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 THE POWER OF LITERATURE 
 
 ITS CONNEXION WITH RELIGION 
 
 AN ORATION, 
 
 iMLITEBEf* 
 
 AT BRISTOL COLLEGE, JULY 23, 18S4, 
 
 XTHE PHILOLOGIAN SOCIETY 
 
 BY FRANCIS S.|KEY. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 BRISTOL COLLEGE PRESS. 
 MDCCCXXXIV. 
 
FA/4<! 
 
 ORATION 
 
 The invitation of a literary society connected with this institu- 
 tion, has placed me before this audience. Such a call, however 
 difficult to fulfil, I found still more difficult to decline ; and as 
 no particular object, to be accomplished by the address I am re- 
 quested to deliver, has been intimated to me, I have considered it 
 a part of my duty to exercise my discretion in the choice of a 
 subject. A literary and religious institution, for the education of 
 youth its friends and patrons, animated with the hope that they 
 have commenced a work destined to promote the welfare of their 
 race its interesting pupils anxious to avail themselves of such 
 advantages to fit themselves for the active scenes of life, are be- 
 fore me. I have been unable to think of any thing I could pre- 
 sent more appropriate to such an occasion, than some considerations 
 upon the power of literature and its connexion with religion. 
 
 The power of literature, perhaps above all others with which 
 man is endowed, is most potent for good and for evil. It adds to 
 the force of human example, gives weight and influence to opin- 
 ion, and effect to effort. It is limited to no age or nation, but 
 goes abroad, a blessing or a curse, to every land, and descends to 
 distant generations. 
 
 The patrons of this institution have looked upon the world 
 with the eye of Christian faith, with the sympathy of Christian 
 hearts. They see its fields white for the harvest. They desire 
 to send forth labourers to this harvest, who shall reap, for them- 
 selves and their fellow men, the rich fruits of happiness and glory. 
 They desire to send forth, qualified for all the pursuits and sta- 
 tions of life, Christians who shall have added to their " faith, vir- 
 tue, and to virtue, knowledge," who shall be able to adorn and 
 defend the Gospel they profess. Are they right in conferring 
 this dangerous power of literature upon those whom they are 
 preparing for these high duties? May it not turn them aside 
 from their great work, abate the zeal and ardour of their efforts, 
 bring the world's most powerful temptations upon them, and 
 
 M219167 
 
seduce them into the ranks of the enemy ? It must be answered 
 that it may do all this, and yet are they right. 
 
 It cannot be plausibly argued that, unconnected with the means 
 of religious improvement, human learning is more the foe of hu- 
 man happiness than ignorance. 
 
 But it need not, and ought not to be thus unconnected. It 
 may be made, and it ought to be made a powerful auxiliary in 
 that war, which man is to wage, with all his strength, against the 
 powers of darkness. There is no occasion to speculate upon the 
 consequences of conferring high intellectual attainments and ne- 
 glecting the " one thing needful,'' the care of the soul. 1 shall 
 endeavour to show the consistency of religion and literature, what 
 are their effects upon each other, and how powerfully they must bear 
 together upon the world. I by no means put them upon any equali- 
 ty. The one must take high precedence, and hold supreme domin- 
 ion over every thing belonging to man. The other is but a talent 
 committed to us by our master, with the command, " occupy till 
 I come." Man is made a new creature, by the one informed of 
 his destiny and duty, supplied with his motives, and animated to 
 his work ; the other gives him influence and ability for the good 
 of others, " that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur- 
 nished to every good work." To promote the Christian education 
 of youth, is conferring upon the world a blessing above all price; 
 to make the blessing more efficient, every human acquisition that 
 can have power upon the world, should be brought into associa- 
 tion with the Christian virtues. 
 
 The influence of literature upon mankind has been seen and felt 
 in all ages, and the nature of man and his situation in this life show 
 that it can never cease to be one of the most powerful agents in the 
 formation of human character and in the regulation of human con- 
 duct. The Almighty has placed his intelligent creatures in inti- 
 mate and necessary association and dependance upon each other. 
 They thus acquire, as it was intended they should, often insensibly, 
 most of those principles, habits, and feelings which govern them 
 through life. The intercourse producing these great results is men- 
 tal. The impressions are communicated through the understanding 
 and the affections. Upon this great mass of feeling and thinking 
 beings it is plain that ignorance can produce little effect, and that 
 the influence of men upon each other will be, in a great measure, 
 proportioned to their mental improvement. No man perhaps is so 
 weak as not to be placed in circumstances which enable him to 
 operate upon a few within his reach ; but high literary attainments 
 
