LIBRARY
OF THE
University of California.
Mrs. SARAH P. WALSWORTH.
Received October , i8g4.
Accessions No.^S^.^.O.J..- Class No. .
>%imj^
r*"
,^-^^
^J^^()^ .
THE
MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS
MTLES P. SQUIER, D. D.
LATB PKOPESSOB OF INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY,
BELOIT COLLEGE, WISCONSIN.
WITH AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY,
EDITED AND SUPPLEMENTED
BY EEY. JAMES R. BOYD.
FROM THE PRESS OP
R. L. ADAMS & SON,
GENEVA, N. y,
t/rtyl
"-^m'r
STra^f
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
A few days only before the venerable subject of the ensu-
ing memoir closed so peacefully his mortal career, I was sum-
moned to his bedside to listen to his request that the papers
now contained in this volume, besides those on the Being of
God and on Moral Government, which will apjDear in another
volume, should come under my editorial charge, and be pre-
sented to the public in due order and form.
The facts detailed in the autobiography, concerning the
early settlement and Evangelization of Western New York,
cannot fail to be deeply interesting to the residents of that
part of the State ; while the able papers upon European
topics, the result of thoughtful observation upon men and
things when abroad, will command, it is l^elieved, both care-
ful and remunerative perusal.
On the whole, the volume seems to be adapted not only to
preserve the memory of an eminently useful servant of Christ,
but to stimulate to activity in the cause of Christian educa-
tion, and also to awaken profound thought upon some of the
more difficult problems of theological and philosophical
study.
The Editor feels constrained to offer an apology to all
those who have written the kind and excellent letters of sym-
pathy, embraced in the following memoir, for taking tbe lib-
erty of exposing said letters, or extracts from them, to the
public eye, since they were written with no expectation of
such use being made of them. He w ould not have done so,
if he had not regarded them as perfectly worthy of the place
here assigned them, and of the writers. They also seemed to
him to possess the greater value, as free expressions of honest
sentiment, from the fact that they were written without refer-
ence to future publication.
Geneva^ N. T. ^^^^2:- J. R. B.
^
CONTENTS.
I?^KT I.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND SUPPLEMENT.
Chapter I.— Parentage and Early Life.
Chapter II. — Missionary Tour in Western New York.
Chapter III. — Pastorate in Buffalo, N. Y.
Chapter IV. — Relation to Auburn Theological Seminary.
Chapter V. — Relation to tlie Western Agency of tlie American
Home Missionary Society.
Chapter VI. — Relation to the Geneva Lyceum,
Chapter VII. — Connection with Beloit College. -^T I
Chapter VIII. — Visit to Europe.
Chapter IX. — Contributions to the Press.
Chapter X. — Intellectual, Social, and Religious Character.
Chapter XI. — ^His Last Days.
CONTENTS.
P^^RT II.
MISCELLANEOUS AVTIITINGS.
I.
TEN LECTURES SUGGESTED BY A TISIT IN EUROPE.
1. Geneva and the Evangelical Alliance, including an Address
on the American Question.
2. The American Meeting of the Alliance.
3. Italy — the Source of its Kegeneration.
4. France and its Emperor.
5. England and its Queen.
6. Dr. Pusey at Oxford.
7. The Attitude of Christian Europe on the American Question.
8. The Future of Europe.
9. Europe as Contrasted with America.
10. Prognosis of the Future of Empires.
II.
THREE LECTLTIES AT BELOIT COLLEGE.
I. Highest Usefulness.
II. Self-Control.
III. Social Responsibility.
III.
TWO DISCOLTISES.
I. The Way of Salvation.
II. God is Light.
IV.
ESSAYS AND REVIEWS — THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL.
I. • The Mystery ; or, Evil and God. In three numbers.
II. Review of Dr. Bushnell on Nature and the Supernatural.
III. Review of Dr. Orville Dewey's Lowell Lectures.
IV. Free-Will : A Criticism on Dr. Whedon, and on Dr. H. B.
Smith.
V. Doctrine of the Spirit's Influence.
?:^-
tiin^^
PART I.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND SUPPLEMENT.
CHAPTER I.
In the summer of 1846, the subject of this memoir,
drew up a brief sketch of some of the more important
acts and events of his life, in the hope that they might
be interesting to the circle of his family friends who
should sui*vive him ; and also for the purpose of recall-
ing to his own mind the ways of Divine mercy in which
he had been conducted, that he might confide the more
strongly in the providence and gi'ace of God during the
remainder of his earthly pilgrimage.
In April, 1863, a lecture was prepared and read by
him before the Geneva Literary and Scientific Associa-
tion, entitled, " Reminiscences in the Ecclesiastical His-
tory of the State of New York," relating chiefly to his
own experience and observations.
As these two documents, together with a brief journal
of a Tour in Europe, furnish matter for a large portion
of the following memoir, it will have the freshness and
chami of an autobiogi'aphy. So far as may be expedient,
8 PARENTAGE AND EAKLY LIFE.
the lamented and venerated subject of it, shall address
us in his own language, and in the first person. In re-
spect to his parentage and early life, he thus writes : —
I. PARENTAGE AND EARLY LIFE. •
"I was born, in Cornwall, Vermont, May 4th, 1792 ;
being the second son and child of Wait and Hannah
Squier. My parents were of English descent, and na-
tives of Berkshire Co., Mass. My father was the thu-d
gon of Andrew Squier, of Lanesboro, Mass., through
whom the family is traced to Waterbury, and that re-
gion in Connecticut. My mother's maiden name was
Hannah Powell : she was the fourth daughter of Miles
Powell, whose name I inherit. He was a man of some
distinction in his day, and the Colonel of a regiment of
Berkshire Militia, in the well-known Bennington battle
in the war of the Revolution : that beginning of victo-
ries in behalf of the American standard, which had so
much influence on the great issue pending, and on the
liberties of the world."
" The first year of my life was one of feebleness, but
through parental assiduity I attained to a good consti-
tution and a vigorous childhood. I was early sent to the
district school, and at the age of five years could read
quite well in easy lessons. I had attained to the ordina-
ry wisdom of the common school of that day, at the age
of fourteen yeai*s, and was, in May, at the age of four-
teen, removed to the Academy at Middlebuiy, Vermont ;
and one yeai* from the next August, entered the College
at that place, as a member of the Freshman Class, hav-
ing obtained the premium for proficiency in Greek lit-
erature in the Academy. I came to Middlebmy to enter
PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 9
the Academy, as I now recollect, on the day of the great
eclipse of the sun, 180G, and entered College in August,
1807. My premium was 'Watts on the Mind,' and to
that fact and work do I trace a predilection for the class
of studies on which it treats. Much of my junior year
in college I traveled, on account of ill health, induced,
perhaps, by too great application to study, I took the
philosophical oration as my appointment both at the
senior exhibition and on graduating in August, 1811."
" My Christian hope dates from the autumn of junior
year, in 1809, in a period of great spiritual refreshing,
both in the town and college. My first evidences of a
right state of heart were in a sweet submission to anH
acquiescence in the will of God as a righteous sovereign,
and an overcoming sense of the ineffable glory and ex-
cellency of His perfections, and the righteousness of
His ways, and the suitableness of His expedients of
mercy by the Gospel."
II. PREPARATION FOR THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
"I entered the Theological Seminary at Andover,
Mass., in the autumn of 1811, and pursued a full three
years' course of study for the Gospel ininistiy. I was
present at the ordination of the first missionaries of the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,
(A. B. C. F. M.,) at Salem, Mass., viz.: Newell, Hall,
Judson, Nott, and Rice : a very impressive and instruc-
tive day. Three of them long since failed from the liv-
ing on earth, and the other two with but ' feeble hold on
life.' "*
" My commission to preach the Gospel, dates from the
* Judson died 1850.
10 ENTRANCE UPON THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.
spring of 1814. My full term at Andover extended to
the autumn of that year, and closed in the Anniver-
sary of that year with two dissertations, — one in the de-
partment of pulpit eloquence on '■ Affectation in Preach-
ers,' and the other in the department of Christian The-
ology.
" On leaving the Seminary and its hallowed and en-
deared associations, I fulfilled an engagement previously
made, of eight weeks' supply of the j)ulf)it of the Con-
gregational Society of Oxford, in Worcester Co., Mass.;
it was a pleasant, improving, profitable period. I then
returned to my friends in Vermont, and found the con-
gregation of the City of Vergennes, five miles from my
father's house, waiting to engage me. I tarried with
that affectionate and agi'eeable people, until the spring
of 1815, when my thoughts were turned westward, by
an application from the Directors of the ' Young Peo-
ples' Missionary Society of Western Neiv Yorh,^ endorsed
by Dr. Porter, of Andover, and his urgent request, that,
if other engagements would at all admit of it, I would
not fail to go. It was for an exploring mission, through
the more unsettled portions of Western New York, and
the forming of auxiliaries in the principal villages and
towns, for strengthening the Society then new, and
whose first missionary I was."
!
MISSIONARY TOUR IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 11
CHAPTER II.
MISSIONARY TOrR IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
" The settlement commenced dming the ninth decade
of the last centmy. A few families only resided west of
Utica in the State, in 1788. In 1790, Ontario county,
which then embraced all west of Cayuga Lake, num-
bered about one thousand inhabitants. In ten years
they had become 100,000, and in 1810, 250,000. The
settlements, being chiefly from New England and East-
ern New York, brought with them the religious associa-
tions to which they had been accustomed. In 1805 the
Presbytery of Geneva was formed, embracing nearly all
the region under review, being cut off from that of
Oneida, by a line running south from the lake of that
name. In 1810 the Synod of Albany divided this Pres-
bytery into three, instituting those of Onondaga and
Cayuga, and fixing the eastern boundary of the Geneva
Presbytery at Cayuga Lake, and extending thence as
before, to the western boundary of the State, and from
Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario. By this body was I or-
dained to the Gospel ministry, and installed pastor of
the Presbyterian Congregation at Buffalo, May 3d, 1816,
and I am recorded on its minutes, for that period, and
am now the earliest named there, among the living
members of that body.
I first met the Board of Directors in Oneida county.
12 MISSIONARY TOUR IX AVESTERN NEAV YORK.
The Rev. Samuel F. Snowden was chairman. He had
been pastor at New Hartford, and afterward j^reached at
Sackett's Harbor, and died at Brown ville in the same
county. Rev..H. Dwight, then pastor at Utica, Rev.
Noah Coe, pastor at New Hartford, and Rev. John
Frost, pastor at Whitesboro, and others, were members
of the Board. These were no common men ; well cal-
culated, in the instep of the countiy, to take charge of
the cause of missions, and the work of evangelization in
the regions beyond. Rev. Moses Gillett, also, was pastor
at Rome; and the Rev. Dr. Azel Backus was Presi-
dent of Hamilton College, then bringing forward its
first class for graduation, and Rev. Dr. Asahel Norton,
was pastor of the Village Church in Clinton. . ' Par no-
bile fratrum^ — a noble band of brothers, worthy of the
post they held in the forefront of all the west, in the be-
ginning of days, and of a place in history for all time
afterward. Dr. Backus was a man quite ^ sui- generis'
He could laugh or cry, tell stories or preach sermons, —
abounding in wit and humor ; he was sage, saintly, and
Christ-like. He had a warm heart and a noble soul.
As I called at his gate, on my way, he said, ' I am glad
you are going, my young friend, but you will see that
that will make yom* heart ache before you get back ; the
Lord deliver you from the paw of the bear, and the teeth
of the lion, and bring you back in safety :' and with his
blessing I turned toward the wilderness. Passing
through Rome, to Camden, where the godly and now
sainted Henry Smith was afterwards the pastor, I
preached my first missionary sermon there, and on the
next Sabbath at Williamstown, taking the floor of a
MISSIONARY TOUR IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 13
newly raised barn for our meeting place, and its over-
stretching beams for a sounding board. I was hospita-
bly entertained in a recently built log-house, where a
blanket was the only partition between my own and thie
lodging apartment of the family. Thence I went by
marked trees and a bridle path twelve miles to Mexico,
and on to Oswego, crossing the river on a scow or raft,
and preaching on the Sabbath, in the second loft of a
store, as the most eligible locality which that incipient
city, now of goodly churches and congi-egations of thu'ty
thousand people, could furnish. Thence the route of
the lone missionary lay by marked trees again, westward,
to Adam's Basin, on the easterly entrance of Sodus Bay,
where now is the fine flourishing town and farming re-
gion of Wolcott ; and thence by the Block House, now
Clyde, through Junius to Geneva, then a village of one
thousand inhabitants. This seemed like emerging into
daylight. Society had begun here. The church had
taken form, and the good Henry Axtell was pastor, and
I hitched my missionaiy horse at his gate and waited on
him for further instmctions. Mr. A., afterward Dr. A.,
by a well-deserved honor from Middlebury College, was
a Director of the Society under whose patronage I la-
bored, and I had letters to him in this behalf. He was
the first minister of the Gospel I had seen, since leaving
Rome, and he knew well how to enter into sympathy
with the missionary life. He was installed pastor here
in 1812, and continued seventeen years in the laborious
discharge of the duties of his calling till in 1829, he fell
asleep in Jesus, aged 45. Thence, after much consola-
tion with the good people of Geneva, my route lay
14 MISSIONARY TOUR IN WESTERN NEW YORK.
through Canandaigua, to Rochester, preaching as gi'oups
of people could be gathered.
"Rochester then contained only a few dwellings, a
mill, and a school house in which I preached, lodging at
the house of a Mr. Elisha Ely, brother of Henry Ely of
that place. Thence I took the Ridge Road to Lewiston,
and there spent next Sabbath : visited the Falls on the
Canada side, and stood alone a stranger in a strange
land, under Table Rock, and under the sku't of the over-
flowing water, while the heavens gathered blackness, and
heavy peals of thunder were just audible, amidst the
continual roar around me ; thence to Bufialo, crossing
over at Black Rock, to the house of one who became a
fast Chiistian friend dm*ing all my residence on the
frontier — Deacon Nathaniel Sill, than whom, very few
whom I have met have more excellencies of character,
or in whose families I have enjoyed more of the solaces
of christian society and friendship.
" At Canandaigua an incident of some interest oc-
curred. My horse strayed from his enclosure, and I was
detained till after the Sabbath. The Rev. ]Mr. Ton-ey, a
Unitarian, was then the minister at that place. He had
been ordained in Boston, and there somewhat anom-
alously installed over the congi*egation of Canandaigua.
He was a conscientious man, and then very ill at ease,
with the sentiments which he had entertained. He was
indeed all afloat as to doctrinal views, and quite appealed
to me for relief and assurance. He said, ' Every time
I visit my friends at the east, I find them farther and
farther away from the peculiar teachings of the Gospel,
and less and less depending for light upon it. I do not
MISSIONARY TOUR IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 15
know but it is Calvinism or Deism after all. I can
not preach Unitarianism to my people any longer,
and I don't feel fit to preach anything just at present,
and,' he added, ' you must stay with me, and preach for
me on the Sabbath.' This I did, both morning and
afternoon, and we had frequent and long conversations
on the doctrines of gi'ace, and the subject matter of
Revelation, and on the next Sabbath after, he advised
his congregation of his doctrinal difficulties, and that he
could preach for them as a Unitarian minister no more.
He, from that time, disclaimed what was technically
called ' liberal Christianity,' and lived afterward and died
in the orthodox faith."
16 PASTORATE IN BUFFALO.
CHAPTER ni.
PASTORATE IN BUFFALO, N. Y.
" At Buffalo, I was directed to the house of Mi\ Amos
Callender, another elder of the church, whose unmter-'
rupted counsel and friendship it was my privilege to en-
joy. I spent two weeks in B. preaching in the unfin-
ished saloon of the largest tavern then in the place, and
since known as the Mansion House. On my retrnm
east in fulfillment of my mission, a Aviitten invitation
was handed me, signed by a large number of the prin-
cipal citizens of Buffalo, requesting my return with a
view to settle among them, as their pastor, and guaran-
teeing a competent salary if I should. I promised to
take it into consideration and inform them. I returned
through the older settlements, and organized auxiliaries
to the Society in whose employ I was.
"This church was constituted on the 2d of Feb.,
1812, (consisting of twenty-seven members,) by the
Rev. Thaddeus Osgood, the man ' whose praise is in the
Gospel throughout all the churches.' For a few months
after this company of disciples and the families associat-
ed with them, enjoyed the privileges of a church state,
and the occasional labors of the Missionaries of the Cross.
But in the following September they were scattered
abroad by reason of the desolations of the late wai* on
this frontier; and did not meet again until July 15th,
PASTORATE IN BUFFALO. 17
1815. This was but a few weeks previous to my first
visit to this place, which was in August of that year."
" I returned to Clinton in season for the commence-
ment in Hamilton College, and the first, if I remember
rightly, of that now honored and veteran seat of learn-
ing ; and here I must relate another characteristic anec-
dote of its good-hearted President. I called on him
again with some account of travels, and personal history,
and showed him my invitation to BufiTalo, and he said,
' Yes, yes, you must go to Bufialo !' I remarked lha!i I
thought of accepting a Tutorship at Middlebury College
for a year and then going. ' No, that won't do/ he re-
plied. ' I'd rather never have a minister, than to wait a
year for him. You must go home and see your friends
awhile, and return this fall, and if you won't, I'll send
right off to Andover and get a better man for them and
cut you out, and you never shall go.'
" My report, on surrendering my commission, advocat-
ed the location of missionaries, and assisting congregations
in their support as a more economical and successful
method of missions, than that of itinerary labors, till
then pursued. The report was published by the Board,
and quite extensively circulated in the periodical press
of that time, and I am happy to observe that the work
of ' Home Missions' has since taken on the type very
much, in our country, which was then suggested.
" My return to friends in New Haven, V t., lay by the
home of my venerated friend, the Rev. Jedediah Bush-
nell, of Cornwall, of that State, and he, as a veteran
missionary himself, and a pioneer in the work in West-
ern New York, as far as Canandaigua and the Bloom-
2
18 PASTORATE IN BUFFALO.
fields, must know all things concerning me, and how the
cause prospered. He, too, was decided in the matter of
my retm*n to Buffalo. * Oh, yes, you must go there. If
you were my boy, I would rather have you settle in
Buffalo than Boston. You will be more of a man and
do more good ; go home for a couple of weeks, and
then pack up yom* case of books, and hitch to that mis-
sionary horse, and journey on thirty-five miles a day,
and preach the everlasting Gospel to them.' I did so,
and in the spring of 1816, the members of the Presbytery
of Geneva, after a horse ride of more than one hundred
miles over logs, and through mud, on the 3d of May in-
stituted my pastoral relation to that people.
" This was a little over two years after the burning of
Buffalo, in the war with England of 1812, and a busier
place was never seen. But the people had got tired of
living without the Gospel, and craved a return to the
habits and behests of Christian civilization. The des-
olations of the war had pleaded the cause of truth, and
they sought repose from its scenes and its wickedness in
the accents of mercy and peace by the Gospel. They
were then a peculiarly malleable people. They were
willing to be taught and directed, and were Avilling to
regard the Sabbath, the Sanctuary, and the institutions
and claims of religion, as their grand antidote from the
evils which they suffered and feared. Thus they were
easily wrought into the habits of a Christian community,
and the Word of God in a good degree had free course
among them and was magnified."
From the half-century discourse delivered Feb. 2d,
1862, by Rev. Walter Clarke, D. D., now pastor of the
PASTORATE IN BUFFALO. 19
same church in the city of Buffalo, we learn that the in-
teresting ceremony of inducting into oflBce this first
pastor of the first church of the then infant town, took
place, for want of better accommodations, in a new
barn which had just been raised and covered but never
used, and tlie kind owner made it a sanctuary before it
could become a hostelry. "Extempore benches were
made, a little platform built, and Ransom's barn was for
a time a temple which neither God nor His people de-
spised." The ordination sermon was preached by Rev^
Dr. Axtell, of Geneva. Dr. Clarke observes that Mr.
Squier, " having received charge of the congregation,
devoted himself at once to his proper work, preached
sermons, and delivered addresses, and published articles
exhorting the people to all due endeavors to enforce or-
der, and set a curb on vice, and erect a virtuous, loyal,
and happy community. The people valued his labors
and were prompt to second them. They formed a so-
ciety to promote public morals, engaged to abstain them-
selves, and so far as they had influence or power, to
hinder others from Sabbath breaking and the vices to
which it so commonly leads. The next Sabbath all the
stores in the village were closed. Eight persons joined
the church in 1816 ; the next year thirty-seven, and the
next thiity-four were added ; of these were two who en
tered and honored the Chiistian ministry. The next
year twenty-two persons joined the church, one of whom
was Henry Hoisington, afterward the well-known
missionary, a diligent minister and thorough scholar,
whose memoiy and works remain."
During his pastorate in Buffalo, of less than eight
20 PASTORATE IX BUFFALO.
years, Mr. Squier received into cliurcli fellowship one
hundred and fifty-eight persons.
The Rev. Dr. A. T. Chester in his poem, read at the
semi-centennial celebration of the First Chui'ch, in ad-
dressing this mother church, thus happily introduces the
subject of this memoir : —
" The past is all thine own. Look back and see
How graciously thy God hath dealt with thee.
Pastors have served thee, faithful, pure of blame.
Worthy to wear that consecrated name.
Squier, of keen mind, and philosophic cast.
Thy patient shepherd in the days long past.
Now solves the problem, ' Where does ill begin ?'
Gives God the glory and to Man the sin."
" We had (wiites Dr. Squier) a way of doing things
in Buffalo that was somewhat peculiar. "We, of all
names as Christians, resolved to hold together until we
got able to separate. We did not expect our minister
to dwell much in advocacy of sects, but to give himself
to the great, essential verities of the Gospel, and the
people worked together with him for the advancement
of the common cause. The Episcopalians were the
first to hive out. Bishop Hobart thought it was time,
in about 1818, or 19, to set up then- banners, and came
for that pm-pose. I gave him my pulpit for the firet
Sabbath, and we all heard him to edification : and he
and his people aftenvards met on their own appoint-
ments. The Baptists were next in time, and we seiwed
them likewise, dismissing a member or two, from our
communion, as being more at home with them : and
after that the Methodists ; with but this difference, that
MARRIAGE. 21
we discharged a member of our session for their assist-
ance, and because we thought he would make a better
Methodist than Presbyterian. These movements were
all made in concert and with mutual understanding in
accommodation to the predilections of worshipers, and
thus laid the foundation of a union religious service,
which was weekly held in the different congregations,
alternately or in rotation. This was for a long time con-
tinued, and contributed largely to that union of spirit,
and consent of testimony, which characterized the early
rise of Christian institutions and communions in Buffalo.
My pastorship there continued about eight years until
my connection with the Auburn Seminary as financial
agent, and afterward with the cause of Home Missions,
and at length with the College of Beloit at the west.
My successors at Buffalo, in preaching the Gospel in the
different denominations, were largely men of God, and
together have contributed to that solidity and strength
of Christian institutions in that city which is quite ob-
servable, if not peculiar.
" I was manied to Catherine Seymour, of Rome, N. Y.,
Feb. 22d, 1820 ; and have found her a help-meet in
my work, and one in whom my soul could always con-
fide. The failure of her health, and my own need of
relief from the pressure of so large a charge, and the
many responsibilities which crowded on me, from the
state of the surrounding country, led me to resign my
position, with a view of spending sl year or two in travel,
and residence at some seat of Theological Science.
" In the spring of 1817 I first attended the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at PhiladelDhia.
22 NIAGARA PRESBYTERY.
as a Commissioner from the Presbytery of Geneva ; and
in company with Dr. Axtell, and others.
"In 1818 I was set off, by the Synod of Geneva, with
two other ministers. Rev. Hugh Wallis, and Rev. M.
Tuller, not then pastoi*s, into a new Presbytery, — ^Niag-
ara Presbytery, — which was the origin of what is now
called the Buffalo Presbytery, and one of the original
germs of the present Synod of Genesee."
AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 23
CHAPTER IV.
RELATION TO AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
" The Theological Seminary at Auburn was the child
of the Synod of Geneva. Dr. Axtell was Moderator of
the Synod when, in 1818, in its sessions at Rochester,
the institution was overtured and provisionally projected
and determined on. Some things respecting this have
not been written, and I dwell upon them for a moment.
The Bill, as overtured to the Synod, contemplated an
Academico-Theological institution, taking young men
from the plough and the work shop, and in a term of
some four years fitting them for the ministry, without
the advantages of the College course. To this some of
us were opposed : my own Presbytery without excep-
tion. We had had the privilege of a full course, and we
claimed it for the Seminary and its students. But after a
discussion of two days, the vote went against us, and a
committee of twenty-one members, from different por-
tions of Synod and Presbyteries east of us, was appoint-
ed to give it effect and establish the institution. As
Buffalo was a point of some importance, my name was
put on the committee ; and at our meeting in Canandai-
gua in June following, I was happy to meet Dr. Davis,
then President of Hamilton College, as a member of the
committee, and to learn that his views fully accorded
with my own as to the plan of the Institution. These
24 AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
views were fully and successfully laid before the com-
mittee, and a vote was passed by it requesting a special
meeting of Synod to amend their minute and make the
Seminary ai3propriately theological, and anticij)ating for
its students the full academic and collegiate course of
study. This was done by Synod in August following,
at Auburn, and the stake stuck there ; but the recollec-
tion of the anxiety and the struggle it cost to place it
there on the basis of usefulness it now occupies, has al-
m ost passed from the minds of the living. Distinguished
men have filled its chairs, and many sous of the church
have gone forth to honor it, and never more than now.
With its full coi-ps of instructors, and its ample accom-
modations and its deep hold of the affections of the
churches, it promises much for "Western New York not
only, but for the destitute and needy of every land and
clime.
" On resigning my pastoral chai'ge at B., I was re-
quested to become the financial agent of the Theological
Seminary at Auburn, and much against my previous
views and inclinations, was induced, in consideration of
its pressing importance, to undertake the work. In this
work I spent more than a year, mainly in seeming the
endowment of two professorships, and the getting of a
competent Library. My agency led me to spend a win-
ter in the city of New York ; and there in the work my
health failed, and I was two months sick, and my gen-
eral health much impaired for a long time after ; indeed,
it never since has been so firm as before."
Among the papers of Dr. Squier is found a form of
letter, which seems to be the first draft of those which
AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 25
he sent to various gentlemen of property whom he in-
tended afterwards to visit for the pm'pose of seeming
one thousand dollar subscriptions by personal applica-
tion. It is a strong, manly, and well written letter,
showing the great necessity for the endowment of the
Theological Seminary to assist in meeting the wants of
the country and of the world. In that communication
he thus Avi'ites : — " My plan is to find twelve men, who
will be willing to put in $1000 apiece and complete the
work — take up the stock in this bank, and get their in-
terest in the love of doing good in this world and in the
awards of our Father's kingdom hereafter. And now,
dear sir, the question I have to ask is whether you will
be one among the twelve, and be responsible for one-
twelfth of the sum, provided I can get the rest of it,
and put our Seminary on a permanent footing as to
fands, to diffuse its blessings down upon our congrega-
tions, or do its portion toward supplying the world with
able and faithful ministers till time shall end. I wish
you to carry the subject in prayer to God for direction,
and to decide with the good of souls, and the day of
millennial glory before you. Think how the Lord has
blessed your industry, and how many pieces of property
you have out of which you could raise this, and not take
a single comfort from yourself or family. Think that in
all probability, you will not, during your whole life, have
another Theological Seminary to endow, and whether
you are not willing to become so much poorer in this
world, for the sake of the good, which, in the hands of
God, we hope this gratuity would do ; and then you
would vastly encourage this particular effort, and besides
26 AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
I know not in how many ways, God may make it up to
you. ' Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt
find it after many days.' * The liberal soul shall be made
fat; " &c.
HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 27
CHAPTER V.
RELATIVE TO THE WESTERN AGENCY OF THE AMERICAN HOME
MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
" In the autumn of 1825 I returned in feeble health
to my father's in New Haven, Vt., and spent some two
or three months in agricultural pursuits, quite to the
benefit of my health: supplied the congregation of
Springfield, Vt., some two months, and the rest of the
winter at Bennington, Vt., in the congregation made
vacant, by Rev. A. Peters accepting the appointment of
Secretaiy of the United Domestic, now Home Missionary,
Society. At the solicitation of that Society and of the
Rev. Messrs. Axtell and Dwight of Geneva, I undertook
the Secretaryship and Agency of the Western Agency
of the American Home Missionary Society at Geneva,
and removed to this place in the spring of 1826, and en-
tered on the work. It embraced the supervision of
Home Missions within the then seventeen westerly
counties in this State, the planting of new congregations,
the sustaining of feeble ones, and the seeming of aid
from those able to help, as well as the gaining of an over-
plus of means for the more destitute portions of the
country, in aid of the general treasury of the Society.
In this work I spent seven or eight years, sustaining on
an average about seventy to eighty missionaries on our
own field, defraying expenses of the Agency, and pay-
n
28 HOME anSSIONARY SOCIETY.
ing over to the Parent Treasury an annual surplus of
from two thousand to foui* thousand dollars above the
aggregate expense on this field."
In May, 1851. ]VIi-. S. received a certificate of election as
a Director of the American Home Missionary Society.
It was accompanied by the following complimentary
letter :
New York, May 19th, 1851.
Rev. Miles P. Squier — Dear Sir : —
I liave tlie pleasure to forward you the foregoing certificate
of your election as a Director of the American Home Missionary
Society. As in times past we have been favored with your most
valued co-operation in carrying forward the good work committed
to us, so now, dwelling where so recently was a wilderness that
has been turned into a garden of God, we shall none the less
prize whatever your wise head and liberal heart, and large expe-
rience in Home Missionary affairs can bring to our aid in complet-
ing what is yet to be done in this land for the honor of our Divine
Master. The strength of Israel be on your right hand in your
new post of duty. Dr. Erskine Mason we laid on Friday last
beneath the clods of the valley. What a loss to Zion ! My
heart bleeds.
Affectionately Yours,
Milton Badger, Sec.
GENP:VA LYCEUM. 29
CHAPTER VI.
RELATION TO THE GENEVA LYCEUM.
"In 1831 I founded the Geneva Lyceum. The Ge-
neva Female Seminary was previously founded on my
premises, and generally under my care, and I had built
a house for its accommodation. This latter institution
long and greatly flourished under the charge of Mrs.
Elizabeth Ricord. In it commenced the great revival
of religion in Western New York in 1831, so well
known : it raised up many valuable females, pious and
well trained, for society and the Kingdom of God.
" The duties devolving on me as Secretary and Agent
of Home Missions, together with an acquaintance other-
wise extended, as a minister of the Gospel, with the
state of classical education in Western New York, and
the need of further efforts to train up pious young men
for the Gospel ministry, and to give them a full, thorough
and appropriate training in the outset of their classical
course, suggested the thought of establishing this Insti-
tution. The design was formed, in the hope of fully
meeting the plan of study contemplated by the American
Education Society and its branches, in the appropriately
academical course of the student. Believing that much
in respect to the eminence of his future attainments, and
usefulness, would depend on the views entertained by
him, and the habits of mind and heart he should form,
30 GENEVA LYCEUM.
in the commencement of his career as a scholar, it was
thought that more attention should be given, more im-
portance attached to, and more privileges furnished for
this part of his course than had hitherto been given.
Signs of a desire in some quarters, to abridge the course
of study, and hasten young men into the ministry with-
out due preparation, urged the execution of the above
design, in the hope of contributing some influence at
least in the right direction.
" In fulfillment of the above object, after a wide sur-
vey of the country for a location, and much reflection,
the premises of the late Dr. Henry Axtell, of this place ,
were purchased in the month of May, 1831.
" This spot was selected as being in the midst of a
community, intelligent, refined, moral and Christian,
whose influences and privileges, would be fevorable to
the pupils of such an institution, and adapted to its ob-
jects, containing and likely to contain a number of liter-
ary gentlemen, who would bring to the Institution
incidental instruction, and fostering patronage : — a sit-
uation central in Western New York, easy of access,
and in itself healthful, rural, pleasant, retired, command-
ing a good land and water prospect, and combining the
privileges of both village and country.
"In September, 1831, arrangements were made with
the Rev. Eleazer Lathrop, then pastor of the Presby-
terian congi'egation of Elmira, to open and take charge
of the institution as its Principal in instruction, and em-
ploying the Rev. Asa Messer, of this place, then teach-
ing a select school, as his assistant.
" October 3d, 1831, the Institution was opened by the
GENEVA LYCEUM. 31
above gentlemen, with reasonably favorable prospects,
and the character, and objects of young men entering,
were to a large extent such as coincided with the chief
design of the Institution."
In consequence of the failure of Mr. Lathrop's
health before the close of the year, the Rev. Justus W.
French, of Hardwick, Vt., was elected in his place, and
took charge of the Institution in October, 1832, and re-
mained in charge of it till July, 1837, when the number
of students in attendance was nearly one hundred.
In the spring and summer of 1832, the " South Hall"
was erected at an expense of about |3000, and at the
laying of its corner stone an able address was delivered
by Dr. Squier, the design of which was to show that
knowledge is the natural aliment of the mind : that it is
indispensable to the exercise of the rational powers, to
the growth of intellect, and to the cultivation of the re-
ligious affections : that without it mind is of no use, and
creation without an object. He illustrated, at length,
the position that all knowledge is summarily embraced
under two heads : — the knowledge of God and of His
works, and that these comprehensive departments of
knowledge are associated in the relation of cause and
effect. He also showed that knowledge is essential to
the formation of character and to preparation for duty ;
and further, that at no previous period of the world had
the demands for the general diffusion of knowledge and
for mental culture been more imperative.
" The gates of the temple of knowledge," said he, in
his address, " should be thrown wide open. The differ-
ent professions should be filled with a high order of in-
32 GENEVA LYCEUM.
tellect, and the genius and talents of the world be made
tributary to the work of love. The resources of the
combined intellect and wisdom of men should be
brought to bear with unwonted momentum and effect
upon the emancipation of the race from the curse of sin
into the gi*ace and liberty of the Gospel of Christ."
In speaking of the design for which the Institution
was founded, and of the results that were to be sought
after in its future operations, the enlightened and Chris-
tian spirit of the founder is clearly discerned. The con-
cluding part of the address is particularly worthy of
preservation, as an indication of the high and sacred
purposes to which he devoted his talents, his propeiiy,
and his influence. It is also worthy of preservation as
showing the legitimate and the most important and ap-
propriate design of all institutions of learning : —
" We desire that this Institution may harmonize with
the redeeming providence of God. We would help to
cultivate some immortal minds for God and the Church,
for society and the world ; we would contribute our
share of influence in concert with other institutions of
learning and religion in the land and world, in repelling
ignorance and sin, and striving together for the univer-
sal difiiision of knowledge and righteousness among
men.
" In prosecution of this high aim would we erect this
intended edifice, whose corner stone we now lay, and ive
consecrate the building and the Institution to Christ and the
Church, to the cause of truth, learning and religion, and ask
for the undertaking, the protection, guidance, and gra-
cious smiles of that God, who * is light, and in whom is
GENEVA LYCEUM. 33
no darkness at all.' May His favoring providence
attend us in its prosecution ; may no evil befall the work
or them that work upon it, and may our design prosper,
and obtain favor in the eyes of them that love Zion.
May this Institution, now in its infancy, be nurtured by
a kind Providence. May it not only be a seat of the
muses, and a nm'seiy of sound science, but a consecrated
spot on which the Sj)irit of God shall often descend in
genial reviving influences, when intellect shall be sanc-
tified, and immortal mind shall be endowed for the re-
sponsibilities of this age, of the church, and the world.
May many sons of the Church go forth from it, in suc-
cessive years, who shall eventually ' preach righteousness
in the great congregation,' and convey the knowledge
of Christ crucified to those who ' sit in darkness and see
no light.' May distant heathen nations feel its influence,
and Christian lands be blessed, by its streams. May it
rear up intellect for every profession and. useful depart-
ment of life ; and may this Institution, these buildings,
and such others as future wants shall authorize, these
grounds, and fields, and gToves, so pleasant to the eye,
have the blessing from on high, and long be sacred to
the cause of learning and religion, sacred to the truth
and service of the ever-living Jehovah, and to His name,
to ' the Three that bear record in Heaven," — the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost, — be praise everlasting."
At an Anniversary exhibition of the Lyceum, in the
Presbyterian Church, July, 1833, Dr. Squier pronounced
an Address, highly instructive, and full of wise Christian
counsels ; and from it we learn the admirable influence
3
34 GENEVA LYCEUM.
which the Institution was exerting and the cheering re-
sults which it had already accomplished. He states,
that of the seventy-four young gentlemen and youth
connected with the Lyceum, the term then closing,
sixty-eight had been pursuing a classical course, having
the learned professions in view ; sixty were entertaining
the hope of personal piety ; fifty-six were pursuing study
with reference to the Gospel ministiy.
The admirable tone of the Address will be discov-
ered in. the following extracts : —
"Take heed to your characters, to your bodies, to
your souls.
(1.) "*A good name,' in the language of the wise
man, * is better than precious ointment.' Character is
indeed everything. It is indispensable to usefulness or
success in any valuable undertaking. An apostle sent
the injunction to his own son in the faith, — ' Let no
man despise thee.' Do nothing to forfeit the respect,
the esteem, the confidence of your fellow men. From
upright and honest principles, pursue upright and honest
ends, — keeping conscience void of oftence, toward God
and toward men. Aim at consistency of character in
everything, and be known and read of all, as the unde-
viating friends of truth and virtue. You are young, —
' flee youthful lusts.' Turn from the syren song of pleas-
ure, under every form of seduction, and follow after
righteousness, recollecting that, ' the end of the com-
mandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good
conscience, and of faith unfeigned.' "
(2.) " Take care of these bodies. They ^re the case-
ment of an immortal mind, its organ of communication,
GENEVA LYCEUM. 35
with the exterior universe around it ; its handmaid to
duty, and usefulness, and the minister of its expansion
and happiness."
" In respect to most of you, we trust, that these bodies
have become the temples of the Holy Ghost, and in re-
spect to you all, we can but anticipate the day when you
will yield them to Him, whose of right they are. Pre-
serve them for the Master's use. Do nothing to induce
disease, and bring on premature feebleness and decay.
In the period of relaxation from study now allowed you,
give yourselves up to cheerful, vigorous, healthful exer-
ercise. Turn to the labors of the field, or the workshop
or some other of the employments of active life, and be
sure to return to us, if God permit, with the flush of
health on your cheek, and a firmness of nerve, that will
effectually resist the tendencies of sedentary habits."
(3.) " Take heed to your souls. They are that im-
mortal part, which comprises the sum, and stamps the
value of your existence. ' Keep thy heart with all dil-
igence, for out of it are the issues of life.' In leaving
for a season your accustomed retreat of study, and of
Christian privilege, you pass not from under the eye of
God or get away from the resj)onsibility of duty. The
obligations of religion equally attend you, wherever you
go, wherever you are. Be mindful of this, and let the
conviction of it ever rest on your minds. You will be
surrounded with temptations. The net will be spread
for your feet. Be aware of this. Tm*n from the way of
the destroyer. Avoid the avenues to sin. ' Shun even
the appearance of evil.' Are any of you destitute of a
good hope in Jesus Christ *? To such, we can but again,
36 GENEVA LYCEUM.
as often before, commend a personal interest in the Sa-
viom-, as now your great concern. Flee at once to the
stronghold in Zion. Let these powers, these attain-
ments, yom* whole souls, your opportunities, your pros-
pects of future influence and usefulness, be early, be
now, baptized at the fount of forgiveness ; and in the
School of Christ be trained for His service and His
kingdom."
" My young Christian friends, make the Bible the man
of your counsel. By it seek to know and do the will of
God. Let its precepts and its spirit take full possession
of your souls. Though away from your wonted retreats
of devotion, forget not that the vows of God are on
you, — that the life of yom* religion depends very much
on the faithful discharge of the duties of the closet.
Neglect not the hour of prayer. Turn not away from
the company of the pious, — forsake not the assemblies
of God's people. Keep under the body. Let grace
reign in you. Put wholly on the Lord Jesus. Let
eveiy power, every attainment be sanctified. Keep in
view the rest that remaineth, and strive ever after a
growing raeetness for it, so shall you fail not of the full
reward of grace."
As a further illustration of the high intellectual and
religious character of Dr. Squier's mind, it would be un-
just to withhold the following extract, though quite long,
of an Address which he delivered August 4th, 1840, at
the close of the ninth year of the Geneva Lyceum, upon
GENEVA T.YCEUM.
37
a highly important subject, and which he has treated
with masterly ability. The subject is, —
" THE MEN WE WANT."
" I would call up the necessities of the world in re-
spect to well-directed, educated mind.
" Beneficent influence, is very much in the combined
ratio of force of intellect and goodness of heart. Intel-
lectual strength, and right principles, must be united in
the men of whom we speak. They must have sound
minds and holy hearts. They must have drunk deep at
the fountains of science, and have gone to the pool in
Siloam too, for cleansing from sin. They must stand on
the elevation of knowledge in our world, and , receive
the baptism of the Holy Ghost ; and to the watchword
of Providence and the calls of duty, they must with
their whole souls respond, — ' Here, Lord, am I, send me.'
These are the men we ivant. This is the great desidera-
tum of the age in doing its work ; this the living per-
vading agency, imploringly called for, and I refer to
some of the directions, from which the cry comes up,
for the men I have characterized.
I. THE RESEARCHES OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE.
" True, much advancement is already made in this de-
partment of knowledge, and its adaptation to the arts of
life. But more, much more progress, in both respects,
remains to be yet made. It is also conceded, that men
with unsanctified hearts can investigate the laws and
affinities of matter, and propound their discoveries intel-
ligibly to others. And yet, more or less imperfection is
liable to attend their . researches, and their statements.
38 GENEVA LYCEUM.
They are wont to divorce the Creator from His. works,
and familiarize their disciples with a pantheistic phrase-
ology, on the one hand, or the dialect of atheism on the
other. Their hearts go not after God, and they do not
recognize Him in the things He has made. Besides,
shall not the sons of God appreciate the operation of His
hand? There is affinity between the Creator and His
works : there is relationship between truth in physics,
and truth in morals. The good man sees God in the
mechanism of the Universe, in its laws and adaptations,
its magazines of blessing and of wi'ath. He loves ' him
that begat,' and for his sake, that which is begotten.
With the zest of affiliated friendship to God, he threads
the labyrinths of nature, and brings out her reluctant
mysteries. His heart sympathizes with his studies and
happily guides them. He looks at physical truth, from
a point of observation, and under aspects, and relations,
peculiar to himself, and favoring the best results. He
traces all to the intelligence and mighty hand of God,
and speaks of it, in a dialect that honors him, and thus
aids in giving popular and legitimate conviction of the
presence and agency of God, 'in the things that are
seen.'
II. THE SAME NECESSITY EXISTS IN THE WALKS OF LITERATURE.
" ' Let me TV^ite the ballads of a nation,' says one,
'and I Ccare not who makes its laws.' The periodical
and permanent literature of a people have a vast influence
over them for good or evil. The writings of Voltaire,
and of other infidels of his day, did much to poison the
mind, and corrupt the manners of France, and the Con-
GENEVA LYCEUM. 39
tinent ; to blot out conscience and send the world adrift
without helm or compass! In respect to American lit-
erature, this is a plastic age. Much that comes over
sea is decidedly deleterious, and that which is poured
forth so profusely from our own press, on criticism,
poetry, politics and morals, and a variety of subjects of
more or less general and permanent interest, is of a very
mixed and anomalous character. Ours is a reading,
busy, investigating age. It will have books, it will seek
supply in eveiy form of publication from the daily penny
sheet, up to the stately volume. Greater solicitude
should be felt on this subject by the wise and good.
More minds of the first class should be at work, to sanc-
tify the literature of our country and of the age ; to
pour into works of taste and general reading, more that
is evangelical ; to imbue the thoughts and leisure time
of the community, with principles, and maxims, and as-
sociations coincident with the integi*al elements of truth,
and our real relations to God and each other.
in. SEATS OF LEARNING.
" These are sources of great and abiding influence and
interest. Schools, colleges, and seminaries of profes-
sional study, are fountains f^'om which issue streams to
gladden and refresh, or blight and destroy. Instructors
in them are captains of hundreds and of thousands in
the con^-egation of Israel. They teach those who are
to teacl the rest of men. They mould the minds and
embodj the influences which shall pervade society, and
go down to coming generations. They should be em-
inently wise and good men, and able to give to science
40 GENEVA LYCEUM.
and literature and thought, that which the necessities of
the age demand. The di-aft here is large, and will be
continual and increasing. Presidents, professors, and
teachers, will be needed in all our professional, collegiate,
and preparatory institutions through the breadth of the
land, among the heathen and over the world ; and they
should be deficient in no gifts of the intellect or the
heart. They should be men of master minds, capable
of forming the material under their hands to great and
good results, and of leaving theu* impression as the
world's benefactors, on all coming time.
• IV. THE SAME REMARKS ARE IN PLACE, IN RESPECT TO THE
LEARNED PROFESSIONS AS A WHOLE.
" On then* position in society, and the weight of theii*
influence, it would be gratuitous to dwell. Tiey need
to be replenished from som-ces, that shall not only sus-
tain and advance their professional excellencies and abil-
ity, but make them increasingly foimtains of spiritual
health and blessing.
'iSuch, too, are the claims of the bench of JMstice, the
chair of state, and our halls of legislation. The present is
a crisis in the world's history. The policy of courts and
cabinets is not equal to the economy of Providence, not
to the hope inspired by prophecy, nor to the cherished
inheritance of the rising age. There is too mudi of that
wisdom which is ' earthly, sensual and de\"ilish \ too lit-
tle of that from above, which is ' pure, peace^le and
fiill of good fruits.' And here I can but referjthough
with shame, to scenes of tumult and personal Molence,
which, alas! too oft^en transpire in our national (legisla-
ture, more befitting the brawls of a bar-room, tUn the
GENEVA LYCEUM. 41
dignified councils of a great republic. Aye ! one sheds
his brother's blood, almost within sight of the capitol,
and comes fresh from the fatal encounter, with the gait
and bearing of an honorable man, to his seat again in
the grave counsels of the nation, and wipes his mouth,
and says, ' I have done no iniquity.' Oh ! it is an offence
to high heaven, a foul blot on the escutcheon of our
country's glory : it is in dereliction of the necessities
and aspirations of the age.
"I speak the faults of no party or sect in politics, as
such. There needs the infusion of better principles, of
higher aims, of a richer sense of obligation and duty to
God. There must be more men who fear God and work
righteousness in the high places of society, to mingle
in our counsels and guide the helm of state. More coti-
science, and more practical reference to the precepts df
inspired wisdom, must enter into that composition of
forces, which urges on the car of our destiny. The dic-
tates of a low, worldly, selfish and ambitious policy are
out of place, and unequal to the task. Our sails must be
filled with the breath of heaven. More sanctified influ-
ence must go up into the seats of political power to
avert the curse of God, and make the American nation
what it should be: the light and benefactress of the
world.
" I intended a more emphatic reference to the Gospel
Ministry in this discussion. The command was ' Go ye
and teach all nations.' Under God, the ministry of re-
conciliation is the sun in the system of means to en-
lighten and regenerate the race of man. It is worth
more to this end than all other agencies combined. Its
42 GENEVA LYCEUM.
business is instruction. Its proper function is a worker
together with God in the pathway of His redeeming
Providence. It is His own economy for the conversion
of men to, holiness ; for ushering in a glorious latter
day, and making earth like heaven. To this work the
minister of Christ is consecrated, and the watchword of
Providence now is — 'up and onward, for the harvest of
the world is ripe.' No previous age perhaps, has furn-
ished equal facilities for advancing this work. Help
springs from the perfection of the arts, from the easy
intercourse of nations, and from the spirit of travel and
geographical research. The heathen world is opening
to the entrance of Christian Missions ; and it would
seem to be time, high time, to place it undej the light of
the Gospel, and to bring up its teeming millions from
tte darkness and degradation of their gentile state. At
home, in Christendom, and abroad, among all nations,
the demand is limitless, and it is imperative too. The
question of the moral renovation of the race is hasten-
ing to conclusion. The world is getting weary of idols.
It is weaiy too of the shackles of the ^man oj sin.''
Mind is breaking loose from the trammels of mere au-
thority. Agencies in religion, in politics and morals, in
commerce and in the daily intercourse of life, are burst-
ing the cords of arbitrary restraint. Mind will be self-
governed. As well may you hush the tempest in its
wi'ath, or stay the avalanche from the mountains, as
prevent it. But in vain do we demonstrate the foolish-
ness of idols, or set men free from the dominion of the
Pope, unless w^e put them under law to truth, to conscience
and to God. They may as well be left to idols, as be
GENEVA LYCEUM. 43
without restraint of any kind. If they may not feel
the supremacy of conscience, and be intelligently under
the sway of truth, let them be subject to any tyrant
principle, whether emanating from Rome, or Mecca, or
the lying vanities of Paganism. Their liberty would
only be licentiousness, and then* condition one of deeper
wretchedness than before. The Gospel is the world's
great hope — its only resort. This day its light should
be penetrating every shore, — its messengers be visiting
every clime, and its full action be enjoyed by all people.
" In view of wants like these in extent, and in event-
ful urgency, do we speak of the necessity of well-directed,
educated mind, at this day. In the light of these positions
do we discover the value of well-trained youth, with
minds and hearts equal to the demands that are upon
us, capable of rising to the responsibilities of Providence
now, of controling the moved elements of human thought
and feeling, and of guiding the rising age, safely, man-
fully through its destiny and of handing it down to the
brighter, better hopes that follow.
" Allow me to say in closing, that to assist in some
humble measure at least, in rearing up this class of minds
here refen-ed to, and to these ends, is the object of the
Institution whose anniversary exercises we are now at-
tending."
The subsequent history of the Geneva Lyceum is thus
detailed by the founder, in the sketch he has left behind,
of the prominent events and acts of his life : —
" Soon after this period, the American Education So-
ciety and its branches, in a period of some perplexity,
44 GENEVA LYCEUM.
adopted the unwise expedient of aiding no young man,
in his course for the ministry imtil he had entered col-
lege ; and as might be expected many were discharged,
and prevented from commencing study. The means of
the founder of Geneva Lyceum were inadequate to this
posture of the case, — the tuition bills became insufficient
for the teachers, and as but few pious young men, study-
ing for the ministiy, were brought forward, the design
of the institution could not be sufficiently met to war-
rant its continuance, and it was reluctantly abandoned."
" Our consolation concerning it is, that it has done
much good, having besides other influences, been the
means of introducing into the Gospel ministrj^, it is
thought, over one hundred young men, whose praise is
in the churches and whose record is on high."
" After this the buildings and grounds of the Lyceum
were oflfered to the Synod of Geneva, on terms every
way advantageous, for the founding of a College in this
iocaUty, — terms which involved a donation of some ten
or twelve thousand dollars, by the proprietor. This, af-
ter much agitation of the subject, was, from some lack
of public spirit perhaps, and more it is likely, from
its proximity to the Episcopal College in this place, was
at length given up, and the premises have been devoted
to other purposes."
One testimony of the value of this Institution is here
subjoined, from the pen of an alumnus, a minister of
the Gospel, a president of a college, in a recent letter
to Mrs. Squier : —
" I there formed my idea of the value of institutions
GENEVA LYCEUM. 45
for Christian Education. No one can measure the wide-
reaching influence for good which has gone out from
the Geneva Lyceum. I have always regretted that it
could not have remained a permanent monument to the
memory of your husband. But he was spared to be a
light and a blessing to many young men, — and a most
valuable contributor to Christian thought, — a champion
of pure truth. A mind like his must feel a most ex-
quisite delight in that world of unveiled and certain
truth, where he sees so clearly that ' God is light and in
Him is no darkness at all.' "
Dr. Squier now furnishes us with a brief account of
the manner in which his time was occupied from 1833
to 1845, in the following language: —
"After closing my connection with the A. H. M. So-
ciety in 1833, most of my time was occupied in the
oversight and direction of the Lyceum, and as secretary,
conducting the relations of its beneficiaries to the Edu-
cation Society, the largest list of whom reported any
one year, in the Institution, was forty-four. In the mean-
time as health pei-mitted, I supplied destitute congrega-
tions in the neighborhood ; among which were Junius,
Newark, Castleton and West Fayette. With my wife
I spent the winter of 1839 — 40 in Philadelphia, and
took charge of the first congregation of Southwark, in
that city ; it was the winter in which the * Church Case*
(so called) was traversed in the Supreme Court of Penn-
sylvania, and in which it was my lot to appear as a wit-
ness. I spent also several winters in the city of New
46 THE " CHURCH CASE."
York, and one in oSTew Bennington, Vt., in charge of
the Presbyterian congregation."
The testimony offered by Dr. Squier in the case
above refeiTed to, relates to a matter of history, that
will deeply interest all ministers and members of what
has since been denominated the New School Presbyte-
rian Church. It describes the organization of its first Gen-
eral Assembly in Philadelphia, in the year 1835, and is found
on pages 107 and 108 of Lathrop's elaborate report of
the Presbyterian church case, published by McElroy.
That testimony is as follows : —
Mr. Squier, in continuation, interrogated by IMi'. Ran-
dall : — " I was present at the organization of the As-
sembly of 1838. After tendering the commissions to
the clerks, I gave them for keeping to Mr. Nixon. I
introduced him to Dr. Mason, and then went into the
house — found the house veiy densely occupied at the
south end, a large proportion of the gentlemen in that
part of it being of the Old School party. The sermon
was preached as usual, and at its close the Moderator
(Dr. Elliott) announced that after the usual prayer he
would proceed to constitute the Assembly. This prayer
being finished, he took his place in front of the pulpit?
and made a prayer, at the close of which Dr. Patton
rose and said, that he held in his hand certain resolu-
tions which he wished to offer. Dr. Elliott said that
was not the time to present resolutions. Dr. Patton
said that he was anxious to present them at that time.
Dr. Elliott stated that they could not be received, as the
roll was the next thing in order; and I think, stated that
the clerks were ready to make their report. Dr. Patton
THE " CHURCH CASE. 4 1
stated that he had the floor l^efore the clerks, and that
his motion related to the roll. The Moderator told him
he was out of order. Dr. Patton appealed from his de-
cision. The appeal was seconded, to the best of my
recollection. The Moderator refused to put the appeal
to the house, saying to Dr. Patton he was out of order.
Dr. Patton then took his seat, and the clerks made their
repoi-t. Dr. Erskine Mason then rose, and addressed the
Moderator, saying that he held in his hand the commis-
sions of certain commissioners, from the Presbyteries
within the bounds of the Synods of XJtica, Geneva,
Genesee, and Western Reserve, which had been refused
by the clerks ; that he now tendered them (holding them
up to view) for the purpose of completing the roll. The
Moderator inquired of him if those Presbyteries were
within the four Synods. He replied they were. The
Moderator replied they could not be received, or in
words to that effect. Dr. Mason then appealed from the
decision of the Moderator to the house, which appeal
was seconded. The Moderator refused to put the ap-
peal, declaring it out of order. I then rose, and men-
tioned to the Moderator, that my commission had been
tendered to the clerks, and had been refused ; and I now
demanded my seat, and that my name should be enrolled.
The Moderator asked what Presbytery I represented. I
replied the Presbytery of Geneva. The Moderator
asked if that Presbytery belonged to the Synod of Ge-
neva. I replied that it was within the bounds of the
Synod of Geneva. He then said, ' We do not know
you.' Mr. Cleaveland, of Detroit, then rose, and said,
in substance, that as a Constitutional Assembly must be
48 THE "CHUBCH CASE."
organized at that time and place, by the admission of all
proper members to their seats, and as it was evident
that this could not be done under these officers, or as it
was impossible to go on and constitute or organize the
Assembly under them, he moved that Dr. Beman take
the chaii', which motion was seconded, and was put by
Mr. Cleaveland. Dr. Beman rose immediately after the
question had been put and carried, by what I should
think a neai'ly unanimous vote. He was sitting near the
front of the slip. A motion Avas then made and second-
ed, and was put by Dr. Beman, that Dr. Mason and IVIi'.
Gilbert be appointed clerks. Dr. Beman, the acting
Moderator, then called for nominations for the regular
Moderator of the Assembly, when Dr. Fisher was nom-
inated, and the nomination being seconded, and none
other made, the question was put viva voce. Dr. Beman
then announced to Dr. Fisher that he was elected Mod-
erator of the General Assembly, and sho\ild govern him-
self by the rules thereafter to be read to him. The Rev-
Dr. Mason Avas then nominated as stated clerk, and Mr.
Gilbert as permanent clerk, which nominations were put
by Dr. Fisher, and carried. Some paper was then read
or refeiTed to, the purport, of which I did not then un-
derstand. On the back of this, a motion was made to
adjourn to the First Presbyterian Church. The paper
was on the subject of the occupancy of the house, and
signed by a Mr. Schott. I cannot state by whom it was
read, but to the best of my recollection, it was by Dr.
Beman. The body then retired to the Session-room of
the First Presbyterian Church, the Moderator announc-
ing that if there were any other commissions, which had
THE "church case." 49
not yet been presented, they would be received there.
After getting to the Lecture-room of the Fii*st Church,
the business went on as usual."
The resolutions offered by the Rev. Wm. Patton, D. D.,
of New York, and referred to in Dr. Squier's testimony,
were, with the preamble, as follows : —
" Whereas, The General Assembly of 1837 adopted certain
resolutions intended to deprive certain Presbyteries of the right
to be represented in the General Assembly ; and whereas, the
more fully to accomplish their purpose, the said Assembly of
1837 did require and receive from their clerks a pledge or prom-
ise, that they would, in making out the roll of Commissioners to
constitute the General Assembly of 1838, omit to introduce there
in the names of Commissioners from said Presbyteries ; and where,
as, the said clerks, having been requested by Commissioners from
the said Presbyteries to receive their commissions and enter their
names on the roll of the General Assembly of 1838, now about to
be organized, have refused to receive and enter the same ; there,
fore —
" 1. Resolved, That such attempts on the part of the General
Assembly of 1837, and their clerks, to direct and control the or-
ganization of the General Assembly of 1838, are unconstitutional^
and in derogation of its just rights as the general representative
judicatory of the whole Presbyterian Church in the United States
of America.
"2. Resolved, That the General Assembly cannot be legally
constituted, except by admitting to seats, and to equality of
powers, in the first instance, all commissioners who present the
usual evidences of their appointment ; and that it is the duty of
the clerks, and they are hereby directed to form the roll of the
General Assembly of 1838, by including therein the names of all
commissioners from Presbyteries belonging to the said Presby-
terian Church, not omitting the Commissioners from the several
4
50 THE "church case."
Presbyteries within the bounds of the Synods of Utica, Geneva,
Genesee, and the Western Reserve ; and in all things to form
the said roll according to the known practice and establlihed
usage of previous General Assemblies."
CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE. 51
CHAPTER VII.
CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE.
The operations of the Geneva Lyceum having now
been brought to a close, as related on a previous page,
Dr. Squier, nevertheless, did not relinquish the noble
purpose to consecrate his life and pecuniary means to
the cause of Christian Education, and with a more spe-
cial and immediate view to the raising up of ministers of
the Gospel, as appears from the following statements
which he has left on record : —
" In 1845, I attended as a delegate from the Presby-
tery of Geneva the Convention of Presbyterian and
Congregational ministers, in Detroit, Michigan ; and
from representations then made me, and the views I
then took of the commanding importance of Education-
al Institutions in the great western valley, was induced
to extend my journey farther than Detroit, and visit the
site of a proposed College or University at Beloit, Wis-
consin. The country, the people, the conventions that
had assembled on the subject, pleased me. In view of
the Christian aspect of the whole matter, I resolved if a
University charter was obtained, and the subject pros-
ecuted in good faith, to throw in my influence and stick
my stake there. In 1846 the charter was obtained, and
in 1847, the corner stone of its present fine edifice was
laid, and the College went into operation, in the instruc-
0? THS'^^^
(Uiri7EESIT7l
52 CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE.
tion of its preparatory classes. In 1849 I received the
invitation of the Board of Trustees of the College to
the chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy in the in-
stitution, and visited the ground in the spring of 1850,
with my cherished friend, Rev. A. D. Gridley, of Clin-
ton, to ascertain more fully the path of duty, — extending
our journey thence into Iowa, and to the Falls of St.
Anthony.
" On my return to Geneva, I accepted the appoint-
ment tendered me in the College, and in the spring of
1851 entered on its duties, taking charge of one recita-
tion a day of the Senior Class, and giving a course of
public lectures to the whole College (and invited hearers)
in my department of instruction, and closing with an
Inaugural Address on the morning of Commencement
Day, on * The Province of the American Scholar."* The
Addi-ess was published by the Board of Trustees, and
that Commencement Day, by the presence of its friends,
and the exercises of the students, and the favor of God,
was one of much interest and advancement to the Col-
lege. A Collegiate Freshman Class of sixteen was then
entered for the next year, against a graduating class of
three students.'*
It would seem, from a letter of Dr. Squier of July 2,
1845, addressed to those in Beloit interested in fouhding
the College, that he participated largely in the labor of
projecting it, and in suggesting the best methods of
securing the end in view. His heart seems to have been
warmly engaged in this new enterprise, as is evident
from his proposition therein contained, to throw his
CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE. 53
means largely into it, commencing with a subscription
of ten thousand dollars, and to perform the duties of the
Professorship of Intellectual Science and Divinity, and
also to devote a portion of his time to the fiscal and
general interests of the Institution, involving a traveling
agency for that purpose. He proposed to bring his
Library into the sei-vice of the Institution, as he had no
children to need it, and states that as soon as the way
should be clear for connecting himself with it, both he
and his beloved wife would be gratified to give the re-
mainder of their days to some nascent and promising
institution of science and piety in the great west — to
make a sort of child of it, and to do for it what they
could, and leave to it the legacy of their prayers and
means, mainly, as God should enable them, and mark
out the line of duty.
This perhaps will be the most convenient place to in-
sert the following letter : —
MiDDLEBUKY, Aug. 20th, 1852.
Dear Sir : — It gives me pleasure to inform you that the Pres-
ident and Fellows of Middlebury College, at their late annual
meeting, conferred on you the honorary degree of Doctor in
Divinity.
Respectfully yours,
B. Labaree,
Rev. Miles P. Squier, D. D. Pres't. Mid. Coll.
Dr. Squier's connection with Beloit College is thus
described by President Chapin in a lecture delivered in
the College chapel a few days after Dr. Squier's de-
cease. It is remarkable that the lecture, which came
54 CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE.
in a regular course of exposition of the early records of
the Bible, closed with the translation of Enoch and its
impressive lesson — as President C. remarks : —
" By a striking coincidence the Providence of God to-
day brings this lesson veiy near to us, teachers and stu-
dents of Beloit College. But yesterday, the announce-
ment came that one who has been for years very pleas-
antly associated with us, whose venerable face we have
seen and whose kindly voice we have heard often in this
place, has just been called home ; and here, where we
were daily looking to see him again, ' he is not,' for on
Friday, a week ago, ' God took him.' "*****
" He fixed his home in the beautiful village of Geneva,
New York, and after leaving his missionary work, was
much engaged in efforts to establish there an institution
of learning, to help forward the young men of that re-
gion in preparation for the work of the Gospel ministry.
Although, through lack of general co-operation, that in-
stitution was not settled on a permanent foundation,
considerable success attended the effort with reference
to its direct object, as not a few men, some of them now
eminent in the church, trained by his aid, can attest.
