly, not less than 
 others, should beai' in mind, that to accuse, malign, and 
 oppress, is a hateful feature in the character of man ; and 
 that those who pursue such a course, will tiiid, at least in 
 many instances, that they are not only inferior to those they 
 attempt to destroy, but really less deserving than those tliey 
 would immolate ! Envy, of whatever kind, is a debased 
 and degrading passion, that feeds upon iiself, and is haunted 
 only by the image that conjures up its torture ! It is a 
 passion unworthy of man, and ought only to burrow in the 
 bosom of fiends ! 
 
 As somewhat connected with the last item, allow us to 
 warn you against the seducing appeals of political faction. 
 The temptations to engage in the local, or more general 
 politics of the times, will always be strong and imposing-. 
 The ai'dor too of youthful feeling will render you an easy 
 prey to the exciting tactics, and inflammatoi'y productions 
 of the wily demagogue. In this way your literary growili 
 and credit will be likely to be repressed and impaired, if not 
 entirely destroyed; and unless you are exceedingly cautious 
 your best days and powers, like those of Alcibiades and 
 the Grachii, will be lost to every thing, except sheer politi- 
 cal faction. When you become scholars, ripe and confirmed.
 
 302 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 assuming that you intend to be such, then we would advise 
 you, by all means, to study the profound masters of political 
 wisdom, in this and other nations. But until then, we advise 
 you to rest satisfied with having carefully formed your polit- 
 ical opinions, and the firm, but prudent expression of them, 
 in the open and manly assertion and exercise of your 
 undoubted rights. Examples from history are not wan ting, 
 to show that the most consummate statesmen and warriors, 
 in any literary age, or cultivated part of the world, have 
 been men of letters and study ; and were not less devoted to 
 science, than to government and arms. We need scarcely 
 name Alexander, the accomplished pupil of Aristotle ; Xeno- 
 phon, the glory of the school of Socrates, the immortal 
 leader of the retreat of the "ten thousand Greeks," and 
 author of the expedition of Cyrus ; Caesar, at the head of 
 Roman literature, who recorded his thousand battles, with 
 an elegance, only equaled by the vigor and skill with which 
 he fouo-ht them ; Charlemagne, master of all the science of 
 the age in which he lived ; the great Alfred, the laborious 
 and philosophical translator of Boethius ; and finally, Fred- 
 eric, of Prussia, who gathered around him all the great 
 men of the age, not so much to patronize, as to dispute 
 and compete with them, in literary disquisitions, and 
 philosophical ingenuity. 
 
 There is another, and an opposite temptation, to which 
 you will find yourselves exposed. The grossness of the 
 common concerns and occupations of life, may disgust 
 you ; and induce you, hke Atticus, to relinquish its active 
 duties for the luxurious ease of retirement and study. 
 Enamored of literature, you may wish to pass your time 
 among the muses. Should you be led into temptation in 
 this way, your learning will become effeminate, and your 
 lives useless. Learning is only valuable as it tends to 
 render you useful and happy. But where is the man who
 
 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 303 
 
 can be happy, when he knows himself to be of no use to 
 society ? When he spends his life " sporting," as thousands 
 of our literary abortions do, as Horace says, " with Ama- 
 ryllis in the shade, and playing with the tangles of Neaera's 
 hair ! " Rather, we would say, act the part of Cicero, in 
 contrast with Atticus, be active and persevering in making 
 a good use of the treasures of knowledge, with which you 
 have been providentially furnished. You must, therefore, 
 deny yourselves the mild delirium of literary leisure, the 
 tasteful repose of the library, and awake to action and to 
 usefulness. Let each look upon himself as one of the 
 numerous moral combinations of the universe ; and re- 
 member, unless you answer the end of your creation, it 
 would have been better for you never to have been born, — 
 Life becomes the pander of crime, and immortality a curse ! 
 Another infirmity, incident to scholars, against which 
 you should always be on your guard, is, an ill-adjusted, 
 indiscriminate imitation of the eminent. The evil of which 
 we now complain, is as common and contagious, as it is 
 dangerous and disreputable. It cannot be disguised, that 
 many exhibit affectation of absence and irregularity, merely 
 that they may appear to be philosophers and deep thinkers. 
 Some would be thought__/?«e spirits, and imitators of Horace 
 and Lucretius, because forsooth, they can roar a catch, or 
 empty a cask of falernian ! One copies after Tully, with 
 nothing to show but his wart. Another after Demosthenes, 
 with nothing but his stammering. The satirist furnishes us 
 with nothing of Juvenal and Dryden, but their vulgarity ; 
 and nothing of Churchhill and Byron, but their malice. 
 One allows himself to get drunk, because Addison was not 
 always sober ; and another affects to be smart and witty, iu 
 imitation of the liquorish nonsense of Sterne and Swift. 
 And it is in this way, we regret to add, that many literary 
 men present us with all the " contortions of the sybil.
 
 304 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 ■without any of lier inspiration." This plagiarism — tliis 
 poacliing among tlie labors of the learned, for tlie un- 
 woilhy purpose of literary stealth, is too disg-raceful to be 
 furtlier exposed. It reminds one of the amateur, wlio 
 walking through a gallery of antiques, gazed upon the 
 statues of Apollo and Venus, and went away with his 
 imagination impressed, and his thoughts occupied with 
 nothing, but the recollection that they were naked ! A 
 fit representation this, of the worthless dilettante of modern 
 literature ! 
 
 I need not adduce proof to convince you, that as stu- 
 dents, you are in danger of mental gloom ; — of acquiring 
 an habitual temperament of melancholy. Your isolation 
 from society, devotion to study, and a continuity of 
 research, will naturally, almost necessarily, alienate you 
 from the invigorating relaxations and amusements of social 
 life. When the mind becomes thoroughly tinctured with 
 this mild and imposing passion, all the decisions of Provi- 
 dence, and the details of our earthly lot, seem to cherish 
 its growth and continuance, and with a mind of acute 
 sensibility, it presents itself almost as the result of destiny. 
 In relation to this subject, great caution, and wary effort 
 will be necessary ; and at the same time that you renounce 
 the vicious, polluting levities of a woild, fallen off from 
 God, and lying in wickedness, endeavor, by all possible 
 means, to avoid the fatal result, of sinking under the decep- 
 tious pressure of intellectual despondency. 
 
 Again, it may be remarked, that literary men are prone 
 to be led into philosopical and religious error ; trusting, 
 perhaps, too much to themselves, in the exploration of the 
 fields of knowledge, and relying too little upon historical 
 fact, the developments of experience, and the testimony of 
 Divine revelation, they have frequently been fuund, with- 
 out any turpitude of intention, to diverge from the most
 
 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 305 
 
 obvious, common-sense truths, both in philosophy and 
 religion. This is an evil deeply to be deplored ; and is 
 peculiarly worthy your candid consideration. You should 
 always recollect, that no amount of learning can consecrate 
 error, or excuse vice. And it may not be amiss here to 
 remark, that the errors and hallucinations of men of learn- 
 ing, have a singular effect upon the lower orders of society, 
 in the light of example and authority ; for Aristotle is right 
 when he says, that "the defects of great men furnish tho 
 principal, and almost the only consolation of dunces." 
 
 Such, very briefly, are the duties and dangers of men 
 of letters. Do you, young gentlemen, intend to become 
 such ? Do you steadily aim at the enviable, but danger- 
 ous distinction ? If so, discharge the duties enforced, and 
 avoid the dangers we have pointed out. A few fleeting 
 seasons, at most, will place you all, noticeably, upon the 
 theater of life ; and here, we wish you to act the part of 
 men, fearing God, and useful to your fellows. We wish 
 you to present, not the factitious images, but the substan- 
 tial realities of moral and Christian virtue. We wish 
 integrity and principle, as the substratum of conduct, to be 
 storied and charactered in all your actions, sufferings, and 
 intercourse througli life. What your destination in life 
 may be, we are, of course, unable to say, but we should 
 wrong ourselves, were we not to hope, (and on this occa- 
 sion, especially, send to Heaven our wishes to this efl'ect,) 
 that you will aspire to eminence and usefulness. Are you 
 destined to be philosophers, we trust you will leave to pos- 
 terity, at least, germs of future discovery. If poets, that 
 you will not only occupy a niche in the temple of fame, 
 but that you will inflame your contemporaries and future 
 generations, with the love of moral excellence ! If histo- 
 rians, may all that is great and good give value to your 
 
 pages ! If statesmen, may you stem the torrent of corrup- 
 voi. II — 26.
 
 306 LETTERED ATTAINMENT. 
 
 Gon, and direct the rising virtue of an indignant people ! 
 If ministers, with Paley, may you make truth intelligible, 
 and with Fenelon, invest it with the charms of resistless 
 persuasion ! Are you jurists, with Mansfield, may you 
 luminously contribute to the perfect and effective adminis- 
 tration of justice ! And if moralists, like Johnson, give 
 " ardor to virtue, and confidence to truth !" Recollect 
 that literature, whether it be her pride or her misfortune, 
 will disdain to divide the empire of your heart. She will 
 scorn to enter into partnership with the love of money, or 
 the ambition of noisy distinction, or any other inordinate, 
 earth-born affection ! Hardly, indeed, will she submit to 
 be encumbered with the ordinary anxieties of the world, 
 much less, to follow in the train of venality and corruption ! 
 Once more, and in conclusion, young gentlemen, you 
 who have just received the credentials of graduation in 
 this institution, only pursue the course we have recom- 
 mended, and genius, in spite of adverse fate, will plant his 
 standard upon Parnassus, of classic memory, and give 
 your names to immortality ! Go then, in the name of God, 
 and when called upon, enter upon the manly duties of life 
 and meet its dangers, you have nothing to fear ! Time 
 will become tributary to your virtuous fame, and death 
 itself will subscribe to the glory of your efforts I
 
 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF 
 
 THE GENERAL CONFERENCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, MAY, 1832.
 
 IlliKjrns 0n ftm^nann* 
 
 The delegates from the several annual conferences of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church, in General Conference 
 assembled at Philadelphia, May, 1832, after due inquiry 
 and deliberation, have deemed it necessary to submit to the 
 consideration of the ministry and membership of the church 
 throu"-hout the United States the followino- remarks and 
 advice on the subject of temperance, viewed as a question 
 of intense and growing interest, now extensivel}^ occupying 
 the attention of the religious public and the American 
 people in general. 
 
 The duty and necessity of strict and exemplary abstinence 
 from indulgence in the use of ardent spirits and intoxicating 
 liquors of every sort, will be found to have been a part of 
 the moral discipline of our church fi'om the earliest date 
 of its existence and operations ; and it is known to those 
 who are at all familiar with our history, that we have 
 accomplished much in preserving those immediately under 
 our charge proverbially pure from the stain, and free from 
 the curse, of intemperance. Nevertheless, our success has 
 not been entire, and much remains to be done before we 
 can realize our wishes and. the great object of our lono- 
 continued efforts in this very interesting department of 
 Christian morals. And it is in order to eft'ect this, we now 
 address you, as the public servants of the church, and
 
 310 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 officially entrusted with the administration of its discipline. 
 We have too much confidence in the intelligence and piety 
 of the persons addressed — the great body of our charge — 
 to suppose for a moment that any apology is necessary 
 for offering you the reflections and advice we propose, 
 believing, as we do, that the intemperance we discourage, 
 and would banish from the church and the world, is alike 
 unworthy and unbecoming all who bear the Christian name, 
 or would be considered useful and reputable members of 
 society in general. The vice of which we complain, and 
 against indulgence in which we would urgently and affec- 
 tionately remonstrate, is broadly and unsparingly condemned 
 in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as 
 directly inconsistent with Christian character, and fatally 
 contravening all the hopes and claims of moral excellence. 
 As Christians, we bow to the authority of inspiration ; and 
 its language is too explicit and solemn on this subject to 
 be misunderstood, or waived, by any who are not utterly 
 reckless both of the welfare of this life and the more 
 weighty interests of immortality in another. 
 
