f I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I 't^M. {UNITED' STATES OF AMERICA.} \> DIUTURNITYs OR THE COMPARATIYE AGE OF THE WORLD, SHOWING THAT THE HUMAN BACE IS IN THE INFANCY OF ITS BEING-, AND DEMONSTRATING A SEASONABLE AND RATIONAL WORLD, IMMENSE FUTURE DURATION. ~ J>- By Rev. RiTAbbey. 11 /° CINCINNATI: PPLEGATE & COMPANY 1866, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S66, by Ret. RICHARD ABBEY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Middle District of Tennessee. DEDICATION. To my Little Grandsons, Abbey, Johnny, and Lenny : My Dear Children — I dedicate this book to you. You are now little boys, of the ages of five to ten years, and know but little of the labors in which you have seen me so constantly engaged, in my study, every evening and leisure hour. A few times I have attempted to explain to you that I was writing a book, but you have only a partial con- ception of it. I humbly pray Almighty Grod that he may bless you with health and wisdom, that in riper years you may not only study and comprehend these thoughts profit- ably, but improve upon them and learn wisdom. And I confidently expect that your early dedication to God, whose providence I have herein, in a small degree, attempted to explain, will stimulate you to higher and still higher thoughts of his ways, and to closer and still closer devo- tion to his service. Your affectionate grandfather, K. Abbey. Nashville, Tenn., March, 1866. (Hi) CONTENTS SECTION FIRST. PAGB Illustrating some Natural and Practical Points of Relation and Affinity between Man and his Earthly Residence 13 Chapter 1. A cursory View of the Point we now occupy as to the Past, the Present, and the Future 15 2. God is Infinitely Wise and Good. This is the True and Only Basis of all Practical Reasoning on Nature and Providence 19 3. God being Infinitely Wise and Good, there is noth- ing Made in Vain, but every thing for an Ade- quate Purpose 23 4. Respecting the Adamic Curse and some of its Im- mediate Effects 25 5. Concerning the Restoration and the Means by which it was to be Effected 27 6. The Final Triumph of Christ in the Simple Work- ings of the Christian Religion will be absolutely Completed 28 7. The Natural Advancement of the World and of Re- ligion Considered 32 8. The Natural Tendency of Religion is to Increase... 35 9. Concerning the Natural Process by which Children Inherit Piety 38 10. Concerning the Comparative Age of the World — Whether it is Old or Young 42 11. Refutation of some of the Popular Sentiments re- specting the Comparative Age of the World 44 VI CONTENTS. PAGK Chapter 12. A Philosophers Rule by which the Comparative Age of the World may be so far Ascertained as to Determine that this Age belongs to its Infancy. 46 13. Concerning the Vast Amount of Undiscovered Na- ture 48 SECTION SECOND. On the Physical Aspects of the "World 53 Chapter 14. Capacity proves Design — The Rule applied to the World and its Furniture 55 15. The Earth and its great Store-houses are as yet al- most wholly Undiscovered 58 16. Concerning Rocks, Hills, and Deserts — Their Con- dition and Design 61 17. Some Practical Observations on Isaiah xl: 4 04 18. Concerning the Present Condition of Forests and Unused Lands compared with their Evident De- sign 67 19. An Inquiry respecting the Polar Regions 68 20. An Inquiry respecting the Present Condition of Mineralogy 72 21. Concerning Caves and the Light they throw on the Subject 75 22. An Inquiry Relating to Fossil Coal 81 23. Concerning Salt, its Great Quantities, Practical Uses, etc 83 24. Concerning Mineral Waters — Their Quantities, Kinds, and Uses 85 25. Concerning Hot Springs and other Underground Phenomena 87 26. An Inquiry respecting Earthquakes, their Design, etc 89 27. Respecting Agriculture, its Present Condition, etc. 91 28. There is Evident Defect in the Present System of Agriculture 94 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Chapter 29. Concerning Rain, and how far Science may Con- trol it 96 30. Concerning Medicine — The Small Discoveries made in this Department 98 31. The Mechanic Arts are in a Crude Beginning State 99 32. Concerning the Durability of Building Material — The Small Discoveries we have made in it 101 83. Concerning Oil, with Conjectures as to the Proba- ble Supply, Uses, etc 103 CTION THIRD. On tee Intellectual Aspects of the World 105 Chapter 34. What is the Proper Mission and End of Science ?... 107 35. Concerning the Philosophic Congruity between Man and the World 110 36. Concerning Money — Its Philosophy and Uses 113 37. Concerning the Intercommunication of Ideas Gen- erally and the Means by which it is done 115 38. Concerning the Office and End of Human Language 118 39. Concerning Acoustics — Its immense Natural Im- portance, and our Great Lack of Knowledge re- specting it 124 40. Concerning Writing — Is it probable the Most Proper Mode of Writing is Discovered? 126 41. Concerning Longevity, Ancient and Modern — Which is the Rule and which the Exception?... 129 42. Concerning Wild Animals — Their Wildness is merely Temporary and Incidental 134 43. Concerning the Pre-Adamite Earth, considered in reference to its most Natural and Probable Rela- tion to the Earth in its Present Form 138 SECTION FOURTH. On the Moral and Religious Aspects op the World.. 145 Chapter 44. Some Plain and Unmistakable Bible Teachings on the Sinless Period 147 Vlll CONTENTS. Chapter 45. Concerning Popular Errors respecting the Sinless Period and of all Long Periods 151 46. The Undertaking of Christ in our Present Relig- ious System was the Thorough and Complete Renovation and Christianization of Mankind... 154 47. A Brief View of the Present State of Religion in the World.. 157 48. Concerning Superstition and Witchcraft 159 49. Concerning the State and Influence of Popular Prejudice 164 50. The Popular Misunderstanding of the Scriptures in the best portions of Society shows their com- parative Recent Introduction 166 51. Moral Philosophy is in its Crudest and Most Ini- tiatory State 168 52. Concerning the Present State of Religious Litera- ture — What it is and what it must be 170 53. Concerning the Agency and Necessity of Litera- ture in the Evangelization of the World 176 64. Concerning Juvenile Conversion — What it is and what it must be ~ + .- ..~..~. 178 65. Concerning the very great Injury the World Re- ceives by the Uniform Failures in the Govern- ment of Infants 181 66. Concerning Popular Views of Religion 188 67. The Conventional Laws of Society and the Rules of the Decalogue Contrasted 192 68. An Inside View of Popular Honesty 194 69. Concerning Civilization, and its Testimony as to the Progress the World has made in its Natural Course 195 60. Concerning Hypocrisy and Inferences to be Drawn therefrom 198 61. Concerning the Practical Use and Benefit of the Moral Law 200 CONTENTS. IX PAGE Chapter 62. Concerning the Irregularity of the Course of Re- ligious Progress 204 63. Concerning the Remarkable Successes and Fail- ures of the Gospel 208 64. Concerning Civil Government — Whether it is De- signed to be Permanent, and what are its Func- tions and Uses 216 65. Concerning Domestic Science — Its Philosophy and Compensation 221 66. Concerning War, and to what Comparative Period in Human Progress it Naturally belongs 228 67. Concerning Natural Theology 230 68. Concerning the Morals of Cities as Types and Models of the World 234 69. Concerning the Dark Ages, and its relation to other Periods, particularly the Future 236 70. Concerning Ecclesiastical History — Of what is it a History 239 71. Concerning Mental Progress — An Inquiry into the Absolute Powers of the Mental Const! tution 243 72. Concerning Animal Magnetism — What is it? 248 73. Concerning Astronomy — The Newness of the Sci- ence, with Inferences Deducible therefrom 253 74. Concerning Time and Space, and the Deficiency of * our Knowledge respecting them 256 75. Concerning Light and Vision — The Little we Know in comparison with what is Certainly or Proba- bly within our reach 259 76. Concerning Electricity — Possibility of its Discov- ery and Practical Use 262 SECTION FIFTH. On the Future Improved and Blissful State of the World 267 Chapter 77. Concerning the Natural Work and Office of Human Religion — Its Theater and its End 269 X CONTENTS, PAGE Chapter 78. Are there Few that be Saved?— Luke xiii: 23 273 79. Concerning the Sinless Period of the World, Im- properly Called a Millennium — Its Philosophy and Naturalness 276 80. Concerning the Second Coming of Christ — A De- murrer to some Recent Theories 286 81. Concerning the Philosophy and Sufficiency of the Christian Religion as it now is 302 82. Concerning the Attempted Degradation of Jehovah to an Earthly Emperorship — A Glance at its Rationale 307 83. My Kingdom is not of this World 315 84. This same Jesus which is Taken from you into Heaven, shall so Come in Like Manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven — Acts i: 11 319 85. Human Advancement must be supposed to be Finally Equal to the Natural Capacity for it 323 86. On the Interpretation of Prophecy 329 87. Concerning the Resurrection and the End of the World 336 88. Concerning the Final and Glorious Destiny of this World... 347 EXORDIUM The drift of the times is far too sensational. "We need more sobriety, more reason, and less fancy and imagery. Pictures of the marvelous are so easily drawn that we need not pay men for manufacturing them. Romance is cheap; and even rhetoric is sold by the teacher at a fair value. Poetry is very good in its place ; but it ought not to usurp the territory of others. The age in which we live, espe- cially among the religious and the religiously inclined, is already too imaginative, too romantic, too extravagant, too enthusiastic, too fanatic, too Utopian. We want less writ- ing and more thinking, less fancy and more reality, less idealism and more philosophy, less romance and more truth. It is not enough that a book be readable. Don Quixote has played his part. Literature, especially on religious sub- jects, undertaking to demonstrate the great truths of God and morals, ought to be free from fiction and somnambu- lism; manufacturers of gossip and sensation ought to be suspected prima facia; and rhetoric, oriental phraseology, and mystic verbiage, and paintings of the marvelous ought not to be deemed sufficient to entitle them to public confi- dence. In these chapters the author has had a different sort of (») Xll EXORDIUM. labor to perforin than to tickle the fancy and excite the imagination. Truth and Reason have been his instruments. This world is held to be reasonable, rational, sensible, and eminently harmonious and consistent. The reader is invited to a plain repast, served in a plain way. The entertainment is for his sober reason. He is asked to see, to think, and to admire, rather than to gaze, to marvel, and to wonder. I hold the doctrine of Millennium, in all the shapes and phases in which I have seen it stated, to be a most danger- ous form of infidelity, though I must confess that many who hold it are by no means aware of this. Indeed, many are among the most pious and useful Christians. Indeed, further, most of the objections I have seen against it, not being directed against the thing, but some particular phases of it, make concessions in its favor which are utterly sub- versive to the Christian religion. They tell us that millennium writers do n't know when the millennium will set in; it might happen at any time, and that our business is to let their calculations alone and get ready for it. It may happen at any time. On the contrary, I hold that there is and can be no such thing, neither now nor ever; that if a millennium and a human second-coming can happen at all, then the Christian religion is both a falsehood and a failure. And what we arc to do, or can do, to get ready for such an event, should such a thing be possible, I can not com- prehend, nor have I ever heard any one attempt to explain it. I know of no religious preparation we can make, ex- cept to live and die right and assist others to do the same. DITTTTJIlIISriTY. SECTION FIRST. Before bringing forward the Physical and Moral Testi- mony designed to be advanced in this argument, it is need- ful to prepare the way by a few chapters of plain but im- portant considerations respecting some points of relationship between the Maker, the World, and the inhabitants thereof. The unreasoning notion of wrapping up the course of time and humanity, and of circumscribing the sweep of earthly destiny within the narrow precincts of sixty or seventy cen- turies, is far too common. There is at least a reasonable relationship in providential things. The system we famil- iarly call the World has a beginning, a course, and a ra- tionale. (13) CHAPTER I. A CURSORY VIEW OF THE POINT WE NOW OCCUPY AS TO THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE. We are naturally inclined, and our circumstances and condition strongly prompt us, to take very restricted views and imbibe superficial notions of the depth and magnitude of the great course and sweep of the divine procedure in administering the affairs of our world, both in its natural and moral aspects. Occupying, as we do, each of us, but a brief point in periodicity, as we appear upon and pass over the stage of life in successive generations, and then having our attention centered chiefly upon the scenes immediately before us, we almost lose sight, in the dim distance, of things of the greatest moment. While " distance lends enchantment to the "view, " it generally hinders, if it does not oftentimes wholly ob- struct, philosophic research. And even history much resembles a landscape view. Ob- jects and facts at the remove of a few years lessen in their bulk greatly, while those a few centuries off stand in little clusters away in the dim distance. A little spreading oak near you is larger and fills more of the eye than the mount- ain whose azure peak rises on the other side of the land- scape. Yet the men who lived a thousand years ago, or those beyond the flood, experienced all the deep interest, and marked all the anxious solicitude in the extensive va- riety and individuality of separate years and days and (15) 16 DIUTURNITY. hours; their disappointments, their good and bad fortune, as well as their separate and various individual relationship, were all spread out before them, each in its separate, sev- eral position, and each possessing its individual relation- ship and peculiar interest. But the view we take of these things is very different. The events of a whole year, or of a hundred years, are often thrown into a general mass, with little or no separate individuality of interest, aad we see them only in a few convenient hillocks. Persons are nearly or quite cotemporary who lived a hundred years apart, and even geography is gathered together at a few convenient points. Thus we attach undue importance to the things which stand nearest us. The age in which we live is, in our esti- mation, far more important than any other. Now, every thing has ripened, or is fast ripening, into the most import- ant results. This is the culminating period. Science is at or near its acme. The arts have reached very nearly or quite the line of perfectness. Every thing is mature or is fast maturing. Nor do we rest these things upon mere fancy and imag- ination. We reason and prove as we go. See how we are in advance of our fathers! Look at the high condition of the arts and sciences ! See our inventions and perfection in motive power — of railroads, navigation, and many other use- ful things ! The men who lived before us had not discov- ered the vast and important uses to which the earth and its properties could be subjected. They had not discovered America; and now look at its countless towns and cities, and its rich and ripening farm-fields. They had not even discovered Africa, save a few border patches; but now the source of the Niger is made to wheel into the ranks of geography. Look at Australia, California, the Sandwich Islands, and the far East, and compare their condition with what they were only half a century ago. And notice the perfection in telegraphing; improvements 17 in agriculture: look at geological research; at printing; at artistic printing and lithography ; at the discovery of sub- terranean lakes of pure oil, etc., etc. And, besides the vast improvements and perfections in arts and science, look at the moral and religious condition of the world. Missionaries have been sent to and have la- bored in every main-land and every island of the sea. Far- off Africa has been cited to Christ and exhorted to holiness. Many millions of copies of the Bible have been printed and circulated in all lands; its text has been scrutinized more carefully, or at least more critically, than in former ages, and its doctrines are therefore better understood, and conse- quently more highly appreciated. Biblical science and ec- clesiastical philosophy were never so well understood as they are now. So that our present stand-point is one of great if not uni- versal corvergence. We live in the great focal center of human progress. We conclude that human advancement has reached almost the very topmost round of the ladder. We have reached so far that surely there is not much be- yond. Such reasoning as this is inconclusive and unsatisfactory. However far it may be carried as matter of mere historic truth, and to whatever particular things it may be applied, there being no common standard nor rule of human per- fectability, nor natural maturity with which to compare these facts, and by which to determine their character, the argument amounts to nothing, or nearly nothing. They prove that human affairs are still progressing. But whether they have marked one-half, or one-thousandth part, or one stride in a million of the great course of time, they determ- ine nothing. By this kind of argument we determine that human improvement continues; that the world and its af- fairs have not stopped, nor turned back upon their axes; that experience still develops moral, intellectual, and scien- tific truth. 2 18 DITJTTTRNITY. If you were to go back to the' people who lived ten, a hundred, a thousand, or two or five thousand years ago, you would find them reasoning in the very same way, and form- ing the very same conclusions. They, too, had made great improvements upon the past, and saw every thing fast reach- ing maturity. We must find some other mode of reasoning. Reasoning without a base-line is not reasoning. Determin- ing without an axiom determines nothing. By observing the simple but sure utterances of nature, we have ascertained some of Grod's laws respecting what we call science, with unmistakable certainty. But what pro- portion of the regions of science we have actually explored, who can tell? We have entered upon the threshold, and set foot upon the margin; but where the other side is, who has ascertained? The discovery of the mariner's compass, and of a conti- nent in the West, settled nearly all principles in nautical science; and yet the first masters of the seas can not tell the character nor the use of the Gulf Stream, nor why or wherefore the tide rises. The plow which Cincinnatus drove twenty-three hundred years ago was the perfection of agri- cultural science and of that class of labor-saving machinery ; and yet we have not, to this day, discovered a rule by which to determine poor land from rich; nor even have we ascer- tained whether indeed there is absolutely any such dis- tinction. In ecclesiastical science and theology, Luther was un- questionably far ahead of his race and his age ; and he opened up the Bible as it had not been read before. And yet at this day it is by no means a settled matter among theologians what and where the Church is, nor how it is to be identified, entered, or governed. We must reason otherwise. We must find a fixed and certain base-line from which to reason. Can we do so? GOD IS INFINITELY WISE AND GOOD. 19 CHAPTEE II. GOD IS INFINITELY WISE AND GOOD — THIS IS THE TRUE AND ONLY BASIS OF ALL PRACTICAL REASONING ON NATURE AND PROVIDENCE. The infinite wisdom and goodness of God are settled axioms. They are not latent principles which may be brought into exercise, but active characteristics which are certainly in operation always and in all places. It follows then, manifestly, that God has made nothing in vain; that every thing has a purpose and an adaptation. And not only has every thing, a purpose and an adaptation, but every thing in creation has an infinitely wise adaptation and an infinitely good purpose. This means, in other words, that the earth, with its nat- ural properties and laws, as a dwelling-place for mankind, is arranged and adapted, in all its parts and possible rela- tions and combinations, so as to answer the end in view in the best possible way, and to the greatest possible extent. God has made nothing in vain. There is in creation no un- necessary outlay of either mind or means. That is, every thing was made and arranged for something. Nothing was made for nothing. Not a leaf, not a vapor, not a pebble, not a law but has a purpose and an adaptation under God's wisdom and goodness. The nature and uses of most of the laws and properties of the earth, such of them as we have discovered, are easily seen and understood; and we certainly do not know of any thing that is useless. Thousands of the properties, laws, and relations of the earth have been discovered since we 20 DIUTURNITY. have been living upon it, and in almost every instance their usefulness, to some extent at least, has been seen. To suppose that God lias made any thing without a wise and benevolent motive, is to suppose there was some lack of either wisdom or goodness in the production. But how far we, in the present age of the world, may be able to see and understand fully the usefulness of each particular piece of the earth's furniture, as far as we may have discovered them, is one thing ; and how far such usefulness may really exist, is perhaps quite another. It is certain we know of nothing intended to produce unhappiness. The senses are channels through which, to a great extent, happiness and unhappiness are transmitted. Food is essen- tial for the sustenance of the body; but it is by no means necessary, so far as we know, that food should have a pleas- urable taste; that its proper use should be attended with pleasurable sensations; and that men should be capable of choosing between this and that kind of food of the same nourishing qualities, merely on the ground of happiness in the use of it. We see, however, that the nerves of the mouth are most nicely adjusted to the temper of the juice of the apple. And though there be such a great variety in the chemical formation of different kinds of food, prepared in different modes, yet there is, in almost all the millions of the human family, a corresponding and wonderfully nice adjustment in the numerous nerves with which the mouth is supplied, so that eating is a pleasure as well as a utility. To produce this result, there must have been a wonderful cooperation between the goodness and wisdom of Almighty God; for, without this, the most wholesome and nutritious food would be as likely to have the taste of putrid meat, or Indian turnip, or sand, as of beef-steaks or pies. Wis- dom made food nutritious, and goodness made it pleasant to the taste. And just so of the sense of seeing. But for a most won- derful adjustment in the formation of the retina of the eye GOD IS INFINITELY WISE AND GOOD. 21 and the color of a landscape, seeing would be generally painful. Most things we see are green or of greenish color. This simple fact ministers largely to human happiness. And then the great variety in the colors of nature and the cor- responding structure in the organs of sight render seeing a great pleasure as well as a utility. When some of the nerves of the eye become diseased, see how painful it oftentimes becomes to look out upon almost any thing. Now, we are obliged to conclude that but for the constant exercise of Divine goodness and wisdom, this great pain in seeing would be a common experience every moment of our lives, as the eye passes from one object to another. And just so in hearing. The melody of common sounds is pleasurable. This is not necessarily so, nor could it be the result of accident. The voice of a friend might be as intelligible as it is, and yet grate upon the ear like a rasp upon a mill-saw, piercing asunder almost the very nerves of the teeth. The voice of birds, of the wind, the prattling of babes, the violin, the cascade, the base of the lowing ox, the rolling of the billow, or the sweet melody of song, are all sources of untold happiness to mankind. The simple utility of hearing is, we may say, produced by wisdom; while all that is pleasureable in sound, with its many vary- ing notes, is to be attributed to the Divine goodness. The former might be as complete as it is now, with little or nothing of the latter. There can be no doubt that, but for special interworking of the wisdom and goodness of God in tempering the delicate texture of the atmosphere for the conveyance of sound, and the perhaps still more delicate construction of the ear to that end, that hearing would, in most if not all cases, be attended with intense pain. And the sense of feeling, also, and the manner in which it is exercised, give indubitable evidence of the immeasur- able display of the Divine goodness and wisdom. But for these special preparations and adaptations, every thing we would touch would give us pain. 22 DIUTURNITY. And what is it that causes a pleasurable fragrance to emit from the rose, or a sweet odor to arise from the meats we eat, hut the exact measurements and adaptations of Divine goodness and wisdom? "We judge to a considerable extent of the qualities of food by the sense of smell. But it is certainly not necessary that pleasurable sensations should be the rule of acceptance and rejection, or that the exercise of these organs should ever be attended with happiness. But in all these things we see, as clearly as the sun at noonday, that there is an infinitely wise and benevolent adaptation in the placing of each one of the millions of nerves, fibers, tendons, muscles, bones, and juices of the hu- man system, on the one hand, and, on the other, in the at- mosphere, the light, heat, color, density, fluidity, and solidity of every part and particle of the earth's surface, and its attendant properties, in its animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms. Every thing in itself and its relations is exactly fitted to its end and purpose. There is not a useless piece of machinery. There are not two things where one would answer as well; there are not ten things where nine would serve as good a purpose. In all the countless variety of vegetation on the earth's surface — the number of leaves, the texture of bark, the de- cay of old foliage, and the production of new, the length of time necessary for its maturity — all are placed in precise harmony and adaptation with the composition of the atmos- phere, the descending rain, the changes of the seasons, the recurrence of day and night, and every other earthly phe- nomenon. There is no jargon, no conflict, nothing made in vain, no lack, no redundancy. And the end of the whole and of each particular is, that the earth may be the better fitted to furnish a complete and happy residence for man. Thus it is that God's WISDOM and GOODNESS under- lie all true reasoning respecting the phenomena of the world regarded as a residence for mankind. It was made perfect, absolutely perfect in all its parts; for its Maker, in view NOTHING IS MADE IN VAIN. 23 not merely of its then present condition, but of its course, sweep, career, use, and destiny, pronounced it "GOOD." And whether it had been so pronounced or not, such must have been its character, because it is the result of Infinite wisdom and goodness. CHAPTER III. GOD BEING INFINITELY WISE AND GOOD, THERE IS NOTHING MADE IN VAIN, BUT EVERY THING EOR AN ADEQUATE PURPOSE. It is not only a necessary deduction of reason that noth- ing could be made in vain, and that there could be no lack of any thing useful to man, seeing that Glod is infinitely wise and infinitely benevolent, and that he is our God, but when we examine the world itself, so far as we are at pres- ent capable of doing so, we find this doctrine abundantly vindicated. We know, however, but little of the world we inhabit, of its earth, rocks, minerals, water, vegetation, ani- mals, atmosphere, light, heat, etc., and of the laws by which they are related and governed. And still less do we know of the extent to which they may be made to combine and cooperate for the advantage of mankind. Since we have inhabited the world, we have made ourselves acquainted with a few of these things and their laws, though it is cer- tain that most of them lie quite beyond our observation. And we see nothing made in vain. Perhaps some might assent to this general proposition — that every thing was made for a purpose — with but a faint and partial conception of its practical importance. The principle must hold good in all its practical details. The earth has exactly the right size, and the proper specific 24 DIUTURNITY. gravity, and is composed of the kind of material best suited to its end. And the materials with which it is furnished, air, water, minerals, vegetation, etc., is also of the proper kind and quantity. The idea is a pretty large one, and comprehends a great variety of particulars, and has im- mensity of extent, but it must be entertained as a basis of reasoning. The world was created not for a general but for a specific purpose. On this point we are unmistakably informed. After God had created the earth with its properties and animals, each perfect in itself, with inherent provision for a continuous existence, he said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." And further it is said: "And God blessed them, and said unto them, Be fruitful and mul- tiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it ; and have do- minion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.*' Thus man was not only prepared for a universal propri- etorship of the earth and all it contained, and was then placed in that office without either a rival or a copartner, but God blessed the whole property thus placed in man's possession for his use, and then blessed, man in the use and possession of it. Hence we see that God prepared a habitation for man, completely furnished in every particular, and then prepared man for the habitation. And between the two there was a complete adaptation in every particular, without any sur- plus or unnecessary preparation on the one hand, or any thing lacking on the other. We are, however, obliged to presume that at that period man had but little knowledge of the extent of the grant thus made to him or of its value. He had seen but little of "all THE ADAMIC CURSE. 25 the earth," its properties, its surface, and its internal stores, and of every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And how far since that time the descendants of Adam have made themselves acquainted with this property, and how far they have appropriated the estate to its full use and intent, are some of the questions we will endeavor to look into in the future. The grant was as complete as was the previous creative preparation ; and that was as complete and as large as is man's natural capacity to appropriate and to use it would allow. The world, in every particular, was the very best that could be for man's use; and on the other hand, man was endowed with such capabilities as fitted him in the very best way for such a large and rich proprietorship. And then the earth, with all its properties, was formally and sol- emnly handed over into man's possession. CHAPTER IV. RESPECTING THE ADAMIC CURSE AND SOME OF ITS IMME- DIATE EFFECTS. The proprietor with his property was thus fitted and in- tended for a rich and glorious future. He was not only to "have dominion" over the whole earth, and all that it pos- sessed, but he was to "subdue" it. By this we understand that he was to occupy and use it practically. It was not to be his merely nominally, but he was to take actual super- vision and control over it, and was to reduce it to actual use, so that the whole of it — every thing — that was given was to minister to the comfort of man and the glory of Grod. This was to be the case not with a part of the world, nor a part of the things with which it was furnished, but 3 26 DIUTURNITY. with all that was given. Nothing was made for any other purpose than to he "subdued" — used by man. But, alas! man was faithless to the trust. That is, two persons were faithless, and they being the common progen- itors of the race, and their offspring inheriting the sinful dispositions they thus imbibed by transgression, the Lord pronounced to them the following law: "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field ; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." This can not be regarded a change in the programme of the world as relates to the Almighty; but, as relates to us and our habitation, it certainly introduced a new and mel- ancholy state of things. And now, what does this change imply? Or rather, first, let us inquire and see what it does not imply. It does not imply a disannulling or abridgment of the grant. The proprietorship, in man, of the world and all its properties remained. Nor does it imply that man will be ever or finally restricted in the use and occupation of the world or of any thing it possesses. God does not, in the curse, take back from man any thing which he gave him; nor does he render any thing useless to him. The curse was a punishment inflicted on mankind, or rather denounced against him, for the sins committed by his hands. It enacts that in using the world and its prop- erties, very little of which was then known to him, and re- ducing them to the utmost of their natural capacity, to meet the wants of man, man should labor. Little or noth- ing should come forth spontaneously, but that toil — the sweat of the face — should be the rule and the measure of its subjugation and appropriation. And there are some other consequences of this curse which will be noticed in THE RESTORATION. 27 the further progress of this argument. And there are still others, which, in their nature, do not belong to this argu- ment, and will not, therefore, be considered in it. CHAPTER V. THE RESTORATION, AND THE MEANS BY WHICH IT WAS TO BE EFFECTED. We now proceed to show, from a series of testimony and argument, that the ruins of the fall are to be rebuilt; that restoration shall be established in the course of time. This restoration will not be absolutely complete in all respects; but, like any other restoration in human af- fairs, will be as complete as the nature of things allow. The serpent, whoever or whatever this was, was the prime agent in this evil ; and though he should be permitted to do much evil in the world, even to the bruising of the heel of man, yet man should finally bruise his head. And this is to be done, not in some other world than this, nor under some other constitution of affairs, but in this self-same world, and under the present constitution of things. We are, therefore, to look, in the course of time, as it is now progressing, for the devil to become completely despoiled of his power to harm. His power shall be destroyed. He shall be chained by Almighty power. He shall fight his last battle, and in it his defeat shall be signal, overwhelming, complete, and glorious. His pretended, usurped, and un- lawful kingdom shall be taken away, and he shall be not only dethroned, but he shall be imprisoned. Not only shall he not rule others, but he shall not have personal liberty for himself. He shall be driven completely back off the platform of this world, and shall not thenceforth even men- 28 DIUTURNXTT. ace its peace nor its purity. His subjugation will be com- plete and absolute. And all this snail be part and parcel of the history of this very world of ours in its regular, nat- ural onward course, The means by which this restoration is to be effected is the natural working of the moral system called Religion. This system of religion is revealed to man by the Almighty, and is nothing more nor less than a succinct or well-grouped delineation of the varied relationship actually subsisting be- tween God and man, and pointing out to man how, on his part, that relationship must be sustained in the various de- tails of practical life. The fall, as Adam's sin is generally called, disturbed that relationship on man's part, and rendered it impracticable for him to fulfill it. And the restoration not only gave to man this necessary ability, but set on foot other objective means, which secured the certainty of success. CHAPTER VI. THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF CHRIST IN THE SIMPLE WORKINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION WILL BE ABSOLUTELY COM- PLETE. There is seen floating loosely about among Christians a sort of matter-of-course theory respecting the greatness of Christ's triumph over sin, which admits rather than claims that he will, in some way not practically understood or at all comprehended, be finally victorious. But a complete, sensi- ble, practical belief that in the course of time the ruins of the fall will be rebuilt, and the conquest of Christ over his adversary will be full, complete, and resistless, like the con- THE FINAL TRIUMPH OP CHRIST. 29 quest of God over a feeble creature, is not by any means as uniform and satisfactory in the minds of Christians as so important a religious truth ought to be. The power which undertook this work is nothing less than the power of Almighty God. And the resisting ad- versary is nothing more than a feeble, tottering, palsied creature. It is the majestic power of Jehovah against a vapid, self-sufficient blusterer, with no real power save that of his blinded, conceited imagination. And so, as to the issue, finally, there can be no doubt. There is, perhaps, no biblical or religious truth more clearly set forth than this: that the time will come, in the course of its history, when it will be seen that the damage done to the world by the power of Satan has been repaired fully, and when sin, in the person and conduct of man, shall be no more seen in the earth. And this will be the result not of some new expedient of the Almighty, but of the great plan of salvation at first introduced, so very briefly and graphically stated in the third chapter of Genesis, but which was no doubt extensively and elaborately made known, and is now in the course of its progress — the cross of Christ and work of the Holy Ghost. Notice a few declarations on this point: "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." — Num. xiv: 21. "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and wor- ship before thee, Lord; and shall glorify thy name.'' — ■ Ps. lxxxvi: 9. "For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." — 1 John, iii : 8. "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee." — Ps. xxii: 27. "Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him." — Ps. lxxii: 11. " In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and hia 30 BIUTURNITY. idols of gold, winch they made each one for himself to wor- ship, to the moles and to the bats." — Isa. ii: 20. "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord G-od will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth : for the Lord hath spoken it." — Isa. xxv: 8. " I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall serve." — Isa. xlv: 23. "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation and thy gates Praise." — Isa. lx: 18. "Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shaU inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." — Verse 21. " The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." — Hab. ii: 14. "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." — Je. xxxi: 34. "In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto the Lord: and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like bowls before the altar." — Zacli. xiv: 20. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mount- ain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." — Isa. xi : 9. These quotations, and many more that might be added, prove beyond question that human holiness will be uni- versal after awhile, at some period in the world's history. It is a plain, simple, easily understood matter. It is merely a change which the present system of things will work in the condition of the world. The Christian religion, with its present working machinery, is fully capable of all this. Let it work, and work long enough, and it will most surely THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF CHRIST. 31 renovate the world perfectly. After a sufficient time there will be not a sinning man in the world; all will serve God. There will be no exception. There will be no exhortations to holiness, for there will be no necessity for them. All will be holy. Every pulsation of every heart will be earn- est devotedness to God, through Jesus Christ. But this will be no more heaven upon earth than it is now. It will be merely the earth, the present earth as it ought to be. Sin is an interloper here. It does not nat- urally belong here; ought not to be here. If a man will but lengthen out his views and elevate his conceptions in some sort corresponding to a world-like, God- like sweep of periodicity, and not regard the world as under sentence of death in its infancy, there will be found no diffi- culty in conceiving and following the Scripture representa- tions into a gradual improvement in Christianity, until there shall be none left to advocate the cause of sin in either theory or practice.. All this requires no dark, mysterious unravelings of what is well known to be very uncertain prophesy. It requires no preternatural dashes of providential events, no unnatural developments of any kind, but a smooth, onward flow of causes already agoing, a mere increase of religion among men. This simple theory, as natural as it is simple, will be found to harmonize most smoothly with the Scripture men- tion of the second coming of Christ and with the Millen- ium, so-called. If theologians will but let this physical world alone, and suffer it to live out half its days, and per- form some reasonable portion of the things assigned to it by its Maker, the things in it will work out their proper natural results in due time. 32 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER VII. THE NATURAL ADVANCEMENT OF THE WORLD AND OF RE- LIGION CONSIDERED. T\ t hen we have once arrived at the point whence we can see, through the Scriptures, the certainty of a coming sin- less period in the history of the world — a time of universal holiness in the people of the world — we are prepared to in- quire into the simple naturalness and philosophy of the change. The improvement upon the present state of things will be very great. If we but let our minds swing loose from a cramped, re- stricted but unnatural view of periodicity, into which they are likely to fall, and suppose it as probable that a world would live a million or many millions of years as six or seven thousand years, we will be better prepared to take a natural or world-like view of the course of time. Our ideas of progress, of advancement, of improvement, are very mate- rially influenced by our notion of the entire period in which improvement is possible. A work to be accomplished in a day requires quick act- ivity. If the morning hours pass without sensible im- provement, the enterprise is likely to fail. Or if it is to be accomplished in a lifetime, we can, in like manner, note the necessary progress. And if it is to be accomplished in a thousand or in ten thousand years, the rule, relatively, is the same, but the points of progress pass entirely beyond our comprehension. We each see but fifty or eighty years of the world's periodicity; and beyond this, the little we learn from past history would not warrant us in forming a very safe opinion whether the world is progressing in im- ADVANCEMENT OF THE WORLD AND RELIGION. 33 provement with sufficient rapidity or not, if it be destined to a lifetime of a hundred thousand or a million of years. Improvement of all valuable kinds might be progressing with adequate rapidity and regularity, though at the pres- ent time no improvement at all were apparent. Those who see that the world has already survived the vigor and strength of its manhood, and find it now in its sear old age and rapid decline, can discover no mode by which its natural work, as seen and revealed, is to be ac- complished but by some rapid and unnatural winding up of its affairs, in a rapid and brilliant conclusion, entirely unlike the character of its regular life. And so the prophesies of Scripture are tortured to make them support a hypothesis which their conjectures have rendered necessary. But perhaps these conclusions may be hasty, and the world may not be relatively so old as they imagine. We might inquire, by what means has it been ascertained with certainty that the world has even entered upon its adult period of life? Where is the Scripture or where is the reason of the thing which testifies as to 'the proportion of the world's years which are past, or as to the maturity of sublunary things? And, then, supposing the world to be in its juvenile be- ginnings — that in these six or seven thousand years it is only just in the commencement of its great career of life — let us look briefly at the simple and natural manner in which its religious character would be likely to improve in the course of time. It is assumed that the world is improving in morals and religion, and has been improving since the earliest ages. A hasty glance at some particular country, and even partic- ular period of a few years, might lead a superficial observer to a different notion ; but no sober conclusion can be drawn in that way. The only way to look at this point is to take a survey of the entire world at periods removed from each other a thousand years or more. 34 DITJTURNITY. If the world is not improving, then revealed religion .is a failure. But by this I do not mean that we must necessa- rily see the improvement every time we look upon the world. The weather grows colder from the first of Sep- tember until December, and yet we do not discern it every day; indeed, it does not grow colder every day in every place. Now it is warmer than it was last week; or it is warmer or colder in different countries; and yet it grows colder, certainly, on the whole. The approach of winter is certain but irregular. Just so of the approach of a bet- ter condition of morals and religion in the world ; and so of almost all human improvement. Religion is a grand remedial system. It was planned by the wisdom of Grod, and instituted as a remedy for «m. And to suppose that it does not remedy the evil is to sup- pose it is a failure. And if it be true that the course of time is well-nigh run ; that the period allotted for the work of religion in the world is about to expire, then it may be said to be a failure. By considering religion a failure, I mean merely that the system was not adapted to the con- dition and circumstances of mankind. Religion has a strong, innate, self-propagating tendency, and its onward progress is irregular only because of the ob- stacles and counter-currents it meets with here and there. Its moral force is very much greater than is generally sup- posed, and so, also," is the power of evil it has to contend with far greater than men generally seem to think. THE TENDENCY IN RELIGION IS TO INCREASE. 