The interest then manifested in the work of Christian
education, he never lost. As he advanced in years and
had more leisure, he occupied himself with metaphysi-
cal studies, for which he had a natural fondness, and
was looking arour^d for some institution with which he
might be identified as an instructor. He thus became
interested in the steps taken for the founding of Beloit
College, and in the summer of 1849 received an ap-
pointment as Professor of Intellectual and Moral Phil-
CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE. 55
osophy in this institution. In the following year, he
accepted the appointment, having provided out of his
own resources for the endowment of the chair. His in-
tention then was to transfer his property and his home
hither and come into close connection with our work
But his circumstances at the East and the difficulty, at
"iis time of life of adapting himself to the constant
vork of the class room, led him to change his purpose,
aid content himself with spending a few weeks of each
y«ar with us, giving instruction in his department both
bj recitations and by lectures."
•' For the last five years, his health has been precari-
ous and his duties here consequently interrupted. His
last visit was in 1863, three years ago. In consequence
of ncreasing infirmities, he then made arrangements to
past the work of his Department into other hands,
thoigh his name has still had a place on our catalogue,
as Professor Emeritus. During the last two years
he las been quite an invalid; yet, in April last,
I received a letter from him expressing anew his
interest and love for the College and the hope that he
miglt be with us once more, at our approaching Com-
menciment. In that letter, he speaks, as he was apt to
do, o;' the great want and the great hope of the king-
dom (f Christ, whose interests lay always near his heart.
He srys : * The times are big with interest — the West
and tie South are opening and the world indeed to the
ingress of light and truth. Sanctified intellect is the
3rder of the day. Christian civilization and the in-
poming of millennial times are the aspu-ation and the
throe of humanity and the aim of the Providence of
56 CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE.
God. Give us the men — the men we want. Money will
come easier and is made faster.' "
The Lectures delivered by Dr. S., at Beloit College,
were on the following subjects, viz : —
The Truth of Religion ;
The Method and the Acquisition of Knowledge ; /
Mental and Moral Habits ;
The Value of a Philosophical Mind ; '
The Value of Moral Science ; /
The Generic Properties of Mind ; /
Philosophy and Its Uses ;
Elements of Moral Science ;
Lectures on Subjects connected with his late visit in Eur(pe.
The last act of pious and substantial regard which he
performed to Beloit College, upon which he had bestow-
ed ten thousand dollars in the endowment of the Tro-
fessorship of intellectual and moral philosophy, wai to
direct in his will the transfer to the College of su<h a
portion of his private Library as the President night
deem suitable to enhance the worth and the usefuhess
of the Institution.
The following minute was adopted by the Faculy of
Beloit College, July 4th, 1866 :—
V^Thereas, It has pleased the Heavenly Father to caljaway
our loved and honored associate, Rev. M. P. Squier, D. L, late
Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy in this Cdlege,
and whose sympathies, gifts, counsels, labors and prayers have
been identified with the foundation and the building of the CoL,
lege, \
Resolved, That while we unite with his more immediate fam-
ily circle in sorrow, that we shall see his face no more, we also
il
CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE. 57
unite in thankful remembrance of all the blessing with which his
life was filled, and that we will cherish his memory as a part of
the histoiy of the College, and as an incitement to such enthu-
siasm in Christian aspiration, action, and thought as so eminent-
ly distinguished his life.
Resolved, That this action be communicated to Mrs. Squier,
with the assurance that our sympathies and prayers are with her
in her bereavement.
A few days after the date of the above document, a
similai* one was adopted by the Trustees of Beloit Col-
lege, and a copy of it transmitted to Mrs. S.
Another tribute of deep respect and strong affection,
is presented in the following communication : —
Beloit, Wis., July 13th, 1866.
Mrs. M. p. Sqtjier — Dear Madam : —
At the regular annual meeting of the Alumni Association
OP Beloit College, held last Tuesday, the following resolutions
in regard to the death of our dear friend. Prof. Squier, were
adopted : and read at Commencement dinner : —
Resolved, That we, the Alumni of Beloit College, have learned
with profound sorrow of the recent death of Prof. M. P. Squier,
and that in view of this sad event we desire to record our grate-
ful remembrance of his labors, prayers and large-hearted liber-
ality in behalf of Beloit College.
Resolved, That we who were his pupils cherish the deepest
respect for his memory as an able and faithful instructor, and
that we also remember with the liveliest gratitude and affection
the kindly courtesy and ever active friendship which his social
intercourse with us ever evinced.
Resolved, That in his long life of devotion to truth, in his un*
affected piety and untiring efforts in the cause of general educa-
tion and morality, he nobly illustrated the character of the Chris-
tian gentleman and scholar.
58 CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE.
Resolved, That we extend to his bereaved wife the expres-
sion of our earnest sjinpathy in her deep affliction, while we re-
joice with her that a peaceful and happy death closed so fittingly
a life filled with Christian faith and earnest labor.
Very Respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. P. Fitch,
Sec'y B. C. A. A., Pro tern.
To the above minute, we take the liberty to append
the following extract from a touching private letter of
condolence to Mrs. S., ftom Prof Porter, of the College,
bearing date of July 2d, 1866 : —
" We feel, very dear friend, that we too are mourners
with you. We have lost a revered and loved associate,
and a warm-hearted, sympathizing friend. His personal
interest in each one of us, his intelligent and earnest
sympathy in our work, the assurance of his prayers for
our success, all were precious to us. And yet sm-ely we
have not lost these. Who can tell with what interest
in this great work, and with what clear and enlarged
perceptions of its relations to Christ's kingdom, he may
even now be bending over us. And the memories of
what he was will livie and cheer us as long as God may
spare us.
" You need not the assurance, dear Madam, of our true,
deejD sympathy with you in yom* great loss. He, who
has gone by your side so many years, the sharer of your
joys and sorrows, a part of your very life, has crossed
the river, and left you to linger a little while on this side.
He has gone from your sight and care ; aiid yet he is not
far away, — -just on the other side, — and he will wait for
you ; you will not be long parted from him. You will
CONNECTION WITH BELOIT COLLEGE. 59
be lonely, you cannot help that ; but you will not be
alone. The Saviour will be with you, with his rich con-
solations and love; the memories of the dear departed
one will be with you, precious and blessed memories ;
and the hope of the reunion soon on the brighter shore,
will not let this life seem very dark ; — will gather round
the few steps you have yet to take some of the light
and peace of the blue hills beyond the River."
60 VISIT TO EUHOPE.
CHAPTER VIII.
VISIT TO EUROPE.
In the summer of 1861, Dr. Squier made arrangements
with the late Dr. Robert Baird for visiting Europe, and
for attending the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance,
that was about to be held in Geneva, Switzerland. This
led him, while abroad, to study with profound interest
the aspects and institutions of the old world. He also
vindicated in an able and manly speech before the Evan-
gelical Alliance, the justice and humanity of our late na-
tional struggle with the great Rebellion. After his re-
turn, he prepared, and read to private circles of his
friends, several attractive and thoughtful lectures upon
what he had seen abroad, and these will be found in sub-
sequent pages of this volume.
The following extracts from his journal, together with
his papers on " Geneva and the Evangelical Alliance,'*
and on " the American Meeting" there, will be read not
without deep interest. He sailed, in company with Dr.
Baird, on the steamship Fulton, August 19th, 1861. In
his journal he writes : —
" We had quite a religious element on board, and even-
ing worship was attended daily in the ladies* cabin.
Divine service also on the Sabbath. Dr. B. preached on
the first Sabbath and I on the second. It was interest-
ing to observe the progi'ess of religious convictions, or
VISIT TO EUROPE. 61
of the manifestation of them as the voyage proceeded.
At first but few attended the daily service, and there
was an easy, jolly and irresponsible and careless look on
the face of the crew, and the passengers, which gradually
changed to respect and marked attention towards those
who had confessed themselves on board to be the friends
and followers of Christ. The benevolence and grace of
some Christian young ladies, in their kind and assiduous
help to the sick and suffering, contributed greatly to this
result, and our last Sabbath's service was attended by a
large share of the passengers, both of the first and of
the second cabin."
Sept. 5th, 1861, Geneva, Switzerland. " I preached on
Sabbath evening last for Rev. Mr. Sawtell in the Ameri-
can Seaman's Chapel, at Havre, to a full and attentive
audience; felt much at home in the pulpit, and hope
some serious impression was made. It was communion
day, and I took part in the services at the table."
"A general levee is attended every evening here, (in
Geneva) during the meeting of the Alliance. I came
near being a lion at the one at Dr. Lombard's, on Wed-
nesday evening. Dr. Baird introduced me to Pastor
Barde, of this place, as from Geneva in America. He
went off in ecstacy, took me in his arms, kissed both
cheeks, and called the attention of ladies and gentlemen
to my wherefrom, and they came up to me, file after file,
for introduction, and shaking of the hand. On Friday
evening was another large levee in the grounds and gar-
dens of Mr. Ezzard, a wealthy gentleman — thousands
present — singing — tea and coffee from a long range of
62 VISIT TO EUROPE.
counters — and preaching in different languages, from
different stands."
"We have a gi'eat meeting here — said to be the largest
by far, and has the largest number of great men — pro-
fessors and scholars of all nations. I have speculated a
little on the various nationalities, and I think, from a
comparison all around, that the German meeting this
P. M., at the Oratoire, presented the finest collection of
heads and busts, and showed the most general cultiva-
tion in appearance. But, it is as a whole one of the
most cultivated assemblies I ever saw. Everyone is
very polite and obliging. I have quite fallen in love
with Baptiste Noel, of London, and with Pastor Fisch,
of Paris, and with Sir Culling Eardley, and other Eng-
lishmen. They all thank < us for the statements and ex-
planations made by us; and they say that these will
help very much to put the Christian mind of England
and of the Continent right in respect to the present
struggle in America. They desired us to go to England
and talk so there. All here have then* sympathies with
the North, and think that God means a breach upon
slavery."
"Politics are not much here, or in Europe now, with
the great body of educated men. There is a more in-
tense intellectuality, — they are deeper in matters of sci-
ence and religion. The general mind of classical, think-
ing men is more spiritual, more involved in the prob-
lems of science — less practical — ^less absorbed in actual
things, — they live more in history and have a wider
range of intellectual associations, — they are scholars,
biblicists, theologians, authors, — ^with a quick sense of
VISIT TO EUROPE. 63
reputation as such, and many of them living on the
fruits of their works. I have come in personal contact
with some of them, but here they are swarming by
thousands, — and one only wants to come to such a con-
vocation as this, to find out that the U. S. A. are not all
the world. And yet I am surprised almost, at the re-
spect and tenderness and affection in which our country
is held here, and spoken of and prayed for by members
of the Alliance."
Dr. Squier makes brief mention in his journal of what
he saw in Italy — in Turin, Genoa, Leghorn and Florence.
He says : —
" I saw more grapes yesterday than in all my life be-
fore, — the country road-side full of small trees, and each
with two grape-vines now hanging full, and just ready
for the vintage ; — mostly blue, some white."
Florence, Sept. 18. "We are at the extreme south
of our proposed route, as the heat and the malaria
keep us from visiting Rome, judging in our case that
discretion is as good as valor. We have had a good
view of the great exhibition, and of the choicest gallery
of paintings and sculpture, excelling anything of the
kind I have seen."
Lyons, Sept. 23. " This is a city of 400,000 inhab-
itants — the second in France — very handsomely built on
the Rhone and Soane, which unite at its base, and flow
on to the Mediterranean. I have seen here the palaces
in which two of the Roman Emperors were born. Be-
sides, I have bought for my wife one of the best um-
brellas in France, which I shall borrow for a while to
keep the rain off, so that she may feel she is protecting
64 VISIT TO EUROPE.
my head henceforth against all the storms of Europe to
which I may be exposed."
Paris. "Went out to-day to the American Chapel
and saw a fine congregation ; heard a good sermon from
Rev. Dr. McClintock on the subject of the American
War. Much sincere and fei-vent prayer, I hope, was of-
fered before and after the sermon. I trust the day has
been widely and faithfully observed in Europe as well
as in America ; and may the Lord turn this War to ac-
count in the methods of His redeeming Providence."
" Have visited to-day the grandest point in Europe
that I have seen yet ; it is the " Triumphal Arch^'' on
one of the great thoroughfares of Paris, and two miles
west of the Palace Royal and the Tuilleries. It spans
the magnificent highway, and is perhaps 125 feet high,
stands on an eminence somewhat, — is written largely
over with the names of victories and generals, &c. It
is one of the most complete and perfect structures in
stone-work I ever saw. I ascended it to the top by a
stone stau'-case with iron railing, and should think the
apex 100 by 70 feet broad. There is furnished the best
view of Paris and its environs and country ; all now in
richest attire and fullest glory, just washed down with a
shower. The main avenue, leading out from the city
centre two miles, t^v^ce as wide as Broadway, and filled
with carriages under and beyond it, and then eight other
streets dividing the circle and making it — the Arch —
the centre ; and villas and gardens and spacious prom-
enades on every side, and les Monts Maitre and Morency
and the Seine a little in the distance, and all the Palaces
and Churches and Monuments of the city under the eye.
VISIT TO EUROPE. 65
Well, unpoetical as I was, I could not leave until after
4 P. M., when the physical man quite demanded some-
thing more substantial.
" Midway to the Arch we passed the Egyptian Obelisk,
70 feet high, and on a pedestal of 30 feet, all covered
over with hieroglyphics, — whose bringing (the Obelisk)
and whose raising were such a triumph of science and
skill. There is also JSTapoleon's Monument in Place
Vendome, 140 feet in stone, with a stair-case inside, and
the whole column encased in bronze, with inscriptions
of battles and victories, and surmounted by a bronze
statue of Napoleon on the top. A splendid band of
music was playing at its base as I passed, most exquisitely.
The French certainly know how to make the most of
this life by way of the fine arts ; still they have not the
deep, liquid, mellow sky of Italy, nor its silken language ;
and have got the way of sinning with the least con-
science of almost any people."
Sept. 29, 1861. Paris. " Went over to the ' Gallery
of Paintings' and Fine Arts in the Palace of the Tuil-
leries, and spent most of the day there, and about the
gardens of plants and flowers yet in full bloom, gerani-
ums and all. How you would have enjoyed them ! I
examined 'Les Champs Elysees' more fully and got
around to dine at my restaurant at 5 P. M. Next day
examined the Royal Palace and L'Hotel de Ville, which
are historical celebrities and the last a magnificent spec-
imen of the fine arts in architecture. Passed by some
other monuments to that of the Bastile, dedicated to the
glory of France and the citizens of Paris, for victories,
&c. I took an omnibus and upon the roof rode thence
5
^ VISIT TO EUROPE.
the whole length of the old Boulevards of Paris, to the
Madelaine church, some two and a half miles, for three
sous. This is cheap certainly, you will say. That church,
too, is one of the finest in Paris ; is of Grecian style of arch-
itectm-e. At 5 P. M. we went to dine by invitation with
pasteur Fisch and lady who had been in America, and who
were full of American ideas, where we spent the even-
ing very pleasantly, getting back to our Hotel at 10 P. M."
" Sabbath : Dr. B. preached at his American Chapel,
two or three miles out, but I took my Testament and
went to Notre Dame, the old cathedral, and ' mother of
us all.' It is a huge Gothic pile, but the worship was
very insignificant and small, and waited on but by few,
and they quite of a low and poor class. One first-class
Yankee congregation is worth a regiment of such ones.
Romanism, supported by the state, must run down be-
fore increasing light, and then some Whitfield under
God will get the people. I mounted, by stone stair-case,
to the balcony and towers, 250 feet, and saw all Paris
again, from a point two and a half miles away from the
Triumphal Arch. Finding a chair in the tower, I sat
down and read my Testament, and prayed for the city
under my eye, so much given to idolatry, and for France
and Europe and the world, not forgetting my own be-
loved country and friends and you, and had quite a
meeting there in one of the towers of old Notre Dame ;
and who should meet me there and then but a young
friend who knew me at Beloit, a son of Mr. Walker, of
Chicago, who now is travelling in Europe. So we sat
down together for half an hour and discoursed on the
things of this and the coming world. Cut ofi^ from the
VISIT TO EUROPE. 67
privileges of social worship, I have tried to keep my
thoughts heaven-ward, and to gain instruction from the
Sabbath habits and customs of the multitudes around me."
"Monday, Sept. 30. Have to-day, after feasting a
little on the glories of the Tuillery Gardens, taken a cab-
riolet, and visited ' Le Bois Boulogne,' a wide range of
grounds and parks away beyond the Arche Triomphe,
and then * L' Hotel des Invalides ' and the parks, — then
the Pantheon, and church St. Sulspice, and round to the
Bastile, and, by my favorite omnibus ride to my Hotel.
I find myself invited to dine to-day with our ambassador,
Mr. Dayton; Dr. Baird, also, but he is engaged else-
where, and I shall have to do the honors of the occa-
sion. To-morrow we leave for London. I hope there
to find cousin L. and a letter from my dearest earthly
one. If both fail it will be an ai'gument for looking
America- wise before long."
Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 1 . " Had a magnificent time at
Ambassador Dayton's at dinner last eve, and your hum-
ble coiTCspondent was treated with all due respect. Mr.
D. requested me to implore the Divine blessing, and the
dinner went on in true French style, — course after
course, — soup, fish, roast-beef, chickens, pudding, fruit
with wines, claret, sherry and champagne. Left table
about nine, and tea was served about ten ; and half-past,
we walked two miles home. Dr. B. called for me. The
party not lai-ge, consisting of the family of five, and
four or five others, — Americans, — and it was quite re-
freshing to hear and talk mother English."
"To-day have given the news-room at Monro's a long
visit, and then devoted the time to the Palais d' Indus-
68 VISIT TO EUROPE.
trie. It has a splendid collection of paintings and other
works of art ; has some fine statuary."
London, Oct. 3, 1861. " Have pleasant quarters in
Northumberland street, close by the Strand and Charing
Cross, Nelson's Monument and Westminister Abbey,
Parliament House; but no cousin and no letters. The
structures are massive and heavy, and the gi-ounds less
ornamental than in Paris, and yet there is much of
history and grandem* in them. The Thames is more of
a river than I supposed, and the bridges over it are more
colossal in their architecture. Saturday is the day for a
free visit to the Parliament Houses. One might spend
a month about London, as about Paris, but I can see
from samples what the whole means, and I find riding
through this rich agricultural country at this magnificent
season of the year, quite as interesting as the sight of
the capital."
Friday, Oct. 4. " Was at the Turkish Aid Mission
Rooms to-day. Mr. Birche read me a letter just re-
ceived from Dr. Dwight of Constantinople. He has been
absent eight months among the Missions in Turkey and
Persia : is just returning to America by Paris and Lon-
don, with three daughters, and two or three other ladies.
" Met our friend Rev. Mr. Garnet (colored) on the walk
to-day. He has come over to enlighten England on the
American question.
"Have had a boat-ride on the Thames to-day, and
had a view of London and other bridges ; of St. Paul,
the Parliament Houses, and of other monuments and
Bights too numerous to mention.
" I shall have something to say to my friends about
VISIT TO EUROPE. 69
Europe when I get back, though I despair of seeing the
whole, or indeed, very largely of it. A few central
points are enough, as marking the characteristics of the
diflferent countries and people. I shall have got some
new ideas and experience. If I shall have accomplished
only the bringing out of the American question at Ge-
neva, and secm-ed the large and kind-hearted response
of the Conference, and the consent of view, and the
gush of feeling which attended that matter, &c., it were
worth all it has cost as yet."
London, Oct. 5. "I devoted the morning to the Par-
liament House, inside and out ; thence to the interior of
Westminister Abbey ; and really in its monuments and
records of the dead, royal and not royal, for a thousand
years back, it exceeds anything I ever conceived of.
This P. M. I have been out to St. James, Green, and
Hyde Parks, Buckingham Palace, and the general region
of the nobility, and really I begin to feel that I under-
stand London like a book, and may get out of this dank
atmosphere, and hie away to Oxford and Scotland the
first of next week."
Sabbath, Oct. 6. " I went first to St. Paul. Congrcr
gation small, in one nave of the building, — worshipped
a little, — looked at the gorgeous architecture, — arches,
domes, statues, pictures, — and left for Spurgeon's church.
Got there just in time, and by special favor was taken
by a back way right on to the platform with the speaker,
and within fifteen feet of him ; and in front of an au-
dience of four thousand people, in three tiers ; heard all,
and was taken into his private room afterward, and had
quite an interview with him. He is only twenty-seven
70 VISIT TO EUROPE.
years old ; his sermon was not great, but kind and faith-
ful in spirit, and had some fine passages in it. He asked
me to come to the communion in the evening, but I told
him it was too far away from my lodgings. He is an
open communion Baptist. At 3 P. M. Dr. B. and I went
down to the Westminister Abbey, partly for the preach-
ing, and partly for the music."
Oxford, Oct. 7. " Left London to-day at ten, and came
hither, over sixty miles, and have really tired myself
out among the Colleges, (nineteen) and four halls of a
higher grade. It is a city of colleges, with magnificent
foundations, and rich and ample arrangements. One
must see them to appreciate them."
" I have found the gentlemen of the colleges very po-
lite, and ready to show whatever I had time or strength
to see. They are about 1,600, all told, and literaiy men
enough about in connection, to make in all 2,000. The
town exists mainly for them, and strangers are attracted
to it as a literary centre.
" Have come through a rich farming country to-day,
up the Thames and its tributaries ; Reading, and other
towns. Expect to leave for the North at 9.30 A. M.,
to-morrow."
Oxford, Thursday, 10. " Well, I overdid on Monday,
and have concluded to give up my Northern jaunt, and
spend the time more at ease around here and on the
way to Liverpool, against the time my ship sails. A
kind gentleman, to whom I had a letter here, and who
resides a httle out in the country, and who loves Chris-
tians for Christ's sake, has benevolently invited me to
VISIT TO EUROPE. 71
Spend a few days in his family, and I have consented to
stay till after the Sabbath."
Friday, A. M. " I find myself getting over my ill
turn, but think I did well to give up my journey to the
North country, and around about. The gentleman, Jo-
seph Warne, Esq., is Postmaster at Oxford ; has a car-
riage, and we have delightful drives in the country. He
is in feeble health, and not in much business, and seems
to have taken quite a liking to your honored spouse.
We went to the tailors yesterday for a suit of clothes,
80 you may see me, if I live to get home and we meet,
dressed like an Oxford Professor, for I let them have
their own way about it. I took a walk at 1 P. M., with
a son of Mr. W. to the old parish church of Isling, one
and a half miles away. It has stood there ever since
the Norman conquest in the eleventh century, venerable
and grotesque. We came home by a lane along the
banks of the Thames."
" P. M. I have been to town to-day to visit some of
the curiosities not before seen. Among them the Bod'-
leian Library of 500,000 volumes, and gallery of paintings,
and sculpture, and models, and busts, and heads, and
full length figures of all the celebrities of the kingdom
since the time of Alfred the Great, in all their peculiari-
ty of drapery, of costume, &c., of their respective
periods. I spent nearly two hours in the Gallery. One
thing interested me much. It was an exact model ot
the Parthenon at Athens in Greece, which, I found too,
was the model of the Madelaine chui'ch at Paris, which
I had much examined outside and in. I went also into
72 VISIT TO EUROPB.
the Theatre, (as they call it,) where all the honorary de-
grees of the University are conferred.
" And now, as you may see, my face is fully set for
America and home. I wish to stop a little on the way
to Liverpool, and to have some two or three days there.
October is said to be a good month to cross the ocean
in, but I am not unmindful of the perils of the way. I
commit my way to God, and try to feel safe and happy
in his hands. We are always in danger, more, perhaps,
on the water than on the land. The earth is hung out
upon nothing, and is, with all upon it, dependent upon
God's care. We cannot get beyond His promises or
His care. You are praying for me and committing me
to a faithful and covenant keeping God, and other friends
are, and I trust to be brought safely to you and to do
something yet in the cause of God, before I go hence.
. I leave it, we must leave it, we will* leave it, and rejoice
to leave it with Him. God has already granted us a
long life, even to the full age of man. Many dear
ones have gone before us. Oh 1 perhaps you too have
gone before me, and /, if I should soon go hence, may
meet you too among the beloved ones that have gone
home. Oh 1 for the sweet visions of faith and hope.
Why not ? God is good. He is our Heavenly Father.
He is reconciled to us in Christ. It is his good pleasure
to give us the kingdom. He is not willing that any
should perish. His heart is for our salvation. He says,
' Fear not,' and we will leave our bodies and our souls
in His hand and care, and fear no evil, and confidently
trust, and joyfully expect, and anticipate that when the
changes and chances of this earthly pilgrimage are over.
VISIT TO EUliOPE. 73
whenever, wherever, however, we shall be gathered,
thi'ough riches of grace, to the rest that remaineth for
His children on high."
" Oct. 13. We dined by invitation at Abingdon yes-
terday, and had a very intelligent and pleasant visit.
Met a very pleasant gentleman there, having the most
splendid and expensive Library I ever saw, and who
kindly spent most of the P. M. in showing me the curi-
osities of it.
" To-day was Convocation day at Oxford University
in all its colleges and foundations. The heads of de-
partments. Professors, Masters, and Pupils, more or less,
met in St. Mary's church and listened to a sermon from
the celebrated Dr. Pusey, the Father of Puseyism, and
much known in our countiy. As I was an American
clergyman, I was admitted among the gownsmen, and
had a good seat ; was much interested in the discourse,
which was a full hour long. It was really a very labored
and able production."*
" Tuesday, 4th. I am now at Birmingham, in the
midst of all the manufactories and soot and smoke of
this great centre of coal-dust, iron, and the mechanic
arts. I went into Oxford from Mr. W.'s at Fair Acres,
in the morning of Monday, and was invited out to tea
at Mrs. Wyat's, the mother of Mrs. Warne, and met two
of her sisters, and they talked to me almost unmerciful- (
ly about America. To-day I left my friend at eleven
and came on here, a little less than half the way to
Livei-pool. As I have concluded to take counsel of
♦ See paper on " Rev. Dr. Pusey at Oxford" on a subsequent page.
74 VISIT TO EUROPE.
prudence, and reserve strength for the voyage home,
and have time to linger on the way, I divide up" the
route a little. I have come through a most inviting
country to-day. If all England is like it, I do not won-
der that the people are proud of theii* agriculture and
then* homes. There is a peculiar richness of verdure in
the grass, and the trees, and hedges. The cattle and
sheep, which are in great abundance, seem to be up to
their eyes in fat pasture. Towers and church spires are
very numerous, and the gentle undulations of hill and
dale present a very fine appearance. This place affords
but few attractions, so uniform and so smoky, I was al-
most Sony my ticket did not caiTy me farther. Still
many parts are well built and any. I went through the
market and bought some little remembrances of it, and
am now quietly writing in my apartments in the Stork
Hotel on the square. Have seen one fine old temple
here to-day, and walked in its church yard, full of the
mementos of those who have passed away. I thought
in Westminster Abbey the other day, Oh ! what a his-
tory and record have all these, since the date of these
sepulchres, and their habitation in the flesh. Verily
England remembers the dead. France celebrates the
living and the future."
"I am getting somewhat animated in being home-
ward bound, and yet, I have some dread of the sea, not-
withstanding our pleasant voyage out. The Lord made
' it and made it to be traversed, I suppose, and we must
trust him in its use. Taking all precautions, for good
craft and good seamen, we must go down to it in ships
and do business in great waters, and accept among the
VISIT TO EUROPE. 75
changes and chances of life, the perils the subject in-
volves."
"Chester, 3 P. M. Wednesday. Left Birmingham
at 11 A. M., and have had a magnificent ride of some-
thing less than 100 miles. Am now but fifteen miles
from Liverpool. I took first-class car as yesterday, which
is vastly more convenient, though a little more expen-
sive. I was alone in the car of six sittings, with none
to disturb me or my surveys or musings, and must say
that I think it my best ride yet. I was lord of the ma-
nor and monarch of all I surveyed, and was taken,
doubtless, for some great one, as they stared at me sit-
ting in state and alone in my glory. The first thirty
miles were a succession of manufacturing towns as far
each way as the eye could reach, with tall chimneys
continually belching out blaze and smoke. Then suc-
ceeded about twenty-five miles of rather the handsomest
farming land, — Shrewsbury, — and then some not so
good, and another range of manufactories. Then we
approached the border of Wales, and ran across a corner
of it, and saw something like mountains ; though this
whole way from London is far more level and chamj^aign
a country than I had supposed. The finest, and largest,
and richest valley yet, opened upon us as we crossed
out of Wales into Cheshire — famous for Cheese — and
came down to Chester. I took a carriage and rode over
the town this P. M. to see its celebrities, such as the
splendid old gothic Cathedral of 1000 years, the old
walls of nearly equal antiquity, the Castle, Charles the
Second's Tower, the modern race course of Ten Brock
& Co. Shall go on to-moiTow and fit up a little for the
76 VISIT TO EUROPE.
voyage home, and pray for a good and prosperous pas-
sage. I hope to hear from you at Liverpool. If I
should not, I will still hope on that all is well with you,
and that you are praying for my safe and speedy return.
I begin now, as sight-seeing is getting over and I am
getting over my breakdown from overdoing at Oxford
and before, to meditate a little how I shall make myself,
perhaps, or the world, or any pait of it, or my friends,
the wiser by my visit to Em-ope, should the Lord spare
me to return and mingle again in the accustomed cu-cles
of life."
" Liverpool, October 17th. This is, as you would ex-
pect, quite a matter-of-fact, business-looking town. I
have bought a map and guide book of it, which show it
to fail' advantage. Some churches look well, and I ex-
pect to mount the Town Hall to-morrow, from the bal-
cony of which a fine view is said to be given of the city
and its surroundings. The most remarkable thing here
is doubtless the extensive docks in the Mersey, a good
profile of which is seen in the map. I find it depresses
me somewhat not to hear from you at this point, and not
to know anything recent about you. But I know you
are in Divine keeping in some world, and that we shall
meet again somewhere. I will yet hope in this life, and
have some yeai*s of sojourn and comfort and progress
here, and to do something yet for the Master. I shall
find it better for me to be busy, if I can, and I propose
blocking out some topics, with jottings by the way, that
I may fill out, perhaps, more fully afterwards."
" Oct. 19th. At 12 o'clock to-day we bid good-by to
Livei-pool and England, only that the hills of Holy
VISIT TO EUROPE. 77
Head and Wales appear in the east as we are turning
away westerly for the coast of Ireland and Cork to-night.
We left in a fog, with smoke, and a breeze from the east,
but it has cleared up and the sun is bright and cheerful,
and the Irish Channel is smooth as a river. We have
over one hundred passengers and quite a sprinkling of
ladies. One gentleman from Boston, with whom I
traveled from Paris to London, very pleasant and com-
panionable. I find two sons of Mr. Stokes, nephews of
Wm. E. Dodge, of New York, aboard, who are very
pleasant.
" Lat. 49, Lon. 35. Sabbiath. It was arranged yes-
terday to have services to-day at eleven, and that I
should preach. The rules of the company require the
service of the Church of England, and good Br. Gras-
sette, Rector of the Cathedral church, Toronto, Canada
West, is to read the service. At the time the dining
cabin was filled and the service read and solemn, and I
preached the sermon I last did at Geneva to an attentive
and interested (as I think) audience, and I hope a ben-
efitted one."
" Thursday, 7 P. M. To-day dined together for the
last time, and it was whispered around that there must
be a speech, and all hands looked to me, and so I made
a few remarks on the favorable voyage, &c., and passed
to an appreciative sentiment of Capt. Anderson, his
officers and crew, and the gentlemanly stewards by
whom we have been seiwed, and three cheers for the
good old ship that has brought us so safely over. All
went ofi" merrily, and the Captain made a brief and
handsome reply.
78 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
CHAPTER IX.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
For several years Dr. Sqiiier has been in the habit of
sending an occasional article to the American Biblical
Repositoiy, the Bibliotheca Sacra, the Presbyterian
Quarterly and Theological Review, but more frequently
to the New York Obsei-ver, and the New York Evange-
list, some of which articles are reproduced in the pres-
ent volume. Several were written in the two last named
journals, in vindication of the philosophical and theolo-
gical \'iews presented in "The Problem Solved," and
which display not a little of that profundity and acumen
which characterize this class of his writings. It was
his intention to republish these in a volume, with other
writings, but as the same considerations and arguments
will be found embodied in other portions of his writings^
now being published, it is thought best to withhold the
former, except so much as may be requu-ed to indicate
the purpose and scope of the volume.
As a writer, he is most prominently exhibited in the
volume entitled "The Problem Solved, or Sin Not of
God," published in 1855, and in the somewhat larger,
much more popular and useful volume, entitled " Reason
and the Bible, or the Truth of Revelation," published
in 1860.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 79
The former attracted very general, and, in some cases,
severe criticism from the religious press. No intelligent
reader of it will question the statement, that it is the
production of an acute, vigorous and profound thinker —
an eminently original and suggestive work — an excel-
lent instrument of intellectual discipline to one who
shall attempt to sound its depths, and follow the entire
length of its line of argumentation. There has been,
indeed, a question raised with regard to the satisfactori-
ness, and logical accuracy, and conclusiveness of the
work, and the justness of the claim which the title as-
sumes to the merit of having solved one of the most
difficult problems that has ever employed the ingenuity
and vigor of the human mind.
For example, one of the critics contends that the sum
and substance of "The Problem Solved" amounts to no
more than the generally received opinion that man, and
not God, is the sinner. The state of the question may
be learned from a few extracts on each side. And, first
on the side of the critic in the " N. Y. Evangelist," as
follows : —
" The confession of Faith has solved the same prob-
lem in very explicit words : ' God from all eternity did,
by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, free-
ly and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass ; yet
so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is
violence offered to the will of the creatm*es, nor is the
liberty or contingency of second causes taken away but
rather established.' This is just what we believe. We
have never supposed God to be * the author of sin,' in
any sense that implies criminality, or attaches to him its
80 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
blameworthiness, or makes it hii act or moral state.
Sin is a phenomenon in man, and of him, and not in
God. The confession of Faith holds this doctrine ; the
Evangelical pulpit has ever preached it ; and hence, on
the purely subjective side of the question, we do not see
that the author of ' The Problem Solved' has made any
new discovery, or stated any new idea. Who believes
that sin is God's 'method' or 'arrangement' or 'pre-
ference,' in any sense that supposes Him to be a par-
taker in its criminality ? Nobody that has any claim to
be a Christian, or to credit the testimony of the Bible.
There is no such theory extant in the church, or taught
in her schools of theology, to be exploded by referring
sin to a cause 'in the finite.' We repeat, man is the
sinner, and not God ; sin is the state of man, and not of
his Maker."
" This statement, however, so easily made, and so gen-
erally admitted, does not reach the real ' problem,' with
which speculative theology has had to grapple in respect
to the origin of moral evil. It is merely a statement of
what is true in the subjective — in man. It simply answers
the question. Who is the sinner ? Besides this, there is
another question, emphatically the question which the
author of 'The Problem Solved' has scarcely touched,
and upon which we do not see that he has thrown even
the first ray of light. Let us state this question. What
is the true exposition of the fact that such a being as
God himself, infinite in knowledge, power, benevolence
and holiness, has constructed a system of existence, and
still upholds it, in which moral evil exists ? Why has
He admitted sin into a system of which He is the sole
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 81
author and supporter, and which therefore of necessity
is dependent upon him? To find sin 'in the finite,'
and refer it to *the finite,' is no answer to this question.
Let it be remembered, that this very ' finite,' in the ut-
most comprehensiveness of its being, faculties, laws and
conditions, is the product of the Infinite ; that it is not
a self-originated, nor a self-sustaining concern, but en-
tirely dependent upon the God who made it. How then
comes it to pass that he is the author and supporter of
such a 'finite,' with his eye upon its historic develop-
ment in the form of sin, so extensive and desolating as
experience and revelation abundantly prove it to be?
Let this 'problem' in the 'objective' be 'solved' by
some theory, proved to have its positive verity in the
mind of God, and then we shall know something about
the subject. Beyond all debate, there is just such a
question that may be started. Let any one think what
God is, and what are his necessary relations to the uni-
verse, and what man is in the actual manifestations of
his character, and he can hardly fail to meet the inquiry.
It will dawn upon him in spite of himself; and we are
sorry that the author of ' The Problem Solved' did not
•face the real issue, that has so long engaged the atten-
tion of theologians. Had he done this, he would prob-
ably have needed many more chapters and pages, before
announcing the 'Problem' as 'solved.' We do not
object to the psychology or theology that makes man
the sinner ; let the proposition be proved, we care not
how strongly; but to offer this as an explanation of sin
considered as an event in the moral government of God,
is simply dodging the whole difficulty."
6
82 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
" For ourselves, we must say that we have no theory
on this subject to present, and therefore none to defend.
We have never yet solved *the problem;* and judging
from our own experience, as well as from the efforts of
others, we expect to die, leaving this as one of the se-
crets that * belong unto the Lord om* God.* That man
is a sinner, we have no doubt ; nor do we doubt whether
there be a God — a great causal and governing * Spirit,
infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His t)eing, wisdom,
power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.* These per-
fections of the Supreme Being we always assume as
sufficiently proved, and therefore never to be called in
question. What such a God would do, we cannot tell
a priori, by simply reasoning from his attributes. We
cannot tell what kind of a world he would make, under
what circumstances he would place moral agents, or
whether sin would be in or out of a system originating
from his creative power."
To the above extracts, the author of " The Problem
Solved" replies, in part, as follows : —
" It is no part of my object to attempt, for the thou-
sandth time, to frame excuses for God*s introducing sin
into his plan for a universe, but to deny that he has it
there at all, and to give my reasons for this position ;
not to reiterate the common belief, with my reviewer,
that * God is not the author of sin, in any sense that im-
plies criminality, or attaches to him its blameworthiness,*
but that He is so in no sense whatever ; that sin is no
part of his economy, and lies no way in his plan, method
or primordial arrangement for the universe ; that it is in
no sense of his proposition or an integrant in his meth-
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 83
od, and that he sustains no relation to it, either in a
scheme of things or an actuality which is not aside
from it, and contrary and antagonistic to it ; that it is
not here by his decree or permission, but with the con-
sent of neither, and that he is taking the best methods
against it in probation and retribution. And this I at-
tempt to establish by the first truths of reason and the
Bible in view of the attributes of moral government, as
well as of the moral convictions, and the teachings of
common sense. Does my reviewer hold thus, and so
agree with me, and is this the common doctrine ? If so,
I much rejoice at it, as it shows at least the possibility
of light, on the subject of the Divine relations to wrong,
and of the solution of the problem of sin, on principles
consistent with honor and right in the Deity."
" The passage quoted in the review from the Confes-
sion of Faith, is doubtless built on the following pas-
sage of the Bible : — * Who worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will,* which is the same as to say
that God acts from the resources of His own intelligence,
does all His works from the necessary perfections and
sufficiency of His own being. And if the Confession of
Faith agrees with its authority, it does not include sin
among the things ordained of God, as it is no work of
His. The purposes of a being primarily respect his
own acts, and is the mental condition of them. All- sin
lies in a purpose. It is not a thing, an effect or event
properly, but is an attitude or state of the will. It inheres
in a cause; and is by limitation precluded from be-
ing the purpose of the Infinite. And if this is the
sense of the Confession of Faith at this point, I am
84 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
happy in a cordial assent to it, and to all its correlates.
I do but affirm that sin is without the decree or aiTange-
ment of God for it, in any sense ; that it is no part of
His scheme of things ; that He meets it as he finds it,
in the method and agency of others than Himself, in the
way of a pure and unyielding antagonism, as infinite
wisdom dictates, and gloriously as the end will show ;
that the account of the introduction of sin in Genesis,
is legitimate and appreciable ; that the prohibition there
given is the exponent of the whole will of God in the
"premises, and that it is checkmated by no 'decretive
will,' or primordial arrangement of God, antagonizing
and discrepant therewith, and which would be a dogma,
that would show the sin of man, on the last analysis, to
meet the mind of God, and be His own perfect way in
the moral sphere, and which has been the dogma which
has created all the difficulties in the common theology at
this point. Does the reviewer agree with me here, and
does the Confession of Faith but corroborate these views
— then surely I ought to be content."
" When the reviewer has thus disposed of the book
as mere common place in his view, and as eddying in
the vortex of all received opinions, he sinks to a deeper
level of truth, and strikes into the real theological ques-
tion and difficulty to which the book relates, and con-
cerning which it treats. But he does this de novo, as a
superadded thought of his own, and as quite beyond the
depth of the book or the conception of its author. I
may surprise him if I say, he has now just reached the
precincts of our subject, and got to the point in hand.
The question is on the real relations of God to an econ-
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS, 85
omy of sin and wrong ; and whether he has ordained
such an economy at all, or whether it is here without him,
or his proposition of it in a scheme of things^ — is here
as the method and scheme of another, and in every
sense against the will of God. This is the subject mat-
ter of the book, as an ultimate truth. It lies just here.
There is not a sentence in it that is not designed to bear
on this point, and in some way to illustrate and familiar-
ize the mind to the necessary truths of reason and the
Bible which determine it. The question is merely one
of fact, whether sin has its proposition in the plan of
God, or must find it elsewhere. The reviewer assumes
that it is of God, and then assumes that God is good not-
withstanding. He says that he ' has no theory to pre-
sent on the subject.' But indeed he has, and has pre-
sented it, and takes more than the last half of his arti-
cle in stating and adjusting that theory, so that it shall
be as little offensive as may be to the terms of reason
and the moral sense. He does hold that God is the
author of sin, in the sense of proposing and ordaining
it in a scheme of things ; that it is His way of the Uni-
verse ; that there is just as much sin and wrong in earth
and hell, as much infraction of His law and resistance of
His will, as He has ordained, as lies in His plan, and as,
on the last analysis of the thought, God would have ;
and then seeks to quiet the conscience by the quotation,
*Even so. Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight.'
Yes, this is his theory; and so insci*utable does it appear
to him, that he does not attempt to give a reason for it,
and he thinks no man will be able to. In this I certain-
ly agree with him, and fully believe it will be forever
86 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
beyond the ken of man or angel to appreciate such a
dogma, or holding to it, to vindicate the ways of God
to the intelligence he has given us. This is the re-
viewer's theory, and he shows quite the ordinary adroit-
ness in using all the common methods of speech, in
trying to render it acceptable, and in parrying the
assaults of reason and our necessary laws of belief upon
it. But what is more to the point, he insists that it is
my theory too, and that I ought to have written a larger
book to make it plain. Now, I shall do no such thing.
That is the dogma which has held the Evangelical
Church spell-bound in the antinomianism of centuries,
and long enough already. I do not hold it ; I repudiate
it, as I would every method of foisting ' the works of the
devil' into the plan of God, and making them ingredients
in the perfect methods and ways of the Infinite. My
book is on the other side, and in my judgment, is large
enough to contain the principles of the belief I entertain
in this matter. It is my reviewer, and not myself, who
believes that sinning is fulfilling the decrees of God.
Let him prove the fact, that all the wickedness in crea-
tion is ordained of God, and exists by His permission
and consent, before he troubles himself more about the
theory of such a fact, or the impossible reasons for it, or
resorts to further disclaimers and abnegations, to ward
off the blows of skepticism not only, but to repress the
inevitable verities of the human mind. I hold the dog-
ma to be a needless assumption and an obvious logical
fallacy. I do not believe that sin exists through Divine
ordination and consent. It is the inherent liability of a
moral system, but no part of the economy of God. It
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 87
is the abuse of a moral system, and not a part of it, or
the fulfillment of the design of its author. It is through
another economy than that of God, and from another
quarter. ' It is impossible but that ofienses' may * come,'
as it is true that they have and do ; but when they do
come, it is through the aberrations of finite cause, in
which aberrations is nothing of God. They may plead
no Divine decree or arrangement in their behalf, and no
Divine proposition or consent in their being. God's
relations to sin are all on the other side, and are unique
and characteristic of Himself, and in the line of all true
virtue, and may be comprehensively appreciated and
understood; and happy will it be, when the enigmas
which a false philosophy has wi'ought into this subject
shall be discarded, and men shall be allowed to look at it
in the simple concrete of its appreciable truth. But I
need not reiterate what, with more completeness, the
wort reviewed has said."
TVe make a few more quotations in the form of crit-
icisn: upon " The Problem Solved," that will convey, to
those who have not read the volume, the general impres-
sion which the work has produced upon intelligent
minds. The first is from the " New York Observer :" —
" Ai earnest and honest effort to achieve an impos-
sibility The result is of course. The able author re-
jects tie Beecher theory of original sin on the one
hand, ind the Princeton view on the other, and then
proposhg a third scheme, his own, he considers the
Problen Solved. We admu*e his spirit, we respect his
learning, we believe in his integrity, but we do not see
througl his solution of the great question. He pro-
88 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
nounces * sin a method in the finite.' * Moral evil, both
as a method and a fact, is fully accounted for In finite
cause. Sin is possible only in the finite, and through
apostasy there.' But when we ask why God did not
prevent finite creatures from sinning, we get no answer
jfrom our author which we have not had before. We
commend the study of the book to those who are in-
clined to investigate this subject. It has many great
truths, well put. It exposes several popular theological
errors, cuts them up root and branch, and lays a good
foundation for further discussion. Perhaps others w.^h
clearer intellect than ours will get light from the author's
theory. We speak of its efiect on our own mind. It
does not help us out of the dark ; others may be re-
lieved."
The second is from the " Journal of Health," ard is
attributed to the Rev. Joel Parker, D. D.: —
" This is a discriminating and thoughtful book Dn a
difficult subject. It is destined to make its mark oa the
age. It takes the bold position that God has not htro-
duced sin into the world as a means to an end, ror in
any proper sense willed its existence. It maintaiiB that
God can make and has made moral agents — ^beiig so
constituted that they are under no necessity to sp. A
moral agent ' can will anything, and if he does n»t, it is
for other reasons than a want of power.' ' No int<lHgent
agent was ever placed where he could not do rigit.' It
affirms that the Deity can so endow a creature that he
shall become as truly a cause as God Himself, ^d that
from the very nature of moral agency, when me^ volun-
tarily do wrong, they choose it under a full cofiscious-
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THF. PRESS. 89
ness that they have the power to make an opposite
choice. The questions raised are not the same as those
which gave sharpness to the controversies of Calvin,
Arminius, Pascal, Toplady, Wesley, and Edwards. Dr.
Squier is a profound and acute thinker. We have known
him and his modes of thought for thirty years past ; but
he has not written much, and we had no idea that he
could have produced such a book. We commend it to
all young theologians."
Respecting the high merit, value, and useful tendency
of the other work — " Reason and the Bible," there has
been a remarkable agreement on the part of the period-
ical press, and it gives great pleasure to introduce here
some of the expressions of sentiment concerning it which
the press has uttered, only premising that no notice
seems to have been taken of a remarkable peculiarity of
Dr. Squier's style, reminding one of the Rhone, which
is of a clear blue color on issuing from the Lake of Ge-
neva, but is changed to brown by the accession of the
Arve, a muddy stream which flows into it near the
town of Geneva. Nothing can be desu'ed more clear,
strong, beautiful and terse, than large portions of this
book, but ever and anon the author's special fondness
for abstruse, obscure, self-invented, and peculiar forms
of expression, tempts him unfortunately to let, at short
intervals, the muddy Arve into the pellucid Rhone, and
we then can see but little below the surface. This alter-
nation of clearness and obscurity, of the best language
of common life with the strange, and at times, almost
unintelligible language of a recondite philosophy, is a
90 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
very serious objection to the book for popular use, and
for the highest practical value. If these obscure por-
tions were modified, or even eliminated, or passed over,
it would form an admirable text book in schools and
colleges, and better adapted perhaps than Butler's
Analogy to the greater number of those to whom the
study of the latter is usually assigned.
The following are the sentiments expressed by some
of our most intelligent and reliable periodicals : —
*'Dr. Sqrier is a clear and vigorous writer. There is
something refreshing in this style of writing. There is
a philosophic method to be employed in religious truth,
and we regard Dr. S.'s philosophy of the intelligence as
cause, and of moral evil as an apostasy of will, as far
more rational and scriptural than the speculations of
those who denounce the use of reason in theology and
lamentably betray the want of it." — W. Y. Independent.
" We are free to recommend this able treatise to the
regards of intelligent readers, <fec. It treats its subject
with a precision, clearness, and force of thought and
expression, that is worthy of sincere admiration. The
work of Dr. Squier is creditable to his pen and his heart,
and will, we have no doubt, do much good." — Christian
Intelligencer.
"It is a most important undertaking, to attempt to
prove that the Bible and its doctrines are reasonable —
are just what reason demands that they should be for
man's wants. That Dr. Squier has attempted this should
earn for him our gratitude. That he has succeeded so
well demands our respect. The closing chapter on the
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 91
relations of moral evil, suggests an important view of that
vexed question." — Congregationalist {Boston.)
" Dr. Squier is an earnest student' of some of the
highest subjects of religion and philosophy. The rela-
tions of faith and reason are the central topics of his
investigations. That reason leads to faith is the key-
note to Viis instructive volume. The tone and spirit in
which the subject is discussed are worthy of all praise
and imitation." — American Theological Review {N. Y.)
" The work is able and attractive ; often it is compre-
hensive and eloquent. We wish it the success and in-
fluence to which its manifest excellence entitles it." —
New Englander.
"Christian philosophers will read this well-digested
book with interest and profit, and find it rich in sugges-
tive thought." — Eclectic Magazine.
An interesting analysis and criticism of the work is
given in the United States Journal, as follows : —
" If the reader takes up this book with the impression
that the entertainment to which he is therein invited is
a mere rehash of the common arguments in support of
the truth of Divine Revelation, drawn from the analo-
gies of natm*e, from tradition and historic authorities,
the first page he reads will convince him he has made a
mistake. If his intention in looking into it be either to
gratify an idle curiosity or to while away an idle hour,
he will quickly discover that this work has been written
for readers who are wide awake, and willing to ' gird
themselves' to grapple with great truths. The author
sends his sounding line a long way below those surface
92
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
cun-ents of thought which may indeed float the almost
Christian ' very certainly into the quiet harbor of an as-
sured faith,' but which are powerless to disturb the dark
depths of skepticism and infidelity which lie below them.
It is not difficult to di-aw from nature and history weap-
ons wherewith easily to rout the skirmishers on the
outposts of the current infidelity of the diiy. But
routed here, skepticism retreats into its citadel of blank
negation — beyond the reach of such weapons. It boldly
denies the validity of what is called nature, and indeed
all objective phenomena, to prove the authenticity of a
Divine Revelation or any thing else, and thus takes
away all common ground on which even to initiate in-
vestigation. Before, therefore, it can be even grappled
with, it must be pursued to its retreats, behind nature
and the objective, into the arena of consciousness and
those intuitions of the intelligence which the objector
can not deny, without first denying his own existence.
And it is this which Dr. Squier, in the volume before us,
has undertaken to do. He meets the objector upon his
own ground. Starting with those truths which are re-
cognized in the light of reason as absolute and necessary,
he aims to show the essential harmony between them
and the Bible, and thus compel the assent of the under-
standing to the position that the author of the human
soul must also be the author of the Bible. Having
reached the sanctuary of the Divinity by this method,
he comes back, and proceeding outwards from this cen-
tral starting point, leads the objector with the open
Bible in his hands, through the domain of nature up to
* nature's God,' and finds in all the way the same essen-
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 93
tial harmony throughout ; thus realiziug to the senses,
as he has already demonstrated to the reason, the solid
ground in which to fasten the ' sure anchor of hope,' —
the in-isistible conviction that the Divine Being has in
fact made a revelation of himself to men, and that the
Christian's Bible contains that revelation. Dr. Squier is
a vigorous, stalwart thinker, and a terse and graphic
writer. He is fearless, and evidently true to himself in
the enunciation of his thoughts, and though not led by
his convictions beyond the pale of evangelical orthodoxy
with regard to any essential tenets of f^ith, still it is
evident that reverence for creeds or ecclesiastical pre-
scriptions exerts upon him but little restraining influence.
The clearness with which he apprehends the truth of his
own views induces' a positiveness of statement which
may at first sight look something like dogmatism, but on
farther acquaintance we discover that it results from an
apparent unconsciousness that candid and intelligent
minds can disagree with him. Such earnestness of con-
viction is delightful, and if his readers can not always
agree, they "will not be disposed to quarrel with him.
His chapter on the ' Philosophic Method,' is an admirable
piece of reasoning, and will be read by all intelligent
persons with profit and pleasure. We commend this
volume especially to two classes, namely, those who re-
ject the Bible and feel safe in the rejection, and those
who accept it, but are troubled with doubts."
The character and the value of "Reason and the
Bible" may be understood in part from a few quotations
which are here subjoined. At the close of the chapter
94 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
on " God in Reason," the author makes these two prac-
tical reflections : —
" First. The conviction that the being of God is an
apprehension of the reason, direct, intuitive, and neces-
sary, gives vitality to that sense of His presence at all
times which religion teaches. TVe run not after the idea
through lengthened processes of argument, nor find it
suspended at the end of a complex demonstration, nor
as can be only approximated there ; but like the prophet
of Israel, we are enabled to say, * Now I behold thee,
and mine eye seeth thee.' The idea of God becomes
not so much an interence as a vision of the intellect, —
not so properly a deductive conclusion, as an ever-
present knowledge. We see Him, and do know Him.
Anywhere and everywhere, ' the invisible things of Him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood (apprehended) by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and God-head.' The ideas of
the reason, then, not only comprehend the declarations
of the Bible at this point, but coalesce with the songs
of poetry, and find rocks, hills, and vales, vocal with
praise to Him, who is the Creator and Lord of all.
" Second. Its advantage in prayer. There is an ap-
positeness in addressing God, if he has thus put Himself
in communication with us. If reason apprehends Him,
— if our intelligence beholds Him, — if it comprehends
His being, and sees intuitively and perfectly that it can-
not but be that He is, and is the infinitely perfect, pres-
ent Jehovah ; — how correlative, — how connatural is
prayer, — how lifelike our approaches unto God,— our
adoration of Him, — our confession of sins in His ear, —
CONTMBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 95
our imploring of forgiveness, — our acknowledgment of
His goodness, and the commitment of our interests and
ourselves into His hands. There is a vitality and nat-
uralness, — a nearness and communion in this, that is all
its own. There is a vividness and reality concerning
the being of God, found here, which is well worthy of
the effort after those higher analyses of our spiritual
being, which our subject imposes, and which will give it.
May we, then, covet this conviction of God in the Reason,
— this vision and knowledge of Him, as there declared,
and, like the solid granite of nature, may it underlie all
the processes and superpositions which we have yet to
lay upon it."
Upon the Bible doctrine of the resurrection of the
•dead, the author thus presents in striking and beautiful
language the analogies of nature in support of it : —
" Of the power of God ' to raise the dead,' none can
doubt. We are surrounded with too many magnificent
displays of His omnipotent energy and wisdom, in the
actual economy of the universe, to question that any
new modification of it, to meet the exigencies of the
future, is equally within His pleasure and convenience."
"Does, then, the present disclose any analogies of
the future on this subject f
" I discern something like it in the annual death and
reviviscence of nature around us, in most of the lati-
tudes of the earth. The leaves of autumn fall thick on
eveiy hand. The denuded forest looks drear and life-
less, except that here and there an evergreen bespeaks
an immortality. The currents of vegetable life are
stopped, — the earth is locked up in frost, — the pall of
96 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
death is thrown over it, and stern winter reigns in reck-
lessness and desolation."
'• But on this scene how joyously looks out the young
and buoyant spring ! All nature revives again. Forest
and field are clothed with verdure and freshness ; ' The
flowers appear on the earth ; the time of the singing of
birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the
land.' 'Man goeth to his labor till the evening,' and
another cycle of activity and production revisits the
earth."
" There is in the planting of seed in the ground, and
its reviving again, an analogy so striking and so illus-
trative of the Christian doctrine of the resuiTCCtion,
that it secured the regard of the Apostle, in the annun-
ciation of that doctrine. *That which thou sowest is
not quickened except it die;' 'Thou sowest not the
body which shall be.' The husbandmen throws broad-
cast into his prepared field, the naked seed — brings the
earth over it, and buries it from his sight. The rains of
heaven fall upon it, and after a time, a tender green
spire shoots up through the overlying mould. You
search for its som-ce, and the kernel of wheat is not
there. But a new life was in it, when planted in the
ground. That life has been developed, and the stem
and roots have shot forth. There is a reviviscence from
the gi-avd of the parent seed, which grows up into a re-
constructed identity with the past, and waves at length,
in all the luxuriance of harvest."
" Animal life has like analogies. The silk-worm lives
its day here, and does up its work, — weaves its own
winding-sheet,— digs its grave, and dies in it. But look
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS. 97
there some ten days after, and you notice that a variega-
ted, beautiful, winged insect has eaten its way out of
that sepulchre, with new capacities of motion, and new
instincts and habits of life altogether."
" Transfer, now, your gaze to that joyous butterfly,
yonder, buoyant in mid-air, over flood and field and
flower, sporting in the sun-beam, and reflecting its hues
and brightness. It is but the reviviscence of some
worm at your feet, which had crept away in obscurity
to die, and from whose unconscious chrysalis state it is
thus metamorphosed, and reproduced, that emblem of
ecstasy and delight you now behold it."
" How different the new laid e^^, from the perfected
and sprightly form which, through a process of incuba-
tion, at length bursts its shell, and leaps forth into life
and activity from its dark enclosure I The embryo state
of all animals, whether oviparous or viviparous, is as
different from that which after is, as are our present
body and state, and habits of existence here, * from the
hody that shall he.'' So that, in respect to the resurrec-
tion of the body, as connected with the future life, we
have many obvious and instructive analogies in the life
that now is."
Another volume will soon be published under the
title of "The Being of God, Moral Government and
Theses in Theology." Upon this the author bestowed
his maturest thoughts, and never did his mind seem
more clear and vigorous, and intent upon profound
thought, than in the last months of his life.
Some of the papers that follow this memoir, are of the
7
98 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PRESS.
same argumentative, elaborate and abstruse character ;
but those which relate to Europe and some others, will
command, perhaps, more general acceptance, and be
read with greater pleasure. They indicate an observing,
thoughtful, practical and philosophical type of mind.
It is important here to add that Dr. Squier contribu-
ted a few productions to the American Tract Society ;
and these have enjoyed a large and useful circulation.
Their names, with the number that had been published,
up to 1865, are as follows : —
No. 440. The Stricken Bride, 376,000.
" 464. Counsel to the Converted, 391,000.
" 481 . Why are you not a CTiristian ? 560,000.
" 483. ^Vhy yet Impenitent ? 446,000.
Her Feet go Down to Death, (about). .40,000.
The aggregate number of copies circulated is, . . . 1,813,000.
INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER. 99
CHAPTER X.
INTELLECTUAL, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.
Notices of the intellectual character of Dr. Squier are
scattered through some of the previous chapters of this
work, (particularly chapters VII, VIII, IX,) and the ma-
terials are abundant in his miscellaneous writings, con-
tained in this volume, for the reader to form thence a
just estimate of it for himself. It is deemed, therefore,
quite superfluous to add further remarks upon this sub-
ject, though it gives great pleasui-e to subjoin the fol-
lowing brief and very just estimate of Dr. Squier's in-
tellectual character, from the pen of a highly competent
judge. Rev. Prof Wilson, of Hobait College, Geneva : —
" Dr. Squier was no common man. He possessed a
mind of very unusual grasp, and comprehensiveness of
thought, and was probably as free from naiTowness of
views and bigotry as any man ever was, or as a man
with any earnest convictions could well be. He pos-
sessed a deep insight into character, and a large share
of administrative ability. He was a profound thinker
also, and remarkably fearless in the adoption of his opin-
ions — though perfectly free from recklessness or harsh-
ness — and with a remarkable boldness and vigor in as-
serting what he believed to be true ; he always encour-
aged both by word and manner, a like boldness and in-
dependence in others. He was remarkably genial and
100 DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL CHARACTER.
good-hearted in his intercourse with others, and by his
death has left a vacancy in the church to which he be-
longed, in the social circle which he adorned, and in the
hearts of those who loved him, which no other person
can ever fill."
The domestic and social character of Dr. Squier is thus
portrayed by one who has known him intimately, and
shared for weeks together the hospitalities of his house,
for many years, and has thus enjoyed the best opportu-
nities of reaching a correct conclusion : —
" The social chatacteri sties of Dr. Squier were best
appreciated by residents in his household and by his oc-
casional guests. He was given to hospitality and knew
how to entertain those around him, so as to make them
at perfect ease — free from every embaiTassment. His
deportment was gentle, affectionate and unostentatious.
While in conversation he would conform to the wishes
of others ; he was most in his element when speaking
on topics of special interest, relating to science, litera-
ture, general politics, history, morals and religion ; al-
ways conversing like one who took a deep interest in
the subject before him. His largeness of heart and his
wide range of thought would then become manifest.
He seldom indulged in trifling conversation. A little
vein of artless pleasantry would sometimes appear. But,
though generally grave, he was of a cheerful, happy
temperament. His dwelling was no place for censori-
ousness. Christian courtesy and kindness were delight-
fully manifested in all his daily intercourse."
" He was fond of children. His genial manner se-
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL CHARACTER. 101
cured confidence and love as they would hang about
him."
" Those who bowed with him around the family al-
tar felt that it was a hallowed place. He ever seemed
like one in communion with the Holy One. For him
to live was Christ. He eminently dwelt in God. ' He
that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.' His heart over-
flowed with love."
The domestic traits of Dr. Squier appear to great ad-
vantage in his private correspondence which for many
years has been preserved ; but it is chiefly interesting in
revealing the arduous labors, the earnest zeal, self-sacri-
fice, and devotion to his work which distinguished his
efiforts in behalf of Auburn Seminary, and subsequently
as corresponding secretary and agent for the cause of
Home Missions in Western '^ew York.
We obtain a very pleasing view of his character as it
shone forth in his own house — the best place for the
study of character — in the extracts here appended from
a few of the letters ^vi-itten just after his death to Mrs.
S., by some nephews and nieces, who seem to have ap-
preciated in no common degree the great worth of their
, departed uncle, as a friend and relative : —
" Dear Aunt Squier : — We have heard of dear Un-
cle's triumphant death, and of the beautiful spirit ol
resignation with which you met this separation from one
who has borne the burden of life with you through
many years of changing experience. While our sym-
pathies sun-ound you in this hour of loneliness, we
would not recall Uncle from the home his spirit longed
102 DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL CHARACTER.
to occupy. His life was so full of the Christian ele-
ment, and his old age the ripening into an Indian sum-
mer, whose gentle atmosphere was grateful to all who
felt it, that it only needed this peaceful departure to
give completeness and perfection of beauty to that life.
May the God who befriended him be your supporter and
comforter, now that this strong human j^rop is removed."
" Uncle has been a very dear Uncle to me, and your
visits to us as well as ours to your hospitable roof have
always been bright and happy spots in my life. If a
good Providence shall permit these visits to be repeated
without him, as I hope it may, we shall feel his loss the
more. It was a great blessing that the sainted one was
permitted to speak such precious words of consolation
to you all before his departure, and that Uncle Thomas
and Aunt Mary were suffered to be present in these last
sad yet joyful days.. With how many mercies our Fa-
ther tempers the cup of affliction He presents to our
lips !"