 In the language of the Bible on this subject there is 
 nothing deficient or equivocal; and although we do not 
 propose an enlarged discussion, yet we cannot refrain from 
 asking your attention to its fearful and varied testimony 
 against the sin of intemperance, the condemnation of which 
 is uttered in every variety of form and phrase. " Be not 
 drunk with wine — wine and new wine take away the 
 heart — wine is a mocker — strong drink is raging — he 
 transgresseth by wine — they have erred through wine, 
 and through strong drink are out of the way — the priest 
 and the people have erred through strong drink — woe to 
 them that rise up early to follow strong drink, and continue 
 till wine inflame them : therefore hell hath enlarged herself, 
 and opened her mouth without measure — woe to them that
 
 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE, 311 
 
 drink wine in bowls — be not among wine-bibbers — who 
 bath woe, sorrow, contentions, and babbMhgs ? they that 
 continue long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine 
 — woe to them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of 
 strensfth to minijle strong drink — he is a drunkard, and 
 all the men of the city shall stone him with stones, that he 
 die — it is not for kings to drink wine, nor princes strong 
 drink — he who shall add drunkenness to thirst, the Lord 
 shall blot out his name from under heaven — woe to the 
 drunkards of Ephraim : they shall be trodden under foot — 
 while they are drunken they shall be destroyed as stubble 
 full dry — blessed art thou, O Lord, when thy princes eat 
 and drink for strength, and not for drunkenness — woe to 
 him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth the bottle 
 to his mouth, and maketh him drunken ! " A statute of 
 perpetual obligation, throughout all generations of the 
 priesthood, was, that they were not to " drink wine or strong 
 drink" while engaged in the service of the tabernacle; 
 and in another connection the obligation is made equally 
 binding : "Neither shall the priests drink wine when they 
 enter into the inner court." The drunkenness of Noah, 
 Lot, Nadab, Abihu, and Nabal, incurred the displeasure 
 of Heaven, while the vow of the humble Rechabites, "Wo 
 will drink no wine," is commemorated by the special and 
 public approval of Jehovah ; and to these we might add 
 the examples of the wife of Manoah, Hannah, Samuel, 
 and the Nazarites, as securing the sanction of Divine com- 
 mendation. We need scarcely add that these solemn and 
 admonitory lessons of the Jewish Scriptures on the subject 
 of intemperance are enforced in the language of persuasion, 
 as well as the most fearful denunciation. 
 
 And the language and warnings of the New Testament 
 are equally decisive and uncompromising in the utter 
 condemnation of the vice of intemperance in all its forms :
 
 312 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 " Drunkards shall not inherit the kingxlom of God." 
 Di'unkenness i§ ranked amono- " the works of the flesh," 
 and is expressly said to exclude the dehnquent from the 
 kingdom of heaven. " IF any man be a drunkard, with 
 such a one, no, not to eat." Excess of wine is classed 
 with the enormilies of " lasciviousness, revelinfs, and 
 banquetings." It is the ofi^spring of darkness: " They that 
 are drunken are drunken in the night ; " " Take heed that 
 your hearts be not overcharged with drunkenness ; " " Let 
 us walk honestly, not in drunkenness — be not drunk with 
 wine — the evil servant who drinks with the drunken shall 
 be cut asunder and have his portion with hypocrites and 
 unbelievers." The Pliarisees thought they could not more 
 effectuallv reproach our Lord than to style him "a wine- 
 bibber! " St. Paul ranks it among the virtues of Christian 
 bishops and deacons, that they "be not given to wine." 
 Look also at the example of John the Baptist, "and a 
 greater than he." The stern and unyielding purity of the 
 former in this as well as in other particulars is held up to 
 the notice and imitation of all "who name the name of 
 Christ." And when the intoxicating cup usually tendered 
 to suffering malefactors, to procure inse-nsibility to pain and 
 lessen the agony of death, was by the courtesy of Jewish 
 and Roman cruelty tendered our Lord, the illustrious suf- 
 ferer disdained the unholy succor, and trod the winepress 
 of the wrath of his Father without the dishonorable resort 
 of accepting unworthy means to sustain him in the conflict. 
 Would to God that we, that all Christians, in affliction and 
 trial, might do as he did, in the hope of overcoming with 
 him 1 And allow us to add here, that such are the criminal 
 and fatal eff"ects of this species of intemperance thus forcibly 
 portrayed and denounced in the Bible, that wine, used as 
 a treneric term, denoting strong intoxicaiing drinks of 
 every kind, and confining the remark to its abuse, is made
 
 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 313 
 
 to symbolize the wrath of God and the misery of the 
 damned in a future state of retribution ! It follows, there- 
 fore, thai no person of ordinary intelligence can consult the 
 pages of inspiration without perceiving at once that the 
 common use of alcoholic intoxicating liquors, of whatever 
 kind, is stritidy and unequivocally forbidden in the Scrip- 
 tures, as plainly and fatally injurious to the best interests 
 of man, in time and in eternity ; and as in other instances, 
 so in this, the beneficent Author of our being has unal- 
 terably conformed the constitution and laws of our nature 
 to the pre-existing purpose of his will in relation to the 
 immutable principles of right and wrong, and accordingly 
 all our physical aptitudes and moral instincts resist the 
 allurements and motives to a course of intemperate indul- 
 gence, until a series of vicious experiment and training, 
 offering rebellion to the best feelings of our nature, and 
 grossly violative of every principle of duty and moral 
 obligation, shall have prepared the victims of intemperance 
 for all that is monstrous in folly or hateful in crime. 
 
 God, who is the Author of nature, no less than of reve- 
 lation, has abundantly provided for the essential happiness 
 and relative usefulness of mankind ; but the experience of 
 all ages and nations has furnished the most indubitable 
 proof that the use of ardent spirits is totally inconsistent 
 witli either, and thus opposed to the benevolent intentions 
 of Heaven and provisions of nature, must be considered as 
 a transgression of the will of God. 
 
 And this view of the subject becomes the more convincing 
 and striking when we attend to the peculiar nature and 
 properties of all intoxicating drinks. In all these alcohol 
 is the principle of all intoxication, and it has been clearly 
 demonstrated by the researches and experiments of chem- 
 istry and pharmacy, in connection with the structure and 
 
 pathology of the human frame, that alcohol is au essentially 
 VOL. u — 27.
 
 314 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 active poison, and that the constant use of it, in any shape, 
 must necessarily injure health, and finally destroy life itself. 
 The mischievous princijyle of inebriety, of which we now 
 speak, cannot be made to nourish and invigorate the body. 
 It is by the appointment of Heaven and the constitution 
 of our common nature rendered incapable of producing such 
 a result. Its conversion into chyle, after being received 
 into the stomach, and its subsequent appropriation by 
 means of the blood-vessels, for the purpose of renewing 
 and invigorating the body, are known to be impossible. 
 No alcoholic substance can be controlled, digested, or 
 appropriated by the stomach. When received there it 
 immediately diflfuses itself throughout the whole system — 
 it penetrates the very substance of the body, the brain, 
 the nerves and the blood-vessels. All become excited 
 and inflamed ; the functions of the entire system become 
 deranged ; its action irregular, and the well-adjusted play 
 of its parts and mechanism disturbed and disordered; often 
 derancnno- not only the functions of the body, but even its 
 oro-anic structure ; and in whatever assignable measure 
 alcohol, found in all spirituous liquors, and in most of our 
 wines and malt drinks, may be drunk, these effects must 
 necessarily follow, in a proportionate degree. And hence 
 the wisdom and kindness of our Creator, manifestly shown 
 in the fact that the appetite for this popular but mischievous 
 poison is unnatural, artificially acquired, and a perversion 
 of the dictates and provisions of nature. And in our 
 iudgment, this view of the subject furnishes us with a 
 strong additional argument in favor of the utter rejection 
 of alcoholic drinks, except as a medicine, when the want 
 of proper skill, or other adequate means, may authorize, 
 in rare instances, an exception to the general rule of total 
 abstinence. 
 
 We are tli© more disposed to pross the aeeessity of
 
 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 316 
 
 entire abstinence, because there seems to be no safe line of 
 distinction between the moderate and immoderate use of 
 intoxicating drinks, — the transition from a temperate to 
 an intemperate use of them is almost as certain as it is 
 insensible ; indeed, with us it is a question of great moral 
 interest, whether a man can indulge in their tise at all, and 
 be considered temperate. We have seen that the natural, 
 unperverLed appetite of man does not ask for them, and 
 the only motive that can possibly determine such an 
 indulgence, is to obtain from them a vivid impression upon 
 the nerves, more or less agreeable at the time, but utterly 
 oblivious of better, because more salutary feelings. This 
 result is unnatural, and of course it oft'ers violence to the 
 constitutional order and functionary uniformity of nature, 
 and we respectfully submit whether the means therefore 
 must not be sinful. 
 
 It has been already remarked, that the essential con- 
 stituent in all intoxicating liquors, producing inebriety, is 
 alcohol, and that this is found, in large proportions, not 
 only in the different kinds of distilled liquors, but also in 
 most of the wines, and vinous, as well as malt preparations 
 drunk in this country. Who is not alarmed, not to say 
 confounded, when he reflects upon the amount of this 
 bewitcliing poison which is found in all our fashionable 
 drinks 1 How can a Christian account to his conscience 
 and his God for swallowing daily an amount of carbon, 
 oxygen, and hydrogen, of which alcohol is compounded, 
 and which, if taken separately from other neutralizing 
 ingredients, would deprive him of life perhaps in a few 
 hours ! In a bottle of brandy, for example, (we are guided 
 in the estimate by Saussure and Brande,) there is more 
 alcohol, by actual measurement, than water ; — in our best 
 wines, say Port and Madeira, as received and used in this 
 country, nearly one half is alcohol ; about six ounces of
 
 316 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 
 
 this poison will be found in a quart of strong cider, and 
 little less than four in a bottle of porter or ale ! In a brief 
 address, however, we can only bring these factsnnto view 
 in a summary way. We propose them for examination 
 and reflection, and we implore the thousands under our 
 charge to bestow upon the whole subject the attention it so 
 obviously and pressingly deserves and demands. 
 
 The great and increasing interest, the deep and lasting 
 stake we must always have, as a church, in preventing and. 
 curing the evils of intemperance, will furnish an obvious 
 and commanding vindication of the course we have adopted, 
 in making this appeal to the good sense and enlightened 
 piety of the Methodist Episcopal Church. We consider 
 all intemperance, whether in its incipient or more advanced 
 stages, as an abuse of the physical force and vigor of man, 
 and seriously deducting from the integrity of his mental 
 powers and moral purposes ; and we therefore invoke the 
 aid of our people in an attempt to banish the evil from our 
 church altogether. 
 
 We would remark here, also, that the immorality and 
 curse of intemperance are most fearfully evinced, not only 
 in its immediate and incipient, but in its final effects and 
 relative bearings upon the confirmed intemperate, and 
 others found in necessary connection or casual contact 
 with them ; impiety and worthlessness, disease and death, 
 are its necessary attendants. God and natuie have so 
 disowned and frowned upon it, as to stamp it wiih liie 
 character of unmingled evil. There is no one redeeming 
 element or aspect about it. In its best and most imposing 
 forms it offers nothing but plague and pollution. God 
 forbids it ; it is the object of nature's abhorrence, and its 
 uniform effects demonstrate that to persist in its practice is 
 to renounce the friendship of Heaven, and claim kindred, 
 not with brutes, but inforuals. All, therefore, must look
 
 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 317 
 
 apon it as an evil unhallowed by any, the smallest good. 
 We have seen that it invariably undermines healih and 
 leads to death, and, in most instances, death untimely and 
 disgraceful. However insidious in its progress, it is fatal 
 in its issue. We need not ask you to look at the brutal, 
 the polluted, and demoralizing victim himself, — a curse 
 and a nuisance, whatever his name, or wherever found. 
 We need not quote his beggared family and heart-broken 
 connections. We need not cite you to the wretched thou- 
 sands found as criminals in your penitentiaries, patients in 
 your hospitals, lunatics in your asylums, and vagabonds 
 in your streets ! Few, perhaps are aware of the extent, 
 the secret and insidious spread of the evil we would arrest. 
 Its destructive influence is felt in every department of 
 business, duty, and society : in our legislative halls ; at the 
 bar of justice ; upon the judicial bench, and even in the 
 pulpit. A large portion, we fear, of the most important 
 and responsible business of the nation, is often transacted 
 under the influence, in a greater or less degree, of alcoholic 
 excitement ; and can those be innocent who contribute to 
 secure such a result, whether by the pestilential example 
 of temperate drinking, as it is called, or the still more 
 criminal means of furnishing the poisonous preparation 
 by manufacture and trafiic for the degradation and ruin of 
 others ? 
 