claim and receive the attention of all. Men thus fitted foi human 
 intercourse have a ready passport into every social community and 
 into every habitation of civilized man. They propose and discuss 
 every subject connected with the interest of human beings; and 
 they speak upon these great subjects to their fellow men of their 
 own age and to the remotest generations. The effects thus pro- 
 duced it is impossible to estimate. How often has the perusal of 
 a single book awakened the attention of its reader, roused his 
 energies into new action, turned his thoughts into a new channel, 
 changed the whole course and habits of his life, and enabled him 
 in his turn to bring the force of intellectual power to bear upon 
 the world, and communicate to hundreds and thousands like him- 
 self, the impulses he has thus received. " The good" and the 
 evil that men do, " live after them." There are, perhaps, few per- 
 sons now present, who have not received deep and abiding im- 
 pressions, forming prominent points in their character and daily 
 influencing their conduct, from the works of men who have been 
 for years and even centuries in their graves. And this great ope- 
 ration of mind upon mind will go on from generation to genera- 
 tion. Some of its great results we see in the wonderful improve- 
 ments around us, of which the world a few years since was 
 ignorant and incredulous. What they are to be, is known only to 
 Him who has given this power to his creatures to be improved for 
 his glory. Is such a power as this denied to the Christian ? May 
 he not avail himself of such an aid in the course he is to run ? Is 
 it inconsistent with his character to wield such a weapon in his 
 warfare? A mistaken opinion upon this subject certainly once 
 prevailed in the world. Some well-meaning Christians may even 
 yet doubt the advantages of a literary education, and we have 
 reason to fear that there are many who, though they may not object 
 to it, are yet indifferent to the reception of such an ally to the 
 Christian cause. It may be useful therefore to examine this 
 question, and determine whether the friends of religion shall 
 avail themselves of one of the most powerful means of influencing 
 the world, or leave it to its adversaries. 
 
 If we consider the nature and purposes of religion and litera- 
 ture, we shall find nothing in the claims of the one inconsistent 
 with the acquisition of the other. On the contrary, rightly con- 
 sidered, the claims of the one are such as to demand the acquisi- 
 tion of the other. 
 
 Religion, it is said, is the influence of the Spirit upon the heart ; 
 it demands the heart, the whole heart, and makes no call upon the 
 
understanding. This is a mistake. It is the influence of the 
 Spirit upon the man it demands the whole man, soul and body, 
 heart and understanding. All are to be brought under its sub- 
 jection. Every faculty and power of body and soul, of heart and 
 mind, that it finds in man, or that man has the means of acquiring, 
 is called forth in its service. From its nature and its purpose it 
 must affect the understanding : an inspired Apostle speaks of it as 
 " enlightening the eyes of the understanding." 
 
 It is impossible to conceive how the cultivation of the reason- 
 ing faculties can obstruct this influence. We have a beautiful 
 parable in the Gospel, showing all the obstacles which prevent the 
 good seed of the word from taking root in the heart. A cultivated 
 understanding is not found among them. But we read of men, 
 who are said to have " the understanding darkened, being alien- 
 ated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them." 
 There is nothing then to prevent the conversion of enlightened 
 men, that is not also, at least equally to be found in the ignorant 
 and if they are to be converted by the instrumentality of men, it 
 requires no argument to show that the most efficient instrumen- 
 tality is generally to be expected from the most enlightened. 
 
 If it be said that learning presents strong temptations, that it 
 fosters pride and prejudice, that it is often sought from selfish and 
 worldly considerations, we may readily admit it, and concede that, 
 so sought, it is clearly inconsistent with the demands of the Gos- 
 pel. Its path is the way of temptation. But what path of human 
 duty will be found otherwise ; and generally in proportion to the 
 importance and arduousness of a duty, will be found the tempta- 
 tions that beset it. But the Christian soldier who goes onward, 
 believing that "God is faithful and will not suffer him to be 
 tempted above what he is able, but will with the temptation also 
 make a way of escape" for him, resists a temptation to rest in ease 
 and indolence, and neglect his Master's service ; and he, who 
 through fear of temptation shrinks from the duty, yields himself 
 to the snare of the tempter. Human learning, sought as an end 
 sought for the gratification of pride, or power, or pleasure, or profit 
 consists not with the claims of religion : but sought for God 
 sought in a meek and humble spirit, sought as a means of glorify 
 ing God and doing good to man, is a sanctified gift, is a talent of- 
 fered to the Christian, which he must accept and use in his Mas 
 ter's service. 
 
 It is so with every gift. What presents stronger temptations 
 than riches, the love of which is said to be " the root of all evil ?" 
 