" Many times during the day do I peer over the space
separating us, into your narrowed circle and refresh my
heart by a look into your loved faces, and while I see
you all at different hours of the day, evening or night,
the great vacancy in your circle is ever present before
me. But down from the shining bights above, a soft
and soothing light is ever gilding the vacant seat at
the table, the desk, the lounge, where full oft the weary
body, so dear to us, used to rest. In place of the loving
voice calling "wifey," you catch an echo of that won-
DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL CHARACTER. 103
drous song of praise to Him who hath loved us and
washed us in his own blood. You hear no more the fa-
miliar step in the hall or about the house, but have only
to shut the ear to earthly sounds, and there steals through
the listening sense the tread of the ten thousand times
ten thousand, and thousands of thousands as they come
from the east and west, the north and south, to cast
their crowns before Him ' who died and is alive again,
and who liveth forever more.' Thus to me your beau-
tiful home is surrounded and filled with these blessed
reminders of the brighter, better home beyond."
" My heart is with you in overflowing sympathy, in
your hour of loneliness and bereavement ; your life-long
companion taken from your side ; the tenderness and
affection so long your support and happiness cut off by
death, and no human voice will ever respond to your
most secret thoughts so truly and understandingly again.
But my deai-ly beloved Aunt, I cannot really say cut of
hy death, nor can I, even with a full appreciation of your
personal loss, mourn as I would for one without hope, — *
that hope anchored beyond the storms ! Dear, revered,
loving Uncle Squier, gone ! but gone home I and to his
clear faith, the valley was nothing to pass through,
while the light of heaven gleamed over it ; yes I al-
most feel sure he had no doubts or fears : his logical
mind and sound judgment gave him unerring trust and
unruffled peace, which seemed always to say ' I know
that my Redeemer liveth.' This has always been a
pleasure for me to think of and I have so often wished
that I might live near you or Aunt Mary with your no-
104 DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL CHARACTER.
ble husband, to complement all that our poor weakness
needs to guide, to help and support us, in human sym-
pathy, so that I might gain something in the way of
strength, by their wise and affectionate counsel. Dear
Uncle ! your work is done ! earnestly and sincerely, and
more and more in child-like humility, did you labor
for your Master ; and now, all suffering, all care, all dim
doubts, all haunting fears, all anxiety and weakness, ex-
changed for clear sight, holy raptui-e and triumphant
joy, in the presence of the Saviour who bought you !
Not one longing wish do you send for his return, as you
stand gazing into heaven, but still the beautiful track of
heavenly light his spirit left in its upward flight may
rest upon the sad clouds of human sorroiv. Oh you
must miss him everyivhere ! His heart always leant lov-
ingly to you, my dear Aunt, (as well it might) and this
is the foundation of our human loves and sympathies —
very tender and kind in his feelings, and gi-owing more
so as he grew older, your hearts became more and more
united."
We add an extract from one more letter, that from T.
P. Handy, Esq. :
" I shall hardly be able to realize that Dr. Squier is
no more. His death was quite unexpected both to my-
self and Mrs. H. We have known him during these
forty years only to esteem and love him. His pleasant
and benign face was one of those I always delighted
to look upon in my visits to Geneva. We shall greatly
miss him not only in his society, but his counsels and
his prayers. The church has sustained a gi'eat loss, for
DOMESTIC AKD SOCIAL CHARACTER. 105
he loved it, and labored for its welfare ; and his earnest
prayers so often heard are now no more."
" You need not moui-n, my dear friend : he has only
passed over the river but just before us, and is permit-
ted to ' inherit the promises' while we are to tany till
the Master comes."
A brief extract from the letter of another friend, illus-
trative of the same social qualities, is subjoined : —
"^NTot since my dear father's death have I been so
deeply moved as when I heard that Dr. Squier had
passed away from earth. He was next to my father. I
had known, and revered, and loved him almost as long,
and I always felt honored when he called me his child.
How well I remember his first kindly and afiectionate
greeting when he met our family as strangers at the old
Franklin House in Geneva, — it was a large-hearted wel-
come, and he was ever the same genial and true friend,
from that day down to the time when I last grasped his
hand, three and a half years ago. It is to his memory
as a warm-hearted friend, that I wish especially to bear
my humble tribute."
" I need not speak of him as a scholar, or as a Divine.
There are monuments on every side of his ability, his
energy, and his persevering industry. Let his works
praise him."
The religious tone and energy of Dr. Squier'' s mind are
plainly discerned in his writings, but are also most beau-
tifully and impressively exhibited in the account of his
last days, presented in the following chapter ; set forth
106 RELIGIOUS CIIAKACTER.
also, and commended in all the letters of condolence and
sympathy included in this memoir, to which, therefore,
it will be sufficient to direct the reader's attention, that
he may be furnished with ample and concuiTent testi-
mony to the religious attainments and spirit of our de-
parted and revered friend.
We have seen his character exhibited to gi'eat advan-
tage, in the field of Christian enterprise, in the cause of
Academic, Collegiate, and Theological Education, and
in the planting and fostering of numerous churches in
Western New York. It should not be omitted, that
his character, as a Christian patriot, was ever prominent
dming our late National stmggle, and that his influence
in respect to it was, on all suitable occasions, strongly
thrown in behalf of the right. The noble stand which
he took in behalf of the American government, at the
meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in Switzerland, in
1861, entitles him to the esteem and the gi-atitude of
every friend of a united, undivided country ; for it must
be remembered that our national cause was at that time
most unpopular in the European mind, and it required
no small amount of moral coui*age to enter upon its de-
fence in such a presence. How manly that defence
was, may be seen on the perusal of his speech on a sub-
sequent page in Part II., nor was that speech without an
effective influence for good to our national cause. Ref-
erence also should be made to the latter part of the
second lecture on European Topics, in which are intro-
duced the circumstances in which that speech was de-
livered.
FUNERAL SERMON. 107
But the portraiture of Dr. Squier's character, social,
intellectual and religious, is rendered more complete by
here subjoining the graphic observations of the Rev.
Dr. Hogarth, (his former pastor, and a most intimate
friend,) which form the concluding portion of the
Funeral Sermon, which he preached in Geneva, to his*
old congregation, from the text, " Blessed are the dead
that die in the Lord." Rev. 14: 13.
" It is fitting that I should render to you such brief
judgment of this brother as my love for him will sug-
gest, and all the facts of his life will sustain. He had
his faults, and none knew them more thoroughly than
he did. And he complained against himself with an
honest self-reproach. If I should attempt the language
of unmodified eulogy, the memory of his frankness and
humility would reproach me. Such language, he would
say, can only be true of the ' Sinless One.' Be assured,
I know that he would not ask me to say for him what
he never said for himself We leave his mistakes where
we buried him, — and turn to such estimate of the man
as a few moments will allow.
" His social nature was genial. If at any time he
seemed to be reserved or difficult of approach, it was
probably owing to some occupation of the mind, or to
some impression that his opinion or friendship was not
really desired. He was specially frank in his feelings,
and preserved his sympathies so fresh that the young
found him a companion, and the men of his age found
him a friend.
His home was always open to the ministry, — and at
108 FUNERAL SERMON.
no man's board were they more cheerfully welcomed, or
more generously entertained. He was happy always
when a large circle was about him, and full of enjoy-
ment. It may be that his absence from home on his
agencies, and an occasionally cold reception, such as
agents meet, taught him the lesson of a christian cour-
tesy and hospitality. But the lesson came to a nature
that was prompt to receive it : and so his heart often
ovei-flowed to meet and greet his friends. He knew how
to sympathize with the afflicted. He was not formal
and ostentatious in his sympathy. While I was with
you, God called to Himself one of my own babes. He
came to me in that new experience of grief as no other
man came, and spoke to me not in the usual formula of
condolence with the afflicted. He said nothing of the
duty of submission, — of the more happy state of the
dead and other things to w^hich only the blindest and
most formal assent could be given. But he talked of
the humanity and brotherhood of Jesus, until I found
myself leaning upon Him with a heart calmed and sus-
tained by the words of love. This power of Mr.
Squier did not come from any similar experience, for hie
had none, — but from a gentle nature, sanctified by the
grace of God.
" His geniality was obvious in the rare control of his
speech which always distinguished him. Few men had
more occasion at times for bitterness of speech, because
few suftered more from that cause. I have yet to find
the man who knew him to indulge in severe language
by way of retaliation. The public acts of a public man
that were open to criticism, he fairly canvassed. But he
FUNERAL SERMON. 109
was not petulent with his tongue. He was accustomed
to apologize for the severe things said of himself, by re-
plying — that he was misunderstood — that the persons
never intended what their language involved — that they
could not desire to harm him. This forgiving temper
was constant, — and these words were not the freak of a
momentary feeling of good nature.
" As a part of this geniality, there was in him a quaint
and quiet humor, lying, as it always does, near to his
highest piety and best faculties. It was not gross, — did
not find indulgence in coarse jests, and in practical
jokes. But there was a keen sensibility to real wit, and
his gratification at the expression of it would ripple over
his face in a most happy smile. There were fountains
of good feeling in him, and they were not sealed foun-
tains. And so, he was full of cheerful talk, and made a
pleasant companion.
" His mind was at once comprehensive and growing.
It was always in training. At no time was he indifiier-
ent to the ideas that moved the men of thought. After
all his agencies had been resigned, and he had time at
his command, he was often in the study. This tendency
to intellectu.al pursuits always interested him in schools
and colleges, and accounts for his connection with them
through so many years of his life. That interest never
abated.
" Moreover, he read much with his pen in hand, and
made full notes of the suggestions which his reading
awakened. Only a studious and industrious man will
employ his pen. The di-ift of his mind was to philo-
sophical study. It even entered into his sermons ; and
110 FUNERAL SERMON.
men who live by excitement more than by reflection,
sometimes thought they lacked the emotional element.
The things which he wrote, and his general conversa-
tions showed rather a penetration into given themes,
than a broad culture. He did not so much prosecute
general scholarship as particular lines of thought for
which the bias of his mind fitted him. A man's library
indicates usually the breadth and scope of his reading.
The range of topics which he treats suggests his modes
and direction of thought. He read and wrote within
the sphei'e of mental and moral philosophy. In these
studies he was constantly seeking in the human mind a
rational basis on w^hich to stand and address men on the
grand themes of the gospel. He aimed to find and un-
fold a philosophy that sustains God's moral sovereignty, —
man's personal free-agency and consequent responsibili-
ty, — the personal agency of man in his own sinfulness, —
the honest intention of a salvation ofiered to his accept-
ance, — and his ability, under an economy of grace, to
accept that salvation. He felt the difiiculty of urging
men to receive a gospel which philosophy said they had
no power to accept. He attempted a solution and re-
statement of the principles involved in the adjustment
of the difficulties clinging to this subject. His path
was at right angles with the old philosophy, in many
respects, and not always in harmony with the accredited
and installed theology. With all deference to his own
judgment on the 'salient points' of his life, I must
affirm my conviction that the salient point reached him
when he was liberated from the power of his own past,
and found his account with his own mind in the use of
FUNERAL SEKMON. Ill
his own powers. That personal freedom from the tram-
mels of authority and the technicalities of creed, was
the grand act of emancipation which advanced him an
half century in his studies. Men will differ on the
question, whether he succeeded in the solution of all the
implied problems. They cannot doubt that the attempt
was honest and the treatment thorough. I think it
mainly successful. He died in the full conviction that
truth will ultimately be found in the direction indicated
by his own lines of thought. These two continents of
thought — the philosophical and the religious — may not be
united by this cable which he laid. But the main course
and soundings will be safe for some other attempt At
least he was in sympathy with the broadest thinking of
his time. The things which he has written will remain,
and will prove that his brain was not idle in a stirring
age.
" His religious experience was in sympathy with his
habits of thought, — for there was symmetry in his sys-
tem, and in his general character. His type of religious
life was not largely emotional. And yet, I am told,
that through your last revival he was overflowing with
tender solicitude, and fervent prayer, and was always in
the place of daily worship when his health permitted.
Still I should say his religion was not of the demonstra-
tive sort, — not sportive and fitful, and kaleidosisopic. It
was rather principled, — having its roots in the truth,
and in faith. He could give * reason for the hope that
was in him.' His life could be stated in appreciable
terms. It was a religion of intelligence as well as of feeling ,
that sustained and ruled him. It was therefore reliable.
112 FUNERAL SERMON.
and not subject to the painful alternations which mark
the purely emotional type of piety. When, at the last,
however, his faith rose to full assurance, his communion
with Jesus was very touching in its tenderness, and
bursts of gratitude and joy broke from his lips. But
the time of ' open vision' was drawing on, and his full
heart uttered all the joys that had lain silent in its quiet
depths.
" So fashioned by nature and by grace, — so improved
by culture, this friend and brother was with us for many
years. He loved Christ and trusted Him to the end.
Those ' statutes that were his song in the house of his
pilgrimage,' are his fuller song in his enduring home.
' Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord/ "
HIS LAST DAYS. 113
CHAPTER XI.
HIS LAST DAYS.
For several months before his departure, Dr. Squier
had manifested an uncommon interest in the promotion
of the Redeemer's kingdom. God favored Geneva,
during the winter and spring, with a large outpouring
of His Holy Spirit, which seems to have originated in
a Morning Union Prayer Meeting, of difl'erent denom-
inations, Avhich commenced the second week in January,
and is still continued.
These and other meetings Dr. Squier, though in quite
feeble heanih, attended several times a week, up to the
period when bodily prostration at length confined him
to his house ; and scarcely ever did he attend a meeting,
without rising in his place, and lifting up his voice in
prayer, and pouring forth words of christian wisdom
and exhortation. His soul was evidently full and over-
flowing with thoughts and sentiments bearing on the
great question of human salvation and the glory of God.
He was often heard to say, during these months, that he
felt he was doing up his last works, and would soon
enter into his rest. And none could witness these
spontaneous, frequent, constant, spiritual labors for the
good of souls, and not suspect that the Great Master
was preparing him to " go up higher." It must be re-
membered that he had at this time no pastoral charge ;
8
114 HIS LAST DAYS.
wag under no formal obligations thus to labor, but was
prompted solely by love to the place of prayer, the
cause of truth, and the God of Zion.
When he was no longer able to meet with God's peo-
ple in the place of daily Morning Prayer, and especially
when he had been called to minister in the upper sanc-
tuary, they deeply and tenderly felt the loss of his pres-
ence, and co-operation and sympathy. For many days,
dining his last illness, it was most edifying and affecting
to hear the earnest, heart-felt prayers and thanksgiWngs
which they poured forth in relation to him before the
mercy seat. The place of prayer seemed nothing less
than an ante-chamber of heaven. And for weeks, after
the good man's departure, the frequent references to the
grace of God which had been manifested in his chamber
of sickness and of death, diffused through all hearts the
spirit of the heavenly world, and exerted a most saluta-
ry and delightful influence.
The- last sickness of Dr. Squier w^as of but few days
duration, and attended with no disturbance or impairing
of his strong and active mental powers. It was only a
gradual and yet somewhat rapid failure in the bodily
functions and strength, so that the interviews with
Christian friends were mutually gratifying and instruc-
tive. For nearly a week before he passed away, he felt
assured that each day would be the last, and he so ex-
pressed himself to his friends, accompanied with the'
utterance of desire that it might be the last. Tliis arose
not from any bodily suffering from which it would be
natural to desire relief ; nor from anything disagi-eeable
or painful in his domestic relations, for never was there
HIS LAST DAYS. 115
a fonder husband than he, nor a more devoted wife than
she who waited on him day and night with most affec-
tionate and careful and tender assiduity; nor had he
anything to complain of in other attendant circum-
stances, for he was blessed with a beautiful residence
and with all the home attractions that his heart could
demand. The only explanation that can be given of
his desire to depart, of his impatience indeed to depart,
is to be sought in the attractions that God had thrown
about the heavenly state, and in the strength of faith
and holy love which the Divine Spirit had created in
the breast of the dying saint.
The calmness, the serenity, the collectedness, the
careful thoughtfulness about the comfort of her whom
he was so soon to leave a widow, the calm arrangement
of all the circumstances of his approaching funeral, the
eager expectation of soon entering upon the great tran-
sit to the other world — all these were fitted to produce
in the beholder a profound impression of the power ot
faith in the unseen and the eternal — and of the unspeak-
able value of such an assurance of hope as to the
Christian's inheritance beyond the grave.
INTERVIEW WITH REV. T. M. HOPKINS, GENEVA.
Mr. Hopkins thus writes : —
At my first call upon Dr. Squier, he expressed him-
self somewhat surprised that I had not called before.
This explained, he spoke in general terms of the present,
as being beyond a doubt, his last illness ; that he re-
garded himself "in readiness to depart and be with
Christ," and as being glad that he was about to exchange
this mortal for immortality.
y' OT Tat
116 HIS LAST DAYS.
The \\Titer then mentioned the fact, that the views
which he (Dr. S.) had advanced on the great points of
Christian Theology had been widely, perhaps far more
widely extended and generally embraced than he was
aware of; that these views had done much to modify
and mould the opinions of men on the great themes of
religion, throughout the cu'cle of his acquaintance ;
that many, upon coming in contact mth them, had
found great relief on points which before were not
clear. He replied, " I am gi-atified, veiy much, to hear
you say that; am inclined to think it is, in some re-
spects, so, as I have heard others (naming several) make
very similar statements."
After a few moments pause, he added : " I have been
reviewing, so far as I was able, the great themes in
theology and religion, upon which I have dwelt for the
past thirty or forty years, and on many of which I have
written, such as the Being of God, the incarnation, the
crucifixion, etc., etc. The elements of Clu'istianity, one
by one, I have endeavored to look at from my present
position as a new stand-point, with a view to determine
how far I may say that I fully believe them. I have
looked at the subject of God in Christ, reconciling the
world unto Himself, and have found my faith, my con-
fidence in that aiTangement, greatly strengthened. I
have ventured so far as to inquu-e if the recorded fact,
that Christ was bom of a virgin, seemed in hai-mony
with what we know of the Infinite and His pui-poses.
I do not speak of this," he added, " as anything new or
uncommon in the line of my investigations, for I have
often had my attention directed to that single point with
HIS LAST DAYS. 117
a feeling of deep and indescribable interest, deeper per-
haps than to almost any other in the great scheme, and
I am satisfied, fully, that it is all right ; that it could
not have been otherwise than as it is, if God would save
lost man. It could not be altered in any respect with-
out destroying the whole plan, or frustrating the pur-
poses of an infinitely wise God."
Many things were uttered by him, of a similar import,
which cannot be here repeated ; but, one general re-
mark we can make, as we close the record of our first
inteiwiew with him at that time. He seemed to have
been placed, in the Providence of God, where he could
survey the past at a single glance, (a fact that he ap-
peared to be fully conscious of,) and the view which he
took of his investigations, as well as his decisions, was
even more than satisfactory.
After a day or two I called again; he was much
weaker in body, but so far as could be seen, quite as
strong in mind. He could converse but little ; but as
far as any one could see, his mind was as clear and as
vigorous as ever. He had no desire to stay a moment
after it should please our Heavenly Father to call him
away. The question was put to him, as to his present
support ; " whence do you draw your greatest consola-
tion % What is it upon which your eye fixes, Avheu you
go in search of the foundation upon which you now
rest with so great satisfaction f He paused for a mo-
ment, as if casting about in mind for an answer. Dur-
ing that pause, it was stated to him, that when Dr.
Watts was on his dying bed, the same, or a very similar
question was put to him, and he replied, " I am finding
118 HIS LAST DAYS.
my chief support from those plain and simple promises
in the Word of God, which, dm'ing my active life, I
was so unwise, as, in a measm*e, to overlook. My mind
is now satisfied T\dth repeating over and again, ' I will
never leave thee, nor forsake thee : lo I I am with thee
alway, even unto the end.' "
The thought seemed to interest him very much : he
appeared instantly to be engaged in applying it to his
own case: "Yes," said he, "that is it; there am I; in
days of health and bodily strength, it was more in ac-
cordance v.dth my inclination, or bent of mind, to be
endeavoring to master those strong points which are
sometimes left in the back gi-ounds of theology. I
certainly overlooked those plain and easy promises which
are now my chief support, and the source of my pres-
ent consolation. I love to throw myself wholly upon
them."
He then desired the writer to repeat some of them,
w^hich he did. One he failed to repeat coiTCCtly ; the
dying ma"n took it out of his mouth, con-ected and
finished it. As expressive of his present condition and
future prospects, the triumphant words of the Apostle
were here introduced, — "For I am now ready to be
offered and the time of my departure is at hand ; I have
fought a good fight," etc., etc. The mistake was made
of " the crown of glory," instead of that of " righteous-
ness.^' which he here con-ected as before. He asked us
to sing some of those precious hymns which he had
been accustomed to sing in the meetings of the past
winter ; and named, " Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to
Thy bosom fly."
HIS LAST DAYS. 119
The hymn was sung, according to his request, by all
present that could sing. He not only seemed to unite
with us in the most cordial and happy manner, but ap-
peared to be borne away from earth by its expressive
sentiment. "Now," said he, "We will unite with
brother Hopkins in a short prayer; one right to the
point. Come and kneel down close to me, that I may
hear and follow you without difficulty." A request
which was at once complied with ; and we parted to
meet, as we hope and believe, in heaven. T. M. H.
LAST INTERVIEW WITH REV. DR. GRIDLEY, REV. A. A. WOOD,
REV. J. J. PORTER, AND OTHERS.
The following paper also, from Dr. Gridley, will be
read with deep interest : —
Waterloo, 15tli August, 1866.
My Dear Brother : — You have requested some rem-
iniscences of an interview which I had with my late
friend, Dr. M. P. Squier, a few days before his death. I
have delayed compliance with your request, both on ac-
count of urgent professional and other causes, and the
hope that you would secure from a more competent
hand what you ask from mine. In the visit to which
you refer, I was accompanied by Rev. J. J. Porter, of
Watertown ; Dr. Wood, and Messrs. Dunn and Smith,
of Geneva.
As Mr. Porter and myself had not seen Dr. Squier
during his illness, we suggested to his wife, that, on
entering his room we should be seated near his bed.
He received us all very cordially, and expressed his
pleasure in seeing our faces. His pale countenance and
feeble hand indicated that life was receding, and both
120 HIS LAST DAYS.
himself and family were hourly looking for his depar-
tm-e. Our call was made on Monday, and, if my recol-
lection serves me, this was the day upon which his
mind had previously fixed for his ascension to gloiy.
His ability to converse, however, somewhat sui-prised
us. His thoughts, it is true, were uttered with deliber-
ation, indicative of physical weakness, and ,yet with
strength of voice and distinctness of articulation which
rendered them quite intelligible. His stand-point, his
vision, his manner, and even his language were those of
the Christian philosopher ; and, for the space of some
ten minutes, he descanted upon the high themes of the
gospel, in a manner that held our attention as the skill-
ful professor would hold the minds of his pupils. In
speaking of himself, he said that he had seen enough of
earth, and was now ready to lay off the body, and then
expatiated upon the enlarged liberty which his soul
would experience in its almost unlimited range, and in
its access to sources of knowledge and enjoyment here
unknown.
When asked if, in his cu'cumstances, Jesus as a Sa-
viour was his full and satisfying reliance, he gave the
logical reply — " Of course ; there is no other way of /?/*<?,"
and proceeded to speak of the relations of the Saviour
to the wants of the world. His mind, so far as we
could discover, was as clear as a morning without clouds.
Indeed the mastery of the intellect, the control of the
reason was so complete, as to hold the emotional part of
his nature in perfect check. His whole manner was as
composed as it could have been in his study, in full
health, and in free conversation with friends on his
HIS LAST DAYS. 121
favorite topics. In the circumstances, this preponder-
ance of the intellectual became at first a little oppressive
to his brethren. Not that those of us who knew him
best were surprised, or uninterested in what he uttered.
On the contrary, we recognized the thoughts, the man-
ner and language, as in perfect keeping with his habits
of thinking, and form of expression, when in health.
We were instructed. Our own minds were quickened
by contact with his, as iron sharpeneth iron. And yet,
we desired some digression from the high current of his
discourse, or rather some application of truth to our
own souls, which his past experience and present posi-
tion so eminently fitted him to make. We were almost
impatient, that our brother when resting so calmly on
hopes anchored within the veil, should lose any time in
communicating to us words of earnest entreaty that we
should prepare also for the coming of the Son of Man.
We knew the kindness of his heart. We knew that
his soul was a well of emotion, and that the fountain
when smitten would send forth its waters. We ven-
tured therefore to ask for a word of counsel and exhor-
tation, which proved as effectual as the rod of Moses in
securing water to his thirsty countrymen. At first he
replied, that what he had said had been directed to us,
and then added in earnest and emphatic tone, " Work on
brethren, work on, ivork on for Jesus. ''^
At this point it seemed necessary to relieve him from
further conversation, and prayer was proposed ; and the
earnestness with which he responded to the petitions
offered, showed how entirely he rested on the gi'ace of
God through the Gospel.
122 HIS LAST DAYS.
We soon took leave of him, with impressions we shall
not soon forget. In some respects, this interview sur-
passed in interest and instruction anything of the kind
which had fallen under our observation. Never were
we so sensibly reminded that a constitutional bias, or a
habit of thought and life, or " ruling passion," is strong
in death. Rarely, if ever, have we seen such advantage
of the mental and spiiitual over the mortal, or such en-
tire forgetfulness of death as an enemy. The quiet, sun-
light, peace, victoiy, of this brother, was as complete as
one can conceive to be possible on this side ol the grave.
What lies beyond the valley so occupied his vision, that
the crossing seemed of no account. The waters of the
dark river were already divided, leaving a path so
illumined with the pillar of fire, that the pilgrim coveted
the word that should bid him to pass over.
We have been happy to learn from members of the
family, that this assurance of hope continued to the last ;
that no shade of change appeared save in this — that as
the hour of release drew nearer, the intellectual gave
more and more place to the emotional, and the convic-
tions and manly faith of the Christian philosopher be-
came more perfectly imbued with the tenderness and
affection of the little child.
Your brother.
Rev. J. R. Boyd. S. H. Gridley.
LAST INTERVIEWS WITH THE EDITOR.
Less than a week before he passed away. Dr. Squier
sent for the writer, to ask him to take charge of the pa-
pers which he should leave behind for publication, and
HIS LAST DAYS. 123
though expecting to live scarcely another day, he con-
ducted the interview with all the calmness and compos-
ure that could have been exercised in perfect health.
Two days after, the WTiter had with him a last inter-
view, which he never can forget, nor remember without
profit and gratitude. It was indeed a privilege to visit
the death-bed of Mr. Squier. It was not a scene of
melancholy gloom, of doubt, of distrust, of alarm, or of
apathy or indifference. It was not the scene so often
witnessed, of a clinging to earth, and of an unwilling-
ness to be torn from it ; it was one of peaceful, conten-
ted, happy resignation to the Divine will, under the
conviction that this sickness was to be his last; nay,
it was a scene of joyful hope in Christ and assurance of
heaven, and desire to be freed from the incumbrance of
an earthly tabernaele. One day he said, " Why should
I be confined to this little speck of earth when I may
soon have the freedom of the universe ?" He longed to
depart and to be with Christ. He consciously enjoyed
even here, the sustaining, the comforting and strength-
ening presence of his Saviour.
On the occasion above referred to. he said to me, as
I stood beside him, " What is that about the general
assembly ?" Discerning the drift of his question, I read
to him from Heb. xii, " Ye are come unto Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jeru-
salem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the
f/eneral assembly and church of the first-born, which are
written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to
the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the
Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of
124 HIS LAST DAYS.
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of
Abel."
'*' What does that mean/' said he, " to whom does it
apply?" "To tiTie Christians," I answered, "to such
as you, and in a brief space you will know far more of
its high and precious import than any of us can now
conceive."
When I was reading the passage, he looked up to me
with such an obviously appreciative faith in what was
read, and with such uncommon interest in every word,
as was deeply touching, and this, connected with the
circumstance that both he and I expected he would, ere
another day, be transported to that very Mount Zion —
the heavenly Jerusalem, and into the presence of Jesus
the Mediator of the New Covenant, gave an intensity
of meaning, and a deep reality to the scene described
by the Apostle, never before understood or felt.
" Read me some more," he said, at the same time af-
fectionately pressing my ai*m, which he held during the
intei*\'iew, and which he often pressed as if to indicate
his approval of what was read and his acceptance of it,
and delight in it. "Read me some more." I turned to
the next chapter of Hebrews and read: — "He hath said,
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee ; so that we may
boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear
what man shall do unto me." "Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, to-day, and forever." "Here have we no
continuing city, but we seek one to come." " Now the
God of peace that brought again from the dead our
Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through
the blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you per-
HIS LAST DAYS. 125
feet in every good work to do his will, working in you
that which is well pleasing in his sight, thi'ough Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen."
"Read some more," he added. I then turned to 1st
Pet., 1: 3, and read, "Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abund-
ant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resuiTection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an
inheritance incoiTuptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by
the power of God through faith unto salvation ready
to be revealed in the last time." "Jesus Christ, whom
having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see
him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory ; receiving the end of your faith, even
the salvation of your souls." "Hope to the end for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revela-
tion of Jesus Christ." "Ye were not redeemed with
corniptible things as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation, but with the precious blood of Christ as
of a Lamb without blemish and without spot." "All
liesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower
of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof
fadeth away ; but the word of the Lord endureth for-
ever."
Having read these precious words, so admirably suited
to sustain and comfort the good man in view of his de-
parture so near at hand, he drank them in as a very
thirsty man would drink the pm-est and coolest water.
Still he was not satisfied. "Give me some more," he
again said. I turned then to the second chapter, and
126 HIS LAST DAYS.
read, "To whom coming as to a living stone, disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also,
as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to
God by Jesus Christ." "Unto you therefore which be-
lieve he is precious."
Here I paused, and then said, "My dear brother, these
are your ' provisions for passing over Jordan,' an expres-
sion used I think by Mrs. Isabella Graham, or by Dr.
Scudder, I do not recollect which." "It was Mrs. Gra-
ham," he remarked. "Well," said I, "these are the
provisions which God this day supplies you with, to
sustain you in passing over Jordan, and I hope to meet
you hereafter on the other side." To which he replied
by a silent pressure of my arm and by an expressive
look of expectation and of pleasure. Oh, how refresh-
ing, how appropriate, how life-giving those grand and
solemn truths appeared, when read under such peculiar
circumstances ! In a few moments he repeated with
■gi'eat emphasis the line,
" Jesus, lover of my soul."
"Yes," remarked I, "Jesus has been, is now, and ever
will be the lover of your soul ; and oh, how great, how
matchless, how invaluable that love !" On parting with
him, he bade me " good-by," as though only for a day.
Early one morning, two or three days before he left
the world, he said, " Oh, must I pass another day on
earth? I had hoped ere this to be at home ;" and at the
close of a certain day, in looking out upon the setting
HIS LAST DAYS. 127
sun, he said, '• How glorious ! and yet how much more
glorious must its Maker be I"
On one occasion, he said to his friends, " What have
I any longer to pray for "? God the Father is mine ;
Jesus Christ is mine; the Comforter is mine; things
present and things to come are mine ; the universe is
mine. What more can I have ?" He said he did not
want a gloomy funeral ; he did not wish his survivors
to be sad or weep, or to put on the habiliments of
mourning for him, but to rejoice in the happier condi-
tion to which he was about to be advanced. He wished
that the funeral address might not be composed of the
usual topics of death, the grave, the bereavement ; but
treat of the resurrection, the life to come, the grace and
goodness of God towards him in his last hours.
At another time he said to a number of friends, " I am
such a little floating speck in the wide universe, it al-
most seems that God might forget me." " Not if the
very hairs of your head are numbered," answered one.
'* That's it, that's it," rejoined he, with evident satisfac-
tion.
" Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the
only wise God, be honor and glory everlasting," was
repeatedly uttered by him with a smile. Once he ob-
served, '• I seem to be floating in an ocean of love. I
am this morning baptized in love." He would, when
he supposed himself to be alone, often talk to his
precious Saviour in words like these, "I love Thee;
Thou knowest, dear Saviour, that I love Thee ; and Thou
lovest me. I am satisfied in Thy love, dear, dear Sa-
128 HIS LAST DATS.
viour. I love Thee, and Thou hast a heart of love to
me."
Of his physician, Dr. Merrill, he once inquired, " Do
you think my dear Redeemer is coming for me to-
day 1 I am peaceful and happy, but anxious to go and
to be with Jesus, rather than remain. I want you and
other friends to pray for my speedy departure, if the
good Lord be willing." At another time he said to his
physician, " I don't believe Jesus will forget his prom-
ises, but yet I cannot help sometimes reminding Him
of them a little, just a little."
Two days before his death, he drew his physician
gently towards him, and said in a whisper, "God is
mine, Jesus is mine, and so all things, past, present and
future. There remains nothing more for me to ask. I
am only waiting to receive the glorious inheritance."
His physician says of him — " The day before his death
he spoke of himself as beyond the need of our feeble
prayers. His spirit seemed, indeed, to have entered
heaven many hours before his body ceased to breathe."
At another time he said, " How long do you think I
shall be detained here in this little part of God's works ?
I have done with earth. I want not things past, nor
things present. I have only to do with the future — the
higher state of being. I have done with earthly things.
I do not wish to stay in this little space of earth when
my Heavenly Father has such an unbounded universe
in which I may live and act. I exj^ect my Father will
lind me work there to do : I shall not be idle. I do not
know what He will make me do for Him. I may be
sent to other worlds on His errands of love."
HIS LAST DAYS. 129
One day his physician said to him, " You want to go
so much that it is hard to benefit you by medicine ; it
does you no good." He repHed, " I will take your med-
icines, and do all you direct, but this old body you can-
not raise up, its work is done."
To Dr. Dayton, coming into his room, he addi'essed
the inquiry, " Why am I kept here yet ?" Dr. D. re-
plied, " You never preached so powerfully as now from
this death-bed. We deej^ly feel in our morning prayer
meeting such a testimony of the power of the gospel to
sustain in the dying hour." "Oh," said he, "I never
thought of it in that view. I will try to be patient."
As his wife was entering the room on one occasion,
he waved his hand and said, "I love you, but I want to
leave you. When will you let me go ! Why keep me
here?" She replied, "I shall soon be with you." He
said, " No ; you must stay a little longer ; you may be
ten years behind me; be a cheerful Chiistian; don't
cover your face in a black vail, as though you were of-
fended with God ; 'tis a heathenish practice, not Chris-
tian ; don't go about hanging your head ; let all see that
you are cheerful under affliction ; you will have to lay
this old body up there, (in the cemetery,) but I shall not
be there — 'tis only the body. Don't let your heart rest
in the grave — it contains the shell — the buttei-fly has
left it. I shall not be at my funeral, yet one should re-
spect himself enough to have every thing done decent-
ly." He then gave specific directions about his cofiin —
his di'ess therein — the place the coffin should occupy at
the funeral exercises — the course of the procession to
the grave. He also suggested who should preach his
9
130
HIS LAST DAYS,
funeral sermon, in accordance with his wife's ^\^shes.
Very early on the Thursday before he died, he asked
for his sister Hastings to pray with him, but on learning
that she had not yet risen, he said to his wife, " We will
pray together." Her prayer ended, he followed in a
very sweet, loving address to his Saviour God ; there
was a familiarity in all his addresses to the Infinite,
which seemed as though he was away from earth.
Such was the general tone of his mind during the
last ten days of his earthly life, with the exception of a
few houi's of mental darkness and distress about a week
before his departure, when the vision of past sins
troubled him ; but ere long he exclaimed, in substance,
" I was in gi-eat darkness and trouble, but my gracious
Saviour has let down his hand over the awful cloud and
lifted me up again into the sunhght of his presence."
When interrogated with regard to the views which
he entertained of the next world, he said that they cor-
responded much with those which the late Dr. Hitch-
cock of Amherst College had described, as cherished by
himself during a season of illness. He seemed impa-
tient to enter upon a more expanded field of action, of
observation, and enjoyment than he could have in the
body. He once said, " I don't know what my Father
may give me to do, but I expect to be active in tlie
wide universe of God."
Once he requested his brother-in-law. Dr. Hastings,
to sing his favorite Psalm, (the 90th.) : —
" O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home."
Ills LAST DAYS. 131
The last time the household were gathered around his
bed for family prayers, he looked on them all as they
were seated, and waving his hand he said, " I love you
all, but I desire to leave you" The last part of xv. of 1st
Corinthians was read, and the 23d Psalm. " The Lord
is my Shepherd" was sung. Dr. Hastings leading. Dr.
Squier then raised his hand and pointed to him, and
said, " That is not quite it. I have done with present
and past, and have only to do with the other world ;
sing 'My Heavenly Home.' " They then sang,
"My home is in Heaven, my rest is not here," &c.,
in a part of which he joined vocally.
He had taken leave of each member of the family at
different intervals during the last week, in an informal
manner. His farewell to his wife was given early on
Wednesday morning, a Christian neighbor only being-
present with her. It was calm, gentle, tender, simple,
conveying to her his testimony as to her wisdom in coun-
sel, her constancy of devotion to his comfort and hap-
piness all through their married life, and her unsurpassed
excellence in her household — a testimony delivered too
in such beautiful language and form of thought, that it
entirely overwhelmed her with a sense of her unworthi-
ness as in a low tone of voice he said, "Farewell, fare-
well."
That heart of love flowed out to all, but his care for
the future of his most devoted wife was peculiar. Each
member of the household had a charge from him to
minister in every way to her comfort and health and
happiness, after he should be withdrawn from her.
132
HIS LA.ST DAYS.
He frequently expressed the belief that he should not
know when he was about to make an exchange of
worlds. He often arranged his bodily position such as
he hoped it might be when the exchange came to be
made. As the period of his departure approached, there
was a change in his bodily condition, and he asked his
wife, " What does this mean ? I cannot long endure
this." She replied, '• 'Tis the release you have longed
for so much." Turning then his head, so that he might
look into her face, with his usual affection, he breathed
but a few minutes, and passed gently, peacefully, to his
everlasting rest. This event occurred on Friday morn-
ing, about ten o'clock, June 22d, 186G.
One of his clerical friends, (the Rev. Dr. Wilson,) with
whom he had been particularly intimate, thus writes con-
cerning him : —
He retained the complete possession of his faculties
to the veiy last ; was not only resigned, but happy, in
the prospect of his change, and in the hope of a glori-
ous immortality. His last days have been peculiarly
full of instruction to all who were permitted to know
of them, — his words, while perfectly cheerful, were
most solemn and impressive ; and his own sense of the
Divine goodness and favor, were such as have seldom
been equalled, and probably never surpassed. Those
who were privileged to be with him during the last days
of his life, feel as though they had made a nearer ap-
proach to a realization of the heavenly world than they
HIS LAST DAYS. 133
had ever before experienced, or had hoped to see in this
life.
Dr. Squier's pastor, the Rev. A. A. Wood, D. D., thus
writes of him in the N. Y. Evangelist of July 19th :
Though the infirmities of years and labors were upon
him, he engaged with his whole heart in the scenes of
religious revival with which God has recently favored
us. All seemed to feel that he was doing his last work
for the Master whose Gospel he preached, and whose
name he bore. There was a new fervor in his prayers,
and a new earnestness in his appeals, as, tasking to the
utmost his failing strength, he came daily, and often
twice a day, to lead our devotions, and to speak of the
things of God, — fervor and earnestness which gained
new intensity from the thought that the time might
shortly come when his voice would be silent among us.
We cannot soon forget his impressive appeals to the un-
repenting and delaying sinner to embrace at once an
offered Saviour, and to the children of God to rise to
the higher level of their duties and privileges, and give
themselves with new zeal to carry out God's great pur-
poses in behalf of our race.
In the later spring his strength began to fail him.
We missed him from the j^lace of daily prayer, and it
was soon found that, with no apparent disease, extreme
physical weakness had confined him to his house, then
to his room, and finally to his bed — the bed he w^as
never to leave till he left the earth. But in all these
days;7-though there were many and painful indications
that the outward man was perishing — there were indi-
134 HIS LAST DAYS.
cations more marked that the inner man was- renewed
day by day. Never was his intellect more vigorous —
never his view of God and the great plan of salvation
clearer — never his interest in the triumphs of truth and
the cause of religion deeper or stronger. None of
those whose privilege it was to be with him in these
last days can forget the peculiar calmness and serenity
of that dying bed. Even while he lingered with us,
his words seemed to be those of one not only ready to
be offered, but of one to whom the scenes of earth and
time had already become almost things of the past.
There was once the prayer, so natural to a mind like
his, which had ever loved to grapple with the profound-
est themes, that God would give him light. And this
prayer seemed to be wonderfully answered, as all clouds
passed away, leaving him "with nothing further to
pray for," as he said. " God is mine, Christ is mine,
the Universe in mine." To him death had lost all its
sting, the grave all its gloom, and peace, like a river,
filled the soul.
His friends in the ministry, who gathered around his
bed. will ever have before them the pale countenance
lighted up with unspeakable joy, while his words yet
linger in the ear, " Work for Christ." A. A. W.
Geneva, July 13, 1866.
The following is a very concise and accurate account,
taken also frt)m the New York Evangelist, of the life-
labors and of the last hours of Dr. Squier, from the pen of
Rev. F. E. Cannon, D. D., a fellow resident of Geneva for
HIS LAST DAYS. 135
many years, as well as a fellow-laborer in a similar de-
partment of Christian enterprise, and a member of the
same congregation : —
" He was widely known both in the ecclesiastical and
the literary world, having written much for the religious
papers and periodicals on profound metaphysical and
theological subjects, besides two volumes already pub-
lished, into which a great amount of strong argument
and thought is condensed ; and we are informed that
materials are left in manuscript, mostly prepared for the
press, sufficient for two more volumes, which in due
time will be given to the public.
"Dr. Squier was the first pastor of the oldest church
in the city of Buffalo, and was one of three ministers to
constitute the Presbytery of Buffalo at its organization.
His counsel and influence had much to do in planting
and nurturing churches throughout all that district of
Western New York. He was one of the founders of
Auburn Theological Seminary, and did much to arrange
its organization and course of study. He was the first
agent of the Home Missionary Society, laboring as such
through all the seventeen westerly counties of this State,
founding and aiding feeble churches for seven years.
"He was the originator, founder, and proprietor of '
the Geneva Lyceum for the education of young men.
It was mainly through his influence that the Female
Seminaiy of Geneva was established, which was for
many years so popular and prosperous under Mrs. Ricord
and Miss Th»rston. He assisted in founding and or-
ganizing Beloit College, and from his own means en-
dowed the chair of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy,
136 HIS LAST DAYS.
which he occupied with honor for a series of years.
These are some of the monuments of his life and work
in this world. He was the earnest friend of education,
both literary and theological, and many who now occupy
prominent posts, both in civil life and in the Gospel
ministiy, have reason to venerate and bless his memory.
" For the last three or fom* years, his physical system
showed signs of exhaustion, and gradually, without
much positive suffering or disease, he sank into the
arms of death. During all this time it was obvious to
his friends that he was ripening for heaven, and as he
approached the end, there was an unusual spiritual fer-
vor and unction upon his heart and upon his lips. His
soul fed upon the great doctrines of evangelical truth
and the divine promises till his faith became full assm*-
ance. Without a doubt, or a fear, or a cloud, he looked
into the broad future, which was all radiant and glowing
before him, and longed to depart. It is scarcely possi-
ble to conceive of a more sublime scene on earth than
his death-bed presented the last few days of his life.
With his mind clear and active to the last, and grasping
wider and wider \dews as the end approached, he at
length exclaimed, * God is mine, the blessed Saviour is
mine, the Comforter is mine, the promises are mine,
heaven is mine, all things j^resent and to come are
mine. I have nothing to ask or pray for. Let me go !'
" Thus passed away this loved and venerated father in
Christ to higher and nobler work in the immediate
presence of God. Stricken and bleeding hearts are lefl
behind, but they bless God for so signal a triumph of
IIIS LAST DAYS. 137
grace, and cry, ' Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good
in Thy sight.' This is not a starless crown."
F. E. C.
Geneta, July 13, 1866.
LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE AND SYMPATHY.
1. From Rev. Dr. Thos. S. Hastings, New York.
2. " " Geo. W. Wood, D. D., New York.
3. " " W. Clarke, D. D., Buffalo, N. Y.
4. " " J. B. Condit, D. D., Auburn Theological
Seminaiy.
5. " " Samuel M. Hopkins, D. D.
6. " " W. B. Sprague, D. D., Albany.
7. " " G. W. Heacock, D. D., Buffalo, N. Y.
From Rev. Thos. S. Hastings, D. D., Ncav York
City:—
Midnight, Monday, June 25, 1866.
My Dear Aunt : — The tidings came to-day — uncle
triumphant, and you calm, sustained, Christian : that
compensates me for the trial of not seeing uncle again
in the flesh. It is a real* grief to me that I cannot be
with you to-morrow, but all my friends said that it
would be trifling with my health to go and return as in
the circumstances I would be compelled to do. God
willing, I shall see you ere long, and we can talk togeth-
er of the goodness of the Lord, and of the glories of the
land of Beulah. Meanwhile we shall think of you to-
morrow as you bear the precious dust to the place of
burial, — seed for the resmTcction harvest. I know you
do not need my sympathy, but I cannot help telling you
138 HIS LAST DAYS.
that my heart goes out to you, and rejoices in the mer-
cies that sweeten the bitter cup, and in the calmness
with which you taste its dregs. This event brings up
years that had been hidden a long time in my memory :
childhood, youth, the beginning of my manhood and
my ministry: — uncle was associated with all these peri-
ods of my life. It is hard to realize that I shall see and
hear him no more. " Part of the host have crossed the
flood and part are crossing now." " "We are to the
margin come." God grant that our last end may be
like his who has just added another voice to the glori-
ous song. Fanny sends much love. I am glad father
and mother and cousin Kate are with you, — ^but more
than all that the Comforter is with you. Love to all.
Your affectionate nephew,
Thos. S. Hastings.
From Rev. Geo. W. Wood, D. D., New York:—
At Home, July 4, 1866.
Dear Aunt Squier : — I presume that you now have a
more vivid realization of the separation and affliction
involved in your bereavement than you had in its first
hours. There is usually an excitement of feeling at first,
which subsequently subsides ; and then the sense of
desolation is greater than during the continuance of that
excitement. When the daily round of duties is resumed,
and friends and the world are occupied with their own
affairs, leaving us more to ourselves, we miss the loved
one, and our heart feels the anguish of its loss as not
before. Such has been ever my own experience.
I therefore more desire to talk with you now, than I
HIS LAST DAYS. 139
did when your grief Avas assuaged by the special influ-
ences that affected it at first. I do not doubt that you
have increasingly the consolation of that sympathy
which so infinitely surpasses all that the dearest friends
can feel. That will never fail you. The consolation of
it will rise with every wave that may threaten to go
over you. Your appreciation of your dear husband's
gain, and thankfulness for his joy, will also increase
from day to day. The prospect of re-union in the
presence of Jesus must also become more and more de-
lightful ; and you will have an unshaken confidence in
the wisdom and goodness of the Lord's dealings with
you, and a growing gi'atitude for the promises which
are your portion.
Still, after all, nature will feel the stroke which cuts
to the centre of the heart. This must be in order to the
spiritual benefit of the affliction. May grace abound to
you, and deepen the work of sanctification even to its
perfect accomplishment !
I was intensely interested in all the details sent to us
of the dying experience. What an encouragement does
it give to our wavering faith in looking forward to our
own departure ! Such a triumph in death was a fitting
close to his life of faith. If the same sensible joy of
victory should be withheld from us, we may yet be as-
sured of the reality of victory. Why should we dread
to die, when we see how sweet and blessed a thing it is
to the believer in Jesus ?
That intensity of love which he manifested in his last
hours — what a revelation it gives of the character of the
glorified ! What a blessed world heaven must be !
140 HIS LAST DAYS.
Who would not wish to breathe its atmosphere of love ?
And how plainly we see what is the type of feeling after
which we should now aspire. Why cannot we have
more of it here ? With such a Saviour, such an exam-
ple, such a future to look forward to, surely we ought to
be more apt in learning the lesson which it is the object
of all discipline and all grace to teach us.
I have not yet seen the religious papers of this week,
but look for a notice' of Dr. Squier's funeral, and his
last hours, in one or more of them, from the pen of some
one in Geneva. In due time, doubtless, a more extend-
ed portraiture of him as a minister, teacher and ^\Titer,
will be given. His influence is by no means to pass
away with his mortal life.
Yours affectionately,
Geo. W. Wood.
From Rev. Walter Clarke, D. D.: —
Buffalo, June 23d, 1866.
I am Sony, dear Mrs. Squier, that I am obliged to go
at six o'clock Monday morning to Hudson, Ohio, to
deliver an oration at their commencement, and from
there to Detroit, to assist in the ordination of my son —
and that these indispensable engagements forbid my be-
ing with you, as I should otherwise be at the burial of
our dear departed and honored friend. I was prepared
to hear of his death by Dr. Wood's letter, the contents
of which I communicated to my jieople. I shall to-
morrow announce the event from my pul23it, and ask
some of the people to go down to be with you on
Tuesday. I hope they will go.
HIS LAST DAYS. 141
Your husband's memory will be precious to hundreds
who knew and honored him. He always made upon
me the impression of one who was full of God's good
spirit, who loved Christ, loved His church, loved and
enjoyed His truth, and was more alive on that than on
any other side of his nature.
Religion, I am sure, must have been not a profession
only, but a habit and a life with him.
You are alone, and yet not alone. You know too
well whom you have believed, to fear desertion at this
time of distress. Jesus will come nearer to you than
ever. I fully believe that he takes away from us present
blessings, simply to make room for larger, which he
cannot longer withold from bestowing. How can we
ever receive our inheritance except by losing the less
and gaining the greater ?
We shall pour out our thanks for Dr. Squier's memo-
ry, and our prayers and sympathies for you in the house
of God to-morrow. The peace of God which passeth
all understanding keep your heart and mind through
Jesus Christ.
Yours, in affectionate sympathy and prayer,
W. Clarke.
From Rev. J. B. Condit, D. D.:—
Auburn, June 26, 1866.
Mrs. Squier — Dear Friend : — I cannot withhold
these few words of sympathy in this time of your afflic-
tion. I should have been present to-day in the last
scene, showing my regard for your departed husband, if
I had felt able to go. I returned yesterday from jour-
142 HIS LAST DAYS.
neying and preaching through a fortnight past, quite
overdone. I did not give up going to Geneva this
morning till nearly the last hour. I hope ere long to
see you. Dr. Squier has been to me for many yeai's an
exemplification of the true ministerial character in prin-
ciple and consistent example. I have admired the con-
tinuance of his interest to the last in the welfare of the
church and its institutions and in revivals of religion —
though his age and infirmities might seem to justify his
retu'ement. He has served his generation faithfully, and
his works w^ill live after time.
Mrs. Condit joins with me in the expression of sym-
pathy and remembrance in this day of trial.
I am, yours tnily,
J. B. Condit.
From Rev. S. M. Hopkins, D. D.;—
Auburn, 29th June, 1866.
My Dear Mrs. Squier : — When I left home a week
ago lor a short visit to Ohio, the last intelligence we had .
respecting Dr. Squier was favorable ; and we hoped you
were to have a respite at least from the great afiliction
which has come upon you. But we heard in Buffalo on
Saturday of his death — some of the particulars, so full
of comfort to you, and of deep interest to all his friends,
I have only heard since returning home last night. I
knew that death could have no teiTors to one who had
lived so long and habitually in an atmosphere of reli-
gious thought and feeling ; but it was most interesting
to hear of the beautiful clearness and serenity of his
mind to the last, and the triumphant confidence with
HIS LAST DAYS. 143
which he committed himself to his Redeemer. I can
not but take great satisfaction in thinking not only of his
personal blessedness in the presence of his Saviom*, but
of the delight with which his active and inquuing mind
will contemplate those profound questions in regard to
the kingdom of God with which he loved to occupy him-
self here. Your honored husband has left his impress
deep on the history of our church. His record is a
noble one ; and I am well assured that his name and in-
fluence will be greater in coming times than they have
been even during his life. I much regretted that my
absence prevented my attending the funeral. May God
bless and comfort you, is the prayer of your sincere and
sympathizing friend,
Sam'l M. Hopkins.
From Rev. W. B. Sprague, D. D.:—
Albany, July 20, 1866.
My Dear Madam : — It is only within a day or two
that I have heard of the death of your excellent husband,
and I do not know even now when or under what circum-
stances it occurred. My acquaintance with him runs
back to a period perhaps more remote than you ai5« aware
of My first knowledge of him was, I think, in the year
1819, when I was returning from a short visit to Cana-
da, after having accepted a call to settle as jjastor of the
church in West Springfield. As I was riding on horse-
back through Dr. Squier's native place (I think it was
New Haven) tow^ards Middlebuiy, I saw a gentleman
standing by the gate as I was passing a certain house on
my left hand, and I stopped to ask him some question
144 HIS LAST DAYS.
designed to draw from him information concerning my
journey. I very soon made the discoveiy that he was a
minister, and though we were strangers when we met,
we were scarcely so when we parted. I think my next
meeting with him w^as at Buffalo in July, 1821, (1822,)
a few days after I had taken my first great lesson in the
school of .bereavement. I well remember with how
much kindness and sympathy he received me, and one
consolatory remark that he made I have always treasured
among my mofet cherished recollections. I had remarked
to him that it was a source of trouble to me that I knew
so little of the mode of the future existence ; that
though I had no doubt of the happiness of departed
saints, yet I wished to know more of the distinctive
economy of that world to which they are admitted.
His answer was substantially this : — " We see that God
has so ordered things in this world that everything
seems naturally adapted to our development and gratifi-
cation — and as the same Being has ordained the econ-
omy of the future world, why should we not expect that
the same characteristic feature should pervade that, and
in much higher perfection, as there will be the absence
of all sin ?" The remark came as a balm to my wounded
spirit, and it has never ceased to be a som'ce of consola-
tion to me. I trust it may minister somewhat to the
calmness of your spirit, now that you are placed in the
same circumstances that rendered it so grateful to me.
But I am sm*e that you can not want for consolation in
this time of deep soitow. Not only are you privileged
to reflect that your affliction, in all its circumstances, has
been ordained by a Father's wisdom and love, but the
HIS LAST. DAYS. 145
endearing relationship now dissolved has been continued
through an uncommonly long period, and while you
have no doubt that your husband is now a perfect per-
son in Christ, rejoicing among the angels, you can not
but think of the many monuments of useful activity
which he has left wherever he has sojourned. And to
crown all, you will not forget that it will be but a brief
period before you may hope for a reunion under circum-
stances infinitely more desirable than you have ever
known upon earth. That you may enjoy the constant
presence of the Comforter, is the prayer of your sincere
fiiend,
W. B. Sprague.
From Rev. Dr. Heacock, Buffalo, N. Y. : —
Buffalo, Aug. 7, 1866.
My Dear Mrs. Squier : — I was absent from home at
the time of the death of your reverend husband, and
learned nothing of the circumstances of his last illness
till the return of our friends from Auburn, and the pub-
lication of those obituary notices in the Evangelist.
How gracious was God to him ! tlow little like death,
in its ordinaiy circumstances, was such a departure I
And yet such a departure as we might have anticipated
God would give to His servant whose life He had
blessed with so much of usefulness and worth. " The
path of the just is as the shining light which shineth
more and more unto the perfect day."
If to know that the lives of our departed friends
were useful and honored in the world, and that their
memories are cherished by the good; if to have wit-
10
146 HIS LAST DAYS.
nessed their memorably happy and Christian death — if
these are consolations, you have them, my dear madam,
in large and precious measure. Mom'n not a worthy
and godly life on earth now transfigured to the glori-
ous and immortal life of Heaven. His death has awak-
ened in many heaits tender and holy memories of for-
mer years.
My dear mother, who gi-eatly loved and honored your
husband, — under whose ministry she was brought to
Christ, — remembers you in your bereavement with con-
stant affection and sympathy, and cherishes most sacred
recollections of the Christian counsels, labors and exam-
ple of her early pastor. His death I believe is but add-
ing a quickened tenderness to her own Christian expe-
rience, drawing her nearer to God — nearer to Christ —
nearer to that Heaven to which so many she has loved
have already depai-ted.
I write in great haste, and under the pressure of a
great amount of work, but could not deny myself the
expression of the sympathy I feel for you, and the rev-
erence which I bore to his life and character and mem-
ory. Affectionately and truly yours,
G. W. Heacock.
P^HT II.
LECTURES, DISCOITRSES,
ESSAYS AND REVIEWS,
BY MILES P. SQUIEB, D. D.
I.
TEN LECTURES
ON EUROPEAN TOPICS.
LECTURE I.
GENEVA AND THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.
Rail Roads are not as numerous in Europe as in this
country. France has but one, to the southeast of Paris,
branching south to Lyons, Marseilles and the Mediter-
ranean, and more easterly to the Savoy and Italy, or
more easterly still, to Geneva and Switzerland. The
branch to Italy, though determined on, may not be com-
pleted for half a score of years, as a tunnel of from seven
to ten miles, under the " St. Cennis" pass of the Alps,
is yet to be made, before reaching Susa and the Valley
of the Po. The last fifty miles of that to Geneva is
through a quite mountainous region ; but as nature had
encountered its difficulties by the waters of the Rhone
forcing their way to the bosom of the midland sea, it
was but fair that art should try her sway, and you bound
along under impending cliffs, around projecting rocks,
by vine-clad slopes, perforating hill after hill, till the
Jura proper is run through ; in a tunnel of four or five
miles, and emerging from it, you breathe more freely,
as if inhaling the sweet atmosphere of Republican Swit-
zerland.
154 GENEVA AND THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.
Geneva is one of the most delightfully picturesque
and beautiful cities in the world. The Jura range in
full view encloses it on the west and north, as if to
guard it from the incursion of barbaric hosts in that
quarter, while the mountains of Savoy loom up near at
hand on the south and east, with only here and there a
fissure and loojjhole through which to look out ujion the
sterner and more commanding elevations of the ever-
lasting Alps beyond them.
In some of these depressions, and due east, is seen Mt.
Blanc itself, the monarch of all, in solemn majesty, some
sixty or seventy miles away, clad to his feet with a man-
tle of white. You wonder, as you gaze upon it in its
grandeur from the quay on the west of the lake and
the town, that it need be so icy and cold quite down to
your level almost, while the heat of dog-days is resting
upon it, and you are sweltering in your summer suit.
There it stands unimpressed and unimpressible. The
snows of a thousand winters have settled upon it, heed-
less of the changes elsewhere that spring and summer,
seedtime and harvest have made. You must remem-
ber that the rotundity of the earth makes some difier-
ence, at that distance, and that after all, the altitude of
the range and of its peaks is immensely gi-eat and would
be appreciated by one standing at its base.
The town of Geneva is well and compactly built, with
villas, and fine country seats planted on all sides around
it. The old wall of Medieval history is being picked in-
to fragments and reconstiiicted into massive blocks of
stores and dwellings ; a sure tribute to modern gunnery
or modern civilization. Let us hope the last, though
GENEVA AND THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 155
the constant dread of the encroaching claims and as-
tute diplomacy of Napoleon rather belies our hope.
The single object of most prominence in Geneva is
the church of " St. Pierre,'' where Calvin preached, and
where the Alliance met. It is a massive and imposing
pUe, a stately composite structure of huge pillars and
arches, and standing on a rising ground in the centre of
the city ; is quite conspicuous from all parts of it. Cal-
vin's pulpit rests against a pillar in one side of it, and
though forbidden to enter it by a board on the stair-
case, there we assembled with the "savants" of Chris-
tian Em-ope, from day to day in adjudication of the
great moral problems of the age and the future. The
registered membership of the Alliance at this meeting
was above eighteen hundred, and nearly fourteen hun-
dred, exclusive of those from within the Canton itself,
besides a large number more, who stopped on their
travels in Europe, to behold so august and venerable an
assembly, and catch the inspiration of its meetings.
There were men of all climes and races. America,
however inadequately represented, was pleasantly and
honorably recognized; a hundred or more from the
British Isles. Russia, India, and the cape of Good Hope,
with a sprinkling of choice spirits from Italy, long dis-
owned and dishonored, but now rising and regnant It-
aly, while the great body of members was from the
central States of Europe, France, Germany, Prussia and
Switzerland, and a few from Austria. Many of the best
scholars of the continent were there ; men of rank and
position, clergymen and laymen, authors, theologians
and civilians, — men from every sphere of Christian
156 GENEVA AND THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.
truth, conversant with the past, intent on the present,
and forecasting the future; all engaged on the giant
problems that had convened them.
I will give you the words of M. Adrien Naville, Pres-
ident of the French portion of the Alliance, and resident
at Geneva, and who became President of the whole, in
his opening address and note of welcome to the meet-
ing in allusion to this country : — " Welcome, Brethren
of America, who have quitted your distant homes at a
solemn moment. Our thoughts carry us without ceas-
ing to the sorrowful crisis, at which you have arrived.
The United States are not forgotten in our prayers. Our
firm confidence is- that a country that has done so much
for the cause of Christ, can only receive blessing in the
end. What thanks will the Christians of Europe, as of
America, render on the day when your noble country
will be only, and everywhere, the land of freemen !"
Two things deeply impressed me at the Alliance : the
intense and continued interest with which the questions
submitted were gi-appled with and discussed, and the
deep meaning and eventual reach and comprehension of
the questions themselves, in their bearing on the pro-
gress of humanity and the cause of Christ. There they
sat from day to day, with two, and sometimes three ses-
sions a day, for ten days consecutively, the Sabbath on-
ly intervening. No diminution of interest was observ-
able on to the close. And it was not merely or mainly
the cun*ent politics or diplomacies of the day that so
engrossed them, but the deeper problems of truth which
underlie the present and the future, and which yet are
to upheave society and reconstruct the institutions and
GENEVA AND THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE. 157
destinies of men. The greatest weight on Europe and
on intelligent and free mind there, is the Papacy, and
the civil corporations that are interchangeably pledged
to it and by it. Romanism rests like a pall on the as-
pirations of free thought on the continent, and absorbs
very much the attention of the wise and the good, and
when Dr. Merle D' Aubigne proposed in the conference
that the next meeting should be at Ro'tne, it was like a
clap of thunder, and filled the heavens with one univer-
sal note of surprise, gratulation and joy.
The infidelity of Germany, its causes and cure, the
poorer classes in France, oppressed and uprising Italy,
Christian aid to Turkey and the East, the duty of Eng-
land to her colonies, the present crisis m America, the
subject of revivals of religion and their progress and
future, and the cause of Christ as connected with these
and kindred topics, came in each for a share of atten-
tion ; but the incubus, the oppressions, the night-mare
of Romanism was by eminence the great absorbing
theme.
The beginning of the end cropped out at some points,
perhaps, and Dr. Baird told them how Ave were getting
on with the monster in this country in his appointed
reading on that subject, and resolving ourselves into
a more intelligent Christianity and taking to some ex-
tent the Catholic mind with us at this point ; but the la-
bor of all minds was here, and the deep convictions of
all centred on the truth and dominant fact that Rome
and her dependencies are the gi-eat impediment to the
world's progress, and must in Providence be removed
out of the way. To aid them against the oppressions
158 GENEVA AND THE EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.
of both church and State in Europe, a wishful and ex-
pectant eye was turned to this country and our free in-
stitutions of religion and government.
AMERICAN MEETING. 159
LECTURE II.
EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE— AMERICAN MEETING.