 The man who drinks intemperately ruins himself, and is 
 the cause of much discomfort and inquietude, and perhaps 
 actual misery, in the social scene in which he moves ; but 
 the manufacturer, and those who are engaged in the trafiic 
 of ardent spirits and other intoxicating liquors, do the work 
 of death by wholesale ; they are devoted by misguided 
 enterprise to the ruin of human kind, and become directly 
 accessary, although not intended by them, to the present 
 shame and final destruction of hundreds and thousands.
 
 318 ADDRESS OK TEMPERANCE. 
 
 And we gravely ask, with no common solicitude, can God, 
 who is just, as well as good, hold that church innocent 
 which is found cherishinff in her bosom so awful and 
 universal an evil ? We have seen this evil broadly and 
 unequivocally denounced in the Scriptures, as an utter 
 curse, and big with ruin to the best hopes of man. Nature 
 and Providence xmite their testimony, and award to it the 
 same condemnation. Our church has long borne a similar 
 testimony, and this is especially true of the father and 
 founder of Methodism. 
 
 He says, of ardent spirits in general, " First of all 
 sacredly abstain from all spirituous liquors ; touch them 
 not on any pretense whatever." On their manufacture and 
 sale he remarks : "It is amazing that the preparation or 
 selling of this poison should be permitted, I will not say 
 in any Christian country, but in any civilized state ! " He 
 pronounces the gain of the trafficker in ardent spirits, 
 "the price of blood," and adds, emphaticallv : "Let not 
 any lover of virtue and truth say one word in favor of 
 this monster. Let no lover of mankind open his mouth to 
 extenuate the guilt of it. Oppose it as you would oppose 
 the devil, whose offspring and likeness it is." Of grocers, 
 in this traffic, he affirms : " They murder mankind by 
 wholesale, and drive them to hell like sheep." He 
 denounces both the manufacture and the sale of spirituous 
 liquors, except for mechanical and medicinal purposes, as 
 a gross immorality ; declaring : " None can gain in this way, 
 by swallowing up his neighbor's substance, without gaining 
 the damnation of hell ! " And hence one of the orio-iual 
 rules of the Methodist societies, as drawn up by John and 
 Charles Wesley, precluded "drunkenness, buying or selling 
 spirituous liquors, or drinking them, except in cases of 
 extreme necessity." And we cannot but fear that the 
 alteration of this rule by the American Methodists, and the
 
 ADDRESS ON TEMPERANCE. 319 
 
 substitution of another less unequivocal in its character, 
 since 1790, have been attended with but little good to any-, 
 and perhaps witli direct injury to thousands. And now 
 that the engrossing question of total abstinence is arresting 
 the attention of most evangelical churches in the United 
 States, and in many of them becoming a term of member- 
 ship, we are fully convinced it would be criminal in us to 
 remain silent, and not lend our aid and co-operation in 
 purging the churches and redeeming the nation from this 
 insidious, yet alarming and desolating evil. 
 
 Finally, persuaded as we are that intemperance, in all 
 its aspects and gradations, is a physical evil, unmitigated 
 by any mixture of good, and also a moral offense against 
 the laws of God, and the claims of Christian piety, unmodi- 
 fied by any indemnifying consideration whatever, we wouid 
 at all times, but at this time especially, when such combined 
 and powerful efibrts are making to arrest the evil, cast in 
 our dividend of social and moral aid, and do all in our 
 power to accomplish an object as every way momentous as 
 it is desirable. And we close by remarking, that we look 
 upon all as implicated in the duty and the interest, and wo 
 shall cheerfully and promptly concur with all in an effort 
 to expel the demon of intemperance, not only from our 
 churches, but from the nation, whose welfare and fortunes 
 must be always viewed in intimate connection with ita 
 morals.
 
 COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ADDKESS ON COMMENCEMENT DAY. 
 
 ' AUGUSTA COLLEGE, 1839.
 
 €hmntts anb |ttr^0su 0f f iinatitr^ 
 
 One word with regard to the subject on which we address 
 you. Analysis may be more or less minute or rigid, — 
 exact or immethodical. That which we propose is simply 
 such an examination of the subject, as will enable us to 
 detach the principal individual elements from the mass, so 
 as to ascertain, satisfactorily, to what account they may be 
 turned, whether separately or conjunctively. And accor- 
 dingly, we merely aim at a general comprehensive analysis 
 of the elements and j^urposes of literary education ; without 
 any appeal to the usual formula and categories of precise 
 and labored disquisition. Our principal concern is with the 
 philosophy of facts and experience ; and we hope to render 
 the subject intelligible, and commend the view we take of 
 it to your approval, by the demonstrativeness of the evidence 
 by which we propose to sustain our reasoning. We have 
 long since received it as a maxim, and endeavored to profit 
 by the suggestion, that in regard to the intellectual, not less 
 than the physical sciences, he who would aspire to paini, 
 must first learn how to draw. And in the same proportion 
 we may fail to illustrate the truth of this maxim, in the 
 lecture we propose, we shall fall beneath the dignity of our 
 subject. 
 
 If it be true that the vast assemblage of beings, and ihinffg, 
 
 /acts, and phenomena, which we denominate the universe, 
 
 323
 
 324 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LTTERATUKE. 
 
 presented to our notice in the appropriate distinction of two 
 grand systems, — the material and the immaterial — the 
 worlds of matter and mind, — if it be true, we say, tliat 
 this mighty structure is destined, by its beneficent Author, 
 to minister to the comfort and welfare of its intelligent 
 tribes, precisely in the proportion, that the respective laws 
 and developments of both these divisions, are understood 
 and conformed to, — and if it be further true, that the 
 position suggested, is authenticated by the disclosures of 
 natural and revealed theology, and by the suffrage of phi- 
 losophy, intellectual and moral, not less than by the gross 
 result of mathematical and physical science — if all this be 
 admitted, then, our coming together on the present occasion, 
 and for the purposes implied, will be at once intelligible ; 
 as it is but to remind ourselves, vividly, of what belono-s to 
 the dignity and interests of our common nature. 
 
 While, therefore, we regard our present meeting as some- 
 what peculiar, because upon classic ground, and busied 
 with recollections constituting the burden of classic story, 
 it must not be forgotten, that we meet, at the same time, 
 as members of the common family of man, and that the 
 reflections sugg^ested by the interview, relate not less, 
 ultimately, to the general interests of humanity, than to the 
 special purposes and "pursuits of lettered attainment, and 
 cultivated intellect. 
 
 You will, therefore, readily appreciate us, when we 
 occasionally wander, in the remaiks we propose, from the 
 retreats and avocations, of mere abstract learning; — the 
 groves of the academy, and the recreations of the lyceum, 
 the halls of instruction, or the chambers of philosophy, and 
 find ourselves occupied and interested amid tiie more prac- 
 tical interests of life — the current mass of thought and 
 feeling — the hum of business, and the labor of enterprise, 
 the noise of the city, and the bustle of the forum.
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 325 
 
 Tlie course of instruciion by which it has been atlempled 
 to prepare those claiming citizenship in tlie commonwealth 
 of letters, and more immediately addressed on this occasion, 
 for the duties and destmies awaiting them, and which is 
 nearly the same in all our academic foundaiions, does not, 
 in its purposes and bearings, invite you merely to converse 
 with the mighty, the illustrious dead, and drink at the wells, 
 and fountains of antiquity, but you are also called upon to 
 turn to the existing drama of thought and emotion, action 
 and purpose, — to look about you in the world, and as 
 opportunity may aflford, and occasion present, seek to 
 improve yourselves, and promote the good of others, by 
 everywhere and in every way, disturbing the repose of 
 ignorance and depravity ; and by mutual excitement to 
 knowledge and virtue ! Education rightly understood and 
 properly applied, proceeds upon the maxim, that the ^^a^i 
 should be learned for the good of the present and the glory 
 of the future. Meanwhile, as literary students, we should 
 constantly enlarge the circle of inquiry, with the progress 
 of history ; the usual curriculum of study, with the growth 
 of learning ; and thus, travel in the company and suite of 
 the learned of olden time, only for the purpose of guiding 
 mind, molding genius, and inspiring emulation, while we 
 constantly meditate a bolder flight, and a higher aim, in 
 the career of improvement and usefulness ! Hence, when 
 by an appeal to classic lore, we imbibe the beauty and 
 grandeur of antiquity, amid the ruin and desolation of the 
 past, it is, that we may the better discriminate and select, 
 in relation to the just and the useful, the fit and the 
 becoming, within the precincts of every-day life, and the 
 livinor scenes of interest and activity with which we are 
 surrounded. 
 
 If in the course of liberal study, we revive and remould 
 the classical antique, and place ourselves in contact with
 
 326 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the multitude, not less than the heroes and sages, (say) of 
 Greece and Rome, it is, that we may draw analogies from 
 the jjasi, in view of i\\Q present; that discerning the prin- 
 ciple of action, we may extract the spirit of the social sum, 
 and by carefully detaching and throwing into shadow, what 
 is worthless and vicious, may bring out in high relief, such 
 characteristic traits and elements only, as are worthy of 
 approval and imitation. We turn to Greece and Rome, it 
 is true, at an early stage of our literary pilgrimage, but we 
 do so, not so much to find what is Grecian and Roman in 
 either, as to seize and appropriate what may be human, and 
 by consequence, of universal application in both. It is not 
 the Greek and the Roman, as such, that we study, — the 
 descendants of Agamemnon and Homer, or the countrymen 
 of Caesar and Virgil, but man and mind, amid the elements 
 and appliances of Greek and Roman culture. Without such 
 views and motives, in appealing to the past, we become, in 
 all the multiformity of our ancient learning, at least men 
 fishers in the waters of oblivion ; because unable to make 
 any use of what we learn. — We gaze on a star, " faintly 
 seen and dimly visible," in the night of ages, without 
 turning to the sun of the system, the movements and 
 harmonies of which involve our own interests and destiny, 
 as well as those of kindred millions, found upon the same 
 path of pursuit and adventure, with ourselves. 
 
 Such data, however, relating to the nature and purposes 
 — the philosophy of literary education, require a more 
 extended range of statement and illustration. Intellectual 
 distinction and moral worth, are the direct legitimate objects 
 of education, (the one implying the possession of knowledge, 
 and the other the proper use of it,) and to this view of the 
 subject we shall mainly confine ourselves, in the remarks 
 we have to offer, on the present occasion. In so far as 
 education becomes effectively contributory to these high
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 327 
 
 ends, its direct importance in the scale of human interests 
 and relations, will be disputed, we apprehend, by none who 
 have been led, by whatever means or motives, to place any 
 allowable estimate upon mind and morals. 
 