35 CHAPTER VIII. THE NATURAL TENDENCY IN RELIGION IS TO INCREASE. The natural tendency of the world is to grow worse and worse, with constant and most fearful rapidity. The nat- ural tendency in religion is to increase with equal rapidity. But how is it here, where we have both influences at work in opposition to each other? Where is to be found the balance of power amid these two great counter-working agencies? Where is the preponderancy? This inquiry throws us back upon the axiom of Glod's wisdom and goodness. It, in effect, inquires whether our system of revealed religion is adapted, in an infinitely wise and benevolent manner, to the circumstances and conditions of mankind, so that the great end in view will be naturally reached in the shortest and best way possible. Let this be conceded, and the superiority of the motive force of relig- ion over its competitor follows as matter of course. This is abundantly attested by both reason and revelation. God embarked all the means he had — speaking with human words — in the enterprise of salvation. When religion began its operations, it had to encounter a world full of wickedness, among a people most abomina- bly corrupt. But, being wisely adapted to its end, it set out vigorously upon its enterprise of subjugation. Since which period the time is so short, compared with the mag- nitude of the undertaking and the condition of the world, that not much opportunity has been afforded for the devel- opment of practical results; and the greatest difficulties would be naturally encountered in its beginning. A quaint old man, of great wealth and much experience 36 DIUTURNITY. in making money, once observed that almost the only dif- ficulty in getting rich was encountered in the first million. Just so. The philosophical miser had discovered the great principle of increase, and he applied it to that which most interested him. And the same principles may well be applied to Christianity. For long periods religion has to contend with the un- broken power of the adversary, put forth in a thousand dif- ferent ways; and on a thousand battle-fields the enemy seems to wear off the laurels. But all this while the power of God is in the Gospel, and it moves on quietly and irre- sistibly, though irregularly as to places and periods. Religion requires and supposes enjoyment, and that sup- poses increase. That which, in this respect, is true of one man, is true of a million and of all mankind. Religion in- creases religion. The man who possesses religion is happy in its enjoyment, and desires and therefore works for more. It is the very nature of religion to increase. To grow in grace is a religious principle. And the man who grows in grace does so because his religion so prompts him; because he so desires. He does so not because of the command, but because his religious feelings so urge him. God addresses himself to the world as it is. He offers his grace to man where he is, and as he is actually conditioned, so that in the use of religion there is nothing miraculous or even preternatural. Every thing here is perfectly nat- ural. Man uses the offer of grace and religion itself just as he does any other providential advantage. The tendency in religion to increase is, therefore, the same as the tendency in science to increase, or in the arts improve. Mechanism is improving because of an inherent tendency in man's na- ture to improve it, coupled with a susceptibility of improve- ment in the thing itself. But when we look out upon the world, we see there has been much more actual improvement in agriculture, in nav- igation, in hydraulics, in chemistry, literature, commerce, THE TENDENCY IN RELIGION IS TO INCREASE. 37 motive-power, etc., than in religion. Now, how is this? Religion is far more valuable to mankind than any of these things; and why does it not improve at least equally with them? The reason is obvious and perfectly natural. It is simply because there were actually in the one case greater difficulties to encounter, more obstacles to overcome, more hindrances to displace than in the other. For the same reason agriculture has improved more than geology. In all these cases the principle of improvement is the same. Seeing, therefore, the strong and almost irresistible ten- dency in man to idolatry, his blinded, infatuated, and pow- erful inclination to seek for happiness — or at least enjoy- ment — in the things of the world which he possesseth, the rushing violence of his inordinate passions, with his wild, crazy, and insane aversion to the moral regimen of God, it is indeed no wonder that in these few centuries religion has scarcely made a fair beginning in the world. All along there, have been a few pious people in the world; but the number has been so small, and the opposition to them so united and so great, that as yet religion has scarcely secured a foothold in the world. Nevertheless, in these few thou- sand years, religion has made some fair and solid begin- nings. Upon the entire world it has made little or no im- pression; but upon a portion of the world, the best though the smaller portions, it has made a very decided impression. Nine-tenths of the people of Christendom, though nine- tenths of them are personally very wicked, are, notwith- standing, solemnly and firmly impressed with the belief that religion is the one thing needful. This, though compara- tively but little, is nevertheless a considerable attainment. The work of religion upon the world has at least begun, and is advancing. Natural causes are at work. The pres- ent generation will be dead to-morrow, and one somewhat improved will succeed it. But there is one principle that must be more thoroughly inaugurated before there can be any great or permanent in- 38 DIUTTTRNITY. crease in religion. More thorough means — a hundredfold more thorough — for the inculcation of foundation-principles in children must be introduced. Or, to make myself better understood, I had perhaps better say infants than children. Seeing how the proper culture of children, in the first one or two years of their lives, is universally neglected, it is in- deed a wonder that the world is as good as it is. It is en- tirely sober, prudent, and truthful to say that in Christen- dom children are uniformly if not universally suffered to become hopelessly ruined or deeply injured, in the absence of a miracle of mercy, before they reach the end of the first or second years of their lives. We hope to elaborate this subject in a future chapter. CHAPTEE IX. CONCERNING THE NATURAL PROCESS BT WHICH CHILDREN INHERIT PIETY. Association has much to do in the formation of char- acter. But there is another law which stands before this, and which deserves attention just here — the law of transmis- sion from father to son. This law is at present but poorly understood in this new world of ours. The inheritance by children from their parents of physical characteristics, though not understood, is nevertheless easily seen in its results. And moral and intellectual characteristics are also inherited. And the rule, at least in some respects, is the same as that of physical transmission. And the rule is uni- form because it is a rule, though its effects are not uni- formly seen. The reason of this lack of uniformity in the descent of characteristics from the immediate parents to their children PROCESS BY WHICH CHILDREN INHERIT PIETY. 39 is another of the things we do not well understand ; but we see that these elements of character sometimes lie latent for one, two, or more generations, and then crop out here and there. The occasional introduction of adverse influences is perhaps, in part, the cause of these irregularities. Let an unhealthy father or mother be introduced into a line of progeny of great vigor and healthfulness, and the result will be seen, perhaps, here and there, two or three genera- tions afterward. And nothing but the continuance of the union of healthy parents will be found able to crowd out, as it were, after awhile, this unhealthy infusion. And it is just so in intellectual and moral characteris- tics. If dull, talentless, and unlettered parents sometimes bring forth a sprightly and talented child, it is because a parent with superior endowments was placed in the chain of ancestry not many links back. And so, in some respects at least, does the rule work in morals and even religion. Though in this case the counter- influences come in so rapidly that the result is not so readily discovered. In truth, we have as yet learned but little of this wonderful law of our nature. Nor do we in- deed know that we have discovered any thing, with cer- tainty, beyond the tendency. By this is meant, merely, that in a line of pious ancestry, other things being equal, and independently of training, the probability of children being pious is greater than in a line of vitiated and irre- ligious ancestry. To this it might be objected that the innate depravity of human nature stands out in children in ail circumstances, and can not be forestalled or Counteracted by any fortuitous circumstances, however favorable; and that to defeat this sin, the attack must be made direct and in person in each individual case. To this objection, if it be an objection, it might be re- plied, first, that some states of society are far, very far, more favorable to the early growth and propagation of re- 40 DIUTURNITY. ligion than others-; and hence it follows that a community might he so improved in religion that sin had not been committed in it for centuries. Secondly, that innate natural depravity is not sin, but only a sinful tendency or predisposition ; and, therefore, that actual sin, though certain to occur in certain circumstances, is never necessary. It ought never to be, and may, there- fore, or ought to be, avoided in every case. Thirdly, that a child is capable of religion as soon as he is capable of sin. He is capable of doing right as soon as he is capable of doing wrong. It is by no means necessary that he should enter upon and continue for a time in sin in order to be converted and become a Christian. So. soon as mental development will allow a child to do wrong, it will allow of his doing right. Sin is doing: wrong ; holiness is doing right. And it would be a contradiction to suppose that when capable of the one he is not capable of the other. That the world will become sinless in its future genera- tions may be set down as certain; and that this will be brought about by a gradual improvement of one generation upon another, successively, is also certain. And this cer- tainly never could occur if children did not come into the world with a religious tendency superior to that of their ancestors. How moral traits or tendencies are physically imparted by the parent to the offspring we may not know thoroughly in the present state of science, though it might not be difficult to show the reasonableness of the thing upon strictly philosophical principles. These laws of transmission, however, are truly wonderful in their effects. And we know that they attach as readily to moral as to physical dispositions. For mere lack of op- portunity — our own lives being so short — we do not person- ally witness these effects in a current extending beyond a very few generations. But both history and analogy testify that the procreative current is continuous, and is not to be shifted or broken. Let no parents enter the line but such PROCESS BY WHICH CHILDREN INHERIT PIETY. 41 as possess some particular characteristic, no matter what, and that particular characteristic will continue to rise and predominate indefinitely. In the different races of men we see a great variety and peculiarity of habitude, and in each a variety of leading prominent features unlike any found elsewhere. Now, it is apparent that these inclinations have strengthened by inheritance as generations passed along down the line of genealogical descent. A Laplander or an Esquimaux with the same education would not stand equal with the refined Englishman or American. If it be true, as has been attempted to be taught by a very few, but maintained by none, that all personal pecul- iarity of moral and mental temperament is bestowed directly from nature, in each individual case, then indeed there is little or no room left for the operation of those great mental and moral agencies, perception and memory. It is perhaps true that all moral and mental phenomena result from perception and memory. And that infants at birth possess these qualities in various degrees is certain; and also that their tendencies or inclinations are bestowed by our Maker through the media of procreation. The mode of the Divine government is natural, and not immedi- ately miraculous. We know that, for some reasons, some persons are more religiously disposed than others. How does this come about? By God's grace, it might be replied. But how? Through what media is this grace bestowed? And the an- swer is, By natural rather than by miraculous means. 42 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTEE X. CONCERNING THE COMPARATIVE AGE OF THE WORLD WHETHER' IT IS OLD OR YOUNG. Is this an old or a new world? Has it nearly or quite accomplished its purposes, met the ends of its creation, and, in its sear and declining years, is about to lie down and die? Or is it in the prime of life — the vigor of youth? Or is it in the feeble, incipient years of infancy? These are sig- nificant questions, which enter largely into the philosophy of God's plan of life and salvation. They are questions which enter into the vital parts of the Divine administra- tion, and with which we, as thinking men, have very much to do. For thousands of years past there has been occasionally afloat, a cropping out here and there, a notion that the world had become very old and would soon sink into de- crepitude and decay. And in more recent times we have had some considerable teaching on the probable or certain winding-up of the affairs of the world at some period near at hand. Sometimes these teachings seem to put on much seriousness, and, by the interpretation of prophesies and other Scriptures, determine the very year or month or day when the world will come to an end. These fixed periods for the world's dissolution have gen- erally been a few months or years in advance. Many of these have been reached and are now behind us, but the world still lives. At times, of late years, these interpreta- tions of prophesy have attracted some attention among weak and credulous persons. Oftentimes, for lack of exact chro- nological data, the precise year or month is not determined THE COMPARATIVE AGE OF THE WORLD. 43 upon, but they generally calculate within from about one to five or eight years. And again, there is another class of opinion, or impres- sion, touching this matter, which is by far more popular among sober, thinking persons. They discard the millen*- ium predictions as quite uncertain, unscriptural, and unsat- isfactory, and hold to no settled belief as to the very near Approach of the end of the world. Their views on the par- ticular point are undigested, and are placed among the un- revealed things of God, which we have, at least, no means, if indeed we have the right, of prying into. They see in the prophesies no certain predictions on the subject, and, therefore, do not feel themselves called upon to give the question much critical attention. Upon the whole, there is a popular belief that the world is not probably far from the period of its dissolution. It may happen at any time, and it may not occur in fifty, a hundred, or possibly a thousand years yet to come. And for some strange reason, I know not what, its de- " mise, it is assumed, will occur suddenly, and all nature will be taken by surprise, and, unexpectedly and unwarned, will be hurled in a moment into a new and transformed state of existence. It is hoped that these strange and unnatural delusions may be at least so far dissipated as to substitute in their stead something rational and consistent with the Divine wisdom and forecast. 44 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XI. REFUTATION OF SOME POPULAR SENTIMENTS RESPECTING THE COMPARATIVE AGE OF THE WORLD. The conclusions and impressions above alluded to are founded upon no ascertained data or facts, save that the strictly millenarian doctrines claim to rest upon interpreta- tions of prophecy. This point will be looked into in future chapters. The mere circumstance that the world is six thousand or seven thousand years old proves nothing to the point. It would be just as logical to conclude that a man was old because he was six weeks or six years old. Those simple facts prove nothing. We call a man old when he is three-score and ten ; and we say a horse is old when he is twelve or fifteen, and a man is young at twenty years. Some animals are old and ready to die when they have lived the half of one year. Some vegetables are old at three months, while others are young at the age of two or three hundred years. These are sound deductions from well ascertained laws. By long observation, we have ascertained unmistakably what is about the average age of many animals and plants; and so we say a man is old when he is sixty or seventy. But this conclusion is not, surely, because he has lived a positive number of years, but because he has lived beyond the average age of men. Some plants pass this ascertained average of life at five months, and some at five hundred years. But who has ascertained the average age of worlds? At about what age do they usually sink under the weight of years and die? Who knows that a world is older, in respect REFUTATION OF SOME POPULAR SENTIMENTS. 45 to its entire course of being, at six or seven thousand years than an oak-tree is at sis or seven weeks? The earth, in its present form — without reference to the material of which it is made — is not immortal, as we under- stand that idea. It will grow old and undergo some changes, we do not know precisely what. But whether these changes will take place in seven thousand years after the creation, or seventy thousand, or seventy millions of years, is a ques- tion that must be inquired into, if at all, in some philosophic or Scriptural manner. We must consult either reason or revelation, or most likely both. But when one speaks of the possibility of the world's continuino- to exist as it now is, the residence of mankind, for many thousands or millions of years, the unthinking mind staggers under the burden of so large a thought, and cries that this is impossible. But this imagined impossibility arises entirely from the feebleness of our thoughts. We have no standard by which to measure periods, nor, in- deed, to • measure any thing else. We can only compare periods of different lengths. But this determines nothing beyond these mere comparisons. If our lives chanced to be one, two, or five thousand years long, it is probable that our ideas of periodicity would be correspondingly enlarged. A being occupying a higher sphere in the scale than our- selves, and accustomed to look and act upon periods of six or ten thousand years, would handle such periods in his mind as we handle hours and days. A year to him would seem no longer than an hour does to us. And what would he think of a world being considered old merely because it had survived six thousand of these little years of ours ? And, on the other hand, a being of very much shorter life than ourselves would consider a man immensely old at five or ten years, and a world that had passed a few centuries had survived most immeasurable antiquity. In familiar think- 46 DIUTURNITY. ing, periods are esteemed to be almost immeasurably long, or triflingly short, according to the length of our intellect- ual measuring-line. CHAPTER XII. A PHILOSOPHICAL RULE BY WHICH THE COMPARATIVE AGE OF THE WORLD MAY BE SO FAR ASCERTAINED AS TO DETERMINE THAT THIS AGE BELONGS TO ITS IN- FANCY. There is a standard, there are satisfactory data, by which it may be determined unmistakably, not how long the. world will live, not how many revolutions round the sun it will describe, but that, as yet, it is in its infancy. It is dem- onstrable that it is in its infancy in respect to progress, and it is morally certain that it is in its infancy, or, at least, in its young days, in respect to years. And here we go at once right back to the pillar axiom of this argument, the WISDOM and GOODNESS of God. The world, with every part and every property thereof, was made for a purpose and an end. And it must fulfill this purpose and answer this end. Or if it shall fail, either in benevolence or in adaptation, then the machine is faulty somewhere, which can not be. An examination of the earth's surface and properties proves it to be in the infancy of its being. We see the elementary law of completeness in every in- tegral portion of the entire economy of nature, from the largest to the smallest. Every thing accomplishes its nat- ural round and completes its obvious design. Nothing stops half-way. Nature leaves nothing unfinished. This is the universal law. The rain that falls upon the ground to-day A PHILOSOPHICAL RULE. 47 replenishes the rivers, goes again into vapor, and, passing round, performs the same service again. Nothing is wasted. If some of it be drank by animals, or by the thirsty ground, it is but answering its purpose. And if man or any other animals thirst for want of it, or hunger for lack of food, it is because they do not meet nature at her own threshold, and build cisterns, or dig wells, or till the ground in the best possible manner. And so of the earth's herbage. Every part has its pur- pose. That which is consumed for food passes again into the earth or the atmosphere, without losing any of its ele- mentary properties, and is again reproduced, to pass another round of design and accomplishment. And so in the animal kingdom, every thing tends to its purpose. Nor is there either lack or surplus. And, very slight and partial as have been our examinations into either physiology or botany, we have gone far enough to see and to wonder at the perfect completeness on the one hand, and the entire lack of redundancy on the other. And not only is every individual complete and free from surplus, in itself considered, but the same thing is seen in its relations with other parts of the system of nature. Here we behold the most sublime and wonderful evidences of Divine wisdom and goodness, cooperating always with the Divine power. The spire of grass, as it rears and spreads its tiny branches, needs to be fed and sustained from day to day by the attentive atmosphere, which constantly supplies it with the most delicate and well-prepared aliment. But while neither the atmosphere nor the moisture, nor any of the properties of either, has any thing redundant, or over and above the natural wants of vegetable and animal life, so both the animal and vegetable departments pay back to the gases and moisture a full equivalent, in barter, of such commodi- ties as they need. Nor do the former produce any thing which the latter do not need, nor in quantities which are 48 DIUTURNITY. superabundant. Every thing has its use and its place. Noth- ing is either redundant or ill-adapted. We might thus roam through all the greater as well as the lesser departments of nature, in search of teachings by- analogy, and we would find that every thing, from the dew- drop to the ocean, and from the mite to the mountain, of which we have any knowledge, teaches the same lesson of completeness in every thing, and of redundance in nothing; and also of perfect and universal adaptation throughout the entire system of nature. The notion that something is made for nothing is short-sighted and dishonoring to God. It supposes a defect in some of his attributes, or in their wise and benevolent exercise. CHAPTER XIII. CONCERNING THE VAST AMOUNT OF UNDISCOVERED NATURE. This world is not merely a thing made with its several parts cooperating, but it was made for man's residence and use. Nothing can glorify God but mind. Man is God's great creature, and the earth was made and given to him for his use. The end of sublunary nature is the advancement of man's interests and happiness, that he may thereby glorify God. But every thing must be discovered and understood be- fore it can be appropriated to man's use. We may readily imagine that in the days of Adam not much progress was made in discovering and assigning the different properties of the earth to their appropriate and proper uses. But, no doubt, long previous to the close of the nine hundred- and thirty years of the life of that patriarch, it was believed by himself and others that very extensive, if not almost final CONCERNING UNDISCOVERED NATURE. 49 and complete discoveries had been made into the system of nature; and that almost every property the earth possessed, and combination of which they were susceptible, were at least pretty well understood. He no doubt concluded, too, that the world must be getting very old. As he saw him- self evidently in the decrepit days of waning nature, he probably concluded the world must soon sink into decay and die. It was older than himself, and he was very old. And it had answered pretty much, so far as he could see, the ends of its creation. It was a great and venerable world — was, of course, in its late and declining stages, and could not survive many years to come. Why should not Adam and Lamech and Methuselah, as they oftentimes no doubt sat together and conversed about the world and the course of time, reason and conclude in this way? Had they not as good grounds for such reason- ing and such conclusions then as we have now? The world was old. Great and extensive researches had been made into its properties, qualities, and susceptibilities. They were acquainted with its animated nature, its astronomy, its bot- any, its chemistry, geology, materia medica, and with its arts and sciences ; and they, no doubt, spoke of the arts and sciences with as much sangfroid and satisfaction as we do now. They had seen pretty much all there was to see, dis- covered pretty much all there was to discover, and had ac- complished about all, or evidently nearly all, that lay within the reach of man's capability, and now surely the world and its affairs have little else to do but wind up and cease to be. And I repeat, was not this reasoning and these conclu- sions about as philosophical and well founded as the same kind of reasonings are now? Go back to the days of the earliest antediluvians, and stand where they stood, and view the world and the course of time as they viewed them, and say if they had not about as good reason to wind up the affairs of the world then, in a few years, as we have now. It may be said that the world was evidently young and 50 DITJTtJRNlTY. immature then, because Christ had not eome, and Satan's head had not been bruised. And it may be said, in reply, that very likely they looked forward to these things — so far as they looked forward to them at all — -and anticipated them with as much rapidity and quickness of accomplishment as some of us now anticipate the second coming. It is not at all unreasonable to suppose that they looked forward to the redeeming work of Christ as a thing to be accomplished in a day, a year, or a few years. It is much easier for us to look back through years already seen and molded into his- tory, than to anticipate those to come by the dim light of the lamp that lights up the future. The same kind of reasoning then and now would lead to about the same conclusions. In either case it is baseless, illusory, and unsatisfactory. Our reasonings here, as else- where, must be philosophical — with a base-line — with ax- ioms. If these axioms and base-lines were not known to the early ancients, it is perhaps because of their lack of ex- perience. But we have discovered more of both the facts and character of the world than they could discover, and are therefore less excusable than they. We can not now be looked upon as ancients j but will not future generations so regard us? Why will not our dis- tant posterity look upon us as occupying a place away al- most cotemporary with the Apostles and Moses and Noah? From where we stand, Noah, Abraham, and Moses occupy almost the same poin,t in the chronology of the past, al- though Noah was to Abraham as one of the ancients; and in turn Abraham became one of the ancients to Moses, as Moses did to Isaiah and the later prophets. Chronology closes up its periods, almost, as we recede from them. We look back and pronounce, with great confidence, that the ancients, or even those but a few years behind us, had made but small progress in the use and appropriation of the many things of which the world consists. And may CONCERNING UNDISCOVERED NATURE. 51 there not be something very illusory in all this? Is it cer- tain that we are a long way in advance of them? Perhaps we have made but a few simple removes beyond the point where our fathers left the world a hundred or a thousand years ago. Noah, and those in his day, had made compara- tively great advances into the ultimate capacity of the world beyond those of the ancients, as they regarded their distant ancestors. And so of succeeding generations from that day to the present. But how far have any or all these penetrated toward the ultimate capacity of the world and its properties? To show merely positive advances, proves nothing, or almost nothing, to the purpose. Have our ex- aminations into the world and its properties proceeded nine- tenths, or one-half, or one-tenth-, or one ten-thousandth part of the way toward the ultimate capacity of these things? How long will it be before we and our researches into the world's capacity for usefulness will be looked upon as shallow, incipient, and nearly worthless to the world? With all our discoveries, researches, and improvements, how much — what relative proportion of the world and all its qualities and properties, physical and moral — have we discovered, examined, analyzed, and subjected to practical use to the utmost extent of its capability in all possible modifications and relations? To say that we have learned to appropriate wood, ore, water, caloric, etc., into a ship, a house, a railway or a tele- scope, with such and such powers and capacity, proves little or nothing more than the red man of the forest proves by exhibiting his arrow, and showing that it is more fleet than the game he pursues. Has the capacity of wood, ore, water, caloric, air, earth, with all the properties and qualities of this globe and its furniture, been exhausted and pushed to the utmost, in all possible modifications and connections for ministering to the benefits of mankind? Or, in other words, has the Divine 52 DIUTURNITY. intention, in furnishing these things, been met and carried out fully? And, by this rule, are we in a mature or an in- cipient period of the world's history? I am aware that persons of but moderate reading, espe- cially those who have not paid much attention to the later marches of science, can have but a very feeble appreciation of the magnitude of these questions. I can direct his atten- tion only to a few of the grosser substances, and only to the surface of these. But I would speak one word to men of science. I would suggest to the astronomer, the geolo- gist, the naturalist, the chemist, the botanist, to the stu- dent of thought, research, and reflection. I ask men who can rise above and step beyond the mere little historic facts of our superficial experience to ponder these questions. "Who has studied the deep labyrinths of chemical affinity — of reactions, mechanical, optical, electric, organic? What though human experience, brief and with blunted sensi- bilities, has demonstrated but the alphabet of mental and physical science? An alphabet proves a literary system. That is indeed a narrow view of Grod's works which is con- tent with the gaze upon a landscape or the distant view of an ocean or a mountain. SECTION SECOND We now proceed to an examination of some little of the furniture of the earth, and of the earth itself, with the view to ascertain whether these things have as yet, or how far they have, answered the evident designs of their creation. CHAPTER XIV. CAPACITY PROVES DESIGN — THE RULE APPLIED TO THE WORLD AND ITS FURNITURE. • With what do we compare our attainments in the prog- ress of the discovery and appropriation of the furniture of the world? What is our standard, or straight-edge? To say that we have advanced beyond the points reached by those behind us proves nothing, except that human affairs are advancing. But no matter what our mere positive ad- vances may be, that does not prove that we are nine-tenths of the way, or one-half the way, or one-tenth, or one-hun- dredth part of the entire way onward toward the finale or ultimate design of these things. We must ■ compare our attainments with the world's CAPAC- ITY ; that is, with its DESIGN, for the design can be ascertained only by the capacity. The world has a size. If it had been made ten times larger than it is, or one-tenth its present size, then we would be obliged to conclude — keeping in view G-od's Wis- dom and Goodness in its arrangement — that the Divine in- tention was to give it adaptation accordingly. Its capacity must determine the Divine intention. G-od does every thing right, and adapts every thing to its end. If, in passing along a way, we discover a human habita- tion, constructed rudely of a few small poles resting against the side of a tree, and covered with bark, the whole being the work of an hour, we are irresistibly driven to one of two conclusions : either that there was great lack of wisdom, goodness, or power, or all three of these things, in the con- (55) 56 DIUTURNITY. struction, or that the design was to erect a yery temporary habitation, in which one might be sheltered for a night. Upon this supposition, and npon this only, is there seen a wise adaptation of plan, outlay, and end. And then if, again, on another occasion, we meet with such a structure as the Grirard College, in Philadelphia, or the Tennessee State-house, and we are told it was built by a wayfaring man for a tabernacle for the night, we are obliged to conclude that there was great lack of wisdom, outlay, and adaptation in the construction. We see it built of the most durable material, to the entire exclusion of all other ; and it has capacity far beyond and in no sort of pro- portion to the intention. For what use are these large halls and their several chambers, no two alike? This hall has capacity and arrangement for a senate-chamber, and that has adaptation to accommodate a larger legislative body. This is evidently arranged for an office, and that and that for other and different kinds of offices. This is ar- ranged for a court-room, and these and those for .purposes which their arrangement and furniture indicate. But they are all, or nearly all, useless, upon the supposition that the whole was built for the mere accommodation of a single family for a single night. And the conclusion that very much of the design was unwise, vain, and useless is in- evitable. - And precisely in this way do we reason when, in passing along, we meet with this world. It has evident capacity far greater than has yet been brought into requisition. Very much of its surface has never been used at all. Indeed, any one may see that no part of the earth's surface has been used to the extent of its capacity. By the capacity of the earth, it is not intended to mean that either it or its furniture is to be used, or is in- tended to be used, to the extent of being exhausted or worn out or used as long as they are capable of being used. On the contrary, as before intimated, so far as we know, both CAPACITY PROVES DESIGN. 57 the earth and its properties might have the capacity of self- perpetuation or interminable endurance. But it is meant that the earth and all its furniture are to be brought into requisition, and be used and made to minister to the wants of mankind to the extent of their natural, reasonable ca- pacity. A ship of six hundred tons burden would be un- wisely adapted to convey six hundred pounds of freight. Suppose it be discovered that some island in the sea, of which we know but little, possesses some botanical or agri- cultural quality, which, by being used in a certain way, would augment its agricultural product a hundred-fold, and that this discovery be made at a time when such product was greatly needed. Who would not say that this was so intended and prepared from the beginning? Who does not believe the great Western Continent was from the first in- tended to be used, and was all along hid away out of sight, until the last few years, for good and sufficient reasons? Who does not believe that the expansive power of water, on being heated, was intended by the Great Designer to give it motive force adapted to the propulsion of machinery? And then it follows that if the world had been destroyed before this discovery had been made, that much of design and contrivance would have been in vain. And just so of the mariner's compass, of the Copernican system of astronomy, of printing, etc. And in the same manner we must reason of any of the properties or qualities of the earth not yet discovered, They are still latent, sleeping, unused. And they will either come into use or become proof that some portions of the world were made in vain. Whatever capacity or quality, property or capability, the earth or any of its furniture possesses, discovered or undis- covered, was designed and intended to be used, sooner or later, for man's benefit, because it was made for him, and formally handed over to him for this very purpose. He was to subdue it 58 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XV. THE EARTH AND ITS GREAT STORE-HOUSES ARE AS YET ALMOST WHOLLY UNDISCOVERED. Of the substance of the earth itself we have as yet dis- covered, almost nothing. The eye of man has not probably even glanced upon one-half its surface. Not many farmers of considerable extent have even seen actually one-half their land. He has had frequent landscape views of its cultivated portions, but it is perhaps only in small farms that the pro- prietor has actually looked upon every square foot of its surface. Wood, and particularly forest land, has but a small portion of it been really seen, every foot of it. Im- mense portions of America, Africa, Asia, and even Europe, as well as millions of acres of the islands of the sea, have not as yet been looked upon by mankind. Very large regions of country have not been discovered by civilized man, but are in a savage state. What do we know of Africa? A traveler passes over a region of sev- eral hundred miles in extent and tells us that he saw a river, a mountain, and a fertile country, and a desert; and he gives them names, and tells us what these names are. We read that Columbus discovered America; and yet we see that four hundred millions of people since then have been constantly making discoveries in it, and it is apparent that the work of discovery on this continent is but just begun. Who has seen the Rocky Mountains, or the Alleghanies, or indeed any other mountains? The beasts and reptiles that roam over them, and the wild fowl as they look down from the branches of the trees they support. But the eye THE EARTH AND ITS GREAT STORE-HOUSES. 59 of man has scarcely glanced over them, and as to the eye of science, research, and investigation, it has hardly glanced at them by acres, by miles, or by districts. And who has seen the large regions of the almost or wholly unexplored country of South America, of the West Indies, of Central America, of California, or of our great West. What ad- vances have been made in scientific researches in the Sand- wich Islands, in Australia, in Newfoundland, in New Zea- land, or in the great countries of China and Japan? Have those countries been thoroughly subjected to the investiga- tions of science, in all their capabilities, to add to the com- fort and well-being of mankind in all the possible develop- ments of which they are capable? Has the thousandth part of this been done? The only answer to be given to this question is, that, within a few years past, a few adventurers have discovered a little gold ore on or near the surface in Australia, and in Newfoundland one or two ship-harbors, or places where a few feet of water approach near the shore, have been dis- covered. But whether the former is appropriated to its in- tended and profitable uses, and whether the latter is of any use, or of what use it really is to mankind, are questions to be answered by the future investigations of science, when the real wealth of the earth, now latent, shall be further inquired into. It is not apparent to the sober eye of observation, that as a race inhabiting the country of this earth, we have but just got here. A woodsman of the West has, with his family, penetrated the forest, until he finds a fertile little valley where the grass is luxuriant, offering food to his weary beast, and, beside a grotto at hand, a cooling spring gushes from be- neath the rock, and he concludes he will "stop" here. And so he appropriates the circumjacent country, and gives a name to the brook near the bank of which he builds his rude hamlet. And now this country has, in his estimation, 60 DIUTURNITY. come up to the requirements of God, and has answered the infinitely-wise purpose, and met the ultimate intentions of the Almighty in its formation. It is not hazardous to say that this is taking a rather superficial and short-sighted view of God and Nature. Abraham and Lot had so increased in riches, and their flocks and herds had so multiplied, that there was not world- room sufficient for them to dwell together; and so they separated, and the one took the right hand and the other the left. Lot chose "all the plain of Jordan/' and Abram took "the plains of Mamre, northward and southward and eastward and westward." So these great and noble patri- archs appropriated between themselves pretty much all there was, or was presumed to be, of this little world ; and they practically, and no doubt to their entire satisfaction, vindi- cated the wisdom and goodness of God in arranging the world so amply to meet the requirements cf their herds- men, and the wants of their flocks and cattle. Surely, it was a very great and very ample world to meet so fully such large requirements, and to answer so completely the ends and purposes of two such great and powerful patri- archal governments. And yet it is quite likely that both the great-grandfather of Israel and his nephew fed their flocks, and sojourned, and lived, and died in and around Mamre and Jordan, with- out exhausting or even appropriating and using any very great proportion of the earthly things and properties which God seems to have prepared for the sustenance and advan- tage of mankind even in those regions. The labors of practical science must visit "all the plain of Jordan" and the " plains of Mamre, northward and south- ward and eastward and westward," and must pass them through a smaller and better crucible than those earlier settlers used. What has the practical geologist, mineralo- gist, agriculturist, and other men of scientific, research, and application reported on the subject? CONCERNING ROCKS, HILLS, AND DESERTS. 61 CHAPTER XVI. CONCERNING! ROCKS, HILLS, AND DESERTS — THEIR CONDI- TION AND DESIGN. A considerable portion of the earth's surface is covered with barren rocks, precipitous and almost inaccessible mount- ains and sterile desert plains. These are generally consid- ered the barren, useless, and fruitless portions of the world. It is waste land. But that which in one period of the world is considered waste land, at another is regarded as very valuable. Only a very few years ago large districts of country in the Mississippi bottom, marsh land in South Carolina, and bogs iu England, Scotland, and Ireland, which are now among the most productive and valuable farm-lands in the world, were considered to be almost entirely value- less. The Spanish Governor of Louisiana, but a very few years ago, offered to a citizen of Natchez, well-known to me, a good title to almost any quantity of land on the Mississippi River, opposite that city, if he would pay the expense of surveying it. But the land being worthless, the offer was declined. That same gentleman lived to see that same land sell for from two hundred to five thousand dollars per acre. A few years ago, a large farm in New York, lying in the neck of land formed by the junction of the Hudson and East Rivers, was purchased for thirty dollars' worth of In- dian beads and blankets. Since that time considerable por- tions of that same land have been sold at the rate of a million and a quarter of dollars per acre, and no portion of it could now be purchased for less than three or four hun- dred thousand dollars an acre. 62 DIUTURNITY. But a few years ago the sites of the cities of London, Paris. Dublin, and Edinburgh were bartered for a few trink- ets. What was the value three hundred years ago of the land where now stand the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, or of any other land on this continent? How is it that a piece of land near to some town or city is worth one thousand dollars per acre, when far better land, as land is generally esteemed, more remote, is worth ten cents per acre or nothing? Surely, it is because intrinsic and surrounding circumstances have not developed the latent value of land in the latter case. Why should lands be of less value on the Niger than on the Thames? The earth's surface is becoming more and more valuable because it is becoming more and more useful. It is chang- es & ing from a barren and wilderness state to a highly-cultivated and useful condition. This progress is very general, though somewhat irregular. We are gradually acquiring more and more knowledge of the value and uses of the surface of the earth, and it is very certain that we have no knowledge that any portion of it is useless. In the present state of the arts and sciences, we make little or no use of those rugged rocky hills. Possibly they answer some good in the formation of channels for healthful breezes; but if the surface were less rugged and more fer- tile, it would probably just as well subserve those purposes. A far more sober conclusion would seem to be, that we have not as yet discovered much of the use of rocks. Perhaps they were piled away there for the present, to be brought out and used at the proper time and in the proper way, and it looks still more likely that there are forty or a hun- dred valuable uses to which they may be applied in future ages. Rocks are soluble ; and what other chemical susceptibil- ities they may have we do not know. With what degree of ease and facility they may be thrown into solution, or some other change of form, we can not now determine. CONCERNING ROCKS HILLS, AND DESERTS. 63 Tliey are there, and they were placed there by Infinite wis- dom and perfect mechanical skill, governed by Iufinite be- nevolence. They were not made in vain. If the savages who roamed thoughtlessly over them, or the pioneer woods- man of these early ages who passes them by as worthless, or the school-boy who plays among them, have not discov- ered their uses, it is no evidence that they have no uses ; it is evidence only of our early occupation of the country, that the country is new to us, and its valuable properties are un- discovered. Were the great sandy deserts made for nothing? They present to us a sterile and unprofitable appearance, nor have they been appropriated to any profitable uses. And so of many plains known to be fertile; they are unused. Have one-half or one fourth, nay, have one-tenth, of our lands which are considered good for tillage, been subjected to any fair or proper agricultural use? I presume not. And as to some land being poor and some being rich, we do not know so well about that. We will endeavor to read a chapter on agriculture after awhile. At the present it may be sufficient to remark, that we have no conclusive evidence that some lands are absolutely richer and some poorer than others. Such appearances may be owing more to our mode of using them than to any thing absolute in the quality of 'the lands themselves. Much of the surface of the earth lies not only undulating, but is thrown into rugged steeps and almost inaccessible mountains. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," is still one of the laws under which we live. By this we understand that the earth and its furniture are given to us, not in a prepared state, ready for use, but in a state capa- ble of being rendered useful by labor and skill. Without labor the earth is useless; and, on the other hand, labor, properly directed, will render it useful almost if not quite indefinitely. 64 DITTTTJRNITY. CHAPTER XVII. SOME PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON ISAIAH, FORTIETH CHAP- TER AND FOURTH VERSE. " Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." From such criticisms as I have been able to examine, with the exercise of such judgment as I may have, I am not fully able to determine, with entire satisfaction, the full intention of the Divine mind in putting this prophecy into the mouth of Isaiah. It is, however, highly probable that it refers to more than one distinct thing. In a figurative or allegorical sense, it may refer to the sup- posed way or progress of the Lord, as he passes through the earth in the work of evangelization, and that preparation shall be made, as it were, by cutting down the hills and filling up the valleys before him. But whether it is or is not intended to have this meaning, it is quite probable that it may also have another and more natural and literal one. The earth as we find it, in what we call its natural state, is rough, rugged, and unfit for immediate use ; and still more is it unfit for that higher state of usefulness for which it may be prepared by skill and labor. To illustrate this idea, look at some particular spot. It is a precipitous, rocky, uninviting region, whose crags are irregular and nearly barren. Such valleys as it has are overflown quag- mires and swamps, intermixed with frog-ponds and bramble. The whole has the appearance of a useless waste. But now let this abode of reptiles, where the wild beast would PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON ISAIAH. 65 scarcely deign to prowl, be approached by the patient hand of skill and labor. The swamps may be drained or filled up; rocks are excavated and replaced; the cliffs are smoothed into gentle slopes and beautiful terraces; elegant walks, falling cascades, rich fountains, and handsome prom- enades are seen on every hand; and lawns, meadows, rich fruits, and gay flowers spread their luxuries and beauties in all directions. Now, so far as this particular spot is concerned, it may be well said that its valleys have been exalted, its mount- ains made low, its crooked places straight, and its rough places plain. And the idea may perhaps aptly be applied to the surface of the earth universally. There is not a spot of earth that is not susceptible of improvement, far, very far, beyond any thing we have witnessed. Rills can be changed in their courses or divided into different channels, or be made to spread their waters at will, and so can rivers, lakes, or seas. Indeed, there is little or none of the surface of the earth, either land or water, excepting the large oceans, that does not require to be changed, smoothed, straightened, elevated, or made low, in order to be rendered useful to the extent of its natural susceptibility. And its susceptibility to this end is the measure and stand- ard of the design in its formation. This smoothing, arrang- ing process is already begun here and there, a very little, on a very small scale, in a few spots of earth. The reason why it has been carried no further is, because of the new- ness and uncultivated condition of our lands. We have made a few little roads, meadows, and gardens, but — we have but just got Ivere ! Let the world live long enough, and let the destroying hand of the ingenious manufacturers of prophecy be kept off it, and in time its entire surface will be graded, terraced, smoothed, and fashioned as human convenience may require. The elevations will be such as may be required ; the depres- sions will be as large and deep as needful; the brooks and 6 66 DXUTURNITY. even the rivers will be arranged as may be most conducive to our wants, and every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. Where the eagle built her nest but a few years ago, and the wolf howled his angry answer to the winds, now stands a stately edifice, and the hum of wheels and spindles show that the hand of skill and industry was not invited there in vain. The perfection of these manufactories now comes fully up to our ideas of perfection ; but these wheels will be laid aside for those of more approved patterns, and then they shall be condemned as inferior and unsuited, to give place to others, which in their turn will be superseded by newer improvements. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." This is the law. The material for every useful purpose is here, prepared by Almighty power. Every knob contains a house ; every tree contains a machine, every bush a spoke to put somewhere; every handful of ore contains a knife, or a spade, or a watch. The paper on which I write is a pre- pared cotton-seed; my ink is another seed, and my pen is a piece of dirt. I want a lake, and I am going to make one to-morrow! Nature, in seeming unconsciousness, has almost made it al- ready. The ample basin, with its ample rim, is already lying out in. the pasture. A few cart-loads of earth will fill up a crevice in the rock at the bottom, and the clouds will supply the water, and the carpenter shall build the gondola ; and the beast shall wade in to his knees and slake his thirst, and wonder how a part of his grazing-ground has become a little sea. God prepares the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the plains, in a crude condition, and merely furnishes man the raw material with which to make a world. And man, with the sweat of his brow, is to make it. But while every thing necessary for the completion of this mundane system is prepared to our hand and carefully laid away, it is certain CONCERNING FORESTS AND UNUSED LANDS. 67 there is no redundancy. Though it is only by the slow process of discovery and subjugation that we can ascertain what is prepared. CHAPTER XVIII. CONCERNING THE PRESENT CONDITION OF FORESTS AND UN- USED LANDS COMPARED WITH THEIR EVIDENT DESIGN. The existence of a natural virgin forest is, of itself, al- most conclusive evidence of the world's juvenile condition. It was never appropriated to any good account. It was made, and there it lies still. Mankind, up to the present time at least, were just as well off without it. It has added nothing to the wealth and advantage of the world. It has filled up that much space upon the sphere, but if that is all that it has done, or is to do, then the sphere was made too large or this portion was made for nothing. We are so accustomed to see and hear of waste, unused, and desert land, that we look upon such things as matters of course, and pass them by as common-places. But when you come to look on the subject more carefully, or apply to it the touch of philosophic examination, it will appear un- natural. It is not derogatory to the plastic enterprise of Infinite Goodness and Wisdom, in arranging a world for the especial use and behoof of an intelligent race of beings, with the intention that it shall run its course and dissolve, to suppose that large districts — or small ones either — are to lie in a nude, lifeless, virgin, and unimproved state until the day of its doom, and receive its doom in its juvenile, new, and untamed condition? Some things may have been made merely to be looked at. It would seem natural enough to predicate this of roses and rainbows, but forests do not even 68 DIUTTTRNITY. serve this purpose, and can not be placed in such category. Upon such a hypothesis we have large portions of the earth which hitherto have passed on in inert idleness, with noth- ing to do and doing nothing; with no purpose, no object, no end, no use ; to grow old in infancy, to yield no glory to God nor good to mankind. This is unnatural. The thought detracts from Grod's essential glory. It is unworthy his name and fame. And if these present are the latter days of the world, and these large regions are mere idle waste, or are to do no more good than they are now doing, then the earth is not only made larger than is necessary, but it is so large as to be greatly cumbersome, unwieldy, and inconvenient. This we are not at liberty to suppose. We are obliged to presume that it was made right; just right as to. size, material, of precisely the proper texture, and with complete harmony of all its parts. The hitherto unused forests of uncultivated regions, the Desert of Sahara, and the mountain steeps and gorges will, in time, be found to be as useful to mankind as the valley of Jordon, the plains of Mamre, or the rich cot- ton-fields of the South. That which is not used in one way will be in another. Every thing must tell why it was made, every thing must meet its purpose, and Grod be glorified and man benefited in all. CHAPTER XIX. AN INQUIRY RESPECTING THE POLAR REGIONS. And the very same reflections as those above must apply to the ice-bound regions of the high polar latitudes. They are "ice-bound" now, but it is the task of human science and enterprise to unlock those ice-chains and tame those cli- INQUIRY RESPECTING THE POLAR REGIONS. 69 mates, and reduce those countries, and render them useful, and make them subserve the wise and profitable purposes of a wise and beneficent Creator. We know it is cold there now, and may presume it al- ways will be; at least we know nothing to the contrary. And yet, even in this, the future developments of history and of science may show that we are mistaken. Indeed, there are some indications that this may be probable. But we do not know that, therefore, these countries are abso- lutely uninhabitable. They are raw, crude, and unculti- vated, but we do not know but that electricity, or something else, may be discovered by which the inconvenience of cold may be measurably or wholly overcome. We know as yet but little of caloric or the laws governing it. We know that friction — friction of perhaps any thing — produces warmth, and we know there is warmth in the sun or in some way pertaining to it. There is warmth enough in friction, if it can be produced, or in the sun, if it can be conducted at pleasure, to render the polar regions warm enough. And we do not know but that certain kinds of food, clothing, and habits may do something toward giving powers of resistance to cold far beyond what our present experience suggests. These countries may possibly never, or for many ages, be permanently inhabited by settled residents, and particularly, perhaps, during the dark and cold season. Perhaps its oc- cupancy during the light summer months might answer every useful purpose. What habits, customs, pursuits, em- ployment may, in future ages, be found best for the de- velopment and appropriation of the natural properties of these countries, would be both idle and hazardous at this early period even to conjecture. But that these countries are mere ice-fields, sterile wastes, and excrescences upon the face of the word, is a reflection upon the wisdom and pru- dence of their Creator. The difficulties, whatever they may be, in the way of a thorough examination of these coun- 70 DIUTURNITY. tries, will, no doubt, be removed or overcome in due time. The climate is tempered right, so that, harmonizing with other climates and countries, the greatest advantage may- result. As yet scarcely a step has been taken toward the develop- ment of any geological, botanical, or zoological riches the countries may possess or be capable of producing. And its very ice itself is a thing of which we know but little. Does it contain caloric? And, if so, how may it be educed and controlled? If the polar regions have not been subjected to scientific research and control, why. be it so. But it can not be doubted that science is equal to the task. This is our world, and it is our business to examine it and draw out its properties, and turn every one of them to good ac- count. Of the extreme north we know almost nothing. Dr. Kane, whose recent Arctic travels have attracted much at- tention, gives at least plausible reasons for the conjecture that a large region, of which the North Pole is the center, has a much milder climate than that of the lower Arctic latitudes. But as the world has not yet been discovered, of course we know little or nothing about it. This was the case only three and a half centuries ago with regard to this whole continent. It might be suggested that the shape of the earth, with its position to the sun and relation to the solar system, renders extreme cold near the poles necessary in order to the proper changes of seasons, the regulation of weather, etc., in the lower latitudes. That may all be very true, but it only removes the difficulty from one point to another, with- out, in the least degree, lessening it. For this very solar system, and all this extensively varied relation, even to a pebble or a leaf, the temperature of the sun's rays, and their transmission through the atmosphere, and their effect on the human system, all, all of this is but part and parcel of this very wise and benevolent creation about which we are INQUIRY RESPECTING THE POLAR REGIONS. 71 discoursing. God, in creation, was surely not shut up to the necessity of placing this planet just so far from the sun, and of causing it to present just such and such ex- posures, and of giving heat just such and such power of impression upon animal and vegetable life. And, therefore, if certain trees and plants will not grow above certain lati- tudes, and if man and other animals can not endure cold in certain high climates, we must not conclude that these things are the result of necessities operating upon God, but that there is a wise and benevolent reason for all these things. God always acts with reason directed to the best possible ends. And, again, there is another hypothesis with regard to cold climates which possesses some plausibility at least. It is the opinion of some very sound writers on cosmological science, that the earth is gradually lessening its orbit round the sun; consequently it is approaching nearer and nearer to the sun. This process, while it may not cause the trop- ical regions to become inconveniently warm because of trade-winds, may — nay, it must — cause the climate of the frigid regions to grow more mild. And this may give tens of thousands, if not millions, of years of tolerably mild weather to the highest polar countries. We must not assume to know all that is predicable of cosmology until science exhibits the demonstration. 72 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XX. AN INQUIRY RESPECTING THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MIN- ERALOGY. The science of mineralogy has been known and practiced since the earliest times ; and yet it is well known that but a step has as yet been taken in its advancement. Even in re- gard to such minerals as we are acquainted with, in procur- ing them we have made only a scratch upon the very sur- face of the ground, here and there, in a very few small spots, a hundred or a thousand miles apart. It is believed that there is now stored away, near or not far from the surface of the ground, an amount of mineral wealth absolutely enor- mous as compared with the actual discoveries we have made. The proportional quantity of metal the earth contains, which we have used, amounts to almost nothing. Was this vast amount of metal stored away in the hills and plains of the earth with the intention that only the one-hundredth or one ten-thousandth part should be used? Suppose we had the labor to spare for that purpose in this present age of the world, and were to procure from these rich mines a much larger quantity, say ten times as much as we now have, this would very materially change the affairs of the world. Commerce would run in new chan- nels ; navigation would be quite a different thing from what it is now; new fields of enterprise would open; new lines of industry would be formed ; almost all industrial pursuits would be affected and moved to its very center. A superficial observer might suppose that an increase ten-fold of iron or copper, for instance, would simply pro- duce a redundancy and a sluggish market. This would be AN INQUIRY RESPECTING MINERALOGY. • 73 the case immediately and temporarily, but a further and still further supply would open out new and enlarged chan- nels of appropriation, and the flow, if increased, would ac- cumulate strength and demand attention, and force capital and industry to its support. If the quantity of iron were greatly increased, almost every thing would be made of iron ; and so of every other metal. It would open up and fill a hundred channels of employment not thought of now. It is difficult to produce a permanent redundancy of such ar- ticles as are susceptible of new and varied application. But a few years ago, a gentleman of Georgia inquired of an English merchant, in Liverpool, if he could find sale for so much cotton, the next year, as five or six hales, of three or four hundred pounds each. The reply was that a quan- tity so superabundant could not be sold in England. And yet the lifetime of a man scarcely passed away before five millions of such bales was no more than a supply for one year. I mention this to show what immense influence in the affairs of the world may be produced by the persistent in- troduction of a single article susceptible of a somewhat varied use. If iron, or copper, or brass, or zinc, lead, or any other metal were produced in abundance, it would sup- ply the place of other material wonderfully. Not only would houses and fences, furniture, railways, ships, high- ways, and the like, be made of it, but it would wonderfully stimulate new inventions, and develop and open up new channels of enterprise and improvement, which now lie dor- mant and undisturbed for the very lack of some such stim- ulant. We do not see until afterward how greatly some one article was needed, not only to be used by itself, but for an almost endless mixture or combination with others, thus urging on to other and still other developments. Suppose some of the precious metals, as they are called, should be supplied in abundance. And what good reason have we to conclude that they are as scarce, comparatively, 7 74 DIUTURNITY. as they seem? We "have as yet made but the merest and most superficial beginning toward an examination of the en- tire contents of the earth in this regard; and every step we have taken in this direction gives more and more indi- cation of the immensity of the wealth of the world in gold and silver ore. We have no solid reason to conclude that, for any great length of time to come, gold and silver will be used as a mere instrument ' for the measurement of com- mercial value. It has not been long since that iron was used as money. A little change in the ever-changing cir- cumstances of the world may cause something else to be used as money, or the disuse of money entirely. And, on the other hand, it may be that the quantity of gold, and may be silver, too, was so graduated as to quantity, and position. in the earth as to make them subserve the purposes of money so long as money may be needed. The proper quantity was placed here and there for the ends intended. There is not too much; there is not too little. It was made and placed there with design, and not without design. If you were to ask the maker of a wagon or a watch why he made so great a number of wheels and springs, he would explain to you the use of each one; and he will show you the reason why he put ten or fifty times as much metal in the one as the other. Or, if he be merely gathering the material for future use, he will show why he needs a ton of one kind and only a pound of another. And he will show you that an additional number of wheels in the one case, or of pounds or tons weight in the other, would be either an incumbrance or a vain and useless preparation. Very late discoveries are almost every day developing wonders in this department of science. Sometimes these discoveries are merely accidental — stumbled upon undesign- edly. But more careful geological surveys of ranges of val- leys and ridges are rapidly pointing out the lines of location of many of these immense store-houses of wealth. Recently we have information of most immense quantities of gypsum CONCERNING CAVES. 75 in portions of the north-west of our own country. It would sound strangely enough now to talk of cities and countries being built up of the finest and purest alabaster. I am sure that I do not know that it will be done, nor that it would be desirable. But I am also sure that stranger things do happen by means of invention and discovery, and that even that may not look marvelous in years to come. It is beyond question that, in regard to mineral wealth, we have just begun to touch it at a few accidental points. In a few hundred years to come, or a few thousand, when man will look back to these days, and to the practical developments of science and industry now as the early hours of mere childhood in these respects, it will then, no doubt, be seen that, as a race, we have but just got here, and have taken a few incipient steps toward those developments of nature. And will any man say that, in the preparation of the material by Infinite Goodness and Wisdom for the future making of implements and buildings of all kinds, and other things, special respect was not had to quantity, kind, and arrangement? Man may be somewhat reasonable, but God is infinitely reasonable. The Infinite benevolence of God was wisely consulted in all this. CHAPTER XXI. CONCERNING CAVES, AND THE LIGHT THEY THROW ON THIS SUBJECT. Fissures, underground passages, and caves, which now and then present themselves to sight, afford us a little op- portunity of seeing beneath the surface of the ground. Yery little is known of caves, because little or no exploration haa 76 DIUTURNITY. even been attempted in that direction. But the little' ex- perience we have on the subject gives us a key to proba- bilities of a most interesting character. It has not been discovered that the surface of the ground in the vicinity of caves presents any remarkable appearances indicating a cavernous condition beneath. This renders it probable that caves may be much more numerous than is generally supposed. There is, probably, no good reason to conclude that one hundredth or a thousandth part of ex- isting caves have been discovered. These underground openings have as yet elecited little or no attention in the world. Of old there was one called Macphelah, which, aside from its noted mention in remote history, was. perhaps, a little affair. Lot and his daughters lived in a cave, as did Elijah the prophet. And in a few other places in Scripture history places of this kind are al- luded to. Man is the proprietor or tenant, not merely of the very outside surface of the earth, but of all the properties of its coating or skin, to an indefinite depth. But we can know nothing of what is so far beneath the surface as to be out of sight until we look and see. And a casual glance will give us but little information; we must go further, and sub- ject every thing there to the crucible of enlightened science and extensive analysis and combination. And it is very cer- tain that beneath the very cuticle we have discovered almost nothing of the substance of the earth. The very skin or veneer of the earth has been punctured but here and there very slightly, and in a few places to the depth of a few feet. Some of the furniture of the earth, prepared for our use by our Creator, was placed on the outer surface of the earth, above ground, and some beneath the surface a foot, or a mile, or, for aught that we know, at a much greater distance. Some was placed in the atmosphere and some in the water. Nor can we expect to profit by these things until we com- CONCERNING CAVES. 77 ply with the law of labor, which law includes research, in- vention, and discovery in all the departments of practical and theoretical science. To suppose that the great magazines of subterranean wealth, or, indeed, any considerable portion of them, have been opened and examined, would be to suppose that which no well-informed man could believe. But just now we are not attempting to direct attention to geology so much as to a few intimations respecting that great subject, and some of its cognates, which the few caves we have discovered afford us. The "Mammoth Cave," in Kentucky, as it is called, fur- nishes us some few elementary lessons. Here you pass down a gentle slope into the side of a hill, by an entrance twenty or thirty feet wide and as many in height. After going a mile or so, the ways separate, the one of which will lead you about three miles, and the other about nine or ten miles, as far as they have been explored. It is very evi- dent, however, that only a portion of the cave is as yet dis- covered. In several places there are large caverns which have not been entered. The cave, so far as it has been traveled, is exceedingly uneven and irregular. Sometimes you are in narrow passways scarcely large enough to crawl through; again you are descending a narrow stairway forty or fifty feet; and again you are climbing heights until you will imagine yourself near the surface of the ground. Sometimes you are in large chambers, fifty or sixty feet high, in which the scenery is very grand and imposing. In these chambers, and other portions of this underground world, the immense quantities, varieties, kinds, and colors of crys- tallizations look very much like an A, B, C lesson, leading to something, and indicating matters of interest to future scientific explorations and examinations. Crystallography is a science which, in some of its branches, has had, perhaps, a fair share of the attention of men of science ; but it must 78 DIUTURNITY. be confessed that, in its most practical and useful branches, but very little progress indeed has been made in it. Some remarkable properties of the air in caves, at least in the one just alluded to, is deserving of particular notice. It passes through the lungs with most wonderful ease and very pleasurable sensations. But its most wonderful char- acteristic is the great extent to which it wards off the ap- proach of muscular fatigue. Here is certainly a lesson for the naturalist and the physiologist. How far and under what circumstances fatigue, lassitude, weariness is necessary in laborious exercise, is an important question to mankind. Hitherto it has been looked into only subjectively, in a mere hygienic point of light; but is it certain it may not also be looked into from the direction of preparations or improvements in the breathing qualities of the atmosphere itself? To walk ten or fifteen miles, with but little rest, would be something of an undertaking for any person not much accustomed to walking long distances, even on a good road. But in the cave, fatigue from walking or other bodily exer- cise is almost out of the question. I once walked twenty miles in the cave in about eight hours, with little or no fatigue. Our party consisted of about twenty persons, more than half women and children — some of the litter not over five years old — and some elderly persons. One was a lady of upward of sixty years, and very fleshy. One would sup- pose she would scarcely walk a mile. And yet all per- formed the trip with ease; even the children did not com- plain. The old lady, all the way and to the last, declared she felt no fatigue. One lady was asthmatic, and ordinarily could not walk up stairs or on ascending ground without difficulty, and yet here she could walk up the roughest steeps and over ground all the way rough without feeling the least trouble from asthma. On returning, I could scarcely realize the truth of what CONCERNING CAVES. 79 I saw and felt. We had walked more than twenty miles Over a road the roughest imaginable — indeed, some of the way was climbing up and down — and I felt as fresh and free from fatigue, almost, as when I started; and all the others expressed themselves the same way. But it was equally remarkable that, on coming to the fresh air, as we call it, outside, we all felt immediately a considerable degree of feebleness and lassitude, with some difficulty of breathing. It seemed to produce a sinking, sickening, or depressing effect. This feeling, however, passes off in a few minutes. These peculiar effects are common, I presume, to persons remaining a considerable time in the cave, though most persons pay little or no careful attention to them. In the cave, the temperature of the atmosphere is uniform winter and summer. Now, from these phenomena a number of very interesting suggestions seem to arise. What property possessed by this inside air gives to it these wonderful breathing and sustaining qualities? And, I might add, stimulating qualities, for they are stimulating and strengthening in a high degree. It is plainly notice- able in many places, six or eight miles in the ground, that currents of air are passing in many directions, in and out, through the many crevices and openings in the rocks. There is a chemical, or at least a philosophic reason why this inside air is so much more congenial to the lungs than the common outside air. Of the fact there can be no doubt. Is it owing to the currents passing through some mineral regions and thereby becoming favorably impregnated? These and many other questions in the premises lie at the door of science, and they must be answered. It will not do to say that they are mysterious things into which we can not penetrate. So is the multiplication-table mysterious, and can not be penetrated by those who do not understand it. The truth is, they are both naturally within the reach of science, and belong to its investigations. 80 DIUTTJRNITT. Can this atmosphere, or the same or similar pulmonary results be produced by artificial means outside the cave? The air in this cave — whether it be the case in others I do not know — possessing, as it does, some valuable properties not common to outside air, it follows that, in some circum- stances in life, air does not perform all the offices for the benefit of the human system which nature must have in- tended primarily. And to ascertain the final capabilities of atmospheric air, and how to modify and educe them to the best advantage, is the business of science — a duty which it will no doubt perform after awhile. We have good reason to believe that the fewest number of existing caves have been seen and even partially ex- amined. Instances are common where a hole in the ground, sometimes perpendicular and sometimes entering a hill-side, has been well known to persons in the immediate vicinity, and some accident discloses a large cavern. The entrances to caves are generally insignificant and unattracting. For the most part, no doubt, they have no entrance. There is also very good reason for believing that many mountains, and perhaps all, are very cavernous. Perhaps it is not unsafe to believe that all mountains are hollow, to a great extent. In recent inquiries on this subject, I have been surprised to learn that there are very many large caves in the Cumberland Mountains, in Tennessee and Kentucky, which, in one sense, might be said to have been recently discovered. And yet their existence has been well known for many years to a few rude neighbors. Those regions are but partially settled, and by a rude and uncultivated peo- ple. In some instances known to me, persons have lived within a mile or two of openings into the side of hills dur- ing a life-time, and no one has had curiosity enough to en- deavor to enter it any distance; and recent searches for saltpeter have discovered that they could be entered easily for miles, with probable appearances that underground pas- sages are of almost indefinite extent. And these very brief AN INQUIRY RESPECTING FOSSIL COAL. 81 examinations have discovered in some of them saltpeter enough, apparently, to supply the present wants of the world. And yet these immense beds of wealth, of proba- bly different kinds, have to the present hour lain hid away among the crags and bramble of mountains difficult of ac- cess. Some of these beds of saltpeter are to this day known but to perhaps half a dozen persons who have any sort of appreciation of them, or even curiosity on the subject. The probability is, that the entire range of the Allegha- nies is cavernous to a great extent; and that they contain salts of various kinds, particularly niter, and in immense quantities, is nearly certain. Those elements of wealth were placed there by the Divine hand, and, therefore, they were intended to be used by man for his advantage. Nothing was made in vain. CHAPTER XXII. AN INQUIRY RESPECTING FOSSIL COAL. The immense coal-beds which lie near the earth's sur- face are, of late years, beginning to attract some attention. The people who lived a few years before us, and whom we familiarly call ancients, knew but little or nothing about fossil coal. The mention of coal in the Scriptures has prob- ably exclusive reference to charcoal. Coal exists in almost all parts of the earth. The inconceivably immense quanti- ties of coal, its oily and highly inflammable character, and capability of producing great heat, with the variety of uses to which we are already capable of applying it, show that the great Creator has placed it within our reach for valuable and beneficent purposes. More than two-thirds of the world's present age had 82 DIUTURNITY. passed away before this immense treasure was known to exist, or, at least, before it was used to any extent. It may be regarded as morally certain that coal is vege- table matter, and is formed by decomposition and petrifac- tion during what appears, to our limited comprehension, a very long period of unnumbered ages prior to the Adamic creation,' and while the globe was in a partially chaotic or formation state,, and long, long before it was put in its present arranged condition for the habitation of man. But, however it may have been formed, it is here, and both its existence and arrangement show that it is part of the furni- ture of this world, and is the result of the Divine wisdom and benevolence. The immense quantities of coal in all parts of the world, and the wonderful advances recently made in the use of it, indicate almost unmistakably that it is destined to become a very important agent in carrying forward the affairs of the world. Nevertheless, at the present time we use it to very great and apparent disadvantage. For mere lack of suitable mechanical arrangement, we waste a large propor- tion of the heat or light we produce. When mechanic arts shall become improved far beyond their present condition, fossil coal will cooperate with them in carrying on the enterprises of the world far, very far, beyond what they have now attained, and the usefulness of this property of earth will then be appreciated beyond any thing at present realized. If one had stood amidst the great primeval forests of a high geologic antiquity, away many ages beyond the Adamic creation, and had witnessed the gigantic growth of these successive forests of immense production, age after age, and with not a single vertebral animal either to subsist upon it or shelter beneath its great foliage, he might have inquired, Why is all this? To what use can those vast and ever-de- caying forests be applied? He would perhaps think there was a great waste of outlay, of design, and of production; CONCERNING SALT. 83 but he would be more excusable than the man of the pres- ent day who reasons almost in the same way. If he could see the world again, even now, he would see that these vast forests are garnered away in coal-fields equal in magnitude and more apparent in design. He would see these coal-beds even now propelling machinery which is performing the work of five hundred millions of human persons. There was a far-reaching plan of benevolence in all this. CHAPTER XXIII. CONCERNING SALT, ITS GREAT QUANTITIES, PRACTICAL USE, ETC. We need not stop to inquire whether common salt is, or is not, a constituent as well as a property or a part of the furniture of the earth. How far it may possibly be neces- sary in giving proper character to the atmosphere, to the gases, or in giving of vigor to animal or vegetable life, if it be at all necessary for these purposes, are questions which do not necessarily belong to this inquiry. The high prob- ability is that it is merely one of the useful articles with which the earth is furnished, and belongs in the catalogue of other useful things prepared for our use and comfort by our wise and benevolent Creator. Common salt is found in great quantities in almost all parts of the earth. The great mass of sea-water is strongly impregnated with it, while it is found, in its native crystal form, in numerous places; and subterranean saline water is known to be very abundant. Frequently it is found several hundred feet below the surface. In ancient times salt was regarded as an emblem of per- petuation or endless immutability. " A covenant of salt," 84 DIUTTJRNITY. in inspired language, (Num. xviii: 19, and 2 Chron. xiii: 5,) means an everlasting covenant ; salt being the emblem of preservation from all false and corrupting taint forever. And from what we know of the chemical nature of salt, it may be a great agent of preservation, acting in an unseen but favorable way upon both animal and vegetable life. The quantity of salt in the world is vast beyond concep- tion. And this quantity is undoubtedly graduated to the final necessities of mankind, though as yet but a fraction of it has been disturbed in its original resting-place. The natural deposits of salt are in the forms of fossil, crystal, and solution ; and it is not known that it is sus- ceptible of change into some other form. However it may be used, diffused, or spread about in small quantities, and apparently consumed, it still retains one of its original forms of fossil, crystal, or solution, though it frequently changes from one of these forms to another, back and forth. Though deposits of salt have been discovered in all parts of the world, so far as discoveries have been made, they seem to be local and by no means generally diffused. But the universal distribution every-where, by the use of it, is constantly going on, and is destined, in the lapse of ages, to produce great changes, of which the present feeble condition of science gives but a bare intimation. Every bushel of salt taken from its deposit, and consumed, as we call it, by being eaten or otherwise, is only diffused among or mixed with other substances. These changes are not perceptible to us in the course of a few centuries, so feeble is our grasp of periodicity; but seeing that it still retains one of its origi- nal forms, it must, in the lapse of ages, produce great chem- ical results. Placed nakedly in the ground, in considerable quantities, it has a deleterious effect upon vegetation; but in smaller quantities, and when combined with other substances, it has sometimes a happy effect upon some kinds of vegetation. And seeing the indestructible nature of salt, it is not im- CONCERNING MINERAL WATERS. 85 probable that, in the far-off future ages of the world, this gradual diffusion may work a great effect upon agriculture. . At least the salt is there, wisely proportioned to other things. "With it the world is properly seasoned, looking to its present and future condition. There is not too much; there is not too little. But up to the present age of the world the proportion of salt is out of and beyond all reasonable requirements. The one-thousandth part of it is not needed. Was there a mis- take about it, or was there no wise proportion observed in the supply ? The known facts lead necessarily to the con- clusion that things are in an incipient, immature, and unused condition. They look away through what seems to us an immensity of future years, to a ripened and more regular condition of things. The wisdom of Grod doth easily com- prehend it, though the weak perception of man flags and tires in the feeble effort to reach so far. CHAPTER XXIY. CONCERNING MINERAL WATERS, THEIR QUANTITIES, KINDS, AND USES. There is not much known respecting mineral waters ; and the little we do know is merely historic rather than scien- tific. In truth, science has as yet displayed but little of its powers in this field of investigation. It is known that large quantities of the subterranean waters are impregnated, in greater or less degrees, with various mineral particles; and it is well known that most of these waters, so far as discovered, are highly useful antidotes to various diseases, and it is quite probable that the future 86 DIITTUKNITY. demonstrations of science may prove that they all possess valuable medicinal properties. No effort, or next to none, has as yet been made to dis- cover mineral water; and it is a desideratum to find out some clue or opening policy by which such investigations may be entered upon. Hitherto these fountains and reser- voirs have been blundered upon accidentally. Indeed, as yet science has scarcely looked at the subject. Mere acci- dent has occasionally brought to light fountains of this sort of the most valuable kind. This much is well known. The popular, or even the scientific mind has not as yet thought it worth while to do more than to look upon these discoveries, when made, as a kind of accidental G-odsend. But there is more to be done. Some such questions as these naturally arise: What are the best uses to be made of all the different kinds ? How deep are their currents, or beds, under ground? May they be prevented, and how, from the unfavorable effects of contact with atmospheric air? How may they be certainly and readily discovered? Are they universally plentiful in all places ? What are the dif- ferent kinds? How may they be brought readily to the surface? Have they fountains in the deep bowels of the earth sufficient to supply all the world, in all needful quan- tities? and what are their various uses and intentions? These and other practical and scientific questions respecting mineral waters have got to be answered ; the world has got to know these questions and answers well, and the knowl- edge has got to be reduced to practical advantage, before the wisdom and goodness of God can be vindicated properly Id the premises. Things which now lie away in the unopened depositories of earth were deposited there, and there they were intended to remain until the wants, the industry, and the knowledge of man should call them forth. They compose part of the furniture of earth, just as pipes and faucets, in the different CONCERNING HOT SPRINGS. 87 parts of the house, compose part of its furniture for the supply of the establishment with warm and cold water, etc., for the practical use of the family. HAPTER XXV. CONCERNING HOT SPRINGS AND OTHER UNDERGROUND PHE- NOMENA. Closely akin to the things looked at in the preceding chapter is the subject of warm and hot water issuing out of the cold ground. This is another subject of deep mo- ment to mankind, and upon which science has, as yet, told us almost nothing. How are these waters heated? Do they pass through or come in contact with fire? Is there living fire in the bowels of the earth? We know nothing of fire except that which is produced by friction or a concentration of the rays of the sun, and exists by means of atmospheric air. How can fire or any kind of concentrated caloric exist in the deep bowels of the earth? And yet it is nearly certain that much if not all of the deep interior of the earth is a mass of molten fire. Some of this water comes out of the ground almost or quite boiling hot. Is the furnace that heats it near the surface? Is the earth a globular shell filled with fire or hot water? Or what is the condition of things a little way beneath the surface? Of these things geology answers a little and promises more. Is the race of mankind to occupy this earth, to live and die upon it, and not be able to answer such questions as these? If so, then we should cease to consider ourselves a 88 DIUTURNITY. very "intelligent" race. A school-boy, who had graduated and entered upon the duties of life, should be expected to know something of \;he house in which he was educated. And then our previous suggestions introduce many prac- tical and philosophic inquiries respecting this warm and hot water itself. It is known to be highly beneficial, if indeed it is not a specific, for many human maladies. But how, when, and why to apply it, and with or without combina- tion with other agencies, who can tell? Was this water placed underground, some cold, some warm, and some hot — variously impregnated with other substances — in thousands and millions of streams, lakes, and reservoirs, there to float about, unseen and unknown, for the space of a few centuries, and mankind have no part nor interest in the wonderful enterprise? No, indeed! The thought reflects injuriously upon the Divine wisdom and prudence. These internal fires were built for man's use, and these waters were warmed and kept warm for beneficial purposes; and it is our right and our duty to call upon human science and human industry to answer all natural and needful questions respecting them. And in due time, but not in premature haste, we confidently expect a faithful and satisfactory answer. On these subjects we have the well-indorsed promises of geological science, and we must wait her researches and de- velopments. EARTHQUAKES, THEIR DESIGN, ETC. 89 CHAPTER XXYI. AN INQUIRY RESPECTING EARTHQUAKES, THEIR DESIGN, ETC. Here is another phenomenon which belongs to our habi- tation, of which we as yet know but little. It is looked upon as a wild, frightful, erratic visitant, casting terror and danger around in every direction. To us, in these twi- light ages, it appears occasionally among us, a lawless, ungoverned, and ungovernable monster, strewing life and property in wild confusion in every direction, casting cities into the deep, sinking hills into the earth, and belching up mountains from the bowels of the deep. In the still more frightful form of volcanoes, it seems to observe some very general rules ; but still it is more frightful and terrific to man than pestilence, sword, and famine. The common notion seems to be that the immensity and monstrosity of earthquakes carry them away, away beyond human calculations, as to their character or operations. Al- most all we know about them is to be terrified at their ap- proach. We fear them almost as we would fear the wreck of matter. But of their character, if they have any, their course, or their reasons, we know but little, and seem to be perfectly content with our ignorance. And yet earthquakes are certainly a regular part of the providential phenomena of our world, as much so as the mild and seasonable opening of a rose. They are the proper and legitimate effects of certain natural causes, and in them- selves, if we knew their character, as harmless as the gentle dew of evening. They require to be understood. When the first rain fell upon the earth, the people were most probably alarmed with wild apprehension; and when 8 90 DIUTURNITY. the sky above them belched forth in hoarse and unintel- ligible bellowings, threatening instant destruction to all around, did not the people fly in amazement, unless, per- chance, their fears may have been quelled by some direct Divine information? Yery recently geology — that infant giant of science — has informed us a little with regard to the molten condition of the interior of the globe, and that it is very nearly if not quite certain that earthquakes are the result of the expan- sive and convulsive action of these pent-up molten oceans. 