Another subject interested the Alliance, in intimate
connection with that referred to in my last paper. It
was the cause oi freedom generally, — freedom of thought,
of person and condition. It rises there in the desire for
religious freedom, and has an intensity, of which we, in
this country, can scarcely conceive. No slavery in form
exists in the European States, and no one doubts the
right of all to civil liberty. The tendencies in that di-
rection are quite considerable on the continent, and they
are getting stronger continually. But giant impedi-
ments are yet in the way. A stereotyped papacy, with
its ramifications everywhere almost, and its doctrine of
infallibility and exclusiveness is the first in order, and
next are the civil governments that are connected with
and dependent on Romanism. This trammels the pub-
lic mind and hood-winks the people, and is a unit in its
influence on both sides of the Alps. It is in concerted ■
league against religious liberty and free thought gener-
ally, and holds largely in check the civil power. Napo-
leon III. finds it too much for him as yet in his long
cherished plans for the liberation of Italy. He is " bi-
ding his time," — waiting for " the pear to get ripe," and
holding the more ardent and interested cabinet of Tu-
rin at bay, till the best time shall arrive. Other wars
160 AMERICAN MEETING.
may come and other complications ensue, before the
cause of freedom shall be successful in Europe. In the
mean time it has ardent friends and advocates all
through the masses, and among the more intelligent
and evangelical of the higher orders of society. The
scholars of the continent are intensely alive to this
cause, and eager to catch the first note or sign of pro-
gress in its behalf
Here was the key-note of interest at the Alliance, in
respect to the American struggle. It was deemed a
great anomaly that a system of organized slavery should
yet linger on this continent and especially in the United
States. The first question on every hand was, " What
will be the efiect of this war on slavery f " Is the
North fighting in the cause of freedom ?" " Will the
slaves be set free ?" The interest in the whole question
of the war centered here. African slavery was not only
deemed a dark feature, an unutterable repulsion in
American institutions, but its giving up was deemed
essential to the progress of humanity : — it was part of a
whole in which all the world was interested. Hence
the inquiry for the American meeting at the " Alliance,"
and the desire that those fresh from the scene of strife
should enlighten them on the subject. The meeting
was one of great interest. The Chevalier Guyot, who
is a Frenchman by birth, but long a resident in America,
and extensively and reputably known in both hemis-
pheres from his works on physical geography and other-
wise, was made chairman : the President of the Alliance
general, sitting aside on the occasion. The meeting was
constituted with prayer by the Hon. and Rev. Baptiste
AMERICAN MEETING. 161
Noel, of London. This was fei-vent and appropriate,
being almost wholly in relation to America and the war,
and deeply in sympathy with the views of the North.
The chairman followed in an opening address, which,
too, was patriotic and hopeful. To this succeeded an
addi-ess by Dr. Baird, of New York, my companion in
travel, on the influence of free institutions on Roman-
ism, as shown in the progress of events in this country.
The Doctor's method was happy and exhaustive of his
subject. It showed America to be far in advance of
Europe on the Roman question, and that we are past
material danger from this source, while she is yet labor-
ing in the heat of the conflict.
A few moments were then given, by special request,
to Dr. Merle D'Aubigne, who spoke with animation and
hope for America, and for an issue to the struggle that .
should be favorable to the cause of humanity and free-
dom My own name had been announced for the next
address. I was somewhat a stranger on that side of the
water and Dr. B. took occasion, on introducing me, to
read my commission to the Alliance, from my Presby-
teiy and home, in Geneva, N. Y. As it was somewhat
characteristic, and created quite a sensation in the As-
sembly, I ventm-e to copy it and to accept meekly the
appreciative personalities it imports : —
" Geneva in the New World, to Geneva in the Old
World, sendeth greeting, and to the Evangelical Alli-
ance meeting there : —
" We are named for you and are situated by a lake
like yours, and in the midst of a region rich and pros-
11
162 AMERICAN MEETING.
perous, and of a people resolved, in God's name, to be
intelligent and free.
" Our brother, the Rev. Miles P. Squier, D. D., whom
we send to you, is a member of the Presbytery of Ge-
neva, here, and is the member whose name has longest
been enrolled of any, on the books of the Presbytery,
now among the living, he having been ordained to the
work of the Gospel ministry, by this body, and installed
Bishop ot the first Presbyterian congregation of Buffalo,
N. Y., in May, 1816. He has devoted himself much to
the cause of education in the west, and is now Professor
of Intellectual and Moral Science in Beloit College, in the
State of Wisconsin.
" Any attentions of Christian courtesy and kindness
to him from the meeting, will be gi-atefuUy acknowl-
edged and reciprocated, as among the tokens of that
Divine fellowship which unites us in common bonds of
love to Him and His cause who is the one common
Lord of all."
This paper was signed by most of the members of the
Presbytery of Geneva and by the Pastor and Eldership
of the congregation of Geneva, and was received with
marked approbation by the Alliance. Judging that at
least a modest word was demanded by me, I replied as
follows : —
"I thank you for the gratulations of the hour, and
shall bear home with me to the distant and broad land
of the west grateful memories of ' Geneva' in the Old
World, that though she is slender in physical dimen-
sions and has colossal arms around her, she is large of
heart, rich in historical associations, in intellect and
AMERICAN MEETING. 163
character, and in a high Christian civilization, and not
unmindful of the stranger within her gates."
To this succeeded my address on the American Ques-
tion, which is published in the English volume of the
proceedings of the Alliance, and in the New York Ob-
server of December 19th, 1861, on this side of the
water, and which is as follows, being limited to a ten
minutes' speech, by the number to address the meeting
and the necessity of but a single meeting for America : —
ADDRESS.
" African Slavery in the American States was to them
the bequest of past generations. It was accepted in
our country when the slave trade was everywhere held
as a legitimate commerce, and was shared in by the
ships of all Christendom. John Newton wrote his
Cardiphonia mostly on the African coast, and when a
dealer in slaves there ; and England, with her share of
the cariying trade of the world, trafficked in slaves for
forty years after our Declaration of Independence. All
the original States of the American Union were once
slave States ; now a majority of them are free States,
and in becoming so, have pointed out the way for the
remainder to follow, and suggested the only legitimate
and becoming method in which the great problem of
slavery in our country can be solved. That slavery was
to be but temporary among us, and did conflict with
the principles and policy and best interests of the
American people, was the doctrine of the fathers and
founders of the Republic ; — of Washington, Jefferson,
Madison, as well as of Franklin and Adams, and others
both North and South. Hence the word slave, or slav-
164 AMERICAN MEETING.
ery, is not found in the Constitution, and the subject is
referred to only by circumlocution and in ambiguous
phraseology, and in the hope that the whole subject
matter involved would become obsolete and pass from
the recollections of men. This doctrine and claim were
imposed on us in om- o^ti Declaration of Independence,
and are to this day conceded and adhered to at the
North, and presented by it in all constitutional ways to
the consideration and acceptance of the South. But in
the South a neiv doctrine has sprung up. It is this : —
that slavery, the subjection of a servile race by the dom-
inant one of a countiy, is essential to the highest type
of a Christian civilization, and should be perpetual.
"The antagonism in our countiy is then becoming
one of ideas as well as of supposed interests. In the
meantime the North, with its free institutions and gen-
eral intelligence and enterprise, is outgrowing the South
in population and material resources, and can command
its positions and policy at the ballot-box. The South,
foreseeing this, have risen against it and inaugurated
the war ; and Europe and the civilized world may know,
as well first as last, that the effort to perpetuate and
nationalize Afi'ican slaveiy on the American continent,
lies at the foundation of all our present trouble ; — that
while the old world is struggling for freedom — Italy
becoming a nation, and the Czar liberating his serfs by
millions, there is in America a new effort to clinch the
chain of the slave, and to initiate and establish the insti-
tutions of a country on the principle of the permanent
subjection of a servile race.
" The North is honest and increasingly united in its
AMERICAN MEETING. 165
adhesion to the doctrine of the founders of the Repub-
lic, in this matter, and accepts a policy, which all history-
shows to be essential to the best material, social and
spiritual interests and progress of the whole land.
Slavery is no more needful there than elsewhere, either
at the South or North. Even now the best slave-work
in the South is on the principle and is sought in the
element of freedom. It is through stints and patches of
work to the laborer, wherever this can be done, and his
thus buying his time by extra and free exertion to be
his own man, and work for himself, and do as he pleases,
for the time that he gains.
"And a volume of truth lies in this principle thus
acted on. It is universal as humanity, and its instruc-
tion, -with the increasing light of the future, may, and
must be taken, to every latitude and longitude on the
globe. An opposite course is short-sighted and suicidal,
and rests on a basis inherently false and ruinous. The
world will be free. This is the ordinance of God and
the inheritance of man. It is now too late to enslave a
race, (to say nothing of the verdict of the past,) and to
build up a government on the principle of the protection
and perpetuity of human bondage. It is a move back-
ward on the dial of time. Providence will blow upon
it ; — 'the stars in their coursed will fight against it.'
" The South in this struggle have really no ground of
complaint against their brethren of the Free States,
either within the Constitution or outside of it. True,
they voted in November last, as they had a right to.
They have been somewhat reluctant to execute the
166 AMERICAN MEETING.
' Fugitive Slave Law' as impinging against a ' higher
law,' written on the conscience, and they have declined
to nationalize slavery. And what less could they do in
this noon of the nineteenth centuiy of light and grace ?
And yet the South may possibly gain in this war what
she want§. But in that case she will inevitably gain,
too, what she does not want. She will vacate the con-
stitutional protection of the North, and secure its con-
firmed and open hostility against that cherished institu-
tion, which lies at the foundation of the strife, and find
a Canada on Mason and Dixon s line. She Avill gain, too?
if we mistake not, the scorn of Europe and the civilized
world. She will fan afresh the conviction of Ireedom,
and the desire for it, in her own subject race, who will
not be slow, from her example, to learn that the ' white
man has no rights that the black man is bound to
respect.' Humanity is everywhere instinct with the
idea of freedom, fearless of consequences. And thus
another alternative in the war inay he that some incij)ient
reverses may wake up the fanaticism of the North, and
that she will come down like an avalanche on the South,
vn\h or without the Constitution, 'proclaiming liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison doors to
them that are bound,' and inevitably lighting the fires
of servile insurrection, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Fearful as this would be, it may not be forgotten that it
is a liability in this war. Think of St. Domingo, and
look out for unspeakable horrors if this shall be the
issue. To fight the North may not be the sorest of
troubles to the South. When the fighting is over and
the chivalry expended, her people will find themselves
AMERICAN MEETING. 167
on the volcano still, which has always been so fearful in
their view. They will only have gained the boon of
providing alone against it, unassisted by their connection
with the free States, and divested of their association
with them, which has hitherto rendered their own posi-
tion, as Slave States, respectable. They are by their
own acknowledgement but a confederation of States.
Local views or local troubles and aspirations, may divide
them again and again, and how soon they will be like
Mexico none can tell. Even now there is trouble in
this direction, and Gov. Brown, of Georgia, has dis-
banded troops, organized within his jurisdiction, by the
Confederate government, as thereby interfering with his
views of State sovereignty. Civil powers may feel
obliged to regard only the de facto principle, but we ask
the Christian world and Christian men to grasp the
moral elements of this conflict, and give their suffrage
and then* prayers in behalf of the cause of freedom,
humanity and the right. Look at the monster idea of
now organizing a government in the Western hemis-
phere, in the interest and for the sake of human slavery I
With it would inevitably come the foreign slave trade,
and it will then cost England more to keep down that
trade than to support all her own poor from a common
treasuiy, until cotton will grow somewhere else than in
the Gulf States. The establishment of such a power
can but be an apple of discord — yea, a rock of offence
to the nations. Better let all the Garibaldis of Europe
come over than witness such a thing. Shall we have
the slave trade in America, when all the world beside
scorn the traffic ? Is human flesh at a discount there ?
168 AaiERICAN MEETING.
Shall the slave trade be piracy anywhere else, and yet be
a legitmiate and honorable commerce
In that land of the free
And home of the brave?
Shall the nations combine against it on the high seas, in
Italy, in Hungary, in Poland, in Turkey even and Mex-
ico, and yet tolerate and sustain it there ? Tell it not
in Gath.
" No ! this must not be ; and we can hardly doubt
the eventual issue of the struggle now going on in that
land. Providence demands that it be in the interest of
humanity, of freedom and the cause of God ; that when
sufficiently baptized in blood, we shall come forth from
the ordeal a free and united people, and better than ever
qualified to fulfill our mission of mercy in behalf of other
peoples and nations of the world."
The rendering of the Address was attended with un-
expected marks of approbation on the part of the meet-
ing, and at its close. Dr. Urwick, of Dublin, Ireland, in
a speech sufficiently laudatory of the address, moved
that it be printed forthwith under the auspices of the
Alliance and circulated over the world. He was fol-
lowed by others in the same strain, but at the sugges-
tion of the American delegation themselves, it was
thought best that this paper should follow the usual
course with others, read before the body.
The Rev. Mr. Kerr, of Rockford, 111., then read a pa-
per on the " characteristics of North Western mind, in
America and its attitude in relation to our present strug-
gle." Brief addresses were also made by Rev. IVIr.
Morrison, late of India, and Dr. Sa^vtell of IIavi*e in
AMERICAN MEETING. 169
France, and the meeting was closed by the Pastor Fisch,
of Paris, with a very fervent and appropriate prayer
for America and freedom, and the right and the success
of all engaged therefor.
But the English, led ofl' by Sir Calling Eardly and
others, requested to hear more from America, and at
their instance a second meeting was appointed for Mon-
day following. At that meeting explanations were giv-
en, and questions answered by the delegation, and pa-
pers read by Rev. Mr. Priest, of New Jersey, and Rev.
Baptiste Noel, of London, and a resolution submitted
for the action of the Alliance in respect to America.
This, with some lenlargement, was adopted by the body
in general meeting, and has been extensively published
both in Europe and in this country.
A special interest was thus thrown into the Ameri-
can meeting, by introducing the rife question of the
day, and it was conceded to be one of the most spinted
and edifying which occuiTcd in the course of the whole
conference. Some of the American delegation before-
hand doubted the wisdom of bringing out the question,
but all acquiesced in this, in view of the cheerful and
happy discussion of it and of the edifying result, to
which by common consent we came.
The American reprint of the address embraced in
this paj^er, has made it the subject of some comment
and criticism. But in behalf of the address as given,
the following suggestions may be made : —
1st. — Limit of time forbade expansion. It could con-
tain but the seeds of things. It could but strike at
some first principles of thought as connected with the
170 AMERICAN MEETING.
subject, and touch on some of those elements of truth
and historic fact, that should indicate its nature and
bearing. These were of necessity referred to in the
fewest and briefest terms, and for the single pm*pose of
showing where lay the great moral of the struggle now
in progi'ess between the North and the South of this
land.
2d. — The stand-point of the Addi-ess was not in
America, but in Europe. It was at the centre of the
Old World, not in the New, and at a confluence of na-
tions, who looked on us from afar, and where subjects
were discussed in " thesis." Underlying principles were
wanted there — the germ, the root, the moral issue, the
historic gi'owth, and moral tendencies of the matter in
hand, and without the many incidental and affiliated
questions which attach to it in this country. And in
stating these central elements and aspects of the subject,
and in pointing to its probable, if not inevitable results?
I am happy in seeing myself veiified by all who have
written upon it since.
3d. — My object was to secure the sympathy and moral
support of Christian Europe for us, and in behalf of the
right in this strife.
Europe was full of demagogues from the South, en-
deavoring to prejudice the public mind against us.
They had found their way into the columns of the lead-
ing journals of France and England. The " Tunes,"
of London, and kindred papers there, were full of per-
versions of the truth and vituperations of the North,
AMERICAN MEETING. 171
and "Galignani's Messenger," and other prints at Paris,
but too faithfully and constantly copied their foulest
aspersions and most malignant attacks. So considerable
and disastrous was this influence, that our minister at
Tuiin, Mr. Marsh, and also Mr. Dayton, our minister at
Paris, often spoke of and deplored it, in our conversa-
tions with them ; and they were quite urgent, that in
visiting England, we should devote ourselves to a mis-
sion of mercy, to endeavor to counteract these tenden-
cies, and disabuse the minds of our great cousins there
in this respect. This in other circumstances I would
not have been slow to do. And it was in this state of
things in Europe, and with the inquiiy on eveiy hand —
" Are these things so f that I had the ears of its
" savants'' for a few brief moments, to listen to my
story. I aimed at the " morale'' of the subject. I would
exert some influence on their minds in the right direc-
tion. I would gain their Christian conscience and
secure their benevolent aspirations and prayer to God in
our behalf, and I could but rejoice in the cordial sym-
pathy and heai-ty gratulations of the meeting, and in
securing so entirely the expression of my views, in the
paper of Christian kindness, condolence and afiectionate
recognition, and interest and call for prayer, which was
sent out synchronously with our own national proclama-
tion for fasting and prayer, and for the guidance and
harmony of the Christian world in this thing.
It was to me a glad hour. I rejoiced to see the pulse
of the good and great men before me, so ready and
strong in the right direction, and could but feel that the
results of that hour, were worth the voyage of the At-
172 AMERICAN MEETING.
lantic, and all the perils of foreign travel, to one who
had akeady entered on that seventieth yeai* which is set
down as man's utmost privilege of life on earth.
Italy's regeneration. 173
LECTURE III.
THE SOURCE OP ITALY'S REGENERATION.
The Alps separate Italy from the rest of Continental
Europe. That must have been a mighty upheaval of
nature which brought them forth, and pointed, with so
much shai'pness and hight and magnificence, that ocean
of mountains, to the skies.
Over these, from France, Geneva and the Danube, are
several "passes," among which the Splugen, the Sim-
plon and the St. Cenis are the most known. The last
rises to an elevation of seven thousand feet above the
neighboring sea, and to about the level of " eternal snow."
At its utmost hight you pass out of France into Italy,
and sink by one continued descent to the valley of the
Po, at Suza, and strike one of the confluents of the
main river. In this valley, and thirty miles away to the
east and south, Turin is seated, the present capital of
the new kingdom of Italy. This is the finest valley and
river of the country, spreading wider and larger in their
onward course at the southerly base of the Alps, to the
Gulf of Venice, the Adriatic of the ancients. Here is
that stately quadrilateral of fortified cities, held yet un-
der the hated sway of Austria. Here is Alessandria and
Solferino, and here, too, unquestionably, is to break out
the next war in Europe, and commence the struggle
that shall not enfranchise Italy only, and Hungary, but
174 Italy's regeneration.
Poland also, it may be, and reduce to its proper dimen-
sions as a German state the nationality of Austria and
the Hapsbm-ghs.
Italy has been considered the basest of kingdoms.
Haughty diplomats have gloried over it, as being mere-
ly "a geographical expression." She has been the foot-
ball of empires, the mere dice of kings. Governed by
priestcraft, emanating from "infallible" Rome, she has
been but the small change of the Pope, in lording it over
the nations. She will be so no more. The future of
Italy is most hopeful. All will not be done in a day,
for centm'ies of misrule have left then* impress on the
people. Ages of superstition have crushed them. Ab-
solutism in church and State has oppressed both body
and soul, and well nigh taken the life of both.
But those are genial skies. There is a deep liquid
azure in them, and a poetic richness, as well as historic
significance to every hill and valley, and woodland and
stream, thaf have begotten a noble people, and which
will help to make this the glory of all lands. Here sci-
ence, learning and the arts have flourished. It is the
land of poetry and song. Immortal Rome is here. All
is classic gi-ound. No education is complete without
the study of its authors. It has had the moulding of
mind ever since Cicero stood in the Senate or Virgil
struck his lyre. In medieval periods, it embraced large-
ly the research and erudition of Christendom, and its
men of this day have shown themselves to be men of
strength with the pen as well as the sword. Their State
papers in that late ineflectual struggle for freedom,
when the Pope fled to Gaeta, and the world began to |
Italy's regeneration. 175
hope for them, were better than those of France in her
greatest efforts to be free, and more fully challenged the
sympathy and moral support of mankind. »
Cavour was one of the greatest statesmen in Europe.
In most difficult circumstances, he brought up the king-
dom of Victor Emanuel to an acknowledged rank
among the first-class Powers of the Continent. Aus-
tria, the Pope, the King of Naples, and the Dukes and
Duchesses of Central Italy, were all against him. The
Catholic question was in his way, and the temporalities
of St. Peter. He needed great wisdom to secure the
effectual though tardy support of Napoleon, and to
check the impetuosity of Garibaldi. He took large
views of Italian policy. His motto was '^ Festina lenter
He knew that ages of degradation could not be repaired
at once, or distinct nationalities be made to coalesce in-
to one, by a word. He was smitten down in the midst
of his career, a victim to his anxiety and overwork ; but
he will long be hailed as the restorer of Italy, and his
name go down to the future as one of the greatest of
her sons.
Cavour was succeeded by Rlcasoli in the premiership
of the Court of Turin. In some respects he is a better
man for the post than his predecessor. If the one was
a statesman, the other is more than that. If not de-
cidedly a religious man, he counts much on the moral
and religious element in securing the social, civil and
political regeneration of his people. He may be by
profession a Roman Catholic, but he is for free thou^t
and general education. He is the patron of efforts to
enlighten and evangelize the people, and would seek
176 Italy's regeneration.
their elevation and establishment as a nation, on the
basis of intelligence and virtue.
yictor Emanuel is eminently an out-door man. He
familiarly speaks of himself as better fitted for a General
than a King, and is more at home on the battle-field,
than in the Cabinet, and with, councils of State. He
has a proud lineage of many centuries of the house of
Savoy, and is deservedly popular as a soldier. With the
exception of the popish faction yet lingering at Rome,
his government is the desire of all Italy. His name is
the rallying watchword of constitutional liberty, over
the whole land and the isles adjacent. Industrial exhi-
bitions are in progress under his patronage ; a higher
degree of material and spiritual development is sought ;
and by the consent and help of all evangelical Christian
nations, Italy is fast rising to dignity, and strength, and
honor, among the most intelligent of the peoples and
powers of the world.
There is a secret in this, well worth being told. The
true seiwants of Christ in Italy, even from the middle
ages, were persecuted by the Chm-ch of Rome. Fierce
and long persecutions forced them into the fastnesses of
the Piedmontese mountains, where they have for ages
been known as the Walden'ses and Albigenses of the
Alps. There, in obscurity and comparative quiet, they
studied their Bibles and preached the faith once given
to the saints. They there breathed, to some extent, the
air of freedom, — asserted the rights of conscience, and
the claims and dignity of man. They were the Puritans
of Italy. They learned to fear God, and nothing else.
They got the principles of all law from the teachings of
Italy's regeneration. 177
the sacred text. The exigencies of their social state,
and the airy hights of the mountains among which
they clustered, taught them freedom. Like their com-
peers of the Mayflower, they were worthy to concoct
constitutions and to be the progenitor of nations.
Charles Albert, the father of the present King, through
some turn in the tide of civil aftau's, was long seques-
tered among the Waldenses, and received much of his
education from them. He gave the first wiitten civil
constitution to his people, and was t\iQ father of constitu-
tional freedom in modern Italy. How much he learned
in those mountain solitudes we know not, but this we
do know, that while he was unequal to the struggle
with the minions of Austria of his day, and while that
embodiment of despotism brought its iron heel upon
him and his country, his name has become the synonym
of martyred liberty among all people. And now the
day of retribution is an-ived. Waldensian congrega-
tions flourish at Turin, and at Florence, and elsewhere.
Popeiy is on the wane, as the confederate relic of by-
gone and worn out civil corporations ; whilst the reli-
gion of the long-persecuted sons of the mountains ap-
pears in new vigor to be the hope of Italy and her sal-
vation. Christian laborers are at work in Milan, Genoa,
Bologna, and at Rome also, and light is breaking in on
every side. Our Ambassador at Turin, Mr. Marsh, said
to me there, and as the result of much observation and
a deep interest in the subject : — Italy is satisfying every
reasonable hope, and is gaining in religious intelligence
and culture as we ought to expect. With freedom of
thought and expression, the ratio of intelligence will in-
12
178 Italy's regeneration.
crease. The Bible is now largely circulated in many
parts of the country, and the spirit of inquiry is fully
awake.
The oneness of the Government will facilitate pro-
gress. Venetia will soon be returned to its rightful It-
aly, and the city of the Doges, from her home on the
waters, look down upon a regenerated country and call
it hers. The capital will be removed to Rome, and
Victor Emanuel be crowned from the steps of the Qui-
rinal, and propound his constitution there. The honest
and great-hearted Garibaldi has already demanded it ;
and his life and prowess are its guaranty. The liberty
and unification of Italy has long been his effort and
watchword. This is by eminence, his life work, and
God and the right sustain him in it.
Under an enlightened, constitutional government, It-
aly will soon become the glory of all lands. Her cen-
tral situation, her maritime advantages, her mild skies
and tropical fruits, her silk-worm and her gi-apevine, as
well as her historic associations, her attractions to the
man of letters and of leisure, to men of all arts and all
aims, facilitate this. Let that goodly land but secure
the indigenous home growth of an enlightened Chris-
tian people, and all nations will delight to do it hom-
age, and the long hight of the past be forgotten jn the
full splendors of an oncoming and glorious future.
FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR. 179
LECTURE IV.
FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR.
For the last fifty or seventy years France has been the
greatest problem in Europe. Even to this day the states-
men of England and the continent have not known what
to think of her, and have stood in doubt alike of her pol-
icy, and her word. From the time of " Le Grand Mon-
arque," as Louis XIV was magnificently called, her dy-
nasties have been crumbling and her political regime
ever changing and self-inconsistent. Her government
has well illustrated the doctrine in mechanics of the
equilibrium and mutual reaction and repulsion of forces.
She has run through all forms of civil administration,
from the absolute rule of one, to the irresponsible rule
of all, — ^from the despot to the Jacobin, and retraced
her steps. She has been under martial law and mob
law, alternately. She has oscillated between Robespierre
and Gironde, — between the council of the Legislature
and the council of three, — that of the dictator and the
crown — regal and imperial sway — between the revival
of old dynasties in the person of Louis Phillipe, and
the short assumption of the democracy that followed
him, till both elements were represented and swallowed
up in the election of Napoleon III., as Emperor of the
French and absolute Monarch of France.
Under all changes the Nation has survived and in-
180 FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR.
creased in resources and strength. Its real prosperity
dates from the downfall of the " notables and great es-
tates" of the realm. That was the uplifting of the peo-
ple and the political regeneration of France. It was
the creation of a "third estate," — the acknowledgment
of popular rights and the claims of labor, on the atten-
tion of the governing classes. Lamartine has said that
the ideas generated in the French Revolution, were
worth to Europe and the world, all the blood and treas-
ure they cost. France would have learned faster with
a better creed. She now occupies a central position
among the nationalities of the continent, and has many
advantages for a conti'oUing influence over them. Her
geographical position favors it. Her industrial resour-
ces are lai-ge. She has many and broad rivers, and
borders on both the Mediten-anean Sea and the Atlantic.
She has large and increasing cities, an improving agi'i-
culture and commerce, and immense wealth in her man-
ufactures. In every branch of productive industiy she
is now advancing with a rapidity which surpasses that
of almost any other people. Her burdens are many,
' but then she has tried change until she is weary of it,
and prefers security with a taut rein to privilege under
a loose one.
The government of France is largely despotic, yet in
many respects enlightened and judicious. The will of
the Emperor' may have the force of law, but he does
not despise the forms of law. His legislatures have
measurable jurisdiction and adjudicate with open houses.
The courts and diplomacy of France, her generals and
FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROK. 181
her armies, her police and her general thrift, place her
in the front rank of nations.
Napoleon III says that he understands his "epoch,"
and surely he has many advantages thus to do. He
has known adversity, and felt the pressure of want.
The oppressor's rod has been laid upon him. The dun-
geons of Germany have taught him a lesson. His
American tuition has not been lost upon him, and his
elevation to the throne has been through an appeal to
the masses. There is a popular element in his adminis-
tration, which he does not forget. He was elected to
his position by the vote of the people, and now glories
in the title of " The Emperor of the French."
Napoleon is a '''"parvenu^'' and this gives him advanta-
ges for a discretionary and intelligent administration of
the affairs of France. He is like his country in this.
If she has broken up her ancestral relations, having
swung from the moorings of her ancient monarchy, he
has freedom to adopt the regime of a policy for the
present times. He can have the adaptation of a new
dynasty, and suit his reign to the people and the age
in which he governs. He is not obliged to be bound
by precedents. He can forego the claims of by-gone
ages, and shape his course by the living exigencies of
the people. He can go to war for an "idea," and stop
at Solferino. His nobility are the men of his own crea-
tion : his plans and precedents are the children of his
own bosom, and spring from the resources of his own
mind.
Napoleon is eminently an original man. His habits
of thought are of a philosophical cast. He examines
182 FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR.
every subject in thesis, and takes its a priori possibilities
and bearings. No one can study his utterances without
the conviction of this. All his communications evince
this, and exhibit a breadth and depth and condensation
of thought, which but few possess.
He has been accused of reticence and reserve. He
has needed it all in the circumstances in which he has
been placed. He is said to be cold and selfish. He
certainly has shown himself capable of a stern en-
counter with opposing and giant obstacles in his way,
and under the conviction of a necessity for it, he has
shown that he could be severe and relentless.
Of his private life we have nothing to say ; his pub-
lic acts have been eminently characterized for strength
and wisdom. The world have ceased to call him " the
nephew of his Uncle," and from the record he has al-
ready given, we should be slow to deny that he may be
the subject of high aims and generous impulses. The
glory of France is doubtless his chief ambition, and he
has the sense to know that enriching her, he enriches
himself, and sends his own name with brighter lustre
down to the future. He is to-day the greatest farmer
in France, while he makes his influence felt through
every street of the Metropolis. Paris is rising in new
beauty under his hand. As it is eminently the heart of
the empire, so is it the princess among European cities.
London is larger, but has not its adornment and perfec-
tion of beauty. She has not the costly and exquisite
finish, — the gardens and the palaces, and triumphal
arches, and walks and ways, — such magnificence of
FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR. 183
statues and obelisks, and pillars, and fountains, and
streets.
Paris is greatly indebted to both the Bonapartes, and
eminently to the one now on the throne. Nor does he
confine his attention to Paris or France. Patriotism
may be the measui-e of his aspirations, but we greatly
mistake if he has not higher thoughts, and a nobler
ambition. Napoleon says France is the only poiver in
Europe that will go to war for an idea, and I give him
credit for the assertion, and believe that with all his
sternness and reserve, he intends to be the exponent of
liberal principles and free thought, and* the champion
of human rights for the continent. Years ago he wrote
a book for the freedom and unity of Italy. He after-
wards precipitated his legions in deadly strife on Aus-
tria, and did all that war could do to that end. He now
holds the key of Rome till " the pear shall get ripe."
Every day widens the breach between him and the Ro-
man priesthood, as he sees it wedded to the past and a
foe to progress. He is the friend of Italy and awaits
her destinies, and that allies him to the downtrodden
and oppressed of nations : to Hungary and Poland, and
the reconstruction of European nationalities. His po-
sition, his principles and his ambition invite him to this.
He owes it to the memory of the 1st Napoleon, and the
glory of his house, — to his American ideas, — to the ad-
vanced civilization of France and her long preparation
and baptism in blood to become the foremost of king-
doms and a champion and leader in the cause of free-
dom and humanity on the Contineut.
France has now had the tuition of near a century,
184 FRANCE AND ITS EiMPEROE.
and the repeated baptism of blood. She significantly
says, Paris is France, and France is Europe ; but to ful-
fill her mission, if it be to enthrone the new doctrine of
government and gain the social regeneration of the
Continent, she needs two things : — The overthrow of the
papal hierarchy and the attainment of religious faith.
France has outgrown its religion. The intelligence
of that country is in advance of its religious creed.
Gewgaws may amuse children, but the puerile preten-
sions of the Romish church cannot hold the French
mind. It has been so since the days of Voltaire and
Rousseau, and the best apology for Infidelity there is to
be found in the category of the national faith. Ro-
manism prostrates intellect and taxes credulity to the
very verge of nonsense. The intelligent classes tire of
it, for its insipidity and want of manly vigor and truth-
fulness, and become sceptical. They hold to religious
form only as a question of State. They attend church
only on State occasions. Kotre Dame has but a hun-
dred or two of worshippers, on ordinary Sabbaths, and
those mostly of the poor and dependent classes. Pro-
testantism is now making some head-way against the
current, but never was there a nation, professedly Chris-
tian, so thoroughly Infidel as France is to-day.
Two things besides the revival of general intelligence
and the conviction of the utter unworthiness of Pope-
ry as an economy of belief have contributed to this re-
sult. I refer to the Ultra Montane as well as despotic ten-
dencies and aspirations of Romanism. France dislikes
a regime of worship that is dictated from beyond the
Alps. She is restive under the ecclesiastical supremacy
FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR. 185
and domination of Rome, and that all church prefer-
ments and episcopal appointments must emanate from
the Holy See. The political status of Italy hitherto
has only quickened this sentiment and loosened the ob-
ligations of religious faith.
Here is the difficult position of the French Govern-
ment at this moment. Napoleon could more easily con-
quer the Austrians at Solferino, and institute a united
Italy, than he can manage the tendencies of his own
bishops and clergy toward Rome and the infallible
Popedom, temporalities and all.
He has set the press to work, and expects help from
the court of Turin in this behalf, and thus with cautious
helm and furled sail, is steering between loyalty to the
Pope, on the one hand, and the sense of independence
and freedom from foreign control among the people on
the other. This dislodges the conviction of religious
faith, and fosters the idea that all rites of worship are
but an affair of State, and destitute of vital claims on
the conscience. To this may be added the despotism
of Popery. Its best friend is Austna, with its iron
heel on all reform. It is known to be committed against
free thought and free government, and the ally and ad-
vocate of the divine right of kings. It is an absoiutism
and preaches the doctrine everywhere, and holds it with
the grasp of death. But France is a democracy, or at
least she thinks so, and has not forgotten the votes that
gave her an Emperor. And she claims freedom of
opinion and of speech so far as the State admits of it,
and repudiates foreign domination not less in religion
than in politics. The arbitrary dogmas of Rome have
186 FRANCE AND ITS ElIPEROR.
little hold on her conscience, and are easily substituted
by that want of faith which characterizes the French
mind. Nowhere will you observe such an absence of
religious ideas, — such an engrossment in the present, —
such a living for this world. A future life seems not to
be in their thoughts, and a sense of God and of obliga-
tion to Him, to a large extent, is extinguished.
Glory and France are their watchwords — to live and
enjoy themselves their only concern. Gay, pleasure-
seeking, and unreflective, they seem to sin with the
least conscience of any people — theii- morality, a con-
ventional an-angement for mutual good — a sentiment
rather than a conviction, spontaneous, and at will, but
connected with no ideas of God or of obligation to Him.
The learned and philosophical Guizot, after visiting
England and observing the operation of free institutions
and a constitutional government there, remarked of his
own country — '•'' France needs religious faiths This tes-
timony is tine, and competent to the point. And it
describes the imperative necessity of the French people.
Romanism has engendered in their mind a scepticism m
respect to all religious belief. They are wanting in the
observance of the first truths of reason concerning God,
and His providence and His word. They are without
God and the practical conviction of amenability to Him.
Without the recognition and feai* of God, they lack that
conscience which these convictions inspire. The stable
foundations of morality are wanting. They lack the
sterling Puritan element in their social life. From the
peasant to the throne, France needs to be pervaded with
genuine religious convictions, — with thoughts of God
FRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR. 187
and immoi-tality, and the binding obligations ol virtue.
In one word, she wants a religious conscience. She
must have an intelligent economy of doctrine, and a
real conviction of it, and trust in it. It must be equal
to her science and civilization, and sanctify both. She
must give up the puerilities of Popery for a purer, better
faith ; a faith that does not abjm-e reason and is not un-
worthy of it. She must get back from the false lights
of a merely legendary service to a simple Gospel, and
its intuitive and legitimate teachings. She must have
piety toward God, and faith in Jesus Christ, and a sim-
ple and pure worship, and be strengthened to all righ-
teousness by the baptism of religious truth. On this
career France has already entered. She has long been
praying for the forfeiture of her persecution of the
Hugenots, and is returning with some confidence and
hope, to the faith which she once destroyed. Protestant
congregations, devoted advocates for the truth, are to be
found in all her principalities, and, to some extent, in
many rm-al districts. There is, at least, the first dawning
of a brighter day. Romanism is on the wane. Napo-
leon is as conscious of its inadequacy for the present and
the future of France and Italy, as any one. He is wait-
ing the logic of events. The work of Father Passaglia,
the first scholar in Rome, opposing the temporal juris-
diction of the Pope, and repubUshed at Florence,
and followed up with subsequent articles in the same
strain, is a very healthful and gratifying token. And
but to-day the news arrives that the inhabitants of
the last named city are placarding through their streets
and public places the motto, "Rome as the Capital
188 FRANCE AND ITS EMPEKOK.
of Italy" — " Down with the Pope King" — " Long live
Victor Emanuel."
This is but the beginning of the end. The most in-
timate relations subsist between Italy and France, and
between the governments of the two nations. If the
one has now her constitution from the foot of the Alps,
and in near sympathy with the sturdy ethics of the
Waldenses and the Bible, she knows how to learn the
lesson, and if Napoleon III " can go to war for an idea,"
and conquer Italy for the Italians, his j^eople may yet,
with his consent, assert the rights of conscience against
the claims of Rome, and get a religious faith, that shall
make them equal to the claims of the future on so chiv-
akous and gallant a people.
The expedition to Mexico and this continent is not
yet written out. It is, we observe, thoroughly canvassed
in the French Chambers, and is subjected to a scathing
criticism and rebuke in the columns of the " Westmin-
ster Review^ Napoleon himself asserts it to be one of
the noblest and best movements of his life, and expects
the gi-atitude of mankind for it. We fear in it the in-
trigue of that bigoted, Spanish, Roman Catholic -wife of
his, and apprehend that French conquests in Mexico
will only serve to reinstate in power the Roman priest-
hood of that country, with their overbearing resources
of wealth and influence, to pei-petuate the ignorance and
degradation of the people.
An enlightened monarchy in Mexico, while it would
be certainly against our Monroe doctrine, might not be
the worst thing for that country. It has fared hard and
been badly governed hitherto, and if some sturdy Na-
PRANCE AND ITS EMPEROR. 189
poleon has leisure to consolidate it under law, and bring
out its resources for the benefit of the world, we should
not much complain. Maxamilian seems ready to under-
take the task, and with France to sustain him, will un-
doubtedly do the best he can to make monarchy accept-
able on this continent.
In the meantime Mr. Seward will keep all crowned
heads well advised of our views, but there need be no
clash at arms. Honest Lincoln must undoubtedly be
President next time. Pennsylvania, California and
Kansas have already declared for him. But he will
have enough to do to get into subsidence and reconcile-
ment the jarring elements of our home country during
the balance of his eight years term without giving much
thought to abstract questions outside. Mexico, as yet,
has shown itself incompetent to free institutions and
been but the disgi-ace of republics. Napoleon, if he
understands his epoch, will not quarrel with us. Him-
self a child of reform and revolution, as in the North
of Africa, so he may do Mexico good, and pending the
issue and cognizant of our own national stmggle and
crisis that is on us, we will commit our way to the Lord
and trust the future to him.
190 ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN.
LECTURE V.
ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN.
England is approached from France by several routes :
that by Havre to Southampton, — from Dieppe to New
Haven, and from Calais to Dover, and thence by rail
road or on the Thames, a river of quite considerable
dimensions, and teeming with ships and commerce, all
the way to the metropolis.
London is an empire of itsejf Its population is well
nigh that of the whole State of New York. The city
spreads itself out on both sides of the river, and chiefly
on the north-west of it, with a radius of four or six
miles eveiy way from a point near to St. Paul's or Chai*-
ring Cross as its centre. Parliament House, Westmin-
ster Abbey, St. Paul's, the Bank, and Palaces and
Towers and Parks and business are on that side, though
the new and gorgeous Crystal Palace peers away off at
Sydenham on the other side.
London is a congeries of villages and boroughs, and
separate municipalities, expanded into one large and
overtowering city, in the course of time and events. Its
streets are without much regularity or reference to each
other. It is said to have twenty Queen streets and
twenty-five King streets, and others in perhaps equal
profusion. A post-oflSce address must do more than
designate its street — it must show which of that name,
ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN. 191
by reference to some well-known locality as the Strand
—the Mall — Fleet street — Flood Gate — or by marking
the geographical portion of the city intended.
A practice is observable in London, somewhat char-
acteristic : the river is made an omnibus and a rail road,
and innumerable small steamers are at work up and
down the stream, conveying passengers to all ptoints
near it, at two or three pennies a head.
London is eminently a business city. Not that of the
government only, and of the British Isles, but of India,
and the colonies around the world. It is the centre of
the commerce of all nations, and keeps the books and
regulates the exchanges of the world. The account is
kept there, wealth accumulates there, and is diffused
thence, as from a common and acknowledged centre.
Liverpool, over on the western side of England and
near the Atlantic, is a younger city, though rapidly
growing in business and wealth, and from the advan-
tages of its position may yet become the great commer-
cial emporium of the kingdom.
England has large resources in her agriculture, her
mines and collieries, and yet her wealth and greatness
must be attributed to her large share of the commerce
of the world, in connection with her immense manufac-
tures. She shows no signs of decay, and those who
predict her speedy downfall from taxes or the weight of
empire, must look elsewhere for it than to the statistics
of her tunnage and commerce or the spirit of her people.
The English are an intelligent, if not a literary peo-
ple. Besides numerous respectable institutions more in
the Dissenting interest, the two Universities of the
192 ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN.
Establishment, — the one at Oxford and the other at
Cambridge, — would be an honor to any country. They
started from small beginnings and have grown to truly
colossal proportions. They had their rise in the cluster-
ing of independent Grammar Schools in an early day,
under the care of single teachers. They are the children
of tfceir own pupils, and have been built up from age to
age on their successive endowments. They are now
nearly of the same size. The University of Oxford,
which is the oldest, dates back to the seventh or eighth
century of our era. It has now twenty-three separate
colleges and foundations, with corporations really inde-
pendent of each other, but for mutual edification and
convenience, sharing in these last days some things in
common. They are located apparently without reference
to each other in all parts of the town. Indeed it is a
city of colleges, and for their sake. They have nnmer-
ous quadrangles of masonry of every age and style,
with spacious yards and lawns and walks and overhang-
ing trees. Addison's walk in Magdalen College is over
half a mile around, and the great walk in the rear of
Christ College, (or Church, as it is called,) and belong-
ing to it, is four rods wide and one hundred in extent,
with a dense row of venerable elms, from three to four
feet in diameter, in each border. Large parks, with
stately forest trees, and live deer sporting in them, are
observable in the rear of some of the colleges. The
University is the largest land and property holder in the
region, if not in all England. Some of the foundations
are richer than others, but all in their appointments,
their Libraries and Galleries of Art, have the appearance
ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN. 198
of thrift and comfort, and of the means of great and
permanent usefulness.
But at this point there is disappointment or occasion
for it. Oxford is not doing the good she might. She
suffers under the evils incident to overgrown and
Avealthy coi*porations. The University is very much a
magnificent charity in the behoof of dependents and
wards and cousins. The twenty-three colleges have, in
all, less than sixteen hundred students, and some, with
millions of money, not more than than thirty or forty.
They have accommodations for five times the number,
and professors and fellows rusting out for want of schol-
ars. The terms of admission are a damage to them and
the aristocratic notions that prevail.
Still the stranger cannot visit those retreats of leai*n-
ing, traverse those halls and gardens and grounds, and
look through those extended alcoves of the wit and
wisdom of the past, without seeing the elements of a
mighty power for good in the future. There is yet
truth and faith in Oxford and Cambridge. There are
the Jorms, recumbent and sleeping it may be, of a
mighty orthodoxy. The mind of the Spirit may breathe
over them. The Holy Ghost may be shed down upon
them from on high, and these centres and foundations
be moved as one man. These halls, and these founda-
tions, and magnificent charities it may be, are held in
check, till all is ready and the pentecost is fully come.
There is a future for England and the Saxon race " in
the ages to come." She has colonies and dependent
possessions round the globe, and the means of usefulness
beyond any other nation. She has Gibralter and the
18
194 ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN.
Cape of Good Hope, and owns more on each of the con-
tinents, than any other people, with the exception ot
Russia about the pole, and perhaps our own country
here. She has an empire in India on both sides of the
Ganges, and a decided ascendency in the Eastern Arch-
ipelago. Australia is her's, and she holds the keys of
China. The subjugation and occupation of that vast
empire by a Christian power, is only a question of time.
A peaceful possession of its sea-ports may be gained by
the methods of commerce, and this would lead to the
establishment of inland factories and depots of trade,
followed up by efforts for Christian enlightenment and
evangelization, and thus a gradual transformation be
secured from a heathen to a Christian people. It may
be a better sample of the advance of Christian civiliza-
tion than India has presented, though the general pro-
cess of it has long been going on, with much imperfec-
tion there.
But India is fast improving now. A government is a
better civilizer than a company. Since the crown has
accepted the government of that country from the East
India Company, the ratio of advancement there in the
direction of an intelligent and prosperous Christian
nation, eventually, is itself materially advancing.
China is in some respects a more enlightened and
better conditioned people than India, and less under
the sway of malignant and unyielding superstitions.
Her products invite the commerce of all nations, and
her access to it is as life from the dead, to nearly a third
of the human race. Providence will demand such a
country, so vast in extent and favorable in position, in
ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN. 195
climate and soil, as a factor in the future of humanity,
Mud the way of the East seems ah-eady to be " cast up."
Should there be a struggle for the occupation of China,
it would doubtless lie between England and Russia.
This latter power has now all north of China and all
east to Behring's Straits, except Japan, and no inconsid-
erable section adjoining it, on our own continent. She
owns both sides of the Amoor river, and untold regions
up to its sources in the many confluents that swell its
majestic bosom and proportions.
What increase of territory Russia may have it in her
heart to desire, it may not be easy to say. One thing is
obvious : she has much yet to do for what she already
has. She owns nearly all the north of Europe and Asia,
from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and the Caspian and
the Himmaleh Mountains, to the wall of China and the
Pacific Ocean. Serfdom is not yet extinct in her do-
minions. Her agriculture, her manufactures, and her
commerce, need centuries of improvenient. Her newly
acquired possessions on the Amoor, the very Amazon oi
the Old World, have the size of an empire, and would
be more benefitted by the arts of trade than by the
clash of arms.
England and Russia seem to be the meet counter-
parts of each other. After some experience in the
Crimea, they may see that there is a better way than
war. They may become too intelligent and considerate
to fight for China, and conclude to use and enjoy and
improve it for the benefit of both, and submit its future
destinies to the mutual comity and good will of all nations.
This would assuredly be the more excellent way; and
196 ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN.
can it not be anticipated that the policy of nations will
increase in spirituality and in their relations to each
other, and in the march of their internal and mutual im-
provement be more commensurate with the demands of
Providence and the instructions of revealed truth?
This is the suggestion of enlightened reason and hu-
mane jurisprudence on the subject, and the nations will
at length accept it. Each sovereignty is best condi-
tioned and prospers most, by having all others prosper
around it. The Cosmopolite idea is a Christian idea.
There is the brotherhood of nations — man is one, and
has one Father in Heaven.
England is best situated to have the oversight of
China, for the good of the world. She is small at home
and large on the seas and in foreign commerce. She
has dependencies almost everywhere. She is, at home,
a highly civilized and Christian people. Her literature
and her faith are the birth-right of all nations. The
Saxon race has in it a prodigious vitality, and is des-
tined to be a great factor in working out the future
problems of society and the world. The Sclavonic
race is not equal to it, and though we concede much to
Russia, as a great power among " the powers that be"
on earth, and though her diplomats manifest much
shrewdness and capacity in the Congress of Nations,
and though we admire the progress in civilization which
she is making, we look to Western Europe, and its cor-
relates in America, for those life-currents which shall set
forth for the evangelization of man, and shall bring in,
under God, the day of prophecy and of promise in His
word.
ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN. 197
There is a lesson in this direction in the Iloyal Fam-
ily of England, as represented in the present Queen.
She, though not distinguished for grace of person or
point and strength of intellect, is a truly Christian
woman — a Godly, pious mother, and with the Prince
consort, now deceased, constituted the united head of a
model household. They were a loving and virtuous
couple, and formed a distinguished example of that
good Christian home, tnown only to England and its
coiTelates. It is said that no other people know what
the word means. It was gained for them and us in a
Magna Charta and at Runnymede.
Private virtue is wont to be a desideratum among
crowned heads. The courts and palaces of Europe are
noted for courtezan manners and low moralities. They
have peculiar temptations and great incentives to disso-
lute habits and profligacy of life. But it is an honor
and blessing to England to be able to present such an
example of sobriety, virtue and piety, to the nations, as
she does in the person and domestic relations of her
Queen. They have hallowed the throne on which she
sits, and the crown she wears. They have added re-
spectability to the court, and its attendants. They do
honor to religion in the eyes of the people, and are a tes-
timony to them of the sacredness and value of a truly
Christian home. Such an example reflects light abroad.
The thrones of the continent feel its influence, and are
assisted to respect the source whence it emanates, if not
to imitate its example. It is the gospel of God in the
palace of the Csesars. It shows that personal religion,
and personal fealty to it, and respect for it, may be in
198 ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN.
high i^laces as well as low, and that the social virtues
may be held in honor, and should not be at a discount
there. And it is an example and a lesson worth record-
ing. Other thrones and monarchies have had pious
sovereigns, and other nations pious inilers to leave the
savor of their names in history ; but this is one of
great distinction on the scroll of the present time, to
shed the light of its high example on the homes and
hearthstones of the British people not only,, through all
the colonies of England which belt the globe, but all
nations and peoples also. There is value in a Christian
home. The fxmily antedated the fall. It is an institu-
tion that came down from Paradise, and as it is the ear-
liest, so should it be the most valued of any among
men. It is the parent of the State, the exemplar of the
church, and in its bosom are nurtured all those virtues
which adorn society and assimilate earth to Heaven.
The hope of the future is in this relation. The fami-
ly constitution has in it the germ of the millenium. It
is through Christian households that Christ will rise to
the sovereignty of all nations. Woman has a work to
do in the house of God. Without her influence the
latter day of Zion's glory would never come, or a point
be reached in Christian civilization that would render it
possible. The elevation, excellence and power of wo-
man, and a generation trained by her hand " who shall
be all righteous," are the great boon of the future. Let
these elements pervade and permeate the thrones and
democracies among men, and let " kings become nursing
fathers and their queens nursing mothers to Zion," and
the families of the earth take on the mode of the Gospel
ENGLAND AND ITS QUEEN. 199
and own its sway, and the end would come as predicted,
and this world would put on the type of the heavenly. —
''Joy and praise would be heard therein, thanksgiving
and the voice of melody."
200 REV. DR. PUSEY AT OXFORD.
LECTURE VI.
REV. DR. PUSEY AT OXFORD.
While in England I spent a Sabbath at Oxford, that
city of colleges and literaiy foundations and ecclesiastics.
It was ^^convocation day,'' when the twenty-three really
separate corporations, having been gathered on the Sat-
urday before, from their long summer vacation, and hav-
ing met for morning prayer in their respective chapels,
assembled as to the heads of departments, and as many
as could, in St. Mari/s church, for a sermon. Dr. Pusey,
a Fellow of Chiist College, and ex-Regius Professor of
Hebrew, — who had been cashiered for his Popish ten-
dencies, but for some reason had got into favor again, —
w^as the preacher on the occasion. He is a man ap-
proaching the evening of life, of medium height, thick-
set, a firm tone of voice, and not much action in the
pulpit. But I recur to my notes for the day : —
"Listened this morning (Sabbath, Oct. 13th) with all
Oxford, &c., to a sermon from the celebrated Dr. Pusey,
the father of Puseyism, and widely known on both
sides of the water. As I was an American clergyman,
I was admitted among the gownsmen, and to a good
privilege of hearing, and was much interested in the
discourse, which was an horn- long, and unattended with
the usual service of prayer, in public worship. It was
quite a labored and able production : ^And /, if I he lifted
REV. DR. PUSEY AT OXiORD. 201
upi will draw all men unto me.' If the Regius Professor
had been as good a metaphysician as Hebrew scholar,
he would have improved the sermon. It was all on
Reason, and the Bible, (my subject, you will say,) and it
was above half right. Dr. P. was running the parallel-
isms and contrasts between Reason and Revelation all
the way through, and seemed much like the man in the
gospel, who saw 'men as trees walking.' He lacked
analysis, and a careful and consistent use of terms, and
committed himself and crossed his own track at various
points. He is clearly a disciple of the Hamilton and
Mansell school. But the sermon, even with these de-
fects, had much truth and excellency in it, and was vast-
ly more evangelical and faithful in its cast and exhorta-
tions than I was prepared to expect. Its chief aim was
to set up faith as the method of receiving Divine Reve-
lation ; and its chief mistake was in accounting those
intuitions of reason and of the intelligence as faith itself
which are the cause of it, and its legitimate ground, and
thus, instead of making faith reasonable and a dictate of
reason, in reality stultifying both, and giving up the co-
incidence and harmony between them. Verily, there
are some things the English have not got yet. They
lack precision and ripeness in the science of mind. Oh,
thought I, as I saw him (Dr. P.) battling along so lusti-
ly on the edge of tmth, and crossing and needing it,
without stating it in just relations, — why does he not
see it and catch its line of things and use it, and thus
render his work so much more easy and effectual, and
give himself so much wider a margin of privilege to
scathe Geologists and the advocates of ' positive science,'
202 REV. DR. PUSEY AT OXFORD.
which was his real and legitimate object. I have not
seen so much Scripture interwoven in a sermon, and so
well put, scarcely in my life. I think I must recur to
him again, if I live to get home" — and so I do; but
only for the following concise reflections :
1st. — The 'preacher had an earnest and important subject
before him. It was to present Revelation to us on an in-
dependent basis, as the communication of the personal
and perfect Jehovah, and not a mere deduction of " Ne-
ology" or "positive science"; — that the information
communicated in the Bible, and its economy of doc-
trine, truth, and thought, are no result of mere human
theories, or conclusion from the perfection or improve-
ments of science ; but a body of divine intelligence to
lis, in our darkness and our need. In a word, that the
Bible is a revelation of God to us, and not a gi'owth
from us, and that no perfection of science would have
attained to it, — no deduction of philosophy bring it, —
that it came direct from the bosom of God, and not
through the researches of men, and is to be apprehend-
ed and accepted as from Him, on the testimony and ev-
idence which it furnishes, and is to be trusted in as such.
This surely is a legitimate design : no one need to find
fault with it. It places the Bible on a pedestal of its
own, wholly aside from and above all systems of mere
human device, — the product of divine wisdom and good-
ness, and not of the intellect and skill of man. Hence
the competency and authority of the Bible, as a divine
manifestation, and forever removed above the level of
all merely human systems of religious faith.
2d. — Dr. P. set in needless contrast and antagonism Rea-
KEV. DR. PUSEY AT OXFORD. 203
son and Revelation. This was indeed the prominent
characteristic and vice of the sermon. It mistook the
perverse reasonings of men, benighted and besotted, for
reason itself and the effort to attain it. It forgot that
Revelation comes from the reason of God, and is a mes-
sage of his intelligence to ours ; and that from the verj-
terras of the communication, we are expected to appre-
hend and appreciate it. It is from reason, to reason, —
from the intelligence of God, to the intelligence of man.
But for this there would be no relevancy in it. As well
speak to brutes or trees, if there can be no intelligent
response to the utterance you make. Indeed, without
this there could be no revelation. It must be made to
the principles of truth inherent in the mind, and be ta-
ken up by the reason and conscience in order to be ot
any use : it must be a revelation. I must see what it is,
and that it is true, or I cannot believe it. My faith must
have a reasonable ground, or it is no faith. It must
found in my convictions, or it will not hold on me. The
communication must be made to my intelligence, and
give the reason for my crediting it. It is a truth, or it
cannot be communicated. It is of the reason of God or
it could not be. It is an apprehensible truth, or I could
not receive it, or be responsible for it. I may not know
all the relations of it, but I must know what it is, and
that it is true, and have a reasonable conviction of its
truth, or I cannot put my trust in it. My faith must
follow my convictions. I may not know all the reasons
for a given truth, but it is revealed to me for my appre-
ciation and confidence, and I will go on to know more
and more of it. God gives me life and strength. He
204 REV. DR. PUSEY AT OXFORD.
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. Christ is the
light of the world, and has said that his people are so
too — in their measure, doubtless. Reason assures me of
the reason of God, and that all revealed truth is reason-
able, and that the supposition of its being otherwise is
absurd. I know that God would not and could not re-
veal what was not true and reasonable, and that revela-
tion, moreover, is given for my instruction and benefit,
and that I may be more acquainted with Him and His
works and ways, and that He would rather have me
know more than less of revealed truth, and of its rea-
sons and gi'ounds, and be going on unto perfection, and
so be filled with all the fulness of God. The proof is
two-fold: — Divine truth brought to the mind, and the
mind acting intelligently on it, and including faith in it.
God would not require us to believe that for which He
did not give us good reason for believing. This reason
might lie in the comprehension of the thing to be be-
lieved, — in the relations of it, or in our knowledge of
Him as its Revelator. In any case the faith would be
intelligent and reasonable. And hence the coincidence
of reason and faith, and the consent and harmony be-
tween them ; — and the failure of Dr. Pusey was in the
lack of analysis just here. It was in allowing reason
to be subsidized by Neologists and positive-science men,
and unwittingly admitting the conclusion that faith is
without reason, and antagonistic to it, and toiling on
continually against the irrepressible convictions of men,
that what they may not see any reason for, they need
not believe. Religion cannot afford such a sacrifice,
and it was evident that the good Dr. winced in view
REV. DK. PUSEY AT OXFORD. 205
of the weakness of his positions, while pleading for
faith at the expense of reason, until at length he identi-
fied cause and effect, spoke of those intuitions of mind
which apprehend the subject matter of revelation and
to which it is made, and whose convictions are the
gi'ound of faith and which make it reasonable — as faith
itself, and as being intuitions of faith, and thus enabling
him to cany on his war against reason while pleading
the claims of faith. His method was involved, and his
logic limping, and his conclusions lacking in force, for
want of distinction and precision of thought here. He
failed to distinguish between the lower offices of the
understanding in matters of sense and the higher one
of reason, in apprehending moral and divine truth, and
thus ignored its office work and prerogative in the mat-
ter of Revelation. But this prerogative, reason, of ne-
cessity, takes. Why believe the Bible and not the book
of Mormon or the Koran"? To what is the appeal
made ? Why not treat all pretenders alike ; and who
shall be judged, and what the umpire and tribunal to
which they must come, and where their respective claims
must be adjudicated ? What, but the reason that God
has given us, and with which he communicates in a
Revelation ? Suppose the Bible failed in its morality,
or acknowledged the existence of two Gods, or denied
that virtue is obligatory or vice wrong ? Would not this
be fatal to it ? and why ? It would then compromit the
first truths of reason, and assert what we know could
not be true. Why seek to justify the doctrines of Rev-
elation to the principles of the being that God has given
us. or write a book on theology, or preach a sermon, or
206 REV. DR. PL'SEY AT OXFORD.
distribute a tract 1 This foray on reason, in the matter
of Revelation, is worse than idle. It is all a mislead.
It is like giving up the citadel to the enemy in the hope
of weakening some of his outposts. Neologists and the
advocates of " positive science," whether of England or
of any other country, may well rejoice over the surren-
der we thus would make. Abnegate the province of
reason in respect to Revelation, and deny' that truth
revealed, coming from the reason of God, to that he has
given us, is not apprehensible to reason and approved
of it, and that to believe in Revelation is not a dictate
of reason, and, in the highest and best sense, is at once
to fortify the rampart of error and undermine the found-
ations of faith. What doctrine of the Bible is unrea-
sonable? What precept of it shall reason reject? She
will not foreshow the contents of Revelation, but will
accept its light given and seek its help in solving eveiy
problem of humanity and truth. Men are infidels for
want of light or of heart, and not because it is reason-
able to be so. They lack faith because they do not ap-
prehend the grounds of it, or because they hold the
truth in unrighteousness. To repudiate reason is not
the way to fight the battles of the Chm-ch. It will not
be the method of her future advance to the empire of
the world. She will become a power in the earth and
move on to the conquest of the nations, very much as,
under God, she subsidizes the intellect of the nations
to her sway and commends herself to every man's con-
science in the sight of God.
3d. — The position of Dr. P. opens the ivay for all manner
of vagaries in religious belief from the Bible, and legitima-
REV. DR. rUSEY AT OXFORD. 207
tizes them. It is this : — Revelation is made to faith ; it
is beyond '* the limits of human thought ;" it is not to
be reached by any of the principles of truth common to
men or known to the human mind ; it is without tests
in its recipients ; it is an economy by itself, and lies in
a plane of its own, which faith embraces and communes
Avith, without the correspondence of the other principles
of mind, and thus inaugurates a faith without discern-
ment and discretion, " blind and sightless," as its trans-
Atlantic apologist would say. Faith in revelation is
without " insight or reason" and may not be criticised.
And thus, for aught that the position admits, one faith
is as good as another, and all faiths are equally legiti-
mate, and it may be to the latent action of this princi-
ple on the Doctor's own mind, that his leanings to
Romanism are due, and to all that pomp and ceremony
of a liturgic service which go to constitute the staple
of Puseyism as it lies in the public mind. The Ana-
baptists of Germany asserted their faith in the Bible,
and so did Socinus and Emanuel Swedenborg. Why
not accept their faith ! Romanists believe that the
bread and wine of the eucharist become literally the
body and blood of Christ. Who shall challenge it %
Dr. Pusey scarcely does. Why not adopt all the frip-
peiy of the historic and legendary service of the Vatican,
as you may see it in Rome or Paris, or even nearer
home ? It is because the Bible was given to our intel-
ligent inspection and apprehension, and we do not find
this prudery and nonsense there, and would not justify
or put ourselves on the level of the faith that blindly
says it does. We do not stultify ourselves in accepting
208 REV. DR. PUSEY AT OXFORD.
revelation. We put it to the intelligence for whose
benefit it was sent ; we submit it to the tests of reason
all the way, as to whether it be a revelation, and as to
what it contains, and as to whether its contents can be
true. It brings news; — news that we should never
otherwise get, but we must test it in these respects and
see that for aught we know it may be true, and whether
it is also so attested from on high as that it must be
true, and authoritatively given, and obligatory. This is
the doctrine of Protestantism and of all intelligent ap-
prehension and use of the Word of God. And there is
no difficulty or danger in this. It contains inevitably
the terms of a reliable faith — a faith intelligent and re-
sponsible. Why believe in the Trinity and not in its
mode? The one is revealed, and, for aught we know,
can be true as revealed, and moreover, has analogies
elsewhere in nature and thought ; the other is not re-
vealed. So in all the Bible. Its revelations are so
allied to truths otherwise known, are so verified by the
facts of history, and its doctrines so verified by the
principles of all truth in the mind, or are so attested by
Him, whom reason describes as a God of truth, that
faith is every way reasonable and should be ready,
prompt and universal — and the solution of the problem
is easy and natural. God is one — one in nature, in the
Bible and in the intelligent being that He has given us.
He never contradicts himself He may make commun-
ications to us, but he will not contravene the reason He
has given us. He shall throw floods of light on our
pathway, as need shall be, but all in accordance with
the economy of vision we have, and such as shall make
REV. DR. PUSEY AT OXFORD. 209
it the highest element and function of intellect and con-
science to approve. Revelation is an addition to our
knowledge, and for the gi-owth and culture of the mind
and heart, and must be in accordance with the principles
■ of truth and thought that are in and of us. It is an
advancement in the knowledge of God and in all right-
eousness; and how can it contradict or repudiate the
laws of mind, through which, if at all, we must make
advances. Let us not give the citadel to the enemy.