What sin more denounced than covetousness ? yet who doubts 
 that the acquisition of riches is allowable, and even laudable ? 
 It is enjoined upon Christians, that they should "work with 
 their hands that they may have to give to him that needeth." 
 Would the Apostle have forbidden them to work with their 
 heads, from the same motive; that being thus enriched with 
 the treasures of knowledge, they might have to give to him 
 that needeth, gifts exceeding all the riches of the earth ? This 
 question might be settled by an appeal to facts. While some 
 Christians have been doubting and speculating upon the subject, 
 others have happily been exhibiting themselves as proofs of the 
 perfect consistency between the highest attainments of learning 
 and piety. Among the names that will never die, the men who 
 have left behind them monuments more enduring than brass or 
 marble, there are certainly to be found many who, in the pride of 
 their hearts, or the profligacy of their lives, rejected the hum- 
 bling and self-denying doctrines of the cross. But many more 
 of those thus distinguished have been consistent and devoted 
 Christians. There have been in all ages of the Church, men of 
 superior piety, who have consecrated to the holy cause they served 
 the very highest attainments of human learning, whose increasing 
 knowledge taught them its proper lesson increasing humility ; 
 who saw from the heights they had gained, a more extended pros- 
 pect beyond them, not to be explored by man ; and who saw in 
 that vast view of things not to be known here, the proof of a 
 higher state of existence hereafter. They have seen too, and 
 shown to the world, that the more deeply they have been enabled 
 to penetrate into the wonders that surround us, the more evi- 
 dent is the truth of the revelation given to us, and the more per- 
 fectly have they been enabled to " vindicate the ways of God to 
 man." 
 
 That which has given to the cause of religion such advocates, 
 and enabled them thus to promote the success of that cause, can- 
 not be in conflict with its interests, or discountenanced by its 
 precepts. Some detached passages of Scripture are supposed to 
 exclude human learning from the acquirements proper to the 
 Christian. 
 
 So St. Paul has been understood when he informs the Corinthians 
 that he came to them not with " the excellency of speech or of wis- 
 dom," that he spoke to them " not in the enticing words of man's 
 wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and in power," that 
 11 the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God," that " the 
 
8 
 
 world by wisdom knew not God, and it pleased God, by the fool- 
 ishness of preaching, to save them that believe." 
 
 The great Apostle of the Gentiles did not enter upon his ministry 
 in any strength of his own. He looked not for success to what the 
 world called wisdom, nor to the arts of the rhetorician, which it 
 called eloquence or " excellency of speech." And this is all that 
 he disclaims in these and similar passages. 
 
 That he regarded the suggestions of true wisdom, availed him- 
 self of his learning, and took care so to speak as to rouse the feel- 
 ings, and teach the understanding of those who heard him, we 
 know, from what we see in his addresses and from the effects 
 which they produced. In this Epistle he thanks God that his Corin- 
 thian converts were in " every thing enriched by him, in all ut- 
 terance and in all knowledge." " So that they came behind in 
 no gift." He quoted and applied a passage from their poets to an 
 Athenian audience ; and he " reasoned" before Felix and made 
 him tremble. Under the Old Testament dispensation the great 
 leader of the Jews was allowed to become " learned in all the wis- 
 dom of the Egyptians," and ourLord had promised to his disciples 
 " a mouth and wisdom which all their adversaries should not be able 
 to gainsay or resist." And accordingly, when Stephen answered 
 for himself and his doctrines before the high priest, his address 
 shows a thorough knowledge of the history and opinions, and hearts 
 and lives of his Jewish hearers, so that " they were cut to the heart ;" 
 and when he disputed with the leaders of the synagogues, we are 
 informed " they were notable to resist the wisdom and spirit with 
 which he spake." 
 
 It is true these powers were bestowed upon the first teachers of 
 the Gospel by inspiration. Ignorant and unlearned men were 
 immediately and miraculously qualified for their great work. In 
 the present age of the Church God has seen fit to require that his 
 people shall prepare themselves for his service by labour and study. 
 Still the qualifications they acquire are no less his gifts, and they 
 are to to be sought and accepted in whatever way he may please 
 to bestow them, and to be used under the influence and direction of 
 his Spirit, for the same great work, the conversion of the world. 
 
 This is not required of all. To make these acquisitions is not 
 within the reach of all. But all, to whom they are offered, should 
 account it a blessing to be thus honoured ; and all Christians, 
 bound as they are by their profession to promote the success of 
 the Gospel, should consider it a duty and a privilege to extend, as 
 far as possible, the means of thus sustaining and defending it. 
 