0, is.it not wonderful that we lived six thousand years in the world before we began to inquire of geology, of even the alphabet of its great and wonderful profession? Even now it promises, with the most satisfactory indorsements, that almost immediately, within a single age or two almost, to lead forward the student of nature into positions whence he shall look back to this very day as a school-boy day in respect of, at least, some of the great and valuable fields of thinking ! We have already taken some little incipient steps toward the control of lightning, or of something very nearly con- nected with its causes ; at least so much so as to render it highly probable that the lightnings of heaven are not en- tirely beyond the reach of science. But a very few years ago this was deemed quite impossible. But we have lived long enough to know that many impossibilities, so said, have become commonplaces. I know of nothing that renders it improbable that earth- quakes and volcanoes will, in due time, be brought under the observation and rules of science. They belong to the system of nature. They are a part of the machinery of this world, and, therefore, a proper part necessary to its completeness. How they are to be used or directed, or how they are to be geared into other agencies, are questions which science must answer. Science is bound to answer them, because they belong to its natural mission. AGRICULTURE — ITS PRESENT CONDITION. 91 CHAPTER XXVII. RESPECTING AGRICULTURE— ITS PRESENT CONDITION, ETC. The most ancient pursuit of industry among men, of which we have any account, is agriculture and husbandry. "And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." From that time to the present, agriculture has been pursued in all parts of the world more generally, more regularly, and more profitably, too, than any other call- ing. It has been neglected, as a leading and honorable pur- suit, only by savage tribes, here and there, for a time. And yet it is but truth to say that, up to the present pe- riod, not much improvement has been made in this branch of industry. Thirty-five hundred years after agriculture began to be pursued, we find Cincinnatus, one of the greatest and most practical men of Rome, plowing with an ox and a crooked stick; and at the present day, a very large portion of man- kind are pursuing agriculture about in that same way. In some comparatively small districts, comprising some of the best parts of Europe and North America, some improve- ment has been made in agricultural implements, and other- wise some little advances have been made. Agriculture is called a science, and yet science has, as yet, done very little for it. With more than ninety-nine hundredths of mankind it is a mere experience, and with them not much more is known now than was known to the antediluvians. And in the extensive countries of the north, the west, and the south of North America, of Central and South America, of Asia and Africa, as well as the vast 92 DIUTURNITT. islands of the sea, not much advance has been made either in implements or the mode of using them. Very recently some little improvement has been made, in some small districts, in labor-saving machinery, in seed- sowing, harvesting, etc. ; and in motive power there have been some successful experiments. And this is the sum of agricultural development so far in this world. And has science demonstrated any thing with regard to the producing powers of the different kinds of soils? So far from it, it is not known to-day that some lands possess less or more producing power than others. We call some land poor and some rich, but no man knows that this is true. Some lands, uniformly rated very poor, present unmis- takable evidence of richness, though they will not, in their present condition, with our mode of tillage, produce corn or other farm products. See the pine forests of this country. The evidence of richness is, that they produce a heavy forest of very resinous timber. Their productive capacity is, there- fore, established. Then this supposed poverty of soil is only contingent and relative. "What evidence it might give of a producing capacity for other products, under other regimen, or com- binations, or tillage, which we have not applied to it, we do not know. And, moreover, soil is only one of the general agents in the production of vegetables. The atmosphere has much to do in their production. Water is also necessary. It is the province of agricultural science to inform us how plants are produced; not merely to compound earths by mechanical divisions or ingredients, but to show us what is used, how these ingredients are changed in forming the growth of the several plants, in what these changes consist, and what essences produce growth. Vegetable growth is chemical formation. Chemistry can tell us now of what an apple, a potatoe, and a grain of AGRICULTURE — ITS PRESENT CONDITION. 93 wheat consists; but agriculture ought to tell us of what they are severally produced. Is humidity necessary to veg- etable growth, and why? A grain of corn, a seed of pepper, and an acorn are planted in the same soil, within a few inches of each other. So they are supported by the same soil and atmosphere, and yet their products are very dissimilar. One seed is the agent in the manufacture of corn, another of pepper, and a third of an oak ; and yet they all three use the same materials. How are a hundred different products made of the same materials? And, further: How far is earth necessary in the pro- duction of vegetation? and how small a quantity will suf- fice in this or in that? It is well known that some vege- tables are- produced, or can be, without the use of earth. Irish potatoes can be thus produced. This suggests the practicability of vegetable reproduc- tion, or certain classes thereof, with the use of but little or perhaps no earth. No man possesses the necessary in- formation as to the productive capacity of an acre, or a bushel, or a pound of earth. The most reasonable proba- bility is, that the ultimate productive capacity of the ground — or, perhaps, I had better say, of the materials of which it is composed — is far, very far away beyond any experiments which we have made in these incipient begin- nings. It seems apparent that agriculture has scarcely com- menced its great course of usefulness to mankind. 94 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XXVIII. THERE IS EVIDENT DEFECT OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE. That which most closely conforms to nature is most scientific and most philosophic, as well as most truthful, in all things. The chief difficulty is, however, that the visible processes of nature and art are so dissimilar that it is not easy to determine, in all eases, what is a conformity to or departure from the natural procedure. But this may gen- erally be determined with reasonable clearness. Nature is an agriculturist, though acting in a different field and with different ends in view from man. Still we must conclude, a priori, that nature follows the general laws of vegetable reproduction, and thus reaches the end by the best and shortest means. And applying this reasoning to the common processes of agriculture, it suggests the inquiry as to the correctness of some of our most general modes of tilling the soil; and at the first glance we see much back action and positive injury to the soil, not by causing the land to produce, but by the mode of cultivation. The plan of nature, by which she produces more than double and generally five times the quantity the farmer does, is to keep the surface of the ground covered up carefully and closely, and to use thus, as a means of covering, the very thing which is extracted from the ground, thus re- turning to the land the properties or qualities taken from it; while, at the same time, this return in kind furnishes a covering for the ground, by which means a dense humidity of the atmosphere is kept up close on the surface, excluding DEFECTIVE AGRICULTURE. 95 the sun and atmosphere. And so the decomposition of this covering proceeds somewhat rapidly; and as not much of its grosser substance is carried away by the wind, the vigor and healthfulness of the soil is preserved. But we, in doing the same thing, pursue the contrary course to a considerable extent. We strip the bosom of the ground bare, exposing its surface to the passing winds and scorching rays of the sun ; and not only so, but we dig up its skin with a plow and expose the entire coating to the same debilitating influences of the sun and air ; and we do this repeatedly through the course of the year. Every intelligent farmer well knows that this does con- siderable injury to the land. He knows that it is this mode of cultivation that wears out land, and not the mere production by itself considered. But he does not know how to avoid the positive injury he sees and perpetrates. But, with all his tillage, plowed land does not produce half, gen- erally not one-fourth, and oftentimes not one-tenth so much as that which is not plowed. The annual growth of wood alone, in forest trees, is much greater than many suppose. Agriculture is defective, and the proof of it is that the husbandman can not produce to the extent of the natural capacity of the soil. The defect is palpable, but we know not how to remedy it. We must live longer and learn more. We must subject the various agents employed to a far more searching examination. We are not at liberty to suppose that God gave to any of these agents a power which was not to be used for man's benefit. 96 DIUTIIRNITY. CHAPTER XXIX. CONCERNING RAIN, AND HOW FAR SCIENCE MAY CONTROL IT. Rain is a phenomenon so common that every body seems to know all about it, or all that can be known; and yet there are many things very intimately and very practically con- nected with it of which we know very little. The only notice intended of the subject here is, to sug- gest the inquiry whether its control is probably within human reach. Yery little inquiry has been directed to this point. The popular notion is, that the operation of the clouds so as to produce rain is clearly beyond our reach; but this conclusion is not reached by any course of philo- sophic inquiry, and, therefore, can not be conclusive. Rain as a casualty, is produced irregularly, but by regular philosophic causes; and all these agents are near at hand. It is not like something in the heavens, thousands and mill- ions of miles distant. Clouds are always at or very near the earth's surface, especially those containing much vapor, because the warmer the atmosphere, the greater its capacity to contain water ; and the rule, with some little fluctuations, is, that the higher you proceed from the earth, the colder is the atmosphere. Rain is produced mainly by the meeting and commingling of two or more clouds of different temperature, and con- taining different quantities of water in proportion to their bulk. It is not only the rule that the higher the tempera- ture the greater the capacity of the atmosphere to contain water, but this capacity increases in a much faster ratio than the increase of the temperature. It therefore follows that the mingling of two clouds, fully charged with water of CONCERNING RAIN. 97 different temperatures, would produce rain, because the mean temperature of the two clouds, now formed into one, has a less capacity than they both had when separate. This sur- plus of water must fall to the ground. All this is generally done within a few hundred feet of the earth's surface, and oftentimes, in hilly regions, below the surface of the adjacent mountains. Then, to produce rain, you have only to create a warmer current of air, and let it commingle with the clouds above. The material for all this is at hand and abundant. Show me how to sepa- rate the constituents of the atmosphere, and to control the flames that would inevitably ensue, and rain may be pro- duced at pleasure; and we do use these materials to some extent for other purposes. To the vulgar mind every thing that has not been done is impossible; but a man of science will not decide any thing impossible until science itself discovers the barrier in the form of a contradiction. Upon the whole, the high probabilities are that, in future ages, we will not see what is now in plain sight of my win- dow, and which is indeed not a very uncommon thing — a corn-field, with half-grown corn suffering and almost dying for lack of moisture, with abundance of moisture near at hand. This looks like a bungling, half-way mode of doing things, and does not comport with the highly philosophic plan upon which such a world as this must have been built. 9 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XXX. CONCERNING MEDICINE— THE SMALL DISCOVERIES MADE IN THIS DEPARTMENT. We speak of the science of medicine, and yet it is well known that very few things in medicine, in its various branches, are reduced to a science. Experience has, how- ever, taught us a good deal in the use of materials, regi- men, etc., in the cure or mitigation of disease, and yet it is evidently in a crude, beginning state. The slow progress which the cure of disease is making in the world is probably owing to the following causes : First, diseases change, or seem to change, rapidly and con- siderably in their character and diagnosis ; secondly, there is probably a much more close connection between physical disorganization and mental condition than is generally sup- posed ; and, thirdly, it is likely, or at least possible, that what we call disease or physiological derangement, possesses some primary or necessary characteristics which are not yet discovered. Our knowledge of disease is rather of its effects than of the thing itself. No specific has been discovered for any disease. A medi- cine cures or seems to cure in one instance, and fails in another. The practice of medicine changes very rapidly sometimes. That which is prescribed by almost every body now, is discarded by every body in ten or twenty years. Medicine has not yet gone beyond the school system ; and so, at the present time, we have several schools of medicine, and among the fellows of the same school we often see men pursuing radically different remedies for the same disease. This argument would, however, by no means MECHANIC ARTS IN A CRUDE STATE. 99 prove any thing against either the science or practice of medicine, as surface debaters would be likely to use it. It proves only that the science is in its beginning state. It is well known that the mind, in its different states and dispositions, has very much to do with the health of the body; but steps of a scientific character have scarcely been attempted in that direction. It is not unreasonable to pre- sume that developments in this line may entirely overturn and throw behind us all our present knowledge of medi- cine. It is but very recently that pathology has begun to as- sume the rank of a special department of medical science. And it must be confessed that as yet not much progress has been made in investigating the nature and causes of disease. Proximate causes, not far distant, are discernible both by science and observation; and more remote causes, though still proximate, may perhaps easily be deduced. So that the adult condition of this valuable science must be away somewhere in the future. We are perusing the great volume of Human Progress. Medicine is one of its natural chapters; and the most we can say is, that we have commenced it, have read its title- page, and perhaps a very few other pages. CHAPTER XXXI. THE MECHANIC ARTS ARE IN A CRUDE, BEGINNING STATE. Mechanism and the arts seem to have made more progress in the world than other branches of human pursuit. Much progress has been made within the last fifty years. And yet steam-power, telegraphic transmission, and daguerreotype painting are evidently in the infancy of their career. Steam 100 DIUTURNITT. promises to perform almost all heavy labor, and yet we cer- tainly see nothing to discourage the supposition that it may be superseded by atmospheric pressure for all purposes of motive force. Certainly all motive power with which we are acquainted works to great disadvantage. At this moment I wish to build a house and a fence, and have plenty of good material at hand ; but I know of no way to use it but by first doing great injury to my build- ing-stone. For lack of mechanical power easily applied, I must first break my fine large stone up into bits of a pound or a ton in weight, thus rendering it less sightly and less durable. I want a machine, easily managed and of sufficient power to take rocks from the hill-side, of almost any size, cut them into any desired shape, and place them. A few pieces will build a house. An inconsiderate man would say that this was impossible; but it is certainly not. It is only impracticable, for mere lack of mechanical means and adapta- tion. Machinery does not generate force ; it only applies and controls it. Of power itself we know little or nothing. We see its effects; but power belongeth unto Grod. The extent and complication of mechanical forces are perhaps in- definite. Archimedes, who lived only two thousand years ago, was said to have been the most inventive man of an- tiquity. He thought he had carried the power of machinery to the extent of its capacity, and he would no doubt have pronounced so simple a thing as an auger that would bore a square hole an impossibility. Invention creates nothing; it only gears isolated things. The present mode of telegraphing alone has almost opened a new era in some departments of human affairs ; and yet we know almost nothing about it. The mere battery is a very simple machine; but no man knows how the result i3 produced at the other end of the wire. It is not probable that any thing is transmitted along the wire. We see invention following close on the heels of inven- DURABILITY OP BUILDING MATERIAL. 101 tion, and discovery pushing on discovery, and that nine- teen-twentieths of the world is very far behind these im- provements ; and this alone proves this most important department of human growth to he in its very infancy. It is very easy, - indeed, to mark mere positive progress, but the proper inquiry here is, to compare the present stage, not with the past, but with the evident designs of Infinite Good- ness and Wisdom. CHAPTER XXXII. CONCERNING THE DURABILITY OP BUILDING MATERIAL, AND THE SMALL DISCOVERIES WE HAVE MADE IN IT. It is noteworthy, in this connection, that no buildings or monuments of a very durable character have as yet been erected by man. In a few instances buildings last two or three hundred years or more, but for the most part they decay in less than a century. The ruins of ancient cities, tombs, fortifications, etc., give evidence of some durability, though in nearly all cases it is impracticable to determine the age of these ruins. Cities were so frequently destroyed and rebuilt, that it can not be determined whether the ruins, as seen now, belong to later or more remote ages. The most durable buildings among the ancients seem to have been made of stone or brick ; but how these brick were made we do not now know. Our best information goes to show that they were first made into mortar and then dried in the sun. The Tower of Babel is believed to be the oldest building known to exist. This was originally built perhaps five hun- dred years or so after the flood; but some centuries after- ward it was either finished or partially rebuilt. How much 102 DIUTURNITY. of the original building still remains, if any, is unknown. It was, mostly at least, built of brick, some of which were kiln-dried, but mostly dried in the sun. These brick lie there still, unprotected from the weather, as they have been for three thousand years, and are in a perfect condition. Some are petrified, some are vitrified, and others still re- main as originally made. Almost all ancient structures are long since wholly de- cayed. In some few periods and in some things our fathers excelled the present age in this respect, though extensive durability in buildings marks generally no era of the past. Modern brick last but a few years, and painting soon grows dim and gives way under the action of the atmosphere. Have we lost these arts? Has the march of science turned backward? Is the world becoming less useful to man before he has penetrated one-thousandth part of its archives? No! These instances of seeming retrograde movement are but little irregularities, which happen from ignorance, temporary literary declension, etc. The general course of science and art is onward. Geology, as a science, is so very infantile that it has given us but very little information on this subject. But for all practical purposes, it would seem that earth, rocks, and the grosser metals are sufficiently durable, if we had some way of using earth, and of manufacturing rocks and metals; and in these directions science is making progress which ought, perhaps, to be satisfactory. The future will gradually open. "Wood is also one of the most indestructible materials known to us, and yet, in the way we use it, it decays rapidly. If we knew some mode of preventing it from receiving moist- ure, by petrifying or vitrifying it, or of putting it in the form of charcoal without weakening it, it would be a hundred- fold more useful than it is. This must and will be done. CONCERNING OIL. 103 CHAPTER XXXIII. CONCERNING OIL, WITH CONJECTURES AS TO THE PROBABLE SUPPLY, USES, ETC. Webster's Dictionary defines oil to be " an unctuous substance expressed or drawn from various animal and vege- table substances." How miserably defective that definition has proved to be in less than twenty years! Until very recently oil was not known, except as it was derived from animal and vegetable substances. But recent discoveries show that vast lakes of oil lie in the ground but a few feet beneath the surface. It is probably native prim- itive oil; and though as yet it is chiefly used for burning purposes, because it is more volatile than many other oils, yet there can be no doubt of its susceptibility of being manu- factured so as to answer all the purposes of common oils. There is every reason to believe that as yet the discoveries are comparatively small." Quite likely it exists generally underground, by going a little deeper. As yet these discoveries have attracted the attention of the mere mercenary money-makers ; but they must soon en- gage the attention of mankind, and particularly the scientific world, for this great increase in the supply of so important an article must materially affect the entire industrial and social fabric. The laws of commerce, whether conventional or statutory, are based on the relative quantities of commercial commodi- ties. The disturbing of this relation, then, in any impor- tant particular, must change the currents of commerce ma- terially. We must by no means confine our reasoning here to the mere present consumption of oil. Its indirect effects, 104 DIUTURNITT. stimulating present pursuits, and bringing new ones into being, will be ten or a hundred-fold greater than these. Most assuredly, an extensive cosniological programme is connected in more ways than we now see with these vast oil lakes, and in due time it will tell upon the world — not sud- denly nor violently, but in a far-reaching extent. They were placed there for use — for something, not for nothing. They are a part of an extensive programme of wisdom and benevolence, but the merest fraction of which has as yet transpired. SECTION THIRD We now proceed to look at the world in it its intel- lectual aspects. We have summoned forward for exami- nation a few things which pertain to what may be termed the furniture of the world, and we have glanced briefly at their natural character, their several relations to other things, and the obvious and unmistakable end of their creation. Keep- ing in view, at every step as we proceed, the great axiom on which this entire argument rests; viz., the Wisdom and Goodness of God, and the necessary deduction therefrom ; that having made this world for man, and formally placed it in his possession, it must have been arranged in a way best calculated to benefit its possessor. Looking at these prop- erties of the earth in this light, we find every one we look at — and we might have looked at hundreds more — in a new, unused, unimproved, beginning state. Not one has performed any thing like what its obvious character aDd nature promise. They all unite in testifying to a new, crude, beginning state. But the world has, also, a more subjective and intel- lectual aspect; and we proceed now to look at it a little in this point of light. It is very true, we can not desig- nate and describe the accomplishment or perfection in any of these things, for we have not been there, and so have no experience. But we can look forward very safely to some future degrees of improvement from the nature of the thing and the little experience we have. (105) CHAPTER XXXIV. WHAT IS THE PROPER MISSION AND END OP SCIENCE? Art, depending as it does upon practice, is necessarily progressive. Sculpture, painting, and music, for instance, are arts. They can never be brought to perfection, because their degrees of advancement, in a high state, depend upon different tastes. Art can have no ultimate standard by which its completeness can be determined. But this is not the case with science. Science has cer- tain definite things to do, and when that is accomplished it can do no more of that thing. Science determines with certainty. That is its office. But we must keep a clear distinction between science and art. Some confusion has taken place in letters because au- thors have not invariably done this. Agriculture is called a science. It is both a science and an art. The former deter- mines its principles, analyzes its soils and plants, points out their relation, and determines how and why tillage should be conducted. But it is an art to handle a plow or sow seed properly. In building, science points out exactly what ma- terial is to be used and how to reach a given end; and art uses its fingers dexterously to meet these requirements. And so music is both a science and an art; but they work as in- dependently in the same as in different subjects. Pure science, as it is called, relating to the various branches of mathematics, rests upon self-evident truths, we are told. And this is really the case, we ought to be told, with all science; the difference being, that in the one case we comprehend the subject fully, and in the other we do not. Mathematics is a simple thing, naturally comprehen- (107) 108 DIUTTJRNITT. sible; while the other sciences are as yet penetrated but a small way. The science of astronomy, for instance, is in itself per- fect and determinate, whether we know much about it or not. All questions in astronomy are, in themselves, as fully capable of being answered as the simplest question in arith- metic. The subjective character of a science is one thing; our proficiency in it is quite another. Then what is the proper natural mission of science in this world? Or, in other words, what is the proper use which man is to make of science? We are not to answer this question with reference to any particular age of the world, nor to any particular attainments made here or there. Men of science are much in the condition of a school- boy. They understand well the lessons they have learned, the laws they have tested, and of those now in hand, which they are trying to evolve. Of the scope of these they have an imperfect conception, at least in outline; and the great questions of the age now are, how to master these sub- jects. But of many things still beyond, there is but a bare glimpse: the conception is feeble — even the outline is beyond the mental grasp. Still we know there are fields yet before us unexplored of almost limitless extent. Who does not see that the al- phabet of geology, for instance, is as yet scarcely mastered by the most learned? We must not compare the acnievements of science^ with the past. This proves nothing. Nor yet must we compare them with such advances as we conceive or judge to be at- tainable. Our very lack of further knowledge and expe- rience is the reason why we can not prescribe to ourselves distinct lessons to be learned. We are again like the school- boy. You undertake to explain to him lessons in the higher branches, and he does not understand you. Our attainments in any particular science has no more to do in determining the character of the science, than has WHAT IS THE MISSION AND END OF SCIENCE? 109 the attainments of the school-boy, who has not yet learned the multiplication table, to do in determining the extent of the science of figures. The science of geology, for ex- ample, comprehends all the facts and principles in that de- partment of knowledge. It is the proper mission of ge- ology, therefore, to impart to mankind all its truths and all its treasures. And so of the other sciences. The limit of its lessons is the extent of man's capacity to know. I am aware that what we call science is but the name of the collection of these, general principles or truths as they relate to this or that particular subject. And I use the word in this sense. These different departments of knowl- edge present to the understanding a great variety of truths, facts, and principles, which, to a certain extent, are capable of being understood. These truths, facts, and principles are both speculative and practical. In the former aspect, they assist man in understanding other truths and princi- ples; but in their practical bearings they assist man in using this world as not abusing it. There is not one of them, of all the countless millions, if one man could know them all, which would not be useful to him in making his bread, in clothing his body, in healing his wounds, should he have any, in prolonging his life, and in making him useful every day in every thing. Science looks exclusively to human advantage, and seeks to perfect every thing. And its deeper lessons, which will not probably be studied for thousands of years to come, must be as full of practical profit as its more elementary teachings. The most learned men feel and realize their exceeding juvenile condition as learners more than the partially learned. When man's natural capacity — not his mere actual abil- ity — to understand natural and moral truth shall be fully met, then science may be said to have performed her mission. And then we will have only to teach these things, so far as they may be unknown, from man to man. I do not mean that man must know all cosmological truth which ia 110 =. DIUTURNITY. in itself capable of being known; but it is necessary that science should teach him so much of the entire world, and its entire furniture, with all its varied relationship, depend- ency, and adaptation, as may enable him to draw from the whole and from the several parts all the properties they possess which are capable of advancing human happiness. Capacity does not go beyond design. CHAPTER XXXY. CONCERNING THE PHILOSOPHIC CONGRUITY BETWEEN MAN AND THE WORLD. To say that God has made nothing in vain — that a wise and benevolent forecast was exercised in creation — that every thing has its purpose — that adaptation and coopera- tion run all through sublunary affairs, is, in effect, to say that man will not have performed his proper and intended business in this world until he shall, at least, be qualified for all the natural duties of life. And this implies that he must become acquainted with the world in which he lives in all its details, so far, at least, as to enable him to ap- propriate its properties to his use and advantage. If he is not to become thus qualified for the use of all this world, with all its furniture, then an inferior world to this would have answered his ends and requirements just as well. It would be unwise and inappropriate to build a costly edifice, with forty apartments, medical, chemical, as- tronomical, literary, etc., for the use of two or three peasants to live in a week. Not only, therefore, was all this world, in all its scien- tific departments, prepared for man's proper use, but man must be qualified for the use and appropriation of these CONCERNING MAN AND THE WORLD. Ill things. And, in order to know how to use them, he must, at least, be scientifically acquainted with them. And this qualification must be acquired by patient research and ex- amination. Look at the world a few hundred or a few thousand years ago, or look at four-fifths of it at the present day, and see how poorly qualified its inhabitants were, and still are, to use the blessings and advantages prepared for their use by their Creator. Even a hundred years ago — almost yesterday — the most wise and intelligent were entirely ig- norant of many great advantages in nature well known to us now. And as to our present attainments, relatively, it is in the highest degree probable, amounting to moral cer- tainty, that the great mines and fields of the rich furniture of earth are as yet undiscovered. And even in regard to those things with which we are supposed to be familiar, on a little examination there will be seen to be the greatest practical incongruity. Look at the practical difference between man, in his pres- ent attainments, and so simple and familar a department of life as agriculture. It is apparent that in the best dis- tricts of earth, and among the most enlightened, that every man is a novice in the science, not only of agriculture gen- erally, but in the cultivation of the simplest products. No half-informed man will say that he is acquainted with the best mode — not only in all circumstances, but in any cir- cumstances — of raising corn, or cabbage, or peas, or pota- toes. None but the ignorant and the unthinking can, for a moment, suppose that earth, air, water, and the different agents used in producing beans, wheat, or apples, have been used in their best possible combinations and relations in the produce of these articles, and according to the laws of vegetable reproduction. Our little experience raises the highest probability that the same quantum of outlay now used might produce ten times as much as a common good yield. Indeed, this much has been done, and can be done 112 DIUTURNITY. again any time. "Where a good common crop of corn would be rated at thirty bushels to the acre, three hundred bushels can be easily produced. Many experiments of this kind have been tested. And the only reason I know of why this is not generally done is, that, with our present knowl- edge, it requires twenty years to prepare the seed and a little labor to prepare the ground. We know of no scien- tific barrier to the produce of one thousand bushels of corn to the acre, where thirty or forty is now grown. We can not keep destructive insects off the tender vines of the garden nor spiders from fruit-trees; nor can we prevent plants from mixing sexually nor mix them at pleasure, nor keep weevil from wheat nor hasty rot from potatoes. In the cultivation of the immensely numerous and valuable products of the tropics, almost nothing has been done ; and of the capacity of the torrid zones for agriculture and hor- ticulture, we are as ignorant now, almost, as we were five thousand years ago. And not only are we greatly ignorant of the best possi- ble modes of raising the commonest as well as the rarest articles of husbandry, but of a knowledge of all the various plants adapted to the several latitudes and different kinds of soil, etc., of the world, there is among men almost no classified and well-adjusted knowledge at all. It is fre- quently seen that the transfer of plants from one country to another is attended with very valuable results; but these discoveries have scarcely been begun. The simple science of vegetable reproduction has done so little toward educating and preparing man for the highest degree of usefulness in life in that field of industry, that there are, indeed, but a very few men who esteem scientific knowledge in this regard of any value at all ! In this re- spect the world can not be said to be civilized. So little progress has scientific knowledge made in this department of industry, that it has not as yet convinced the multitude that it has any real advantages to offer to mankind! CONCERNING MONET. 113 And so it might be written of almost all the sciences. They have done but little of their natural task of estab- lishing the natural congruity between man and the world that the Creator put into his hands. Nor is this said by way of croaking. I rather congratulate my fellow-man that so much has been done in so little time. Nature, with man in one hand and the world in the other, intended a perfectly harmonious congruity. The capacity of the one does not outreach that of the other. Man is endowed with a capability of producing, out of the world and its natural furniture, all these valuable and advan- tageous results, of which the latter is in itself naturally productive. And yet, at almost every stage and turn of life, he is in doubt how or which way to move. Often, to avoid one difficulty he falls into another. He has few relia- ble landmarks. He has but scarcely entered the threshold of the great store-house. But he is as yet in the morning tWight. The sun will be up by and by. CHAPTER XXXYI. CONCERNING MONEY — ITS PHILOSOPHY AND USES. To suppose this to be the culminating period of the world, is to suppose that gold and silver are precious metals above all others, and that its supply in the mines is pro- portioned to the office they now hold in the commercial world. Laws, whether statutory or conventional, fixing the relative value of what we call money, are based upon the supposed scarcity of these metals. Gold, platinum, and silver, and sometimes copper, are the universally recognized money metals among modern commercial nations. Grold, as it is usually smelted for coin, is rated to be worth about fifteen 10 114 DIUTURNITY. times as much as silver. This is upon the supposition that there is fifteen times as much silver as gold in the world. But gold and silver are not essentially money metals any more than other articles. Formerly, kids, skins, and iron were used. Gold and silver are used merely because a large relative value may be put in a small compass. But it is a mistake to suppose that governments establish the value of coined metal. They only give it a mere relative value. The money with which Abraham purchased Machpelah was not probably stamped by a government, and yet it was "current with the merchant." No longer ago than the reign of Elizabeth, a law was passed in England in regard to college leases, which fixed the price, in money, of two-thirds of the amount, and required the other third to be paid in corn at the market value. But the influx of the precious metals subsequently has changed the law very materially. Long since, the corn, though originally only one-third part in value, is now more than double the portion to be paid in money. Suppose, as some recent discoveries seem to meditate as possible, at least, that gold is plenty — as plenty as copper or lead. We have but barely begun to discover any thing contained in the bowels of the earth. Then gold must re- sign its office as a commercial agent, and these gold and silver money days will be looked back upon, from the great im- provements of the future, as we now look back upon the times when "money" first began to be "current with the merchant." THE INTERCOMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 115 CHAPTER XXXVII. CONCERNING THE INTERCOMMUNICATION OF IDEAS GENER- ALLY, AND THE MEANS BY WHICH IT IS DONE. Very much of the business of life consists in the com- munication of our thoughts from one to another. This is a source of human happiness to a most immeasurable extent, and a large amount of our happiness is measured by the facility with which this is done. A great man, who had a remarkably good use of language, was asked how he had acquired it so. perfectly. He replied that in his young days he saw that in the course of life he had to talk more than to do almost any other one thing, and that this was a neces- sary employment for every day ; and he therefore concluded that to learn this art well would be more useful to him than almost any other. The man who can talk well and write well has a most immeasurable advantage over others. Whether language was originally the gift of Grod or the invention of man is a question for others. We here deal with it simply as a part of G-od's providence. It is in- tended, therefore, for us to make use of it to the full ex- tent of its capabilities. It is certain that language is at present a very imperfect vehicle for the conveyance of thought. I do not know to what this is attributable. It might be to a designed natu- ral incompleteness in language itself, to prevent its perver- sion to our disadvantage; it might be to a natural incon- gruity between mind and its transmissibility, or it may be cnly to our lack of acquaintance with language as it stands connected with acoustics and utterance. Certain it is, the lack, or defect, or imperfection exists. 116 DIUTURNITY. That there should be more than one language among man- kind is an obvious disadvantage. Plurality and confusion of tongues was inflicted upon us a few years ago at Babel, as a punishment for our presumptuous sins, and as a re- straint to check us in our rebellion. It is likely we are beginning to work back to the wholesome practice of one language and one speech; though it is certain Grod will not permit this until it would be a real advantage to man- kind. Language is susceptible of almost indefinite improvements, and its improvement will benefit mankind more than that of almost any other endowment. It has greatly improved and is now improving rapidly. Ideas are fast increasing in number, as new facts and truths present themselves to the mind; and every new idea needs a new word, or the change or extension of sense of an existing word, in order that it may be communicated. Complexional shades of meaning may be communicated by actions presented to the eye of the listener; and then, by writing or picturing thoughts to the eye, ideas may be com- municated with considerable rapidity, but not with great accuracy, as to fine shades of meaning. Let any one attempt to describe any thing accurately, and he will find he has no means of making tfpon his friend, the precise impression he himself experiences. Our thoughts are generally communicated to each other by means of talking and writing — the former being addressed to the ear, and the latter to the eye. Motions of the limbs and body are also used in the former mode, for the purpose of giving shade and force to particular words. In these two ways almost all our thoughts are transferred from one to another. In the former mode the corresponding parties must be placed within hearing distance of each other; and in the latter the writing — made with pen or type, and in some sort of characters or printing — must be conveyed by third parties from one correspondent to the other party. THE INTERCOMMUNICATION OF IDEAS. 117 Tlie receiving party may be one man, or, by means of books or newspapers, ten thousand. But are there no other — no more facilitating and rapid modes of transmitting our thoughts from man to man? But a very few years ago, even within the recollection of many, science would have answered this question decidedly in the negative. We were told that the laws of nature absolutely- required the parties to be within seeing or hearing distance, or that the words or pictures, carved or written, be con- veyed by physical process from place to place. But science has already demonstrated that this is a most egregious mis- take. There never was any such necessity. It now stretches a small wire a thousand miles, and the communicating correspondent at the one end writes his thoughts instantaneously at the other end, to be read there. But is the wire necessary ? This necessity has not only not been demonstrated, for we have not yet learned the office which the wire performs, but in casting about irregularly, it has been demonstrated that it is not necessary. Regular modes of telegraphing accurately without a wire have not been invented; but there is every reason to believe that the means and modes of communicating ideas from man to man are extensive and facile, far beyond any thing now reduced to practical science. These modes are now, so far as we see them, erratic, excentric, and apparently fantastic and lawless. But science is under obligations to develop these laws and place the reins in our hands. But we will look at the general question from a few other points of ob- servation. 118 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XXXVIII. CONCERNING THE OFFICE AND END OF HUMAN LANGUAGE. The language of man is his distinguishing glory. Speech is a most grand and sublime endowment. Man alone pos- sesses it. The plan and arrangement of the organs of ar- ticulation show a most wonderful display of Divine skill. Few people are aware of the wonderful effects of human speech, when well directed by persons who are considered gifted in the art of vocal utterance. The contrast between this and ordinary vocal utterance is great indeed. The world has produced some few persons in the pulpit, on the forum, and the stage whose power of speech so far transcended the ability of men in general, that it seems almost a different thing altogether. Now, it is not probable that every man living or every youth could attain to such powers of eloquence as some possess; but it is certain, morally certain, that, in the course of a line of generations, the art of speaking might be so improved that the very best performers now would be but common-place and only rank with the multitude, if, indeed, they would not be in an inferior position. Look at the manner in which reading is generally per- formed now, even among the few educated persons. The difference between good reading and that which passes cur- rent among the better classes of educated persons is very great indeed. In the latter case, it is not too much to say that, generally, almost every rule of natural rhetoric is vio- lated in almost every sentence. From a personal acquaint- ance with several thousand ministers, and I know not how CONCERNING HUMAN LANGUAGE. 