Let us regard Revelation as a help to reason, and not
the antagonist of it, and faith in it as the highest reason,
and not a rhapsody of the imagination for which no in-
telligent account can be given; and in our ignorance
and sin, let us thankfully accept light from any and
every quarter, and especially from the pages of that
Book which is sent to us from the bosom of infinite
reason and goodness, in hope of the day when we " shall
no more see in part, or prophesy in part, but see as we
are seen, and know as we are known."
14
210 THE AMERICAN QUESTION.
LECTURE VII.
"THE ATTITUDE OF CHRISTIAN EUROPE ON THE
AMERICAN QUESTION."
I may be expected to take a special interest in this
question, having met the "Evangelical Alliance" at Ge-
neva, Switzerland, in September last, and having since
visited different portions of England and the Continent,
and while all eyes and hearts were intent on the strug-
gle going on in this country, and on its bearings upon
the interests of humanity and freedom and the cause of
God.
The question has a two-fold reference to England and
the nations beyond, and with respect to each has char-
acteristic features.
England has been censured by some of us, and by
many of us, it may be, too severely. She doubtless is
not wanting in self-esteem, and her politicians would be
quick to improve any opportunity of exalting her insti-
tutions at the expense of our own. They have domes-
tic and party ends to subserve in so doing. But the
Government has not been betrayed into any hostile dem-
onstration, and the people are yet to be more fully heard
from. England was right in the Trent affair, by our
own acknowledgment, and since then her utterances
have been more cordial and conciliatory. We, quite
THE AMERICAN QUESTION. 211
likely, misunderstand her as much as she does us, and
with less reason.
Aside from merely temporal interests, her Christian
sentiment asks mainly after the influence of the strug-
gle on the slavery question. She is out of patience that
so free a people as we are, and from whom freedom
has expected so much, should be so long hampered by
that question; she does not know what is implied in
restoring the Constitution, the Government, and Laws.
She significantly asks, " Can your Constitution and Gov-
ernment do nothing about slavery but catch fugitives
from it; keep four millions in bondage and without
rights, and sanction the hanging of John Brown'?"
She sees that we do not understand ourselves in this
struggle, as to its moral intent, and have varying views,
in Congress and out, all the way from the New York
Herald to Dr. Cheever, and says, if you are but to re-
tmTi to the day of compromises and concessions to
slavery, we have no heait to it. British ports, British
ships, and British soil, know only the language of fi*ee-
men, and we wonder that after so long a trial you can-
not say so too. Their language is to us, " If you mean
freedom why not say so, and especially now, and to
those who abjure your Constitution and have risen in
arras against it. The restoration of the Government
with slaveiy they have not much interest in, the restora-
tion of it without we dare not afiirm."
England does not well comprehend onr doctrine of
State rights and local law, and thinks that we are not
true to our own convictions of the cause of the war and
the real animus of it, in the attitude that we take in it.
212 THE AMERICAN QUESTION.
She would have shorter logic and more direct issues
with the main evil itself. She is more an abolitionist
than we are, and it is because she is so, and not because
she loves cotton, that she shows less sympathy with us
than she otherwise would.
I say this from frequent conversation there with men
of large acquaintance and intercourse in the manufac-
turing districts. Hence they will not touch our cotton
or break our blockade ; but they want we should strike
at the root of all evil and do it up for all time.
We are probably doing all we can to accommodate
them and ourselves in this behalf, as time will show,
and have only to say, have patience, good mother, and
you will be satisfied. We are doing the work as fast as
we can, and as well as we know how.
England is mystified with om* domestic and constitu-
tional complications with slavery, and would have us
now break away from them. The inherent rights of
man, as man, she would have us renew, as in our " De-
claration of Independence." She is enthusiastic at this
point, even to women and children. She boasts of the
lights of manhood in respect to all who step foot on
her soil at home, in Canada, or elsewhere. There is a
no more universal sentiment in England than this ; and
we have only to renew that Declaration and apply it
here, to wake up one long, loud shout of applause and
sympathy from Land^s End to ^^ Johnny Groat's house" a
few politicians and aristocrats excepted.
Depend upon it the Christian part of England and
her people generally are right in respect to the elements
of this struggle, and as fast as they can appreciate the
THE AifEEICAN QUESTION. 213
embaiTassments of our position in relation to slavery as
connected with it and our methods, will they give us
their " God-send" and await the issue. We injure our-
selves by doing injustice to their convictions, or making
too much of the utterances of their "yellow plush" press,
or being too ready to resent a little of John BuUism
that may now and then crop out. A more unexception-
able tone of sentiment is even now observable. Fra-
zer's Magazine for February has an able article by J.
Stuart Mill, that is all we could ask on this subject, and
is refeiTed to as such by Mr. Bancroft in his oration on
the 22d inst. It should be largely circulated in this,
countiy. Others will follow that will be satisfactory,
and while we are at some loss to define our own posi-
tion in respect to the acknowledged source of our
troubles, and what we hope to do with it in the end, we
may well afford to be generous in construing the con-
victions of others on the subject.
But I pass to the continent. Europe lies under two
burdens: the oppression of the Church and of the
State, — Romanism, and the political corporations con-
nected with it. Freedom on the continent is rather a
sentiment of the heart, than a realized idea. It is a
hope, rather than an enjoyment. Thought is free, and
may be freely expressed within certain limits, but is
hedged in on every side with oppressive institutions.
The friends of freedom and human rights there have
long looked to this country, as its established home and
support. They expected help from us, in the solution
of problems, yet to be worked out there. They knew
we had a free Church and an open Bible, and could
214 THE AMERICAN QUESTION.
hardly understand it, that we should yet have to pass
through so fiery an ordeal in establishing the freedom of
the State. Nothing could exceed the sympathy of that
Congress of Nations (I may call it) which was assembled
at Geneva. They were the "eZzV of all Europe, —
scholars, clergymen, Christians, statesmen, the friends of
man and friends of God, and bent in soitow, as mani-
fested by inquu'ies at eveiy turn and corner, over the
fratricidal war, raging here.
This manifested itself in the opening speech of their
President (M. A. Naville) on our reception, as he said,
"Welcome, brethren of America, who have quitted
your distant homes at a solemn moment. Our thoughts
carry us without ceasing to the soiTowful crisis, at which
you have anived. The United States are not forgotten
in our prayers. Our firm confidence is that a country
which has done so much for the cause of Christ, can
only receive blessing in the end. What thanks will the
Christians of Europe, as of America, render on the day
when your nohle country will be only, and everywhere,
the land of free men f
The American meeting of the Alliance, for which a
day was set down, was looked forward to with much
enquiry and expectation, and the hope often expressed
that we would there bring out the American question.
The opening prayer at the meeting by Rev. Baptist Noel
of London, was all on that subject, and it was just after
the affair at Bull Run, and all in sympathy with the
North and freedom. And as addresses that followed
from the American Delegation brought out the moral
elements of the strife, and the aims and hopes of the
THE AMERICAN QUESTION. 215
North in behalf of the Union as connected with the
cause of humanity and freedom and the surrender of
the institution of African slavery in this country, the
unwonted applause and gi-atulations of the meeting
were no uncertain proof of where the heart was on the
American question.
Pastor Fisch of Paris closed the meeting with prayer,
audit was all on the same subject. He had been in
this country, both North and South. He knew the na-
ture of the struggle, and his intercessions were all that
the utmost advocates for human rights, the success of
our arms, and the freedom of the slave, could ask. But
the congregation had by this time become too much in-
terested in the- subject to be contented with one meet-
ing, and, led oft' by Sir Culling Eardley of England, a
second was called for. At that, fmi;her addresses were
made, explanations given, and the resolution presented,
which as modified by the General Committee on the
subject, received the sanction of the Alliance as a whole,
and has been widely cu'culated both in Europe and
America.
The peculiar excellence and value of this paper, was
that while it was fully in the interest of humanity and
freedom, it accepted the proclamation of our own Pres-
ident, for a day of fasting and prayer, and requested
Europe to join with us in its observance. The occasion
was to some extent observed over the water. At Paris
the American Church was nearly filled on that day, and
a deep impression made by the sermon of Dr. McClin-
tock, the pastor, who preached on the subject.
We have all read Count Gasparin's book, " The Up-
216 THE AMERICAN QUESTION.
rising of a Great People," and noted the magnificent
fulfillment of its prophecies and its logic, in events that
have followed. He is one of the finest scholars, and
most distinguished Chiistian statesmen of the age, and
with such men as he is, to enlighten France and the
Continent, and Stuart Mill and others to catechize Eng-
land, and such men, as we may trustfully boast of, to
direct and lead our armies and fight our battles, under
Him on high to whom we would commit our cause,
may we not expect results that will gladden both hem-
ispheres, in giving stability and value to our govern-
ment, unity to our country, and equal rights as fi'ee
men, to all of eveiy name, and hue, and cast ?
THE FUTURE OF EUROPE. 217
• LECTURE Vni.
THE FUTURE OF EUROPE.
Europe is the centre of the world's civilization.
Since the fall of the ancient empires, the reconstruction
of society has been there. Asia has long been sunk
away into the quietude and stagnation of a heathen or
half heathen state, and receives all her symptoms of re-
vivescence and life, in influences from the land of the
west. Africa, with what of ancient civilization she
boasted, in the countries bordering on the Mediterra-
nean and in Egypt, is yet an unredeemed, unexplored
continent, tipped with the silvery touch of modern ideas
at the Cape of Good Hope, and on a few other points,
while America is yet a new land, a transplant from
Europe, and buoyant with the blossoms of hope, but
not yet aiTived into the maturity and fruitage of years
in its national life.
On the European continent, the ancient races of the
earth have met and mingled, have stmggled for centuries
against the darkness of the past, and essayed a greater
privilege in art and science for the future, and there
have they been wrought into empires that now largely
shape and control the destinies of mankind. America
is already a power in this respect, and will be increasing-
ly so, but the central forces are in Europe. And they
seem not to have spent their strength. New dynasties
218 THE FUTURE OF EUROPE.
aiise, and new modifications of empire are taken on,
and will be. But these mil only be improvements and
the increase of strength. Humanity will move on, with
an ever augmenting accumulation of ideas, and a higher
type of Christian civilization. Giant impediments will
be undermined and disappear ; new elements enter into
the composition of the forces of the future, and new re-
sults be wrought out under that Divine Providence
which is beneficent in its aims, and secure of its purpose.
What, then, will be the future of that continent, and
what the forces that shall control it ?
Prophecy is not the gift of ordinary generations, or
even of observant minds. We can but roughly forecast
the future from the past, and see a little way before us
and that imperfectly.
The human mind has laws, and so has society and
Divine Providence. These are potential and perduring.
From them we may calculate the composition of forces
which shape the present, and disclose proximately the
overcoming.
Europe is under the sway of thi-ee races of people,
which, discarding the forgotten and ambiguous epithets
of the past, we may name in the language of the pres-
ent, as the English, the French and the German. To
this must now be added the Russian, as a power more
recently known and acknowledged.
These races and nations have distinct characteristics
and appropriate parts to play in the progi'ess of European
society, and in the development of that which shall be.
They are built on different bases, have ideas peculiar to
each, and institutions and aims in which the others do
THE FUTURE OF EUROPE. 219
not sympathize. And yet human nature is everywhere
essentially the same. Man is one, and so is the Prov-
idence of God, and both are tending in different forms,
and under various phases, to a common and grand
result : the improvement and benefit of the race and
the millennial state of the church.
The States of Europe are like Nebuchadnezzar's im-
age, in which some parts and elements were of durable
material and some of muy clay. Of the effete and
worn out systems and habitudes of things there, it is
safe to conclude that the matter of the " temporalities of
the churcJi' of Rome is one. This has long rested like
night-mare on cabinets and kingdoms, but events indi-
cate its speedy consummation.
Rome is the • centre of Italy, and the natural seat of
empire for it. Victor Emanuel and his Cabinet are
anxious to get there, and proclaim his constitution from
the steps of the "Quirinal." As yet, French troops
sustain the Pope at Rome, and the immediate vicinity
of it, against the wishes of the people themselves and
the desire of all the rest of Italy. But there is a double
game in all this, which is well understood both at the
Court of Turin and at the Tuilleries. Napoleon has
held, and yet holds, Rome, to keep Austria out of it,
and guards the Pope to keep others from doing it. He
would have the. key himself and choose the time for
surrendering it. He is loyal to the cause of a united
Italy under Victor Emanuel, and is quite contented
with the influence which he would have there, through
the Prince Napoleon and his wife Clotilde, who is a
220 THE FUTURE OF EUROPE.
daughter of Victor Emanuel, and proud of her lineage
from the house of Savoy.
It is for that house transfen-ed to Italy that Rome is
kept. The obstacles to its surrender hitherto, lie in
France and over Catholic Em-ope. The question of the
temporalities of the church is involved, and even the
French clergy and the Catholic dignitaries there, are
not yet reconciled to the Pope's being shorn of his
temporal dominion. Even protestant Guizot has of late,
in an elaborate article, appeared against it. His argu-
ment is simply this, that as temporal jurisdiction is and
has been the chosen method of that church, she would be
denied her privilege without it, not aware that there are
many things, that the Church of Rome has chosen, be-
sides temporal dominion and the dungeons of the Inqui-
sition and the *' auto de fe," that the course of progress
and the world's future must deny men.
Napoleon's greatest struggle in this matter is with
the Romanism of France itself, and the disloyal utter-
ances of his own clergy. He is temperately rebuking
them, and watching the signs of decay in the good old
Pope, and anticipating his obsequies as the apology and
the period of change and action.
This must soon come, and then, too, if not before,
will come the last and successful struggle for Venetia,
with France to sustain the rightful claims of Italy, and
cementing the two nations still more together in a com-
mon policy, with common interests at stake. The Med-
iterranean is now sometimes called a " French Lake,"
and it meets entirely the views of Napoleon that Italy
should be held by a friendly obligated power. Hence-
THE FUTURE OP EUROPE. 221
forth, and for the dynasties that yet appear, they are to
the rest of Europe and its future, substantially one.
And there is an element of progress in them, that is
sometimes overlooked. They have the American idea
of civil government as emanating from the people, and
e*xisting on the consent and suffrage of the governed.
It was a large stride in that direction when Napoleon
was made Emperor by the votes of his people and
through the ballot-box of France. How much of priv-
ilege and how much of constraint ruled the hour, we
cannot say. But the form was democratic. It inaug-
urated the doctrine that the people rale, and that author-
ity is by the consent of the governed. It perpetuated
the French Revolution and makes the present Emperor,
in his robes, a child of it. This is claimed for him by
the Prince Napoleon, his cousin, in open debate in the
French Chambers, and would not be denied by himself,
if his proverbial taciturnity would deem politic an utter-
ance on the .subject. And if his own son should, after
a few years, be proposed as heir apparent to the throne,
the suffrages of the 2iYmy first, perhaps, and then of the
people, will be secured to that effect.
A much more significant advance and omen of the
future is the popular vote of Italy. Victor Emanuel has
not moved a step without it. He has asked it in Naples,
Sicily and the Duchies, and elsewhere. Tuscany owns
him as her elected king, and set up his throne in the
Industrial Exhibition in Florence, October, 1862, to in-
augurate it. The voting too is of the nature of univer-
sal suffrage, and fully endorses the American idea of
civil government, that authority emanates from the peo-
222 THE FUTURE OP EUROPE.
pie. It will not soon be forgotten. It springs from the
law of progress, and will be among the mementos and
the forces which will enfranchise and regenerate Italy
and set her among the foremost of kingdoms in the
world's civilization and futm-e.
To Italy, France will be adjunct, in the matter of pro-
gi-ess. Her Emperor says he knows his epoch, — that
he has got glory enough in wai', and seeks the arts of
peace and the industrial and educational elevation of his
people. He is a \\Titer and a thinker, and at the begin-
ning of a dynasty can take his course. His mind is
eminently philosophical and forecasting. His book on
the unity and freedom of Italy was wi'itten years ago,
and has in it many far-reaching principles on popular
rights and representative government. He knows what
Europe needs, and regards with no favor the old dynas-
ties and pledged civil coi-porations of the papal school.
He is cautious and non-committal, but sees his place and
his glory, at the head of free thought and popular rights
on the continent of Europe. He is doubtless in corres-
pondence with Kossuth and the protector of the Hun-
garian movement, and when Garibaldi gets Venetia for
Italy, and the question of Hungary comes up, he will be
found the friend of the Magyar and of the restoration of
his power. That day is hastening on, and with it will
come a gi-eat advance of popular privilege and immunity
for the South of Europe, sustained by the material guai-an-
tees and leading co-operation of France and Italy. The
throne of Austria is built on aggression and wrong.
From a moderate principality of Germany, it has, by
every method of strategy and war, beat down its neigh-
THE FUTURE OP EUROPE. 223
bors, and, for centuries, under the lead of the astute and
unscrupulous Hapsbui'gs, claimed to be the central power
of the continent. She has been, and is, bigotedly cath-
olic. Her king and government are in sworn league
and sei-vility to Rome, and must share her destiny.
It is wonderful how papal courts and countries are
behind the age ; slow in progress ; clinging to the past ;
stereotyped to the infallibility of mother church ; trust-
ing to the Pope to do their thinking for them, while he
and his subordinates think most how they shall drug and
rule the civil power. Look at poor impoverished Mex-
ico on this side of the water, and all South America
indeed ; at Spain and the Popish cantons of Switzerland.
Austria repudiates the doctrine of popular sovereignty,
and is stout for the divine right of kings. She uttered
her veto, when the ballot box came to Italy, and when
it asked the Tuscans, and the people of Modena and
Parma, who should rule over them. She is wedded to
the weal and fortunes of the Pope, and must be includ-
ed in them. It is the afternoon of their power. The
Hapsburghs have more enemies than they can contend
against, and must, with the elements of misrule and
false rule, which they have so long harbored, sink Aus-
tria into comparative littleness and obscurity again be-
fore the forces of the future.
Hungary will again be a power, and be one in the
direction and interest of the franchises of the people,
and will largely influence the future of south-eastern
Europe. A new nation, with the consent of Russia,
will probably be set oiF on the banks of the lower Dan-
ube, and be a dividing limit between it and Turkey.
224 THE FUTURE OP EUROPE.
The Bulgai-ian chui'ch has akeady asserted independence,
and though cloven down at present, will rise again and
under the tuition of American Missions and other
sources of light, appear in the interest of fi-eedom.
The German States, with Prussia at their head, will
undoubtedly be a factor in the future of Europe, but
not so decidedly as others already named. Some of
them are yet Roman Catholic, and they are also check-
mated in then* general influence, by their great number
and minute policy. The scholars of Germany will con-
tinue their explorations in the domain of ideas, and as
heretofore will keep giving to the world the materials
of knowledge, but others will construct them into sys-
tems and control governments thereby. Prussia and
the subordinate States, with perhaps Belgium and Hol-
land, will do for a balance wheel at the centre, or a
make weight for progress in the future of Em*ope; the
electrifying agencies will be elsewhere. The Bona-
partes and the Garibaldis will be born in warmer lati-
tudes, and be nursed by more impetuous and fervid
skies.
Russia is a recent element of power in Europe, but
her voice will be heard, as now, and for the century
back, in the arrangements of the future. Her policy at
present the most resembles that of Napoleon. Her con-
siderate Emperor is quite content to develop the material
resources of his people and remove hindrances out of
the way of their collective prosperity and greatness.
Hence he is undermining local aristocracies, liberating
serfs by millions, and endeavoiing to bring the varied
nationalities over his wide domains, into shape and ho-
THE FUTURE OF EUROPE. 225
mogeneity. He has many advantages, and much to do,
and what the result will be is yet a problem, though it
bids fair to bring out Russia as a first-rate power for
good in the more distant future.
Leaving the other Scandinavian nations of the north,
as also those of the southern peninsula, (Spain and Por-
tugal,) to the subordinate destiny . which Providence
allots them, I come eventually to England, and her de-
pendencies, as a power in moulding the futm*e of the
continent in which she has had so large an influence in
ages past.
England is a cosmopolitan empire, separated by water
from the rest of Europe. Her dominions belt the globe.
She has long monopolized the commerce of the seas,
and grown rich on the traffic of all nations. Others are
now contesting it with her, but as the wealth of the
world is only beginning to be developed, there is room
for all, with mutual advantage to each. The commer-
cial resom'ces, the intelligence and Christianity of Eng-
land will give her a large it not commanding influence
in the future of Europe. The great question will turn
on the matter of religions. The contest on that con-
tinent will be between Protestantism and Romanism,
and the governments under their sway. This is the
general conviction in Europe now, and her diplomats
are wistfully watching for, and providing against it. In
the meantime Romanism is getting into conflict with
the civil power, and is beleaguered by her own doctrine
of unity and infallibility. She must never give up a
point, and yet there are some points she must give up.
She will never yield, but under protest, the marches and
15
226 THE FUTURE OP EUROPE.
the patrimony of St. Peter, and yet the civil power
claims them, and will get them, and should have them.
She never had any rights fairly vested in them. Her
pretensions are those no spiritual power should set up,
and are in dereliction of the fundamental aphorism of
Jesus — " My kingdom is not of this world." These pre-
tensions and this persistence in them perplex and weak-
en her, and will be to her an element of subsidence and
decay.
Popery is eminently a state religion, and enforces its
claims in league with the civil power. This is altogeth-
er abnormal, and is growing unpopular among the more
intelligent classes of people and must be repudiated by
the future. State complication will yet rend the Catholic
Church. She will have eventually to throw herself upon
intelligent issues, and her claims to regard, as an econo-
my of belief and practice : and there she will fail.
She must be modified, or be lost. The world will have
free thought, and the free expression of it. It will have
an intelligent faith, and master the impediments that
Romanism has thrown in the way. The future agita-
tions of Europe will turn increasingly in this direction.
They will be mainly moral issues, and England and
France, with Italy, will be in the advance guard of them.
Napoleon III has already claimed that France is the
only power in Europe that will go to war for " an idea."
Other nations will do it too. The masses will be stirred
on the question of human rights, both in the State and
the Church, both in law and religion ; conscience will
have increasing sway ; other Garibaldis will arise to
clear the track for freedom ; other Whitfields and Wes-
THE FUTURE OF EUROPE. 227
leys and Rouges and Passaglias and Count de Gaspierres
to preach a spiritual gospel from an open Bible, and
Europe rejoice in a regeneration from on high. The
time may not be yet, but is coming. We connect the
present aspect of things, as we have a right to, with
the recorded purpose and promise of God. Paris has
more evangelical eifort now, than for a long time before,
and revivals of religion, in the American sense, are en-
joyed in some of its suburbs and small protestant con-
gregations. So in Lyons, Havre, and other places in
France. Napoleon sees his glory in the line of increas-
ing intelligence, and free thought and the rights of hu-
manity in Europe, and as policy shall admit, will be
found in the front ranks on the car of progress. The
English are among the freest people in the world.
They have taxes but they have freedom of thought, and
of speech, and of the press, and glory in tlieiv " House
of Commons" as the palladium of their rights. These
two nations have a common policy of which they are
aware, and it will not be easy to divert them from it.
Russia, too, is bent on improvement, and has a co-ordi-
nate aim. To these three powers we are to look for the
chief governmental forces that shall shape the future of
Em*ope. Providence will use them for good, we may'
hope. They will at least do for the scaffolding of the
building, and more. God will honor them as the means
of light and blessing to Europe, and of the introduction
and progress of that eventual Christian civilization to
the masses to which we look forward and for which we
pray.
pilFiESIffI
^i
WB®
228 EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA.
LECTURE IX.
EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA.
The geological stnicture of America may indicate
that it is an older continent than Europe ; not so, the
habitation of man upon it. Its rivers may be longer
and broader, and stretch on through more latitudes and
longitudes, but our mountains are less abrupt and bold
in outline, — less imposing and sublime. The Allegha-
nies are but the backbone of the Continent, with here and
there a rounded protuberance on them, of extra hight
and significance. Such are the Green Mountains and
those of New Hampshire and Maine stretching toward
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. That congeries of swells
and elevations, known as the Adirondacs, and other
ranges of Northern New York, so fitly styled the Swe-
den of America, as they appear in so much variety and
beauty of outline to one at Bmiington, or at other points
along the Western slope of Vermont, are modest and
unpretentious compared with European mountains. If
we have quite away in South America both an Amazon
and a Chimborazo, we have not the Alps here at the
North, ^vith its continent of mountain peaks, piling
the heavens, shuddering in eternal snow. The icebergs
that stare on us occasionally, gi-im and threatening as
we cross the Atlantic, come down from Greenland and
Spitzbergen, and the glacier of a thousand yeai's, is the
EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA. 229
fi-uit of European altitudes and declivities. Even sunny
Italy and the valley of the Po, the lowest on that Con-
tinent, look out in the not far distance on perennial frost
and ice. The Alps, with the spurs that shoot out from
them, are the characteristic feature in the profile of Eu-
rope, but it would be an error to suppose it had not a
large extent of level and champaign country. Many
parts of France are so, as are Belgium and Holland, and
the regions bordering on the Baltic Sea. All the South
of England would thus be considered, excepting the
mountains of Wales on its western border.
But we tarry not on the physical outlines of the old
world, as contrasted with the new. The difference lies
chiefly in its human and moral features and aspects, and
first in the measure of material and social progress there
manifested. That appears like a mature and fully de-
veloped country. The roads and fences, and fields and
farms ; the cities and towns, and villas and gardens, and
grounds ; its ornamental walks and shade trees, all are
finished up and fully grown and in nearer perfection
than with us. We have begun a thousand things, and
much it may be that they have not, or have given up
and forgotten. Ours is the era of experiment, of inven-
tion, and trial. We have new schemes on almost all
subjects. In agriculture and ornamental gardens, in
architecture and the application of the mechanic arts,
in business and in manners, in domestic and social life,
we are a nation of original and independent thinkers
and actors. Each has a way of his own and blocks it
out to suit himself.
Our government is yet a novelty. Our institutions
230 EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA.
and legislation and country itself are new. A century
has not tested them. We are a nation of beginners.
And though we have the light of history, and are here
setting up for ourselves, under all the advantages furn-
ished in the past, yet it is a new application of theories,
a new adjustment of principles, and a new economy of
habits and practice, that, to say the most, has not come
to full maturity.
Our intercourse is more miscellaneous and unsettled.
There is an air of independence and freedom from rule
in our manners. We think as we please and speak as
we think. There are no privileged orders among us, —
no titled distinctions. The forces of society have en-
tered into new composition, and are combined, it is
hoped, for a future more elevated and ennobUng, more
in accordance with the rights of humanity and the
cause of God ; but they have not yet taken on them the
polish and mature resultant appearance and finish of
older communities. This is quite obsei*vable by an
American traveling in Europe. You may not be able
to describe it, but it is everywhere impressed on you in
the features of society, — of men and things there. One
may pass the length of the continent without intrusion
or trespass upon his feelings or rights. We sometimes
adjudge John Bull to be a biu*ly fellow, but I have not
seen it in England, or in the Cunard line of steamers,
but on the other hand, a finished country, and respect
for the rights of others, and a careful regard for their
feelings, and the claims of hospitality and friendship,
worthy of all commendation. The politeness of the old
world is less obtrusive and officious, but more finished
EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA. 231
and complete. It seems to know just where to stop and
leave you to your manhood, and liberty, and rights,
without giving or expecting offense. Personal liberty
is said to be the freest and most undoubted in France,
of any nation. Said one in the city of Lyons, " Every-
body is safe here ; for every one knows we have a police
that will lay its strong hand on the beginning of dis-
order." And hence the stability and fixedness of the
old country. It seems to have reached conclusions
more than we have. There is an air of reliability im-
pressed on the aspect of everything there. Except in
large mercantile transactions the currency of Europe is
in the precious metals. The traveler may take his letter
of credit from London or Paris, but he must pay his
bills in gold and silver. Napoleons and Sovreiegns and
the rough German thaler must meet his necessities on
the road ; and after a season of travel there, it seems
quite worthless and humiliating to deal again in dirty
and tattered dollar bills here.
The Railroads of Europe are not so numerous as in
this country, but in construction and aiTangement they
surpass us, and in the safety and convenience of the
passenger on them. If they are more expensive, they
are more perfect, and more guarded against danger and
harm on eveiy hand. The idea of permanency is every-
where in the ascendant. Walls, dwellings, castles, roads
and fences, have the air of durability. On the elevation
subtending the easterly side of Havre, where one takes
a land and water view of town and country, and river
and ocean, and harbors and ships, second only to that
of Naples, in all Europe ; the long line of private pal-
232 EUROPE AS c6NTEASTED with AMERICA.
aces and villas is walled in with solid and rough stone
and mortar, with the privilege of beholding the glories
of shrubbery and trees and flowers, and all the exuber-
ance of ornamental gardening, from the looj) holes, only,
at the needed gates of necessity, if not grudgingly furn-
ished. On the outside it is simple stone-work inclosure,
too high for sight or intrusion ; within it is gorgeous
with all manner of fruits and flowers, and every efibrt
of taste and art. This is characteristic of private resi-
dences and gi-ounds everywhere on the Continent, and
largely so in England. You ring the bell from the un-
social wall in the street; the porter emerges from his
lodge there. The Colleges of Oxford present a dull
outline on the street outside, and you enter by a gate
in the wall, to open quadrangles, and multiplied lawns,
and gardens, and walls, and structures within. Near
that city is now to be seen, and in good repair, a chm-ch
that was built before the Norman conquest. It has
stood for near a thousand years, and though antique in
model, unaccommodating in its proportion, and uncouth
in its architecture, holds yet its Sabbath congregation,
and may do it for centuries to come.
One is deeply impressed with this feature of fixedness
and durability in visiting Westminister Ahhey. It groups
the ages together. The past and the present abide there.
It is the receptacle and the memento of England's great
ones, throughout her history. There, they live in costly
monumental magnificence ; in marble slab, and entabla-
ture, and humble niche ; in stately pride and royal deco-
ration, carved in enduring stone ; kings and their queens ;
lords, statesmen, and poets, and scholars, and good men
EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA. 233
and bad. There are Nelson, and the Iron Duke, and
Wilberforce, and Watts, and from them, and later back,
clear to the Heptarchy. There they are m silent and
enduring permanency. The ages move by, but they
heed it not. Generations come and go, but this only
marks their epoch, and sets up new mementos along the
corridors of the goodly old Abbey. Verily, thought I,
as traversing its halls and transepts, and passages and
chapels, rich with the records of time gone by, and as
I came myself, fresh from the decorations of the "Arch
of Triumph" on the bights of Paris, inscribed all over
with the victories of one Napoleon; if France is emu-
lous of the glory of the present and the future, England
has garnered up with care the greatness of the past.
But I approach an allied feature of European socie-
ty, — of her great and good men, — her scholarship and
science, — her research in literature and the arts. Poli-
tics is not so universal a study in Europe as in this coun-
try. The current present, has not so strong a hold on
the public mind there as here. The proportion of those
that take the daily or even the weekly newspaper, is not
a tenth as large as with us. Grades and classes of the
people are more distinct and isolated, and more appro-
priately within their own sphere, in their habits and
range of thought. General education is less extended.
Many in their condition are sunk below an interest in
^ public affairs ; and politics and things of State are more
the trade of the few than the study of the many. This
is less true in England than on the continent. But even
there a property qualification exists, and scarcely the
half of the men of adult age are voters. France boasts
234 EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA.
of universal suffrage, but this matter there is disposed of
in a veiy summary way, as the past has verified. The
voting in Italy was on a large scale, and the doctrine of
the ballot-box is most likely as well understood there,
and as highly appreciated, as in any continental country.
But the great minds of Europe, her sages and wise
men, are more engi-ossed in the enduring problems of
science and truth. They dwell more in the past, and in
the philosophy of fact and history. They have a riper
scholarship than we can boast, and more facilities for
attaining it. They have a large literature, and more
minute habits of investigation. They have more leis-
ure for it, and more readers, and work themselves up to
a higher criticism on every subject of thought. Even
their greatest statesmen of this day, are authors, too, of
scientific and literary works, that do honor to the age.
This is especially true of France and England. Pre-
miers and ministers of State are also chancellors of uni-
versities, and competitors for classic fame, as for polit-
ical ascendency and greatness. One of the most astute
and philosophic of them has said, " The Germans give
us the materials of knowledge, the French systematize
them, and the English put them to use."* This testi-
mony is doubtless true, and it points to the leading
som-ces of intelligence and thought in Europe the pres-
ent day, and gives their characteristics. The German
mind is more original, and reaches after the sources of ^
investigation and truth, and propounds its results re-
gardless of consequences; the French more construc-
tive and elaborate in the science and philosophy of facts,
* M. Guizot, in his history of civilization In France.
isUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA. 235
and the principles of inquiry and thought; w'hile in
England, the estimate of value is on everything. The
British mind is eminently practical and utilitarian. Even
the Scotch in the Masters of Edinburgh and Glasgow
have given us no system of philosophy. They have
written well on particular topics, but their works are
rather fragraentaiy than complete on any one science.
But each nation supplements the others in its efforts
and influence on the domain of the true and the possi-
ble, and we, in America, have the benefit of all and may
hope, with our younger literature, and ready access, and
aspiring ambition, to emerge into a future "pari j^assu,'*
with our trans- Atlantic cousins of either stock.
In some things we have the advantage, and here we
may remember that Europe, and especially the conti-
nent, is weighed down with two burdens, — despotism in
Church and in State. We have solved some problems
that are yet unsolved there, and are, we trust, in our
present fiery ordeal, finishing up a successful conflict
with the last and greatest of our political and social
evils. But free thought in Europe is yet only in the be-
ginning of the end. The might of ecclesiastical and
civil rule is against it, while the masses of the people in
their culture and preparation are hardly equal to its re-
sponsibilities. The best minds there, are working out
its first lessons, and sighing after their greater realiza-
tion. Italy has failed again and again, though now, we
trust, on the tide of successful experiment. Hungary
has failed as yet, and Poland, too, with yet poorer pros-
pects for the future. And even France, after spending
millions of treasure and oceans of blood, is now trying
236 EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA.
the hope of freedom, by the method of tyrannic sway.
The States of Germany were electrified a few years
since by the fiery eloquence of Rouge, but its visible ef-
fects have passed off, and William of Prussia, at the re-
cent coronation at Rounisburg, a year or two since, has
inaugurated with unusual pomp and significance, if not
puerility, the doctrine of the "divine right of kings."
There is a logic in events, and progress is made un-
doubtedly in the direction of freedom and human rights
in Em'ope ; but it is slow and subject to many mischances
and aberrations. Austria is yet a despotism, and its Em-
peror a disciple of the Jesuits, and will recede from his
patriotism only when he must, and then as little as he can.
The Northern nations inspire more hope, for in that
quarter rulers are in advance of their people, and lead
the van of civilization.
The grand impediment to progress in Europe, and
the great contrast between it and this country at this
point, lies in the theory of government, both civil and
ecclesiastical. Its method and its end are abnormal
there. In both respects it is vested in the divine right
of rulers in themselves to rule over the people. The
masses are regarded only as subjects of law and under
authority both in Chm-ch and State. Popes, bishops,
and clergy, — emperors and kings, and potentates of
every grade, claim direct designation from God to dis-
pense government to the people, without their consent,
and without an acknowledged accountability to them.
This was the old dootrine, and is now, to a large extent,
in all Europe. It is thought to be the prescription of
religion and the Bible, and gives importance to the
EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA. 237
question of legitimacy and hereditary succession in
Church and State. It rests like a night-mare on the
conscience of the nations, and constitutes the terror of
the oppressor's rod. It is the magic wand of absolutism
on the continent, and freedom cowers beneath it. The
American doctrine of the rights of man as man, and
of the origin of human government in the equal rights
of men, and as emanating from their inherent personal-
ity and duty of self-government, is not fully born and
extant there. The Puritans learned it through long
and sore trials. They were schooled in it, " in a great
fight and furnace of afflictions." It was the fruit of
ceasing from man and appealing to God. It was a
necessity of the Mayflower, of Plymouth Rock, and
of Pilgrim New England. It was so in respect to both
ecclesiastical and civil government, and of the one, no
less than the other. It was self-government, and amen-
ability to God, expanding into social and mutual con-
trol for highest good, under allegiance to Him. It ad-
mitted two functions in man — that of constituting gov-
ernment, and of submitting to it ; that of making the
laws and obeying them, being in both under law to
God. Every man is thus both ruler and subject. Gov-
ernment emanates from the people, and has for its end
the highest freedom and general good of all. This is
the American doctrine, and it was the child of Divine
Providence. This country was held in reserve for it
and its development. Those sea- worn veterans, and
severe students of the Bible, hunted from all Europe, to
a virgin continent here, could do nothing less than con-
stitute it. In the language of one of New England's
238 EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA.
most favored sons, and which have gained the familiar-
ity and significance of household songs,, they were
placed where they must have " a Church without a bish-
op, and a State without a king."
It was thus that they interpreted the idea of divine
right, and held a government thus constituted to be.
"the ordinance of God" and " a teiTor to evil doers."
And why is not this the more sensible view, with the
checks and balances of its representative system, and
why not best adapted in its administration and observ-
ances to secure a conscientious regard to the inspired
announcement and requisition, " So then every one of us
shall give account of himself to God f
But this theoiy of government is of slow growth in
European countries. England uses it with great and
increasing effect in the loiver House of Parliament. It
has been wi*ung from her sovereigns and brought out in
her judgments at common law, from the days of Magna
Charta and Runnymede. France has had some lessons
in it, and will never forget them. Even now our eye
falls upon the opening speech of the Emperor, pointing
significantly to the Roman question and the jurisdiction
of the Papacy, and to the addi'ess of the Prince Napo-
leon in the Chamber of Deputies, where he comments
more fiilly on the subject, and boldly asserts that the
Empire in France has its argument and expression, in
the principles of liberty ascertained in the will of the
French people. His words are, " The Empire is found-
ed on the principles of the Revolution coiTectly under-
stood." He quoted from a work of Victor Cousin,
these words : " France is not fickle or difficult to govern.
EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA. 239
and desires only the regular development of the prin-
ciples of the Revolution ;" and added : " Those are my
opinions." " For my part, I say boldly, that I have no
fear for a government which is rooted in the hearts of
the people ; and while it remains true to the principle
of nationalities abroad, and to the liberal and popular
sentiment at home, it may defy all — even the agitation
of the clergy." The Prince then closed with the fol-
lowing extract from " Thier's History of the French
Revolution," as " exactly expressing his own opinions :"
*' I belong to the party of revolution as well in France
as in Europe. I desire that the government of France
may remain in the hands of modern men. I will do all
I can for that. But, though the government should
pass into the hands of men less moderate than myself,
— ardent men and radicals, — I would not abandon my
course on that account ; I should still be of the party
of the Revolution.'"
Here is the cropping out of the American theory of
government, both on the part of the Historian and the
Prince that cites him. It is on the subject of the
Romish clergy, and their interference in the affairs
of the government ; and it is quite significant from one
so near the throne, and by maniage prospective heir
of Italy, and who, by the way, had just returned from
this country. It strikes a chord which is beginning to
vibrate with tension and eftect in that country. Clothilde
is a proud and aspiring princess, and her father wields
a constitutional sceptre. Austria, in the recent struggles,
has repudiated the doctrine of popular rights, and
cleaves to the despotism of Rome. But both are effete
240 EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA.
and worn out corporations. The free aspirations of Eu-
rope are against them, and though much in doubt and
lacking consent and harmony, is sighing for a recon-
struction, more in accordance with human rights and
popular freedom, and of which the results are not yet.
(We speak more fully in a subsequent lecture.)
Truth is eternal, — not so the phases of human society
in Europe, or elsewhere. They cannot be while of an
abnormal type, and settled down on fictitious bases.
Man has an inherent personality. The world sighs for
freedom and intelligent self-control. Since writing the
above, new signs have appeared in the horizon of Eu-
rope. Poland has waked up, and some question of suc-
cession in Prussian Denmark, is occasioning general
concern, if not leading to a general war on the conti-
nent. Hungary has shown increasing restlessness, and
Napoleon has asked the aid of a common diplomacy in
reconstructing the map of Europe, and assigning the
terms of a general and permanent peace. The older
dynasties are reluctant, and recusant respecting the
measure, and yet cannot settle the question of descent
in the little Duchies of Denmark, without substantially
acceding to it, by a conference in London, of the great
powers. This may inaugurate his prinqiple, and open
the way to its result. In the meantime the C'zar has
liberated the serfs of Poland and thereby quenched,
most likely, the rebellion there. And Garibaldi is re-
ceived with much favor in England, and will doubtless
briing out his one absorbing idea, and object there of
giving Italy to the Italians. The custody of Rome is
becominsf more and more an affliction and a grievance
EUROPE AS CONTRASTED WITH AMERICA. 241
to the French people, if not to their Emperor and the
French Chamber, while Thiers, the historian, is criticis-
ing with increasing freedom the measures of his gov-
ernment. All is tending toward the vindication of the
doctrine of popular rights. The next centre of inter-
est in Europe will be nearer Venice and the Adriatic
than the German Ocean, and when Hungary strikes
again for freedom, we may expect the reconstruction of
the maps of Europe on more resultant issues, and under
a more recent diplomacy than that of the peace of
Vienna in 1815.
10
242 FUTURE OP EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS.
LECTURE X.
PROGNOSIS OF THE FUTURE OF EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS.
An estimate of the comparative growth and decad-
ence of the sovereignties of the earth, so far as om*
weak vision can forecast the future, will be made up
chiefly in the light of the historic developments of the
different nationalities hitherto, that are to figure in it,
— their status now, — the general designs of Providence,
and the recorded purposes of God.
Distinct nations and races of men have peculiaiities.
This has been so from the earliest times. The sons of
Noah were unlike each other, and had a unique history
impressed on each by a positive Providence — " Cursed
be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be." " Blessed
be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his ser-
vant." " God will enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell
in the tents of Shem." This prophecy has met the eye
of the student of histoiy during the ages since. The
sons of Japheth have been a dominant and indomitable
race, inhabiting the more hardy and stringent latitudes
toward the poles, while those of Shem have dwelt nearer
the warmer tropics, and those of Ham chiefly under the
enervating equator itself Climate, habits of life, and
forms of government, and varied history down through
the progress of the centuries, have separated them so
widely in features and characteristics, that some mere
FUTURE OF EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS 243
naturalists, as Agassiz and others, have thought them
originally distinct. The lineaments of the past are in
the present, and in calculating the forces and track of
the future, we must take into consideration not the
primeval prophecy merely, but the manifested idiosyn-
crasies of the peoples and nations inhabiting the earth.
Theu' present status, too, vrill be taken into the account.
"What are their relative position and advantages ? How
are they hemmed in by seas and mountains, and how
open to the expansions of commerce ? How are they
affected by laws and governments and religions, and
how elevated or depressed by the more or less advanced
stage of a general or Christian civilization !
The general and leading design of Divine Providence
must not be overlooked. " Righteousness exalteth a
nation, and sin is a reproach unto any people." " Those
that honor me," saith God, "I will honor, and those
that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." God's
methods are like himself " His way is perfect." The
great aim and scope of his dealings are to educate the
race to intelligence, piety, and virtue. There is a mor-
ality in the veiw of Providence — an end worthy of God
in his dispensations to men and nations. To this end,
" He setteth up one, and putteth down another." And
then, too, he has recorded ultimate designs, a glorious
resultant future for man, in the light of which we may
estimate what shall be, and approximate the closing
chapters of a history ever deepening in interest as it
advances, and sure to issue in excelling glory to God,
and success to all righteousness, and guodness, and
truth.
242 FUTURE OF EJUPIRE AMONG NATIONS,
LECTURE X.
PROGNOSIS OF THE FUTURE OF EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS.
An estimate of the comparative growth and decad-
ence of the sovereignties of the earth, so far as our
weak vision can forecast the future, will be made up
chiefly in the light of the historic developments of the
different nationalities hitherto, that are to figure in it,
— their status now, — the general designs of Providence,
and the recorded purposes of God.
Distinct nations and races of men have peculiarities.
This has been so from the earliest times. The sons of
Noah were unlike each other, and had a unique history
impressed on each by a positive Providence — " Cursed
be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be." " Blessed
be the Lord God of Shera, and Canaan shall be his ser-
vant." " God will enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell
in the tents of Shem." This prophecy has met the eye
of the student of histoiy dming the ages since. The
sons of Japheth have been a dominant and indomitable
race, inhabiting the more hardy and stringent latitudes
toward the poles, while those of Shem have dwelt nearer
the warmer tropics, and those of Ham chiefly under the
enervating equator itself Climate, habits of life, and
forms of government, and varied history down through
the progress of the centuries, have separated them so
widely in features and characteristics, that some mere
FUTURE OF EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS 243
naturalists, as Agassiz and others, have thought them
originally distinct. The lineaments of the past are in
the present, and in calculating the forces and track of
the future, we must take into consideration not the
primeval prophecy merely, but the manifested idiosyn-
crasies of the p>eoples and nations inhabiting the earth.
Their present status, too, will be taken into the account.
What are their relative position and advantages ? How
are they hemmed in by seas and mountains, and how
open to the expansions of commerce ? How are they
affected by laws and governments and religions, and
how elevated or depressed by the more or less advanced
stage of a general or Christian civilization "?
The general and leading design of Divine Providence
must not be overlooked. " Kighteousness exalteth a
nation, and sin is a reproach unto any people." " Those
that honor me," saith God, "I will honor, and those
that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." God's
methods are like himself. " His way is perfect." The
great aim and scope of his dealings are to educate the
race to intelligence, piety, and virtue. There is a mor-
ality in the veiw of Providence — an end worthy of God
in his dispensations to men and nations. To this end,
" He setteth up one, and putteth down another." And
then, too, he has recorded ultimate designs, a glorious
resultant future for man, in the light of which we may
estimate what shall be, and approximate the closing
chapters of a history ever deepening in interest as it
advances, ^nd sure to issue in excelling glory to God,
and success to all righteousness, and goodness, and
truth.
246 FUTURE OF E5IPIKE AMONG NATIONS.
have recently gained the Pacific coast, and England the
whole of Australia, and is now exploring with much
assiduity the interior, of as yet, unknown Africa, and
will plant her trading posts and colonies there.
Three things favor the future of the Saxon race — its
intelligence, its commerce and industrial pursuits gener-
ally, and its religion. These would guarantee the future
prosperity of any people, and are especially elements
of strength and durability in such a people. There are
alternately cause and effect, and by their mutual action
and reaction, will facilitate, if not secure, their growing
greatness and ascendancy on the earth. Intelligence is
a power in itself It helps to bring man to his individ-
uality, and to make the most of himself He learns to
think and act for himself, and to be a power in his own
right. He reads and investigates, he plans and invents,
and adds to the common stock of knowledge and to
the compass of his own personal being. The individual
and aggregate will of a people is thus increased, and its
power for courage and conduct, and for all the arts
of peace and of prowess in war. These on the whole
are the most enlightened nations. They may not boast
the greatest Bcholars, but have the most general intelli-
gence. The masses have comparative elevation, and
are being educated under governments, while most lean
in the direction of civil freedom and the rights of man.
In this is there an element of strength, of perpetuity
and progress.
This race, too, links itself by its commerce with all
other nations and peoples on the globe. A maritime
people is essentially an aggressive and a progressive one.
FUTURE OP EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS. 247
What was Venice, or, rather, what was she not, when
she had the carrying trade of the Mediterranean ; or
Portugal, after she discovered the way of the East ; or
the Hanse towns, when the commerce of Em-ope was in
their hands, and until a stronger than they demanded
it 1 The ascendancy of England is by her commerce
coupled with her manufactures. Our American ofishoot
will have a share in this. This, she and all Europe
already understands. The London Times of to-day, in
advising Canada to take care of itself and assuring her
that the mother countiy can not help her, says, " The
United States is to be one of the greatest military and
naval powers on the globe." (Christian Evangelical
Journal.) This is true prophecy. Our present struggle
will necessitate and secure it. And our commercial
marine will more than keep pace with the arts of war.
With om- boundless country, and the science we bring
into our agriculture, we must largely supply the work-
shops of Europe, and be the granary of the world.
The carrying trade to China and the Old World of the
East, may be through this continent, and we become
the highway of nations. That contemplated ship canal
may be cut through the Isthmus, and our Pacific Rail
Road may be so completed and be so capacious, as to
ensure it. This would bring into near contiguity and
open communication, Japan not only, and the mouth of
the Amoor, with those vast regions of Russia bordering
on it, but China and the East. So that, from this point
of view, it would seem that a great and onward future
is before the American element in the Saxon race.
But religion is the greatest force in society, and will
248 FUTURE OF EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS.
be increasingly so " in the ages to come." If the whole
of human thought lies in these three categories — the
finite, the Infinite, and the relation between them, our
greatest ideas, om* most commanding progress and ut-
most harmony with that gi*eat future before the race, as
we hope, is in our relations to the Infinite, in the work-
ing and guarantees of religion^ and its influence on men
and nations. And in this respect the Saxon race are in
advance of any other people. It has an open Bible, a
free press, and the largest Christian literature. It has a
faith most freed from the mummeries of a merely formal
and legendary service, the most intelligent in itself and
best adapted to enlighten, regenerate and purify the
masses of society, — that takes the school house and the
pulpit in its range, and elevates and ennobles the soul.
It is aggressive, too. The protestant faith is a discipler
of the nations. It has missions now among almost all
people, and its advocates in the foreign field are attract-
ing the notice of kings and the great ones of the earth,
as foremost in the ranks of the benefactors of mankind.
Thus this people is progressively falling into the wake
of a redeeming Providence, and being made an engine
of good and a factor in working out the problems of a
future as indicated in the recorded assurances of the
word of God. Hence the future of the Saxon race.
We hope it may be in the vanguard in the great work
of discipling the nations, and that it is thus for good
reasons that the early prophecy was left us : " God shall
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of
• Shem."
But other nations must share our regard in the esti-
FUTURE OP EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS. 249
mate we make. Those of Central Europe, in the light
of the past and the present, must have a somewhat dis-
tinguished future. Intelligence and freedom and true
religion have taken root, and there are symptoms of
growth and progress ; but Continental Europe is imped-
ed and oppressed by two giant difficulties — oppression
in civil government and in religious faith. Absolutism
in Church and State render the condition of these na-
tions an abnormal one. Truth and light, both in poli-
tics and religion, will conflict with their present state.
There is much in them that must be done away. In
respect to some, rottenness has entered into, their bones
and the future will plead for reconstruction. Romanism
is a foe to progress. The Pope is advised by an ecu-
menical council at Rome to hold on unyieldingly to his
former status, temporalities and all. Religion, as con-
served by him, must come into conflict with the civil
power, and there must be revolution and reconstruction
on the continent. Romanism is the great impediment
of progress there, as slaveiy is here. Both must disap-
pear before the advancing light of the future. Free
thought and the doctrines of a more intelligent faith
will gain ascendancy in Europe, but the struggle will be
prolonged and severe, and what new complications will
enter into it, and what reconstructions occur, it may be
difficult to foretell. Popery will not answer for the
future, and refuses amendment, and must be wiitten
down as doomed. With it must go the civil corpora-
tions that are dependent on it. Principles are stronger
than men — yea, than kings and popes. Dynasties that
have become old and worthless, must crumble before the
250 FUTURE OP EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS.
car of progress. Ideas are slow in the public miud, but
must have eventual sway. Reason and truth will get
the victory, and Europe be redeemed from both her
burdens. In this work it is fair to conclude that the
nationalities the most intelligent and free, will take the
lead, and we look to France, to Italy with her Alpine
constitution, to Prussia and the German States for their
contributions of influence, and yet it may be that the
old empires of Central Europe will play but a secondary
part in the great drama of the world's future, and be
confined chiefly to the localites and the continent on
Avhich they are now situated.
But another power is coming upon the stage. The
empire of Russia is being developed from its semi-bar-
baric state and is already one of the most considerable
powers of Christendom and of the world. That race,
too, is descended in the line of Japheth, in its dominant
elements and characteristics. Russia rules over other
tribes and away on the slopes of Asia, among Monguls
and Tartars, it may be, but her indigenous people at
home and the constituents of her strength are of the
Slavic race. She has now larger possessions in Europe
than any other power, besides holding all the North of
Asia to the gi-eat wall of China, and to Japan. Her
possessions on the Amoor river are a continent in them-
selves almost, while she extends on eastward to Beh-
ring's Straits, and embraces a large share of the north-
west of our own continent. Russia, too, has large re-
sources in her agricultural and mineral wealth. The
precious stones of the world are found in her mountains
and take their cut and finish from her lapidaries and ai-
FUTURE OP EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS. 251
tizans. She touches on the Baltic, the Black and Cas-
pian Seas and the Pacific Ocean, and embosoms some
of the largest rivers in the world. She has undisputed
sway of the North or Polar Sea, and of whatever of
benefit that may be. The Russians, too, are an active
and enterprising people, bold, warlike, and determined
race. They withstood the shock of the Crimean war,
against the combined attack of Turkey and weste'rn Eu-
rope, with wonderful firmness and sagacity. On the
dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, which can be only a
question of time, Russia must gain a foothold on the
Levant, and obtain ready access for her products and
commerce m all the ports of the Mediterranean and the
south of Europe. She will, too, be a power in the east,
and in antagonism or in concert with England and all
her Caucassian family, be a competitor or compeer in all
the products and wealth of Asia.
Russia is the apostle of the Greek church. That
faith is nearer the truth than the Roman. It is not so
integrally embedded in paganism and image worship.
It' is more sound in doctrine, and less corrupt in rites
and ceremonies, and may yield more easily, and be more
easily conformed to the demands of the future in the
Christian church. The Russian government is taking
the lead of its people in the work of reform and pro-
gress. This was the favorite policy of Nicholas, and is
of the reigning Emperor. Serfdom is getting into dis-
favor and desuetude. Conditions of freedom are given,
and millions on millions on the great estates of the em-
pire are elevated to the rights of humanity, and taught
the lessons of liberty and law. The government of Rus-
252 FUTUKE OF EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS.
sia, though absolute, is patriarchal and beneficent. The
Czar seeks the culture and growth of his people, — their
enlightenment, industrial wealth and prosperity, — and
under his tutelage they are evidently gaining in all the
arts of life, and in a measure of Christian civilization.
That would seem to be one of the great powers of
the future, to divide with its fellow in the Saxon line,
the empire on earth, or as they may both be moulded
by an oveiTuling and beneficent Providence, lead the
way of the Gentiles on to a more ultimate period, when
" the desire of all nations shall come, and the kingdoms
of the world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of
His Christ.."
Our forecast, however significant from fact and from
the indices of the futm-e, in the present must lose itself
in the prophetic visions of the Bible. Those are clear
on our pathway, and give light and hope for the " ages
to come." A millennial period is in store for the fu-
ture of the earth's history, and it is to be one of intelli-
gence and vu-tue, — sin shall have had its day of mis-
rule and worked out its problems of mischief and con-
demnation and a brighter day shall ensue. Of this we
are sure, whatever may be the human forces that shall
be used for its coming. If those here indicated shall be
sufficient to it they may lead, or otherwise may be re-
solved into those that shall. But whatever may be the
local or national agencies which shall be sanctified and
employed to bring in that day, it assuredly lies in the
resen^e of history, and is approaching. As it is the
remarkable issue in moral government, so is it signalized
in Divine prophecy. And it will be a period of un-
FUTURE OF EMPIRE AMONG NATIONS. 253
wonted intellectuality, prosperity and peace. "For
brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver,
and for wood, brass, and for stones, iron. I will also
make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteous-
ness. Violence shall no more be heard therein; but
thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise."
And the day is coming that shall bring it. The forces
are even now at work that shall avail for it. They are
truth, conscience, and the God and Father of both.
These are that three-fold cord which cannot be easily
broken. These are in concert and coalition. These act
together and strive prevailingly for this glad consum-
mation. Truth is constantly in progress of develop-
ment and manifestation. In physics and in morals is
this the case, — in matter and spirit, — in science and re-
ligion. And truth in its element is of God, and with
Him, and for Him. Its progress is a help to all right-
eousness. Sin ^nd wrong are begotten of darkness, mis-
take, and misconception. They must have less sway in
the maturity of the world's intellect and observation.
All sin may yet be held as an immorality among men
and impenitence toward God, and disloyalty to 'Jesus
be accounted an anomaly, a vice and a crime, like theft
or murder, or any immorality now. Truth is the child
of the skies, and the hand-maid of God. Its preval-
ence is sin's detection and criticism. It is the increase
of moral means to enlighten and sanctify. It unbur-
dens the conscience, enlarges the vision, sharpens the
intellect, and gives it reason for harmony with God.
And this is the process now gradually passing over the
face of the earth : in its early and unripe stages yet it
254 FUTURE OF EilPIRE AJMONG NATIONS.
may be, but sure to culminate and be perfected. And
it will under God usher in the reign of the Son of Man
on earth. This process is an exceedingly rational one,
as well as supernatural and divine. There are more
helps for the check and cure of sin, than there were means
for its prevention at first, and they are multiplying every
day. All knowledge and fact and experience will
strengthen them, and God mil see them, and in His own
divine sufficiency avail for the issue, and the empire of
Christ be the ultimate and universal empire among men.
His gospel is built in the first truths of reason, and is a
revelation from the bosom of the infinite reason of God.
It will bear the light of the latter day, it shall be the
gi'eat factor of it, when the light of the moon shall be
as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-
fold. False religions will die out in the light of the fu-
ture ; superstitions go Into desuetude, from the veiy in-
telligence of the ages to come, and eiTo^^s cease to ob-
scure and mislead. The gospel will hold on and gain
sway, because it is time and of God, and become univer-
sally the religion of men, in its purity and power. Then
verily shall God dwell on earth by His Spiiit, and its
millennial state come. Prophecy will have its fulfill-
ment, and the earth for a long succession of ages, be
the abode of knowledge, righteousness, prosperity and
peace.
HIGHEST USEFULNESS. 255
II.
THREE LECTURES AT BELOIT COLLEGE.
LECTURE I.
HIGHEST USEFULNESS.
There are two plans of life, which may be formed, in
entering actively npon it : — one is to get good, and the
other to do good, — the one to be happy, — the other to
be useful, — the one to live to pleasm-e, and the gratifica-
tion of the propensities and cravings of our animal and
sentient nature, or even the aesthetic or intellectual of
our being, and the other to live for society, and for
God, in obedience to the high spiritual imperatives
of the soul.
The first is self-concentrative, and it has many ad-
herents and admirers. " Many there be that cry, who
will show us any good !" Self is its shrine of worship.
Its votary lives to be hapj^y, in some form. His end is
self-gratification. He uses all else as a means to this,
and puts a value on all things, according to their influ-
ence on this. He subsidizes the universe, so far as he
can, to his pui'pose, — yea, even the God of the universe,
too. His self-respect becomes selfishness. He is for-
getful of the claims of others, and the rights of a com-
256 . HIGHEST USEFULNESS.
mon humanity, and the brotherhood of all as creatures
of God, and the behests of virtue and piety.
The other principle goes out of self, and finds its
direct and main object in a sphere beyond it. It looks
outward and away from self It enters into communion
with suffering, and spends itself on wants not its own.
It is self-sacrificing — it seeks another's good. It is a
helper and not a drone or disturber. It adds to the
products of a common humanity, for the benefit of all.
It is a producer, and not a mere consumer, and in the
great object of life a worker together with God, whose
central and significant name is " love.''^
The adherent of the last, has the same individuality
and sensibilities, as that of the first, but they are not his
ruling law. His main activity is beyond them. They
are incidental to his governing purpose, while in view
of a world in guilt and wretchedness, and a God to
glorify, he asks : " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do f *
This last plan of life has advantages, over the first,
some of which I would briefly state : —
1st. — It is larger. It spans a larger arch, — it takes in
a wider field, — it is a faster purpose, and is in its nature
a more sublime idea. The first is crippling and confin-
ing. It narrows down the aspirations of the soul to a
single object, and that comparatively small. There is
compression in it. The other has expansion and en-
largement. It puts us in correlation with a universe
around, and with God who made it. It presents to the
soul objects worthy of its best powers, and invites to
this fullest development. We all know the power of a
commanding pui-pose — ^the sway of a gi'eat idea. Such
HIGHEST USEFULNESS. 257
is the life long plan of doing good. It brings up the
soul into a purer atmosphere, — feeds it on angels' food,
and gives it volume and strength for all that is moral
and great and good in its being.
For this, too, were we made. Each in an important
sense is part of a whole — an integer, it is true, in him-
self, but in connection and correspondence with all else.
In the family, in the church, in society, — along the line
of the race, what mutual dependence, — what social
influences, — ^what combined results, and " whether one
member sufler all the members suffer with it, or one
member be honored all the members rejoice with it."
The grand idea is that each is for all and all for God.
Again, our second principle of action and plan of life
is more modest than the first, — it is less self-pretentious
and assuming — ^less belligerent and antagonistic, to the
claims and rights of others. What would become of us
and of society, should each draw himself off into a little
kingdom by himself and care only for himself? This
principle works bad enough in clans and states and
kingdoms as now constituted by human policy and the
depraved passions. Let it become universal, and the
question everywhere be asked: "Am I my brother's
keeper f and our state here would be intolerable and
existence a cm*se. The exigencies in which we are
placed compel us in some sort to be contributors to the
general welfare, and demand it of us, that we live not
in vain, and that we look not every man on his own
things, but also on the things of others.
17
258 HIGHEST USEFULNESS.
This, too, is benevolent. We have an innate conviction
that benevolence is better than selfishness. We recog-
nize it everywhere as a higher and holier principle. We
have a veneration for the man who lays himself out for
another's good, and spends himself in self-denying acts
of kindness and philanthropy. What has given such
sweetness to the name of Howard, or traced on the
records of all time, the act of her who poured the box
of ointment on her Saviour's head ? Selfishness rough-
ens the character — is dictatorial, and impervious, and
unforgiving ; " charity suffereth long and is kind, —
vaunteth not itself, — is not puffed u]), — is not easily
provoked, — thinketh no evil." What a world would this
be, did the law of kindness, beneficence and love, obtain
universally in it, and were our race brought up to the
high elevation of that charity which seeketh not her
own. This is the Bible idea of a perfected humanity,
and this do we anticipate in the ages to come.
And then again it is God-like, " For God is love," and
we ought, and it is our highest excellence to live on the
same principles that .He does and to the same ends.
Intelligence is the same element of living in the finite
as in the infinite. "Be ye perfect even as your Father
in Heaven is perfect." Christ was the embodiment and
manifestation of the Deity in human flesh, and he was
our pattern too. His mission on earth was a mission of
love. His life, his death, his doctrine, his work, — oh !
what a divine charity pervaded all — what love through
all His accents ran — how unselfish — how He offered
Himself a sacrifice for us, and yet he is set forth as our
example, that we should walk in his steps.
IIIGHKST USEFULNESS. 259
"How charming is divine philosophy —
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as Apollo's lute :
A continued feast of nectared sweets,
Where no crude surfeit reigns."
And then, this method secures all the reallij valuable ends
arrived at in the first, in a better manner and in a higher
degree than that does. " He that loseth his life shall
find it." What a paradox, and yet literally, securely,
gloriously true. Great sacrifices lead to great rewards —
the unselfish man has the most comforts. Which is the
most happy child, think you, the one that yields itself
in ever kindly ministrations to others and would make
all happy about it, or that which is selfish and exacting
— the one that must be ever-fed with sugar-plums, and
supplied with toys, or the one that goes out Avith alacri-
ty, on missions of love to others ?