 
 That portion of the Christian Church to which we belong has 
 been permitted to give, as we should ever gratefully remember, 
 many illustrious instances of the union of piety and learning. 
 One of those, who has done much in the defence and confirmation 
 of the truth, Bishop Horsley, thus expresses himself upon the sub* 
 ject we are considering : 
 
 " In all ages, if the objections of infidels are to be confuted ; 
 if the scruples of believers themselves are to be satisfied ; if 
 Moses and the Prophets are to be brought to bear witness to Jesus 
 of Nazareth ; if the calumnies of the blaspheming Jews are to be 
 repelled, and their misinterpretations of their own books confuted ; 
 if we are to be ' ready,' that is, if we are to be qualified and pre- 
 pared, * to give an answer to every man that asketh us a reason of 
 the hope that is in us ;' a penetration in abstruse questions; a 
 quickness in philosophical discussion ; a critical knowledge of 
 the ancient languages ; a familiar acquaintance with the Jewish 
 history, and with all parts of the sacred writings; a sound judg- 
 ment ; a faithful memory, and a prompt elocution ; are talents, 
 without which the work of an evangelist will be but ill performed. 
 When they are not infused by inspiration, they must be acquired 
 by diligence in study and fervency in prayer." 
 
 " The Apostles," he further says, " were profound metaphysi- 
 cians, the best of moralists, well-informed historians, accurate 
 logicians, and excellent in that strain of eloquence w r hich is cal- 
 culated for the conveyance of instruction, the enforcement of 
 duty, the dissuasion of vice, the conviction of error and the de- 
 fence of truth. And whoever pretends to teach without any of 
 these qualifications, hath no countenance from the example of the 
 Apostles, who possessed them all in an eminent degree, not from 
 education, but from a higher source." 
 
 If religion should disclaim this connexion, if she disarms her- 
 self of this power, can she annihilate it? Will she be so unwise 
 as to leave it in the hands of her enemies? and has she any pro- 
 mise of miraculous aid to supply what her sloth and indifference 
 will have lost ? 
 
 And who are the agents, in such a case, by whom this learned 
 and ungodly world is to be converted ? If, as at the first, the 
 illiterate are to be called to this work, (and what others will the 
 Church have to offer?) how, but by miracle, are they to be quali- 
 fied for it ? An old divine observes, that if it be said " God has 
 no need of any man's parts or learning," it may be well answered, 
 " that he has less need of his ignorance and ill-behaviour." 
 
 
 
10 
 
 The Apostles in the early age of the Church, besides the gifts 
 of learning and wisdom, were endowed with the gift of languages. 
 Now, the missionaries who go forth to distant lands, as the mes- 
 sengers of peace, must apply labour and diligence to acquire the 
 languages of those they would teach. Surely it is as evident a 
 Christian duty to apply this labour and diligence in obtaining the 
 necessary qualifications in one case as in the other. Miraculous 
 interposition to supply what labour and diligence can accomplish, 
 it is unreasonable to expect in any case. There are, however, 
 extremes of error upon this subject, from which the cause of reli- 
 gion has greatly suffered; from which, notwithstanding more 
 correct views now generally prevail, it still suffers. If there is 
 no longer an opposition in any denomination of Christians to the 
 association of human learning with religion, there is yet in many 
 a very inadequate estimate of its value, and too little zeal in pro- 
 moting it. A Christian community that is not earnest in its ef- 
 forts and liberal in its contributions to support establishments 
 where such advantages can be gained, shows too plainly that it 
 undervalues such advantages. When we look around us and hear 
 the loud call for active and intelligent and influential members of 
 the Church, and particularly for such as shall fill its sacred offices, 
 and consider to how small a proportion of our youth the means of 
 thus qualifying themselves to serve the cause of truth are limited, 
 we are constrained to acknowledge, that we either do not see, or 
 do not fulfil the just measure of our duty. The great and indis- 
 pensable qualification for the ministry, is, undoubtedly, that re- 
 newal of the heart which is the work of the Holy Spirit. But if a 
 pious ministry can be made more efficient by the aid of literature, 
 and that aid is withheld by those who can afford it, they must an- 
 swer for the neglect. The Church has passed through many 
 seasons of fearful peril. In our own day we have seen the stand- 
 ard of infidelity openly displayed, and heard the daring boast of 
 its champions that the Christian faith should fall before it. In 
 those ranks were found many of the great and learned of the 
 world ; and all the arms that sophistry, and passion, and ingenuity, 
 and ridicule could supply, were arrayed for the contest. But the 
 Church had her champions her great and learned gathered around 
 her, and the powers of darkness were put to confusion. Had she 
 discouraged learning in her sons, and disclaimed the aid of intel- 
 lectual power, who can tell what would have been the result of 
 the conflict ? 
 