119 many lawyers, college presidents, and teachers, I have not known one whose reading I should consider good. The common standard of popular acceptability in reading is away down at the point of incoherent mumbling and life- less muttering, such as is generally heard at such places as the pulpit and the bar. The reading which has life and thrill and power in it; that which drives naming thoughts and charming, animated zeal through every chamber of the soul, and causes the hearer to feel the feelings of the speaker, is generally looked upon as the very rare and un- common gift of a few; whereas it ought to be regarded as the common standard of good reading. Most persons seem to think that if the words of the author be correctly pronounced in their proper order, mind- ing the "stops," and observing a few rules laid down in the "rhetoric," that he gives the full idea of the author; whereas it is likely we never, in reading, get the full idea of the author. We are not yet well skilled in the use of language. "We get the author's grosser and most primary thoughts, perhaps, but generally most of the full appreciation of the author's subject is lost before it reaches us through the books. There is no doubt that such powers of utterance as those put forth by the celebrated singer Jenny Lind, a few years ago, and by a few star stage -players, is within the reach, or ought to be within the reach, of every one, where there is no malformation of the vocal organs. But in order to this, one important thing is necessary, that public taste and popu- lar opinion and expectation imperatively demand it. The mouth can be educated to the performance of almost any degree of vocal mechanism imaginable. It is a burning shame that the stage has the name of being ahead of the pulpit in the demonstrations of vocal utterance. John Randolph was right when, on returning from a lecture in Washington, in answer to an inquiry what 120 DIUTURNITT. lie thought of it, he replied, "Think! Do you suppose I would be likely to think about the performance of a man who calls horizon, Ao?4zon?" And my reverend and pious friend was right when, on leaving the church, in reply to a similar question, he says, " Sermon ! I have heard no ser- mon; have you heard any?" 1 regret most sorely I did not know and appreciate the right use of language forty or fifty years ago. But, alas! there was none to tell me. I did not know but language was used according to its natural capabilities. And to-day I would give thousands, if I had it, if it would purchase for me the ability to read one chapter in the Bible correctly ; but that I have no hope of ever doing. My mouth is old and stiff, and long since ruined by this miserable reading, such as schools and colleges teach, and men considered edu- cated practice. And then if you leave the ranks of educated men and go among the more uninformed, which class comprises nine- tenths of the people in the best parts of the world, you find their use of language barely a remove from that in savage life. They make no more effort to use and educate the organs of articulation to advantage than the lower animals. It is not too much to say that common conversation, as compared with the natural capabilities of speech, is a stammering, drawling, mumbling twang, or jabbering sputter of mispro- nunciation, capable of conveying a few gross ideas, but utterly incapable of communicating a thousand shades of thought, of feeling, of emotion, and of description. Who has not felt the great inconvenience of being unable to speak what he knows, feels, or perceives ? And so men talk very composedly of the "feebleness of human language." This feebleness is not probably in the language, but in our proficiency in the use of it. The idea that a good use of language is a rare gift be- stowed upon a very few, and that the mass of mankind are not to rise, in this respect, above the mumbling of a few CONCERNING HUMAN LANGUAGE. 121 un grammatical words and barbarisms, in a dull, meaningless way, is certainly well befitting the lower walks of ignorance, but should not be tolerated by men of thought and intelli- gence. Language was given to man for the highest, holiest, and noblest of purposes. Very few men seem to have carefully considered the im- mense practical advantage which would accrue to mankind from such an improvement in the use of it as we have here hinted at, and as few seem to be aware of the rapid man- ner in which language is improving at this very day. We sometimes speak of a standard dictionary ; we might almost as well speak of a standard almanac. In a living language a dictionary can remain standard, or correct, but a very short time. The reason of this is, that ideas are con- stantly increasing in the mind, especially where science and general information are advancing. Ideas are accumulating in number rapidly almost every day ; and every new idea must inevitably have, in order that it may be used in speech, a new word, or a new meaning to an old one; so that words are increasing in number all the while. A good dictionary to-day, is only good for to-day. Practically it can scarcely be in a high degree useful beyond twenty or twenty-five years. In fifty years the best English dictionary will not only give a wrong and obsolete meaning to many words, but, what is still more important, it will fail to contain at all many important words in actual use. This increase of words describes not so much our gross or general ideas, as their subdivisions and many shades of thought and appreciation. Thus, while one word will con- vey a general idea, and twenty others will suffice to tell all we know about it now, as our knowledge of it extends into further and further modifications, and new truths in it and phases of it arise, it will give profitable employment to a hundred or to many words. It is apparent, then, that as knowledge increases, the in- crease of words must be very great. Ideas must be inter- 11 122 DIUTURNITY. changed; and the time must roll up, in the round of years, when men will have become tolerably well acquainted with the things and improvements of the world. And ideas must increase far less rapidly, and then but very little; and then, and not until this state of things shall measurably transpire, can it be said that language will have conferred its proper and designed benefits upon mankind. Language was conferred upon mankind for their good. And by this I do not mean the few words constituting the language in the days of Adam; I mean language in its natural organic capabilities, the extent to which it may be made useful. Language is a creation. In the earliest times they knew and were able to use only its alphabet. We are using it to better advantage; but it will require a distant future to witness its more full development. Language was created and intended for the transmission of our thoughts by certain articulate sounds, or for the communication of our ideas as another expresses it; and another, for the expression of our ideas. These descriptions all mean the same thing. But do we or can we communi- cate our ideas, or express our thoughts, by the use of lan- guage? Upon a little reflection, every one will in a moment see that we can not. He can communicate some of them, but, on most subjects, the far greater number remain with him, and he can not force them away by means of language. Let a man undertake to describe any thing to his friend — a country, a horse, or a cloud. Let him try to describe his fears, hopes, anxieties, emotions. Let a man try to com- municate to his friend his opinions of another man, or of morals, or, indeed, of any thing else, and he will find that he can not do it. All these ideas are distinctly formed in his mind. His knowledge and appreciation of them is exact. But he can not tell his friend the tithe of what he knows himself. He can communicate some of the grosser and more primary features of the principal ideas, and language will aid him no more. You can say of a man that he was CONCERNING HUMAN LANGUAGE. 123 tall and of such and such look ; but your description, when finished, will apply just as well to a thousand others, whereas, in your thoughts, it will apply to that one man only. On most subjects, only the more gross outlines of the idea are transmitted. A thief in a city entered the chamber of an invalid un- able to rise, picked up what he wanted, and went his way. His protection consisted, in his view, without understanding it exactly, in the inability of the invalid to 'convey his ideas of his person to the policeman. But it so happened that the invalid was expert in the art of drawing likenesses ; and by the time the policeman was there, he had his features and person clearly sketched. Now he -was able to tell the officer who it was that robbed him, and the officer had only to go into the street and tap him on the shoulder as soon as he met with him, just as he would one he had long known. In this case an art was employed to do the natu- ral duty of language, and what language will be able to do in a vastly improved state. What we can not do with language, after making the effort, we generally attribute to "feebleness of language." But what do we mean precisely by the feebleness of lan- guage? Is language naturally and constitutionally unable to convey distinctly formed ideas from one to another? Language, like all other gifts, has limits firmly set, but within those limits has it innate, organic inability? If so, then it was not well designed to perform its intended offices. The child can not tell you, except in very gross and rough outline, what happened out in the yard. But his inability to use language should not be attributed to a de- fect in the language itself. 124 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XXXIX. CONCERNING ACOUSTICS — ITS IMMENSE NATURAL IMPORT- ANCE, AND OUR GREAT LACK OP KNOWLEDGE RESPECT- ING IT. Vert intimately connected with the art of talking and singing is the science of acoustics. It treats of sounds; of their formation, their transmission through the air, and their communication with the ear, etc. In public addresses we labor under great disadvantage for lack of knowledge with regard to these laws. Ordinarily we have no means by which one man can be distinctly heard by over one or two thousand persons. Some few speaking halls are said to seat three thousand or four thousand per- sons; but, for the most part, a speaker is not heard well by over a few hundred. Numerous experiments have been made to remedy this difficulty, but, for lack of better knowledge of the laws of acoustics, they have frequently, if not generally, proved rather a disadvantage. It is naturally practicable for one man to address and be well heard by hundreds of thousands. The voice, the air, and the ear possess the capability. But ordinarily, in pub- lic discourses, but a small fraction of the sound that is made is used. I once suggested to a doctor of divinity an im- provement in a pulpit. But he replied that it made no dif- ference; one place to stand was as good as another! Air, in its natural, dry, and uncompressed state, is by no means a good conductor of sound. Then, as it is the in- strument given us for this general purpose, it would seem that, as compared with some other things, it was but poorly CONCERNING ACOUSTICS. 125 calculated for that purpose, or we have not learned how to use it. The latter is the necessary conclusion. Many experiments have been made in the transmission of sound by whispering galleries, sounding-boards, echo upon rough and smooth surfaces, etc., which go to show that the transmissibility of sound under some circumstances is amaz- ing as compared with other circumstances. But while a very few — one or two in a million — have been, at least, attempting some improvement here, the great mass of the people have taken not a single step in that direction. And so it is quite common to see men of talent and learn- ing, almost every-where, tamely submitting to the greatest disadvantages in public declamation, as if the simplest im- provement was not practicable. And, indeed, it is true to- day, that almost all the churches in the land are arranged in open violation of such plain and simple rules of acous- tics as we, some of us, are acquainted with. The laws of sound are almost wholly disregarded; indeed, architects, ministers, and congregations seem not to know that there are any such laws. And generally, or indeed uniformly, the best churches — the great and wealthy Trinity Church, in New York, being an example — violate these laws most rudely. And so, as yet, we have failed almost entirely to appro- priate to our use one of the very important good things which God has provided for our advantage. It is almost an unused, uncultivated waste. 126 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER XL. CONCERNING WRITING — IS IT PROBABLE THAT THE MOST PROPER MODE OF WRITING IS DISCOVERED? One of the most useful and important things in civilized life is the art of writing. There has been, first and last, a good deal of speculation as to the art. Some contend - it was first known when God wrote the Ten Commandments; but there is no good evidence that it was not in use long before. It is next to certain that it has been in use very nearly as long as language has. But we are concerned rather with its progress than its origin. If we compare its present state of advance with the past, we shall note very great improvement ; but if with its ultimate capabilities, we must work more slowly and reason more carefully. In olden time, for many centuries, writing improved very slowly; and, as compared with our experience, was per- formed very inconveniently. They wrote, with various kinds of instruments, upon bark, upon smooth, flat stones, boards, skins, and the like. After a long time, ink and then pa- per were invented, and printing, which is but a mode of copying — came into vogue. And now we write very fast and print with great speed, comparatively. And because of this simple fact, but with no reasons that can be sug- gested, we imagine that the art has arrived at the acme of its perfection. But this conclusion lies in no sound phi- losophy. It is the mere blind result of ignorance and in- attention. But this present mode of writing — slowly, slowly, word after word — is defective and immature, from the considera- tion that there is a great disparity in the time necessary in CONCERNING WRITING. 127 the formation of words in the mind and that in copying them with the pen. A speaker will speak Words about as fast generally as a hearer will receive them; but in writing, the hand is constantly lagging away behind the mind. And this inconvenience results not only from the mere lack of speed, but the hand receiving the words so slowly, the mind is constantly frustrated and incommoded by the detention. The best part of a thought is often lost, or the whole of it, because the mind could not work well, in full force, so slowly. This constant curb upon the mind is a great disadvantage to its performances. The mind sel- dom if ever works well unless it can sail off glibly and without interruption. Practice does not remedy this difficulty in the least; it only accustoms us to it. But God never intended that one art or endowment bestowed by him should work injury upon another; nor that two endowments intended to work conjointly should be invested with widely different powers of motion. And is there no way by which this difficulty may be reme- died? It is strange to say that we all know very well there is. Improvements have been introduced lately which, if there were no others within reach, would, and no doubt soon will, go far to facilitate the speed of writing. No par- ticular number or kind of marks made on paper are neces- sary in writing. Surely there can be no absolute need for writing every word out in full. The art of condensing and saving in the manual labor of writing was introduced, and practiced to considerable ex- tent, among the Greeks and Romans about two thousand years ago; and thirty years ago more than a hundred trea- tises had been published on the subject in the English lan- guage. And since that time the practice of writing quick-* hand has been taught and extended considerably. In the year 1767, the first thoroughly scientific treatise on the subject was published by Byrone, an English stenographer; 128 DIUTURNITT. and since which time considerable improvement has been made in that style of writing. At the present time it is at- tracting considerable attention both in Europe and America. To what degree of perfection it may be carried, how far it may be modified, improved, and simplified to thought, are questions to be answered in the future. We know, however, that many persons can write about as fast as a man will talk, and that lengthy discourses are frequently copied as they are delivered, verbatim. The sys- tem, too, has far more of system in it than our common mode of word-making. It begins with an alphabet strictly and accurately philosophical, which the common mode of spelling certainly does not. The English alphabet is well known to be most wretchedly defective. Still, phonography, as quick-hand is now called, has its difficulties and obstacles which must be overcome. Telegraphing is another mode of quick writing which is likely to work out great improvements and advantages. Erom these, and many other considerations that might be named, it seems nearly certain that the great and useful art of WRITING, as a means of addressing our thoughts to the eye, is yet in a greatly unimproved and infantile condition, especially when we compare it with its. natural companion, the formation of distinct thoughts in the mind. It is to have a great and wonderful future in the coming years of this world's current history. CONCERNING LONGEVITY. 129 CHAPTER XLI. CONCERNING LONGEVITY, ANCIENT AND MODERN — WHICH IS THE RULE AND WHICH THE EXCEPTION? People before the flood, and for some time afterward, lived sometimes eight or nine hundred years, and even more. Probably from seven to about nine hundred years might be regarded the general rule. About the time of the deluge, the lives of men began to shorten until the time of Abra- ham, a period of great uncertainty as to its length— a little over four hundred years according to Archbishop Usher, and one thousand years according to the basis of calcula- tion used by Dr. Hales. Many other chronologers diifer widely. That patriarch died at one hundred and seventy- five, which was then regarded "a good old age." From about the time of the death of Abraham, one hundred or one hundred and fifty years seem to have been considered about as long as old men generally lived; and since some ages afterward, three-score and ten years has been consid- ered a fair period for one old man's life. Many speculations have been made upon the longevity of the ancients. The inquiry seems to be generally why G-od so greatly lengthened out the lives of the people of the first ages. Some assign this cause, and some that. Josephus gives four. The first three seem rather whimsical, but the last is in these words: "Because their food was then fitter for the prolongation of life, they might well live so great a number of years." In these inquiries it is assumed, on what ground I know not, that for some reasons God granted special favors of long life to the ancients beyond the normal or natural 130 DIUTURNITY. period of man's life. But how do they ascertain which is the rule and which is the exception? Why not assume that nine hundred years is the rule, the natural longevity, and that in these later ages life has become shortened? In the absence of revealed information, we are left to such analogical reasoning as we may deduce. And, first, it would seem strange, and would seem to require some little proof, that the world should begin with a most important and ex- traordinay exception to a normal rule. Secondly, if that proves any thing, it is by no means certain that the long- life period is any shorter in the world's history, so far, than the short- life period. And, thirdly, is there any thing to disprove the supposition that the shortening of man's life in these later ages is the natural result of adventitious causes — the violations of the laws of health chiefly? This is cer- tainly natural at least. This thing would be likely to regu- late itself in the course of years, and bring things right again. A part of man's constitution endowed him with something, as in all similar cases, I know not what, which caused his life to be about so long at old age. Other animals live, some one year, some ten, and some twenty years. And one would presume that, at the first, man's life would conform to its constitution. Things were then normal, simple, natural. There are lavjs of life. These laws, with their effects, begin and end not by any means with one individual person of our nice. The results of the violation or the observance of these laws enter the genealogical current and pass on down, receiving increase from a thousand confluent inlets. And after ten or twenty generations, a child may be said to be healthy — that is, as healthy as others; but there is a virus in him a thousand years old, which will most as- suredly cut down his life to about that of his parents and others around him, though that be one-fourth or one-tenth the primary constitutional measure. The two opposing principles of waste and preservation are CONCERNING LONGEVITY. 131 constantly at work in man. The one sucks in poison from a thousand rivulets of irregularity, while the other is con- stantly working to throw it off by means of the physiological machinery. But for this latter provision, assisted by some little medical and surgical aid, the race would, in a hun- dred years to come — not to speak of any considerable .pe- riod — become imbecile and dwarfish, and in a short time would become extinct. Let any reflecting man stand still a little, and look out upon the world and see how people live, and he will won- der that they do not terminate human life in a few genera- tions. Look at savage life. See their many exposures every day. Great lack and irregularity in food, clothing, labor, rest; no medicine, no science, no dwellings, with unrestrained pas- sions and utter recklessness of life or health. And yet it is the burning shame of civilization that they have about as good health as civilized people, and oftentimes much better. Nay, much, more : it is true that where civilization is the highest, according to the common estimate, health and lon- gevity are the lowest. The explanation is, that while sav- ages injure their health immensely, civilized people, in other and different ways, injure theirs still more! Why do we not find as many persons between the ages of seventy and one hundred as between ten and forty? Is it even the general rule that men live till the machinery of life wears out? Indeed, it hardly ever wears out. Have we any well-settled physiological test that this has been the case in a single instance in the last three thousand years? The machine is always broken by some accident or misman- agement. May be, therefore, in the first generations, before these irregularities had had time to work out their legitimate re- sults, we find man in his normal and natural condition in this respect. And the shortening of life which we see aft- erward is, may be, a departure from normal rule, and not a 132 DITJTURNITY. finding of it for the first time. Is the shortening the re- suit of an arbitrary decree of the Almighty, or of human conduct? May be it is both. The Edinburgh Encyclopedia gathers up a few statistics in the last century, of forty-three persons who lived from one hundred to one hundred and ten years; fifteen from one hun- dred and twenty to one hundred and thirty; ten from one hundred and thirty to one hundred and forty; thirteen from one hundred and forty to one hundred and fifty; six from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty; one, one hun- dred and sixty-nine; one, one hundred and eighty, and one, one hundred and eighty-five. And I notice that Pliny, near the close of the first century, gives account, in a very small district in Italy, between the Po and the Appenines, of one hundred and twenty- four persons between the a»ges of one hundred and one hundred and forty, and in another little neighborhood of thirty-two between one hundred and one hundred and fifty. These are a few instances of the crop- ping out of fine, partially healthful veins in the descend- ing genealogical current, which may yet be restored to a state of natural soundness. But, in order to this, restora- tion, in the natural process of things, a good many years will yet be necessary. This short-lived period may turn out to be but a short parenthesis, though of several thou- sand years' duration. Almost all the deaths that occur are evidently prema- ture. • Very few live to what is generally considered old age. A few die from accidental causes, but nine-tenths of the people die from what we call disease, in the midst of the vigor of life. And what is disease but the result of vio- lations of the laws of health? Ah, it may be replied, dis- ease is the result of sin. That may be very true, but that is no reason why it may not be the result of violations of the laws of health. Sin produces conduct which violates the proper rules of living, which sets agoing a stream of physio- logical virus which crops out here and there in disease and CONCERNING LONGEVITY. 133 death. This cropping-out is assisted, more or less, and oftentimes very greatly, by the conduct of the individual person. Now, suppose sin to be so far eradicated from mankind that the laws of health are well observed, and that this con- tinues for one hundred generations only. Who will not say that death will not appear in the world a very different thing from what it now is? There would be no deaths from violence, except from unavoidable accidents, and very few, if any, from what is now called disease. Indeed, disease must after awhile disappear. Man would pass as quietly into eternity as a lamp goes out for lack of oil. He would pass away as quietly as a gentle sleep. His sensibilities have grown dull imperceptibly. The vital energy becomes more and more sluggish; the body becomes less and less vital, and is really almost dead; the organs scarcely per- form their functions ; the mind dozes gently, and the man is relieved and invigorated by the departure of the body in its last lingering steps, and he is calmly and sweetly dead. Nothing short of this is natural death. And do not these considerations indicate a high probability that men will live one thousand years? I claim to know no more than others who will reason soberly by the lights of Scripture and Nature. Will not a sinless state of the world produce these results in a hundred or a few hundred generations? And I must refuse to allow that a thousand or five hun- dred thousand generations can not be, or will not be, meas- ured out to our race merely because we have not seen it done. I must have other and better reasons. 134 DIUTURNITT. CHAPTER XLII. CONCERNING WILD ANIMALS — THEIR WILDNESS IS MERELY TEMPORARY AND INCIDENTAL. Wild animals are an innovation upon the harmony of nature, and an anomaly in the world. They belong natu- rally to an irregular and beginning state of the world. The world was not made for dumb animals; but both they and the world were made for man's special use. The wildness of wild animals is one of the incidents or accidents of life, not one of its rules ; and it will regulate itself as the world becomes inhabited and matures into its proper usefulness. Let us see: "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the' earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it shall be for. meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so." As previously explained, the world was made for man, for his especial use and behoof, with all its appurtenances of animals, vegetables, minerals, etc. ; and all these things were formally and solemnly conveyed, and set over to him in a solemn deed of gift and delivery; and some of them were actually and personally delivered into his hand. Let us read again : " And out of the ground the Lord / CONCERNING WILD ANIMALS. 135 God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." Thus they were brought to Adam and delivered into his hand. There was no difference between wild and tame; they were all domestic. And again, at the time of the flood, we see no allusion made to wildness in animals. Noah was to bring, and did bring, "two of every sort" into the ark with him, and in like manner discharged tham. "Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God commanded Noah." And the reason for this was, " that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth." Doctor Clarke, in commenting on the fiftieth verse of the seventh chapter, says : " It was physically impossible for Noah to have collected such a vast number of tame and ferocious animals ; nor could they have been retained in their wards by mere natural means." And so he makes the whole a miraculous interposition. That is. at least, a very convenient mode of settling biblical questions. But I see nothing, either in reason or revelation, which gives color to such a conclusion. Doctor Clarke does not know, nor does any one else, whether there were any "wild" or "ferocious" animals at the time of the flood; but it is both unnatural and unscriptural to suppose they were created wild. Nor can I see the Doctor's "physical impossibility." Surely, Noah did not have a pair each of every variety as we now see them extended. There was necessity only for two each of every species. Natural history and physiology give sufficient room for the wide extension into the varieties which we see in modern ages. Nothing is more easily accounted for than wildness and 136 DIUTURNITY. ferocity in wild animals. Turn any animal into the forest, and neglect to use him according to the original grant, and he will soon become wild and very likely ferocious, The most sluggish hogs will become perfectly wild in two years, and in four or five years they will be a very different animal in many respects. In this short time they will be more fleet and more ferocious than bears, and as much so as wolves or panthers. I make this statement from observation. Do- mestic use on the one hand, and total neglect on the other, will very materially change the appearance, form, color, and character of any animals — some more than others. It is not at all probable that four thousand years ago there were any animals which bore a very striking resemblance to their progeny now. Wildness in animals, like all other incidental evils, is, no doubt, the product of sin in man; but still these changes come about naturally and not miraculously. Bad men con- duct themselves badly as well toward beasts as toward every thing else; and bad conduct toward beasts, coupled with neglect, estrangement, etc., would soon produce the wildness we see. But, give the simple machinery of the Gospel scope and time to work its work, and these irregularities will be rec- tified. " The wolf also shall lie down with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den." "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's meat." These Scriptures, I presume, mean just what they say. But one says, "That will be in the millennium." Quite likely. We will see a little about "millennium" after awhile. CONCERNING WILD ANIMALS. 137 But still, these times of peace and concord, even among the animals, is to come about in the straightforward history of the world as we now inhabit it, by laws and causes now in being, without any supernatural interposition or the interven- tion of other laws. They look forward to a period of mere simple maturity and ripeness in our affairs. We first hear of wild animals, as well as I remember, in the old age of Jacob, which, according to some chronologies, was probably about seven hundred, or about fourteen hun- dred years after the flood. But these "evil beasts" may have gone wild in a short time previously. Beyond all question, all the wildness now known in animals might occur in a few hundred years. The hunting of Nimrod, in all likelihood, had no reference to beasts at all. He was a king, and a bold, bad man, and his hunting is supposed to refer to incursions and conquests among the nations. The hunting and procuring of "venison" by Esau and Jacob, throws no light on the subject. Venison means — ex- cept recently and in this country — any kind of very good or delicate flesh, either of beasts or birds. We are not able, therefore, to find any thing, either in revelation or natural history, to disperse the supposition that the wildness of wild animals is a mere incidental thing which has happened. We see how easily any animals, if turned out and neglected, will go wild in a short time ; and it requires but little acquaintance with their natural history to see how their character, form, color, etc., will become changed in even the short space of a dozen or twenty or thirty generations. And we see how easily any wild animals may be tamed and domesticated. Even the very individuals taken from the forest may be partially domesticated; but in a few generations they may be made entirely docile. Many animals have strayed so far in their wild state from domestic habitudes, that it is quite likely those varieties will become extinct, and so not return at all to domestic habits. But beyond question the Scriptures look forward 12 138 DIUTURNITY. to the time when all existing animals will be domestic, tame, and docile. Man himself will become tame and docile first, and then the world will put on a kind, harmless, and peace- ful condition. This looks natural. It harmonizes with our normal notions of ultimate fitness and propriety. And, moreover, this must be so, or the world will die prematurely. Wild beasts live in the wilderness; and what is a wilderness but a wild, crude, uncultivated, and unused region, not yet appropriated by man to its intended purpose ? If the world was wisely and properly made — made right, to an intelligent end and purpose, for the use and behoof of man, then it would seem that there would be ultimately no unused loildemess remaining in it. Otherwise, the inquiry arises, What was it made for? The world was made the right size, of the proper capacity; there is not an acre too much nor an acre too little. Then there is no room for wild beasts. They can not roam in cities, villages, and highly cultivated grounds. A proper use of the world which God gave to man abrogates the notion of a part of it remaining in a wild, unused con- dition to be roamed over by savages and wild beasts. CHAPTER XLIII. CONCERNING THE PRE-ADAMITE EARTH, CONSIDERED IN REF- ERENCE TO ITS MOST NATURAL OR PROBABLE RELATION TO THE EARTH IN ITS PRESENT FORM. The researches of science and a better understanding of revelation has, we may say, demonstrated the Adamic crea- tion to be comparatively a recent thing. Primary creation did not take place at that period; that is, the matter of the earth was brought into existence by creative power perhaps CONCERNING THE PRE-ADAMITE EARTH. 139 many millions of years or ages — if there were any years or ages — before that time. The earth certainly was, for it waa without form, (its present form,) when the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Some, to get rid of the difficulty of making the time of Adam the period of absolute creation, which is already pretty clearly .ascertained to be contrary to nature, have con- sidered the six days as six periods of indefinite and proba- bly very great length. But I do not see the necessity or even propriety of this construction. The first two verses of the chapter, and those subsequent, speak of quite differ- ent things. The former inform us of primary, chaotic crea- tion, and of the existence of the material of which the earth is composed, and that the spirit of Grod took cognizance of it and exercised jurisdiction over it. And, beginning with the third verse, the history informs us of a quite different thing; namely, the arrangement of this mass and the putting of it into its present form and condition. This latter pro- cess was accomplished in six days, as we now count days. And there is no intimation in Scripture as to the amount of duration which might have intervened between the crea- tion of the original material of the world and the arrange- ment of it at the time of the creation of Adam. On this subject our information must come from science exclusively. That there was a pre-adamite existence of the substance of the earth is, I think, stated in Scripture; and, although science has not measured the period of its existence before the creation of man with accuracy, it has-very satisfactorily demonstrated that, as compared with that since, it was abso- lutely immense, far, very far beyond computation or com- prehension. But the pre-adamite earth was not by any means in all these lengthened periods a mere lifeless, useless, motionless mass of chaos. On the contrary, every thing then, as now, was moving, progressing, working on harmoniously and regularly, from step to step, from one point of accomplish- 140 DIUTURNITY. merit to another, age after age, cycle after cycle, looking forward constantly to the incoming scenes and condition we now see in the little brief period since the human creation. And if we had been there — away along in those immense periods — with our present endowments and standards of measurement of periods, we would no doubt have considered things in a matured or nearly matured condition. Things would appear to be almost standing still, or at least moving to little or no purpose. Or if we could have marked the progress and growth of successive generations of primeval forests, and marked the gradual and slow transformation of these forests into immense coal-beds, and, reasoning as many do now, we would at least have concluded that all this was so much labor lost, or so much Divine energy expended to no practical end. These immense formations would seem to have no valuable connection with the rest of the world. They are of no use to the fish nor to the reptiles, which in those periods were the sole inhabitants of earth. But even now, in this short space, the wisdom of most of these operations are at least somewhat apparent; and we can not doubt but the eye of Infinite Wisdom was over all. these precautionary movements, and every thing was shaped to a valuable end. And wonderfully immense, and to our feeble comprehension almost inconceivable in duration, as were those preparatory measures, they were merely prepara- tory. They were nothing more nor less than necessary preparations to fit up a world for the use and occupancy of this race of men. If, for the space of inconceivable and incalculable ages, there was a period of the earth's history when it was un- tenanted by either animal or vegetable, but presented a mass of fire and water — dissolving, molding, conforming, fusing, smelting — it was that rocks, and earths, and minerals, and salts, and other valuable articles, might be manufactured in the great laboratory of nature for the future use of an in- telligent race. CONCERNING THE PRE-ADAMITE EARTH. 141 And if, during other series of measureless periodicity, a very low class of vegetables began to appear, like marine forests — a soft, weedy, woody growth, of immense luxuriance, and age after age it fell back undecayed and without decom- position, forming immense beds and filling the bowels of hills and mountains, and passing even under the sea in places — it was that sufficient quantities of coal might be thus prepared and laid away, at the only period when it could be made for the various indispensable uses in the more advanced ages of the world. And now mark the movements of the Almighty mind and of the Almighty hand in these incomparably lengthened and wise, and seemingly laborious, preparations for the accommo- dation of a people who, in due time, should come in to oc- cupy the richly provided and immensely munificent theater! See the great and wonderful preparations ! There is nothing lacking, nor yet lacking in abundance. Mark the unmeas- ured store-houses of material; a place for every thing, and every thing in its place. And then see the wonderfully immense foundries, furnaces, laboratories, and machinery of a thousand kinds, which have been thus in ceasless opera- tion age after age, and period after period of unmeasured duration, and all looking away to the Adamic creation which should eclipse all before in grandeur, when a race of intelli- gent beings should come up through the creating hand of God to occupy, possess, use, and enjoy them all. The intelligent mind is burdened, over-burden'ed, under the mighty conception, as the thought catches a faint out- line of these immense preparatory labors. All nature seems to be laid under contribution; every thing works unceas- ingly, with no rest neither day nor night. In truth there is neither day nor night to mark a resting period. All is progress. But in all this there is no creating. All this was done away back in the dim distance, in the trackless regions of periodicity. And yet every thing all the while looks anx- 142 DIUTURNITT. iously forward when the preparation shall be completed, and a world be prepared for the occupancy of its intended pro- prietor. And at length the preparation becomes complete. The water and land are separated; the different classes of rocks have been made at the proper periods; sand is made — iron, lead, copper, gold, silver, and all the metals were made; the gases were formed, the atmosphere was collected, the ground was hardened, electricity was diffused evcry-where; and all these were garnered away and spread around in all the proper places of deposit, and earth was ready for ani- mal life. Vegetation had been set to growing a little way back, at the proper time — perhaps a period as long as a million of years. And now the lower animals were forme-d, and earth was ready for her resident proprietor. And so God gave this planet its present relation to the solar sys- tem, and it became the residence cf man. And so the world was now, and not until now, ready for its intended use. It could not have been made ready sooner ; and to have delayed the human use of it longer would have been disad- vantageous. And now we are told that, after all this lengthy prepara- tion, this inconceivable immensity of outlay in getting things ready, and man has been here as the occupant, that he is to remain upon it and use it for the very little space of six or ten thousand years ! God was millions of years in getting it ready, in preparing a theater upon which an intelligent race might glorify his Maker — in a preparation so immensely extensive and varied — and then, before the tenth part of it is discovered, or the hundredth part of it used, the whole is to be abandoned, and God himself is absolutely to destroy it and fix up a new one, or arrange it differently! What a wonderful inconsistency this would be! What a violent innovation upon all the forms of harmony and apparent co- operation which nature every-where puts on ! No, it is not so! Man himself, with his restricted intel- • CONCERNING THE PRE-ADAMITE EARTH. 143 Iect, would adapt measures to ends better than that. An intelligent man would not labor incessantly fifty years to prepare a residence to be used an hour, when one with a thousandth part of the furniture, outlay, and finish would answer just as good a purpose. And then when you come further to examine this temporary human residence, so pre- pared, and find that but few of the apartments have been en- tered at all, or are indeed of any sort of use ; that its richest halls have scarcely been discovered; that but a very little of the furniture has been seen, or examined, or used, or can be used at all, we see greater and still greater evidences of folly and inconsistency in the construction. His labor, ex- cept a very little, was bestowed in vain ! And shall we establish a theory which will charge a worse folly than this upon Grod ? God forbid ! When'G-od set chaos into separating and conforming mo- tion, invested with the principle of gravitation, adhesion, etc., and geared its complex machinery for the manufacture of gases, fluids, solids, carbon, oils, electricity, etc., and carried on this great work through periods in duration too long to be computed by man, and in process of ages brought all to completion and readiness for man's use ; and when he then created his creature capable of associating with his Maker, and placed him here and gave all into his hand, and enjoined upon him to use it, all being evidently made ready for his use, it was for an end and purpose answerable to such preparation. The object was in harmony with the means. The establishment was prepared for use; no more, no less. The intended career and history were in harmony with the preparation. The end was to answer the be- ginning. Our means of comprehension may not enable us to com- pute years by the million; but that does not authorize us to pronounce that a million of years is a long time. A million of years is greater than the little periods we handle ; but if you ask a mind of higher order than ours, he will 144 DIUTURNITY. tell you that six thousand years is but a mere morning hour. It is a part of the economy of G-od and of nature to per- fect that which is begun. Every thing passes round its circle and its cycle, and finds a natural accomplishment. Nature is a perfect harmony. It has no lack nor no re- dundancy. Every thing cooperates. With God nothing is great, nothing is small. He has but one plan, and that is perfect in all its parts. SECTION FOURTH. We now come to look at the world in its more strictly moral and religions aspects. And we remark, as a prefa- tory suggestion, that sin, which has so seriously affected the moral and religious condition of the world, is but an accidental or adventitious thing which has happened in the course of the world's being. It is a thing which ought not to have happened, but which did happen. It was uncalled for by either man or nature; but still it did occur. And further: it will not be in the world always. Some of its legal effects will still linger, but the thing will be numbered with the past. The theater of its desolations will be the theater of its eradication and cure. One of the effects of sin, which can never be entirely eradi- cated, is a tendency to sin, or a predisposition thereto. Lia- bility to sin was in man from the first. He could not be created a free moral agent without a liability to sin ; for this liability is the very thing we call free moral agency. Liability to sin is not, therefore, an effect of wrong doing, but a tendency to sin is. And now this moral corruption or tendency or leaning toward transgression must follow us so long as we continue to follow an ancestry who sinned. But whether this tendency to sin will actually result in willful transgression, in these or those instances, is another question. That this has been the case heretofore univer- sally is quite certain. But that this will continue to be the case until the race shall have run its course is con- trary to Scripture; and it might be added that, so far as we are able to judge from the teachings of nature, it is contrary to reason. 13 (U5) CHAPTER XLIV. SOME PLAIN BIBLE TEACHINGS ON THE SINLESS PERIOD. The precise point intended to be substantiated just here is this: That in the regular course of the history of this world, a time will come when universal holiness will per- vade the human family; that then not a person — account- able for his conduct— will be found in all the earth but a sanctified Christian. In this period, sin will not be seen — it will not be committed. When this period will be ushered in, and how long it will continue, are other questions, which will be looked at after awhile. And we now look into the Scriptures to see the proof that a part of the proper years of this world will be a holy, sinless period. This is a ques- tion not of inference or deduction, but of plain, simple Scripture teaching. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord : and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee." — Ps. xxii: 27. "Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him." — Ps. lxxii: 11. "All nations whom thou hast made shall come and wor- ship before thee, Lord; ahd shall glorify thy name." — Ps. Ixxxvi: 9. "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all na- tions shall flow unto it." — Isa. ii: 2. "And he shall judge among the nations, and shall re- buke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation (147) 148 DIUTUBNITY. stall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." — Isa. ii: 4. "And the loftiness of man shall he howed down, and the haughtiness of man shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall he exalted in that day." — Isa. ii: 17. " In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to wor- ship, to the moles and to the bats." — Isa. ii: 20. " I have sworn by myself, the word is gone ont of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." — Isa. xlv: 23. "It shall come to pass, that from one new moon to an- other, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." — Isa. lxvi: 23. " The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." — Dan. vii: 27. " The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." — Hob. ii: 14. "From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering : for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of host:;." — Mai. i: 11. "Thy people shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." — Isa. lx: 21. "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."