 The general subject on which we address you, admits, it 
 occurs to us, of an elementary classification, which renders 
 the question of education, in its presentment to the most 
 common understanding, an accessible and tangible concern ; 
 at once, unambiguous and practical, as it regards both 
 claim and detail. Its early processes teach us, slowly it is 
 true, but still certainly, what we are. Its more advanced 
 rudiments direct attention within — to our conscious capacity 
 for action and achievement ; while its higher lessons involve 
 our intellectual and moral relations, and teach us alike what 
 we ought to he and to do. It is certainly a wise and most 
 felicitous arrangement, that the law of culture, of which we 
 speak, is brought to bear upon our nature, by a graduated 
 process, in the successive stages of infancy, childhood, and 
 youth. During these periods, the mental and moral powers 
 and sensitivities of our nature, are peculiarly susceptible. 
 The infant, the child-like, and the youthful mind, as a 
 general rule, will be found impressible, docile, and deferent. 
 Human nature is, at this period of life, (and hence the 
 speciality with which we regard it as the era of education,) 
 greatly more susceptible than at any other. And it is not 
 more true, that the increasing bodily strength, and muscular 
 activity, together with the manual dexterity of this age, 
 afford felt and bounding delight, than that the evolution of 
 the intellectual functions and moral sensibilities, is witnessed 
 by the consciousness of the juvenile aspirant with emotions 
 of the most aflfectionate gratification. In this way, capacity 
 is fostered and excited into vital and growing activity. 
 There is successively a hopeful enlargement of anterior 
 attainment, and a happy germination of all the kind and
 
 328 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 beiiev'ulent sympathies of liumanity, in the regular pro- 
 gressive training, so necessary to the moral formaiion which 
 receives the denomination of character. Such being the 
 real nature and relative importance of education, it will be 
 perceived, at once, that it is a problem, the working or 
 solution of which, cannot, in any instance, be achieved in 
 in a short time, or at small cost: and hence, the needful 
 appropriation of sufficient time, and a patient appeal to 
 means, methods, and proper industry. 
 
 General literature presents a field of vast extent and 
 variety. It is to be understood as inclusive of the early 
 history, and subsequent progress, — the archaeology of the 
 more recent and present conditions of letters and science, 
 throughout the whole range of civilization and social polish. 
 It is so essentially connected with all intellectual pursuits 
 and purposes, as to be, in fact, a history of the experiments 
 and discoveries, the opinions and inventions, the thoughts 
 and emotions of mankind. It embraces not only language 
 and science, with their laws and classifications, broadly 
 considered, comprehending classical, mathematical, philo- 
 sophical, and ethical information, in all the various subdi- 
 visions of each, but the works and wonders of nature and 
 art, infinitely multiplied and extended, so as to include all 
 the walks and business of active life. Thus opening the 
 gates of miscellaneous general knowledge, and displaying 
 the fairest varied prospects of our being, it intellectualizes 
 man and life, and leads to a plastic expansion of the whole 
 mental constitution. All the various pursuits and processes 
 of academic and kindred instruction, unite, each in itself, 
 and all by the way, like the genial drops of rain in their 
 descent from heaven, to strengthen and enlarge the amount 
 of useful knowledge, afiecting and elevating the moral, not 
 less than the intellectual principle. 
 
 Education is not designed simply, or exclusively, to make
 
 ELEMETJTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 329 
 
 US acquainted with the curious and instructive events and 
 developments of pa?t ages ; and tlius lead us to collect 
 wisdom from the opinions, conjectures, and conduct of 
 others, but it is intended to incline, and enable the mind to 
 think and reflect, judge and determine for itself. Its legiti- 
 mate business, as shown by an analysis of its elements and 
 uses, is, to prepare the mind to assume the direction, and 
 control the tendency and issues of the afl'airs and purposes 
 of life. Hence, the world, including its structure, contents, 
 and fortunes, embodied in our literature, and especially the 
 world of man, becomes the held of inquiry — the vast 
 seminary in wliich we learn ; and much, every way, depends 
 upon ourselves, as well as the masters of education, charged 
 with the business of instruction, and the process of training. 
 Tlie solicitude and responsibility incident to the parties, 
 during the whole process, should be divided between the 
 master and pupil ; and the integrity and competency of 
 the teacher, should be eagerly and promptly replied to, by 
 the industry and zeal of the pupil ; while it is ever kept in 
 mind by both, that the skill of instruction and the facility 
 of learning, reside, as we conceive, in the discernment and 
 application of a few simple truths, without refeience to the 
 hackneyed trifles, and whip-and-spur expedients, entering 
 so essentially into the plans and movements of the mere 
 pedagogue. Well, therefore, to begin the work, on the 
 part of teacher and learner, is strictly half the completion 
 of it ; and upon this maxim, the business of instruction, in 
 every department and institution, should rigidly pro(-eed, 
 from the commencement to the close of academic instruction. 
 Education, whether resulting from imparted instruction 
 or self study, has never failed to obtrude itself upon the 
 notice of mankind, as that refinement and elevation of our 
 nrture, extending to mind and manners, without which, 
 man has always been, to a great extent, a savage, and his 
 VOL. II — 28.
 
 330 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 interests and passions, more or less, those of a beast. So 
 viewed, it is law and culture, extending to the mind and 
 heart; the needful restraints of the one, and the salient 
 redeeming qualities of the other. And these have always 
 created, contingently at least, the characteristic difference 
 between man and man. This fact alone has given birth to 
 the heroes and the monsters of history. It was this, gave 
 the name of one Caesar to posterity, as a model of virtue 
 and magnanimity, and that of another, as a reproach and a 
 proverb of infamy ! 
 
 To cultivate the mind, however, to the neglect of the 
 heart, — to give vigor and expansion to thought, and leave 
 conscience to struggle, gives to a mere defect, the nature 
 and tendency of a positive evil. It is putting the sword 
 into the hands of the maniac, only to prepare him for self- 
 destruction ! A lawless obsequiousness to the most dan- 
 gerous, if not to the basest passions, will but too often 
 ensue, ending in blighted hope and bootless folly ! Hence, 
 it results from the analysis we are conducting, that in all 
 well regulated systems and institutions, the masters of 
 education essay, deeply to penetrate and imbue the mind 
 and heart, with the love of truth and honor, goodness and 
 virtue, that the wants — the claims of the heart, where will 
 always be found the more important elements of character, 
 may not be overlooked, in the attempt to impart polish, and 
 secure proper direction to intellect. 
 
 It should, therefore, ever be borne in mind, by all 
 concerned, that the advantages of lettered culture are 
 relative and contingent ; not absolute and invariable. The 
 same is true, however, of every possible boon, earthly or 
 heavenly, with which our term of pupilage on earth is 
 distinguished. All the gifts, and every good, of either 
 class, will be found fatally liable to perversion and abuse. 
 The desire of knowledge and virtue is essential to the
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURrOSES OF LITERATURE. 331 
 
 dignity and happiness of man, and when this is wanting, 
 tlie excellence implied, is fractional, at best. Knowledge 
 witliout virtue, (such is the voice of all history,) is a 
 rudderless bark, drifting on passion's sea; and but too often 
 terminates in the bliuht and ruin of all that mio-ht otherwise 
 be rendered available. Connected with such possible abuse 
 and misappHcation, permit us to remark, that our advan- 
 tages are peculiar and distinguished. Modern literature is 
 incomparably preferable to the ancient. The Greek, the 
 Roman, the Arabian, and the Italian literature, as a general 
 rule, appealed to imagination and taste, while the Northern 
 or Gothic literature, found in the great Teutonic family, and 
 which is ours, has to do much more directly and effectively, 
 with the judgment, the conscience, and the affections, con- 
 sulting the wants of the heart — of our moral nature, with 
 a care and kindness equal to that with which it provides 
 for the gratification of intelligence ; and any evils now 
 resulting from literary attainment, must be wanton, and 
 self-chosen, on the part of the sufferer. 
 
 Knowledge, then, like every other good possessed by man, 
 is attended with danger as well as advantasfe, brinars care 
 as well as pleasure, and he who grasps after the one, must 
 be content to share the other. In the common distribution 
 of good and evil, men of letters furnish no exception to the 
 general rule. Pleasure and pain, with them, as with others, 
 divide the empire of the world, and co-jointly, sit upon the 
 same throne. Intellectual pleasures will necessarily abridge 
 your taste and your leisure for those of merely sensual 
 origin. There is, here, the expulsive power of a new 
 affection, and, in many instances, it becomes an exclusive 
 passion. How often does the literary student find himself 
 compelled to listen to conversation, and engage in dialogue 
 and detail, in which he cannot possibly feel the least interest, 
 and the weakness, prejudice, and vapidity of which, too
 
 332 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 often disgust, even without amusing bim ! He dies in tlie 
 conversation of the living circle about him ; and does not 
 revive till he re-enters the society of the distant and dead, 
 and finds himself again entombed in his librarv ! 
 
 Tliis passion for speculative seclusion, however, may be 
 carried too far, — to a criminal extent. There will always 
 be a common ground ; and there are common topics, on 
 which the most exalted intellect may commune with the 
 most lowly, and with a feeling of the most perfect equality. 
 This passion, therefore, for a lofty seclusion, must not be 
 indulged, to the neglect of duty and action. If so, many 
 of the most valuable faculties and energies, as well as hopes 
 and prospects of our nature, are rendered useless, and lost 
 forever. The world before and about you, including the 
 high and the low — all distinctions of human condition, is 
 a vast battle-field ; and endless and fearful is the strife 
 between good and evil, truth and error. To assume 
 neutrality, therefore, and act upon the maxim of settled 
 indifference to the great conflicting elements of interest and 
 action, would be to proclaim, at once, your own want 
 of virtue, and furnish gratuitous proof of unmixed and 
 universal worthlessness. 
 
 The conclusions to which analj'sis conducts us, on this 
 subject, are numerous and important. The evils and 
 dangers of misdirected intellect, cannot but strike you with 
 great force. Assume the absence of intellectual culture, 
 and the guidance of science, the restraining influence of 
 various useful knowledge, and tlien look at the mighty 
 ocean of human thought and feeling, heaving and weltering 
 round the world, its movements and refluxes without order, 
 and equally without limit or restriction ! Who can calculate 
 tiie infinite value of mental accomplishment, and its atten- 
 dant results, in view of this single reflection ! Such 
 guidance and restraint have been important to the human
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 333 
 
 mind, in all time, and in reference to all men, and including 
 the entire range of humanity, and all the tribes of our kind. 
 We ask respectfully, and with the urgency becoming the 
 subject and the occasion, was it ever more necessaiy than 
 at present ? It would seem to be characteristic of modern 
 times and modern improvement, to a fearful extent at least, 
 that precisely in the proportion, that yrhat passes for know- 
 ledge, is trifling and unimportant, it is sought after and 
 eagerly acquired. 
 
 In confirmation of this, we might cite you to the compara- 
 tive worthlessness and inutility, the licentiousness and vicious 
 tendency, of a large proportion of the periodic press, and cur- 
 rent literature of the times, — the faction and flutter of the one, 
 — the froth and sparkle of the other, — distinguished alike by 
 a kind of floundering vigor, and showy rapidity. To say 
 nothing of the more favorite monstrosities of the latter, in a 
 particular department — we mean, the more than forty horse- 
 power of modern novel writing, with its millions of ea^v^r or 
 indolent victims, wandering or lounging amid fairy fields, 
 in search of the golden fruits and fountains of fable ! The 
 passions busily constructing their palaces and temples, and 
 enthroning their idols and divinities upon the ruins of 
 r'^ason, virtue, and common sense. — A constant feverish 
 appetence for the unreal and the visionary — a sickly 
 propensity to distort — to perfume the violet, and rouge 
 the rose ! And what is most remarkable, and singularly 
 distinctive of the idiosyncracy of modern fiction-mongers, 
 is, the intellectual character, — I had almost said, unmiel- 
 lectual frailty of those the most morbidly susceptible of the 
 fascination 1 That even cultivated taste, and the sturdy 
 manhood of intellect, should occasionally unbend, and seek 
 recreation and amusement, in the ideal creations to which 
 we allude, is not to be wondered at, nor perhaps regretted. 
 But who can account for the fact, unless w« reckon it into
 
 334 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the penalty of all vice, and the law of all disease, that the 
 appetite for this kind of reading, constituting a large share 
 of the annual literary crop of the times, is always most 
 avid and voracious, in those who have the least power of 
 digestion. Solve us this problem, and then, it will be time 
 to propound others of a graver character; — and especially, 
 that it be shown why it is, that so many, apparently virtuous 
 and well-disposed, with a kind of officious zest, seek in this 
 way, to become familiar with the halls and haunts of fiction, 
 even when painted and frescoed with scenes of passion and 
 pollution, in their last excess ! 
 