 And is she now without her enemies ? Is not her citadel the 
 
11 
 
 only hope and refuge of our race, still assailed, less openly, but 
 more insidiously ? And when did it more become her fol- 
 lowers " to put on the whole armour of God," and stand forth in 
 her defence ? 
 
 And in the day to which the Christian looks with exultation 
 the long-promised day, the dawn of which is now breaking upon 
 the nations, are we not forewarned that " perilous times shall 
 come?" Know we not that the prince of this world will call out 
 all his hosts, and struggle with all the strength of convulsive des- 
 peration to sustain his falling kingdom ? Before the Church can 
 put on her " beautiful garments" of praise and triumph, she must 
 shine in the darkness of that conflict " bright as the sun and ter- 
 rible as an army with banners." Before her sons shall stand forth 
 as a resplendent host holding the palms of victory in their hands, 
 those hands must wield, in holy warfare, the well-tempered wea- 
 pons of truth. 
 
 The opposite error consists in undervaluing human acquire- 
 ments. 
 
 There was a time when Christianity was deeply wounded by 
 the prevalence of this error. And perhaps we must confess that 
 our own Church, though her views as expressed in her formula- 
 ries and doctrines were clear and Scriptural, was peculiarly ex- 
 posed to its influence. Learning was made, not an aid to religion, 
 but its substitute, and the preaching of the Gospel was too often 
 merely a display of human erudition embellishing a cold morality. 
 Men were allowed to take their stations at her altars who had no 
 experience of the power of religion upon their hearts, and no 
 other qualifications for the conversion of others, than the " entic- 
 ing words of man's wisdom," disclaimed by St. Paul. 
 
 We rejoice to know that this profanation of the holy office is no 
 longer tolerated that her ministers are now expected to exhibit 
 themselves as " ambassadors of God," having the " unction of the 
 Spirit," declaring " the whole counsel of God," and speaking in all 
 the power of intellect and in the simple earnestness which the 
 heart dictates, to the hearts and consciences, as well as to the 
 understandings of their hearers. Still the pride of learning, the 
 love of human applause, and the subtle acts of the great adversary 
 of man, present powerful temptations, requiring incessant watch- 
 fulness. It is difficult to be great, and successful, and applauded, 
 and humble. It is easy and natural to place an undue estimate 
 upon acquirements, when the mind feels the power and influence 
 which they give it. 
 
Ml 
 
 It may be well to inquire whether these dangers are not great- 
 ly aggravated by the manner in which mental cultivation is usual- 
 ly conducted, and by the means and motives employed in the 
 progress of education whether sincere Christians may not, in 
 their zeal for attaining a great and allowable object, be making 
 some sacrifice of their principles, and adopting some of the max- 
 ims of the world without due consideration. 
 
 If the youth of a literary institution see that their religious im- 
 provement is not the chief end and aim of their instructors that 
 the effort to make them Christians is formal and heartless, while 
 to the lessons of the world's wisdom they are continually en- 
 couraged by setting before them, not " the prize of their high 
 calling in Christ Jesus," but of academical honours if motives so 
 dangerous to our nature as pride and emulation are used to excite 
 them to the labour and self-denial of study if this is the course 
 of discipline to which ardent and susceptible hearts are subjected, 
 during the years of education, while the principles and habits are 
 forming, can we wonder to see them come forth with the character 
 of the scholar predominating over that of the Christian? They 
 may be well prepared for the world, for they have been formed 
 after its models. They may distinguish themselves in the strifes 
 and competitions for worldly honours, for to that warfare they have 
 been trained. But to glory in the cross of Christ, to bear the re- 
 proaches of the world, and to despise its baubles, to be meek and 
 lowly in heart, these are lessons they have yet to learn, and for 
 which they have learned every thing calculated to unfit them. 
 
 When we know that so many of our public institutions are con- 
 ducted, at least in some respects, upon principles such as these, 
 what can we say but that literary attainments are acquired at a 
 hazard and a price which religion can never sanction. 
 
 There is no necessity for this. Religion is the only true and 
 sure foundation for every institution that is to fit man for the du- 
 ties of life. The evidences and doctrines of Christianity may be 
 impressed upon the understanding, and its holy influences brought 
 to bear upon the affections throughout the progress of education. 
 Her principles need be subjected to no compromise or sacrifice ; 
 her motives are all-sufficient. To the Christian student she pre- 
 sents a prize of unceasing animation, and help and strength from 
 above to " hold up his goings in her paths." 
 
 To the unconverted, what can be more important than to place 
 them within the reach of the example and intercourse of the pious 
 of their own age ? where they will see living evidences of the 
 
13 
 
 power of religion, receive the same instructions, be subjected to 
 the same discipline, and become the objects of Christian care and 
 sympathy to their instructors and fellow students 1 
 
 "Where education is thus conducted, and means like these are 
 used, every thing is done that man can do, and the blessing look- 
 ed to from Him, in dependance upon whom, and for whom all is 
 done, may be confidently expected. 
 