— Jer. xxxi : 34. " In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, BIBLE TEACHINGS ON THE SINLESS PERIOD. 149 Holiness unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar." — Zech, xiv: 20. "And all Israel shall be saved." — Rom. xi: 26. "The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." — Ps. xxxvii: 11. "I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy Walls Salvation and thy gates Praise." — Isa. lx: 17, 18. "He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plow- shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." — Mic. iv: 3, 4. " They snail not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." — Isa. xi : 9. " They shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from, the -least to the greatest." — Heb. viii: 11. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den." — Isa. xi: 6, 7, 8. "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." — Isa. xl: 5. 150 DIUTURNITY. " The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock." — Isa. Ixv : 25. The above quotations are selected because of their brevity. Many more might be added. And it is submitted that they prove, as conclusively as the Scriptures prove any thing, a sinless period in the course of the history of the world. It may be said they refer to the millennium. That may be quite probable — depending, however, upon what is meant by " millennium." They refer to the true, proper, Scriptural millennium, the mature state of the world, when these irregu- larities shall have passed by. The notions of many respecting the millennial portion of the world's history are nothing more nor less than a loose, undigested system of mythology. Every thing is stripped of its naturalness. And instead of having the world and nature as God established them and set them agoing, we are to have a new, unreal, or ideal and merely potential condition of things. The world is no longer this world, but a dreamy state of which we have and can have no clear ideas. To support all these extravagancies, there is not, in my judgment, one word of utterance, either in nature or reve- lation, rightly read. Existing processes will continue and produce, naturally, a millennial condition of the world. Christianity will go on and accomplish its work fully. It will make "all righteous" after awhile. The millennium that is to be suddenly "ushered in" is contrary to reason. The beginning of the true millennial state will not be data- ble. It has begun already. ERRORS RESPECTING THE SINLESS PERIOD. 151 CHAPTER XLY. CONCERNING SOME POPULAR ERRORS RESPECTING THE SIN- LESS PERIOD, AND OF ALL LONG PERIODS. We have seen that there will be a sinless period, of greater or less duration, in the coming history of this world. From all that we read in the Word of God, as well as from all the reasoning we are able to apply to the subject, it seems clear that this change will be brought about by nat- ural causes now in operation, and that it will come about gradually and not suddenly. Let religion continue to work, and work long enough, and this period will come in. The errors, as I conceive, in the popular as well as the theological mind, to some extent, on this subject, are, first — leaving out the fanciful notion of a second coming of Christ, "about 1866," and a millennium of one thousand years — that this period can not be very far distant, not probably over one or two hundred years, and perhaps a much shorter period. And, secondly, the sinless period, or millennium, will be suddenly ushered in by some mighty spiritual move- ments, in which our personal relation to Christ will be ma- terially changed. And, thirdly, that it will continue for a very brief period, and form the closing scene of this world's history. The first of these notions is based on the assumption that the world is now very old, and, therefore, what it does it must do quickly. And there is another notion: that the world is to be divided into three "dispensations," the ante- diluvian, the Abrahamic, and the Christian. But where these notions came from, I am unable even to conjecture. They certainly came from neither reason nor revelation. 152 DIUTUBNITY. That a thousand, a million, or a thousand millions of years appears very long to us, is no reasoning at all. To an infant, or some other inferior mind, a year seems as long as a thousand or a million of years to a mind superior to ours. Arguments drawn from mere conceptions of this sort prove nothing. Nor have we any reason to conclude that the millennial or sinless period will be introduced suddenly, or by any particular display of Divine power or energy beyond or dif- ferent from the healthful marches of the Christian religion. The religion we now have is fully sufficient for all millennial purposes. Let it work in its own natural mode, and, sooner or later, a millennium is inevitable. To deny this without looking a" moment at what religion has done or is doing, is the same as to affirm that it is not well adapted to suit our condition. It is defective, or at least deficient, if it is not fully able to meet and counteract the tendency of sin and eradicate it fully. And as to the millennial period being a short season as compared with the season of sin and irregularity, this seems too unnatural to believe without very certain and very conclusive proof. We expect in a future place to raise very reasonable probabilities, at least, that it will be the proper adult 'period of the world's life. The notion that the millennial period is to come, in all its completeness, in the course of a few or a few hundred years, and that it will be the brief closing scene of the world, is based upon nothing but the acknowledged fee- bleness of the human intellect in comprehending or com- puting long periods of chronology. This, it must be ad- mitted, is a slender foundation for an opinion. It makes wisdom to rest upon ignorance. It is an attempt to draw conclusions, not from premises, but from the absence of premises. The machinery of the world, both natural and moral, was geared long since, and is moving on in the accomplishment ERRORS RESPECTING THE SINLESS PERIOD. 153 and completion of its purposes; but many of these purposes lie out in the distant future; and this future lies out in duration far beyond such measurements as we are accus- tomed to. Worlds do not come .and go so rapidly as our feeble intellect would seem to suppose. What we call duration is a singular and unknown thing, after all. We indeed know but very little about it. Some call it a primary truth ; but perhaps it may be a mere mode of existence. But whatever it may be, it is its appearance only, not its reality, that is cognizant to our minds, Periods are long and short only as they seem to minds of different capacity. We are capable of handling and computing pe- riods of only a few thousand years, and our practical thoughts stretch only to a hundred years or less. But with a superior mind, the same mental effort will grasp periods of millions or hundreds of millions of years. Time may be a reality; but if our faculties can determine what it is, we have certainly, as yet, not discovered how to reach such determination. We know enough of its appear- ance for all our practical purposes. More than once in the Scriptures the days of men are said to be a shadow. This, it may be presumed, can not be literally true; and how it can be figuratively true it may not be easy to conjecture. The probability is, that no inspired man had a clear idea on the subject; and if he had, he could not communicate his idea to another, because of the entire lack of words with which to convey it. Still, days and years, whether appearances or realities, stand intimately connected with our lives, if not with our being. The world seems, at least, to grow old, though I know of no necessity that it should do so. No man can demonstrate that any given existence grows old except by a rule which would place all existences under the same law. And we know that this law is not universal, for neither God nor angels, nor the spirits of just men made perfect, grow old. 154 DIUTURNITY. And though the "truth" of time may not be sufficiently "primary" to connect itself with the existence of God, nor of any thing outside this particular mode of existence, yet it does take hold of us and of all sublunary things. And as time is necessary for the accomplishment of nat- ural ends within this sphere of existence, we may profitably, perhaps, look over some of the things likely or certain to be accomplished before the world's history shall be wound up. And a little sober thinking may bring us to the con- clusion that probably thousands, and may be millions, of centuries are yet to pass over the head of this world before its gray hairs will bring it to decrepitude and its grave. CHAPTER XLVI. THE UNDERTAKING OF CHRIST IN OUR PRESENT RELIGIOUS SYSTEM WAS THE THOROUGH AND COMPLETE RENOVA- TION AND CHRISTIANIZATION OF MANKIND. This world is to be Christianized. And it is to live long enough for the full completion of this purpose at least ; and whether it may live longer or much longer than this, is a question we will allude to in the future. The things necessary to the complete Christianization of mankind are not easily seen at a glance. We must step slowly, carefully, and look at a number of things in detail. The idea implies much. To make this a thorough Christian world requires, and the thing implies, completeness in all its various aspects. Individual religion, in the present condition of the world, does but faintly represent the state of the world as implied in a complete and universal Christianity. The entire social system must be reformed. Government of all kinds, from CHRISTIANIZATION OF MANKIND. 155 tlie family to the State, while they need not be essentially different, must, nevertheless, be essentially reformed. A popular and thorough acquaintance with moral and mental philosophy is also necessary. Every thing that sin injured will be rectified, cured, renovated, brought back to its proper, natural place and use, as God at first intended. The sys- tem of remedy, in and through Christ, will not be partial, but absolutely complete. The benefits of the atonement will reach and cover every inch of ground which in any and every way was touched or affected by the sin of Adam. But the time necessary for this great work may not be graduated precisely to suit the notions, comprehension, and fastidious taste of every man. It will no doubt be done as soon as practicable; but we are, no doubt, very poor judges of practicability in this regard. Taking the entire race of mankind into the account, this work is, perhaps, a hundred times greater than our poor reasoning would be likely to teach. And then if, in the progress of these things, the onward course of the world should be arrested in the midst of its way, and the present system of nature and of grace should be terminated, to give place, it might be, for some other display of the Divine glory, it would argue a defect in the present system. It was broken off in the midst of a rising course. Something was begun and not finished. The plan was not well laid; and preparation, in part, at least, was made for nothing. God, who can not change, has changed; and that which was perfect has given place to something tetter. In reply to this, it need not be said we have already had more than one dispensation, because that would be essen- tially and notoriously untrue. In whatever sense theolo- gians may sometimes use the very ambiguous and generally ill-understood term dispensation, it is very clear that we have known no other than the Christian religion. This system of recovery from sin, and no other, was offered to 156 DIUTU UNITY. and enjoined upon Adam. It was accepted unto salvation by Abel, by Enoch, by the prophets, and millions of others, from those days to these. The conditions of salvation are once offered, for there are no others. Nevertheless, in different ages of the world, and widely different conditions of men, different modes and various kinds of instrumentality are employed in teaching and enforcing this same system of grace. In the Divine economy nothing is begun and left un- finished. Systems are planned from the beginning. Every thing we see begins, progresses, and flows on to a natural end. Nothing is broken off in the midst. The Christian religion, which Abel believed, which Noah preached, and which John the Baptist enforced, and Christ and the Apos- tles so wonderfully elaborated, is to have its course here. It belongs to this world and to no other. Earth is its theater. This is the battle-field, and that and no other is the mode of warfare. And the weapons of our warfare are the only weapons known to the Divine economy of human salvation. Christ came forward as the champion of this system. He chose his field and his instruments. These are displayed in our written revelation. None others are known to the Divine economy. What he does he will do here. What he does not do here, and with these weapons, as he is now at work, does not belong to a Divine system of economy. Will he gain a complete triumph? or will it be a drawn battle? Are there few that be saved? or will the enemy have the larger portion in the end ? These are questions which the history of this world must answer; and they must be answered by the development of processes now in being. In this great work of curing a world of sin, something has already been done, blessed be the name of the Lord! but, comparatively, as yet not much. But none need fear. Christ will finish that which he has begun. Six thousand years ago the work was set in motion, and it may be six or BRIEF VIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF RELIGION. 157 six times six thousand years to come before it will have been finished. The triumph will yet be complete, and the world shall own no King but Christ. CHAPTER XLVII. A BRIEF VIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF RELIGION IN THE WORLD. Religion has been progressing in the world about six thousand years, and as yet, it is clear, not much, compara- tively, toward its thorough Christianization has been done. Let us see. There are about a thousand millions of people, and less than one-fourth, or about two hundred and forty millions, are commonly counted Christians. But by this little more is meant than that the countries they inhabit are generally called Christian. The other three-fourths of the world are Mohammedans, pagans of various kinds, and Deists, commonly called Jews. And of the two hundred and forty millions of Christians, one hundred and sixty mill- ions are Roman Catholics and adherents of the Russian or Greek Church. Among the Roman Catholics, it is not prob- able that more than one in a hundred professes to be pious. The remainder, and well-nigh all the Creek Church, are merely politically religious. And of those counted Protestants, how many consider themselves members of the Church personally, or make any pretensions to religion? This question can not be answered with any thing like accuracy, but it is not probable they will amount to over three or three and a quarter millions. And how many of these are truly pious is still another question. It may be very safely doubted whether there are a million of pious persons in the world; and it might turn 158 DIUTITRNITT. out that — if we had the ability to ascertain correctly— the half of that would exceed the true number. We are now inquiring not after church-goers, or mere communicants, but real, pious, Bible Christians. Thus, in six 'thousand years, the merciful provisions of Almighty God for the evangelization of the world have succeeded in securing an interest in one person in a hundred, or one in two hundred persons living at one time. There are more living persons truly pious now than at any pre- vious time. This we would probably consider very slow progress; and yet it is highly probable, if not certain, that a person of a thousand times the knowledge we possess, to have looked at the matter from the beginning, would have regarded this progress as very fair, and as much as could be looked for in the circumstances of the case. Most likely the Christianization of the world is a work of far greater magnitude, and requiring much more time, than we would suppose. Those who look upon the thorough evangelization of this world — which means far more than many seem to imagine — - a world so deeply and exceedingly corrupt as this, in the space of a few hundred or a few thousand years, have either failed to mark its history and philosophic character well, or have very inadequate views of the great power of moral corruption. We will now, in some following chapters, proceed to look at a few things which are necessary to the world's Chris- tianization, which lie a little outside of mere personal re- generation, as it is considered in a strictly religious sense. Let us compare the world as it is with what it must be in a completely sinless condition. CONCERNING SUPERSTITION AND WITCHCRAFT. 159 CHAPTER XLVIIX. CONCERNING SUPERSTITION AND WITCHCRAFT. How far is the world governed by common sense, and how far by superstitution, witchcraft, and fanaticism? We are apt to imagine that we live in a very enlightened and intelligent age. If we had the means of gathering rip and carefully estimating the sources or elements of power and influence among men, from all the avenues and unseen places whence this influence comes, we would be surprised to learn the extent to which the world is governed by stark folly rather than by sober reason. In some little of the very best portions of Europe and America, and among compara- tively a few select families and persons, not many of reason and sound discretion will be found to exert much govern- ing force. But even this is very partial and its circle very limited. And even in these best portions of the world, if you look into the back neighborhoods of almost every city, village, town, or country, or even among the domestics of the best families, you will find that the human mind is, to a great ex- tent, governed by absurdity, contradictions, and folly. And even among persons claiming a far better degree of intelli- gence, you will oftentimes find a belief in many things which can not be true, as firm and inflexible as their belief in the demonstrations of mathematics. It might be difficult to determine whether the power of witchcraft has really increased or lessened in the world within the last century. In some countries this belief and power has lessened, while in others it may have increased. It was only a thing of yesterday, almost — in 1735— that the 160 DIUTURNITT. laws for the punishment of witchcraft were repealed both in England and Scotland. Previously to that time, witchcraft was a capital crime, and many persons were tried and exe- cuted as witches. And -the repeal of these laws called forth very loud complaints and remonstrances from the leading Churches. In England the repealing act was declared by the Church to be "contrary to the express law of God." — Ed. Encyclopedia. It is quite easy for us now to laugh at these laws and their makers and administrators, and to place them away back in the dark corners of earth, in the far-off ages of folly and superstition. But we must remember that the eighteenth century, or even the seventeenth, was not long ago. And, moreover, the very same judges who approved, administered, and enforced these laws against witchcraft are quoted to-day, in all our courts, with the highest defer- ence and respect; and their opinions, in the absence of ex- press local statute, are regarded the law of the land. There is not a supreme court nor any other in this country to- day, that would not be greatly influenced by the opinions of these same English barristers. Some men who are now regarded among the ablest jurisconsults the world has pro- duced, are some of these very judges who gravely and sol- emnly approved and administered these laws against witch- craft. So that, although we do not now hang and drown witches, we are not much above nor far removed from those who did. The name of Sir Matthew Hale presents one of the purest and brightest ornaments of English jurisprudence. In 1664 he tried and condemned to the gallows two women for be- witching children. It is said that in this case this eminent Chief-Justice consulted on the subject with Sir Thomas Browne, a very eminent physician and scholar, and author of several medical works, and particularly of "A Treatise on Vulgar Errors;" and that the decision against the witches was in accordance with the advice strongly urged by this CONCERNING SUPERSTITION AND WITCHCRAFT. 161 eminent physician, who was so competent to judge in such matters. But this case of adjudication by the -eminent High Chief-Justice, who was special counselor to the king, is but one instance among thousands, and is noted only be- cause of some striking peculiarities in the "witches" them- selves. A history of English jurisprudence in this respect reads strangely now. And still there were no more witches in England than in Scotland, Germany, Italy, and other portions of Europe. At the time of the Reformation, which has but very re- cently passed by, the Pope and the heads of the Romish Church, which certainly included men of very profound talents and learning, declared all Protestants to be witches, and in open league with the devil; that they associated with demons, and caused thereby wide-spread mischief to both man and beast. And many of the German Protestants and Waldenses in different parts of Europe were proceeded against, and drowned or burned as witches in pursuance of the Pope's bulls. Many of the instances of execution for witchcraft in Eng- land and various parts of Europe, of comparatively recent date, are at once strange, absurd, and rediculous. A sus- pected person to be seen squinting was at once deemed guilty. "Witches could not sink in water, it was held, and so, to test the question, they were thrown into a pond or river; and if they swam they were guilty, and if they sank and drowned they were innocent. A woman is burned by law for riding upon her own daughter, transformed into a horse and shod by the devil ; and others for having suspicious spots on the face. One was seen through a widow to take two imps out of her basket, the one black and other white. In vain it was attempted to be proved that they were bunches of wool : the execution took place. Such instances were nuumerous. Books on the various aspects and characteristics of witch- craft bear the names of men of talent and position. Sin- clair's "Satan's Invisible World Discovered," by a pious 14 162 DIUTTTRNITY. and talented man, proves "both that sucli assaults of Satan are most certainly practiced, and that the instruments thereof merit most severely to be punished." Mr. Addison, in the Spectator, in the account of his visit to Moll White, which he gives in his peculiarly mild style of gentle irony, speaks in rather disparaging terms of witch- craft, though he says he is neutral on the question. The general drift of his remarks go to show that witches and witchcraft were in his day — only a hundred and fifty years ago — at a discount generally among some of the best in- formed persons in the first literary circles in England, but that a belief in their genuineness was by no means confined to the vulgar and the unlearned. A little beyond this time, witchcraft was implicitly believed in by every body in Eng- land, high and low, learned and unlearned. The settlement of New England is but a recent thing. Connecticut was one of its best and most enlightened portions ; and who has not heard of the Blue Laws of Connecticut? Lycurgus lived three thousand and five hundred years be- fore New England was settled; but he made better laws in Sparta, at least in very many respects, than those of this recent and highly-cultivated people. In Massachusetts they named their principal town Salem, which means the abode of peace. Few have not heard of its fame in criminal jurisprudence. The history of "Salem Witchcraft" may be laughed at now, and may be attempted to be placed away oif among the legends of olden time. But this can not be allowed. It belongs to very recent times. The frequent hanging and drowning of men and women on solemn conviction of witchcraft, by the high ju- dicial functionaries of the Abode of Peace, is a part of the history of the judicial magistracy of days only just now passed by. Popular and legal witchcraft is traceable historically to periods about a thousand years ago. The necromancy of Scripture, though the same word is sometimes used in the CONCERNING SUPERSTITION AND WITCHCRAFT. 163 translation, is quite a different thing. But if the days of witchcraft proper have passed by so far as civil jurispru- dence is concerned, it has by no means passed away, even in the best portions of the world, so far as concerns the practical private belief of multiplied thousands. And in other portions of the world prejudices, superstitions, and follies, equally unwise and dangerous, prevail greatly, not only in private judgment, but in legislative and judicial cir- cles. And to-day they govern mankind and influence human conduct to a very great extent. The Inquisition was established in the twelfth century, under the auspices of Pope Innocent III — a name most strangely coincident — and was kept in. vigorous use several hundred years, so beneficial were its operations believed to be. And the feast of St. Bartholomew was celebrated with grea.t pomp and popular display, in Paris, in 1572. These things are now, we seem to think, all long since laid aside on the musty shelves of by-gone ages; but they are remembered, at least, with seeming profit, by thousands ; for in the very present age they are, in variously modified forms, still in vogue, not only on the banks of the Ganges and the Amazon, but of the Seine, the Thames, and of the rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. It is a great error, indeed, if any of us have fallen into it, to suppose that the follies and evils now under considera- tion have passed away, and that in this respect a great im- provement has taken place in the world within fifty or a hundred years. In some of their grosser forms, the evils have abated of late in some very small portions of the world. This is the most that can be said. The inferences resulting from these facts are simple and necessary. The state of things plainly, and in the simplest and most unmistakable terms, set forth in Scripture, as a part of the future condition and history of this world, can not occur until the light of reason, sound judgment, and true philosophy shall become universal among mankind; 164 DIUTURNITY. and that must come about in a natural way, as the product of existing processes. These things, therefore, testify to a new, crude, beginning state of mankind. CHAPTER XLIX. CONCERNING THE STATE AND INFLUENCE OF POPULAR PREJUDICE. All teaching, lecturing, argument, discussion of all kinds ought to be for the discovery and development of truth ; and when it fails of this end, mind is perverted, language be- comes babbling, and the human faculties bring forth moral and intellectual results the very opposite, frequently, of what was intended. Prejudice is not always necessarily erroneous. It is the hasty result of feeling rather than thinking. It is a sort of conclusion or judgment which governs a person, without the assistance of the reasoning powers of the mind. The great characteristic difference between man and the lower animals is, that the latter are governed by their feelings, while the former are, or ought to be, governed by their judgment. The feelings sometimes lead in the right direc- tion; but there is no certainty in this. For the most part they lead in wrong directions, and frequently to most ruin- ous consequences. The more we see of the world, the more we must be con- vinced that men are generally governed by prejudice and prepossession. This may at first seem a hard charge to bring against mankind; but I must be understood to predi- cate the statement of the age in which we live, and not against the race as such. In a better and more mature con- dition of things, the case will be different. INFLUENCE OF POPULAR PREJUDICE. 165 In ecclesiastical or religious controversies, where is the man who argues the question without bias, as ready to be convinced against as for his previous notions? Such men are one in a thousand. Tell me a man's preconceived no- tions upon contested sectarian questions, and one may easily determine the opinions he will cling to, though it be in the face of the most demonstrative and convincing arguments. Popular adherence to political parties, every one knows, is very seldom the result of mature thinking and examination. It is the result of mere casualty in association, or some social incident or circumstance scarcely seen or known at the time of its occurrence. The thinking or examination, what there was, was done after the opinion was unalterably fixed. I know of no rule by which we are to determine whether our conclusions result from independent reasoning or from prejudice. We can judge of this only from general circum- stances and rigid examination. Judicial men and a few students are the only persons, almost, who, by rigid disci- pline are capable of keeping themselves at any thing like a safe distance from the malaria of popular feeling. There are a few men in the world, and but a few, who reason. Most men believe what they wish or hope, or settle down upon random thoughts as they chance to arise. The very modes and processes of thinking with the masses are of a juvenile and illogical character. This state of things must undergo a great and thorough change, and this change requires time. It must be natural. Existing processes, though they may .seem slow or scarcely moving, must bring it about. The thinking powers of the race must be matured, and become healthful, vigorous, true, manlike, Godlike. 166 * DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER L. THE POPULAR MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THE BEST PORTIONS OF SOCIETY SHOWS THEIR COMPAR- ATIVELY RECENT INTRODUCTION. In giving us the revelation, it must have been the Divine intention that it be universally received, and well and thor- oughly understood, by all mankind. This is necessarily im- plied in the indisputable doctrine we keep in view all the while, that Christianity is to completely and perfectly evan- gelize the world, and present mankind a sinless people. Otherwise we run into the absurdity of supposing a world of sanctified Christians of the highest and purest conceiva- ble caste, and the revelation of G-od but partially known among them. Moreover, it is unnatural, and impeaches the Divine wisdom and prudence to suppose that such a revela- tion, to such a people and for such purposes, would, in its final course and end, confine itself to a portion of the race, and be but partially understood among them. Now, what is the state of popular knowledge of the Scrip- tures? But a small part of the world have it at all as yet. And in regard to Christendom — and the very best portions thereof — what is the case? Take the best city, county, parish, town, village, or ward of any town or city in England or America, and I inquire what proportion of persons in any fifty, in any ten, or in any one of these have ever read the Word of God carefully through five times? How many have spent more time in studying the Scriptures than in attending to some unimportant matter of business? What proportion of such people have ever read and carefully studied the Bible? What portion have read five chapters in five years? MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURES. 167 A few ministers, a few Sunday-school scholars, and a few of the professors of religion have some little knowledge of Scripture. Beyond this the Scriptures are practically, almost wholly, unknown. A few years ago there was a book published in England, about the size of the Bible, the author of which was a polished prince of buffoonery of most extraordinary talent, most wofully perverted. In this book the low exhibtions of a wonderful knowledge of human nature were well adapted to fascinate and engage the attention of large classes of per- sons easily pleased. And it is not too much to say that this book of Shakespeare's plays, claiming only to exhibit folly and fiction, is the successful rival of the revelation of God in many circles of literature and refinement. As to a prac- tical reception and use of the Word of G-od, there is, per- haps, not so much difference between countries which are called Christian and those called heathen as many might suppose. In high political positions men are oftentimes found who are almost totally destitute of all practical knowledge of the Christian revelation. In this country they are always found in State legislatures and in Congress, and occasionally in Gubernatorial and the Presidential chairs. In what sense are they Christians? Revelation, evidently, and in the plainest terms, designed to be universal, has, as yet, reached the rarest few of some very select portions of mankind. 168 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER LI. MORAL PHILOSOPHY IS IN ITS CRUDEST AND MOST INITIA- TORY STATE. So little has the world settled down upon a system of the philosophy of morals, that the ablest doctors do not agree as to its elementary principles; and although a treatise on this subject is but a convenient arrangement of the ethics of the Bible, and a comparison of them with the ethics of nature, yet in many points these have not as yet, by any means, been classified and uniformly understood. The term moral philosophy, in a. scientific sense, embraces much more than is intended to be even alluded to in this brief chapter. Indeed, it is intended here only to call attention to the great ignorance of mankind on the general subject. The moral law inquires what ought and ought not to be done in given circumstances. And it involves the idea of intelligence in the subject, enabling him to apply the moral precepts — not to make or change them — as the great moral Designer intended. Now, this moral law is perfectly and most exactly adapted, in every particular, to the nature of the beings for whose control and advantage it is designed. It is adapted to his moral and social nature with as much exactness as is light to the eye or food to the nourishment of the body, or the atmos- phere to the lungs ; and to infringe or violate this moral law, in any way or in any degree, would be as disadvantageous to the moral man as it would be to the physical to violate the law of seeing by wounding the eye or by shutting out the light from it, or by infringing the law of eating or of breathing. The physical laws, or the laws of nature, by the observ- MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 169 ance of which we eat, sleep, and walk or talk, are not more necessary to be held inviolate, for man's benefit than are the moral laws. And yet who believes this? Who acts upon the princi- ple? Who have learned these things? Except one in a thousand, men act in open and notorious violation of the moral rules of living every day. Nothing is more common. With but few exceptions, the moral world is governed as the beasts are governed. Appetite, lust, ambition, and mo- mentary gratification is the law of the world. Retaliation and revenge for real or supposed injuries is taught as a science and practiced as a profession by most men. And we are so accustomed to these things that they produce neither wonder nor surprise; otherwise we would be startled with horror at the thought of a person doing wrong. It would be conclusive evidence of insanity. Moral philosophy teaches of moral agency. It supposes man to have an intellect, a conscience, a free will, and some degree of intelligence. And it supposes man to be account- able for his conduct. But who has taken the pains to look carefully into these things? Who governs his conduct by these rules? And even among those who do study these rules, and try in some sort to live by them, there is great diversity of opinion on the subject. The freedom of the will is seriously questioned by many. Indeed, it is not yet a settled matter whether the will is a faculty of the mind, or the mind a faculty of the will. The theory of Locke and others is seriously questioned by some. But I am not now attempting to speak so much of a few learned men as of the teeming masses. Go out into the street, and inquire of every man and woman you meet until you meet a thousand, and see what they know of the sub- ject. Most of them never heard of such a thing before. And away from these better and more enlightened circles still less is known. Not one man in a thousand could un- derstand what you were talking about. 15 170 DIUTURNITY. And, surely, it can not be claimed that the world has grown to adult years, according to the standard of both na- ture and revelation, until at least the philosophy of morals shall be thoroughly understood by all people. Without at least this much of progress, there can be no such thing as a sinless condition of mankind or any thing approaching it. CHAPTER LII. CONCERNING THE PRESENT STATE OF RELIGIOUS LITERA- TURE — WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT MUST BE. It has been well observed that writing is the mightiest instrumentality on earth. By this means the mind approxi- mates Omnipotence. We naturally look, then, to literature as the chief instrument in forming a better race of human beings. We look to superior minds, which are capable of acting through this channel, for those impulses and moving causes by which the world is to be carried onward in its rising march to maturity. A few men are the depositaries of a higher power, and on them the better hopes of the world depend. One of the laws of psychology is, that the intellect en- larges and strengthens by the investigation of subjects of general interest and the exposition of them for the good of others. Hence, it is more blessed to give than to receive. A free and liberal distribution for the benefit of others, who are more in need than ourselves, is the best and surest way of enlarging our own store. Communication is as valuable as solitary thinking. Great and valuable thoughts are sel- dom fully possessed and appreciated at home. They require utterance. THE PRESENT STATE OP RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. 171 One of the noblest and most healthful labors of genius is to clothe its conceptions in clear and comly forms, and give them existence in the souls of other men. Thus it is that literature creates as well as manifests intellectual power. No man can live within himself. The master needs the re- flex influence of his own teaching. And thus mind almost ceases to be individual, and becomes the common prop- erty of the community; and, in return, the community, by the very receiving of instruction, pays back to the central intellect every measure it receives with large usury. But this rule will not apply with full force to every thing that is called literature. It is only on the great subjects of nature and morals that the mind strengthens itself by elaborate composition. And here, it must be remembered, are the great staples of literature, properly so called. To give effectual utterance to such truths requires the joint and full exercise of all the powers of invention, im- agination, and sensibility, as well as the cultivation of taste and the high appreciation of moral justice. It is fre- quently the case, but not always, that thoughts which are newly conceived are like the rough marble, requiring fervid and powerful Utterance to smooth the rough and heavy mass, to give it polish, beauty, and strength. And, again, many of the newest and best conceptions are lost to the public treasury for lack of a private till, sufficiently secure and capacious for its custody until an opportunity offers for its utterance or record. A writer who would make his subject visible and power- ful must endeavor to unite a strong and well-connected logic with a fervid eloquence; he must throw it into different pos- tures and place it in different points of light; he must create for it beautiful and attracting forms, and give it a natural- ness which will fit the flexibility if not the straight-edge of the mind. How stimulating and invigorating are such ef- forts as these. And it is only in writing, and in laborious 172 DIUTURNITY. and elaborate composition, too, that such efforts are prop- erly called forth and drilled. 0, what a wise arrangement for public wealth and private luxury ! We owe a great debt to those pure and wise minds of this and other lands, who have delivered to us in writing their best and highest thoughts, as well as their purest and holiest feelings. But still the great mass of existing litera- ture which may be called religious has been produced under such a variety of circumstances, advantageous and disad- vantageous, that it must be placed under a rigid review, and must not be estimated at more than its value. It may well be believed to be so defective that, if the religious, moral, and philosophic history of this world and its nations shall ever see the light, it has yet to be written. Men sur- rounded and involved in the prejudices and influences of monarchies, aristocracies, and dynasties, as well as the cor- rupt and vitiated republics which as yet have been brought forth, would require to be a little more than human to be equal to the task of supplying mankind with a healthful religious literature. And then there have been the disad- vantages, paradoxical as it may seem, of a redundancy of personal ease and private leisure with many of the authors. A soft carpet and cushioned sofa are not generally useful to a field officer in time of war. And so with the student of nature and religion. Mere application is not always sufr ficient. Strong thoughts and simple reasoning are often- times evoked only by a felt necessity of grappling with ad- verse circumstances and pressing demands. Man seldom puts forth all the power that is in him until he finds him- self in a strait. And so it is that many great principles are yet to be settled in morals, in criticism, and in politics. And, more still, great questions in religion are yet to come up and be settled, and their very principles themselves are to be res cued from the corruption, the thraldom, and the supersti-* tions of past ages. THE PRESENT STATE OF RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. 173 And we have yet to inaugurate a popular style of litera- ture a little higher than most of our best productions. We must reach and occupy the platform where the Principia, the Analogy, the Pilgrim's Progress, and the Paradise Lost were composed. Nay, we must aim higher and stand above former achievements. We must think more and write less. The sanctified advocates of such a religious literature as the world needs and must have, must rise in the giant strength of a high and holy calling, and make unsanctified poets and unhallowed manufacturers of literary impurity and licentiousness, and immoral traffickers in science, and flippant novelists and romancers, who pander to the lowest passions, and all such like pretenders and peddlers before the public, give place and know and feel the inferiority of their positions and their callings to this of ours. The fatal error that religious productions are second-rate must be dispelled by a first-rate advocacy of a cause so transcend- ently superior to theirs. They can, and must, and will be placed in the background on the great theater of thought by clear superiority. Writers on Christian morals must be recognized as masters. Our subjects must be treated by master-hands; and thus the thought, the feeling, the ex- perience of the nations of earth must be moved onward to the very fountains of living waters, where an invigorating literature, which flows fresh from the very streams of Al- mighty grace and goodness, shall slake the very thirst of the soul. Our mission is no less than this: to furnish mankind with a literary aliment which will forestall the productions of those who write for fame or spite or ambi- bition, or who hire themselves for pay. Those who fill the news-shops with wares suited to a vitiated market, who en- deavor to write the stage and it's clowns into respectability, and lead unwary beauty and innocence astray, while they compliment and bolster each other, must be taught that the authors of religious literature are the called of God to lead the world on to greatness. 174 DIUTURNITY. The newness of the world and the recent introduction of religion, together with the ignorance and the prejudices of priestcraft and religious officials and pretenders, have caused the Scriptures to be skimmed over superficially; and a few dogmatisms and catch-words have, to a great extent, supplied the place of sober deduction and sound doctrine. Questions which seriously engaged the mind and talent of the Church but a few years ago, are now measurably thrown aside with our nursery lessons, and other questions, lying in a stratum lower down, come up for inquiry and in- vestigation. They in turn will be laid aside and give place to others ; and thus it is that, by and by, in the course of tmie, in the riper ages, the very innermost temple will be reached, the shekinah itself will be seen and understood, and the Urim and Thummim will be read and understood and comprehended by all men. In respect of mere primary religious doctrines, the Bible may be said to have been read and understood. But still it is a great magazine of most important truths, to be grad- ually unfolded and comprehended, from age to age, as its deep and still deeper recesses may be fathomed, as one ac- quirement after another shall give opportunity. When we look back on the literary productions of the past, we see the working of a variety of principles contend- ing for the mastery, or perhaps for admiration. Patriotism and national feeling have had their share; a reverence for antiquity and old names and phrases have had its share; skepticism, romance, and even licentiousness have had their share; and priestcraft and religious quackery have had their share; and from these sources we do not look for greater advancement in mind than they have already pro- duced. The stream will not rise higher than the source. To the religious principle, then, and to that alone, are we to look for a higher, more advanced, and more enduring literature, which is to carry the world onward and upward despite all opposing causes. If any one should doubt this, THE PRESENT STATE OF RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. 