Here is the source of the deep and rich satisfaction of
the good man.
What could have tempted Howard from his labors
of love ? The wealth of the Indies could not drain the
resources of comfort in the mind of the Apostle to the
Gentiles. The world could not buy it. In my soul, I
believe that the self-denying man or woman of God,
who takes his life in his hand, and gives himself to a
mission of love, to distant and untutored heathen, often
enjoys more in this life than falls to the lot of other
men — has a higher satisfaction — a cup more running
over with blessings fuller of divine comforts that feast
the soul and add no sorrow.
And then, lastly : — This is the way of the conscience.
260
HIGHEST USEFULNESS.
We know that thus we ought to do ; that this is our
true expression as those made in the image of God.
"We are dissatisfied with ourselves without this. An
inward monitor upbraids us, and life is often rendered a
burden by the mere stupidity and selfishness and un-
profitableness thereof Conscience dictates to activity
and duty. The imperatives of the soul call upon us,
to be like our Father in Heaven, who causes " the sun
to shine, on the evil and the good, and sends his rain
upon the just and the unjust." And we do not arrive
at the true prerogatives and behest of man, as an intel-
ligent and responsible being after a divine likeness, till
we conceive of him in a sphere of labor and usefulness
in the cause of God and his fellow man, — we do not
get at his utmost development or truest end, till we find
him a devotee of truth, and righteousness, and goodness,
in their own rights and for their own sake.
But I have an object in presenting these thoughts to
you n6w. The theatre of active life is yet before you,
and you are in the work of preparation for it. The
grand decision it may be is yet to be made. I would
have you make it with intelligence and discretion. The
time is opportune. It is a plan for life — for all the
future. In after life a new and general direction is not
so easily taken. One settles down somewhere and
somehow at random and haphazard, if not otherwise,
and then the exigencies and manner of life are imposed
upon him veiy much, whether he will or no. He has
fallen into the nets that he can not get out of He can
only plod on in the sphere where he is, however humble
and diminutive. He is encased in his circumstances,
HIGHEST USEFULNESS. 261
and be can no.t break tbe shell that encloses bim, but
must pass on to bis grave, filling only the little sphere,
and moving in the small circle in which previous life
has placed him. But you are at the entrance of the
paths. You can covet the best gifts — you can obey and
follow the noblest aspirations of the soul, and lay your
plans for life, so as to .become the benefactors of man,
on the scale of the highest usefulness, and in enlarged
spheres, and with aims that shall meet the divine ap-
proval, and be in honor, and praise, and gratitude at
last. You may select on the one principle I have named,
and you may on the other. Hence the suggestion I
make.
Everyone is bound to get a living by that which does
not hurt. But mere negative virtue does not satisfy.
To be drones will not do. Our inward selves, and all
exterior relations revolt, and again I say in the language
of another, " shoot the arrow high." " Expect great
things, and, in God's name, attempt them." Society
has claims on us, and the age too, and so has all the
future." " No man liveth to himself, and no man dieth
to himself" We have domestic and social relations
and responsibilities — a country to serve — a world to
save, as workers together with God, and a God to
glorify.
These claims radiate in all directions. There is the
cause of humanity and virtue, and we may become
Howard-like in our direction of effort. The cause of
literature and science and the world, needs to be filled
with a substantial and well-poised Christian literature,
for the training of the present and all future time —
262 HIGHEST USEFULNESS.
eveiy art and eveiy science to be wrought into higher
embellishment, and carried on to higher perfection — the
cause of legislation, and all the great civil interests
of the State and of the world. We want large-hearted
and sound and honest-minded men at the bar and on
the bench, and in the halls of legislation, and in all the
commerce and business of ordinaiy life; and then we
want men of science and skill, and thorough discipline
and training for the cure of the hochj and the cure of the
soul. I dwell a little on this last. "What an amount of
men and talent is needed to supply the world with Gos-
pel ministers ? Look over Christendom — over heathen-
dom. This profession is doubtless the least supplied,
and the most in want, of any. A friend, whose engage-
ments led him to investigate the subject, states that in
the Congregational and Presbyterian denominations in
this country, there are now fourteen hundred vacancies,
where congregations are actually formed, and churches
planted; and some of them among the largest and
most important in the land. It may be thought that
this profession does not pay well. In simple dollars
and cents this may be true, sometimes, and yet I think
it is coming to be more appreciated by all classes of the
community. But here is the principle : — " He that
loseth his life shall find it ;" and still more significantly
by the Saviour in another place : — " He that loseth his
life for my sake and the Gospel's, shall find it unto life
eternal." Yet this calling, when truly and benevolently
chosen, and the mind and life consecrated to it, is not
without its comforts and joys, and its ministration of
that to the human spirit, which is far above all that this
HIGHEST USEFULNESS. 263
world can give. And God can make his own divine
sufficiency bear benignly on it, and does. It has study
and thought, and mental and spiritual development in
its prosecution. It is conversant with the highest truth,
with that respecting God, and the relations of God to
man and of man to God. Daniel Webster was univer-
sally esteemed a great man; but in what lay his
strength ? In his early Christian training, in his Bible
education, in the religious element of his early life, in
being conversant with the great and the good in the
ideas of God and religion, which he never forgot.
There is then intellectuality in this calling. It has, too,
sympathy with man and God, and enters up eminently
into angelic sympathies. It is something to be about
that \rhich God has commanded, and which needs to be
done ; to be in the direct line of God's redeeming
providence, and to have life consecrated to the great end,
which fills the heart of Infinite love. " Go ye into all
the world," &c. Other professions have their value,
and we may follow them and serve God too. Good
men are wanted everywhere, and the question of adap-
tation comes fairly in. But let life be a work on the
best models and the highest principles. In such a
world and such an age, and with prophecies and promi-
ses and commands before you, weigh well the course
you take, — aim high, be the men we want. Live to
purposes that will bear a final investigation and stand
approved when all the blest get home.
264 self-control; or, self-government.
LECTURE II.
SELF-CONTROL ; OR, SELF-GOVERNMENT.
Man has an individuality of being. Like all else, in
organized existence, he is an integer in himself. He may
have relations to all else, but he is a complete unity in
his own proper being. He is an entire, unique, indi-
viduated personality in and of himself. He comes forth
into life, a separate, distinct, completed unity ; he passes
such over life's theatre, and such he goes down to the
grave, and enters the dark valley. He dies alone. No
one beside can live for him or die for him. He is him-
self, in his own proper oneness and individuality, and
will always be so. Having begun to be, he will never
cease to be. Henceforth his future will be commensu-
rate with the years of God, in the living, conscious, dis-
tinct, personal individuality of his being.
Man is a responsible being. He has duties to dischai'ge
and moral relations to sustain, in his own proper per-
sonality. The question of obligation attaches to him.
This is a doctrine of consciousness. He feels bound to
be, and do this, and not that. It is indeed impossible,
that a being so constituted, with intellect, susceptibility
and will, should not be responsible. • The doctrine of law
applies to him, — the sentiment of accountability he feels
in himself and accredits and respects it in his fellow. It
is imposed upon him by an inward law, by his outward
self-control; or, SBiT^F-GOVERIirMENT. 265
condition. It is matter of consciousness and of divine
revelation.
But in order to accountability, there must be in us
the element of self-control and self-government. In the
on-going of physical nature, there is no responsibility :
in the growth of the plant, or the movements of sentient
animal life. There must be in man a higher style of
life. He rises up out of the physical into the moral
sphere. He must have power to know himself, to rec-
ognize his relations to law, and the whole matter of ob-
ligation and duty, with power to choose the right, and
refuse the wrong. At the point where responsibility
lies, there must be in him a sovereignty of election, as to
the path he will take, — as to the way he will turn, — as
to the choice he will make, and the voluntaiy course he
will pursue. This is a province which, in its actual en-
actment and issuing, is wholly his own, lies within him-
self, and is in and of his own power, and the act in it is
properly a creation of his own as cause. He does it,
and no other being does. It is in the sanctuary of his
own individual being and life, and responsibility. He
loves — he hates — he repents — he believes — he obeys or
disobeys — accepts or refuses — yields to truth, duty and
right, or rejects it — chooses life or death. Influences
may lie in his pathway — yea, a universe of motive may
crowd around and press upon him, yet here is a sover-
eignty all his own. He can comply or not comply, — he
can choose the good, or the evil, — under the responsi-
bilities to which conscience and truth and duty and God
hold him, as a free, moral agent ; he can choose light or
darkness, — yield to the right, or hold out in the wrong,
266 SELF-CX)NTKOL ; 6Rj SELF-G0VERX5IENT.
— resist or submit — fall freely and with all his heart into
the right relations of his being, or maintain a warfare
on them. It is not my design to be too serious, here,
although the subject has its practical bearings on the
great subject of religion and the life of the soul. 1
state rather its elemental, metaphysical gi'ound. No one
is ever placed where he cannot do right, or where the
election of his voluntary state and course is not essen-
tially and properly his own, and in his own power.
And it is enough to say that this is the nature of the
intelligence ; this is of our essential being as those made
in the image of God. We should not be intelhgent,
rational beings in the likeness of God Avithout this.
We may say it with reverence, but the most High could
not make us in that likeness without giving us this at-
tribute ; and if God is perfect, then the intelligence of
man is in itself a perfect work, and the moral sphere, in
its right and proper on-going, the highest possible sphere
of being and a perfect one. God has made us so, and
in this, has made us as only we could be, and be intelli-
gent beings, endowed with a mind, in correspondence
Avith Him and like Him.
And this is a doctrine of consciousness. We have the
conviction of just this element in our being. No one
Avas ever tempted to do Avrong, without the conviction
that he need not comply with the temptation, — that he
can decline its suggestion, and withhold compliance. No
one ever sinned, witjiout feeling that he need not, and
ought not, — and that he had power in the premises to
have refused the wrong, and maintained his integrity as
self-control; or, self-government. 267
a righteous being. No one ever felt obliged to do
wrong. The dictates of reason, and the facts of con-
sciousness agree in this, and give in their teachings a
legitimate accountability here, in the jurisdiction which
we have, over our voluntary States, and the putting forth
of our acts of will in the right or wrong direction in
obedience to the word and will of God, and in accord-
ance with all truth and righteousness, or their opposite.
Hence the sense of guilt and shame and remorse, when
we do wi'ong, — the self-reproach and self-condemnation
attendant on the commission of sin, and on a life and
course of transgression. We are unsustained in it, by
our own minds, and in our own reflections. We up-
braid ourselves and say, — "How came we to do so?
Why did we so depart from the right, and commit in-
iquity and sin against God, when an open course lay be-
fore us in obedience to his commands, and in compli-
ance with the claims of reason and our own spiritual
being f
Hence sin is wont to be timid, and unself-reliant.
Men steal in the dark. " The adulterer walketh forth
in the twilight and disguiseth his face." Wrong action
is fiill of subterfuges, — innuendos, — clap-traps, — double-
dealing, and tergiversation, and attempts to give false
coloring to it and to justify it at the bar of reason and
conscience. All men are ashamed of it. None will de-
fend it, in its simple and undisguised nature and enor-
mity. It is foreign to the legitimate and normal action
of the intelligence, — hence, evasions and excuses, and
pretenses and prevarication about it ; and hence the lan-
of im*^^''
268 self-control; ok, self-government.
guage of that prince of English di-amatists — " 'tis con-
science does make cowards of us all."
" The thief doth esteem each hush an officer." And
the Bible has said, " The wicked flee when no man pm*-
sueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion."
But enough at this point, and the suggestion is here
in place that as this sovereignty of election is in us, and
this absolute power of determining our voluntary states
and conduct, so is it no where else : — it is in the custo-
dy of no other being. Others may influence, — may
seek out occasions, and present considerations, but they
cannot determine the action we take, — they cannot en-
ter into our minds, — take up our personality, and enact
our action in the premises. This indeed is not the pro-
vince of the Infinite one. God does not repent for us, —
or love, or hate, or submit, or exercise, or take upon
himself our personality or assume om- responsibility.
There is a sphere there which is ours and not His, — it is
that of compliance with duty and right and resistance
of wi'ong. His control here is mediate and instrument-
al. The act is ours and the election and sovereignty
over it, whether we will do it or not, is ours, and on a
responsibility which we cannot shake off. Hence, the
economy of means in God's moral kingdom ; — the ex-
hortations He uses, the instructions He gives, the com-
minations He makes, and the forbearance He shows, —
the doctrine of rewards and punishments, and a state of
actual retribution, where probation and its appropriate
grounds of action and its moral economy is exhausted —
into which enters the element of physical power. It is
SELF-CONTROL 5 OR, SELF-GOVERNMENT. 269
the physical condition of the lost, that is subject to God
and His control, and not the state of their hearts.
And this is just the responsibility that lies inherently
in us and is of our essential being as those made in the
likeness of God. It is just that which is imposed upon
us by God himself, and by all the relations and facts of
existence ; and it is just that from which we can never
screen ourselves and which we can never evade. It is
on us wherever we go, and wherever we are. No more
can we flee from it than from the presence of God, — no
more can we escape it than we can the destinies of that
eternity which awaits the action we take and the course
we pursue. Here is the j^i'^ot of that destiny, — the cen-
tral element of that personal being, which God has
given us for good and not evil, — for right and not
wrong, — for vindication and justification, and honor and
glory; — and not for dishonor, and condemnation, and
woe.
And it is well to be possessed of this characteristic of
mind, — of ourselves indeed, and personal being, in its
scientific relations, as well as in its practical bearings on
us in our life, conduct and character. It is well to rec-
ognize it as the seat, — the ultimate gi-ound of the per-
sonality, — that which more than anything else consti-
tutes the personal me — the /, mij selj^ — and gives to us
the responsibilities of an intelligent existence. It is of
value to us now, — it is of value for the future. It is so
in respect to ourselves and our separate estate, allot-
ments and destiny, — it is so in our relations with others,
in all the associations and intercourse of life. As this
is the centre of our personal self, and that on which the
270 self-control; or, self-government.
image of God is traced, and which puts us in corres-
pondence with, and makes us like Him, so can it be the
highest privilege of our being. It is written — " Be ye
holy for I am holy." Man and angel can be righteous,
as God is righteous, and holy as God is holy. We need
not lose our birthright. We need not fail of the great
end of our being, and sink to the level of the herds of
the stall, and below them, while God calls us to glory
and virtue ; and since our race has lapsed into sin, this
personal prerogative is not lost; and we have many
helps to regain the light, the good and the true. God
has come down to us ; redemption is jDreached through
the great atonement, and we are called to glory and vir-
tue in Jesus Christ.
The seat of the struggle is located between the pas-
sions and the conscience, — between the lower and the
higher nature -or sphere of being, — between the appe-
tites of the flesh, and the imperatives of the spirit, — be-
tween the impulses and cravings of the animal nature,
and the efforts of sinful habit and propensity, on the
one hand, to bring down the soul in subjection, in the
end of selfish gratification and sinister and depraved in-
dulgence ; and the spiritual convictions of our constitu-
ent being as made in the image of God, on the other.
The Apostle graphically characterizes the two, by call-
ing them, " The law in the members, and the law in the
mind ; and affectingly describes the war between them.
May I quote a verse or two : — " I find then a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I
delight in the law of God, after the inward man, but I
see another law in my members warring against the law
self-control; or, self-government. 271
of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members " Yes, here is the field
of strife, — the battle-ground of the giant elements of
our moral being, — the struggle, the conflict, and the vic-
tory, on either hand, is here, and here the great ques-
tions of destiny and the soul are decided, and decided
forever. It is well, then, to concentrate attention at this
point, — to summon our highest energies here, and bring-
to our aid, in behalf of the right, the God-like and the
true, all the helps that the case admits of
In this contest, reason, conscience, and the impera-
tives of the sou^, are in the right. They claim prece-
dence^ and should have it. Conscience is of right the
ruling element in us, and should have the sway there.
Hers is of right the supremacy and the jurisdiction, and
she will never yield her claim, and whenever we foolish-
ly or wickedly throw the reign on the neck of the pas-
sions, and trample on the dictates of conscience, and
turn a deaf ear to her remonstrances, and lay in the dust
these spiritual imperatives of the soul, it will assuredly
be to our cost. Sooner or later that conscience will rise
again from the dishonor we have heaped upon it, and if
we continue to refuse her rights and reject her counsels,
will continually sting us with self-reproach and remorse,
and in some world beget in our inmost souls the an-
guish of the "worm that never dies."
On all moral questions then — in the whole sphere
of duty and righteousness, follow conscience. Go for
the right, and go at once without hesitation or doubt.
Obey the promptings of this spiritual monitor within.
Seek the truth from all sources open to you, and con-
272 self-control; or, self-government.
scientiously act upon it, and govern yourselves accord-
ingly. Keep under the body, as St. Paul strikingly ex-
presses it, and let the suggestions of the flesh and the
appetites and propensions of the law in the members be
in obedience to the higher law of the soul. In the
whole sphere of our moral and responsible being, let
God and conscience be our watchword, and command
from us, implicit obedience and trust. Then it is that
we truly come up into the spiritual of our being, and
gain in fellowship with the Divine our being's true end 5
and it is some encourasjement to know that this we can
do, and that we have many helps thereto, from God
above, and from those spu'itual inspirations within, which
are God-sends in our own bosoms. We have a destiny
to grapple with and we must meet its issue ; we may
have lost something by delay and irresolution, but the
ocean of trath lies on the side of right — the grounds
of moral action are all there. There are all the good
influences in the universe — there is the helping hand
of heaven and of good men on eai*th. Follow there —
follow implicitly, cordially, penitently, com-ageously and
confidently in God, and truly in submission to the de-
mands of your responsible and immortal being ; yes,
follow there, and you shall find it to be life and peace
to your soul.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 273
LECTURE III.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Two principles lie at the basis of morals, and of all
the reciprocal duties of life : — self-respect and mutual
respect, with these correlates — that of supreme respect
and reverence for God, in which lies the germ of all
worship and religion. These are comprehensive of the
moral sphere, and take up all the relations of moral
tnith. A man may — ^yea, he must respect himself, for
he is made in his constituent being, in the image of God.
He has that intelligence which puts him in correspon-
dence with God, and through which he enters into
communion and fellowship with all that is pure and
lovely in moral being, — and he should do nothing to
debase his heavenly birth, and mar his alliance with the
pure and the true and the right, — nothing as a race or
as an individual, — and when he does, the discontent, the
shame, the self-reproach and humiliation, which are con-
sequent upon his sin and his self-wrong, and which are
appropriate to him then, ai*e but the working of this
element of self-respect, the sense of what is due to him-
self, in its application to one in these circumstances.
The idea of what God has made us as rational agents —
as spiritual beings, bound to reflect his image and to be
unto glory and virtue enters into the very woof of our
humanity. We cannot get away from it, nor should we
18
274 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
try. It is the safe-guard of virtue, the life-boat of the
soul. It is integrally in the effort for recovery, when
we have fallen into wrong, in that sense of the right
and the ought in our being, when we are tempted to go
astray, and which leads us to exclaim, " How shall I do
this great wickedness and sin against God."
Kindred to this is the sentiment of respect for others.
We transfer, as it were, our being to them. They are
specimens of the same common humanity with ourselves,
sustaining like relations to God and all else. The prin-
ciple of relf-respect becomes mutual or social respect
when transferred to them, a bond that stretches over the
whole sphere of intelligence as graduated in the scale
■ of moral being.
Though in our proper selves we are individuated, we
have relations to others. This community of being begets
them — this common origin, and this mutual dependence,
our common sympathies, and wants and destinies, — our
mingled circumstances, — the ills that betide us, and the
one great law of providence that is on us.
Relations beget duties. The doctrine of obligation
runs through the whole sphere of our relations to them.
We carry over our moral being into it, and live again
and reenact our proper personality in these
As related to others, we are sources of influence on them.
Moral action has its conditions. Its foreground is in
the intellect and the sensibility. To act intelligently
and responsibly, we must act in view of something we
know and feel. These sources and conditions of action
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 275
may be supplied by each other. Mind acts on mind.
Man, in a thousand ways, influences his fellow. Though
distinctive our individuality, we are social in our posi-
tion and influence.
It is tme, that the influence of man on his fellow, is
in its nature resistible. The subject of it may resist it,
and when wrong he should. He is not under the
necessity of yielding to it. If in the wrong direction,
he can, through the spiritual imperatives of his own
soul, hold on to his integrity, and not abase himself by
these contaminations from without, or from his inter-
course with his fellow men. Still they are influences,
and they act as such. They appeal to the voluntary in
us. They plead for indulgence. Circumstances may
give them great weight. They may come from a quar-
ter entitled to respect — they may fall in with indulged
habit and propensity — they may fan the flame of cher-
ished desire, and lift the soul upon the wing of the
passions. The law of influence on each other is mani-
fold and wide spread. It is like attraction in the phy-
sical sphere. It forms the very net-work of society.
It is like an enveloping atmosphere. It is everywhere
with its thousand voices, and methods of access to the
mind for good or evil.
We are responsible for our influence on others. It is a
voluntary state. It is a power under our control. It
can be one thing, and it can be another ; and we are
responsible for having it what it should be, and for not
having it what it should not be.
Influence is exerted in various ways. It springs up
276 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
from all the relations of life. The parent influences his
child — the young each other: comrades and friends
feel the enchantments of this mutual attraction, and find
their course in life much deflected and shaped by its
conditionating influence. Example is a source of in-
fluence. Human nature is plastic in its character. It
is so especially among the young. " One sinner de-
stroyeth much good." This example may be as the
pestilence, or the sirocco of the desert. Our example
may do hurt when we are not directly intending it, and
when we least expect it. There is a kind of unconscious
tuition which every one gives off" constantly, and which
may be for good or evil. And then, how much of direct
eflbrt do we make to influence others. The heart is a
fountain of influences. We seek to bear others along in
the way of our own hearts. We take pains often. The
vicious youth would have companions ; the thoughtless
one, admirers. Habits have a tendency to propagate
themselves. We naturally seek to bring others to our
own level. " Evil communications coiTupt good man-
ners." There is the companionship of iniquity, and
while it is true that " evil men and seducers wax worse
and worse," it is also true, that they draw others in
their train to death. Hence the counsel of the wise
man : — " My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou
not."
We give forth influences by look and gesture — by the
words we utter, and the actions we perform — by the
general pui'pose and conduct and aim of life, and by the
minute development of every day and hour and mo-
ment — ^by the designs we entertain, the plans we pur-
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 277
sue, and by our real character. Every man is a miiTor
to reflect himself; and every one does mainly show his
real self, whatever disguises he may put on, and what-
ever deception he may practice. In this respect then,
we are responsible to be what we should be. We
really have no right to be found in the ranks of sin and
wi'ong. Our example is an injury — our position a false
light — our veiy self then a lure in the wrong direction.
But I would make the hints of the occasion some-
what more appropriate. I observe before me a collec-
tion of young men and youth, associated in the daily
intercourse and business of life. You must have a large
influence on each other, and do much for each others
conduct and character — for each others' welfare and
harm. Other men are comparatively insulated from
each other, to what you are. You have a community
of pursuits — you dwell much in the society of each
other. You are in the unformed and plastic period
of youth — in the hey-day of the passions. It is spring
time with you : the soil is vigorous : any plant will
grow there. You are unsuspecting — incautious, per-
haps, and social, too, from the very exuberance and
prodigality of nature. It is with you the forming time
for all the future. In far distant years you will refer to
it ; in other worlds, perhaps, as the period where great
interests were settled — when character was decided and
destiny fixed. And you will allow me to ask, is your
influence on each other and over each other what it
should be, and all it should be ? In a community so
interesting, and in the midst of issues so absorbing, and
I may add, so sacred, too, are you all you can be for the
278 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
common good of all, and do you watch with some solic-
itude the contributions which you individually make in
this behalf ? But we descend from this general inquiiy,
and from the religious idea contained in it, and contem-
plate a little more in detail the matter of social respon-
sibility as here applied.
1st. — As students. There are social responsibilities in
reference to the main design for which you are sent, and
for which you are here. You must not hinder, but help
each other. I do not mean that you must get each
others tasks, or eke out their poor scholarship, or shelter
their responsibility. This would but hinder them in the
end and not help. But you are bound to be true and
faithful students — ^to make a full and proper use of the
powers you have — of both time and talents, in the ac-
quisition of knowledge, in the discipline of mind, — in
attaining those sciences, and getting the mastery of
those studies and subjects of thought which lie in your
course. You are bound to do this for each others' sake,
and not to be in each others' way. Each should be for
the encouragement of all — should bring a buoyant and
manly heart to eveiy study, and a persistent will and a
determined resolution, to meet steadily and from day to
day, the requisitions of college life. No one should be
a drone in the class-room, or hang heavily on the skirts
of his fellows, or exhaust the time and patience of his
teacher, because he would not apply himself and be
ready for his task. The question of social responsibility
enters in this way into the whole curriculum of study.
The indolent, unfaithful and negligent scholar, is a
hindrance all the way. Other principles enter in as a
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 27^
stimulus to good scholarship : to the wise improvement
of time, and the best application of om- powers in the
educational process ; but I ppeak of this now. It is de-
manded by the law of relationship to others. We
should be mutual helpers along the paths of science 5
should encourage each other up the hill, and in our place
and turn, and from point to point evince the feasibility
and successes of the way. This, indeed, may be not a
justifiable emulation only, but become a holy ardor
even, almost a sacred, a divine enthusiasm. It may be
converted into a channel of usefulness and be among
the methods of filling up the measure of duty to God
and our fellow men. And the suggestion here made
may have a wide scope. It may be taken into all the
relations of college life, and spread itself over the whole
sphere of obligation in this regard, — punctuality and
promptness, to the appointments of the class-room, the
chapel, the teacher, the faculty, — the observance of the
laws and regulations of colleges, and the design for
which the whole are instituted. Be ye examples of this,
and thus be mutual contributors to each others' advance-
ment, and eventually good and glad success in the high
end of your common association.
2d. — General Deportment. I think we are bound to be
gentlemen, in the presence of each other. It was said
of a distinguished French author, that he could not do
well at his writing desk, unless he was in complete dress
for the assembly room or the evening party. And if a
careless habit makes a dull pen, and one's own thoughts
take the hue and feel the neglect of his person and
appearance, how much more should the hint be im-
280 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.
proved in the society of each other, and be regarded in
all the intercourse and incidental relations of life. The
remark goes to the point of general manners, of good
behaviour, and befitting and proper deportment, in
these constantly recumng companionships. Much of
that unconscious tuition, of which I spoke, lies along
these channels, and that atmosphere of mutual influences
which envelop us ; and the principle to be brought over
it, and which is to permeate as an energizing vitality, is
that of kindness and mutual respect. This is the law
of these relationships. It will harmonize them and
bring mutual edification and comfort and honor and
blessing along our pathway in them. We might insti-
tute examples of the good and the poor student ; of the
good and the bad youth or young man ; of the pure
and genial influence of the one : his kindness ; his re-
spect ; his common regard for the rights and good of all ;
and the corrupting demoralization and generally depress-
ing influence and discouragement attendant on the
com'se of the other. But this I need not do. Enough
already in these directions of the subject, and I recollect
that you are here but for a time, — soon to go forth into
the world, — some of you very soon, and to enter into
other relations, and encounter new temptations and
trials, and under far other circumstances to fight the
battle of life. Oh that you might all go out hence
under the baptism of the Spirit, and as the freed-men
of the Lord I It is also our life's future, that the doc-
trine of social responsibility subtends, and it is that future
which swells the value of it here. How much college-
life will lay its progi'amme and indicate its filling up.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. 281
That youth made bad, through your example, may be
undone for life and go to his grave a wreck and an out-
cast. In an evil hour you tempted him to sin ; you set
before him the lure of your example and your influence,
and he yielded, and you afterward led him as with cart
ropes, and rivited him as with chains, to the Moloch at
whose shrine you immolated him. " Facilis est decensus
averni." Beware of the influences which you send out
in that direction. Do you ask, in relief, "Am I my
brother's keeper ?" Yes, in an important sense you are,
and God will hold you so ; and then, think of the con-
verse of the picture here drawn, and what your consist-
ent Christian walk and example will do. Your kindly
efibrts ; your seasonable counsel and entreaty ; your
faithful love and prayer. Oh, it may be like the pre-
cious ointment poured upon the head of Aaron, which
ran down upon his beard and spread over all his gar-
ments ; or like the dew that descended on the moun-
tains of Zion, where the Lord commanded His blessing.
And I do not forget here, that there is another life than
this, and I would have all these pupils prepared against
it. I would have them enter into that life, and be com-
panions of the good and the blest forever. And I
think how much this spot and these scenes will do for
that — these associations; these companionships; these
bonds. " Verily, if a man sin and one convert him, let
him know that he which converteth the sinner from the
error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall
hide a multitude of sins ;" and who would not be saved
through such kindly agencies and instrumentalities, and
sweetly swing round by the imperatives of his own will
i82 SOCIAL RBSPONSIBILITT.
to the moorings of truth and right and God, and be
won over to the embraces of Christian love : who would
be left out from such a communion, and be exiled from
the blessedness of such fellowship and such a hope ?
THE WAT OF SALVATION. 283
III.
TWO DiscomsES.
I.
THE WAY OF SALVATION.
The circumstances under which the following dis-
course was prepared, throw around it peculiar interest.
It was on the eve of the writer's departure for Europe,
in feeble health, and with the impression deeply fixed
in his mind that his earthly labors for Christ were ere
long to come to an end. And before he left his home
he desired to prepare and deliver, what seemed to him
might be a last farewell message, to the congi*egation
of which for many years he had been a member, in
which discourse he might embody all that he deemed
essential to be known and practiced for the attainment
of salvation. It is here introduced, besides the dis-
course that follows, not only for the solidity and value
of the thoughts which it contains, but also as a speci-
men of the productions of Dr. Squier in the character
of a Preacher of the Gospel.
Acts 16: 30. ''Sirs, what must I do, to be saved f
This is a very vital question. It is a far reaching
284 THE WAY OP SALVATION.
inquiiy. It strikes deep into the elements of our being
and our hopes. Its scope is over the present and the
future. It goes to the adjustment of our relations to
God and eternity. The salvation it involves is the sal-
vation of the soul : — a salvation from sin, and death and
condemnation, — an admission in to the perfection and
blessedness of the heavenly state, and a home and a rest
there, from the cares and toils and wrongs and wi'etched-
ness of our pilgrimage here. It is a deliverance from
the curse of the law due to sin, — from the penalty of
transgi-ession and the doom of lost spirits in despair.
It is a question of purification from the defilements of
sin, — of spiritual cleansing and re-enstatement into the
Divine image, in which man was created. We need
help and healing. We would be cured of this fearful
blindness, — ^would get out from this land of darkness,
of doom and desolation, into that of the promises. We
would come into the right relations of our being, and
find our true position among the rational intelligences
which God has made. This is the question of the text
and of the hour. How can we be reconciled to God, —
have the burden and defilement of sin removed, — con-
science satisfied, — truth vindicated, — law and right
maintained, and we be recovered to the place and por-
tions of children of God, and denizens of His kingdom.
It is also comprehensive in its range. It is universal
in respect to apostate man. Every one is interested in
it, and must make it, and practically heed its sugges-
tions, — must personally grapple with the answer, and
find in a cordial compliance with it the life of his soul.
But momentous and far reaching as is this question,
THE WAY OP SALVATION. 285
and comprehensive as it is of duty and destiny, its an-
swer is simple and obvious, and the response demanded
is of the nature and reasonableness of all intelligence
and truth. Bad theology may have emban-assed it
somewhat, yet it properly lies among the plainest les-
sons of experience and the word of God.
The Apostle summarily answers, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ," &c. This may be looked at a little more
particularly, and I propose then to notice some of the
points of this inquiry of the smitten anxious jailor in
the text, and to state in a plain way what one must do
to be saved.
1. — jp^e must repent of sin. He must become a peni-
tent man, and acknowledge and give up his sin. He
must break down first and here. This is embraced in
the foreground of all true reconciliation with God, and
is vital to it. Nothing else is truly done without this.
When one has done wrong, it is indispensable that he be
sorry for it and retrace his steps. This is the first right
thing he can do. It is so, from the nature of the case,
and in view of all truth. While he fellowships his
wrong no terms can be made with him, and no progress
in the work of reconciliation. This state of mind for-
bids it. He is in no condition to be forgiven. For-
giveness would compromit all right and reason and au-
thority and law and moral government ; — yea, and his
own conscience. He knows that he is in the wrong till
then, and is maintaining an attitude of alienation and
resistance to rightful authority and law ; and that he is
in an unfit state to be pardoned and accepted. His
own conscience would rebel, — his own innate sense of
286 THE WAY OF SALVATION.
justice and right would hold it as an incongruity and
an unworthiness. He not only cannot have remission
without repentance but he cannot take it without. He
knows that he is an exotic and an outlaw, and must be,
till he gives up and breaks down right here, — till deep
repentings are kindled in his bosom, and in view of the
guilt and ruin in which his transgressions have involved
him, he cries out " Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and in thy sight."
No man in his soul is an advocate for sin, or who,
from the very elements of his being, is not ashamed of
it. It has not an absolute apologist on earth. No
thing so takes the courage out of a man as to ^ee that
he is pursuing a wrong course. The English dramatist
is right, when he puts into the mouth of his hero Ham-
let (the murderous Macbeth) the words " 'Tis conscience
does make cowards of all," and says again " Thrice is he
armed, who hath his quarrel jusC Thus, too, the voice
of inspsration, " The wicked flee when no man pursueth,
but the righteous are bold as a lion." We were not
made for wrong action. There is not an element in
our constituent being that will apologize for it. "The
adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying no eye shall
see me, and disguiseth his face." Hence, the shifts and
disguises and crafts of sin, — the crookedness and leger-
demain of those in transgi-ession. No man is the same
man after he has committed a crime, and no one can
calculate what he will do after, as he could before. No,
his moral nature is outraged and demoralized. His
course and his conscience are out of harmony. There
is a war in his own bosom. Truth and right have a
THE WAY OF SALVATION. 287
correspondent and coadjutor there which will not give
up the citadel, which ever and anon lashes the wrong-
doer. There is inherently no relief, except by repent-
ance, for a single sin. One sin shuts us out of heaven
and dooms the soul as tinily as one hundred, or a life-
time. Suffering does not blot out sin, — penalty does
not. It does not at the forum of justice, or of the con-
science. It does not in this world or at the bar of God.
One wrong ruins a character among men, and all the
more from the elevation on which it stood and the sanc-
tity that enshrined it ; — one theft, — one robbery, — one
murder, — one misstep in female virtue, — and there is no
recoveiy, — absolutely no recovery but through conces-
sion and deep and bitter repentance with tears, and not
then without compensation. Conscience for one sin
holds the rod over us for years, — for a lifetime, — forever.
It will never say, it is enough — I am satisfied. How of-
ten have we seen or felt this, so far as human experi-
ence has gone or been reported to us, or can be in this
world: and how many have dragged out a miserable
life or been sent to untimely graves, by the gnawing of
a remorse that they could not escape or brave. So in-
exorable is law and truth and right, — that conscience
within, — that moral government of God without.
Repentance, with the grace of God, will give relief;
and it is all the relief the case admits of This does not
wipe out or extinguish the sin, or make it out that it
has not been committed. That goes to the records of
the universe and into the personal history. But this is
all that can be done in the premises, and is another
method of attaining the ends of moral government, sue-
288 THE WAY OP SALVATION.
cessf ul, and glorious on the failure and want of a strictly
legal righteousness. And it has an inherent meetness
and effort for recovery. It is of the normal working
of the intelligence. It gives up the ground of sin. It
shows our sense of the TVTong and the guilt of trans-
gression, and repudiates it. It is essentially a right af-
fection. It takes the part of law and ti'uth and God.
It says, "Father, I have sinned." It acknowledges its
wrong, and that is of the nature of right. It is a giv-
ing up of hostility and the conflict. It yields the strug-
gle and has in it the element of submission and obedi-
ence. It is of the essence of true virtue, and God sees
it so, and respects it as such, and makes it the turning
point of destiny as it is that of the state of the soul, in
its personal relations to Him and His government. And
it is a relief to conscience. It unburdens the moral con-
victions of the soul and reassures it with the confidence
and courage which attend on all right action. It is
child-like to God and His truth, and inspires us with
the feelings and sentiments of sonship. It breaks down
our hearts, but it breaks down, too, the partition wall
between us and God. It is a state of mind in which to
receive forgiveness and which makes forgiveness con-
sistent with the attributes of God. In it we cross the
line between the enemies and the friends of God. We
yield the controversy, and give in our adhesion to God
and His righteousness, and He accepts us. It is the
enacting clause of redemption from sin and woe, and
contains in it the germ and earnest of eveiy gi-ace.
Without it we are aliens, — with it children and heirs.
Before, we were enemies in our minds, and strangers to
THE WAY OF SALVATION. 289
the covenant of jiromise, now reconciled, filial and ac-
cepted. Until penitent, we are iinregenerate, — when
penitent, then generate, — before in a state of unrecon-
tiiliation and wrath, — now in that of reconciliation, ac-
ceptance and covenant mercy ; and there is no enigma
in this. It is of the nature of a universal truth. It ob-
tains in the state, in the family, in the conunerce of man
with man, — in the convictions of our own souls, as well
as in the kingdom of God. " He that hardeneth his neck
shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh
his sin shall find mercy." Hence, the gospel is styled
the gospel of repentance for the remission of sin. John,
the harbinger of Jesus, '-preached the baptism of re-
pentance." And Jesus Himself began his ministry with
the words " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand." Thus, too, wiien the day of Pentecost was ful-
ly come and the disciples were all with one accord in
one place and the multitudes were pricked in their heart
and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, " Men
and brethren, what sliall we do?" Then Peter said un-
to them, " Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Thus
the elemental germ of reconciliation to God is in re-
pentance of sin, — in true and genuine contrition that
we have transgressed against him, — and in deep sorrow
of heart before him, for our sins. But at tliis point and
in this state of mind are features and relations not yet,
fully considered. And to one asking what he must do
to be saved, our niiswer would ])e incomplete, withou*
stating —
19 '
290 THE WAY OF SALVATION.
2d. — He must helieve in the Lord Jesus Christ. His
heart in rejoeiitance of sin must go over to the days
man provided for him. This it will, whenever Christ is
known as God's anointed, and is sent for deliverance
and salvation to those lost in sin. This is integral in
the thought and the matter of onr repentance and
return to God. It is confession of our lost estate in sin,
our destitution and helplessness ; that we have no right-
eousness, and must and do accept that provided in the
gospel-^do look to the Lamb of God who taketh away sin,
and fall in with the terms of mercy, which he has made
known. This is but the counterpart of the same idea
It is as the bone to the socket, or the rootlet to the leaf;
as the growth of nature to sunshine and showers. •' lie
that Cometh unto God, must believe that He is.'' He
will confide in Him and His way of saving sinners.
Without a righteousness of his own, he will cleave to
that provided for him. Fallen under law, he will ac-
cept thankfully the methods of grace. He will see him-
self shut up to the faith — Jesus the onl}^ Saviour his
propitiation, his ransom, his life ; and believing in God,
he will believe in Him. He will shelter himself under
the rock that is higher than he. He will repent of sin
:vnd believe in Jesus to tlie saving of his soul. He will
thus meet the terms of mercy. He is in a state suitable
for forgiveness. It is tit noAV that God should be
reconciled to Inm. Faitli in Jesus is called for by all
the relations of tlie subject. Tlie sinner has no other
resort. Confronted ^vitli rigliteous law, he is defense-
less before it. Witliout strength in himself, he seeks
the protection of grace The blood of Him who was
THE WAY OF SALVATION. 291
slain for us, an oiFering and a propitiation for sin. is his
refuge and hiding place. He pleads His merits, seeks
acceptance in His name, and through it obtains the
pardon of sin and a gracious inheritance among them
that are sanctified.
3d. — But in this attitude of the penitent, confiding
sinner, trusting in Jesusj there is also an element of
mhmission to God. This is integi'al in it — that which
makes it complete. He gives up himself He renounces
his own righteousness- — he acknowledges his ill-desert,
and sees how it is by being forgiven that he is accepted
— by reliance on the grace of God that he is saved.
The sovereignty and sufficiency of God is present to
him in a light and clearness that he never saw before.
The claims of God — His excellency, His goodness and
His grace overwhelm his soul, and he sinks at his feet.
He has no longer a heart to resist God. The righteous-
ness of God is apprehended — His supremacy deferred
to — His authority admitted, and His will obeyed. In
acknowledging its sin and ill desert and accepting the
terms of mercy, the soul submits to God, and enters
into the relations of Sonship. It takes the place of a
child. It has the acquiescence and cordial sympathies
of a child, and cries — " Abba Father." This is the
normal relation and attitude of all derived intelligence
toward God. It was created by Him and in His image
and for His worship and service. And the sinner in
repenting and getting on Gospel ground, only recovers
himself from his abnormal, apostate state, and passes
into the right relations of his being again and begins
the work of recovery and restoration to God. He is
292 THE WAY OF SALVATION.
renewed in the spirit of his mind. In his soul he is
regenerated. He has come back to God. He is trans-
lated from the empire of darkness to that of God's dear
Son ; from that of rebellion and impenitency and hos-
tility to God, to that of cordial surrender, affiance and
Sonship ; and he can now be admitted, and is so, to the
privilege of Sonship, and becomes a fellow citizen with
the saints and of the household of God. And here —
4th. — We record the element of love to God. This is
integi-ally of (this is that which completes) the affection
and attitude and state of the sinner, which we have
been describing. This will characterize his return to
God from the error of his ways. He will be affected
not only by the inherent excellency and claims of God,
but by His condescension and goodness and grace in the
Gospel. Such love and mercy; such bending in com-
passion over his necessities and his sins ; such reaching
down from the habitation of His holiness, for the re-
covery of one so lost in sin and so without help in him-
self. O, was there ever love like this ! And it begets
love. It subsidizes the affections of the soul for God.
The smitten, subdued and reconciled spirit sees its
indebtedness, and in filial gratitude and praise exclaims,
" Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none
on the earth that I desire in comparison with tliee !"
•• Love is of God, and he that loveth is born of God, for
God is love." This is the right ongoing of all intelli-
gence. Why should we not love God, and all the more
that we have had much forgiven ; that we are taken out
of the abyss of our sins and miseries, and have our feet
planted on a rock, and this song of redem})tion and
THE WAY OF SALVATION. 298
grace put in our mouths, as Watts well expresses it in
the familiar lines : —
"Since from His bounty I receive
Such proofs of love divine ;
Had I a thousand hearts to give,
Lord, they should all be thine."
And then, Finally. — Tic mu,^t live a ueic life. He will
<\o this. It is no more than the legitimate correlate and
offshoot of his state of mind. As well separate the
trunk from the root, or cause and effect, or principles
and purposes in the heart from the action that grows
out of them, as deny it. It is as the stream to the
fountain that feeds it, the ocean to the rivers that flow
into it, or the fiice of nature to that benignant sun that
radiates, and warms and quickens it. The plants of
grace will grow in a gracious heart. The fruits of holi-
ness will appear. " He that loves God will love his
brother also." There is unity and consent in all truth.
" How shall ho that is dead to sin, live any longer
therein ?" A man that is converted to God, will live a
godly life ; he will bring forth fruits meet for repent-
ance, and out of a good conversation and citizenship
among men, will show forth on every hand the inward
and concurrent workings of that new life which is be-
gotten in his soul, and which in the Bible sense and as
the proper characteristic of his life, makes it true of him
"that he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
These, then, being the suggestions to be made, and
the elements to be recognized in response to the ques-
tion — " What must I do to be saved ?" it is manifest, in
conclusion, that the ansiver is just what it must and should
294 THE AVAY OP SALVATION.
he. It could not be anything else, and is altogether
reasonable and accountable as it is. How could one be
forgiven and accepted, while in his irrepentance and
alienation from God, or without acknowledgement of
the mercy of God in Jesus Christ? It would outrage all
the relations of the subject^ and reduce the fundamental
principles of moral government to chaos. We see how
essential and intelligent, then, are the terms and the
process from nature to grace — from being without God,
and without hope, to possessing "' the everlasting con-
solation and good hope through grace" — from being a
child of wrath, to being a child of God — from lying out
under condemnation, and in the circumcision of the
flesh and the spirit, to being adopted into the family
of God, and becoming an heir of all the promises which
are yea and amen in Christ Jesus.
Again : — We see hoiv easy and natural the terms of life.
No dark enigmas ; no insoluble mysteries ; no unap-
preciable intricacies of method or requirement. They
take the reason and the conscience along with them,
and oblige us to say in all honesty of heart, all this is
just as it should be. Our own sense of the right and
the good and the true, would not allow us to change
them in a single particular.
Well, then, we have the verdict of every conscien-
tious conviction — the approval of every principle of rea-
son and truth ; shall we have the spontaneous and free
determinations of the will ? The question goes to the
arbitrament of our voluntary nature, and it is one of life
or death — the life or death of the soul. Will we meet .
its terras ? The word is nigh thee, in thy mo^ith and in
THE WAT OF SALVATION. 296
thy heart, even the word of faith which we preach.
" Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." Existence
need not be a failure and a curse : it may and should be
a perennial, an everlasting blessing, an endless rever-
sion of good. " The Spirit and the bride say come, and
let him that heareth say come, and whosoever will, let
him take of the water of life freely." Yes, let us all
come — room enough in our Father's house and in our
Father's heart. '• Behold I stand at the door and knock."
It is at the door of our hearts that Jesus stands and
knocks, with all the promises and salvation of the Gos-
pel, and we shall let Him in? and find through him
reconciliation, pardou, peace and eternal life ? Forever
blessed all who thus do. Amen. ^^
296 GOD IS LIGHT.
II.
GOD IS LIGHT.
1 John, 1: 5. — "This, then, is the message which we
have heard of him and declare unto you, that God is
light, and in Him is no darkness at aU."
This seems to be a very comjH'ehensive passage. It
may be regarded as the resultant summaiy of what the
apostle had learned of God from the life and teachings
of Jesus and the communications of the gospel, and was
commissioned to declare to others. The sentiment is
repeated with emphasis and denial of its opposite. " God
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all", — and there
is instruction and comfort and encouragement in this
truth, and in this inspired announcement of it. We
need the assurance and the consolation here given in a
world like this, and with a being like ours. We need
first principles; undeviating elements of knowledge:
sure and appreciable land-marks from which to make
our offsets and calculate our distance ; the pole-stai* in
the heavens to guide us in the voyage of existence ;
steady and true and reliable there, in the midst of the
tempests and billows that buffet us here. Especially do
we need to know what God is, and from our anchorage
there, gain correction and assurance respecting all things
else. Come, then, with me to this first truth^of reason
GOD IS LIGHT. 297
and tlie Bible, and let us dwell a little upon it and
gather up some of the lessons it furnishes : —
God is light. 1st. — He is so in His heing, — and this in
two respects, — 1st, as to the reality and nature of it, and
2ndly, as to the appreciahleness of it. Nothing else is so
evident to us as the existence of God ; nothing so full
of manifestation, — so self-evident, — so intuitively seen.
It comes like sight to the eye, or hearing to the ear, or
fragrance and taste to the senses that give them.
If anything is, God is, and something is, by the tes-
timony of consciousness and the senses. We are, —
this magnificent universe, too, — and whence and how
came it ? It is dependent, and derived. It is a thing,
an effect. It is here because it was put here. But how
do you get the dependent, the derived, the created, with-
out the independent, the underived, the uncreated and
eternal? You must have God, in order to have any-
thing else. An atom shows it as complete as a universe.
We may not fully comprehend God, but we may com-
prehend the truth that He is, and comprehend it per-
fectly that it can but be that He is, and that to suppose
the contrary is the veriest absurdity.
Thus, too, the nature of his being. Underived exis-
tence must be perfect. This is the normal original state
of all intelligence, — of all mind. Sin is by apostasy
from right. It is the original state of nothing. It is a
breaking away from righteousness, — a transgi'ession of
law, and supposes it and its previous existence and bind-
ing force and righteous authority, and a lawgiver who
is good and has rightful jurisdiction and a perfect law, —
in a word, that God is in all the perfection of His being
298 GOD IS LIGHT.
and glory of His attributes, and sovereignty of His sway,
as " God over all blessed forever." Reason apjjrehends
this, and that nothing else can be in its place, and noth-
ing go back of it or be more ultimate. This is a first
truth in the clearness and perfectness of it. It is im-
plied in all truth else, and is the the beginning of all
truth and the basis of it. So obviously and necessarily
is it the dictate of the intelligence, that we scarcely need
Revelation to come to its aid. Hence, the Bible never
stops to prove the existence and perfection of God. It
assumes them, as already kno\vn to reason, and begins
with declaring what He did. "In the beginning God
created the Heavens and the earth." The Bible recog-
nizes the being and perfections of God and makes its
full economy of instructions on the basis of them and
in recognition of, and coincidence with them. It comes
from the depths of infinite intelligence and reason, to
the reason given us for its information and benefit, and
being "by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine
and correction and instruction in righteousness, that the
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all
good works."
2d. — God is light in His jmiyoses. They are like Him-
self, the emanation of one who is holy and just and good.
In spirit and in method they are perfect. God's ways
and thoughts are like Himself. A perfect righteousness
is the method and compass of Deity, — a perfect and
happy universe the great aim and end of God. No ques-
tionable expedients, — no dark enigmas, — no subtle pol-
icy, — no connivance with \vi'ong, and no consent to it,
or permission of it, harbor in the mind of God. He
GOD IS LIGHT. 299
will not do evil that good may come. He sustains but
antagonistical relations to sin. It is wholly outside of
a divine economy. To prevent, to remedy, and to pun-
ish it, is the whole mind of God concerning it. We
may not give it theistic relations, as if it was in any
sense of God. His mind and purpose are all against it,
and for its prevention, discomfiture and overthrow. It
is only disobedience to God, — a revolt and rebellion
''against Him, which He is taking the best methods in
infinite wisdom to put down, and to recover the uni-
verse from the blight and curse of. It is wholly coun-
ter to His great end and purpose in all things, and
which in the methods of probation and retribution, — of
grace and justice, He will subdue and control, and even
bring instruction and good out of it in the end.
We wrong God and our conceptions of Him when we
put Him into strategic complications and correlations
mth sin. That is simply an aberration in finite cause
against His will and way in all things. The mind and
purpose of God are a transparent holiness and perfec-
tion in all righteousness and goodness and truth ; His
will and end is the sanctification of mind, and a holy
and happy universe in His love and likeness.
3d. — He is light in ^is works. They grow out of the
perfection of His being and are the transcript of it.
They are the oft'spring of His purposes, and like them.
" He has created all things by the word of His power,
and for His pleasure they are and were created." This
could but be so ; any being will work like Himself. The
chai'acteristics of His mind will show themselves in what
He does. Thus, God is known in and through His
300 GOD IS LIGHT.
works. Is He perfect, so each, in its kind, are they.
Hence, creation is a perfect work. It is so in every
part, — in the minutest as well as in the grandest and
most imposing features of it. 'No work of art improves
on the principles of vision which the eye presents. The
insect's wing, the mole and the bat are made with as
much care and as perfect an adaptation to their sphere
of being, as the sun or the stars.
And so is it in the moral sphere. Man was made in
the image of God. "In the image of God created He
him." And what could be better? Here is the essen-
tial perfection of God brought forth in the finite, as in
the case of angels before. God is a person, with all the
attributes of a righteous and holy personal intelligence ;
so in their measure are finite intelligences. They are
made to apprehend and know God, — to understand and
love Him, — and have personal qualities and experience
like Him, with the high behests of free will and moral
responsibility.
True, this involves the responsibility of wrong choice
and apostasy from God. But in this free election be-
tween good and evil, is seen the virtue of right choice,
and the excellency and glory of a moral system. What
would a moral government be over mere machines?
What would become of all moral distinctions, if the
power of contrary choice was taken away? Where
would be the doctrine of praise and blame, — of good or
ill desert, — or conduct and character and destiny; or
where the place of law or counsels or instruction, or the
first motions of the intelligence in the conscience, or of
moral truth at all, or anything above merely physical
GOD IS LIGHT. 301
and sentient existence ? And then, indeed, why have
even that ? The body is for the sake of the soul, — na-
tiu-e for the supernatural. Merely physical being has
no correspondence with, no recognition of God; no
communion or fellowship, no appreciation or worship,
no responsibility. It is a mere thing, — perfect in its
way, but the bare scaffolding of the building. The
crowning work is the formation of mind, personal beings,
an intellectual, moral universe in the image and after the
likeness of God ; and this of necessity implies personal
free-will, and it could not and should not be otherwise,
and you inevitably have the possibility, yea, even the
liability of wrong. But this liability does not mar the
perfection of a moral system. It is the necessary meth-
od and touchstone of it. It gives the occasion and the
agreement of law, and the scope of instruction, precept
and promise. It is our monitor, our tuition, our culture.
It brings out the heart of God to us, and ours to Him,
and by the pos8il)ility of wrong, lifts its note of warning
against it.
There is no argument for wrong, no occasion, no need
of it. No one need to sin, or is ever placed where he
cannot do right, and ought not. Intelligence was made
for right action, though inherently and necessarily cap-
able of its alternative. No man should hate God or his
neighbor. Wrong is ever an argument for right. Sin
is ever a critic on itself. Conscience is a swift witness
against it, and in harmony with God and truth for all
righteousness.
4th. — God is light in Ilis word. It is a revelation to
us — a manifestation of Himself still more express and
302 GOD IS iJGHT.
definite and adapted to our moral state now, than are
the works of creation. " Thy word is veiy pure, there-
fore Thy servant loveth it." Its design is to reveal
God in His intentions and purposes more fully, and give
us light. It is light in our path and a lamp to our feet,
and we are to go to it as to " a light that shineth in a
dark place, until the day dawn," &c. This is the aim
of its comfhunications — its doctrines ; its precepts ; its
requirements. There is no effort at the concealment
of truth in the word of God. It is all over luminous
with divine instruction for our use and benefit. Its
ministers are sent forth "to teach all nations," and
bring them to the knowledge of the truth as it is in
Jesus Christ. He is " the light of the world,'' and His
gospel is commissioned to *" enlighten every man that
Cometh into the world."
5th. — God is light in His great end in all things, and in
His way of attaining it. It is like Him and worthy
of Him, and it is seen in His law and in His gospel, and
in all that He has said and done. It is a holy, happy
universe, under the administration of a perfect, moral
government. This is God's great end, and this is God-
like and God's way, and this is all there is belonging to
His way. God's method is a perfect righteousness, and
so is his end, with the results it guarantees. God does
good, because it is good, and because He loves to. He
is benevolent, for that is His nature. His heart goes
out in all right action, because it is right and just and
good and blessed so to do. The full heart of the entire
Deity is right here, and He has done nothing to darken
counsel in the matter, and we need not. Tliere is a
GOD IS LKUIT, 303
transparency and a clear looking into the very heart of
God here, that is in no other being. We know where
he is. We can appreciate His methods and ways, as we
can those of no one else. We know that He will do
right, and that a perfect righteousness enspheres the
Deity in all His thoughts and works and ways. In re-
spect to others, we may be afloat and adrift, but we are
anchored fast here. We do know that He is ever true
to the principles of all righteousness, in the administra-
tion of a perfect, moral government, over the intelligent
universe, both under law and grace. " He is light, and
in Him is no darkness at all." And if so, then —
1st. — We should appreciate and understand Him. We
should come to the light and welcome its consistent
shining. The being and perfections of God are a first
truth in reason and before the mind. We may know
just where He is on every moral question. No dark
enigmas lurk in His character, and no complicity Tvdth
wrong. If sin occur, it will be in abuse of moral gov-
ernment, and against His prohibition and His will. He
has no stragetic relations to it but to counteract and
overcome it ; and admonish the universe in view of it.
It is not His way in any respect. Its wrong and mis-
chief are no part of His method, and He is by all the
prerogatives of the Infinite, putting it down in the best
time and way, and bringing it into merited condemna-
tion and reproach. A holy and right-minded universe,
as He created it, is His way. All His methods are like
Himself. No contravention of first principles, or adop-
tion of the maxim that the end sanctifies the means.
We may throw all this overboard, and retain our unem-
•504 GOD IS JvIGHT.
barrassed and unalloyed conceptions of the perfect
rectitude and integrity of God. All His relations to
wrong are right, and He is infinitely happy in these re-
lations, and is bringing out infinite glory on all right-
eousness in the progressive and utter discomfiture of sin.
as the end will show. If rebellion is possible, it may be
a failure, too, and notwithstanding, and bring down
merited rebuke and condemnation on those engaged in
it, while the methods of redemption show the heart of
God respecting it, and while all heaven will ring with
shouts of praise to Him for the energies and success
of His recovering grace.
2. — Oui' theology ought to he intuitively clear in its
statements. God is light. We know what He is, and
where He is and what He will do and what He will not
do. A perfect character is before us. He will do, and
be in His relations to us, only what is good and just
and right. Our philosophy of truth respecting Him
should not be embarrassed and paradoxical. Our ab-
stracts of faith ought not to be difficult of apprehension,
and contravene, or seem to contravene, the first princi-
ples of morals or the intuitive convictions of the mind.
We should not make God the author of sin in any
sense, either strategetically or decretively, or as on tlie
whole preferring it, or as any way correlated with it,
except as its uncompromising antagonist and determined
foe. It does not follow because sin is, tliat God in any
way wills it, or that He is not doing all that belongs to
Him as God to prevent and overcome it ; and to glorify
all righteousness out of this miserable apostacy and
wrong. What has he not done to this end in making
GOT) IS LIGHT. 305
jiian holy at first — in giving him a conscience and a law
of right prohibiting sin — cursing it in His word and
providence. What in redemption and retribution ?
Sin is an outbreak from God, and is here without any-
such relation to it, on his part, as the decreeing of it
implies, and we should let nothing bring a mist over our
minds at this point. We should absolve ourselves from
all this. There is a more excellent way. There is a
better analysis of truth — one that fairly and frankly,
and without mincing or misgiving or compromise, and
in plain common sense, keeps God in the right, by all
the laws of truth and 'morality. If sin is inherently
possible under a perfectly moral government and as an
abuse of it, let it not be accounted a Divine strategy or
expedient or by ordination and the pui-pose of God, but
every way against His mind and in contravention of His
will. We ought to clear the highway of truth and
of the ransomed from all these dialectics of the schools,
and let the character of God shine out in its trans-
parency and perfectness in our formulas of thought,
Avithout let, stint or hindrance, as elsewhere, it shines in
all His works.
3d. — If God is light, then the more we know of God,
the more we shall appreciate Him. We shall study His
character and perfections with increasing interest and
satisfaction. Mists \nll clear up, snags will give way,
difficulties fall back, and we shall see tliat they belong
not to Him or to the legitimate consideration of His
works and ways.
4th. — 'If God is light, then to sdlk to know Him and
to know Him more perfectly, is no anomoly and no dis-
20
306 GOD IS LIGHT.
credit to us. We were made to know God and under
stand Him. Formed in His image, to api^rehend His
being and character is a first truth of reason, infallible
in clearness and perfection. I am as certain of the ex-
istence and perfections of God, as of my own conscious
existence and dependence on Kim. And I would study-
ever to know more of Him, and drink into His own
divine fullness, from gioiy to glory.
Again : — The knowledge and appreciation of (^od will
be the delightful study of eternity. We shall know
Him as He is ; we shall look into the face of God and
all w^ll be light. The days of darkness and mystery
will be passed — the difficulties will be cleared up, and
be seen not to belong to Him. We shall intuitively
justify His relations to wrong, and see how much it was
the adversary's plan to darken counsel here. That cloud-
less sky will reflect His perfect likeness, and we shall
behold it, in all His works and ways, with increasing-
rapture and delight through eternity.
Finally : — If God is light, then will he be a swift Avit-
ness against all works and workers of darkness. There
is no place where those Avho work iniquity can hide
themselves from Him. Let us escape from every refuge
of lies — flee unto Him who is the refuge from the
storm, and the covert from the tempest, to Jesus while
it is to-day. And now, my friends, there is a practical
side to this subject. These two kingdoms are before
you and will go on into the future. The struggle be-
tween them will mainly characterize that which is to
be. Christ is yet t#be the gi'eat idea of humanity, and
to come in for the conquest of the world to truth and
GOD IS LIGHT. 307
holiness. Shall we yield to or resist Him — be His, or
not ? Here lies a personal obligation and prerogative.
Will we break down at the foot of the cross and come
to Him. or stay away ? We can do either. We can
have our choice. We must have it. All the light
and influences belonging to the subject, may beam
benignly on our pathway ; and all the prerogatives
of the Infinite be kindly enlisted in our behalf, and
yet we only resist and grieve the Holy Ghost. And
this kingdom of Jesus — of peace and salvation, will
have to move on to the empire of the world without us,
and leave us behind with the miserable remnants of
earth's population, that must fall at length under the
wheel of a righteous retribution, and sink to unmiti-
gated and everlasting shame and contempt
I said the alternative is ours. It is ; and let us be
equal to it, on a responsibility which eternal ages alone
can interpret.
308 EVIL AND GOD.
ES8AY8 AND EEVIEWS.
I.
THE MYSTERY ; OR, EVIL AND GOD. NO. I.
It is interesting, as well as hopeful to the cause of
moral science, to observe how steadily and surely the
inquiry is coming up concerning the origin of moral
evil and the relations of God thereto. Since the publi-
cation of the "Problem Solved; or, Sin not of God,"
in this country, two elaborate works have been published
in Scotland alone, hinging on this subject, and taking
substantially the view of it, which that work did. Dr.
Tullock, in his Tlieisrn, one of the Burnett prizes, and re-
published by the Carters here, (a very good quarter by
the way,) was the first in order. The whole subject of
Dr. T. led him over a wider range of thought than is
here referred to, but he sums up all the difficulties in
the way of a consistent and appreciable Theism, in the
fact of the existence of sin, and boldly and triumphantiy
marches to his conclusion, that sin and wrong are no
part of the Divine- economy — that they are not to be re-
solved in a tlieistic argument, that they lie outside of it,
but are, and nnist logically as he in effect says, be re-
EVIL AND GOD. 309
lated to God, and his government as rebellion is to the
strategy, design and head of a state. In a word, that
sill is in no sense of God, and that He does, and can
sustain only antagonistic relations to it, and that this is
the dictate of reason, logic and conscience, as well as of
the Bible. This surely is the very spot to break ground
for the Scotch mind, and is inherently a good beginning
on the whole subject. It rolls away mountains of difR-
cultyi and gives a simple significant issue. It was, more-
over, the point mainly adjudicated in the " Problem
Solved,'' under the conviction that if this was rightly
apprehended, the rest would come easily and as a mat-
ter of course, and we are quite happy to see Dr. Tul-
lock's views on this head so fully quoted, if not en-
dorsed by the Bihliotheca Sacra, in its notice of his work,
about one year since.
The other work referred to, and whose title stands at
the head of this article, is by Dr. Young, (L. L. D.,) of
Edinburgh, so widely known as the author of ^^ The
Christ of History,'' and reprinted also in this country by
the Carters. This last work of Dr. Young is repub-
lished on this side of the water, by J. B. Lippincott &
Co., of Philadelphia, and is eveiy way a readable book.