 Knowledge, then, viewed in the aspects to which we 
 have directed attention, is not unlike all good enjoyed by 
 man, on this side the grave ; that is, liable to be blended 
 with some mixture of evil. What blessing is there, of 
 which it may be affirmed, that we are not called upon, in 
 this way, to discount its value ? What elements of the 
 physical world even, may not prove destructive of life and 
 enjoyment ? Look, for example, at the mysterious principle 
 of electricity, now conducting you to the pole, and sub- 
 serving a thousand useful purposes, and anon giving birth 
 to the thunder and the bolt of heaven ! Instance fire and 
 water, without which we cannot live, and yet depriving 
 millions of life ! Who cannot name that mysterious river, 
 enfolding in its bosom the hated crocodile, as a mere 
 specimen of its slimy, noxious brood, while the same wave 
 contains those enriching seeds and deposits, destined to 
 fertilize the soil of its banks, its islands and its deltas ! 
 
 Continuing our appeal to analysis, we learn further, that 
 literary, beyond any other kind of wealth, possesses a repro- 
 ductive immortality ; and in view of this single fact, how 
 infinite is the enhancement of its value ! For example, 
 language never dies, and the perpetuity and multiplication 
 of thought, in the shape of philosophy, science, poetry,
 
 BLEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE, 335 
 
 religion and the arts, are not only coincident possibilities, but 
 necessarily adjunctive conceptions, and resulting develop- 
 ments. Where now are the temples and palaces, the 
 catacombs and monuments of antiquity ! And of those 
 that do remain, how many are the chances and changes 
 threatening their destruction ! An earthquake might give 
 the pyramids of the Nile, or the grandeur of Rome to 
 oblivion ! The mere sacking of a city, might annihilate 
 the Apollo Belvidere, or the Venus de Medici ; but how 
 many of earth's proudest dynasties, have not thought and 
 language survived, by thousands of years ! What revolu- 
 tions of time, and events of various mundane interest, have 
 not occurred since the first man and woman were expelled 
 the Eden of their innocence ! — and yet the record Hves ! 
 Homer is no more ! — Of his history we know but little, 
 of his ashes nothing, and yet, by means of language, (of 
 letters) he has indissolubly bound the world to the throne 
 of his genius, throughout all generations. Accident threw 
 Demosthenes upon the notice of the world, in the city of 
 Minerva ; as interest or emergency required, for a few 
 successive years, he threw the thunder of his unequaled 
 eloquence upon the startled ear of Greece, and then dis- 
 appeared, with the generation to which he belonged ; but, 
 by means of letters, Demosthenes shall continue the model 
 of the senate and the bar, until the world shall have no use 
 for either ! Come down to modern times — take an instance 
 within the knowledge and memory, it may be, of those I 
 address. — Look at that peasant boy, with nothing but bare 
 existence, and perhaps a name ; see him covered with rags, 
 and contending with want ; doomed to the drudgery of 
 premature toil, in field and forest ! Look at him again, the 
 schoolmaster has been abroad ; by chance or Providence, 
 he is brought in contact with mind and instruction ; the 
 native energies and elements of intellect and emotion begin 
 
 '^■'
 
 336 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 to stir; gradually he is brought in contact with other means 
 ami excitants ; he loves learning, and begins the business 
 of self-education; he has genius, ambition, and application; 
 he lakes the path to distinction and usefulness, and from 
 this moment, his star rises steadily and proudly, as if by 
 irresistible influence, until the fortunes of his fellows, and 
 the destinies of his contemporaries, are thrown into the 
 shade ! Extraordinary indeed, are the changes and trans- 
 mutations effected by the mysterious alchemy of mind, and 
 especially genius, when armed with the power and appliance 
 of letters 1 And who does not know, that the homage thus 
 claimed for letters, is accredited by the philosophy of 
 common experience ! Take the whole range of literary 
 history, and along the entire line, and at either extremity, 
 you will find the proof! 
 
 But let us vary this analysis. The love of truth, as a 
 revelation, a copy of nature, the actual, essentia] philosophy 
 of things, is necessary to the distinction, — the lettered 
 eminence, of which we speak. If we would ever be 
 distinguished or eminent, except in view of partial or frac- 
 tional merit, we must become the students of nature ; and 
 as far as may be, imbibe her lessons from her own lips. 
 And with every such student, truth should be the star of 
 the ascendant, in his horoscope, — the loadstone of his 
 genius, the master-passion of his life ! Analyticallj^ ex- 
 amined, all learning, in strictness, is a knowledge of naiure; 
 and every departure from nature, is, so far, an exiiibilion 
 of ignorance. Philosophy, so called, especially in ilit 
 department of physical inquiry, has most unnaturally, and 
 irrationally, betrayed a prurient propensity to assume, tiiat 
 nothing is knowable, unless it be visible and tangible. It 
 is but recently that the insane eflbrt was made, in otie of 
 the most polished nations of Europe, to establisi) a sysiem 
 of national education, upon the basis of this beggarly,
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 337 
 
 Atheistic maxim. And this, although physical science 
 itself, presents matter to our contemplation, in a state of 
 such extreme tenuity, as not only to preclude vision, but 
 Sensorial excitation of every kind. Even the philosopher, 
 as he sits in his armed chair, (elaborating this very hypothe- 
 sis, receives a })ressure of the atmosphere upon his body, 
 at the weight of full fifteen pounds to every square inch, 
 without being able to see it, or even opposing to it, anything 
 like felt muscular resistance. This school of philosophy is 
 unceasingly asking our attention to the laws of nature, and 
 resulting causation and phenomena, but they would have 
 us examine and investigate long, without any original intel- 
 ligence, for their preconception and establishment. Mind- 
 less and Godless chaos, or matter, upon this hypothesis, 
 constructs the mechanism of all the cerebral functions, and 
 arranges the entire apparatus of thought ! Unthinking 
 bodies of matter, fix and apply to themselves the laws of 
 geometry and calculation ! The inimitable lenses of the 
 eye, are constructed by an unintelligent mass, and their 
 refractive powers suitably adjusted with reference to the 
 laws of liglit, the reflection of rays, and the properties of 
 bodies, and all, without any knowledge of either 1 That 
 which formed the eye and ear, could neither see nor hear ! 
 No stupid Pagan, amid the dark idolatries of the East, was 
 ever better prepared to make his own gods, as he may tldnJc 
 himself in need of them, than is the philosopher who 
 entertains such opinions as these ! 
 
 Physical science has given birth to two distinct classes 
 of laborers. Those who by the process and efforts of 
 induction, ofier indisputable claim to the character of 
 original discoverers, and those again, who availing them- 
 selves of these discoveries, as admitted truths and first 
 principles, have proceeded to deduce from them, as axioms, 
 important inferences and conclusions. Thus forming, not 
 VOL. 11—29.
 
 338 ELKMKNTS AND PTTRPOSES OF LITERATURK. 
 
 nominally, bul virtually, two separate schools or classes of 
 inquirers, especially difi'erent in their modes and habits of 
 investigation. And it is a very remarkable fact, that nearly, 
 if not absolutely all the religious skepticism, found among 
 natural philosophers, has been confined to the latter class, 
 or the deductive school ; while scarcely a vestig-e is to be 
 met with in the former. The great discoverers of the laws 
 of nature, — such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Paschal, 
 Boyle, Newton, and others, have arrived at very diflferent 
 conclusions from those implied by skepticism here. These 
 men, as they enlarged the limits of human knowledge, by 
 an inductive ascent to the primary laws of force and motion, 
 in the mechanism of the universe, inferred Supreme Intel- 
 ligence, as essential to the origin and contrivance, connected 
 with the results discovered. It can hardly be necessary to 
 suggest, that the methods of study and investigation, with 
 inductive inquirers, tend more directly to lead the mind to 
 an irresistible persuasion of the truths of natural religion, 
 than those directing the researches of the other class. The 
 latter borrow their first principles from the former, and 
 resting in them, having taken them for granted, proceed to 
 their deductions, in the application of these first principles. 
 You look in vain, therefore, for the skepticism of physical 
 science, among the great discoverers in this department of 
 thought and labor ; and with scarcely an exception, you 
 will find it among those philosophers, who by a deductive 
 process, descend from the height, or diverge from the 
 point, at which Kepler and Newton descried an Almighty 
 Creator, as the first cause of all things. The moment, 
 therefore, you listen to the suggestions of skepticism, as 
 the offering of natural science, you quit the company, and 
 abjure the fellowship of the illustrious names, and lofty 
 minds just instanced, — those immortal travelers of the 
 WveuB, aud chaioists of aature,— and ar« found lifitamQ^;', 
 
 4
 
 BLKMKNTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 339 
 
 it may be, with charmed docility, to the cuckoo-notes of 
 the mere parrots and mocking birds of the academic grove, 
 and philosophical laboratory ! 
 
 la the last case, we see everything, not only originating 
 from, but produced by nothing ; and a blind mechanism, — 
 mechanism too, without intelligence or contrivance, giving 
 birlh to the-n'egularity and harmony of nature ! A senseless 
 Atheism usurps the place of God, and itself the child of 
 chance, reigns lord of the ascendant ! In the former, the 
 universal presence of the Ood and Author of all, becomes 
 the necessary condition of every course of events, and his 
 universal agency, the only origin of every efficient force ! 
 Upon this latter hypothesis, all is consistent and rational., 
 On the former, we are compelled to ascribe self-motivity 
 and determination, to every law and cause in nature ! This 
 may be done, without reflection or inquiry — without proper 
 attention to the meaning and application of terms, as in the 
 instance of Laplace, who seems to have regarded all nature, 
 merely as a black-board, on which he would admirably 
 illustrate the higher principles of algebra, and the differ- 
 ential calculus ! But the man who deliberately adopts the 
 theory, and attempts its proof and support, upon the basis 
 of evidence, allowable in the case, outlaws himself, at once, 
 from the fale of science! and the sympathies of good sense 
 and correct feeling will suggest, that the sooner he is 
 consigned to the charge of medical jurisprudence, the better, 
 for reasoning in the same^way upon other subjects, he will 
 soon need the regimen of a hospital ! Meanwhile, it is 
 characteristic of real science, that whenever she rears a 
 monument to herself, she erects an altar to the universal 
 God ; and all science, not thus terminating, is both defective 
 and profane ! 
 
 The discovery of truth, will always be considered the 
 achidvemdnt oLgood, upon a graud scale. The first s«iitencd 
 
 m
 
 340 ELEMENTS AND PTTRPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of the celebrated treatise of Malebranche on "Truth," — 
 "Error is the universal cause of the misery of mankind," 
 contains more real good sense and sound philosopliy, than 
 are to be found in many of our modern libraries. The 
 welfare of millions is deeply implicated, in a thousand ways, 
 in the detection and rectification of error, and the discovery 
 and diffusion of truth. Thought cannot be too free, provided 
 it hQJust. It is a safe rule, in the formation and inculcation 
 of opinions, not to adopt or publish any, unless we can, in 
 some way, trace their connection with first, self-evident prin- 
 ciples. And without such inductive analysis, as it regards 
 the philosophy of causes and consequences, there is, there 
 can be no discovery. Democritus declared, he would prefer 
 the discovery of the cause of one of nature's phenomena, 
 to the diadem of Persia ! Lord Bolingbroke justly remarks, 
 that nature and truth are the same everywhere, and reason 
 shows them everywhere alike. The inductive philosopher 
 or discoverer, does not dig for treasure impossible to be 
 found. The vast storehouse of nature, with its facts and 
 laws, is before him, tangible and accessible ; and what is 
 it, mind, method, and perseverance may not accomplish ? 
 His life may be a series of toil and self-sacrifice, without 
 immediate benefit to himself ; but he is contributing, at the 
 same time, to enrich mankind ; and he shall live in posterity, 
 as in the midst of his children ! 
 