175 let him remember that man's relation to G-od is the great idea and central truth of our being. All other considera- tions are subordinate ; nay, they are insignificant. And we look to the unfoldings and development of this relation as the stay and staff of the intellect as well as the heart. No man can be just to himself, nor rightly appreciate his own existence, or put forth all his powers with heroic confidence and high expectation, or deserve to be the leader and in- spirer of other minds, until he has broken through the flimsy and ephemeral cobwebs of mere social life and tem- poral society, and has sought and found communion with his Maker ; until he intelligibly regards himself as the re- cipient and legate of the Infinite; until he feels himself consecrated to the aims and ends of religion and holy pur- pose ; until he, almost without an effort, rises above the rewards of human opinion; until he is moved by a higher impulse than mere fame. Religious literature is neither national nor personal. It belongs to the race ; it is the common property of man. The productions of genius are the inheritance of mankind. As sacred and moral literature rises and deepens in thought and power, the great mind of earth advances. No man goes before it; nor is any one so far behind it as to be out of its reach. One can not suppose a ripe world without a ripe literature. And although, in order to a ripe world, it is not necessary that every man should be a genius and a scholar, it is necessary that every man should read and understand, admire and be governed by, an elevated and polished re- ligious literature. In this department of human advancement, then, the world has something yet to do. If we could ascend some Pisgah of sufficient elevation, and with the vision of a prophet could discern the far-off magnificence of a vital, grand, and polished literature, powerful, pervading, and popular, we would likely conclude that as yet no man had more than entered its ves- tibule. Aud as to the people of the world — mercy! how 176 DIUTURNITY. few have ever heard or dreamed that there was such a thing ! The world can rise and go forward only as a sanctified literature, drawn from the Word of Grod, leads it on. In- dividual forgiveness of sin and personal Christianity there may be, and most certainly is, oftentimes ; but a mature and sanctified world, in the absence of a thoroughly popu- ular and sanctified literature, is an impossibility. CHAPTER LIII. CONCERNING THE AGENCY AND NECESSITY OF LITERATURE IN THE EVANGELIZATION OF THE WORLD. The usefulness of literature in the advances of religion has been generally doubted until very recently; and it is either openly discouraged or not at all encouraged by very large portions not only of the world but of the Church at the present day. Indeed, the revival of letters after the gloom of the dark ages is but the history of yesterday. By a very few it is now seen that Christianity can proceed only hand in hand with intelligence. Priestcraft flourishes but in ignorance, but Christianity can grow only in a cultivated soil. An uneducated man may be a Christian, but is not likely to be. But an ignorant community can not be a religious community and remain so for any considerable length of time. The religion of an ignorant man is of a low caste, and is not likely to produce religion in others. Ignorant parents are not likely to bring up religious children. The G-ospel, as it is now working, looks to the entire and perfect Christianization of the entire race — the complete overthrow of the works of darkness — and it is exactly ad- AGENCY ANI> NECESSITY OF LITERATURE, ETC. 177 justed to that end. Neither more nor less means are in- stituted and brought into requisition than are precisely necessary. The intellect is an instrument of religion, and so it must be used to this end, according to the intention of Providence. Education is a means of grace, or otherwise revelation would not be given us in a literary form. The world must not only become Christians — all living men at any one period — but they must be such kind of Christians — so wise, so thoroughly versed in Scripture teach- ing, so well acquainted with human nature, with the springs of human action, with God and nature; so "apt to teach;" they must feel so powerfully the weight of responsibility as the guardians and teachers of the rising and future genera- tions — that the world will be kept holy through their instru- mentality. We must not only be a sinless world at any one time, but a sufficiently elevated and progressed race, that the sinless condition looked to in Scripture may result from the causes and instrumentality now in operation. But the means of salvation — learning being one of them — must be brought into full play and act its part before this consummation can be reasonably looked for. Then let any one look at the present literary condition of the world and compare it with a high and universal literary condition. By this I do not mean to intimate that every man must become a scholar, strictly so; but I do hold that it is necessary that all men should be reasonably educated, that unlettered ignorance be no more seen. Men must not only be Christians themselves but Christian teachers; for unless every man and woman be a Christian teacher, the rising generations can not be perfectly taught. And no man can thus attain the position of a Christian teacher until he becomes well versed in the learning of the age in which he lives. And this standard will most likely be reared much higher than men now would be likely to suppose. Perhaps our best colleges now would be as only primary schools. Capacity, not experience, is the measure. 178 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER LIV. CONCERNING JUVENILE CONVERSION WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT MUST BE. This point must have a place somewhere in this treatise. There has been some controversy about it. It is admitted that conversion sometimes takes place at a period as early in life as intellectual development will allow. But these are said to be very rare cases. The question, then, seems to be whether it is or is not practicable in all cases. Or, may children be so reared as not to commit sin? If there be a period in human life when personal salvation can not be attained, then there is a time when sin is unavoidable, which is contradictory. Sin is the transgression of the law — the rejection of the offer of salvation. Sin can, therefore, never be unavoidable. The age of the person has nothing to do with it. Ability to do wrong implies ability to do right. Religion is nothing more than doing right. Trans- gression supposes ability to refrain from transgression. A young child is incapable of transgression, and so incapable of exercising saving faith ; and after a time he is capable of both. We may not in each case know where this line of separation is, but we may know what it is. How long must a person continue in sin before he can receive Christ? There can be no such period. The probability of salvation is a different thing. All children are born into the world with a natural ca- pacity for salvation ; and not only so, but with a possi- bility of immediate salvation by faith in Christ. There is no law of either nature or grace preventing salvation by faith in every case at the earliest period that sin is possible. CONCERNING JUVENILE CONVERSION. 179 And if salvation in every case, or in any ease, does not take place at this early period, it is because of incidental cir- cumstances disadvantageous to religion, or the existence of things which -ought not to exist, surrounding the child. He is born of a very irreligious ancestry and into an irre- ligious atmosphere, surrounded by the sins of others. He follows the example he sees — drinks in the spirit which surrounds him. He is the subject of moral gravitation. His innate corruption is another matter. That merely produces a tendency to sin. But this tendency, predisposi- tion, bias, leaning toward sin may or may not be overcome by favorable surroundings at the earliest possible period, or at a later period. Unfortunately, in these current ages, every one is surrounded by an unfavorable state of things, and so, nearly all are rushing heedlessly into the vortex. It is not practicable, it is readily admitted, to raise any certain children so that they will not sin. But that, by no means, shows the thing to be impossible. That which is impracticable can not be done because of some incidental hindrances that might not exist; that which is impossible can not be done at all, because of some intervening law of nature. A conversion at the earliest moment may never have taken place, and it may not be practicable in any living instance; and yet, in an improved condition of the world, they might be occasional, and in a more improved condition frequent, and then uniform, and then universal. The two things which prevent uniform early conversions — both of which will, in time, become gradually and, after long lapse of time, finally removed — are, first, improper example; and, sec- ondly, an irreligious ancestry. On this latter point a few observations may not be out of place. We are but very little acquainted with the laws of trans- mission from parent to progeny; yet the law is uniform, if not universal. It is seen in every individual instance, in all the animal as well as the vegetable world. The ming- 180 DIUTURNITT. ling of these descending currents in the male and female lines causes trie irregularities we see in individuals of the same stock. The universal law of generation is, that- prog- eny inherits, or tends or inclines to inherit, all the habi- tudes as well as the characteristics of its ancestry more or less definitely ; though the further you go from the imme- diate parents the feebler the tendency is. Now suppose Christianity to continue in the world, two things will follow necessarily. First, religion will improve more and more rapidly, until the time will come when the general advance will be as much in one day as it is now in a year, and even much more; and, secondly, the time must come when all children will be born of a very pious ancestry for many generations; and so, after sufficient time, all children certainly will be converted to a very high and sanctified state of religion at the earliest period that intel- lectual development will allow; that is, at a period as early as they are capable of sin. The question is not whether children born in these fa- vorable circumstances would be religious. We certainly know they would not. The question is whether they would be more likely to become religious. And the more favorable these circumstances are, the higher this probability rises, ad infinitum. And so the natural and religious processes and agencies now at work must bring about the sinless period of which Scripture speaks so abundantly; but in the very new or juvenile ages of the world in which we live these results are not to be looked for. But we can see the direction in which we are drifting, though as yet it be slowly. THE WORLD AND THE GOVERNMENT OP INFANTS. 181 CHAPTER LV. CONCERNING THE VERY GREAT INJURY THE WORLD RE- CEIVES BY THE UNIFORM FAILURES IN THE GOVERNMENT OF INFANTS. It is truly wonderful how easily we become accustomed and reconciled to almost any thing. Fashion— custom — is a most wonderful power. It subdues almost all our reason, stifles apprehension, quells fear, calms and pacifies wonder, and reduces the most startling enormities to commonplaces. We are ready to tolerate if not approve almost any thing, if custom only sanctions it. By tenfold the greatest wrongs and injuries received by mankind are perpetrated by parents, particularly mothers, upon their own children. The real injuries thus inflicted in the nursery work more real mis- fortune among us than . war, pestilence, and famine com- bined. Indeed, the former are the progenitors of the latter, and of almost all other human misfortunes and disad- vantages. Parents seem to have no knowledge whatever of the in- fantile constitution. They recognize none of its laws. They seem to forget that nature has any laws, and heedlessly blunder on, governed by mere parental fondness. It is said that Napoleon once asked Madam De Stael what he could do to elevate the French nation; and she re- plied, " Cause proper instruction to be given to the mothers of the French people." The shrewd woman gave the Em- peror a wholesome lesson, but imposed on him a greater task than ever Wellington did. The common impression is, that the great and important matters of life and the progress of the world are the affairs 182 DIITTURNITY. of state, tlie arranging of governments, the election of pres- idents, and of emperorships, the making and repealing of laws and national treaties, navigation, building cities, per- suing commerce, waging wars, the affairs of courts of judi- cature, etc. Others esteem what is commonly called educa- tion — that is, that part of pupilage which is committed to schools and colleges — of prime importance. But it seems to me, and the truth undoubtedly is, that the proper culture of infants in the cradle and nursery is far more important than all these together. I would not put the preaching of the GrOspel and inculcation of Christianity in a category second to any human affairs, lest I might be misunderstood. Yet I do not believe that these things can be prosecuted with any great success until we have great and radical reforms in the government of the occupants of the cradle. In looking forward into the rise and progress of nations and of man, we inquire at the doors of courts, cabinets, legislatures, the magistracy, colleges, marts of trade and finance, and such places, for the means and instruments of improvement. And here you will, no doubt, get some in- formation; but the nursery and the cradle can give you ten- fold more than they all. What is the formation of character, and how and when is this thing done? There is one and but one characteristic in man pertaining to the formation of his character, which is fundamental, vital, and central. Around this all other characteristics revolve as satellites, or mere attendants. This principle becomes unalterably established at a very early period; generally before the second or third, and uniformly before the fourth year closes. Rarely, indeed, but most likely never, can it be moved as late as five years. This great principle is obedience — obedience to law. After the character is set nothing human can change it. You can give it some pruning and polish, which, indeed, many erroneously regard as the formation of character. This is the Chesterfieldiad doctrine. THE WORLD AND THE GOVERNMENT OF INFANTS. 183 The ordinary education, the cultivation of manners, the improvement of taste and social courtesies, the smoothing of conversation, the elevation of amiability, learning of hooks and music, and even religion itself— all these are a very different thing from the formation of the character. The moral character is formed, shaped, outlined, its bent is given to it, long before any of these accomplishments begin. "A pebble in the tiny rill » Has changed the course of many a river ; A dew-drop on the baby-plant Has warped the giant oak forever." It is highly probable, if not certain, that the basis of character is fixed before there is in the child any clear per- ception of right and wrong. No one forms his own char- acter. If let alone at this very early period, it will soon establish itself after the model of Adam, and is then not to be changed. The first moral development in all cases is anger. Tiiis is perhaps universal. The child does not know that anger is wrong; it does not know that any thing is wrong. It acts instinctively. Anger is not only thus early developed uniformly, but it is the only trait, except kindness, that is discernible for a long period — perhaps a whole year or more. And if the proper steps be not taken to remove or subdue this anger, it soon becomes immovably fixed, and forms the root of all the vices of after life, not excepting licentious- ness, which would seem to spring from other sources. Now, if these things be so, the great question of life and improvement is, how can these early uprisings of anger be controlled and eradicated from the other materials which compose the outline of human character? There is one may and one time, and there is no other way nor no other time, when this can be possibly done. It must be done at or near the very first. If suffered to grow until the child begins to reason so as to become a sub- 184 DIUTURNITY. ject of moral control, it has become permanent and can not be removed. Afterward it can only be pruned or smoothed over by veneering, so that the deformity be not absolutely offensive. And the only way possible in which it can be done is by absolute, arbitrary power. In the utmost kind- ness there must be an invincible promptness of control which knows no yielding. Anger crops out more or less early and more or less fre- quent in children of different temperament. But whenever it appears in much or little, and it be not promptly sub- dued, it immediately becomes stronger by perhaps tenfold for the next occasion ; and then at every repetition, until very soon it is beyond human power to subdue it. After- ward it may be checked, and by various means kept gen- erally inside of outrage, but the monster inheritance is there, never to be wholly subdued. In most cases, it is quite probable the child is past hope before he completes the first, second, or third years of his life. Not past hope of being raised so as to compare well with others, but past the hope of ever having that spirit of anger wholly subdued. One of the first fruits of anger is falsehood. This comes to the support of its progenitor. And when these two champions of wrong begin to establish themselves well, the whole flood-gates of iniquity are opened, and the child is a veteran sinner before he is out of the nursery. Whipping children is a simple barbarity. It is "neces- sary," we are told. Yes, verily, it is necessary. The feeble, unskillful parent has suffered it to become necessary. The child deserves it, and you can not get along without it. But the parent deserves it far more. The necessity of beat- ing the child like a brute ought not to have been suffered to arise. Prompt, full, unhesitating obedience, at the proper time, would have prevented all the mischief. The miserable incompetency of foolish parents in not re- pressing this spirit of anger and rebellion when it was tender THE WORLD AND THE GOVERNMENT OP INFANTS. 185 and capable of being subdued, has resulted in the misfor- tunes and irregularities we see in society. In almost all cases this unruly spirit is not only suffered to grow without molestation, but it is greatly encouraged. Falsehood and combativeness are the two great first-fruits of anger; and these things are generally taught and encouraged in almost all our families. Few parents reflect, and indeed very few are capable of understanding, how little a thing, at a very tender age, will give encouragement to anger, quarreling, and falsehood. Right here lies the great secret of infantile train- ing. In the first three months' time of a child's life it has learned much, and the impressions are deep. This learning is not intellectual, or but slightly so, but it has given a strong bent and force to the character. In after years, when the child has become capable of reasoning, the rough excrescences of these fundamental vices may be so far smoothed down that they will probably not amount to outrage, but the monster demon is there. In what is called good society, pride will stimulate youths to appear well, particularly in females; and self-esteem and respect for their parents and friends will cause many youths of good sense to hide their deformed character, which they can do to some considerable extent. Very much of what we look upon as amiability and good character is a com- mendable deception, by which the real deformity of character is kept partially covered up. And those who become religious have all their life-long to struggle against that strong, stubborn frame-work of anger and rebellion. The early formed incubus follows them as closely as the skin, and they can not separate from it. While the susceptibilities were tender as the sensitive-plant, while the wax was soft to the slightest. touch, anger, with its staff and surrounding supporters, was either cultivated by thoughtless, foolish parents, or by them suffered to grow wild and rank as the thistle, until now they are fixed, and there is no power earthly that can remove them. Educa- 16 186 DIUTURNITT. tion, the cultivation of good manners, and religion may keep them in check somewhat, but the unfortunate sufferer must suffer on. Children must be governed. By this I mean they must be made to submit to arbitrary authority, promptly, im- plicitly, and without a reason. It must be done, if ever done, before they are capable of knowing there is such a thing as a reason. Two children are crying from anger, and they are both made to hush; the one in a way which greatly represses the angry spirit, and the other in a way that strengthens it tenfold. The former is compelled to obey the arbitrary law of the parent promptly, and the other is induced or prevailed upon in some way, by hire or falsehood or flattery, to do so. There is a spirit in children that must be broken. The spirit of anger, of rebellion, of opposition and contention must be broken, despoiled, subdued, in order that they may enter life with some fair prospect of success. And there is no way by which this can be done but by arbitrary force. Submission must be peremptory and unconditional, and with- out a reason. If it be overcome by reasons why, then it is not subdued, but only temporarily set aside, and that but partially. At the first risings of real anger is the time for the ap- plication of this correction. Then, with a proper course of mild kindness and prompt, resolute control, the task is not difficult. Anger is easily distinguished from fretfulness, which may arise from many causes; or the former may re- sult from the latter. The first thing a child knows is law and subjection. These things are clearly discerned long before any moral reasons are discernible. But the mother, poor unthinking woman, concludes that it is quite out of the question to attempt any control of the child at this early period, except to pacify it when fretful or angry. It can not understand what you mean, she says. There is just one thing it can understand and but one, and that is sub- . THE WORLD AND THE GOTXTKNMENT OF INFANTS. 187 mission to authority. This conquest fully made a few times and the battle is over. The demon enemy of mankind is conquered in this instance, and you have now only to notice and repress the occasional uprisings afterward, and you have a child fit to raise and become a man or woman. Govern- ment now is not difficult. A habit of obedience is soon formed; submission to authority is no more irksome nor humiliating. And now having a foundation laid upon which a charac- ter may be builded, you have the opportunity of building a character. You have now something to build on; other- wise you have nothing. Now when the first openings of moral consciousness appear, let it be properly directed. Now the child may, with proper care and attention, be trained to advantage ; but otherwise it is impossible. Efforts and labor avail nothing so far as the removal of this one great difficulty is concerned. But now the labors of govern- ment may be applied to profit. Much more might be profitably said on this subject. I have intended only to glance at a few outline thoughts. There is, perhaps, no subject connected with the policy of the world fraught with so much interest. An observance of these few hints, with a little elaboration, in a single gen- eration or two, will forestall and prevent nine-tenths, and then all, the family and national broils, lawsuits, wars, crimes, private and public. You would empty the prisons, the alms-houses, and the lunatic asylums. You would change the professions of nearly all the lawyers, doctors, and magistrates, and give us a world of Christian people. From these few hints the student of nature may pene- trate the subject more deeply, and extend his examinations further into its ramifications. The more he studies it the more importance he will attach to it. And then, casting his eye forward at the course of improvement to which we are evidently tending, he can but see that we now live in its very early openings. Progress has begun. 188 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER LVI. CONCERNING POPULAR VIEWS OF RELIGION. Looking at the manner in which religion is viewed popu- larly by the people of some of the best portions of the world, and keeping in view the promised and inevitable destiny of Christianity, one can but be struck forcibly with the little that has been done and the much remaining to be done in religious progress. And this can but throw light on the subject of inquiry — still further on — the com- parative newness of the world in these passing eras. To inquire into the popular view of religion opens up a field of inquiry large, cloudy, and interesting. But here we can take only a brief survey. There are in all the world probably one hundred thou- sand ministers and others who, in some tolerable degree, have made theology a study. They have studied the same Bible, and the authors they have read have drawn from the same text the principles they educe. And among these what a discordancy of views do we find of both the Scrip- tures and the religion they teach. It is true, however, that while theologians thus differ, the difference almost always relates to minor or unimportant and not to vital things; for, after all that is said on this subject, there is, it must be acknowledged, less difference among theologians about the theory and practice of religion, than with almost any other class of men about the theory and practice of their respective principles or calling. Still, there are stoutly contested questions about many things in religion, deemed of considerable moment by some CONCERNING POPULAR VIEWS OE RELIGION. 189 and even vitally important by others. These differences re- late not indeed to the beginning, but to many points in the growth and practical use of Christianity. And this state of things, we are told, exists in a ripe, mature old age of the world! And now let us look at another class, next in order, among living Christians, which is one hundred times larger than the forementioned. These are the best informed gen- erally, and among the most pious and useful of Church members. Their views of religion are still more superficial and indecisive, though many of them are practically pious, and, as far as they go, have very correct impressions on the general subject. But they are by no means well in- formed. Of the true theory of Christianity they know but little, and the practical impression it makes on their lives and conduct is by no means great. The next class in order is composed of the more loose and uninformed portion of the Church, and including some others not communicants, but such as stand in close rela- tionship to the Church. This class is two or three times as large as the last-named, and exceeds it in all kinds of neglect of religion five or tenfold. Very few of them ever read the Bible carefully through. Scarcely one reads it habitually. As to studying it carefully, they never dream of such a thing. They are "Christians" after a very slov- enly fashion. They half-way keep the Sabbath for decency or hypocrisy's sake. They go to Church frequently, but for no particular reason that they know of. Their names, some of them, are, or were, on some Church register, be- cause they consented that it might be placed there. The rigid precepts of religion are unknown to them, because they care but little for them. They claim to be decent people, and so they generally are. They view religion at a distance and think it a most excellent thing. They con- tend that the Bible is very true, indeed, but what it is 190 DIUTURNITY. that is true in it they have not had leisure to inform them- selves. This class forms two- thirds or three -fourths of the Church in this old, ripe, and finished age of mankind ! "We have now glanced hastily, but pretty correctly, at a very select few of the human family — those of very rare and peculiar advantages. They have inherited the accumu- lated wisdom of the past. They have had access to all that has been written, and nearly all that has been thought in the world heretofore. They include one man for every one hundred of the human family. And we see that they present any thing but a ripe Christian scholarship. And now what of the great mass of mankind? What of the religious views of the ninety-nine in every hundred of those who have had inferior opportunities and smaller religious advantages? They might be spoken of as one class, or, if we designed to be particular, they might be di- vided into several classes. Some few of the more intelligent have some lingering, latent regard for religion. Though as wicked as men can be, on the approach of death, or in times of great peril, they frequently want the rites, at least, of religion ministered to them. Though they may have lived all life-long in its midst, they are almost totally ignorant of it, and have habitually despised it. They view God and the world, and religion and the fu- ture, and life and death, as the ox and the ass view the things around them. They prefer the fortune of the brutes that perish. Their ambition is to look upon the light of the sun, and eat and drink through the day, and vegetate like a plant, and like a plant drop and die where they grow, and perish from the memory of earth — having done nothing, desired nothing, expected nothing. As for knowl- edge, a knowledge of God and of the world they live in, they could not afford to labor so much as to put forth a thought on such a subject. The capacity and willingness of God to bless and protect them is a thing they never dreamed of. To elevate a thought or venture an aspiration CONCERNING POPULAR VIEWS OF RELIGION. 191 that would rise above the ground on which they tread, or claim superiority to a piece of wood, a yard of cloth, or a piece of paper four inches long, would be an impossibility quite beyond their conceptions. Among the masses, I will not say of mankind, but of the better half of the human family, who ever dares to think, except as the horse thinks, to choose between this and that pasturage? And is this the end of the creation of mind? The asso- ciate and companion of Grod? What a splendid failure! But the great mass of mankind, seven in ten, have almost no. views of religion at all. They are a living mass of cor- ruption and ignorance. They may or may not have a little whitewash of what is sometimes called civilization, but they live and die as much like the brute as seems practicable. With most men religion is something political, or matter of mere philosophic speculation, but of trivial importance among men of business or employment; and men of leisure are far above it. And in Christian countries hypocrisy hides the most offensive wickedness from the observation of ministers and religious men. This is especially the case with men who regard themselves as genteel. And is this the end and aim of Christianity? Is Chris- tianity in its present form, and as Grod is now, in this sys- tem, dispensing his grace, destined to accomplish no more than this? And is this system of recovery to end and some great wonder of miracles supersede it, and other means be set up in its stead for the accomplishment of the same end? No, that would be at least irrational and submissive of the principles which revelation does teach. 192 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER LYII. THE CONVENTIONAL LAWS OF SOCIETY AND THE RULES OF THE DECALOGUE CONTRASTED. Moral conduct forms a leading characteristic of man- kind, and all men acknowledge themselves subservient to the rules which opprove that which is right and punish for that which is wrong. But there are two different codes of laws, and it is by no means settled which one is binding The one is the unwritten law of society, and the other the written law of the Decalogue. The written laws of legisla- tures are a mixture of these two. Sometimes professing to follow the latter, they are, nevertheless, composed much of the former. The Decalogue is by no means, as many suppose, a mere arbitrary enactment of the Almighty — right because it is so enacted. On the contrary, it is strictly philosophical — made to conform to man's nature. It is made as it is because that is right; because any other rules would be wrong; would chafe and conflict with man's constitution. There are no new laws in the Sermon on the Mount. That won- derful discourse, of which we have a synopsis, is an exposi- tion and elaboration of the Decalogue. The things taught by the Savior are not true because he taught them; he taught them because they were true. The Decalogue is the only true standard of morals. Any thing different misrepresents nature and clogs the wheels of progress. And nature, truth, right must ultimately triumph, or the moral government of Cod, as he has introduced it into the world, is a failure. The mission of Jesus Christ, CONVENTIONAL LAWS OF SOCIETY, ETC. 193 as lie is now conducting it, and not in some other way, must triumph in complete success. It is as natural for man to submit to rule — to be gov- erned — as it is for him to live. The great question is, What law does he submit to — the law of the Decalogue or the law of society around him? The latter is as imperative in its demands as the former, and its punishments are perhaps severe enough for all prac- tical purposes. But sometimes it punishes men for doing right and sometimes for doing wrong. Sometimes it agrees with the laws of God and sometimes it violates them. Moreover, it is extremely variable — one thing here and another there. Sometimes it punishes and sometimes it rewards falsehood; and so of all other crimes. Now, it is impossible for a healthful state of morals to exist until these conventional rules of society shall them- selves strictly conform to the Divine precepts. The prac- tical morality of the world, almost, must be formed anew. The fashion of thinking must be reformed. Courts of jus- tice are set up to make men act morally; but courts of jus- tice never produced many moral actions, much less did they ever produce moral men. Means are instituted and in progress calculated unmis- takably, even divinely, if we will but give them scope to operate in, to rectify this state of things perfectly. It may be said they move slowly. So does the sun move with most unbearable slowness to the apprehension of a child. And yet they move as rapidly as the nature of things will allow. The constitution of things is settled and agoing; and it will continue its legitimate functions until the mor- als of the Decalogue shall become the morals of the world. 17 194 DIUTURNITT. CHAPTER LVIII. AN INSIDE VIEW OF POPULAR HONESTY. It has been said, and said so often that the unthinking receive the doctrine favorably, that "honesty is the best policy." It is a most miserable doctrine. It may answer the purposes of an infidel who desires to know no better, but it is very degrading to a Christian. Policy is used to denote good management — a shrewd and wise forecast — look- ing to the best and most profitable ends in the future. And by this we understand that a uniform course of honest dealing will cause trust to be reposed in one by others; will, therefore, bring profitable business, increase one's trade, give him employment, and secure to him both public and private confidence. And it will also, the saying teaches, procure for one the good countenance and well- wishes of others, and produce in one's own breast peace and a quiet conscience. All this may be very true in itself, but it is merely the honesty of dishonesty. It is the honesty of the sharper and the infidel, of shrewdness and cupidity. It is a wise and calculating selfishness which excludes the Divine gov- ernment, repudiates all the moral precepts, and makes gain and self-aggrandizement the ruling passion. And it is the honesty of the wisest and best portions of the world gen- erally. But there is no doubt but this policy, well concealed and shrewdly carried out under a good-looking hypocrisy, is the best policy. It does produce the advantages claimed for it. It is a truth which ought to be known, but it is a misno- mer to call it honesty. Honesty does not consist in actions CONCERNING CIVILIZATION. 195 but In depositions. Rectitude of intention, integrity of thought, unflinching perseverance in right-thinking are the characteristics of honesty. And yet but few of us have learned that honest conduct toward others is the best policy. A sharper who is not upright in his dealings is as much fool as knave; he is a mean trickster, without sense enough, to make dishonesty profitable. There is no honesty but that set forth in the Decalogue, and further explained in the Sermon on the Mount. The policy-calculating honesty is the hypocrisy of cupidity. The honesty of the Bible is the integrity of the soul in its faithful endeavors to do the will of Grod. Nothing is right but that which becomes so by its accordance with the will of Grod. That w \ch is not done because God's will requires or allows it, is si. filly and dishonestly done. None but a Christian can be honest. All other honesty is mere policy. And now compare the present condition of things in these respects with that which the presently working system of religion in the Bible evidently looks to, and we can not fail to draw a true and fair, though not exactly definite, view of the probable relative period of the world in which we find these things located. CHAPTER LIX. CONCERNING CIVILIZATION — ITS TESTIMONY AS TO THE PROG- RESS THE WORLD HAS MADE IN ITS NATURAL CAREER. Savage life is one of the strangest and most wonderful features of mankind. How came such a thing about? Who can account for it? In tracing back what we call the dif- ferent races of mankind in their physical history, we find, 196 DIUTtTRNITY. or at least it is believed, that about three thousand years ago we may identify, as is most generally calculated, five general divisions of men — the Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethi- opic, American, and Malayan. But of the early formation of these history informs us but very little. The Caucasian race, in its descending varieties, has a prominence in history far beyond all the others combined. Indeed, it is to be re- gretted that the physical history of man has occupied so little of the researches of science and philosophy. But may be the time has not come up, in the progress and his- tory of mankind, for this branch of knowledge to become properly and satisfactorily developed. But these several races no longer exist as they were once supposed or believed to exist. They have divided off, and mixed and intermixed into a great number of varieties. Perhaps no family, variety, or race of people who existed two thousand years ago are to be found distinctly existing upon the earth now. Some may suppose that the people called Jews are an exception to this remark, but they are not. (See Identity of Judaism and Christianity on this point.) But we have no such knowledge of the physical history of man as will enable us to penetrate into the facts of early savage life, or even give a reason for it. All that we know is that they have gone wild, or partially wild. They have failed to cultivate human manners, or acquire knowledge, or elevate either the mind or the heart. And, with some ex- ceptions in Europe, America, and a few other places in the world, this wild, uncultivated condition is the state of man- kind to-day. And very much of what is called civilization is only upon the surface, and has very little to do with the real character. Civilization is not only the proper normal state of man, but, in its highest sense, it must finally be the condition of the human family. Savage life is a mere incidental ex- ception, which, like other such like irregularities, must pass CONCERNING CIVILIZATION. 197 away in the early stages of the world's life. We are tend- ing upward to adult life and to maturity. The means of progress are ordained, are here, are at work. And these are the means and this is the theater of human perfecta- bility. But still, all this is easily understood. A far greater difficulty is the question, What is civilization? Many sup- pose there is a distinct and well-known state of society called civilization, and a distinct and well-known state of society called savage life. The truth is, that what we call civilization is recognized and declared to be, in every age and in every country and district, the then presently existing state of society. Every country and every people to-day, and at all other times, recognizes and declares itself to be the standard of civilization. The truth plainly is, there is no standard. Civilization is not a positive but a mere relative thing. Each and every people is civilized, because it is more highly advanced and cultivated than some other. Each several people has its own standard, the world over and in all ages. Now where do we find civilization? And by what rule do we recognize it when we find it? The truth seems to be that the best states of society are but partially civilized. Are drunkards, gamblers, murderers, liars, Sabbath-break- ers, defrauders, swearers, and licentious prostitutes — are these the material which can compose any part of civilization? Have we, or have we ever had, a people who could truly and properly be called civilized? By what rule, by what standard are they so determined? Truly we are a new people. 198 BIFTURNITY. CHAPTEK LX. CONCERNING HYPOCRISY AND INFERENCES TO BE DRAWN THEREFROM. Hypocrisy is a seeming or professing to be what we are not. It consists in assuming a character which we know we do not possess, and by which we intentionally impose upon others. Its essence lies in apt and artful immitation. It is pretending to be a Christian when we are not; it is pretending to be an infidel when we are not; it is pretend- ing to be moral and upright when we are not; it is pre- tending to have friendship for another when we have it not; it is the putting on a gloss of civility to cover our real lack of it. The hypocrite is a double person — one naturally and another artificially. The former he keeps secret, and the latter he exhibits for show and advantage. Hypocrisy seeks to make a reputation without a corresponding character. A mob is a most excellent thing to draw out the true character. Many years ago I had a most favorable oppor- tunity of witnessing an outbreak of this sort, and of care- fully noticing its rise and progress from its mildest open- ings to its wildest fury. I well knew many of the men engaged in it. It was a valuable -lesson. For the first time I saw the real character of men whom I thought I had known well for years. How little we know of each other! How little we know of ourselves ! Who of us have taken the pains to carefully examine the texture of the covering we wear when we appear before others, to see how much of the fiber of its warp or woof may be interlaced with hypocrisy? Addison says the worst and most dangerous form of CONCERNING HYPOCRISY. 199 hypocrisy is that by which a man deceives himself. He makes himself believe he is a different kind of man from what he really is. And before Addison, Dryden sang, "None, none descends into himself to find The secret imperfections of his mind." And long before that, it was written, in higher and holier strain, "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults." The couplet of the English poet is either an important truth or an unpardonable slander. Is it possible ! Do we live in a world where it is not common for men to search carefully, habitually, and honestly into all the secret corners and unfrequented recesses of the soul, and discover there every latent, hidden feeling and principle of error, that it may be removed? If so, then we live in a crude, early, school-boy age, where mind is still pent up by passion, folly, and prejudice. "What an improved state of things we shall have when every man shall appear precisely as he is, and hypocrisy shall cease to exist among men. But one branch of morals can not improve faster than other surrounding branches, for they are much dependent upon each other. How long a time this will require no man can tell; but until the period does arrive, no man can say that the morning twilight of the world is past. We have to wait until that state of things shall fully prevail before the adult age of the world begin. 