It is more elaborate and exhaustive of its subject, than
that of Dr. Tullock. It is confined to the consideration
of the great problem of evil, and its relations to the be-
ing and character of God. The main, prominent prin-
ciples of the book may be found in the others here re-
ferred to, but Dr. Young crowds them on with intre-
pidity and strength, into the various attitudes of affili-
ated tmth. What was briefly and timidly suggested by
f0f J?SI:
310 EVIL AND GOD.
Tullock, as relieving the difficulties of the subject, and
to neutralize the perplexities of our Theology; Dr. Y.
boldly expands into the order and relations of system-
atized truth. What the Problem, in its modesty and di-
rectness stated, as first truths of reason, and indubita-
ble intuitions of the human mind, as containing the
principles within the range of which this whole subject
could be satisfactorily adjusted ; he has taken on, with
a greater breadth of statement, to their ultimate con-
clusion, and for the benefit of the more cautious, or per-
haps, the less reflecting, to the more complete solution
of the problem involved. These Scottish works are
reviewed in the British Quarterlies, and cannot fail
to elicit discussion, surely, north of the Tweed. Their
reprint in this country will also still enlist the attention
of the American mind, to a subject which, lying at the
basis of all morality, yields in importance to no other.
If we may not know the relations of God to evil, — if
the mind may not think them, and the pulpit and the
press express them fully, if they are to be in part muf-
fled up by a lurking and stealthy theology ; holding that
sin is, in some comprehensive sense, of the economy of
God, and a Divine expedient for good, and in fact the
best thing possible in its place ; then indeed are all our
Christian teachings unsustained and surface-hke, and all
our moral sentiments outraged and belied. The idea is,
in the last analysis, pantheistic. It constitutes God the
only cause, and sin and wrong the Divinely appointed
method of the universe. The Hindus have it, in its full
extent, and there is no dividing of the dogma with them
wliich will meet the demands of conscience or Christian
EVIL AND GOD. 311
truth. There is, there must be a better edition of doc-
trinal statement and belief, at this point ; and it lies in
the direction of the ^vi-iters refen-ed to in this notice It
is found in distinguishing the nature of a moral system,
in ascertaining the doctrine of a true and proper per-
sonality, both in the infinite and the finite, and the nec-
essary relations and demands of it, in all affiliated truth.
This would harmonize our theories with our moral con-
victions — our theology with our conscience and the word
of God. Until this is done, it is impossible that moral
science should be complete, and the essential unity of
this whole subject attained. The hiatus lies between
our doctrinal statements and our moral sense, between
our creeds and our conscience. The one aflirming that
God is tempted with evil, and that it is comprehensively
according to His will, and the other, that it is not, and
cannot be. Consistency between them is just what is
needed, for the unobstructed sway of both, and of un-
embarrassed conviction in favor of the claims of the
gospel, and that the works alluded to, will bear benign-
ly on this result, coming, as some of them at least do,
from so good a quarter, may be fairly and devoutly an-
ticipated.
EVIL AND GOD. NO. IL
The objections to the received theory, that sin and
wrong are of God, as being decreed and ordained by
Him, and are a part of the Divine programme of the
universe, are that it is not appreciable, is inconsistent
with the known character and righteousness of God ;
that it cannot be preached, or acted on, or felt to be true
at the time of committing sin ; that it contradicts con-
312 EVIL AND GOD.
science, destroys the unity of the moral nature of God,
and with it takes away the foundation of all morality,
elevates sin to a place impassable to it, by making it a
Divine means and expedient for good, and thus creating
an impassable gulf between om* creed and our conscience,
and rendering our divinely constituted moral nature no
criterion or God-send of the moral nature of God.
These objections and many more are felt and acknowl-
edged on every hand. It is admitted that this is a terra
incognita. The appeal is uniformly ad ignorantiam — that
it is a mystery, though yet to be held as being demanded
by cognate truth. It is confidently said that nothing
can be, but what God permits, and what is on the whole
best, and is thus according to his will, and may be mat-
ter of Divine decree and arrangement, as his method
of the universe. But is this so ? Just here lies the
fountain of error on this entire subject. This reasoning
and this view keeps wholly in the physical sphere of
things. It does not enter the moral system, or get help
from the necessaiy elements thereof, and hence the
insuperable hiatus between the creed and the conscience
at this point, and hence the supposed necessity of hold-
ing that sin and wrong are in some sense agi'eeable to
the mind and will of God. But why not give up the
dogma altogether? The consequences apprehended
from the surrender of it, would not follow. There may
he that in a moral system which God in no sense wills or
permits, and we feel so, and are conscious of it every
time we commit sin and do wrong, and are, by the
irresistible laws of our being, drawn necessai'ily to the
conclusion that the Divine supremacy is in the direction
EVIL AND GOD. 31o
of rebuke and punishment, and not of the permission of
wrong. If the created universe were a mere thing, God
might be the only cause. But in a moral system, where
there is moral personality, this is otherwise. Intelli-
gence is, in its nature, cause, and there are as many
plans and programmes of thought and action as there
are intelligent beings to make them, and they are not
necessarily inclusive of each other, but stand related
personally to their respective authors. Why does God
need to pm-pose the purposes of the wicked in order to
deal -with them ? Must a good being plan a wrong, in
order to circumvent or punish it, or pardon or restore
the wrong doer ? Must God be the author of confusion,
to bring order out of it ?
But the thought is fundamental, and will bear a more
generic reference. I state it therefore in the form of a
universal proposition, and one which underlies this
whole subject, which will go far in giving a consistent
and satisfactory analysis of it. I will give it in the
fewest words, and invite inquiiy to it. All personal in-
telligence is inherently sovereign, of its own voluntary states.
This is of its essential nature. Remove this sovereignty
any where else, and you destroy this personal intelli-
gence. Take away from a personal being the sovereign
control of his voluntary responsible movements, and you
reduce him to a thing. The direction and absolute con-
trol of his voluntaiy action lies with himself, and with
no other being in the universe. This is but a law of
mind, and of all personality. To place this elsewhere
is only an absurdity. God is sovereign of the voluntary
states of His own mind ; those made in His image are, of
314
BYIh AND GOD.
theirs. What is the doctrine of laAv at this point ? Does
it not claim what can be withheld '? Does it not acknowl-
edge this ? Would it be moral law without, or anything
but mere physical force, and would there be any virtue in
yielding to that which could not be resisted ? What is
the language of exhortation? It would be a mere
pageant, if the sovereign control of the issue lay with
him who gave it.
Try this on any scale you please, in relative or social
life, in Church or State, in the finite or infinite. Why
does God instruct or exhort, or discipline, or make
promises, or give commendations, or punish? Why
have retribution at all ? Does God prefer it ? Would
He rather that a great many should be lost than saved,
and could He have it as well as not, if He only willed
it ? Will there not always be those over whose minds
God will not have control ? Will the moral state
of the lost be a Divine preference, or according to the
will of God ? Has God the direct and absolute control
of the state of their hearts, and would they be other-
wise, but for His will and pleasure that they should be
as they are ? If the absolute control is with Him, then
where is the responsibility ?
So many, and more, are the absurdities indicated,
of denying the position here stated. And if every
mind is a sphere of sovereignty, and this is a fundamen-
tal law of moral personality, then may there be that in
a moral system which God does not will or decree, and
we may reduce His decrees and determinations to the
sphere of His own acts and works, and regard the ,first
EVIL AND GOD. 315
as the mental condition of the last. And if so, then we
may weed out all sin and wrong from the pm*poses of
God, and hold him as in no sense devising them, and
standing only in eternally antagonistic relations to them,
and as ever bringing in the best way possible, all the
influences of law, and truth, and right, and gospel, and
all moral means to bear on the issue, for the prevention
and discomfiture of sin, and for the restoration and
righteousness of intelligent beings. These influences
are in their nature resistible. They would not be moral
otherwise. But they may prevail. All men are not as
bad as they can be. The appeal is to conscience, and
the constituent principles of our being. Men may re-
pent, where they could hold out in impenitence. Many
may yield, as all should, to truth, duty and the spirit of
God, and no longer "resist the Holy Spirit." This
issue is finely brought out by Dr. Young, as referred to
in my last, and with referring to that I close the present
statement, asking only the attention of your readers to
one more concise article, in which I shall dwell a little
on the main difficulty with most minds, and which I
will here state : Why did God create beings that He
knew would sin against Him ?
EVIL AND GOD. NO. III.
If, then, such are the objections to received theories,
that God sustains a strategetic, prepositional relation to
sin, and that it is comprehensively according to His
will, and a matter of His decree ; still the question may
be raised, even on the view presented by the writers,
commended in these articles. Why did God create intel-
ligent beings, ivhom He knew tvould sin against Him ?
310 EVIL AND GOD.
There may be reasons in the depths of the Infinite,
which it is not im}K)rtant for us now to appreciate.
We are interested in the question, mainly as the first
princij)les of morals are concerned, and as we would
have our minds set free from those implications on the
character of God which false theories of sin originate.
I may then, without presumption, and without pretend-
ing to exhaust the subject, suggest the following thoughts
in reply :
1. — God made man upright, and for uprightness and
uprightness sake. This we know for he has said so, the
one part of the position being included in the other.
This surely no one will gainsay. If any do, let them
draw out an opposite view, in extensu, and then look at
it, and see if they dare fellowship it and abide by it.
The same is true in respect to angels, as is most man-
ifest from His treatment of those " that kept not their
first estate." And that this is a universal law in the
intelligent creation, is demonstrably evident from the
Divine prohibition of all sin, and from the uniform, and
eveiy way revealed and published methods of the
Infinite, in relation to it. If any one denies this, let
him see if he can express his belief without mutilating
the perfections and unity of God, and undermining the
foundations of morality. And if this is so, is it not
enough ? If God made the intelligent universe upright,
and in His own image, to appreciate, and glorify, and
obey Him, and to be perfectly happy in His love and
likeness forever ; how good the work — how right the
end — how glorious the Being that conceived and pros-
ecutes it. And this is the more striking as presented in
' • KVIL AND GOD. 317
its jibsolute and universal form of thouglit-;-viz : —
2. — Intelligence in uprightness and for it, is a perfect
work. A quiescent Deity is a solecism. God is a pow-
er in the direction of His own perfections, and intel-
ligences like Himself and the offspring of His own
spiritual being, will be His crowning work, and having
a subordinate, physical and sentient creation adapted to
it below. And beings so made, "in the image and
after the likeness" of God, and for the legitimate aims
and purposes of such beings, are a perfect work. It is
just the work of the Infinite One, in the infinite and
])erfect freedom of His own intelligence and will.
Nothing else could be better — nothing else could be in
its place, — a moral system in uprightness, and for it, is
just the sphere of the Infinite here, and the perfection
of the creating fiat of God. Just think a moment.
What can be better in the finite, than a Divine offspring ;
intelligence like God, to be and act in correspondence
with Him, and to tlie same end that he does ? And to
fill the universe with such beings, and forever to enter
into communion with them in all the reciprocities of the
Infinite and finite, in the legitimate working of a moral
system, is the highest conceivable design in creation.
3. — Intelligence is in its nature free, and a moral sys-
tem in its voluntary issues, is inherently self-elective.
This is essentially, of its vitality and very life. It
would not be intelligence without this. Take this
element out of a moral system and you destroy it and
render impossible all responsibility or virtue whatever.
This is its perfection — this its glory. It would not be
God-like but for this. All that elevates it above a mere
318 EVIL AND GOD.
thing, concentrates here. All possibility of virtue lies
here, that while under the obligation and the privilege
to do right, we may do wrong. Sin is inherently pos-
sible in a moral system. It is not constructively made
so, it is integrally possible, and the matter could not be
otherwise. All personality implies it — all responsibility
and character, or destiny, or reward — or praise and
blame — or honor, or glory and excellency — all above a.
mere thing in physical or sentient being. Wrong is a
possible alternative in a moral system. It can be,
although it has no right, and no Divine leave to be. It
can be, simply against His will, and against the object
for which He made mind, and upholds it. This capa-
bility is of the nature of all mind True, in God wrong-
action would not be intelligent action, and God will
always act intelligently and in the right, in the infinite
freedom of His spiritual being. And in the finite, the
commencement of wrong is more conceivable in the
first stages of being, than after long confirmation in
holiness and felicity. Still electivity is of the essence
and glory of a moral system, and of the perfect work
and ways of the Infinite. Finite mind can disobey
Him. It can act unreasonably, and foolish, and wicked,
and this, too, notwithstanding all the prerogatives of
the Infinite in favor of its right action. This is through
no Divine provision for it, or Divine election, that
wrong should be, but simply the prerogative of mind
under the responsibilities charged upon it.
Such are the inevitable concomitants and inherency
of a perfect moral system. And it is enough here to
recognize, that what was liability, has become actuality,
EVIL AXn GOD. 319
at least in two or three worlds, out of the myriads on
myriads which God has created. This, perhaps, might
be expected, in so vast an economy, though it might be
but the exception in the numberless ranges and spheres
of intelligent beings, though it could make no difference
in respect to the nature of mind, or the perfection of the
work and object of God in its creation.
4. — The inquiry and the difficulty supposed in it, are
wholly fallacious, in that they ascribe to God the acci-
dents of time. This is a mode of being and reckoning,
adapted to, and possible only in the finite and created.
To the Infinite, ''one day is as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day." God is no older than He
always was.. In absolute duration there is no difference
of time. This is but a circumstance of being, confined
to the finite and progressive ; it has no significance as
to God. The term foreknowledge, is in accommodation
to our mode of being, not to His. He knows things as
they are, and in the relations in which they are, and not
otherwise. Strictly, He knows sin as He sees it to be,
and not otherwise by forecast or remembrance. The
infinite wisdom of God, in the moral'sphere, is an ever
present discretion, in behalf of rightness and truth.
Hence the perfect appositeness of the inquiry to Adam
when he had sinned, "Hast thou eaten," &c., and of
prayer always in behalf of things inherently right and
good. The method of the Infinite, as we are surely not
presumptuous in saying, is to do right, and perform a
perfect work, because it is right and perfect, and for a
right and perfect object. Hence, as Dr. Young graph-
ically expresses it, for God to act without an end, (that
320 EVIL .VND GOD.
is one more ulterior than inherent righteousness,) is
greater and more glorious than any end which can be
named. To do right for pure rightness, is the highest
end conceivable. It is just the way of the Infinite, and
to prosecute this interest, and sustain this end, and its
concomitants in those made in His image and after His
likeness, is just the sum of His relations to character
and conduct, is a moral system. The objection, then,
stands on a fallacy by supposing God to be altogether
such an one as ourselves, instead of the Infinite and ab-
solute One of reason and the " I am," of the Bible.
5. — An answer more appreciable by some minds is,
that if the objection were not founded in fallacy, it
would nevertheless be out of place, and of no practical
avail. This I would put in a more concrete and famil-
iar way, and one level to and abundantly attested in hu-
man experience. Is law wi'ong, or inexpedient because
some will violate its provisions, or is it to be held ac-
countable for their defalcations ? Do we hold human
government responsible for the fact that it is not uni-
versally obeyed, and is the state answerable for rebel-
lion against? Is the parental relation to be repudiated
because it is certain that children will sin? The ob-
jection alleged accords mth no principle of social life,
or responsible action. It keeps wholly in the physical
sphere. It does not take any cognizance of the laws of
mind, or rise to the dignity of a moral system. Does
not conscience always accept the personality of guilt and
hold each one to his responsibility for character and con-
duct? With suitable advantages for right action, we
absorb and exhaust the responsibility of wrong on him
EVIL AND GOD. 321
who does it. The existence of the infinite reasons for
right action, concentrates his wrong upon him, while
the whole leaning and counsel and influence of the In-
fiinite, saying to him, " Oh, do not this iniquity which I
hate," forever absolves God from the responsibility of
that wrong.
• Besides, a Divine moral system is an economy of be-
ing, universal and perpetual. It has universal laws, and
pei*petual results. It is a nature of things in respect to
both the body and the soul, rather than a series of dis-
integrated and independent creative acts. It embraces
a universe of responsible beings through eternity, in their
origin interlocked by social influences and hereditary de-
scent, and by all the attributes of a generic and univer-
sal economy; and there is no naturalness or place in
application to it, of the principle of the objection. It
is enough that God made man upright, and for upright-
ness, and that this is the Divine characteristic and aim
of a moral system, and that full play is and must be giv-
en for conduct and character, under law and truth, and
infinite reasons for the love, and service, and enjoyment,
and likeness of God. Here is the sum of the responsi-
bility of the Creator in respect to the aberrations of any
of his intelligent oflfspring, from the very terms of a
moral system, — and this being so, an intelligible and
philosophical basis is seen, for liis own Divine assevera-
tion, as in a given instance to Israel, — "What more
could I have done to my vineyard that I have not done
in it, wherefore then, when I looked that it should bring
forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes."
I intended to express here a few thoughts in respect
21
322 EVIL AND GOD.
to certain passages of inspired history, such as that re-
specting Joseph and his brethren, Pharaoh, Cyrus, and
the death of Christ by wicked hands, &c., &c., ; but my
limits forbid more than a concise statement of the prin-
ciple which harmonizes the elemental truth found in
them, with the view here given. It is this, viz : From
the stand-point of the existence of sin, the best way of reform
and redress is a perfect way and the ivay of the Infinite.
From the point of the breaking out of rebellion against
Grod, and the being of wrong, the best method of re-
ducing and overcoming it, and instructing the universe,
in view of it and its mischiefs, is a perfect method and
the way of God in respect to it. This is all the case
admits of. The occuiTence of sin interrupts the harmo-
aious on-going of the moral sphere, in the way of an
absolute perfection, — disorder is introduced, and the In-
finite, in the perfect Avisdom and benevolence and right-
eousness of his nature, adapts himself to this anomalous
state of beings in the finite, — and in prosecuting the
right, and the true, and the good, and in bringing light
out of darkness and order out of confusion ; he inter-
locks with the evil machinations of the wicked, in any
and all ways that any good being may in his sphere,
against the opposers of right and in securing good ends
thereby. He lets sin criticise its own method — the
wicked fall into the pit which they have digged — yields
Jesus to the malice and hate of wicked men, that he may
be the life of the world ; and thus in every way of jus-
tice and of mercy, secures good to the intelligent uni-
verse from the miserable apostacy, and wrong, and mis-
cliief of sin.
KEVIEW OF DR. BUSHNELL. 323
II.
REVIEW OF DR. BUSHNELL ON NATURE AND THE SUPERNATURAL.
This book, by Dr. Bushnell of Hartford, is now the
fifth in order in the late theological literature of the day, "
designed to suggest the relations of God to sin, and note
the characteristics of a moral system. The first, "TAe
Conflict of Ages,'' recounted the trials of the past history
of the Church on this subject, and offered an apology
for the present state of man, in the supposition of a pre-
existent one, in which he sinned ; but did not reach the
main question, " How comes it, that there is sin at all,
in any world ?" The second, " The Problem Solved,'' was
introductoiy, in design, to the main issue, containing, in
short hand, the self-evident principles on w^hich the
vexed question of moral evil may be adjusted in harmo-
ny with the dictates of conscience, and the demands of
all truth.
The Burnett prize, entitled " Theism," by Dr. Tullock,
of Scotland, came next, in which moral evil was ruled
out of the Divine economy into one of its own, essen-
tially dualistic and anti-theistic, and therefore could
claim no solution in an argument concerning God.
To this succeeded the work of Dr. Young, of Ediu-
burg, "I%e Mystery; or, Evil and God," which more elab-
orately discusses the whole subject, happily presenting
its main features, and, with some immaturity of view at
324 REVIEW OF DR. BUSHNELL.
certain points, making a decided advance in the right
direction. And now we have Dr. Bushnell again on
this side of the water, seizing on the same principles of
thought, in his characteristic, original way, in behalf of
a correllate object.
The chief element in all these works, so far as the
question of the " origin of evil,'' or its solution, is con-
cerned, lies in the doctrine of personal cause in the fi-
nite, as an inhering attribute of all intelligence. This
Dr. Bushnell presents in many bold and trenchant pas-
sages of his book. He treats it quite at large, and with
many instructive references to, and illustrations of, its
intuitive truth. Indeed this is the main staple of his
work — this his idea of the supernatural, and with its
correllates, underlies the superstructure he would rear.
In this respect he has done good service to truth, and
added the contribution of his brilliant and fervid pen,
to the elucidation of the legitimate personality of all
those made in the image of God. We are not sure, in-
deed, that in his efforts to give this element of our being
full play, he does not overstep the proper balance of
truth, and make sin and wrong a sort Of moral necessitii
in the universe. There is no need of this. Something
better was to be expected of finite intelligences than
that they should apostatize from God. Man sinned, at
first, under strong temptations from without, and in liis
inexpeiience, and that the multitude of the heavenly
hosts are once fallen beings, we shall be slow to admit.
The universe is so full of God, and of incentives to love
and praise Him, to all intelligences as He made them,
that in respect to the myriads inhabiting the worlds in
KEVIEW OF »K. BUSHNELL. 325
space, disobedience, we may conclude, is by no means
the rule, but the exception. Mind does not need the
tuition of wrong. There are correllates enough within
the sphere of right for its institution and training. Sin
is "unreason," and "unnature," as well as unrighteous-
ness, and sustains about the same relation to the good of
the universe, or the glory of God, as the breaking of a
leg does, to its being well set. Here our author ap-
proaches the solecism of Dr. Hickok on the same sub-
ject, (see Keview of Problem Solved in Bibliotheca Sacra,)
where he argues that the highest type of moral govern-
ment must be so severe in its terms that some will sin,
thus putting the boot on the wrong foot, and offering a
degi-ee of apology for disobedience and crime. This
forgets that divine moral government is always a per-
fection—that it is necessarily what it is, and neither more
or less, and also that the universe is full of considerations
for obedience, and of dissuasives against sin.
This not well studied deflection of Dr. Bushnell has
betrayed him into a further, a more serious, cognate
mistake. It is this, that sin is somehow ordained and
aiTanged of God, and is thus of the Divine economy.
As if to hold himself yet a true son of the Church, he
quotes the Catechism for this. But cart loads of cate-
chisms would not sanctify the sentiment, or heal the
wound it inflicts on the flrst principles of morals. • Phil-
osophy, logic, and morality proclaim alike its impossi-
bility. It forgets the anti-theistic nature and relations
of sin, and its utter unaccountablene^s as a Divine strat-
egy. It ignores the conclusion of both Tullock and
Neander, who declare sin to be utter "unreason," and
326 REVIEW OF DR. BUSHNELL.
throw it out of the Divine economy as in no sense of it,
and as not needing or capable of a solution in a " theis-
tic argument.'''' The doctrine of cause in the finite is
needful here. Intelligence is a cause per se, in a plane
of its own, and when acting wrong, goes counter to
God, and His plan, and purpose, and end, in all things.
Wrong is by no strategy of right. Sin has got foot-
hold by no Divine leave. God does all that a perfect,
moral government, administered in infinite wisdom, ad-
mits of against it.
But the more generic and fundamental mistake of Dr.
Bushnell in this connection, and that which is parent to
those above referred to, lies in the old category of Dr.
Taylor, that the present is a " choice'^ of systems, and is
the best possible, as involving the fewest evils, and having
the least imperfections and the most good, of any of ten
thousand or more that might have been present to the
mind of the Deity. But this is not the way of the Iif-
finite.
A moral system, as God's plan, is a perfect righteous-
ness, in the method, and to the end of a perfect and uni-
versal righteousness. Anything below that, He would
have no heart to, and would ever hold as utterly un-
worthy of Him. Any jumping at conclusions, through
questionable expedients. He would repudiate as an ut-
ter abomination. Derived intelligence He made in
His own perfect image and likeness, and for a sphere of
perfect, righteous blessedness, and ever administers His
government to this end, and until we take this position,
and come up to its behests, our theology and moral sci-
ence will be insuperably lame and deficient.
REVIEW OF DR. BUSHNELL. 327
Still our author, in the earlier chapters of his book,
has well presented the doctrine of a real personality in
finite course, and made a decided approximation to the
relations of sin in a moral system.
The reasonings of Dr. Bushnell in the 7th chapter,
on "T/ie anticipatiue consequences of si?i,^* will not strike
many as of any great value. What relation a merely
physical or sentient creation would have, by itself, to the
question of right and wrong, it might be difficult to de-
termine. We see no need of exhuming the deposits of
preadamite periods of the earth, to show by malforma-
tions and carnivorous propensities there, that God an-
ticipated the outbreak of sin in our world. The shape
and habits of animal life then, might not have had theii"
reason and ground in that idea. Indeed, Dr. Bushnell
himself loses sight of it, in supposing the presence
here of apostate spirits from other spheres, that might
have occasioned the mischief observed in the geologic
ages of this.
The chapters on the life and miracles of Christ are
well conceived and full of interest, though some might
wish that the true doctrine of miracles had been a little
more sharply defined. This is so graphically taught in
the calling and mission of Moses in the Book of Exodue,
that we ought not to mistake.
The chapter on "Miracles and spiritual gifts not dis-
continued,'' might as well, or better have been left out-
It makes little for the general purpose of the book ; will
be questioned extensively as to the evidence of any
special Divine interposition in the facts referred to, and
will be accepted as just so much capital in their behoof,
328 REVIEW OF DR. BUSHNELL.
by the manifold Spiritualisms of the day. A deeper re-
gret is, that this chapter will lessen the respect and
weight really due to the general drift and conclusions of
the book, which, as a whole, is well worthy of the care-
ful study of those who would gain the philosophy of
truth. Its doctrine of the "Supernatural," as in con-
trast with mere "nature," is a complete manifestation
and triumph. Some of its positions give evidence of
not having been carried to their ultimate analysis, and
of not being thought fully through, even though the
work has lain a year or two on the shelf With a meas-
ure of allowance for Dr. Bushnell's rapid, and somewhat
rhetorical method, of writing, the book will be read
with interest and profit. It is very timely, and will be
hailed as another evidence that mind, among us, is wak-
ing up to the demands of moral science, and seeking
for the coincidence of theology with the elements of all
reason and truth.
KEVIEW OF DK. DEWEY. 329
III.
REVIEW OF DR. DEWEY'S LECTURES.
March, 1852.
It was my privilege to attend Dr. Dewey's recent
course of lectures, in this city, on the " Problem of Hu-
man Destiny.'" He is a man of decided ability, and very
considerable research into the nature and foundations of
truth. His audiences were large and select, and his
course well sustained to the end. Many difficult prob-
lems came under review, in the main issue aimed at.
They were discussed with unflinching integrity of pur-
pose, and met with the best solution which the general
theory of the course admitted. The error, if eri'or there
was, lay in the conception of first principles. From
the frankness and independent cast of mind uniformly
evinced by the lecturer, 'it is perhaps not too much to
expect, that still further research will suggest some de-
fects in the system of thought which he has proposed.
They would lie within the range of these two categories
— the problem of evil and the analysis of mind. I refer to
them in the order of the lectures, though the last is truly
parent to the first, and when placed upon a just basis,
would much relieve the discussion of the other. Indeed,
it would so illustrate the doctrine of sin, as to go to the
very vitality ot the discussion given on the problem of
evil, and set aside some of its main features as irrelevant
330 REVIEW OF DR. DEWEY.
and valueless. It would so change the " venue" as to
render unnecessary much that was presented under this
head, and relieve the subject of many difficulties seen
by the lecturer, as inherent in it.
Dr. Dewey is right in saying that the liability to sin
is necessarily inherent in a moral system. Man could
not be man without the power of choice. But there is
a difference, heaven-wide, so far as divine government
is concerned, between the liability to sin and the actual-
ity of it — between the capability of wrong and the ex-
istence of it. Any man can commit murder ; but to he
a murderer is fearfully another thing, This distinction
the lecturer does not make wide enough, and it is the
prominent vice of the reasoning into which he is thus
betrayed. He would vindicate God in this matter of
evil ; and this he attempts, not in the way most legiti-
mate, by tracing natural evil to its source in moral evil
or sin, and holding the sinner himself responsible for
that and its consequences ; but by an apology for these
evils, in the way of mitigation, and by showing their
use and necessity in the progress of human development.
I am aware that the Dr. has some authority for this.
He is but treading in the steps of time-honored theories,
which extract the best good of the universe from the
principle of wrong and misrule that has got into it.
But why hold God or His government responsible at all
for the occurrence of sin or its effects in natural ills, and
by consequence reduce it almost into the same category
with natural ills, and those themselves into an inheritance
of blessings. Blessings they may be, or the modifica-
tion and results of them, in a redemptive economy, and
REVIEW OF DR. DEWEY. 331
may show the wisdom of God in bringing good out
of evil. But no thanks to sin, or its direct effects,
which all are bad, and only bad. The lectures at this
point, and it was the leading thought in them, were too
apologetic and excusatory. The subject of human sin-
fulness and desert was but seldom adverted to, and lay
but lightly on the face of them all. I can but view
their moral influence in this aspect of them, as decidedly
unhappy.
But there was logical consistency here. The conclu-
sion follows legitimately from the premises. Hold God
responsible for the existence of sin, and you must excuse
it, and transfer it to the catalogue of providential ills.
It is here that we struggle to be wiser than the Bible,
and that our metaphysics get at fault with our common
sense. We attempt theories behind the facts of the
case, and which neither reason nor revelation demand.
The Bible holds the sinner alone responsible for sin and
its effects — comprehends in him the question of its ex-
istence, and presents the divine relation to it, as wholly
preventive, remedial and punitive. And why is not
this the end of our wisdom on the subject *? " God
hath made man upright, but they have sought out many
inventions." " Hast thou eaten of the tree of which I
commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat thereof?
— cursed is the ground for thy sake." &c. Sin is no
where in the Bible declared to be a good, or the means
of good, or the necessaiy means of the greatest good.
Wrong is no where viewed as better, at any point, than
. right — sin than holiness — the misrule of Satan, than
subjection to the government of God. No; this is a
332
REVIEW OF DR. DEWEY.
gift of philosophy, and of a philosophy that needs re-
view. Men may wickedly do that which God has before
determined to be done ; but their sinning in the premi-
ses is no part of His economy, and no feature of His
government. Sin is wholly a foreign element, intro-
duced by another hand, against His command — against
His will. It has in no sense His permission or consent,
and we should allow no theoretic view of the compre-
hensiveness of His purposes to displace our common-
sense convictions of it, as utterly and everywhere an
evil and a wrong which His soul abhors.
These lectures do not in form endorse the philosophy
here referred to ; still it lies at the basis of much of the
reasoning employed, and decidedly influences the view
taken. Hence the very infrequent reference to the sins
and deserts of men, as the source of natural ills, to a
retributive providence ; and hence, too, the palliations,
and defenses, and compensations of good, thrown into
so bold relief in treating of polytheism, and idolatry,
and oppression, and war, and the many crying enormi-
ties which have been entailed by sin upon the genera-
tions of men ; and also, the somewhat surprising fact
that no reference was made to the penal efi'ects of sin
in another state of being.
But the point of utmost interest in the lectures, is
that where an analysis of the mental faculties is attempt-
ed. Here lies the parent error, we think — the germ of
that philosophy which has well-nigh absorbed out
of them all recognition of the doctrine of sin and ill-
desert, and rendered the moral influence of them quite
.otherwise than that which the subject demanded, and
REVIEW OF DR. DEWEY. 333
which we devoutly trust was intended. Dr. Dewey
gives three faculties — the intellectual, the aesthetic and
the moral ; or the power to think, the sense of the
beautiful, and the sense of right, or the moral sense or
conscience. He does not enter the sphere of the will.
The executive faculty, the personal, voluntary, respon-
sible " me" — that which makes one an agent, and per-
fects all our relations to law, and duty, and God, and
one another, he leaves out ; and doing this he could
not, in any legitimate sense, have sin and wrong, or
desert anywhere in the system, and might consistently
ignore the distinction between moral and natural evil,
and treat sin as he would the head-ache, or a broken
limb. This was the ^^ proton pseiidos'* of the course.
Ko man can discuss the problem of human destiny, and
lose sight of the distinctive prerogatives of the will.
This is an integral point, and failm*e here is fatal. And
here we must view the doctrine of the lectures as fun-
damentally lame and inadequate. Not that the words
" will" and '' free will" did not occur, but that the doc-
trine of the will was not discussed — its position given —
its relations to moral government defined, and the
legitimacy traced between it and the disciplinary and
redemptive economy of this world, and the retributive
dispensations of the next.
This defect was the more remarkable when the subject
of the mental constitution came up in the course, as the
Dr. had availed himself of this prerogative of will, in
one attitude of it, in his first lecture — viz.: that of the
inherent possibility of transgression and wrong in a
moral system. This is undoubtedly so. The power of
334 REVIEW OF DR. DEWEY.
right or wrong action is a necessary attribute of all
intelligence. And if so, why not venture on it as a
fixed truth, and trust it through, and stake the issue on
it ; not in the attitude of privilege only, but of responsi-
bility also 1 Why not grasp firmly the idea that ivill is
cause^ and in its sphere, comprehensive of all cause —
that, as a faculty, the will is sole cause of its actions —
that nothing else in the universe stands in this relation
to them — that we are ourselves the cause of our volun-
tary states and conduct — and that there is a logical
absurdity, so far as we are concerned, in going beyond
ourselves with the question of responsibility? The
problem ends there, and anything else we have to say
about it, or the connections of other beings or subjects
with it, sustains other relations to it than that of cause
and legitimate responsibility. I do not know that there
is more happiness in the present system of the universe,
than there would be without sin. The sense of right is
deeper in the human soul than the love of happiness.
There are other than utilitarian ideas that enter into the
question of divine government, and the problem of
human destiny. The wisdom which is from above is
first pure, and then peaceable, &c. Dr. D., in his discus-
sion, did not go beyond our present state of existence —
he did not pass out of probation in the solution of his
problem. This might give a more secular cast to his
lectures, but it left the subject incomplete, and embar-
rassed the discussion of it so far as pursued. " It is not
all of life to live." We must look over into another
state to solve the riddle of this. Without it, the ends
of Divine goverament, in discipline and in all the
REVIEW OF DR. DEWEY. 335
remedial influences bearing on us, cannot be reached —
this mixed providence accounted for, or a befitting solu-
tion given of the sins, and woes, and Avi'ongs and issues
of earth. But I have extended these remarks beyond
my expectation, and only add, that Dr. D.'s closing-
lecture on the progi'ess and prospects of the race on
earth, was very fine, and in some parts of the summing
up, quite comprehensive and sublime.
336 KREK WILL.
IV.
FREE WILL.
[For the Evangelist.]
jVIessrs. Editors : — I read with interest Prof Smith's
review of Dr. Whedon on the Will, in the January
number of the American Theological Quarterly/ of your
city, and as quarterlies are slow and are seen by few — as
I write short notes now, and as your readers are largely
among the intellectual classes — permit a few thoughts
on the subject.
It must be confessed that Dr. Whedon has met a
shai*p antagonist, and some of the favorite views of
Methodism a severe exposure in the pages of Prof.
Smith. But both men appear to have raised ghosts,
that they could hardly lay : the author through his
traditional dogma of a ''gracious ability,'* and the
reviewer in his, of a universal, divine predestination.
The latter, however, slips the leash somewhat, under the
cognomen of ''permissive decrees," which lie does not
define, while he holds his man rigorously to the con-
sequences of his needless admissions.
But why treat free will as if it were a question in
mere physics, and not distinguish between the personal
within us and a treadmill or a steamboat ? Why run
the parallels of " cause and effect" upon it, or brandish
weapons about the point of "greatest apparent good,"
FREE WILL. 837
as if that exhausted the discussion or met at all the
merits of the subject ? In this afternoon of the nine-
teenth century of grace, why not shake off the clogs of a
gross materialism of method and rise into the super-
natural, on a theme so commanding it? This might
have saved the author much mortification, and given
the reviewer some work that he may not have anticipate
ed. The subject of free will or human personality
accepts a wider range and lies in other parallels of
thought and speech than those found in the Review.
The question of "alternate choice" is a vital one in
philosophy as well as in fact, as the hinge of all respon-
sibility and morals, and there are those who will regret
to see it put hors du combat through the weakness of an
advocate, or by being set side by side with other ma1>-
ters, with which it has little affiliation. Entering their
disclaimer here, let me attend it with a few brief sugges-
tions.
The argument is three-fold, which denies the identity
of the " is" and the " can be," or that the one is the
exponent of the other, in the moral sphere, and which
claims for every intelligent, responsible being, anywhere
and everywhere and always, and that he exercises it, the
power or privilege of contrary or alternate choice ; it lies in
the characteristics and nature and logic of the doctrine
itself of choice ; it is the uniform testimony of conscience^
it is the vital element of moral government and in all
responsibility.
I have no choice if I can't choose either, and if I can
choose either, I can choose the one I don't choose, and
that is the whole of it at this point. It is a mere ques-
22
338 FREE WILL.
fcion of logic. If two things are submitted to my elec-
tion, I have the privilege of either, or there is no vitality
In the transaction, and I may choose either or neither,
act wisely or foolishly, righteously or unrighteously in
the premises — according to my convictions or contrary
to them — as I should — or otherwise. It is in the nature
of mind and of the case, and no man is placed where
just this cannot be said 6f him, and it is just this which
oonstitutes his manhood and distinguishes between him
an4 the steamboat and the water-wheel. To be able to
move freely one way does not meet the t!2rms of the
problem. It may be a conscious movement, but this
does not give it vitality on the question before us, or
make it authentic. There must be the jurisdiction over
the issue, the self-control and power to shift and alter,
to stop or go on, the will and the wont, everywhere and
always, ever at hand, always liable and legitimately in
the movement and characteristic of it, so that to say
that the power to the contrary is of no use, as it is never
exercised, is simply irrelevant and gratuitous, as it is
exercised constantly and constitutes the spirit and life
of the transactions, too, without which it would sink
out of the sphere of mind and become a question in
qiere physics.
And this also is (2) the testimony of consciousness.
J*rof. Smith never did wrong without the conviction
that he was not obliged to do it, without being conscious
of this power to the contrary, and that situated just as
■te was he could have said No, when he said Yes ; and
that if he could put in the plea " I could not help it,''
conscience would offer excuse now and take it to the bar
FREE WILL. 339
of God. So with every man. No one is ever placed
where he cannot do right. We are not obliged to follow
a great temptation or a leading or prevalent disposition.
Its prevalence is no test of our powers, and no reason
why we should not countermand it, and act according
to truth and conscience and right. And this we do
whenever we change character and conduct. We
exercise this gift of contrary choice and say to passion,
hush, be still. And no one ever changed character or
conduct without it. No sinner ever turned to God
without it, or repented of his sins. But for it, a being
once wrong is always wrong, and character is stereotyped
for eternity. Without the power to change what shall
change it — how quench a prevalent motive, or supply
its opposite? Every child acts on the principle here
advocated ; it is in the woof of human society and in the
experience of every man.
And again (3) what is moral government without
this? Why undertake to command me, when I am
under the sway of wrong with no power to the contraiy 1
Moral government is a falsity and a hoax, if I cannot at
any and all times and however situated, repent of my
sins and obey it. The power of self-control in him to
whom it applies is inherently of it, and its enacting
clause. Moral influences are inherently resistible. This
is in the nature of all exhortation, or command, or
reward, or punishment, or responsibility at all, or intel-
ligent destiny; as good command tadpoles or even
cabbage stumps as men without this. There is no merit
in obedience where there is no power to resist. A vir-
tue that is inevitable is no virtue. Simply to move in
340 FREE WILL. -
grooves prepared, and by force applied, smoothly it may
be said, though roughly enough in fact, does not supply
the leading element in moral government or rise out of
the sphere of simple physics.
Nor is it of use to say that by " necessity" only
"certainty" is meant. More is meant. A necessary cer-
tainty is claimed, and that nothing else can be in its place,
or it is not worth the ink that expresses it. What do we
know of the certainty of future volitions ? Experience
tells a sad tale here. God knows all things by intuition
from eternity. He knows them because he sees them. He
sees the end from the beginning. Contingency and cer-
tainty are alike open to his inspection, physics or morals,
and that whether he has decreed all or not. Most
agents know more than they decree, or would like tx) ;
I confess I do, and much that I should be ashamed to
have decreed. And I do not know but God does. At
least he says so, and speaks of much that he has no
mind to at all. He doubtless decrees all he does, as all
agents do, and acts always from the counsels of his own
will, and here comes the kink of the worsted. The
plea of necessity is for a theological reason. It is asked,
lest some of God's decrees should not be executed. We
outrage one science for the sake of dogmas in another.
And is this fair *? We take the life blood of morals
and reduce all personality to a movement in mechanics,
for the sake of an excresence in theology at once un-
gainly, uncomfortable, and gratuitous. Who knows
that a divine decree necessarily conditionates all that is ;
that the pranks of the devil equally with the work
of Jesus are of the counsel of God, and that all otjier
FKEE WILL. • 341
agencies and acts in the universe are absorbed by and
included in a Divine agency, forecast and purpose ?
Cannot God be supreme on other terms than this, and
better put down wrong without decreeing it than with ?
Must sin be according to His " decretive will," in order
to be subdued and overcome by Him ? The purposes
of a being are like Himself They have a personal re-
lation to their author, and characterize him as showing
what he is, and why make monstrous the unity and per-
sonality of God by putting Him on all sides of a moral
question, and bringing sin as well as holiness into the
economy of God ? Here is the enigma and the trouble,
and it is bad theology as well as bad metaphysics. Cast
out sin to its own agencies, and leave God to His, and
to those of all righteousness. It is this assumption of a
universal Divine predestination, sin, and rebellion, and
wrong included, and thus throwing to some extent, the
patronage, the guardianship, and superintendance of the
Most High over them, thus cutting the grooves and
necessitating the direction ; that works the mischief.
We can get loose from this, to the advantage of moral
government, the laws of mind, and the laws of God.
Allow every agent to decree his own acts, aud have
control of his own acts under the responsibilities of his
position, and then indicate what he would have others
do, and influence them in behalf of the doirg of it.
He may fail sometimes, as God does, in bringing sinners
to repentance. But not always. Men may repent when
they can resist. They do. Moral means, though not
irresistible, may avail, and increasingly, as they will,
immeasurably *' in the ages to come." God knows it,
342 FREE WILL.
and He has revealed it to ns. The time will come
when men will repent by scores and thousands, and
come in by cities and countries, almost without resist-
ance, as children do sometimes, and a nation be born in
a day. Men will yield to the Spirit, when they might
resist and grieve Him. They will love God and Jesus
with full and conscious power to the contraiy, and be
all the happier that they choose the right when they
could choose the wrong, and that their obedience is the
spontaneous gushing of their own elective and living
personality, helped of God graciously and within the
sphere of their ability, and not the mere effect of an
outside pressure, in which they could do nothing but
move as they are moved.
I am happy to observe the interest felt in this subject,
by our best thinkers and writers, and hope to see it yet
better understood, before I go hence.
Yours tnily,
M. P. Squier.
Juke 22(1, ls65.
spirit's influences.
V.
DOCTRINE OF THE SPIRIT'S INFLUENCES.
The doctrine of the Holy Spuit is fundamental in the
system of Christian truth ; it is the central pillar of the
edifice of grace, and should be intelligently regarded by
all who serve at the altar, or labor for the coming of
the kingdom of God.
The subject has intrinsic value, and a reference to it
is especially appropriate now, when, though living undei*
the promised dispensation of the Spirit, and near, aS
marked in prophecy, to the expected glories of the lat-
ter day, we mourn, as with one consent, His absence,
and the declensions of Zion. Want of discrimination
in respect to the doctrine of the Spirit, may in part have
contributed to the evil complained of, and be among the
impediments to a brighter day.
The work of the Holy Ghost in redemption is usually
summed up under the heads of inspiration, mu-aculouS
gifts, and the spiritual renovation of the hearts of men.
Dismissing the first two, as aside from the object of this
article, we confine ourselves to the last. The children
of the kingdom " are born of water and of the Spirit"—
"the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the
Holy Ghost" — "we are saved by the washing of regen-
eration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost."
344 spirit's influences.
Our aim, in the ensuing pages, is to trace some of the
characteristics of this work of the Spuit, as seen in the
light of reason and the Bible.
1. — This work is not for the supply of defective fac-
ulties of mind ; it is not in place of any that are dis-
paraged or wanting since the apostacy of man, or to
amend deficiencies in the constitutional elements of his
intelligent nature. He has all the faculties now which
he had before the fall, or will ever have, and all that are
needed and appropriate to his sphere of existence and
responsibilities. He has all the susceptibilities which he
had at the creation, and is inherently capable of all that
lies within the range of his designed being ; of becom-
ing an angel or a devil, and that too in the way of the
intelligent and conscious formation of character, under
the responsibilities of law. We conceive these to be as
truly the attributes of man now, as of any other respon-
sible being. The claims of a perfect law are as appro-
priately applicable to him now, as when in the garden
of Eden, or to the fallen or unfallen spuits of other
worlds. Character in him rises from the use of the
same faculties as in them. His lapse, recovery, and
confirmed holiness, are according to the same laws of
mind. To give up the integrity of man's mental con-
stitution, is to surrender the testimony of consciousness,
and with it, both the sense of amenability to law, and
the fact of its intelligent application to us. It is to
blot out moral philosophy from the list of the sciences,
and reduce man to the condition of idiocy or the brute,
fireiy blow aimed at the elements of the intelligent na-
ture of man, strikes equally at the doctrine of his ac-
spirit's influences. 345
countability, and the position of our race in the moral
universe.
2. — The Spirit's work in conversion is not to render
the mind capable of responding to truth. This capabil-
ity is innate. The mind is constitutionally adapted to
the apprehension of truth, and truth adapted to influ-
ence mind. The element of reason in man, embracing
in the term all that in him v^^hich is the subjective ground
of responsibility, is like reason in an angel, or in God
Himself It is His image in man. It is of God's creat-
ing, and after His own hkeness. To it He reveals Him-
self, as to that in man which can imderstand and appre-
ciate His communications, and apprehend the true rela-
tions and fitness of things. Reason is essentially unique
in the universe of moral beings, and alike in its legiti-
mate intimations, whether situated in the Divine Being,
in angels, or in men. If not, there is no correspondence
m the parts of the divine economy in this respect. If
reason is one thing in God, and another in angels, and
still another in man, what foundation for intellectual in-
tercourse can there be between the parties ? What com-
mon reference to the same rule of right, the one same
bond of relationship *? The reason of man must be the
counterpart of the reason of God, if God puts man in
intellectual coiTespondence with Himself^ — extends over
man His institutes of moral government, and holds him
to the responsibility of acting according to the mind and
will of God. In one moral universe, the elements of
mind, finite or infinite, must be in kind the same, and
hold the relationship of common elements of reason and
moral being, and this is man's intellectual relation to the
346 spirit's influences.
universe of existent beings and truths. It is of the na-
ture of his intelligence to apprehend truth and its rela-
tions, and to approve them. To this attribute of reason
God appeals in all His communications, as the counter-
part of His own intelligence, and which gives off inti-
mations in accordance with His truth and will. He has
but one standard of right and wrong — but one law for
angels and men, and holds all to the responsibility of
understanding it alike, and understanding it aright.
One economy of legislation answers for a universe of
minds. God treats all as though the element of reason
were alike in all, and, according to the fitness of things,
like His own. Such is the verdict of human legisla-
tion. One law and one penalty are equally for the mil-
lions of the state or nation ; a common responsibility at-
taches, where truth is known, and reason not dethroned.
We exact the boon of right intentions from all to whom
our intercourse extends, and plead it for ourselves. We
commit our cause to the arbitration of posterity and the
world, on the one principle of the generic character of
mind ; of the essential accordance of reason with the
nature of things and the reason of God. We anticipate
the same for it in the future world, as we rise up in
knowledge and holiness to the measure of the stature of
perfect ones in Christ. On this legitimacy of reason,
and its likeness to the God of reason and the Bible, do
we fix as the subjective ground of the exhortations of
that book, and ask submission to its dictates. Other-
wise we may as fitly preach truth to the brute as to man ;
as well discourse on the high concerns of judgment and
mercy to "the spirit of a beast that goeth downward to
spirit's influences. 347
tlie earth," as to "the spirit of man that goeth upward ;"
as well urge obligation and destiny on the worm in his
slime, as on him to whom "the inspiration of the Al-
mighty hath given understanding."
We speak here of the element of reason as created
and constituent in man ; of its essential oneness of na-
ture in the universe as the basis of thought — the per-
cipient of moral truth — the source of authority, or the
subject of command, — the responsible author of all men-
tal and moral acts; — that to which God has revealed
Himself, and with which He condcbcends to reason, —
before which He submits the rectitude of His own con-
duct, and from which He challenges results, in accord-
ance with the reason that framed the universe and gov-
erns it ; and it is to this characteristic of mind that we
refer in asserting for it the inherent power of respond-
ing to truth, and which we regard as the basis of all our
moral relations to God and duty, to probation and des-
tiny. Hence,
3.. — ^The work of the Spirit under consideration, is not
to make men responsible for the issue of truth commu-
nicated to them. Responsibility is inherently appropri-
ate to man ; it is the natural result of being constituted
as we are ; it is an element — a law of our moral being.
We consciously form character under the light of truth,
and hold ourselves and each other responsible for right
or wrong action, under consideration addressed to the
mind. Increased light, means, privileges, and helps, en-
hance the measure of responsibility, but they do not lay
the foundation for it, as an element of our being. It
springs legitimately from our own attributes and rela-
348 spirit's influences.
tionship to God as creatui'es. Responsibility to obedi-
ence does not depend on the presence of the Spirit of
God. Of ourselves, and without His functions, we are
fitly held answerable for all the truth that meets our eye,
for all the considerations to right action which cross our
path. Truth is obligatory without the Spirit. Men are
bound to obey the Gospel, even if the Spirit be with-
held from them ; they would have been, if the doctrine
of the Spirit had never been revealed, or if this element
of mercy had never entered into the economy of the Di-
vine dispensations to man. Consciousness gives off this
intimation of responsibleness in respect to all om- states
and acts of mind which are related to law. The vilest
of men reveal it in the excuses they invent for their
wickedness. If it be not inherently resultant of our
moral and intelligent nature, the impenitent man is free
from the obligation to obedience, and the "finally lost"
will find apology for the sad issue of the means of grace
in respect to them. And hence,
4. — The work of the Spii'it in conversion is not to
create a conscience. This faculty also is a constitution-
al element of our being, allied to, and conjunct with
reason, and its existence, as such, is evinced in consid-
erations already adduced. We no more, evidently, have
intellect to investigate and understand the relations of
truth, than we have an inherent provision in our being,
or a moral sense, to feel amenability to law, obligation
to right action, and compunction for wrong. All that
can or need be said about the matter is, that God has
so made us, and that it is manifestly appropriate to the
design of our being, that we should be so constituted.
spirit's influences. 349
A conscience is inseparable from us every where, and
through every stage of our being. Early childhood
evinces it; its scorpion sting extorts confessions from
men steeped in crime ; and its province in a future world
we discover in the anguish of the worm that never dies.
Conscience may be stifled, for a time, but cannot be
destroyed. It may be misinformed. The light that is
in the understanding may be defective, and the con-
science be poorly conditioned to discharge its appropri-
ate functions; but it is an honest faculty. It accords
with the reason in man, and the reason and will of God.
So far as it has light and opportunity, its intimations
are in behalf of law and duty. Its struggle is for the
supremacy of right in the soul. It is the antagonist of
sinful passion and propensity. With reason and truth
and the Spirit of God, it forms the antagonist force to
all that is wrong in man. It is God's vicegerent in us,
for our recovery and restoration to His image and favor.
Conscience is of right the dominant principle in the
soul, and where it is not, in fact, there is conscious
wi'ong. Its legitimate privilege is to reign. De jure,
it is king among the principles of action, and where it,
is not de facto^ there is anarchy and all misrule. It may
be overborne by lawless passion, worldliness, or premed-
itated sin, or vicious habit or propensity, but it will
never abdicate the throne.
The contest it will never yield; and if not successful,
with the agencies which redemption brings to its aid, to
reclaim the sinner during his probationary season, then
may he anticipate its bitter reproaches to mingle in the
350 spirit's influences.
ingredients of his cup, when the privilege of repent-
ance is passed.
The reference to conscience as thus an attribute in
man, is every where ready and unembarrassed in the
Scriptures. To those who brought to the Saviour a wo-
man accused of adultery, he says, " He that is without
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And
they which heard it, being convicted by their own con-
science, went out, one by one."
The story of the voluptuous Herod is full of meaning
on this point. He had foolishly followed in the path-
way of his passions and vices. He had beheaded John
Baptist to please a guilty woman. But right reason re-
volted; his conscience condemned him; he could not
wholly brave the light and reflection that would harrow
up his soul, and fill his imagination with sights of ter-
ror — and he finds a John Baptist in every preacher of
righteousness he meets.
The woman of Israel said to Elijah, " O, thou man of
God, art thou come to call my sin to remembrance, and
to slay my son V And the brethren of Joseph, brought
into trouble before the governor of Egypt, " said one to
another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother, in
that we saw the anguish of his soul and we would not
hear ; therefore is this distress come upon us."
5. — The work of the Spirit, in the renewal and sanc-
tification of the hearts of men, is every way in accord-
ance with the laws of mind. Its aim is the legitimate
action of mind, according to its constituent laws; its
commerce is with reason and truth ; its object, the right-
ful supremacy of conscience ; its direct result in us, our
spirit's influences. 351
conscious and responsible action in accordance with the
highest reason.
Our prominent metaphysicians have been long in
arriving at the very obvious conclusion, that the fruit
of the Spirit is just that which is required of man — that
his agency is at the point of securing right action in us
— his work that of influencing to it. This is at length
conceded, and heralded as a new idea in the science of
mind,* while the wonder should rather be, that this con-
ception is of so recent date. But attention has been so
occupied about tastes and substratums, the imagination
so spell-bound by the time-honored phrases of an anti-
nomian theology, that we have been wont to exhaust
the Spirit's work in the business of clearing away the
obstructions to right action, which have accumulated in
the mind's history, and which rest upon it, previous to
conversion.
The grand misconception has been, that propensity is
the law of choice — that one must act according to his
disposition ; or, in popular language, that passion must
rule ; and that, to secure right action in the soul, you
must first destroy all the incentives to wrong action
there. Prevalent doctrine on the subject seems to be,
that reason and conscience and truth, conducted by the
Spirit, are of no weight as an antagonist force to pro-
pensity — that an old and bad propensity or habit or
passion, is not dislodged by the expulsive power of a
new and good affection wrought by the Spirit, in the
commerce of truth with the constituent elements of our
moral nature, and thus changes effected in the mind on
* See Bib. Repos. Dr. Woods, 1846 and 6.
352 spirit's influences.
the subject of religion, as they are in respect to other
subjects. No ; but sinful propensity (says the theory in
question) must first be cured — the effects of all the
wrong action of the will be done away, and a new sus-
ceptibility be lodged in the soul, as a prerequisite to the
influence of objective truth, and the capability of right
action in the will, and from which right action there
shall flow as a matter of course — and this too by a pro-
cess untold and inscrutable, and in respect to which
man has neither agency nor consciousness. Here we
demur, and record our conviction that no change of voli-
tion, conduct and character, was ever so wrought.
Adam or the angels could not have turned from holiness
to sin, by such a process, nor do we from sin to holiness.
Defection from entire holiness cannot be thus account-
ed for. The scheme involves the twofold anomaly of a
sinful propensity before there is sin, and of making
God the author of that propensity. And yet there is a
further difficulty in thus accounting for a change of
volition and character. The theory is utterly suicidal.
If propensity is the only parent of emotion or volition,
it surely will beget its like, and change is impossible.
A being created holy must be always holy, and one
become sinful always sinful. Angels could never have
sinned, or Adam apostatized, nor can man repent. If
propensity is the unyielding law of choice, then charac-
ter is stereotyped for eternity in the universe. What
shall change it? Objective truth cannot, by this theory,
or any motive-influence from without, and propensity
will not: its force is in the direction of the past, and
forever homogeneous in character. What, on this law
SPIRIT S INFLUENCES.
358^
of change, could have influenced angels to sin? All
their history, habits and propensities, for an accumula-
tion of ages, we know not how long, were on the side
of holiness. How could they sin except against propen-
sity, and through motive-influences otherwise derived ?
God surely did not deprive them of the benefit of that
long experience, and arbitrarily annihilate their holy
propensities, and prove so false to himself as to create
within them, by some act of inscrutable sovereignty, a
sinful propensity, which should lay in them the founda-
tion of wi'ong action, and change their destiny to des-
pair. Nor could our first parents have apostatized from
the motive-influence of propensity. They had always
beep holy. Their history, habits, and inclinations, were
on the side of a happy obedience ; and propensities are
not suicidal, if theories are sometimes. How came that
change ? One thing is certain, the theory we here con-
trovert] does not account for it ; and more, the fact
of such a change, in such circumstances, controverts the
theory, and scatters it to the winds.
Changes of mind and character, in the matter of our
relations to God, doubtless occur, as they do on other
subjects, so far as the order of process and the philosophic
of the change are concerned; viz., by the presence of
considerations and influences adapted to produce them.
A change of mental action otherwise wrought, would be
destitute of intelligence, of intellectual virtue, or moral
responsibility.
We are aware that the advocates ot the theoiy here^
coa-SL lered, are accustomed to view the fall of Adam
and the angels as utter mysteries, to which no resort
23
3.54 spirit's influences.
can be had, and no analogies traced, in investigating
the laws of mind, and the facts of human history ; and
that they may be shocked at any reference to those
apostasies, in treating of the ordinary laws of human
conduct, as though such reference were quite profane.
We confess that we have little sympathy with such a dis-
claimer. Is it so, that a fact "which brought death
into the world, and all our wo," through which the race
has lapsed, and needs recovery, is utterly inscrutable ?
Do either the Bible or enlightened pliilosophy utter this
caveat, or is it rather the resort of defective theories,
and untenable positions in the science of mind ?
The considerations inducing a change of volition and
character in the first woman are on record ; and .we
venture to affirm, that no change in the voluntary state
of the will has since, or ever ivill occur, except on
analogous principles.
The incipient eiTor in the view we controvert, con-
sists in identifying ^r()pe7?^% with i\\Q predominant motive
in choice ; than which a more subtle petitio principii, or
disastrous confounding of things in themselves distinct,
does not often occur in investigating the principles of
mental science. If previously formed propensity is
identical with what Edwards meant by "the greatest
apparent good," and must be, of course, the dominant
element of the existent volition or choice, then indeed
is there an end of the question, if not of choosing also.
But such an issue mistakes the relative place of propen-
sity, disposition, inclination, or desire, as originated
phenomena of the mind. They are rather its resultant
than its inceptive states, They are rather the accretions
spirit's influences. 355
of its history in the direction of them, than the founda-
tion of that history; though, when formed, they tend
to propagate and confirm that history. They follow
the law of habit, and are broken up in the same way.
We do not desire that, concerning which we are no
way informed. The appetite of the drunkard comes by
the use of strong drink ; a murderous disposition is the
result of a training to sights of blood and slaughter —
and a special j^ropensity of any kind is usually traceable
to an early history in the direction of it.
Propensities and biases once originated, doubtless
have influence on the successive voluntary states of the
mind. But it is a motive-influence in respect to those
states — nor is it the only, nor is it, of necessity, the
strongest motive-influence on the will Jfor the existent
volition. We are not thus constrained to a continuity
of voluntary states of mind, in accordance with pre-
viously indulged propensity. The primary idea in the
doctrine of choice, involves a contrariety of motives
before the will, or the liability thereto. The will may
follow those motives which are antagonistical to habit,
or long-cherished desire or propensity, innate or ac-
quired. Objective motives, coming in through the con-
stituted channels of the mind, act immediately on the
will, and in the direction of their nature. Whatever
influence they have, is sui generis : it may be the strong-
est, and the will is inherently susceptible of being
moved, and acting either way. In respect to man now,
propensity, innate or otherwise, constitutes not the only
gi'ound of choice or motive thereto, nor is the will
necessarily enslaved to lawless passion. Objective truth
356 spirit's influences.
may present its claims ; reason may come in with state-
ments, arguments and grounds of action, counter to the
pleadings of propensity and desire ; truth may fasten
on the conscience, and the Spirit of God strike convic-
tion into the soul, and thus form a motive to right ac-
tion which shall outweigh the suggestions of appetite
and passion, and gain the will against them.
Change is an attribute of finite beings. They are
capable of, and liable to change from good to bad, or
bad to god. This is implied in the doctrine of proba-
tion, and in all the instructions and motives we use for
influencing childhood or riper years. Changes occur in
the minds and courses of men in relation to the matters
of this life, — in questions of prudence, politics, and
morals, but always in view of considerations inducing
them. Thus is it in religion : a man is brought to re-
pentance, through considerations adapted to produce
repentance. The commerce of the Holy Spirit is with
the reason, and conscience, and intelligence of the soul.
It has no direct communings with sin or sinful propen-
sity, but comes in, with the armory of heaven, to help
the will against their suggestions and motive-influence ;
as a benevolent agent in aid of reason, and conscience,
and the truth, and the constituent elements of the soul,
against sinful propensity and habit, original or acquired,
and all the incentives to wrong action from the hered-
itary degeneracy of the race. It comes to give ascen-
dency to truth, reason and right in the will, and induce
its action in accordance therewith ; and this, too, though
it be on the field of strife, and in the presence of induce-
ments to wrong action, and of the strong biases of
spirit's influences. 357
* hitherto indulged sin : and thus by the introduction of a
new, and paramount, and growing life, in accordance
with the requirement of God, casting out the old man,
which is corrupt, with his lusts, and gradually and pro-
gressively gaining an habitual ascendency over all that
has been wrong in previous histoiy, habit, and propen-
sity ; and eventually gaining the whole man for God.
The intimations of consciousness, and the experience of
Christians, are challenged for the verification of this
statement ; thus showing that the work of the Spirit is
in accordance with the laws of mind ; that neither the
doctrine of responsibility, nor any law of mental action,
nor change of action as seen elsewhere, is outraged or
belied in the change which religion contemplates, but
that its nature and results are analogous to the recorded
and known history of mind on any other subjects.
The agency of the Spirit on the depravities of the
heart is indirect and consequential. By going with the
truth of God to the constituent elements and suscep-
tibilities of the mind, and gaining for God the predom-
inant motive in the will, and the consequent right action
of the will in repentance, or faith, or love, or whatever
may be the form of the incipient right affection, volition
and action, it breaks the empire of sin ; it begins the
demolition of Satan's throne in the heart. By the
Spirit's efficient agency, the will acts right in respect to
God and religion, though it never did before. A new
and right affection, through divine agency, is born of
. the constituent powers of the mind and will ; a new
and counter life to the past begins, which, by the prom-
ise of God, the law of habit, and the continued agency
358 spirit's influences.
of the Spirit, is sustained and prosecuted with increas-.
ing power and triumph against sinful propensity and
lusts, until at length their lingering influence and effects
are all uprooted from the soul, and the intended even-
tual issue of the Spirit is gained in the full and perfect
man in Christ Jesus. As soon as the first right exercise
of will occurs, it may be affirmed of the man that he is
converted, regenerated, born again, and stands to God
in the relation of a child ; and as soon as the last re-
mains of sinful appetite and propensity are effectually
and finally overcome and effixced, and all wrong action
ceases in the full and uninterrupted energies of the new
life in Christ, thus begotten and thus sustained, may it
be said that he is wholly sanctified.