 The projectors and conductors of literary institutions too 
 generally seem to entertain other views. They receive their 
 pupils. They expect to be able, too often by the use of mere 
 worldly means, to make them scholars. To make them Christians, 
 they would say, must be the work of a higher power, and to that 
 power they are content to leave it. Surely they forget that He, 
 who alone can do this work, yet works by means ; condescends to 
 employ in it the instrumentality of man, and has promised his 
 help and favour to labours thus directed. 
 
 Where the two great objects of religious and literary instruction 
 are properly united, and where the latter is made to stand, as it 
 ought to do, in a station secondary and subordinate to the other, 
 the temptations which are so apt to accompany the acquisition of 
 learning are happily counteracted. There will be found no in- 
 consistency in the motives or objects which such a course of edu- 
 cation presents. While the heart is softened, the taste refined, 
 and the reasoning powers exercised in the various pursuits of 
 literature and science, there 13 no cause to apprehend that the les- 
 sons of religion will be rendered less efficient. Nor can youth so 
 situated be insensible to that which pleads more successfully with 
 man than all argument and precept the beauty and the bright- 
 ness of the Christian character shining around them in their com- 
 panions and instructors. 
 
 Above all, when Christians, awakening at the call of duty, have 
 established such an institution, and placed it in the charge of men 
 with hearts devoted to the Redeemer's cause, willing to give them- 
 selves up to the work of preparing the rising generation for his 
 service ; when from its hallowed walls, and from the rejoicing 
 courts of Zion the prayer of faith shall ascend, how can we doubt 
 that it will be answered with the benediction of heaven ? 
 
 Such an institution is here. Its first fruits are before us. And 
 in the name of my distant Christian brethren, whose hearts have 
 been gladdened by the reports of this work of faith and love, I 
 offer thanks to the friends of Zion who have presented such an 
 offering to be consecrated to her service. 
 
14 
 
 Nor can I avoid declaring my approbation of the Christian 
 courage and confidence with which this has been achieved. It is 
 true, prudence requires, in such undertakings, that some previous 
 preparation of means should be provided. But I do not consider 
 it necessary, nor consistent with the religion we profess, to hold 
 back the commencement of such a work, till adequate funds are 
 in hand to accomplish all we may desire. In such a case, some 
 reliance may well be placed on future help, to be supplied by its 
 friends, as its wants may demand it. There need not be a hoard 
 laid up, a sum invested in securities, as the world calls it, (though 
 very insecure as the world often finds it,) sufficiently large to pro- 
 vide for its future operations without further assistance. 
 
 Enough for a beginning to erect the necessary buildings and 
 and provide for present wants, it is reasonable to procure. When 
 this is done, surely the influence of Christian feelings and princi- 
 ples may be looked to as a sufficient security to sustain it. Surely 
 it is enough to pray for it, as we are taught to do for ourselves, 
 not for hoarded treasures, but for daily bread. This prayer will, 
 I trust, be heard and answered, and a liberal supply of its 
 present wants encourage us to trust, with increasing confidence, 
 for the future. 
 
 The scene now before us is interesting such an assembly met 
 to do honour to the cause of God and man, to give its counte- 
 nance and support to such an institution, to encourage and ani- 
 mate the labours and efforts of its teachers, pupils and patrons ; 
 the youth to whom we are to look as the strength and glory of 
 our land in future days, who are here preparing themselves to 
 go forth as " lights of the world," present a spectacle which, even 
 to a heathen, who would say, " humani nihil alienum mihi," would 
 not be an object of indifference. 
 
 But what is such a scene to that which faith, not fancy, unveils 
 to the eye that looks into futurity? to the eye that looks beyond 
 this small beginning, not to the end, but to the never-ending 
 progress of a work destined to bless the world and give joy in 
 heaven for ever ? to the eye that has long mourned over the deso- 
 lations of Zion, and is now permitted to see how her solitary 
 places are to be made glad, and her wildernesses to " blossom as 
 the rose ?" When our favoured land, throughout all her borders, 
 shall exult in the full light of Gospel day when, as far as the 
 adventurous foot of man shall pierce her forests, the heralds of 
 salvation shall go forth, and the songs of Zion shall be heard, 
 till 
 
15 
 
 " The dwellers in the vale* and on the rocki 
 Shout to each other, and the mountain tops 
 From distant mountains catch the flying joy," 
 
 And when this light shall be boine from our bright and happy 
 shores to " the dark places of the earth," then, among the Chris- 
 tian host that shall have achieved these triumphs, may there be 
 found the names of many who were reared in this nursery of the 
 Church, equipped in this armoury of God. 
 