 Every acceleration, even of the progress of discovery, is 
 orifinality of invention, and should be estimated accord- 
 ini>-ly. How forcibly is this view of the subject illustrated, 
 in the works of Roger Bacon ! Six hundred years ago, he 
 presented this oracular sentence, " A substance may be 
 prepared, wliich even in very small quantilies, will produce 
 a violent report in the air, kindle, like a train of fire, and 
 destroy whole castles and armies ! " And bear in mind, 
 that it was one hundred years after this, before the invention
 
 :^^ 
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE, 341 
 
 of gunpowder, tlie elements of which, were in his eye ! 
 Ages before the telescope or microscope, or even common 
 optical glasses were heard of, he had said, prophetically, in 
 the same work, " We may cut glasses, or a kind of mirror, 
 some of which will be able to enlarge objects, or bring them 
 nearer, and others to diminish, or remove them further / " 
 Look now at our optical instruments, and marvel at the 
 prediction ! " It is possible," says another of his prophetic 
 conceptions, " to discover a mode of moving in the air, of 
 descending, and walking about, on the bottom of rivers and 
 the ocean!" And ages afterward, the balloon and the 
 diving-bell told his meaning ! In like manner, he predicted, 
 early in the thirteenth century, many of the most important 
 results of physical science ; and among other things, detected, 
 that power in nature, resulting from the marriage of fire 
 and water, destined, more than five hundred years after, to 
 give birth to all the wonders of the steam engine ! Such 
 were the lightning glances of discovery, thrown into the 
 distant future, by Roger Bacon, the great Archimedes of the 
 modern scientific world ! 
 
 On the triumph of literature, and the miracles of science, 
 we cannot be expected to enlarge here, although in immt to 
 do so. Which way you turn your eye, you see the rising 
 summits, and elevated tracts of the moral world, brilliant 
 in the lustre of advancing knowledge, and shedding upon 
 the surrounding gloom and mists, the promise of still 
 greater change ! We cannot be minute, nor will it be 
 expected that we trace the progress of discovery. Man 
 has found himself possessed of powers, by which lie cannot 
 only appreciate the splendor and magnificence of nature's 
 works, in all their magnitude and diversity, but also trace, 
 with precision, the operation of her laws. The globe, on 
 which he stands, serves him as a base, by which to measure 
 the distance and dimensions of the heavenly bodies ; and 
 
 ^pr
 
 342 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE, 
 
 the diameter of the earth's orbit, becomes the first step in 
 the scale by wliich he ascends to an acquaintance with the 
 sun and planets, and the millions of worlds, with which 
 ours is affined, as science wheels him in triumph through 
 the signs of heaven ! Look too, at intellectual science, 
 tracing- the liglitning of mind home to its cloud, — not the 
 cerebral organization, the temporary sensorium of intellect, 
 but the rendent divinitivity,_/?//jny and wielding it, as the 
 temple of its presence, and the organic means of action and 
 display ; and thus shaming the driveling philosophy, that 
 would make man a mere creature of organic necessity ! 
 And kindred power and achievements are true of every 
 other division of science. 
 
 Even political economy, as a science, is a mighty lever, 
 which so far as economics are concerned, is literally raisino- 
 the world ! How few estimate the agency of letters, in 
 creating the power and majesty of thought ; leading to the 
 admiration of what is great, and the conquest of what is 
 difficult ! Also, in the regulation and control of principle 
 and motive ; and as a mighty element in the composition 
 of every form of civilized society, in the construction of 
 every model of good government, and in giving grandeur 
 and duration to the proudest of earth's dynasties, even 
 where so many causes have existed to travail them with 
 decay, or hasten their dissolution ! And although the one 
 and the other have occurred a thousand times, from the 
 operation of other causes, the monuments of literature are 
 still seen blending the achievements of ages, are destined to 
 become co-extensive with the race of man, and permanent 
 as the existence of society ! 
 
 The culture we recommend will steadily exert, even an 
 unperceived influence, it may be, as secret, but still as 
 certain as any of the invisible operations of nature, not 
 unlike the mother of months, holding the eternal flood of
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. S4o 
 
 ocean in her chains ! It may be silent and imperceptible, 
 as the dews of wine, shed on the banquet hour, but how 
 much more salutary and redeeming ! Indeed, the benefits 
 resulting will be immediate and immense. For example, 
 in the case of the educated, whether by school process or 
 self-culture is not material, the resvdt is almost invariable 
 — that^rsi truths are learned first ; while in the instance 
 of the uneducated, the rule is quite universal, — that fir&t 
 truths are learned last ; and of course, when it is too lato 
 lo apply them, to the extent, at least, of their applicability 
 to useful purposes. How often has it happened, that even 
 the welfare of empire has been shipwrecked without any 
 agency, beyond that of the miscalculation of ignorance, and 
 the consequent rashness or irresolution of counsel and move- 
 ment, on the part of government ! The influence of which 
 we speak, we may find it diflicult to trace, but impossible 
 to deny. In its issues, direct and indeterminate, it is seen 
 and felt, comprehending much the larger share of all that 
 has glowed from heart or mind in ages gone, and like the 
 "witchery of a breeze upon the cords of the eolian lyre, ife 
 yields charm and delight, even when not invoked ! 
 
 Connected with this influence, involving moral impression, 
 as well as intellectual bias and direction, allow us further to 
 commend to your approval, a love of nature, as a part of the 
 great text-book — the vetus Testamenium oi o\xm literature, 
 the window being found in ourselves and God, and the rela- 
 tions, coindicated by the nature and character of the one 
 and the other. We mean, a felt and stirring admiration of 
 her works, a sensitive devotion to her charms — such a love 
 of nature as will shed a silent and mystic influence over the 
 whole of your moral and intellectual being ! Who can look, 
 with philosophic eye, at the mystic arch of heaven, mag- 
 nificently hung, in the language of poetry, with midnight 
 worlds, and see these balanced worlds, performing their 
 
 ^
 
 r 
 
 
 344 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 silent, but steady revolutions, without kindling at the scene ! 
 Who can look on the unmeasured gTandeur of ocean, whether 
 belting the earth with might and majesty, or leaping into 
 life and motion, as creation cowers to the storm, witli death 
 in every blast, and ruin on every wave — who, we ask, can 
 gaze on such a spectacle, without a trembling sense of de- 
 pendance on Almighty Power ! Or turn to the breathing 
 landscape, — mark its speaking solitude, — look at the heavens 
 shedding their gorgeous superflux of liglit iipon its vernal 
 diadem, and ask, what heart can witness this, vfiih unbetiered 
 feelings ! He who loves nature with an earnest and a learned 
 spirit, will tind, as some one sings, " glory in the grass, and 
 splendor in tlie flower." He carries about him a grateful 
 sense of existence ; a relished luxury of enjoyment — even 
 being is blessing ! The mind reposes and luxuriates, in 
 passive triumph, in the full and calm collecledness of thought 
 and emotion ! Unuttered and unutterable passions and 
 memories, are buried deep in the soul ! The music of 
 humanity, whether gay or sad, finds its counterpart in 
 nature, and ])er everv voice is an echo of tlie heart; an 
 invisible electric sympathy is found between tlie one and the 
 other. This unworn ardor in your companionship with 
 nature, will always make gay the counttMiance of earth, 
 whether in sunshine or in storm, in sickness or in health ; 
 and nature, in all her provinces, will thus subserve an invisi- 
 ble vocation, in tiie promotion of your happiness. Even 
 sensation teaches you the grandeur and the goodness of 
 Deity ; and the result is, a universal and continuing con- 
 viction of the ever-palpable, but unobtrusive truth of h>s 
 presence and efficiency, difi'used and active, for benevolent 
 purposes, throughout the immense multiform wliule ! Be- 
 hold a well ordered mind amid such a scene ! Grandeur 
 and majesty aisled above and pillared about, and the glory 
 of the Creator everywhere spread out, in beauty and
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. «^^*^ 
 
 enchantment, over the face of nature ! He who sees this, 
 rmisi learn the language and imbibe the hopes of another 
 — a brighter world, or prove himself unfit for this/ 
 
 Let your love of nature and truth be deep and solid. It 
 should incdude tlie uses, as well as the nature of things. 
 There is, we know, a cheap and plebeian philosophy, and it 
 has its uses, is not unproductive of good, but it is not this, 
 to which we now ask your attention. Only thus learned, 
 you will meet with much, both in general literature and 
 science, that will severely tax your bcdieving, and greatly 
 exceed your comprehending powers; and all the manifested 
 advantages, the intellectual amiabilities, and moral sympa- 
 thies, resulting from the one and the other, will perhaps, 
 be laid aside for you to wonder at the marvelous and 
 incredible, — for example, how it is possible, that six hun- 
 dred and ninety-nine millions of millions of undulations of 
 li<'ht, in a sin^'le second, are necessary to enable the eve to 
 detect the simple color of violet ; how a single simple bushel 
 of coals can be made to raise or lift ninety-seven millions 
 pounds weight; or how the strangely, yet admirably gravi- 
 tating and geometrized system of earth, can be upheld by 
 the mere agency of invisible, intangible forces ! You should 
 early remind yourselves, that there may be a life of musing, 
 without thinking, or talking without meaning, of signs 
 without significance. It is very possible to possess a "kind 
 of wordy wealth, connected with literature, and dole it out, 
 as thousands do, in weak abundance, only to prove a want 
 of mind, and lack of thought, by decking lean nothings, 
 with the pomp of show and noise ! Putting far from you, 
 at once and forever, all such shallow pretension, let your 
 research, however slowly you may proceed, sink deep among 
 things and their causes. The mind should be its own place, 
 feeding upon its own correct and unutterable thoughts; and 
 never dependent upon extrinsic causes and contingencies,
 
 
 •A*.* 
 
 346 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 for enjoyment and interest. Wiih the compass and vigor, 
 the energy and manhood of thought we are commending, 
 its strength will always be present and available; and even 
 when suddenl}^ taxed and called into action, as it is always 
 liable to be, and thrown back upon its own resources, by 
 unexpected and emergent duties and interests, its action 
 will resemble that of ocean, vexed by the tempest, and 
 yet heaving and tossing, in all the pride of unquestioned 
 ma.stery ! The mind thus chastened, disciplined, and 
 furnished, becomes a lofty star, beyond the attraction of 
 the world, and when all about is darkened by the shadow 
 of change, one star at least, continues to twinkle in the 
 gloom, and shed its steady and unaltered light upon the 
 path of humanity 1 
 
 The usee and purposes of literature are thus found to 
 connect themselves with its more abstract elements and 
 functions, and analysis can scarcely point out the latter, 
 without asking your attention to the former. A few addi- 
 tional remarks, however, on this part of our subject seem 
 to be called for before we close. The love of truth and 
 NATURE, to which wc have called your attention, with at 
 least earnestness of appeal, will lead you, as scholars, to 
 take a decided stand against whatever is false and vicious, 
 with regard to either. It is in view of this, that education 
 has furnished you with a telescope for truth, and a micro- 
 scope for error ; and you are not likely to occupy any 
 position in society, which will not require the use of the 
 one and the other. Possessing superior advantages, it 
 becomes your duty, peculiarly to cherish and practice all 
 the virtues and sympathies of our common nature, and be 
 sure that you outrage none. A cold reception or indifferent 
 approval of excellence, in any shape, is always proof of the 
 absence of high moral or intellectual qualities. The man 
 who would poise his own gratification against the compre- 
 
 Ln
 
 • 
 
 ELEMENTS AND PTTRPOSES OF LITERATURE. 347 
 
 hensive interests of mankind, is indeed low in the scale of 
 intellect, and still more degraded, in that of moials. And 
 if you would practically assert your intended value in the 
 scale of moral dignity, your principles of action should be 
 rectitude and usefulness in life, and the glory of virtue and 
 happiness beyond the grave. 
 