6. — The work of the Spirit in the premises, is of the
nature of an influence. Its efficiency is at the point of
influencing the will, and inducing that voluntary action
in man, which is of the nature of obedience to God,
and thus making effectual, upon our intelligent and
moral nature, the reasons why we should repent, believe
the Gospel, and obey and please God. The Spirit does
not repent, believe, or love in our stead. It does not
detract from, but sustains every way our personal obliga-
tion, and the character consequent on moral action^
Repentance, faith, and love, are truly the personal and
conscious emotions of the sinner returning to God ; yet
as they never would occur without the Spirit of God,
and as they do occur under his effectual, successful
agency or influence, they are properly styled the fruit
of the Spirit, and the sinner is said to be " born of the
Spirit," and " the love of God to be shed abroad in his
spirit's influences. ' 359
heart," or he is brought to love God, and to possess the
graces of the Christian, by the Holy Ghost. "While i\\l
the emotion and voluntary conduct of a moral agent,
all that in him which is of the nature of obedience or
disobedience, is personally and responsibly his, he
may be influenced to it from without. Influences from
without, from good or bad agents visible or invisible,
and all contributing in harmony or mingling in conflict
to form the predominant subjective motive, or ground
of choice, do not destroy the personality or responsibil-
ity of that movement of the will. As the mind deter-
mines itself freely under motive-influence, so is it respon-
sible for its moral and voluntary states, from whatever
quarter, and in whatever amount, motive-influence
comes. We are daily conversant with this principle.
We hold a man responsible for murder, though, in the
phraseology of the law, he commits it " under the insti-
gation of the devil." We take pains to influence our
fellow-men, and yet hold them responsible for their
moral action and conduct under the influences thus de-
rived. Thus, that a man is efiectually influenced to
right action by the gi*acious economy of the Spirit, sent
down to his help, contravenes no law of mind, nor sub-
tracts from his personal responsibility in respect to all in
him that is of the nature of obedience or disobedience
to the requirements of God.
7. — This work of the Spirit is in accordance with the
truth as revealed in the Scriptures. His agency is co-
ordinate with the truth of God. His aim and influence
is to make truth effectual on the voluntary principle in
men, and to bring them responsibly and cheerfully into
. 860 N SPIRIT*S INFLUENCES.
obedience to the requirements of God. We are " be-
jgotten through the gospel." " The word of God" is
" the sword of the Spirit," and '' effectually worketh in
them that believe.^'
8. — The influences of the Spirit in the premises are
(Analogous to influences otherwise derived for the action
of mind ; they are moral in their natm-e, and adapted to
act on the moral susceptibilities of our being. They
are designed to move the will in accordance with truth ;
they embody considerations to this end. The instruc-
tions of nature, of provideiace, and of revealed truth,
are brought under contribution by the Spirit for this
issue. The shining orbs of night, the death of a friend,
or the faithful appeals of the pulpit in some favored
moment, may be tlie honored instrument he uses to
convict of sin, and challenge the soul for God. The
process, we may believe, is one inherently adapted to
move mind, and in accordance with its nature and
susceptibilities as related to objects and influences from
without, and which, for want of better phraseology, we
term moral influence, and not physical or miraculous —
an influence indicated and characterized by the nature
of the work done, and the means of doing it, rather
ithan otherwise.
An emphatic passage, and one throwing much light
upon the point of the discussion at which we have
arrived, occurs in John 16 : 8 — " And when he (the
-Spirit) is come, he shall reprove the world of sin, of right-
eousness, and of judgment /" and for it we must ask some
special attention.
An accurate commentator of our own country (Barnes
spirit's influences. 361
in loco) here uses the following language : " The word
translated * reprove/ means commonly to demonstrate
by argument, to prove, to persuade any one to do a
thing by presenting reasons. It hence means also to
convince of any thing, and particularly to convince of
crime. This is its meaning here. He will convince or
convict the world of sin, &c. That is, he will so apply
the truths of God to men's own minds, as to convince
them by fair and sufficient arguments that they are sin-
ners. This is the nature of conviction always."
So the upright and candid Scott, upon the passage,
and the general subject of the nature of the Spirit's
work which it presents: "When He shall come. He
shall reprove, or rather convince the world of, or con-
cerning sin, &c. The preposition here, properly signi-
fies concerning, and this rendering seems to throw much
light upon the sudject. The principal meaning of the
word seems to refer," he adds, " to the general internal
operation of the Holy Spirit on the minds and hearts of
men, when He leads them to believe in Jesus Christ for
salvation. He deeply convinces them of many things
concerning the evil desert of sin, and the sinfulness of
numberless thoughts, words and actions, and omissions,
which before they had scarcely thought of; especially he
detects the sinfulness of their own conduct — their sup-
posed virtues and their hearts — by discovering the gloiy
of God to their souls, showing them their obligations^
and relations to Him, turning their reflections to the
spuituality of the law — to the hateful nature of trans-
gression—to their own past lives — to their present be-
havior, and to their inward thoughts, desires and mo-
362 ' spirit's influences.
tives; and thus the veil of ignorance, pride and par-
tiality being removed, they are brought without reserve
to condemn themselves, and to plead guilty before God."
In similar language he proceeds for more than a column
of his sensible commentary ; and we have extended the
quotation thus far that it may fully appear how this
subject lay in the mind of a writer so eminently pious
and practical as was Scott. But every Christian pastor
who, in revivals of religion, or at other times, has at-
tended the sinner over that transition period from na-
ture to grace, can, if he has discriminated at all upon
the subject, bear the same testimony. Conviction, un-
der the influence of the Spirit, has at eveiy step been
intelhgent, and in view of truth, and usually deep and
marked, in proportion to the cleai*ness and distinctness
of the dispensation of truth under which the subject
has lived, until it issues in repentance and reconcilia-
tion to God. At first, perhaps, the fear of wrath has
awakened the concern of the sinner, and the preroga-
tives of God troubled his soul. But further thought
and progress convince him that God is right and His
claims just, and that his own course must be condemned
even at the bar of his own conscience. Sin grows more
sinful in his view, and the record of his delinquencies
more and more fearful. God, the law, reason, truth,
conscience, all bring in the verdict of condemnation up-
on him; self-righteous hopes disappear, and he stands
self-condemned and helpless on grounds of law ; guilt
presses on his spirit ; and weighed down by a sense of
sin and ill-desert, and of his utterly hopeless condition
while out of Christ, he sinks for mercy at the foot of
spirit's influences. 363
the cross. As a rational agent, he acknowledges his
sin, and casts himself on the provision of grace in the
Gospel. He repents, and from reasons inherently adapt-
ed to induce repentance : he believes, in view of truths
appropriate to that affection: he loves God, from the
apprehension of His loveliness : he submits to God, from
considerations suited to induce submission. A com'se
of right action commences in the will in view of the
truths which urge it, and in the legitimate exercises of
the proper functions of his being as a responsible crea-
ture of God.
Thus have the phenomena of conversion often pre-
sented themselves, and thus must they have fallen under
the notice of the experienced pastor.
The process under the conduct of the Spirit is every
way intelligent and rational ; — open as daylight, as the
Bible designed it should be, on a subject the most prac-
tical and important, and the most seriously submitted to
our individual responsibility and experience, of any with
which the human mind is conversant ; — and one which
should not be encumbered with the phraseology of the
dark ages, to make it utterly enigmatic and unintelligi-
ble. The change is effected as the mind is changed
upon any other subject or concern, as to any question in
mental philosophy appertaining to it. It is through the
prevalence of considerations suited to it — by gaining
the predominance of motive thereto, through reason and
conscience, and the use of truth ; thus gaining over the
will, and thus securing the voluntaiy action of the man,
in the right direction. It is by leading the sinner to do
just what he ought to do of himself, and just what he
364 spirit's influences.
has constituent powers of mind to do ; just what his in-
telligence and the truth call upon him to do, and just
what he never would do, after all, but for the agency of
the Spirit sen£ down in his behalf. The greatness of
the change, in its fact or results, does not take it out of
the same category of other changes of mind or will.
The benevolent economy of the Spirit therein does not
remove it ; we cannot conceive of an intelligent and re-
sponsible change otherwise wrought. The Bible and
common sense place it here. Every exhortation from the
pulpit and the press, and all experience together, say it
is here, and expect the reign of sinful habit and propen-
sity to l)e broken up, and theu- influence and eflects to
be progressively worn from the soul, by the expulsive
power of a new affection, and the growing energies of
a new and divine life thus commenced and sustained by
the Spirit of God.
We add the following remarks.
1. — The work of the Spirit, in the department under
consideration, is, in its nature, resistible by the human mind.
All moral influences are. This is implied in the veiy na-
ture of choice. The privilege of selecting between two
objects, involves the power of selecting either. Not
that two and variant volitions can occur at once ; but
that when two objects or courses of action lie before the
mind, it can select either. This is the invariable show-
ing of consciousness. It is involved in our honest con-
victions concerning responsible action, and no sophistry
in the world can dislodge the impression. The guilty
man feels that he need not have committed that deed of
death, which is to send him to the gallows, but that he
spirit's influences. 365
had, at the time of willing it, the pow6r of contrary
choice ; and every attempt you make to convince him
that he had not, only hardens his heart, or tm*ns the
reprobations of his outraged conscience back in indig-
nant scorn upon you, as the apologist of his crimes and
the tempter to his remorse.
Power of will correlates not with motive-influence,
but lies in the intelligence back of it. Motive does not
create our moral powers, though the condition of their
exercise. They are the same in the presence or absence
of motives to. influence them. We may not logically
infer that a man's acts of will, in " the appropriate cir-
cumstances of his being," could not have been other-
wise than they have been; — that because he has not
acted diflTerently, under the motives which have attend-
ed him, therefore he could not. Modify such a position
as you will, and it contains the essence of fatalism. It
is saying, that any sinner who has not repented, could
not; — that Christians cannot fall from grace, because
they do not ; — that men cannot be perfect, because they
are not; — that Adam or the sinning angels could not
have maintained their integrity, because they did not;
nor could the history of any being in the universe be
otherwise than it has been. It annihilates the discrep-
ancy between the is and the can he of human conduct.
But common sense brings in a different verdict on the
subject. It holds a man competent to do right, what-
ever may be his temptations tc^do wrong. Though mo-
tives run mountain-high to commit murder, it asserts his
power to withhold his hand ; and every man feels the
irrepressible conviction, that, in a thousand instances,
366 spirit's influences.
situated just as he was, he could have done differently
from what he did. This is an integral element in the
feeling of regret and remorse ; efface it, and you extract
the anguish of the worm that never dies. No respon-
sible being was ever placed where he could not do right.
The power of both right or wrong action is inherently,
and under all circumstances, an attribute of all amen-
able to law. Any man can repent of his wi'ong, and
do what reasoii, conscience and truth require. He can,
whether he will or no. Deprive him of his power, and
he is no longer a moral agent. The discipline of child-
hood is on this principle ; — the laws of society and the
laws of God. The existence of such a power is pre-
supposed in every effort to induce its exercise, on the
part of our earthly or immortal relations. It is the in-
telligent basis of the Spmt's influences, and of all pre-
sentation* of motives for obedience to law, or conformity
with God. The conventional distinction asserted, be-
tween natural and moral power, has been of little avail
with the practical convictions of men. The biblical
phraseology from which this distinction may have de-
rived its origin, does not sustain it, as a generic classifi-
cation of science, in your occidental languages. The Sav-
iour, in undoubted reference to the subject in hand, said,
"Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life."
Convince any unlettered man that he has not power to
repent of sin and do right, and you do but undermine his
sense of obligation to repent and do right. Consistency
teaches him that he may as well repent, as take accepta-
bly any incipient steps thereto, and that all exhortation
is misplaced, if he may not do just what God requires.
spirit's influences. 367
On the principle above elucidated we assert, that
power of will does not correlate with moral influence,
and of course not with the work of the Spirit in con-
version. A man is converted not because he cannot re-
sist the Spirit, but because he voluntarily yields to his
influences. A Christian makes progress in sanctifi ca-
tion, not because he cannot "grieve the Spirit," and has
not temptations thereto ; but because he freely follows
the leadings of the Spirit. Some are referred to in the
Bible, as those who " do always resist the Holy Ghost :"
believers are exhorted not to gTieve the Holy Spirit, and
all warned of the sin against the Holy Ghost concern-
ing which there is no forgiveness.
The classification of the Spirit's work in the theology
of men, into common and special influences, has arisen
out of the eflTects produced of success with the sinner in
the one case, and the failure of it in the other.
This supposed distinction assumes that all cases are
of equal obduracy, or that the Spirit's influence cannot
be increased in amount without being difierent in kind ;
but of neither alternative is there proof. Facts, under
the ministration of the gospel, look the other way ; and
the Saviour says, " Woe unto thee, Chorazin I woe unto
thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were
done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they
would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and
ashes." So also, in the philosophic language of Luke,
"The seed is the word; those by the way-side are they
that hear ; then cometh the devil and taketh away the
word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and
be saved."
368 spirit's influences.
The purposes of God, touching the formation of mor-
al character and its issues, are accomplished, not by
irresistible and irresponsible influences, but in the com-
pass of a probationary providence, which secures des-
tined results consistently with the laws of mind, and its
voluntary and responsible action.
2. — The doctrine of the Spirit does not disparage the
use of appropriate means, for giving success to objective
truth on the minds of men, but stands in intelligent
connection and correspondence with them.
All the laws of influencing the will, are in as full play,
on the subject of religion, as on any other whatever.
The superadded and benevolent economy of the Spirit
does not confound and embarrass them, but is a helper
to all, co-ordinate and direct. A sound mind and a
good heart in the preacher — wide research and accurate
theology — fair logic and cogent reasoning, making full
use of the truth — acceptable words and happy illustra-
tions — good rhetoric, and a wise regard to time, place,
and circumstances — defined aims, and a judicious and
'skilful use of the appropriate means of conviction —
striving after just that in the hearer which God requires,
depending on the co-operating agency of the Spirit, in
direct and immediate connection with the truth uttered,
and the eflTort made.
Lack of expectation unnerves the efibrts of the
preacher ; an impression of the fortuitous presence of
the Spirit neutralizes his engagedness. He is tempted
to regard the dispensation of the truth in the light of a
merely positive institution, and as having no inherent
and intelligent connection with the results it contem-
spirit's influences. 369
plates, and to administer the word at the required sea-
son, hoping that, as God has said it, he will at some
period, and in some inappreciable way, dispose of the
old propensity in the hearer, and '•'• implanf a new one,
and thus give him " an ability'' to be influenced by the
considerations presented. This antinomian dependence
on the Spirit extracts all vitality from the pulpit, and all
sense of du-ect responsibility to truth from the hearer,
and reduces the administration of the word to an-
ordinance which is but one remove from the "genu-
flexions" and "baptismal regenerations" of the utter
formalist in religion. Truth, in such relations, is shorn
of the intrinsic value conceded to it on other subjects ;
the laws of conviction are outraged, and results antici-
pated in no intelligent connection with means used or
light received.
3. — The pulpit should hold intimate conmunion with
the reason and conscience. They are God's image in
man. They are of right the reigning principles of the
soul, and the great efibrt should be to make them so in
fact. They accord with objective truth in religion, and
are its medium of access to the will. They endorse the
requisitions of law, and are the handmaids of the Spirit
in our submission to God. It is through their commerce
with tnith that he gains over the voluntary principle in
us, against the pleadings of propensity and all the
strong impulses of our previous history, and brings us
under law to Christ. Conviction of sin is a direct and
befitting feeling, in accordance with the light in the
understanding. Penitence, faith, love, and all right
affections, occur through the truth brought to the intel-
24
370 spirit's influences.
4
ligence of the soul. That preaching will do little good
which does not commend itself to the conscience of the
hearer. It may be sentimental and imaginative ; it may
cater to the passions of men ; it may strive to quadrate
its arguments ^vith the element of selfishness in them,
but it will be like David in the armor of Saul, it will
not stir the giant principles of the soul which correlate
with truth, obligation, and obedience, or be much
honored of the Spirit in the conversion of men to
Christ. Leviathan is not so tamed. The perfections
of God, His righteousness, the unyielding features of
His moral government, and the cross of Christ as sus-
taining the claims of law and justice, while it provides
a method of recovery, must be taken to the reason and
conscience of the sinner, and reliance, under God, be
placed here, for gaining the ascendency in the will, and
inducing the obedience which the gospel requires. As
sin consists in the wrong action of this faculty, so does
virtue in its right action as guided by reason and tnith 5
and the position of Dr. Taylor is sustained by conscious-
ness, when in the controversy with Dr. Spring he says,
in substance, that regeneration takes place in the honest
and right use of the faculties of the mind, and that the
conversion and return of the sinner to God is character-
ized by the exercise of the legitimate principles of His
being, although the statement is encumbered with cer-
tain views on the subject of self-love not needfully con-
nected with it.
4. — ^The conversion of sinners should be no matter
of marvel. This event should not be placed among the
miraculous and unaccountable dispensations of God, or
spikit's influences. 371
movements of the human mind. The view often given
of this matter is too recondite and enigmatical for com-
mon apprehension. It is too much wrapt up in the
abstinise web of a technical theology, to be understood
or appreciated in the ordinaiy walks of life. For fear
of Scylla we strike on Chaiybdis. We would not be
thought to hold fellowship with Arminius, and we sink
in the lethean waters of antinomianism.
The subject is, however, a practical one. God com-
mends it to the understanding, responsibility, and ex-
perience of men. Why should the return of the sinner
to God be deemed a strange phenomenon, admitting of
no intelligent solution from the usual laws of the human
mind ? Change of conduct and character we know to
be incidental to finite beings. Entirely holy beings
have become sinful, and why should it be thought un-
accountable that entirely sinful beings should become
holy ? The Saviour evidently viewed the new birth as
a first truth in religion — one of those earthly things so
obviously intuitive as to be even to the Jew no matter
of marvel. True, the influences of the Spirit involved
therein are impalpable, but are easily traced, like the
wind of the desert, by the effects produced. The re-
pentance of a sinner is, indeed, the highest reason. It
is a responsible creature breaking off from his sins —
ceasing to do wrong, and beginning to do right, from
appropriate considerations, made effectual thereto by
the super-added and benevolent dispensation of the
•Spirit. The occurrence of the first right affection is no
more unintelligible than that of the fifth or seventh.
The recovery of the sinner is no more marvellous than
872 spirit's influences.
that of the backslider. The occurrence of a new affec-
tion is through the operation of the same laws of mind,
as the recurrence of an old and suspended one. The
difference is rather one of degrees. The total eclipse
of the sun is of the same nature as his partial eclipse,
and from the same cause ; the illumination of a sphere,
like that of any part of it ; the commencing twilight of
the morning, like the full-orbed day. So the beginning
of holiness, in the experience of a man, is of the same
economy with his progressive sanctification and eventual
perfectness in Christ.
5 — On the principles of this article impenitent men
are intelligently held obligated to do just that which God
requires. To preach defect of power and susceptibility,
does but deaden a sense of obligation to right action. —
The mind has in some way to recover itself from the
opiate administered, before it regains its wonted feeling
of accountableness to the statements of objective truth.
Exhortations from the quarter here referred to, usually
have little respect from the impenitent portion of a con-
gregation. They are regarded as rather the pastime of
the hour, or the professional exorcisms of the pulpit,
than as really intended for what the words import; and
make but little impression, from their incompatibility
with the known sentiments of him who utters them on
kindred subjects.
The helplessness of man comes rather from the direc-
tion of his relations to law and government, than of his
defective powers. "It was when we were without
strength that in due time Christ died for the ungodly:*
The remedy of the gospel is here put in contrast with
spirit's influences. 373
the claims of law. It was man, as the victim of violated
law — powerless in the grasp, and under the curse of
avenging justice — that Christ came to redeem, and not
as one bereft of the attributes of a responsible being.
The pulpit should not shrink from covering the full
ground of the sinner's responsibility. It must not
advise the sinner to that which falls short of an essential '
and radical change of character and relationship to God,
on the principle that he must do as well as he can under
the old disposition and propensity, until new susceptibil-
ities are given him, from which he can act right. It
must not instruct him to read his Bible, and go to
church, and pray for a new heart, on the ground that
he cannot now repent, and in penitence obey God, and
thus without more delay have a new heart. He must
not be counselled to go on in the use of appointed
means, " waiting for converting grace ;" this would but
quiet his conscience, and throw the responsibility of the
issue elsewhere than on himself. No, let him cease to
resist the Spirit, and obey truth and his conscience, and
he will be saved the trouble of " waiting for converting
grace" — a phrase which misplaces all the relations of the
subject. Never may it be said that the sinner waits for
God in the issue here contemplated. His remaining a
moment longer impenitent is his sin ; it is in resistance
of reason, of the dictates of his own intelligence, of the
authority of heaven, and of that very provision of gi'ace
which is appointed to reclaim him from his sins. To
advise him to any thing short of repentance, or to what
does not involve it, on the ground that he cannot and
ought not at once to comply with the essential require-
374 spirit's influences.
ments of God to repent and believe the gospel, is only
to take his part in his sins — to change rebuke to pity,
and lose sight of the features of his sinfulness, in a
morbid apprehension ot the physical disabilities and
calamity of his position.
The man who can pray can repent. He that can ac-
ceptably ask God to change his heart, can have any
other right affection, and yield to that " Spmt of grace"
who has long, it may be, been striving to bring him to
repentance, saying, " This is the way, walk ye therein."
Let requisition, then, cover the full ground of the sin-
ner's responsibilities. Let him be advised to rest in no
half-way house to the city of refuge; but at once, in
the use of appointed means, to be a penitent man, and
possess the feelings and be of the temper which^God re-
quires, and to which truth and conscience prompt. Of
this is he constituently capable ; in nothing short of this
will conscience be satisfied, and in the very attitude of
compassing this, as required, does he comply with the
movings of the Spirit — cease to resist his influence, and
yield to the helps from above in his behalf All the an-
alogies of truth and claims of God are pointing him to
this spot, and why should not the agencies of his moral
being be concentrated upon it? To bring him to it, and
for the issue decided here, the Spirit is striving with him ;
and why should he be turned aside by counsels which
meet not the exigency of his case, and which may be
complied with, and he yet remain in sin, and without
forgiveness? Why should he be instructed to rest for
a moment in any thing short of those affections of pen-
itence, submission, confidence and love, which are the
spirit's influences. 375
fruit of the Spirit, before which there is nothing right
in the state of the affections, and in which are contained
the first essential elements of return to God — the very-
inception of a state of mind and character which meets
the terms of forgiveness and reconciliation? As the
Spirit's influences bear upon this point, as no change of
character occurs, and nothing effectual is done until this
is gained, why not hold the attention of the sinner here,
and count him as an alien and an enemy, resisting the
Spirit and persisting in his wrong, and accumulating
guilt until he yields here, and in penitence, and like a
child, submits? Instruction short of this mistakes the
real issue in his case, tends to embarrass his approach
to the mercy-seat, and baffle the work of the Spirit in
his behalf.
6. — This discussion helps to develope the philosophy
of revivals of religion. The disciples were daily, with
one accord, in the temple, and in breaking of bread from
house to house at the Pentecost. Revivals take ad-
vantage of the social principle in man. They are usual-
ly promoted by the consecutive and continuous preach-
ing of the word ; by efforts to absorb the public atten-
tion of a congregation, an J getting the public con-
science of a community in habitual contact with the
doctrines and claims of divine truth. The Spirit's work
is according to the laws of mind, and the success of the
word, on the generic principle of success in respect to
any other public and general object. Christians must
unite in it with a suitable spirit of dependence, prayer-
fulness and activity. False gods must be put away out
of Zion, and tmth must have free access to the minds
376 SPIRIT*S INFLUENCES.
«
of men, and, they be brought to habitual and unembar-
rassed consideration of the high behests of religion.
7. — The failure of revivals is not to be attributed to
the sovereign withholding of the influences of the Spirit
of God. The reasons of " Zion's captivity" are on earth,
and not in heaven. The hinderances pre here, or from
Satanic instigation ; they lie in the church, in the min-
istry, in the diversion of the public mind, or some de-
fective use of the means appointed of God for salvation,
or more success would attend the word, and more hearts
submit. Some special obstacle is in the way often, some
secret Achan in the camp, or some open and sanctioned
iniquity, which obstructs the word and causes it to be-
come unprofitable. On the part of Heaven, all is ready
— ever ready. We know not how to understand the
character of God, and the gi-and features of the econo-
my of grace, if this be not so. The parables of Christ,
and the instruction of apostles, announce this truth:
the standing invitations of the gospel contain it.
We would give emphasis to this statement, and my
again, that the failure of the word is to be viewed from
the direction of the obstructions of earth, and not of
the inscrutable pui-pose and will of Heaven. There are
laws of moral influence, and they obtain in relation to
this subject: let them be complied with, and results will
follow, such as the gospel contemplates and Pentecost
witnessed. The parable of the sower presents this truth
in happy contrast with that sentiment of dependence
which resolves the want of success in the administra-
tion of the word, and the deaith of revivals, into the
spirit's influences. 377
issue, that "the time is not come to build the house of
the Lord."
8. — Resistance of the Spirit is a prominent sin of
Christendom. " To apply the merits of the redemption
purchased by Christ," is the office-work of the Spirit.
The New Testament refers to Him as an abiding agent
with the means of grace, and, for aught that ' is known.
His presence may be co-extensive with the application
of those means. Few, it is believed, pass through pro-
bation, under the light of the gospel, without sharing
His influences. Few go on to a state of confirmed in-
iquity, and are given up of God to the way of their own
heart, and to the condemnation to which it leads, with-
out "resisting the Holy Ghost," and impinging on this
ultimate provision of mercy. Multitudes, now in their
sins, would before this have been rejoicing in Christ, but
for the abuse of conscience, and " doing despite to the
Spirit of grace." The Saviour sublimely prefigures the
idea we would present, in His apostrophe to Jerasalem :
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! how often would I have
gathered thy children together, and ye would not: be-
hold, your house is left unto you desolate."
Finally. — The doctrine of the Spirit is the grand en-
couragement of the minister of the gospel in " commend-
ing himself, through manifestation of the truth, to every
man's conscience in the sight of God^
Truth, conscience, and the Spirit's influence, are cor-
relates, in respect to the issue, termed conversion. With-
out the truth, there would be no intelligence in it ; with-
out the moral sense, no responsibility would attach to
it, and without the Spirit, it would never be effected.
/
■^'^ m tmi*^^:
378 spirit's influences.
Truth is the instrument, and conscience the medium of
the Spirit's influence in changing the will, and securing
in it, and in human experience, all that redemption con-
templates. Sanctification is "through the truth;" con-
viction is conviction of it in the conscience, and con-
version is the first right movement of the will in view
of it. Such is the state of man in sin ; so many and
prevalent the counter influences of propensity and habit,
that this movement of will is never secured as the un-
aided result of truth, manifested to the concsience. The
merciful economy of the Spirit supervenes ; the promise
of God and the hope of Zion are associated with the
co-operating and effeqtual agency of the Holy Ghost,
with the means divinely appointed. Even this ultimate
provision of mercy will be resisted by many of our race,
the acme of whose guilt and condemnation will be, that
they have not only "trodden under foot the Son of God,
but have done despite unto the Spirit of gi*ace." " Nev-
ertheless the foundation of God standeth sure." All
will not resist the Spirit. Multitudes have been, and
multitudes more will be begotten of Him through the
truth. The word of God shall accomplish that where-
unto He sends it, and an innumerable company, which
no man can number, return and come to Zion with songs,
and everlasting joy on their heads.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 379
FOURTEEN THESES ; OE. OUTLINES OF THEOLOGIY.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. I.
In this age of rapid movements, crude opinions and
surface work, there are yet those that think, that inquire
after the philosophy of religious belief — that would gain
the first truths of reason, and reconcile therewith the
statements of theology and the doctrines of the Church.
1st. Theology is moral science in the department of
religion.
2d. It is embraced in the three categories, — the In-
finite, the finite, and the relation between them.
I.— The Being of God.
1st. Something is. — (Proof) — (1) The senses; (2) con-
sciousness ; (3) universal conviction and consent.
2d. Something always was. — ^The derived implies the
underived; the created the uncreated; the finite and
dependent, the absolute and independent.
3d. Original of being, not matter. — Matter Hot inher-
ently cause — has a reason for being, and being in one
place rathei* than another — is dependent ; a thing placed ;
is in itself without design or end.
4th. Original of being, spiritual, personal intelligence
380 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
— the "I Am," of the Bible. Intelligence is cause per
se; it only is cause; acts from design; has an end in
what it does. This is true of derived intelligence — much
more of the underived.
5th. Knowledge has a chronological method and a log-
ical method. We are, therefore God is. The being of
God is pre-supposed and known in the being of anything
else. It must be that God is, if anything is.
6th. We may know that that is, which we cannot com-
prehend — hence may know God, and that He is, though
not able to comprehend the Infinite.
7th. It is not to be expected that derived intelligence
will comprehend the underived; the law of knowledge
is by analogy.
8th. If the finite, created, is only by the Infinite, un-
created, then is the Being of God the complement of
all knowledge and thought, and God is all His works.
THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD. II.
Both physical and moral are infinite.
1 St. If not infinite, then is He finite, limited, created,
dependent, and then not God.
2d. Rectitude is the moral state and method of all in-
telligence.
3d. Infinite, personal intelligence, could not act legit-
imately or satisfiictorily to itself except rightly, and ac-
cording to truth.
4th. Moral -svi'ong is only by defection from right —
is by way of apostasy ; — in God is no ground of change.
5th. Sin is a mistake as well as a mislead, and as such
could not be predicable of the Infinite, or be of the na-
ture of intelligent action in Him.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 381
* 6th. Malevolence is never an end. Sin has the real
sanction and subsidy of no mind, as that which is in it-
self desirable. It is never chosen for its own sake : — the
vilest are ashamed of it, seen in its true light and un-
der the testimony of conscience.
7th. Our constituent being "made in the image of
God." repudiates wrong — "the law in the mind," as con-
trasted, with "the law in the members."
8th. The Jehovah of the Scriptures, with all perfec-
tion of knowledge, of power, of wisdom, goodness, and.
truth, and every attribute of the uncreated, absolute.
One, infinitely and immutably.
Infs. — 1st. The Divine economy is pure and perfect
in all morality.
2d. All imperfection, and wrong and ill, is through
the abuse of that which in its normal method and on-
going, is right and good.
3d. Sin is in the finite, and is resultant of the abnor-
mal action and movements of finite cause.
4th. The Judge of all the earth .will do right.
5th. We ought to have unlimited confidence in the
wisdom, rectitude, and faithfulness of God.
THE WORKS OF GOD. III.
1st. A quiescent Deity is a solecism. God is an in-
telligence — a cause — a power : He will have forthgoings
and work.
2d. A work is of necessity in the finite. It is some-
thing done — a factum, a reason for it, and a cause of it
lie out of, and before it. It has time, and place, and all
the accidents of the finite.
3d. The forthgoings and work of God will be the re-
382 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
suit of His perfections, and truly represent them — their
cast, and design, and method, and scheme, and end, will
be such as a Being of perfect rectitude can approve.
4th. The work of God, so far as known to us, or ap-
preciative by us, will ' be in the physical and moral
spheres — matter and mind — nature and spirit — things
and persons — irresponsible existence and responsible,
intelligent beings.
5th. The physical sphere will be in subordination to
the moral or spiritual, and for its sake, and adapted to
its development and behests.
6th. A moral system or sphere, with intelligent be-
ings in the likeness and after the image of God, is a
perfect work. Nothing else could be better, or be in
its place, for this is like God, and truly resultant of His
perfections, and its moral ongoing must manifest Him
and be worthy of Him.
7th. Such a system, including God and all other in-
telligences, is inherently an end in itself, and the high-
est end.
8th. It Is unreason to ask anything else in the place
of such a system.
Inferences : — 1st. The present not a choice of systems,
as though embodying on the whole the fewest evils and
the most good. Such a category would put God into
the finite. His economy is a perfection and not a bal-
ancing of expedients. It is rectitude, and any imper-
fection in it, would ruin it for Him and render it un-
worthy of Him.
2d. All evil originates in the infraction of the Divine
economy, and moral evil is the parent of all other evil.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 383
3d. No good reason can be given, or need be attempt-
ed, for the existence of wrong.
4th. The existence of moral evil is not to be resolved
in a theistic argument, and no vindication of the char-
acter of God is called for in relation to it.
5th. Sin is in eveiy respect antagonistical to God —
to His purposes, and end in all things, and implies the
righteousness and pefection of His being, economy, and
ways.
MORAL PRINCIPLES THE CO-ORDINATE OF MORAL BEING. IV.
1st. Moral principles inhere in moral relations.
2d. Like all mere qualities they must inhere in some
ground, and that ground is moral beings; they imply
and have personality.
3d. The relations of the Infinite and the finite involve
and evoke them. Worship and obedience are not more
an appointment of God than the demand of our being
and a meet response from the relations subsisting be-
tween us and Himself God appoints them, and in-
structs us in respect to them, because they are in them-
selves meet and due.
4th. A Divine revelation to us would be of the nature
of a manifestation to the principles of being in us, and
on the ground of the relations subsisting between us
and God.
5th. The Bible has its doctrinal basis in the elements
of all truth, gi-owing out of the being and relations of
the Infinite and the finite — penitence as related to for-
giveness — equivalents, the doctrine of commerce — the
conscience attesting the obligation of Divine precepts.
6th. A revelation from God is information from the
384 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
depths of the Infinite, on principles of truth recognized
in our being and inherent relations to God.
7th. From the nature of the intelligence, sin wounds
the conscience — it would if in the Infinite as well as in
the finite. " That be far from Thee to slay the right-
eous with the -wdcked. Shall not the Judge of all the
earth do right?"
8th. Natm*al ill is inherently consequent on moral
wrong. It is not so much by overt appointment as in-
herent connection, from the nature and relations of the
intelligence.
9th. God modifies and uses this relation of natural ill
to moral wi'ong, for pui-poses of probation, and all ends
in righteousness in a moral system.
10. Retribution is naturally and cumulatively conse-
quent on sin and probation. •
Hence, — 1st. The Bible and reason are not in disa-
greement.
2d. Natural religion is a stepping-stone to that which
is revealed.
3d. Revelation is exegetical of natural religion.
4th. Objective truth has its prototypes in the ideas of
the reason.
5th. All Divine precepts are adapted to our moral
being and inherently obligatory.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. V.
The Purposes of God.
I. — Purposes are a mental state or detennination of
mind, antecedent to, and conditional for an action of
the agent purposing.
II. — The purposes of God are His mental determina-
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 38S
tions, concerning His own work, or of what He will do.
1st. This is a universal law of intelligence. One pur-
poses his own conduct, and what influence to exeit on
others in behalf of objects desirable to him.
2d. A purpose, like a conception, is necessarily orig-
inal, and personal in the mind that has it. Two indi-
viduals may have like purposes in relation to the same
object, but then their purposes are distinct, and it is
every way unphilosophical to hold them as identical,
and to say that one purposes the purposes of the other.
3d. Free, original thought, and design, and voluntary-
action are the characteristic and law of mind. It is so
in the Infinita; it is so in those intelligences "made \u
His image."
4th. God secures desired ends through a scheme and
providence of His own, and "according to the counsel
of His own will;" meeting, antagonizing with, or ac-
cepting the action, or plans, or puiiDoses of others, as
may seem best to Him — His thoughts are not their
thoughts, nor their ways His — by " bringing light out
of darkness and order out of confusion," &c.
5th. In this way is the glory of God secm-ed, as re-
lated to the machinations and work of wicked agents —
not by planning their plans and purposing their pur-
poses — but through a plan and purpose of His own, cir-
cumventing, overmling, and defeating them, and bring-
ing good out of evil.
Gth. That philosophy is unsound and fallacious which
prescribes a Divine programme, and ordination of all
that is, in the responsible, moral sphere.
25
386 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
7th. We know that much is, in the responsible, moral
«phere, that God does not will, or devise, or want.
8th. We see no need of God's willing or ordaining
moral wi'ong in order for it to be : it is essentially anti-
theifltic.
9th. Physical ills, as resultant of moral wrong, may
be Divinely modified and used for good. •
10th. The purposes of God are in accordance with all
morality, and appreciably so.
11th. Resignation to evils, which are consequent on
Wi'ong received, springs not so properly from the fact
that they take place, as from the overruling and recu-
perative agency and influence of God, in our behalf, re-
specting them.
12th. The purposes of God are equivalent to, and
identical with an eyer-present discretion in righteousness,
in the sphere of the Infinite.
Hence, — 1st. There is unity of being and of charac-
ter in God.
M. There is an appreciable morality in God.
3d. The pure and holy Jesus was a truthful manifes-
tation of God.
4th. Our theology need not stumble, or be perplexed
at the doctrine of the purposes of God.
5th. No good reason need be attempted for the in-
ception of moral wrong.
6th. Sin is every way without excuse.
7th. The decrees of God are no bar to prayer. They
are but the righteous decisions of One who abides ever
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 387
in the present, to minister to the wants of His creatures,
and answer those who cry unto Him.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. VI.
Mind Inherently Cause and Self-Controlled.
1st. This is true of the Divine Mind, by universal
concession.
2d. Finite intelligence is made in the Divine likeness.
3d. This is the doctrine of consciousness.
4th. This is essential to personality.
5th. This is essential to responsibility.
6th. This is the doctrine of law, of probation, and
penalty, as applied to intelligent beings.
7th. This is admitted in the propositions of mercy.
8th. This is involved in all exhortation, all submission
of ti-uth for practical purposes, in all discipline, rewards,
and punishments. Why exhort to that which cannot
be withheld, or which is already in your own power ?
9th. This is of the veiy element of will, as contra-dis-
tinguished from the necessitated faculties of mind.
Hence, — 1st. The sovereignty of our voluntary states
is with ourselves.
2d. All influences from without, and means of mov-
ing mind, are submitted to its arbitrament, and discre-
tion, and responsibility, as to the response we give.
3d. The finite can resist and disobey the Infinite, and
often does.
4th. That may he, which God does not will, and as
He is of one mind, which He has never willed or de-
termined.
5th. It is irrelevant to inquire why God has not pre-
vented all sin and -wrong.
388 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
6th. A moral economy may, in probation, but imper-
fectly accomplish the will of God.
7th. Probation has a natural result in retribution.
8th. God may never regain in all hearts, and see His
will done in all minds ; He will never have the spiritual
control of the finally impenitent and lost ones.
9th. The question of power, or almightiness in God,
is out of place when applied to the coercion or absolute
control of the will in His intelligent creatures.
10th. All Gospel influences are resistible by the mind.
11th. These influences may nevertheless prevail, and
yet increasingly, *-in the ages to come," and the world
be converted to Christ.
12th. Men may repent, as they ought, when they can
hold out in impenitence, as others do.
13th. Moral government has an eventual resort, in
physical force, in respect to those who refuse compli-
ance with its righteous dictates. God fixes the physical
condition of the finally impenitent and lost, but their
wills will never be under His control, or be as He would
have them to be.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. VII.
The method of the Deity, in all his works, is a pure
righteousness, and eveiy way consistent with the first
principles of morality.
1st. He is an infinitely perfect, spiritual being.
2d. His contrast, and great ultimate end, must be
worthy of Him, self-satisfactory to Himself, and morally
like Himself.
3d. His object must be the greatest righteousness of
His intelligent creatures, and their highest moral likeness
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 389
to Himself, and the greatest good as therein contained.
4th. Any dereliction from this on the part of His in-
telligent offspring must incur His rebuke and displeas-
ure as contrary to His will, and a disruption of His
method and design in all His works.
5th. The manifestations of the Deity on the actual
outbreak of wrong, on the part of angels and men, and
His position in respect to sin ever since, evince this..
6th. A method or plan of things is for the sake of
its execution, and is nugatory and worthless without it.
7th. A method or plan of things has the moral qual-
ity of its execution.
8th. God would institute no method or plan of things
whose execution He could not approve. The outbreak
of sin would complicate the Divine relations to wrong,
and the methods of God's antagonism to it, but an orig-
inal. Divine economy will be pure in all righteousness.
9th. Sin, as a device, is essentially anti-theistic, and
could be no part of a Divine plan or economy of things.
10th. Any propositional relation to sin in the Divine
scheme of the universe would be suicidal in God, and
could not meet the approval of intelligences made in
His image.
11th. No such relation to wrong in a scheme of things,
could be imitated by those made in the image of God,
without incurring His displeasure and rebuke.
12th. Such a relation would involve the absurdity, that
there can be a good reason for an intrinsic wrong.
13th. And also, that wrong, whenever and wherever
it occurs, is better than right. Hence,
390 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
14th. That wrong as it exists is the best thing pos'^
sible and therefore is not wrong.
loth. We are instructed to be followers of God as
dear children, but cannot without self-condemnation,
imitate Him, in a scheme of things, which devises and
plans that which is morally wrong.
16th. Our constituent moral being, which is like that
of God, repudiates a wrong method, as much as a wrong
act.
17th. Sin cannot be a Divine expedient, — James i.
12-17, — God cannot be tempted with evil.
18th. If God ordains moral evil, it must be for a good
reason, which involves a palpable solecism.
19th. If God ordains wrong, then is wrong needful
in a right system, and a right system is defective and
imperfect without it, and wi'ong is necessary to a per-
fect moral system, and a part of it, and is therefore not
a wrong.
20th. If God ordains wrong, it is out of preference
to its being, to anything else in its place, and where
wrong is, he prefers it to right, and chooses moral evil
there to moral good, and if so, then is there no unity or
determination of moral character in God. Hence,
Inferences: — 1st. Sin does not ask God's leave to be.
2d. Sin has not God's permission or consent to be.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. VIIL
A moral system is a perfect work, and a Divine ne-
cessity, though sin and wrong are an inherent liability
under it.
I. — It is a perfect work.
Ist. It is the work of an Infinite and perfect Being.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 391
2d. It is in the end of a universal and perfect righte-
ousness, and capable of it.
3d. Its crowning work and reason are intelligent be-
ings, "in. the image of God," and for this end, ani
adapted to it.
4th. It gives a true and proper personality, like that
of God.
oth. It involves a legitimate and proper responsibility
and destiny.
6th. It furnishes, subjectively and objectively (within
and without,) all requisite grounds, for perfect excellence
of character and state.
7th. Nothing else, or other than such a system, made
in the likeness of God, and for such an end, could be,
without being imperfect, and being unworthy of God.
And hence,
II. — A moral system as above, is in some sense a Di-
vine necessity. It has the perfect freedom and whole
soul of the Deity in its behalf as nothing else or otherwise
could have. Nothing different would be of the natm'e of
intelligent action in God. Right intelligence for a right
end is the sphere and true expression of the infinite, an4
of a Divine economy in the finite and created of being.
1st. Finite mind acts often on defective or imperfect
promises, and many be mistaken ; God never.
2d. Finite mind may, through change and inconsis-
tency, get at fault with truth, and right, and God, and
come to hate and resist Him 5 but God never.
3d. Infinite intelligence can see no reason against
truth apd right, or for sin and wrong, and must ever be
392 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
of one spii'it and one mind for the eternal rectitude of
a moral system.
III. — Sin and wrong an inherent liability under moral
government or in a moral system.
1st. A moral system has free cause in the finite.
2d. A power to do right is a power to do wTong, and
in the finite the alternative may become an actuality.
3d. A moral system involves the legitimate and proper
submission of the question of right and wrong, of char-
acter and destiny, and would be a worthless pageant
without it.
4th. Its Central idea is the discretion and responsibil-
ity of free intelligence and will.
5th. Its vitality, excellence and gloi*y, lie in this, that
its righteousness is not imposed and inevitable, but elec-
tive, and in the place of something else that might be,
and which would be wrong.
6th. All personality involves this, and would be re-
duced to mere thing without it.
7th. All conscious responsibility is based on this, and
is impossible without it.
8th. We are conscious, only, of moral, resistible in-
fluences, in relation to conduct and character, conform-
ity or the want of it, to righteousness and law.
9tli. .It cannot be proved that any other influences in
this regard exist, or are possible.
10th. The principle that underlies the whole subject
of law, prohibition, exhortation, warning, penal inflic-
tion, &G., in this regard. Does one exhort to that which
lies in his power ?
11th. The question of fact. Sin could not be, with-
THESES IN THEOLOGY. ^ 893
out the liability of it. Its existence shows the liability
of it in a moral system.
Inferences: — ^st. A moral system is not responsible
for its abuse.
2d. A moral system cannot be altered, even though
it may be abused.
3d. The question of sin belongs not in an argument
concerning God. God is not its father; it is not of His
economy for a universe, but outside of it, in one of its
own, and is essentially anti-theistic.
4th. The inquiiy is iiTevelant and absurd which asks,
why God does not prevent all sin. The element of elec-
tiveness is essentially in a moral system. Its means may
all be expended, and yet its subjects go astray. It al-
ways submits the question of obedience to the mind's
voluntary arbitrament.
5th. That may occur under a moral system, which is
in no sense in accordance with the will of God ; which
may be like rebellion, to the will and strategy of the
State.
9th. As sin is not a Divine method, God may exer-
cise His discretion as to the time and way of manifest-
ing His antagonism against it — may let the wicked fall
into the pit which they have digged, and even let sin
be the means of its own discomfiture, and of accom-
plishing His benevolent purposes against it, and for its
overthrow.
7th. A probationaiy economy does not of course (may
not) accomplish the whole will of ,God, or witness^ only
that which is according to His will.
8th. Retribution has the element of physical power
394 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
9th. The supremacy of God is through an indepen-
dent economy of His own, circumventing sin, triumph-
ing over it; either first by moral methods in probation,
or eventually in retribution, to the honor of all right-
eousness and truth.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. IX.
In these theses it is not claimed that each succeeding
one is wlwlly an advance from previous ones, but that in
the use of them, it presents some additional view, of the
subject in hand, and adds something to the stock of
thought intended — and to-day as follows, viz.: —
Sin cannot he an expedient in the Divine economy of the
universe.
I.— 1st. 1 James xii, 17 : ''For God cannot be tempt-
ed with evil," &c.
2d. This would imply that there is a good reason for
the existence of wrong, and that where it exists it is
better and more desirable than right.
3d. Sin is never only a means to an end, and if it be
the Divine resort in an economy of things, then is God,
in this respect, in the same category with all others who
make it a resort in the plans and purposes they form.
4th. As sin is but an intrinsic wrong, an essential un-
reason, it is impossible that God should see reason for it
in the Divine economy of the universe
5th. As sin is essentially anti-theistic, it is logically
impossible that it should be an ingredient in the Divine
economy or an expedient of it.
6th. If sin is a Divine expedient, then must God see
reason for the infraction of His own law, which thing
is absurd, and this
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 395
7th. Would imply that God is not immutable, and,
of course, that He exists in the finite.
8th. If sin be a Divine expedient, then is it a Divine
necessity, and God is dependent on it, in His own econ-
omy, for the greatest good.
9th. If sin be a Divine expedient, then is not the
right and normal ongoing of a perfect moral system the
best method for it, and imperfection and wi'ong are
better than perfection and right, and if so, then
10th. A perfect righteousness is not the highest good.
11th. Then, too, is not the law of God perfect in its
requirements, and perfect obedience to it is not a duty,
and it is better broken than kept.
12th. If sin be a Divine expedient, then does God
see infinitely good reasons for it, and that wherever it
exists it could not be exchanged for anything else with-
out detriment to a moral system.
13th. If so, then is it not contrary to the will of God,
and then is it what God would have to take place, and
then is it not wrong, and then, too, is it not sin, and sin
is an imposibility ; and then, too, is likeness to God and
conformity to His will impossible without sin.
14th. The heart of God would revolt at, and repudiate,
such an expedient as sin in His method ot the universe.
15th. It would be to adopt the false and pernicious
maxim, that " the end sanctifies the means. ''^
16th. It is impossible that sin should be a resort, as a
method to an end, of any but a finite and wrong-minded
being.
17th. Those made in the image of God and who are
commanded to be like Him, cannot follow such a lead
396 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
in their methods of securing results without forfeiting
perfection of character.
18th. The conscience which God has given us, as the
transcript of His own, will not endorse such a resort in
plans we lay and the methods we employ.
19th. If sin be a Divine resort in the scheme of the
universe, then is it clothed with the dignity of a Divine
strategy, and entitled to the respect which belongs to
the plans and purposes of God.
20th. Then, too, ought we to know this, and to feel
that when we are sinning, we are subserving the highest
interests of the universe, and then, likewise, ought we
to sin in the spirit of obedience to the will of God.
But
II. — 1st. If sin be not an expedient and resort in the
Divine economy of the universe, so it need not be : it is
essentially anti-theistic, and is abundantly accounted for
in finite cause, contravening and counteracting the will,
and purposes, and great end, which God has in view in
all His works.
2d. If sin be not a Divine expedient, &c., then " to
its own master, it standeth or falleth."
3d. And then, too, is not conscience a mislead, and a
perfect Divine moral government is no mistake and no
pageant.
4th. Then, too, is the Divine prohibition of sin, at
first, and always consistent, and appreciable, and exeget-
ical of the unity and moral peifectness of all His rela-
tions to it.
5th. Then thus, also, is His providential rebuke of sin,
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 397
and His final settlement of woe on all those who persist
in it.
6th. Then, too, is not the Gospel merely part of a
Divine strategy, in common with sin, but a real Divine
remedy against it, and its outbreak in the finite contrary,
to the will and prohibition of God.
7th. And hence the consistency, of repentance of sin,
in order to forgiveness under the Gospel.
8th. If sin be not God's expedient in His Divine
method of the universe, and all His relations to it are
consistent with perfect rectitude, then His peace of
mind is not disturbed by it, any more than that of any
other perfectly good being, in view of wrong.
9th. As sin is thus, in no sense of God, He may exer-
cise His sovereign discretion in His methods against it
within the sphere of all rectitude and goodness — may
let it be for its own rebuke and discomfiture, and even
yield His Son to the power of His own enemies, " that
through death He might conquer him who had the
power of death," and be the life of the world, and thus
bring order out of confusion, and light out of darkness.
10. As God is in the right, in this controversy with
sin and the powers of darkness, and has therewith all
the moral and physical resources of the Infinite, we may
confidingly know that, according to His Word, He will
reign until He hath put all His enemies under His feet,
and eternally vindicate the excellency and glory, and
triumph of all righteousness, and goodness, and truth.
Finally. — The prayers and labors of all good men, in
behalf of the cause of Christ, and against sin, and the
common sense of all men on all subjects, are a united
398 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
testimony for the validity and correctness of the view-
here taken.
P. S. — I propose but two more themes in this series —
the method of the Divine Supremacy, and the term^ of a
completed moral science.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. X.
How does tlie Infinite comprehend the Finite f or, How is
God Supreme ?
1st. Not in that He is the only cause.
2d. Not in absorbing from finite intelligence, the
proper element of personal cause.
3d. Not in possessing, in relation to finite intelligence,
direct and absolute sovereignty of its voluntaiy states.
This would destroy it. Sovereignty in this regard is of
the essence of personality, and all legitimate responsi-
bility.
4th. Not by the universal programme, and arrange-
ment of all that is, so that the actual ongoing in the
moral sphere, is resultant of His supremacy, and an ex-
ponent of, or in accordance with. His plan and purpose
and will ; and so that nothing shall be, but what He in
some sense wills.
5th. Not by the Divine peimission of, or consent to,
wrong.
6th. Not by being unmindful or regardless of the
fearfull wrong and remediless effects of sin in a moral
system. But
7th. In making, at first, a perfect system and economy
of persons and things with finite intelligence, " in His
own image, and after His likeness," at its head, arid for
a perfect end, in the highest rectitude and excellence.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 899
8th. In using all the appropriate influences and pre-
rogatives of the Infinite to keep it so, and universally
to attain this end.
9th. In knowing, intuitively, what are the inherent
liabilities of a perfect moral system, and the facts of it
in actual history.
10th. In being physically omnipotent and indepen-
dent in the full appropriate sphere of the Infinite,
" Who doeth all things after the counsel of His own
will."
11th. In aiding, and sustaining, and influencing, in
every way of wisdom and truth, all right action in finite
cause, in accordance with His purpose and great end in
all things.
12th. In antagonizing, in eveiy way of wisdom, in-
tegrity and tmth against all wrong there, "bringing
light out of darkness, and order out of confusion ;"
limiting the prevalence, and remedying the eflfects of
sin, and instructing the universe in view of it.
13th. In the use of the prerogatives of the Infinite,
bringing, however, a triumph at length on all righteous-
ness, and discredit and discomfiture on all sin and
wrong.
14th. In reigning to the eventual putting down of all
sin, and confining its adherents to their own place, and
the exaltation of all righteousness.
15th. In securing glory to His name, and to all right-
eousness, in all these His relations to the finite.
16th. In doing all that, in the moral sphere, to this
end, both in probation and retribution, which is appro-
priate to them, on the part of the Infinite.
400 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
Inferences. — 1st. Then is there legitimate cause and
responsibility in the finite.
2d. Then is there unity of moral character and aim
in the Infinite.
3d. Then is the Divine moral economy a realty and
no mere pageant.
4th. Then may there be that, which is every way con-
trary to God, and in resistance of His will.
5th. Then may there be that of which God is in no
sense the projector, and of which He* may say, as in
the Bible, '• I neither spake it, neither came it into My
mind."
6th. Then is sin an intrinsic evil, and no way a Divine
strategy for good.
7th. There is good connected with sin, only in the
way of remedy from it and its efi*ects, through a coun-
teracting Divine providence
8th. Then is the condition of the finally lost, the only
Divine alternative concerning them.
9th. Then is the supremacy of God, in respect to the
moral system, more to be obsei-ved in its results than in
its prohationary ongoing. " For He must reign until He
hath put all His enemies under His feet." " For now
we see not all things put under Him."
THESES m THEOLOGY. XI.
The terms of a cosipleted Moral Science.
I. — Moral science is not complete while it fails to
harmonize religioiLS doctrine with the fundamental prin-
ciples of all morality, — our creed with our conscience.
1. Conscience is a God-send, — an element of our
moral being as constituted in the image of God.
THESES IN THEOLOGY 401
2d. As God is one, our subjective being, as Divinely
constituted, must be in harmony with objective truth.
3d. The conscience is, necessarily, the concrete umpire
in every question of right.
4th. The conscience is in harmony with all known
truth; and hence
5th. That is anomalous, and put of place in religious
doctrine, which belies, or is out of harmony with the
dictates of conscience as above, and, at least, argues an
incomplete analysis of the subject.
II. — Moral science is incomplete while it ignores the
relations of God to wrong,
1st. Moral principles are co-ordinates of the Deity ; we
estimate his character by them, or how know that he is
good.
2d. We were made in His "likeness," and if He is
" above morality," so may we be.
8d. God is our example, and we are commanded to be
perfect as He is.
4th. He is the objective source of authority, which
vests only in righteousness.
5th. If we do not know God's relations to wrong,
neither then do we know His relations to right, and are
at sea, over the whole domain of morality and religion.
6th. Ignorance of the Divine relations to wrong be-
gets a weakened sense of obligation in ourselves to do
and be right.
III. — Moral science is incomplete while it fails to give
the doctrine of full and proper personal cause in finite
intelligence. .
1st. This is the doctrine of consciousness. We have
the personal " me," and it is legitimate cause, in its own
26
402 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
behoof, as truly as in the iDfinite, and we cannot
ignore it.
2d. It is essential to responsibility.
3d. It only can account for the existence of sin and
wrong, and thus the terms of a completed moral science
are, that it defines the relations of God to wrong, and
harmonizes our religious creed with our conscience and
the first principles of all morality.
IV. — The dogma that sin and wrong are a Divine
strategy, and are introduced into the Divine economy
as an expedient for good, does not thus harmonize reli-
gious belief with the first principles of all morality —
the creed with the conscience.
1st. It does not profess to do this, but acknowledges
the incompatibility in question.
2d. It argues always, respecting it, to the point of
ad ignorantiam. •
3d. It asserts that the relations of God to wi'ong can-
not be resolved, and that He is *' above morality" in this
respect.
4th. It involves the solecism that a ^vrong method
may not be wi'ong.
5th. It involves the immorality that " the end sancti-
fies the means."
6th. It makes the expedients of mercy to be of the
original law of the Divine economy, of which, from the
nature of the case, they could not be.
7th. It is exposed to all the objections stated in this
whole series of Theses.
V. — The doctrine that makes sin no part of the Di-
vine economy, but simply an outbreak from it in finite
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 408
cause, does harmonize with the first principles of belief
in tl;e conscience and with the doctrines of all morality.
1st. It holds that the relations of God to wrong are
suggested as a first truth of reason and morality.
2d. It takes to the point of ad intelligentiam, what the
other view takes, to that of ad ignorantiam.
3d. It meets the demands of consciousness, in the
doctrine of cause, in our voluntary nature.
4th. It meets the terms of conscience in the question
of morality. $
5th. Intelligence in finite being constituted " in the
image of God, and like Him," possessing the attribute
of inherent cause in its sphere, must, as properly as He
does, originate its voluntary states, and plans, and pur-
poses, and voluntaiy acts, on the responsibilities of a
moral being.
6th. On no other principle is there any vitality in a
moral system, and thus this view is demanded by thd
necessities of moral science.
P. S. — This completes the topics designed at present,
and may I ask for the whole series a careful revision and
study by those who would justify religious belief, and
harmonize the creed with the conscience.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. XII.
Ai*e the souls of men the immediate creation of God,
and Divinely infused and implanted in them severally,
as they gain each their personal being ; or, are they re^
sultant of the law of pro-creation and descent, as their
bodies are in a continuous economy? Not the first, but
the last. For if the first, then —
404 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
1st. They would be morally pure and perfect like
God, as were the angels and Adam at their creation.
2d. Then would there be no hereditary proclivity to
wrong in the races.
3d. Then would not there be that progressive deteri-
oration in clans and tribes of men often, which history
shows ?
4th. Then could there be no general lapse of the
world into heathenism.
■ 5th. Then would not the influence of a precedent gen-
eration, on an immediately succeeding one, be what it is ?
6th. Then could there be no nature of things, in the
race, in the moral sphere.
7th. Then would the lesson Of history be less instruc-
tive and responsible, and its experience less important
and useful.
8th. Then would the doctrine of morality be less im-
posing and urgent.
9th. Then would not the scriptural doctrine of the
nature and necessity of regeneration be true ?
10th. Then would the pei-petuated idiosyncracies of
races and tribes and families of men be unaccountable.
11th. Then would the origin of the race be renewed
in every generation.
But in evidence of the last : —
1st. A merely corporeal descent is not a descent of be-
ing, and would not constitute it true that Abraham begat
Isaac, and Isaac Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
2d. The process of procreation is as properly mental
as corporeal, and may as properly communicate mental
as coi*poreal being.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 405
8d. Children have as much the mental and moral
peculiarities of their parents, ancestors and tribes, as
their corporeal peculiarities.
4th. Resemblance of mind to parents often manifests
itself in the looks and actions, &c., of children, through
the mental constitution. The ideal similarity is often
greater than the bodily.
5th. The mental and moral peculiarities and habits of
children are but the reflex of those of their parents, often.
6th. The mental peculiarities of children are often
but the blended combination of those of both parents.
7th. The children of intellectual parents {cceteris pa-
ribus) are the more intellectual.
8th. The headship of Adam to the race, in the matter
of accountability, must refer primarily and chiefly to his
intellectual and spiritual being.
9th. The doctrine of an inherited proclivity to evil
can be true only on this principle.
10th. The universal depravity of mankind is other-
wise unaccountable.
11th. The scriptural doctrine of the necessity of re-
generation is otherwise untrue.
12th. The felt tendencies in us to evil otherwise can-
not be accounted for.
13th This only lays the legitimate ?nd sufficient foun-
dation for the domestic affections of parent and child.
We name them, and why, if the relation is merely
corporeal ?
14th. We consciously have those traits of mind which
our parents evince.
406 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
15tli. This is a universal law of being and descent in na-
ture and every where, — vegetable, animal, after its kind, — the
whole being is propogated — alterations are by cross-breeds
and intermixtures — the Infinite, the Son, has the moral nature
and "status" of the Father.
Objections : I. — Does not this compromit the doctrine of
personal accountability ?
Ans. — 1st. In all right and normal action of the race, this
feature of the economy would be advantageous, and would
not be complained of.
2d. That man sinned, and that the race is now off the track,
. and under law to sin, is not a Divine responsibility.
3d. The law and lead of sin may be expected to be unhap-
py and unprofitable any where and any how.
4th. Ail sinful indulgence is personal and resistible, though
a proclivity to it may be inherited. It is but the law of all
habit and propensity, which one may resist or comply with
on his individual responsibility. If the tendency is innate,
so are reason and conscience, Avith their plea and rightful
sway for rectitude, duty and truth.
5th. There must be personal compliance with wrong sug-
gestions and tendencies, in order to be reckoned a sinner.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. XIH.
Does God form and arrange temptations to sin and wrong ?
Ans. — He makes and arranges all things for uprightness and
goodness and truth. The drift and aim and design and in-
tent and end of His universal providence, is a holy, happy,
intelligent universe, like Himself— made in His image for
union in excellence and happiness with Himself. The universe
He has filled with motives to this, and any other use of them
is a perversion, which He will punish or remedy.
Proof: — 1st. A Divine activity in uprightness, and for it, in
the direction of His own perfections, is the boundary sphferc
of the Infinite.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. 407
2d. Any other lead on His part would mar his perfections,
and impugn the first principles of all morality.
3d. Any other lead He would have no heart to, as He " doeth
all things after the coamsel of His own will," and would never
do.
4th. For God to sustain a propositional relation to wrong,
would be to deny Himself.
5th. The relation of sin, to God, must logically be, that of
rebellion to the state it plots against.
6th. God inliibits all wrong, and, therefore, could in con-
sistency take no measures in favor of its existence.
7th. Sin being an intrinsic evil, could not be regarded by
God as the means of good.
8th. His law is the exponent of His whole will in this regard.
9th. His providence and the conscience He has given ua
rebuke us when we do wrong.
10th. Sin IS direct rebellion against the being and govern-
ment sway of God.
11th. Sin must be rebutted and remedied, in order to have
God's end in creation attained.
12th. Sin must be repented of and repudiated, as that which
is every way counter to the will and sway of God.
Hence : — 1st. Let no man say when he is tempted, " I am
tempted of God."
2d. God's providence universally, is but an argument for
uprightness and virtue.
.3d. The will of man may, in its perversity, turn to a wrong
use and end a right and well intended providence.
4th. We may pervert to wrong and mischief what God
means for good.
THESES IN THEOLOGY. XIV.
How is the supremacy of God, in the moral spTiej^e, maintained f
1st. Not by being the only cause.
2d. Not by invading or invalidating the appropriate sphere
of finite cause.
408 THESES IN THEOLOGY.
*
3d. Not in that the ongoing in this sphere is always as he
would hare it, or as the transcript of His will.
4th. Not in that all events as related to their causes, or as
in themselves, are the best possible.
5th. Not in having the direct and absolute control and
sovereignty of the voluntary states and actions of finite intel-
ligences.
But — 1st. By the attribute of Omnipotence in its proper
working in the physical sphere.
2d. By exerting this power as wisdom directs, and its na-
ture admits of in the moral sphere.
3d. Approximately, through a universe of moral, resistible
influences.
4th. Do. through the appropriate methods of probation.
5th. Do. through do. of a resultant retribution.
6th. Through a sphere of independence, in His own proper
agency, and for His own end, over and above all others, and
as the case may be in opposition to them.
7th. By an eventually successful combat over wrong in
finite cause.
8th. Through a recuperative agency against the mischiefs
of wrong in finite cause.
9th. By, at length, putting down all wrong, and confining
it to its own place.
10th. By at length, and in the end, exacting all righteous-
ness over wrong, and bestowing all honor upon it, to the dis-
comfiture of all wrong.
11th. By reigning ever in righteousness himself, and bring-
ing all willingly or unwillingly, in heart or condition, even-
tually under his sway.
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