 And now, my young friends, I cannot refrain from availing my- 
 self of the liberty you have given me, by saying a few words in 
 conclusion to you. You have called on one to address you, 
 to whom often, in his retrospections of the past, it has occurred 
 to imagine what would be his course, if he could take his place 
 among you and be again permitted to begin the journey of life. 
 
 He cannot call back the past go over again, with corrected 
 views and subdued feelings and never-failing help, the days he has 
 wasted, nor regain opportunities of improvement that are lost for 
 ever. But he can entreat you, as his Christian brethren, to do 
 as he vainly wishes he had done that you may never have the 
 shame of looking back upon neglected time and abused mercies. 
 
 Much of the sin and misery of the world would be avoided, if 
 the young could be persuaded to believe the testimony of those 
 who have gone before them, and learn wisdom from the experience 
 of others. This is the great difficulty to overcome in the work of 
 education. That there should be such a difficulty; that intelligent 
 beings about to enter upon the untried path of life should refuse 
 the guidance of those who have travelled it before them, when 
 there is no doubt as to the superiority of their knowledge, and no 
 ground to question the sincerity of their counsels, is one among 
 many proofs of the darkness of the natural understanding, and of 
 the power of the delusions to which we are exposed. The world 
 cannot account for it, and has no cure for it. Religion alone ex- 
 plains it and applies the remedy. 
 
 Some of you have received this explanation, sought and found 
 this remedy. Others are, perhaps, unconscious that there is any 
 thing in their nature requiring either explanation or remedy or 
 if conscience has sometimes spoken too plainly to be misunder- 
 stood, you have considered it unnecessary to enter upon such an 
 inquiry so soon. You are brought here together for the common 
 purpose of qualifying yourselves for the duties and trials of a life 
 of which you can know but little. Those who have felt a deep 
 
16 
 
 interest in your welfare, have thought it best that you should be 
 thus associated, and they have adopted a system of instruction 
 calculated (as they believe) for your common benefit. 
 
 Their first object is to send you forth as Christians, and secondly 
 as Christians accomplished and strengthened with all those ac- 
 quirements of learning that may make you "perfect in every good 
 word and work," and " ready always to give to every man that 
 asketh you, a reason of the hope that is in you." If they shall be 
 permitted to succeed in their chief purpose, much will be gained 
 in favour of the second. Christian principles and habits will 
 infuse the diligence and self-denial necessary for the student; the 
 help of Omnipotence to which he may look in all his difficulties, 
 will be " always sufficient" for him ; gratitude for unspeakable 
 mercies will make his labours easy and delightful ; and the Christian 
 prize ever in his view, will animate him to perseverance. 
 
 The world can present nothing to the mind of man comparable 
 to these means and inducements. Let their superiority be mani- 
 fested by your exhibition of their fruits. And when pride and 
 emulation, and the unhallowed passions of the world, are urging 
 its votaries to the strife for literary distinctions, let it be seen that 
 while you disclaim such motives, and are indifferent to such ho- 
 nours, you are animated to superior efforts, under a holier influ- 
 ence, and for a brighter prize ; that " they do it, to obtain a cor- 
 ruptible crown, but you an incorruptible." I have endeavoured 
 to set before you the advantages of literature, its importance as a 
 part of the Christian's armour, and its dangers when unassociated 
 with religious principles. Look at the men who have been emi- 
 nent for piety, and have employed their cultivated talents in the 
 cause of religion, and compare them with those who have prosti- 
 tuted to unworthy purposes these valuable gifts, and say which 
 you would most desire to resemble. The men who have devoted 
 their lives to promote the happiness of others, whose labours have 
 been directed to the defence of the truth, and the extension of 
 religion, we should expect to find influenced by the principles they 
 endeavour to impress upon others, and enjoying that happiness 
 those principles are so well calculated to confer. And such will 
 be found to be the case. Although their outward circumstances, 
 like those of other men, were subject to all the vicissitudes of this 
 mortal state, and they have had to bear their full share of the 
 troubles of life, yet have they very generally been enabled to 
 u go on their way rejoicing," strong in the " faith that overcometh 
 the world," and taughtthem, " in whatsoever state they were, there- 
 
17 
 
 with to be content. " Such men, besides having a richer relish of 
 all the blessings of life, have enjoyed in the highest degree the 
 greatest of all luxuries, that of doing good ; and their peaceful 
 lives and triumphant deaths, have borne testimony to the truths 
 they felt and taught. 
 