 Such culture will lead you to perceive, further, that the 
 noblest, not less than the happiest tendencies of your nature, 
 involve the constant exercise of kindness and benevolence. 
 It is in the induli^ence and manifestation of the kindlier 
 emotions, that we are to look for the deeper and purer 
 enjoyments allowed liumanity on earth. The summons of 
 kindness is always that of reason. To what spectacle can 
 you turn, in the whole range of being or action, more 
 intensely interesting than that of cultivated intellect, beam- 
 ing with the attributes of power and pity. It is a music 
 which never stirs upon the altar of the heart, without its 
 effect, — without leaving a moral behind. It awakens the 
 harmonies, even of the stricken bosom, not unlike the 
 mysterious music of the Egyptian statue, before the coming 
 of sunrise. "We cannot elaborate here ; but a primary, 
 universal reason for the result, may be found in the eternal 
 truth, that " God is love," and that man was made " in his 
 image." 
 
 Intimately connected with this view of the subject, in 
 the tendency of things, is the importance to virtue and 
 happiness, of local attachments and the domestic virtues. 
 It is true of the aflfections, that as they never die, so they 
 are really the great well-springs of action and enjoyment. 
 On the virtues, which can only, here, solicit your approval 
 and devotion, by the way, we are now forbidden to enlarge. 
 But who does not know, for who does noi feel, that there is 
 a mystery and sanctity, — a sacredness and serenity, ineffable 
 yearnings and undying affection, connected with home and
 
 348 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 family, and the heart's young dreams, and more adult 
 affinities, infinitely more favorable to worth and vinue, than 
 the selfish and alien purposes and pursuits, but too apt to 
 engross thought and feeling, when the young and aspiiing 
 engage in the construction of their own fortunes ! The 
 recollections and attractions, the touching tenderness and 
 sympathies, constituting the ties and memories of heanh 
 and home, the " veneranda dovucs " of the classic ancients, 
 templed in t,he heart, and recalling its love and worship, 
 ^vill become the springs and sources of virtuous utility ; the 
 path of domestic endearment will be strewed with flowers, 
 the privileged pleasures of aft'eclionate, confiding inter- 
 course ! These influences are, in fact, the dew of the 
 heart; and they water the mind, and keep it from withering. 
 These reflections may strike you, as loo unimportant to 
 receive the prominence we have given them, but when you 
 appeal to the hallowing and tranquilizing influences of tiiese 
 virtues, contrasted with the scenes and excitement of dissi- 
 pation, and the cold and heartless quarantine of the sense- 
 less, the worse than silly etiquette, desiderated as essential 
 to tlie existence of good society, in its modern organization, 
 you will, perhaps, find yourselves without reason or motive 
 to resist the claim they assert upon your consideration. It 
 lias often happened, in the history of our kind, that when 
 every claim of Heaven and earth beside, has failed to airest 
 the progress, or prevent the issues of vice and worthless- 
 ness, the atta(;hments and virtues of which we speak, have 
 succeeded; and they operated, as the last salutary clause in 
 the creed of liumanity. Confining, however, the applii^ation 
 of our remarks, to the ordinary walks of life, theiv ai'c few 
 classes of emotion so well calculated as this, to impart to 
 the mind, and breathe over the soul, that nameless tran- 
 quillity, — the real otium of Horace, so grateful to all, and 
 yet felt and shared but hy few.
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 349 
 
 Amon"' tlie results of enlar^-ed, liberal information, 
 decision of character will be found to rank liigh. Wo 
 only think and feel with the wiser and better part of man- 
 kind, when we despise the individual, (for character he has 
 none, being but the vulgar fraction of a man,) who cap 
 mold his views, and shape his tastes, to suit the society 
 and position in which he is found ; and accommodate his 
 opinions, and even his virtue, to the notions and jjrejudices 
 of others, — of all about him. We are compelled to feel 
 contempt for him who trims and veers his little vessel to ♦ 
 catch the favoring breeze of popular opinion, — or rather 
 clamor; and who has no judgment or aims of his own, only 
 as he is dictated to by others ; whatever ma}' be in vogue 
 about him, being the thermometer by which he graduates 
 his opinions and principles. There is about such men, no 
 energy of patience or performance ; but an infirmity of 
 will, a feebleness and vacillation of the faculty of*dominion, 
 whkih will not allow them to act, in accordance, even, with 
 ■what they approve. They blink the truth, retreat from 
 tlieir purposes, and purchase after-regret, by concessions, 
 disavowed by conscience and principle ; and thus, they 
 make shipwreck of conviction, truth, and integrity, upon 
 ever-shifiing shoals and sands of capricious, conflicting 
 circumstances. Without decision of character, you are 
 never safe. Life presents a thousand accidents, its common 
 seductions, or rough and angular passages, any one of 
 which, may color and change the whole contexture of your 
 character. A sneer only, may travail or thwart your 
 destiny ! You are seen paling at a sarcasm, ti'embiing and 
 retreating before an epigram, and the jurisdiction of private 
 judgment is thus hopelessly merged in cowardly compro- 
 mise, at the caprice of others. 
 
 Equally important is it, that you study and cherish 
 consistency of character, in all its possible phases. Principle,
 
 350 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 
 
 as it regards judgment and opinion, integrity in relation to 
 motive, and independence in relation to both ; — these are 
 the great elements of good moral character. There miist 
 be a wholeness, an integrity of purpose and action. A 
 moral parallelism is to be maintained, in every position, 
 and at whatever cost. He who is thus self-consistent, and 
 self-balanced, amid all possible change and vicissitude 
 about him, finds his world within himself; and its openings 
 look out on immortality. He imbibes vigor and steadfast- 
 ness, even from the stream of change about him ; and 
 wherever seen, or however occupied, he will always exhibit 
 a finely balanced equilibrium of both judgment and passion. 
 Thus devoted to the interests and purposes of intellectual 
 distinction and moral worth, (and the latter certainly not 
 less important than the former), you will find yourselves 
 at no loss, as it regards motive and encouragement. The 
 signs of the times are spreading out before you an appro- 
 priate field ; and the most stirring scenes of interest and 
 action await you. Mind is everywhere creeping into the 
 mio-hty mass of matter! The stagnant ocean of human 
 thought is convulsed with earthquake change ! The pro- 
 gress of truth is everywhere sundering the long-established 
 bonds of mental and moral association, adverse to its claims ; 
 and nothino- short of the utter extinction of human nature, 
 can ever ao-ain restore the empire of the world to ignorance ! 
 Behind is receding darkness : before you, advancing light. 
 The movements and occurrences of every day, are rapidly 
 sweUino- the train, and hastening the triumph of knowledge 
 and improvement. Nothing is now hidden. The means 
 of intercommunication are now ample and facile ; and the 
 machinery and relations of modern society, are such, and 
 so constructed, that if what is new and interesting, in the 
 numerous departments of knowledge, science, and social 
 development, were not " proclaimed upon the housetop,"
 
 4» 
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 351 
 
 the whole civilized world would be instantly transformed 
 into a vast whispering gallery, and their feeblest accents 
 would be heard, throughout every country and region, 
 almost as soon as uttered I The sun of mind has risen on 
 the world, never to set ! The powers of change, of dissent, 
 and revolt, everywhere at work, must be met, and directed. 
 The emergency stands out visibly before the collected 
 mind of the cultivated world, and it is matter of urgent 
 behoof, that it be disposed of with a grasp of understanding, 
 a breadth and energy of feeling, worthy the interest at stake ! 
 And allow us to remark here, that those who take their 
 stand against the diffusion of knowledge, and the demon- 
 strated value of liberal learning, as thousands do, in every 
 community, even in our own, — and so saying, we bequeath 
 a blush for the shame they are too stupid to feel ! — such, 
 we say, both as it regards the wJien and the where of their 
 opposition, have taken a stand most unwisely, and inoppor- 
 tunely, upon advanced ground, which they will find already 
 sapped, and ready to fall in with them ! Ages have 
 sanctioned the value of what they oppose, and distant ages 
 are destined yet to feel it ! It has traversed time and 
 distance, entered into laws and causes, and triumphed over 
 chancre and accident ! 
 
 Many, therefore, and forcible are the reasons why you 
 should cherish your literary recollections. In doing so, 
 you will dignify the ^;resen/, and consecrate the past. 
 Recollections of this kind may accompany you through 
 life, green and flourishing, even amid the sterility of years 1 
 And what more lofty and lovely, than the memories thrown 
 back upon a life and pursuits, whose aims have been those for 
 which all thought was born, — the possession of knowledge, 
 and the practice of virtue ! By the mind's reminiscent 
 power, of which we are speaking, you will not only converse 
 with the actual scenes and interests of your former academic
 
 352 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE, 
 
 life, or literary soliliule, but the time-hallowed throng of 
 those that were, will rise before you as a \)v\n'^ presence, 
 and by the power of association, tire mind will become 
 imbued and saiurate, with all that is lovely and valuable 
 in the past ! The burial-places of memory will cast up 
 their dead, and give to the drama of your intellectual 
 conceptions, a kind of conscious reality, reproducing the 
 deli"-hts of taste, and the discipline of truth ! And wliat 
 more grateful to the human heart, than thus to lift, 
 anxiously at, least, the shroud that time has thrown over 
 your buried hopes — hopes that in their birth and fruition, 
 were found delightful as the fall of fountains — dearer 
 than the fabled song of Houri in the heaven of the Moslem, 
 and revisiting you, ever and anon, like angelic visions, 
 descending upon the dream of painter or poet ! 
 
 Foro-et not., however, that correct moral feelings and 
 sympathies, in view of all your relations, will ])e found 
 essential to the enjoyment and welfare, whi'.-h heaven, to 
 a great extent, has placed in your own keeping. Your 
 intellectual and moral powers, have been deemed by the 
 Creator, of sufficient importance to require, not meiely the 
 training of time, but the discipline of eternity ; and viewed 
 in this aspect, life is but a functional gift, and should be 
 improved and appropriated accordingly. For want of such 
 views, and corresponding action, what a gallery of 'prosti- 
 tuted genius are we presented with, in the pages of literary 
 history ! We invoke — we conjure you, therefore, in 
 intercourse with man, forget not your compact with heaven ! 
 Let truth and virtue be the altars, on which you offer the 
 produce of the heart ! Seek a principled integrity, as the 
 pervading law of action ; and let it become the guaranty of 
 tlie proper regulation and adjustment of all the subordinate 
 elements of character : let it become a single point, toward 
 which, the heart shall tend and tremble, as its cynosure .'
 
 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OF LITERATURE. 353 
 
 With such views and aims, the resultitii'- advantai^es will 
 be, at once, incalculable ; and you will often be able to 
 cheat desiinv of its issues, even as it seems to overhang 
 you ! And amid life's thick contingencies, of whatever 
 kind, you will find within you, a majesty of purpose, to 
 dare the noble, and achieve the great 1 
 
 In CONCLUSION, all the attainments and virtues we have 
 urged upon your notice, will, if you so decide, with the 
 blessing of heaven, become co-efficients, in the construction, 
 and formation of good character. And thus chastened, and 
 so prepared for whatever may be before you, your mental 
 and moral energy will be found increasing, in an inverse 
 ratio, with the declining body ! And how vast and varied 
 the field of interest, upon which we are now entering ! A 
 long career of opening glory spreads out before you, and 
 3'our latter days go down the vale of years in peace! The 
 pupilage of earth, and the vicissitudes of time, are passed 
 in peace with man, and communion with God 1 The 
 future successively nnfolds its revelations to your gaze, 
 livingly suffused with the hues of immortality ! You are 
 prepared to leave the world, in all the brightness of honor, 
 virtue, and moral accomplishment, without any twilight of 
 diminished lustre ; knowing that, in heaven, you renew 
 your intercourse with the wise and the good, where friend- 
 ship is uninterrupted, and virtue eternal ! Nor is this all, 
 you liave not survived your usefulness. The benefits of 
 tim*^, distributed by you, shall be revealed amid the glories 
 of eternity 1 The thoughts, feelings, and actions of your 
 lives, have added to the light and virtue of the universe ; 
 and heaven and earth unite in assuring you, that by how 
 much humanity is your debtor, by so far, God will be your 
 friend, to honor and reward ! And not only shall your 
 names descend to distant ages, fragrant with blessing, as 
 
 those who have lived well themselves, and died with the 
 VOL. II — 30.
 