 They rest from their labours, and God is thanked for having 
 given them as blessings to the world. Not so with the perverters 
 of learning " There is no peace to the wicked." And to the 
 wicked abusers of high mental endowments, and eminent acquire- 
 ments there are peculiar causes of disquietude and misery. Their 
 sensibilities are more acute, and the stings of conscience more 
 severe. They have no fixed principles to guide them through 
 life, no sources of consolation in trouble, no restraint upon the 
 passions, no shield against temptations. They enjoy the admira- 
 tion of the world, but are strangers to the peace and joy that the 
 world knoweth not; living " without hope and without God in the 
 world," they find life a burden, and dare not look to death for a 
 refuge. 
 
 Such is the power of literature, and such the contrast exhibited 
 in the lives of those who have used or abused it for the happiness 
 or misery of themselves and their fellow creatures. Such is the 
 earthly record of their history. We need not pierce the veil of 
 futurity to learn their different destinies in that great day of retri- 
 bution which was the hope of the one, and the dread of the other. 
 The lesson taught us by the comparison of their lives on earth 
 will be sufficiently awakening. 
 
 Let it then be your care to guard this great power which your 
 present situation enables you to acquire, by seeking it and em- 
 ploying it under the influence and direction of the religion you 
 profess. 
 
 You, particularly, who aspire to the honour of being "put in 
 trust with the Gospel" the highest honour that can be conferred 
 on man who feel in your hearts that He who has been pleased to 
 " call you out of darkness into his marvellous light," hath also 
 called you by his Spirit to stand forth as his " ministers of recon- 
 ciliation" to a fallen race : you should consider it, not merely 
 as permitted to you to reach forward to the full attainment of 
 all the power that mental improvement can give you, but as an ob- 
 ligation imposed upon you to fit you for the service of Him who 
 has thus called you. Seek it as subservient to religion as a ta- 
 lent to be employed in your great work and in your master's ser- 
 vice, and you may seek it with all the ardour its attainments de- 
 
18 
 
 mands. Fear not to dive deep into the mysterious nature of the 
 things within you and around you. 
 
 " Who most examine, most believe." 
 
 Labour to carry to its utmost improvement every faculty that 
 God hath given you, every thing that may aid you in the percep- 
 tion of truth and in the communication of it to others. Labour 
 for whatever may give you power procure over the hard heart, 
 and the closed ear, power, so to speak, that the sinner shall hear, 
 the sleeper shall wake, the dead shall live. 
 
 That you may avail yourselves of the advantages thus afforded 
 you, fulfil your various duties as students here, and be prepared 
 for your duties hereafter, you are provided with instructors, to 
 whose authority and friendly care and counsel you may look with 
 confidence and affection. 
 
 One most important obligation imposed by your peculiar situa- 
 tion here, relates to your fellow students. They will here be in- 
 structed in the evidences and doctrines of Christianity. From 
 this course of study, and from the Bible, they may learn much of 
 religion. But much of the effect of their studies and of what 
 they may think and feel upon the subject, will depend upon you. 
 In the daily intercourse of a college life, they will not fail to see and 
 note what religion has done for you. Those who have withstood 
 all other means of grace, have often yielded to the power of reli- 
 gion manifested in their associates. Put on, then, for your own 
 sakes and for their's, all the " beauty of holiness.'' Watch against 
 every thought and emotion that may tarnish the brightness of that 
 Christian character which you should continually present before 
 them. Let them see that the principles you profess, live and 
 grow in you that you have a peace which passeth their under- 
 standing that you have found a hidden treasure, filling your 
 hearts with joy, in which you desire them and all mankind to par- 
 ticipate. Let them experience in their intercourse with you the 
 unvarying and patient tenderness of the charity so beautifully de- 
 scribed by the Apostles, that " suffereth long and is kind," " that 
 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth 
 all things," and " never faileth." Let them see this, and they 
 will be unable to doubt either the truth, or the power, or the ines- 
 timable value of religion. This teaching, above all others, reaches 
 the heart. The Christian friends who surround you here this 
 day, rejoice in the anticipation that you will thus acquit yourselves 
 here, and that you will go forth from these walls, thus qualified 
 for your high office, the gifted sons of this institution, the hope of 
 
19 
 
 the Church, a blessing to your country and " to the ends of the 
 earth." Thus looking upon you with affectionate solicitude they 
 pray, in the language of the Apostle, "that your love may abound yet 
 more and more in knowledge and in all judgment that you may 
 approve things that are excellent that you may be sincere and 
 without offence till the day of Christ." Then shall they rejoice 
 in that day, that in rearing this fortress of the Christian faith, 
 they "have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain." 
 
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