 354 ELEMENTS AND PURPOSES OP LITERATURE. 
 
 concern of others in their hearts, but posterity, draped in 
 the mantle of your inspiration, shall become the arbiter of 
 your merits, and the light of the future, never cease to 
 reveal and accredit your deeds and achievements, as still 
 widening the foundations of human hope, with the progress 
 of the world's history, and multiplying, throughout the 
 universe of God, the possibilities of eventual excellence and 
 final good ! 
 
 «V.'
 
 MHitatiuit^ 
 
 or THE 
 
 M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. 
 
 THE HOME CIECLE ; a Monthly Periodical, devoted to Eeligion and 
 Literature. Rev. L. D. Huston, Editor. Super-royal octavo, 43 pp., 
 eack number embellished with one or more engravings. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE , a Religious Family Paper, published 
 weekly. Rev. J. B. McEerrin, D.D., Editor. Price $1.50, invari- 
 ably in advance. 
 
 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL VISITOR; a Monthly Illustrated Journal, 
 designed for Sabbath-schools. Rev. L. D. Huston, Editor. 
 
 Price of single copies, 25 cents per year; from 5 to 20 copies to one 
 address, 23 cents ; from 20 to 50 copies, 20 cents ; 50 to 100 copies, 18 cents; 
 100 copies and over, 15 cents. 
 
 BEREAVED PARENTS CONSOLED. By the Rev. John Thornton. Care- 
 fully revised, with an Introduction and Selection of Lyrics for 
 the Bereaved, by Thos. 0. Summers. 18mo, full gilt, 50 cents; 
 gilt backs, 40 cents. 24mo, muslin, 80 cents. 
 
 This is a perfect gem. It will be highly prized in the house of mourning. 
 The grounds of consolation hero adduced are admirably adapted to sustain 
 the stricken spirit ; and the " Songs" are just such as the Christian may 
 sing to profit " in the night" of bereavement and sorrow. 
 
 METHODIST PAMPHLETS FOR THE PEOPLE. 
 
 Series I. On Church Economy. 12 pamphlets, 25 cents. 
 II. Oa Doctrinal Points. 12 pamphlets, 26 cents. 
 III. On Romanism. 24 pamphlets, 30 cents. 
 IV. On Temperance. 12 pamphlets, 15 cents. 
 
 SUMMERS ON HOLINESS. Price, neatly bound in muslin, 22 cents, 
 with the usual discount to wholesale dealers. 
 
 "Ability, perspicuity, precision, characterize his perforraanco. His 
 method and proofs are eminently striking. * * » The work is valuable 
 as a doctrinal treatise, and is a seasonable addition to Methodist thoo- 
 lo^ical literature. We commend it to the Church, to all whose views are 
 unsettled on the subject, and especially to those who differ with us concern- 
 ing it." — Southern Methodist Quarterly.
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE M. E. CHURCH. SOUTH. 
 
 DIALOGUES ON POPEEY. By Jacob Stanley. 18mo, pp. 264. Price 
 35 ceuts. 
 
 A carefully revised and beautifully printed edition of an excellent book : 
 it has had au extensive circulation on both sides of the Atlantic. 
 
 THE HEBREW MISSIOITASY; Esnays Exegetical and Practical, on 
 the Book of Jonah. By tho Eev. Joseph Cross, D.D. 18mo, pp. 
 242. Price 40 cents. 
 
 This book is a valuable contribution to our Church literature — it 
 exhibits great reseiirch, .and abounds in eloquent passages and valuable 
 refleciions. The engravings and maps illustrative of Nineveh, as brought 
 to light by Layara and others, add great interest to the work. 
 
 PROGRESS: CONSIDERED WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO 
 THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH. By the Rev. W. J. Sasnett, of 
 Emory College, pp. 320. Price 80 cents. 
 
 This is an elegantly printed 12mo volume, containing 320 pages. The 
 Advocates speak uf it as a book of no common interest. The Home Circle 
 says : " The work is an earnest plea and practical pl.an for progress in the 
 Methodist Church ; yet, with all our lore of the old landmarks and prima 
 facie opposition to any interference with them, we Lave not met with a 
 sentiment or suggestion that we cannot endorse. We therefore express 
 the earnest hope that the book may find immediat* access to the entire 
 Church. The sooner we all get our minds fully settled upon the matters 
 of which it treats, the better: and its pages will greatly conti-ibute to such 
 settlement." 
 
 AN APOLOGY FOR THE BIBLE. In a Series of Letters addressed to 
 Thomas Paine, Author of the "Age of Reason." By Bishop Watson. 
 ISmo, pp. 223. Price 30 cents. 
 
 A new ani elegantly printed edition of this great Christian classic. 
 
 A REFUTATION OF THE THEOLOGICAL WORKS OF THOMAS 
 PAINE, not noticed by Bishop Watson in his "Apology for the 
 Bible." By Thos. 0. Summers. ISmo, pp. 84. Price 25 cents. 
 
 The Memphis Christian Advocate speaks of this work as " seasonable" — 
 in view of the revival of infidelity of the Thomas Paine type — and says, 
 " The argument is terse and concise, but satisfactory." The author aimed 
 at saying a groat dwil in a few words. The "Refutation" is beautifully 
 gotten n\>. The "Apology" aud " Refutation" are also bound together, 
 price 45 cents. 
 
 STRICTURES ON CHURCH GOVERNMENT. By the Rev. R. Abbey 
 Price 5 cents. 
 This essay has a special bearing on the government of the Baptist 
 Church.
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE M. B, CHURCH, SOUTH. 
 
 EAPTISM : A Treatise on the Nature, Perpetuity, Subjects, Adminis- 
 trator, Mode, and Use of the Initiating Ordinance of the Christian 
 Church. With an Appendix, containing Strictures on Dr. Howell's 
 " Evils of Infant Baptism," Plates illustrating the Primitive Mode 
 of Baptism, &c. By Thomas 0. Summers. 12mo, pp. 252. 
 
 This book is got up in handsome style, and Fold at 05 cents retail, with 
 the usual discount to wholesale purchasers. Competent judges — among 
 them the bishops and editors of the Church — have spoken of this work in 
 unqualified terms of approval. Several thousand copies were sold very 
 soon after its first issue. Dr. M'Clintock, Ed. Meth. Quar. Review, says : 
 "This volume differs from ordinary books on the subject, in treating at 
 some length of the 'Administrator of Baptism,' and of the ' Use of Baptism,' 
 —points rarely noticed, or, if at all, very inadequately discussed, in the 
 current treatises. It differs from them also, and very happily, in the 
 clearness of its arrangement, iu the aptness with which the joints of the 
 discussion fit each other, and in the discrimination with which important 
 points are brought out strongly, while minor ones are comparatively thrown 
 into abeyance. In an appendix Dr. Summers reviews Howell's ' Evils of 
 Infant Baptism,' with keen discrimination and with some severity. We 
 cordially commend this little volume as one of the best summaries of 
 Christian doctrine on the subject of baptism that has come under our 
 notice." 
 
 "WESLEY'S SEEMONS, with copious Indexes, carefully prepared by 
 Thomas 0. Summers. 
 
 This is an elegant 12mo edition in four volumes, got up expressly for 
 the convenience of ministers, Sunday-schools, and family libraries. Price 
 $2 75 — 30 per cent, discount to Sunday-schools and wholesale purchasers. — 
 They arc also put up in four packages, as Tracts — price $1.25. 
 
 SONGS OF ZION. A Supplement to the Hymn Book of the M. E 
 Church, South. Edited by T. 0. Summers. Price 26 cents. 
 
 This work, so loudly called for, has been received with great favor : the 
 Press of the Church pronounces it just the thiug that was in demand. 
 It should everywhere accompany the Hymn Book. 
 
 THE GREEK AND EASTERN CHITRCHES : their History, Faith, and 
 Worship. 18mo, pp. 179. Price 30 cents. 
 
 We have never met vrith so much reliable information on the Oriental 
 churches, in so short a compass, as is found in this neat volume. 
 
 SEASONS, MONTHS, AND DAYS. By Thos. 0. Summers. 18mo, pp. 
 110. irice 25 cents. 
 
 The design of this book is to make the render acquainted with the 
 origin and import of the names by which the seasons, months, and days 
 are designated, including some of the historical, mythological, and poetical 
 relations of the subject, and suggesting such moral reflections as may lead 
 the contemplative mind through nature up to nature's God. The embel- 
 li»hm«nt9 «« b«autiful aud Uiustratire.
 
 PUBLICATIONS OF THE 1VI. E. CHURCH. SOUTH. 
 
 HYMNS POS SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES, specially designed for the 
 CMldren of tlie Church. Edited by Thos. 0. Summers. Net price 
 to Sunday-schools : boards, 10 cents ; roan, 21 cents. Retail, 30 
 cents ; roan gilt, 50 cents ; morocco, 75 cents. The fine ones are 
 gems. The book consists of 384 pages, and contains 600 Hymns. 
 
 "As its title indicates, it is a collection especially designed for the child- 
 ren of the Churrh, and it has been compiled with the ability, researcb, 
 and taste which characterize the labors of the accomplished editor in the 
 department of hymnology. AVe are not saying too much for it, when we 
 affirm that it leaves nothing to be desiderated hereafter in this line."- 
 Southern Christian Adcocate. 
 
 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER; or, the Catechetical Office. By 
 Thos. 0. Summers. 18mo, pp. 144. Price 30 cents. 
 
 This work discusses the most interesting questions connected with the 
 Catechetical System — the Teacher's Qualifications, Tifficulties, and Encour- 
 agements. It exhibits the obligations of pastors and teachers to the 
 children of the Church, and shows how they may be discharged. 
 
 OLD MICHAEL AND YOUNG MAURICE; or, Country Scenes in 
 England. ISmo, pp. 178. Price 30 cents. 
 
 A truthful, fascinating, and instructive volume. 
 
 TALKS, PLEASANT AND PROFITABLE. By Thos. 0. Summers. 
 18mo, pp. 146. Price 30 cents. 
 
 The topics of these dialogues are Orphans, May-Day, Birds, Tempe- 
 rance, Peter and the Tribute-money, Retribution, Recognition of Friends 
 in Heaven. The style is adapted to the minds of intelligent youth. 
 The engravings are handsome. 
 
 THE WORLD OF WATERS. By Fanny Oshorne. With Illustrations 
 Two vols. 18mo, pp. 186, 224. Price 60 cents. 
 
 A couple of fascinating and instructive volumes. The tales and narra- 
 tives beguile, like sailors' yarns, the voyage over the world of waters. The 
 descriptions and anecdotes blend the charm of romance with the credi- 
 bility of truth. 
 
 SCRIPTURE VIEWS OF THE HEAVENLY WORLD. By J. Edmondson, 
 A.M. 18nio, pp. 249. Price 35 cents. 
 
 A neat edition of a book which takes rank with Baxter's Saints' Rest — 
 to which groat work it is in some respects superior. 
 
 TRIAL OF THE WITNESSES OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 
 By Bishop Sherlock. With an Introduction by Thos. 0. Summers. 
 18mo, pp. 137. Price 30 cents. 
 This masterly work is got up in convenient form and beautiful style. 
 The lutroduetion coutains ti brief biography of tk« illustrieu* autbtt.
 
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