200 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER LXI. CONCERNING THE PRACTICAL USE AND BENEFIT OF THE MORAL LAW. The law which was promulgated at Sinai is the funda- mental or constitutional law of mankind. It was expounded by the Prophets, and still more elaborated by the Savior and Apostles. It was not by any means first enacted by Christ, but was always the law. Its principles, not so well defined, were always binding on men, and is and always was naturally binding on such creatures as we are. This law is not mere legislation. Indeed, properly, it is not legislation at all, but is the natural result of the demands of infinite rectitude upon such persons as possess man's constitution. They do not attach the offense to the fact, but to the spirit. They do not establish it by external evidence, but by the testimony of the internal conscience. Gruilt is found in the quiescent passionateness of the soul, and not in the thousand passionate acts. It is the simple state of vindictiveness of the soul, and not in the thousand vindictive acts; in the state of mere wantonness, and not in the thousand impure acts ; and in the state of insincerity of the soul, not in the outward breaches of covenant. The tribunal where these charges are brought and tried is the secret chambers of the soul before the conscience, where nothing is admitted but the man and the Judge. These two alone, in silent counsel, must arbitrate the matter. The mere jurisconsult would object to this as an error in the science of right and wrong, upon the ground that you can not compel a discovery of the offense nor bring the of- fender to the bar; for as you can not open a window in CONCERNING MORAL LAW. 201 the breast to reveal the lights and shadows of the mind, nor cause birds of the air nor morning zephyrs to testify to the secret works, you can not subject the supposed of- fender to such tests as would be satisfactory to justice. These laws, he will tell you, can not be appealed to; they can not be watched over by any police, nor executed by any known adequate power. All this is very true. The law before us can not be ad- ministered by an erring, fallible judge, who is himself de- pendent for a knowledge of facts upon the testimony of igno- rant beings like himself, which facts are always liable to be misstated, perverted, or left unknown. But when adminis- tered by an unerring Judge, the sublime purity of this law and its direct appeal to the conscience, and these alone, give it its ascendency and power, and make it to awaken in the soul the liveliest feelings, so that it becomes the parent of moral feeling and the patron of obedience. Human laws have in them no moral sanction whatever. They appeal to nothing but mere historic fact. But it may be said that this law is so extremely rigid, reaching back into the very fountains of intention, that it can not be kept by any fallen man; and, on the other hand, its extreme vestal purity and sanctions are quite unsuited to our nature. To this first objection, it may be replied that the law was not made for fallen creatures who could not keep it. Indeed, it is not strictly proper to say that it was made at all; that is, it is not the result of mere arbitrary legislation, but is rather, in its moral sanctions, a part of the very innate character of Jehovah himself. It belongs to and results from the very existence of G-odhead, and of moral and intellectual creatureship. Nothing was done in regard to it at Sinai but its more authoritative and formal publication. And if the law be unsuited to our nature, it is because man has perverted his original nature, and so carried himself away from the presence of those mercies and benefits which were designed to reach him through and by 202 DIUTURNITT. means of this very law. And if the action of the Almighty had stopped here in the matter, the condition of man would be miserable indeed. Every ingredient and iota of the law is the very essence of good; for peace is sweet, and chastity is good, and for- giveness is kind, and truthfulness is the very bond of love and confidence. These ingredients, so essentially desirable in order to the welfare of mankind, form the very constitu- tion and essence of the Gospel. The law is the Gospel to the unfallen j but to the fallen the Gospel itself becomes the law. A law governing moral conduct which can not be broken, would certainly not be a law. And a law made with even ordinary human wisdom has suitable penalties annexed to its violation — penalties best suited to the interests of the subject. A convict may curse the law, and a culprit may reason against it, but the minister of justice will, neverthe- less, hold both to its sanctions. And so with the moral law of God. It is a constitution upon which all men may be justified before all created intelligences, or before them all he may be condemned. There it is. It is easily rejected, easily complied with. But received or ignored, there it is in all its beauty and strength. It is the embodiment of all wisdom, the perfec- tion of all goodness, the consummation of all excellence, the height of all justice, and the extent of all mercy. It is the perfection and completion of every thing that is noble, valuable, pure, great, or desirable. And its practical applicability is absolutely and universally coextensive with the race. And yet, with this law and this Lawgiver, with these sanctions and penalties so made and so supported, it is true this day that it has not been received by more than one in one hundred of the family for whose benefit it was ordained. They do not admire its purity nor fear its sanc- tions; they are neither grateful for Divine favors, nor CONCERNING MORAL LAW. 203 afraid of judgment. The past has no" compunctions of con- science, nor the future any fearful presentiments. The pres- ent is enough. A little time and a few trifles fills their minds like the immensity of eternity. The favor of a few fools, and a little handful of the most stupid and groveling approbation, answers them well instead of the favor and good countenance of the Lord Jehovah. Now, can these things be accounted for? Men are not so blind they can not see, but are shrewd, calculating, and forereaching. Nor are they too deaf and stupid to appre- ciate their best interests; nor have they resigned them- selves to dark and dreary despair, deeming further efforts useless. The solution is this : The deep, deep corruption of human nature, the proneness to sin and moral evil, is so much greater than divines generally suppose, that it pro- duces a moral paralysis much like what is called mono- mania. This disease is not only contagious, in a very high degree, but is hereditary and all-pervading. Its removal in a few individual cases may not be so very difficult, but its eradication from the race requires time ; and as yet there has not been time for even the introduction of the remedial theory to over perhaps one-fourth of the human family. I would answer the question why the world has not been subdued to the rule of Christ as the physician would an- swer why the patient is not cured. It is because the proper remedies have not had time to operate. The child has not graduated in the university because he is but just now suf- ficiently grown in physical and intellectual stature to enable him to begin to go to school. I would answer the question now as I would have done four or five thousand years ago. Taking all the circumstances into the account, there has not been time. It is but a very few thousand years ago that the disease fixed its fangs in the human heart, and so but a very short time since the remedy began to be ap- plied. We are too impatient. We call a few hundred or a few thousand years a long time. Nay, six or seven thou- 204 DIUTURNITY. sand years is but a little while. The Gospel of Christ — I mean this same Gospel we now have, working just as it is now working — for I know of no other, nor of any other mode of its working than this present mode — the Gospel as it is, and not some unknown Gospel, will digest this world in due time, or at least in some time, if men will but work it. Let every man labor and let us have patience. CHAPTER LXII. CONCERNING THE IRREGULARITY OF THE COURSE OF RELIG- IOUS PROGRESS. Outside the reason of the thing, our knowledge of the history of religion gives abundant evidence of the native power of Christianity to subdue this world to the rule of right, and bring mankind, in detail and in whole, under the control of Christian laws and Christian principles. And yet to us who live down here among these valleys, the progress of Christianity presents a most strange and singular his- tory. If' we could take our position out yonder, on some eminence suited to an observance of the world's outward moorings, and remain there long enough to mark its cycles of periodicity, and with a mind and capacity enabling us to extend our observations over large sections of God's super- intending providence, we would, no doubt, see regularity and order where we now see irregularity and seeming disorder. But we must be content to occupy this low and unfavora- ble position, and with these restricted and limited faculties to pick up a truth here and there and arrange them in the best order we can. If we can not see and understand like a seraph, we must be content to see and understand like men. By this it is not meant that our philosophy of religion CONCERNING RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. 205 is wrong, for it is not. The things we learn, we learn ; and the things we know, we know. The school-boy knows the multiplication-table as well as the mathematician. Many of the most valuable things in religion we know as well as cherubim or seraphim, because we have learned them fresh from the mouth of G-od. But the things which we know" are rather in isolated or integral segments, with not much of scope and extensive connection and relationship. To see this connection and understand this relation requires greater mental capacity than we possess, or perhaps a different kind of mental vision. From this unfavorable point of observation, therefore, and with these somewhat beclouded glasses, let us look a few minutes at the apparently strange and erratic course which religion has taken. At the first G-od gave the world sufficient light and a sufficient rule by which he might return to his proper alle- giance. A few followed this light and observed the rule; and among them we witness some of the brightest and no- blest examples of faith and godliness that were ever seen beneath the sun. The Lord had respect unto Abel ; Enoch walked with God three hundred years; and Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. But the religious system of these times proved a failure, and it was a most terrible failure. To get rid of the accu* mulation of evil which arose under it, the Lord, in his mercy, found it necessary to sweep mankind from the face of the earth with the very besom of destruction. And then G-od introduced a somewhat different mode of teaching the lessons of religion. The Patriarchal economy was set up. It made the great heads of families responsi- ble for the government of tribes and family groups. This had a first-rate beginning, and promised well for a time. " And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt- offerings on the altar." 206 DltTTURNITY. This was sublime! Behold earth's grand monarch, the representative of an incoming race, engaged in acceptable worship before Grod. "And Grod blest Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." What could engender higher hopes or hold out larger ex- pectations to the Christian philosopher, the patriot, and the philanthropist than this auspicious opening? What a grand moral and religious renovation! The world is prostrate before Jehovah in prayer ! and the Lord listened with satis- faction. The people increased and spread abroad over the earth to some little extent; but soon, alas! we see but little of the altar and hear little of the voice of prayer. Noah is dead and his example is forgotten; and in less than five centuries almost all the world has lapsed into corruption and forgetfulness of Grod. And this second dispensation failed. And now the Lord ordains a third system of religious teaching. Leaving the great mass of mankind with the same light and law and knowledge it has ever had, and with its Church or Churches and religious enterprises as they were, and about which we have only some clear intimations in Scripture, he determines to establish a special nucleus with some additional instructions. In this family the Lord will teach and rivet the elementary principles of religion. And so, engrafting one lesson upon another ; conducting them by one series of precepts after another, he will create a religious nationality, and from this central point religion will radiate. And so he began this mode of instruction with one single individual person. What special preternatural instructions were given to Abraham we do not know, and why the religious nationality did not spring directly out from his family we are not informed. It sprang out from his grand- son, Jacob. The Divine intercourse with and leadership of this family CONCERNING RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. 207 and nation are wonderful and intensely interesting. The Almighty was with them most marvelously, but not indeed for their sakes, as some theologians seem to teach, but for the sake of the world. If he had not began with Abraham, he would have begun with some other man with some other name. And the Lord led them strangely on through a wonderful history. But in its very early stages we are called upon to witness a large amount of idolatry and other forms of irreligion. How popular this irreligion was we are not informed. But there were among them many of the noblest specimens of true Christianity. At the time of Christ a very large portion of the Church openly apostatized from the religion of the Church, and set up a new religion not before known in the world, which false and wholly new religion is stoutly persisted in by those apostates from true Christian Judaism to this day. That the people now and of late years known as Jews are regarded as the legitimate descendants or successors, either religiously or ecclesiastically, of the Palestinian Jews, is the most remarkable blunder to be found in ecclesiastical his- tory. Both the Church and the religion of modern Jews were seen first in the world in the time of the preaching of the Apostles. Neither existed before, in any proper sense in which words are used. It is hoped the reader may find it convenient to read the author's essay on " The Identity of Judaism and, Chris- tianity" in the more full elucidation of this point. After the life and death of the Savior the Church flour- ished greatly for a season, but in process of a short time it waned most alarmingly, so that for more than a thousand years it barely flickered in the socket. Recently, about three hundred years ago, it revived considerably, and now in the past and current centuries it presents some cheering signs of increase in some places. These are the early, beginning days of the Church. Bet- 208 DIUTURNITY. ter things are in store for Christianity. A struggling, vac- illating Church is not a ripe, mature, finished Church. Christianity, like any other system, must have its begin- ning, its growth, and its consummation. " First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." CHAPTER XLIII. CONCERNING THE REMARKABLE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF THE GOSPEL. In the face of the greatest and most powerful obstacles, Christianity has generally marched steadily on. The very fires of persecution seemed to kindle afresh the flame of holy living and Grodly example. And the Church put on such a tone and character of high heroism as made chivalry look contemptible in its own eyes. During the lives of the apostles, and shortly afterward, the Church seemed destined soon to bear down all opposition. The emperor of nearly all the world was a Christian, and every thing betokened success. But alas for short-sighted philosophy and the wisdom of sages! But few centuries passed away until the camp-fires began to burn low and the altars to be forsaken. And now, for more than one thousand years — from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries — the very darkness of Egypt which could be felt, rested like a pall upon the best portions of the earth. The Church was a by -word and a disgrace to the Christian name, and ignorance and superstition and oppression, priestcraft, imbecility, and groveling degradation ruled the rulers of the world. A few pious men — for there have ever been a few in every age — were found only in the back, unfrequented neighbor- SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OP THE GOSPEL. 209 hoods, or lived and hunted in caves and forests and unfre- quented regions. In the course of the fifteenth century a gleam of light was occasionally seen, and the sixteen hun- dredth year after Christ opened with a brighter dawn, and letters and religion began to live again. And in all these shades and fluctuations the same religion precisely which God revealed to Adam and his sons, and which the Prophets and Apostles taught, has proved itself fully equal, in all conceivable circumstances, to the task of humbling the proud heart of man before his Maker, and of opening up before him the portals of a brighter and better world. It has proved itself exactly suited to his condition in all conceivable circumstances. It took hold of a degraded nation of serfs in Lower Egypt more than three thousand years ago, and its knowl- edge and practice elevated many of them, even thousands of thousands, to the highest relationship with Glod. It en- lightened a whole people, amidst surrounding superstition and ignorance, to a position of social morals and civil and religious citizenship, so that they looked down from a lofty position upon a surrounding world sunk very far below them in every thing valuable to man. And in the devious and oftentimes crooked and rebellious course of this same people, it gave to their prophets tongues of fire and a spirit of wisdom, by which they instructed kings, emperors, and sages, and opened up even the far dis- tant future to the admiring gaze of science and learning, and pointed out . some of the great thoroughfares of life long before this history began. And, in the second place, in Greece and Rome and Jeru- salem, it broke the bands of personal interests, and made men generous even to the selling of their lands and pour- ing the price thereof at the Apostles' feet. It laid low and leveled the dearly-cherished distinctions of rank, and bringing about associations and parity between the richest and poorest, the highest and lowest, so that they were all 18 210 DIUTURNITY. served at the same common table and supported out of the same common purse. The proud Corinthian, given to lux- ury and pleasure, was made to lay it aside for more en- during enjoyments. It humbled the pride of the Athenian, tamed the bold and martial spirit of the Roman, cured the cunning Asiatic of his artful and crooked ways, and imparted a spirit of fairness and honesty to the vainglorious Jew. From all these it loosed the fetters of idolatry and superstition, opened up new and better associations, and pointed them to a higher and better intelligence, until it finally overrun the nations, and seated itself in the high places of their hearts, their lives, and their laws. And in doing this it made sages and philosophers gaze upon its sublimity and moral grandeur in wonder and astonishment. And, in the third place, a little over three hundred years ago, it opened up and consummated the greatest reformation known in the history of mankind. It is a very superficial view, indeed, which regards the Reformation of the sixteenth century as a merely religious reform. For more than ten centuries the hearts and minds of men had been shackled by the cunning arts of priestcraft and petty ambition. Let- ters were dormant; arts, science, enterprise, industry— every thing was palsied but licentiousness and official arrogance and bigotry. And in not much more than the lifetime of a man these fetters were torn loose, and the prison-house of nations was once more thrown open. Germany, Holland, England, Scotland, and Scandinavia arose from the lethargy of deep sleep, and awoke to the rights and privileges of mankind. People wholly unused to piety and virtue became pious and virtuous, and letters and arts and industry put at once almost a new face upon the affairs of men. A German burgher braved the province of his emperor, and the nations stood around him while he bade them as- sert the rights of men and the privileges of Christians. Before this England and Scotland had no literature but the mumblings of popery; no art but the art of war; no lite- SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF THE GOSPEL. 211 rature but a few songs of love and chivalry; but little gov- ernment and less law. The Reformation made Britain a nation, and placed Europe in the position she now oc- cupies. So much real power, of any kind, as was exhibited in Europe, in the sixteenth century, by the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Reformation, was never seen nor known aside from religion among men. The sole instrument was relig- ious, it is true, but its immediate results reached to the very center of every thing. There is not this day a govern- ment on earth worth having, nor a court, nor a legislature, nor an art nor science, nor scarcely a book, nor the enjoy- ment of a civil nor religious right, nor an education in the mind of man, that is not almost directly indebted to the Reformation set on foot by Luther for its existence. And, in the fourth place, the power of the Divine con- stitution to elevate, renovate, and perfect mankind, to make men great and good, is part and parcel of the constitution of nature ; and it is perfectly coincident with the condition of things. There is abundant evidence that all kinds and classes of men on the face of the earth may be successfully approached by the G-ospel in the Scriptures. He may be civilized, Christianized, and made a man by this simple means. I address men of mind, of honesty, and of information. I have not much hope, I confess, in speaking to self-suffi- cient bigots, whose literature is the fashionable magazines of entertainment, wit, and romance ; nor to ignorant pretend- ers in knowledge, who have read a few volumes of skepti- cism, of law, or medicine. I ask only for a man who has a mind, a heart, and some practical information. You may go to the rudest people on the face of the earth, or to those less or still less so, and you will find abundant evidence at the missionary stations, that the mere human animal has been transformed into a thinking and feeling man. And in the high places of power this religious in- 212 DIUTURNITT. ftuence has met the most arrogant prejudices and the most stubborn bigotry; and it has reformed the palaces of kings, calmed the spirit of warriors, and enlightened the halls of legislation. The best and wisest men the world ever saw -were Chris- tians. Human rights — scarcely the commonest rights — never were enjoyed outside the influence of Christianity. Take away Christianity in its simplicity and power, and you may take away my mind from within me and the light of the sun from above me, for I know not then that I would have much use for either. This power of the Divine constitution is the largest, deepest power ever exerted among men. It has more force to-day than all the legislatures in Christendom; more than all the judges and courts of judicature ; more than the sword ; more than literature, or philosophy, or song. It is "the power of God" among the people. Its achievments are beyond all human instrumentality and its successes be- yond all human calculation. And yet, notwithstanding all this, and much more that might be said, the failures of this same constitution are oftentimes both strange and frequent. Its most formidable and promising undertakings are oftentimes marked, if not with apparent imbecility, at least with almost entire lack of success. Look at the most numerous class of any neighbor- hood right in the midst of the working enterprises of relig- ion. They are settled down into a brutelike contentment, with a little food and a little raiment. Unreasoning and unenlightened, they live like the animals, upon mere animal gratifications. They look upon the sun and the earth, and drudge out each weary day with the cattle a weary and profitless life. They drudge and toil, and lie down and re- fresh themselves for further drudgery and toil. Their recreation is to laugh at a fool's folly, and to quarrel about a straw, and toil on. They smatter a little literature, or turn a rhyme, or solve a problem, or wield a vainglorious SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OP THE GOSPEL. 213 sword, or sell a yard of clotli, or mix a cathartic, or quote a sentence in law, and call that refinement and employment, and toil on through more years, untutored in truth, unfed from the high fountain of intelligence, wholly ignorant of the great salvation, and unsanctified by the Holy Grhost. And so they drudge on, alike ignorant of Grod and unac- quainted with man, his sphere, or his destiny until, at length, they settle down into the grave like a fool, without a Savior to soothe the farewell of life or light up a taper upon the dark pathway to the spirit land, and without a hope to beckon them to a higher clime than this. The Divine Gospel of the Son of Grod had a full and fair chance at them a hundred times in succession, and every time it glanced without impression, like a single ray of light upon an iceberg. Go to the people — most of them — in any part of Chris- tendom, and see what they are doing. They are plotting schemes of wealth or ambition, or idling out the day in laugh and dissipation ; or gravely debating about the shape of a pig or a cow; or at law, wrangling about dates or lines or landmarks; or belching forth falsehoods most industri- ously about a town election, or gulping down the well-known falsehoods and slanders of a morning newspaper; or toiling in a shop or field, simply to do such work as the five me- chanical powers have not been adjusted to do; or propagat- ing slander, or retailing gossip, adjusting a ribbon or the spots upon calico, as some other silly woman did ; or worse, if possible, than these things, plotting schemes of licen- tiousness, perhaps, among the titled grandees of society, or some of the thousand ways, by false speech or false ap- pearance of some kind, making others to esteem them to be quite different persons from what they really are. The business of life, its great end and object, is, with the masses, to consume food and propagate their species, and till the ground and manufacture the products thereof, and trans- port them from place to place and exchange them for money, 214 DIUTURtflTY. and grow old and die. But few indeed even dream that they ever had any relationship with our Father in heaven, any alliance with a spirit world, or make any calculations of ever returning thereto. These little narrow scenes fill their hopes and span their highest aspirations. They comprise all the joy they want or need or claim. Their enjoyments of the great gifts of God to man are idle talk, vain parade about trifles, vulgar jests, or brutal excesses or savage sports. With no thirst for immortality, they have no anxiety about the future beyond to-morrow; no serious meditation about things believed and enjoyed by their superiors in learning and knowledge; no control over their animal nature beyond the mere conveniences of the hour or the compulsions of society. With no moral industry nor enterprise, they put forth no moral strength, push forward to no grandeur of at- tainment nor Godlike deeds, nor true heroism, nor everlast- ing renown. They belong to the soil on which they tread, and they tread it like a tread-mill, which knows neither change nor termination. Ask them about Grod, or the Divine constitution, or the religion of Christianity, which has wrought before their eyes all the great benefits and glorious results the world ever saw, or the interests of the great future, and either they are too busy to give you an answer, or they could not condescend to come down from their high estate to do so. The last ditty of comic music, or the latest coloring of a bit of silk, or the most recent ebullitions of some literary clown, or the last quotations of shares or goods, are mat- ters too gravely important to admit of a thought upon such dull matters as the Bible and its Author. These signal successes and failures are remarkable. Mul- tiplied millions of the best and most intelligent men the world ever produced have yielded to the behests of religion, and have by it been elevated very far above their former condition. And then there are others, in still greater num- SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF THE GOSPEL. 2l5 bers, whose opportunities have been quite as favorable, upon whom it has made not the slightest impression. And now how is this to be accounted for — this wonderful power and this great feebleness ? At one time nothing earthly can resist its momentum ; and, again, it has neither sling nor stone, nor the power of resistance. We have all seen these phenomena accounted for by re- ligious writers with the utmost care, and in the most, ap- parently, satisfactory manner. But, in my judgment, such arguments are no arguments at all. They shift the diffi- culty from one place to another, and leave it without an attempt at solution. I doubt the possibility of accounting for these things now, except in the same way it would have been done three or six thousand years ago. Christianity is young in the world. It has no feebleness nor elements of feebleness in itself. There has not been time to establish a religious idiosyncrasy for the race. Sixty or seventy, or, perhaps, a hundred centuries is not long enough. It is long enough to make a beginning, but not to make much progress. Re- ligion must become endemic and then epidemic. As yet it is only sporadic. These are its early beginnings. Give it time, and it will infuse its influences far and wide into the very blood and bones and moral make and mechanism of our being as a race. It must become constitutional. Give it a chance. Let it have scope and opportunity. Grive it sweep over cycles. Let it have room and play sufficiently Godlike and worldlike. 216 DIUTURNITY. CHAPTER LXIV. CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMENT — WHETHER IT IS DESIGNED TO BE PERMANENT, AND WHAT ARE ITS FUNCTIONS AND USES. Religion and Government are the great twin aspects of life. The former is permanent and constitutional ; but whether "this is the case with the latter may be a difficult thing to answer. On this point I know of no knowledge we have derived, either from experience or otherwise. It would seem to belong not to a permanent, but to an incipi- ent or beginning age of the world, and this may be tho case. Patriotism, however beneficial it may be in other respects, is a great disadvantage to the philosopher and the student of nature, because it disables him from judging impartially among the various civil governments around him. It is difficult for a man to bring himself to believe that his gov- ernment is second or third-rate. But the wisest statesmen are as yet by no means agreed as to the proper ends and purposes of government ; and as to the legitimacy of its powers, the proper manner of ex- ercising them, the extent of civil jurisdiction, and many other things pertaining to its very framework, there is wide differ- ence among men considered the first statesmen of the age. Few subjects have received more attention, and yet few are less understood. The volumes and treatises which have been written on the subject since the days of Solon, the father of the re- pulican theory — six hundred years before Christ — have been almost immense; and yet it is strange the philosophy CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 217 of civil government has been but very slightly touched. Most that has been written is merely political. A bird's-eye view would teach us that, old as the world is, it has almost no solid information or knowledge on this most important practical subject. As compared with the past, some improvement is certainly discernible; but as com- pared with the stark necessity of the thing, it is almost all confusion and disorder. The grinding heel of oppressive despotisms, the proud and overbearing exactions of mon- archies, the unjust and unequal rule of aristocracies, together with the profligate corruptions and criminalities of republics, give the clearest evidence that, almost without exception, the governments of the earth are not seeking the greatest good of the whole, but are striving after the benefits and aggrandizement of one man in a thousand. Patriotism flourishes closely upon the heels of a revolu- tion, but not generally elsewhere, save in the more quiet walks of retired life. Sometimes it wears the ermine and dispenses justice, and so'metimes, but not generally, is it found in the halls of legislation. Very seldom, indeed, is it seen in the strife and contention for office. Ambition is its great competitor, and the securing of popular rights its only reward. Upon the whole but very little improvement has been made in the science of human government. Mea are governed vastly too much for their natural constitution, and vastly too little for their habitudes and condition. Every government has ten times too many offices, and, at the same time, not the tenth part enough to keep all the public duties discharged. One-half the profits of all the labor of mankind goes to pay for governing them. Since the Lord drove the Babel builders from the plains of Shinar there has been some improvement in the theory of civil government, and a little in its practical uses. I wish I knew what a theocracy was, to see the civil re- lation between God and Israel from the Exodus to Saul the King. But this is wisely withheld from us. Civil 19 218 DIUTTJRNITY. government seems to be a sort of temporary expedient, or- dained and suffered by the Almighty for the restraints of bad men. This restraint is also for their own good, as well as the general good of others. It is a temporary expedient of the Gospel, a concomitant and instrument of the Divine constitution. Civil and religious liberty are the same. The usually marked difference is verbal, not essential. Political writers usually divide governments into three kinds — monarchial, aristocratic, and republican; but, in fact, all actual governments are mixtures, in various degrees of proportion, of all three. But more properly, perhaps, there are but two kinds. The one is where men, by a common con- sent, govern themselves; and the other where, by adventitious possession of power, they are governed by somebody else. In the former, by suitable but liberal restrictions, the masses, by simple creatureship, are their own electors, and choose their own legislature. The latter is where — no mat- ter how or why — one or more men possess a usurped power, and the masses are their subjects. The question who has the right to govern is well-nigh no question at all, for you could never agree as to what hind of right was meant ; and the question which govern- ment is a good one and which a bad is also merely no question at all, practically, because the worst one here is the best one there. In themselves they possess no moral quality. So far as legal rights are concerned, a popular govern- ment is the only one that is admissible. But there are other questions besides legal rights that must have atten- tion; for if these be permitted to enjoy the right which those are entitled to, the world would soon run into anarchy and confusion. There is a wise principle in nature which •some way places the reins of popular control in the hands of men of the strongest mind. All existing governments originated in usurpation and CONCERNING CIVIL GOVERNMEN. 219 fraud; but it does not, therefore, follow that governments continue to be exercised either fraudulently or improperly. And also most of the rights to property, particularly real property, which exist, originated in fraud; but an attempt to cure it now could benefit no one, but would throw all society into confusion. Civil liberty is a thing greatly 'desired — much sought for, much talked of, but very ill understood. Writers differ greatly as to what civil liberty consists in, in the first place ; and, in the second, there is still greater diversity as to the best means by which it may be secured. One class of writers tell us that civil liberty consists in being governed by law — law regularly promulgated, well- known, and properly adjudicated. Another class tell us it means the exclusive right of the people who pay taxes to tax themselves by their chosen representatives. Again, it is the freedom and purity of the elective franchise. Again, it is the being governed by no laws except those to which we have actually assented. Again, it is the being governed by such laws as we tacitly assent to by voluntarily remain- ing in the country; and, again, it is the proper independ- ence of the judicial over the legislative and executive powers ; and, still again, it is the having a legislature chosen by ourselves — that is, by the male citizens over twenty-one years, with certain other prudential qualifications. ; , Civil government is a science; but so little understood that very few, if any, of its axioms are established. The following conclusions, therefore, would seem to be unavoidable : First. That civil government is one of the great aspects of human life, in the present state of the world, necessary in the last degree to the well-being of mankind, and even the existence of human society. Secondly. So far in the history of the world, the theory of government, as you gather it from the first living states- men, or those who have lived back as far as any one may 220 DIIJTTJRNITT. choose to go, is a medly of contradictions and absurdities. No outline even has ever been framed which was not de- rived in its very philosophy by contemporary statesmen of the highest repute. In the best portions of Europe and America, it would be difficult to find two statesmen, if they chanced to live a few hundred miles apart, to agree about almost any thing in extrinsic detail on the subject, much less to agree upon a civic theory. Thirdly. The actual governments of the world, though an improvement on preceding ones, are a jumble of extremes and confusion. There are no two alike, nor never were. No people, statesmen, nor rulers were ever satisfied with the government of any other people. Every government is highly objectionable in the eyes of all other people, and generally many of its own. No civil theory ever put in practice was generally assented to; nor was it ever gen- erally allowed that any given civil theory was ever put in practice at all and kept so for any considerable length of time. Hence, political contention and strife have always filled the world to overflowing. And hence, fourthly, the present crude, new beginning State of the world. It can not be that this is the civil con- dition intended by the Almighty for such a world as this. This race is naturally capable of doing tenfold — a hundred- fold better than this. And still, in this respect, too, we are improving. We ought to have improved more and faster, but our sinfulness is very great. And quite likely, also, the true theory of civil government is yet undiscovered. CONCERNING DOMESTIC SERVICE. 221 CHAPTEE LXV. CONCERNING DOMESTIC SERVICE — ITS PHILOSOPHY AND COM- PENSATION. There are some social laws of life which have not, so far, ceased to exist in civilized society. Whether they are ab- solutely constitutional with the human race our experience in the world will not enable us to determine. I allude to the laws respecting service — where one person serves another by some tenure regulated by human laws. The general law — a law which human legislation can not repeal — is, that those who serve others in the kind of service here meant receive as compensation a bare support. This support is generally of the coarsest and cheapest kind. Sometimes it rises up to what would be called comfortable. Beyond this all is exception to the general rule. The tenures by which this service is owned and secured are various, and we will advert to most of them. But, first, in order to form a convenient base-line for our thoughts, we will mark down the extremest and most rigorous of these tenures. Mr. Webster defines slave as follows : "A person who is wholly subject to the will of another; one who has no freedom of action, but whose person and services are wholly under the control of another. In the early state of the world, and to this day, among some bar- barous nations, prisoners of war are considered and treated as slaves. The slaves of modern times are more generally purchased, like horses and oxen." — Dictionary, 1851. This language is intended of course to be* very exact, and to express the precise meaning. That such a relation as this still exists among men, in some parts of the world, is 222 DIUTURNITY. not only deplorable, but gives most indubitable evidence of not only a low and very degraded condition of things, but of a very early, beginning state of the world. The principal tenures by which one man ownes the serv- ice or labor of another are the following : First. If I bargain with a man to work for me a day, he is, in that much of his life, my servant. His labor has become my property. In the ordinary transactions of life nothing is more common than for one man to own property in another ; but in this case the man is not "wholly" but only partially under my control. Neither is the labor "purchased, like horses and oxen." In such cases the flesh, blood, and bones, as so much substance, is purchased. It is a chattel. And here it ought to be noted, as we pass along, that laws against unnecessary cruelty to animals are by no means based upon any supposed right in the animal; for he has absolutely no right whatever, no more than a hammer or a piece of wood. The cruelty is prohibited because it out- rages public and private decency, decorum, and good morals. Blasphemy is unlawful, but not because it injures Grod — it injures society and creates a nuisance. Secondly. A father possesses a right of property in the labor of his children. If you deprive him of it you are liable in damages. And here, also, the child is not " wholly '■* under the control of the owner of the labor. And he may sell it, but not as he would sell a horse or an ox. Thirdly. Another tenure by which one man owns property in another is called apprenticeship. Here the parent or guardian sells the services of his son or ward for a term of years ; and, as in the other cases, the property thus owned is the services only, and which gives the master only par- tial but not entire control over the person and services of the apprentice, for the latter has legal rights not possessed by nor under tire control of the former. Fourth. Another tenure by which similar property is owned is by contract between the government and the pur- CONCERNING DOMESTIC SERVICE. 223 chaser, without the consent of the person whose labor is thus alienated. This is in cases of general idleness, thrift- lessness, and indisposition to work for the support of one's self and family. This is commonly called vagrancy. But, as in the former cases, the control is not absolute — the sale is not the substance of the man, and so it is not slavery. Fifth. And again: the punishment of some crimes, or a part of it, is the confiscation of the labor of the criminal for a term of years, by which it becomes the property of the state, and is frequently sold by the state to third par- ties. Neither is this slavery, for the reasons above stated. The labor and not the flesh is the chattel property. And, sixthly, another tenure by which the labor of one man has been owned by another, and which, strictly speak- ing, falls short of slavery, is the case of African negroes in the United States. So much dispute and contention — I will not say argument — has been had in this country and in Europe over this subject, that I must beg the reader's indulgence in a few observations. Notice again the description of a slave. It is remarkable, indeed, that no part of that description applies to the par- ticular property now before us. It is not only different, but different in every respect and at every point. It is true that this tenure is called by the name of slavery, but that appel- lation, when applied to this species of property, is used strictly as a provincialism, and by no means according to its correct philology. In the South the word denotes the actual tenure by which the labor of the black man was owned, while in the North it denotes the absolute owner- ship of the " person and services" of the negro. Such an ownership of property was never recognized by law in any State of the United States, nor probably by the British Colonies. Many years ago, when New York, Boston, and Havana were the great slave markets of America, the negro was well-nigh a slave. But long since the laws of the Colonies, and more particularly those of the States, have 224 DITTTURNITT. so modified Ms condition that lie has ceased to be a' slave, though no great change at any one time in these laws was sufficiently radical to cause a change in the popular name. The civil and political personality of the negro has always been recognized if not protected by law in all the States of the United States where such property has been recognized. He was not "wholly subject to the will of another." But this proves nothing whatever with regard to the social con- dition of individual negroes. How much rigor or cruelty they suffered or comforts they may have enjoyed, here or there, are quite different questions. The relation was a kind of civil government. But it is no more slavery than apprenticeship is slavery, though it might have far more rigor or cruelty attached to it. Some think that because a provision in the laws of South Caro- lina, for instance, denominates slave property a chattel, that, therefore, the substance or person of the negro is a chattel. The same argument would prove that in Louisiana, where the same property is declared to be real, that in that State he is stuck fast in the ground like a tree or a post. Neither is true, because neither refers to the flesh of the negro. They both refer to the property owned by the master, which is the labor, and declares that in the one case it shall be owned and transferred as chattel, and in the other as real property. Whether the difference, moral, physical, and social, be- tween the Saxon and African races ever furnished a suf- ficient reason for this kind of rare arbitrary government, where it has existed, is another question which I do not propose to discuss. I am endeavoring only to set a few ideas on their right legs, and leave statesmen and philanthropists to do the rest. Human suffering, privation, or oppression does not consist in the names of the civil regulations which give occasion for either. Whether the condition of this class of persons was properly named slavery is a question of no practical im- CONCERNING DOMESTIC SERVICE. 225 portance. Some people go to the Scriptures to settle ques- tions of this sort. But they go where no information is to be had beyond the general precepts that we are to deal justly, love mercy, and not oppress the poor. Beyond these general rules there is certainly nothing in the Scrip- tures respecting the legal and social laws or relations of any body in this country. In the revised edition of Webster, for 1864, the defini- tion is very much changed, so far as verbiage is concerned. Thus slave is defined : "A person who is held in bondage to another." This definition depends entirely on the mean- ing given to the word bondage. It dilutes the meaning very much, and might make it apply to an apprentice, or va- grant, or convict, though all three of these tenures are certainly very different. But it is not etymology that the oppressed feel; it is the pinchings of hunger, the chill of nakedness, the pain of overworking, and the loss of freedom. In the seventh place, most of the menial drudgery of life is hired, as the term is generally used. The low and dis- agreeable offices of life belong to the low and the ignorant by law — a law far more potent than any ever written on paper and signed by civil officers. This labor belongs to a particular class, and the members of that class belong to it. Labor is honorable, but servile drudgery in sewers and low disagreeable offices, in mines, factories, etc., where millions of our fellow-men and women serve a wretched service at the beck and will of another, is neither honorable nor agree- able to intelligence and good breeding. Some writers tell us that this service is voluntary, in contradistinction to some other kinds which they term involuntary. But in so doing they tell us that which every body knows to be untrue. It is the lowest, most burdensome, and offensive service, gen- erally under a hard master, and the alternative is danger of immediate suffering, even to starvation and ruin. The actual law, in many millions of cases, is, that the subject ehall labor there under that master, and for a bare subsist- 226 DIUTUENITY. ence, or suffer death by starvation or freezing, or both, or other physical punishment little short of it. To call that voluntary might not be' offensive, perhaps, to a very hypercritical logic, but it is to common sense. So it might be said a man is hung voluntarily because he had the opportunity to shoot himself and did not do so. In many millions of instances, in civilized Europe and America, and in the wealthiest portions, too, there is nothing vol- untary about it. Whatever technical terms may be used by writers, it is the direst compulsion. But still, though frequently more slavish and attended by more suffering, especially with the young, the decrepit, and inferior, than most of the cases herein before examined, it does not amount to slavery. Eighth. Another tenure of service where personal labor is alienated, and man owns property in man, is in naval and military life. A large portion of such naval and military life as the world has actually furnished us with in these passing ages, is the most servile, abject, and really slavish of any of the tenures we have heretofore looked at. And it is oftentimes attended with more suffering from hard- ships, cold, hunger, and terrible distresses from inattention' in wounds and sickness than the world witnesses elsewhere. In this country and in some portions of Europe we see only the sunny side of this question. And yet here it presents a sad picture of human life for the most part. If I had room here to expose to view a little of the inside of this question, to take it to pieces and look at it segment by segment for a little time, it would present a scene of grand and petty tyranny, overbearing oppression, want, suffering, and degradation approaching near enough to slavery to satisfy the most grinding and oppressive. Ninth. Next in the general order in which we are endeav- oring to pursue these several tenures of service by which one man owns property in another, we come to notice what in Europe is called a serf or vassal, and in the East Indies CONCERNING DOMESTIC SERVICE. 227 and other places a cooly; and in France and French coun- tries they are, of late years, called peons. These terms mean nearly the same thing. Of these persons there are great numbers in many parts of the world. In English, Spanish, and French countries they are generally very nearly slaves. Sometimes they are bought and sold with the land they cultivate; sometimes they are nominally or really owned by governments, but more practically by government officers. Generally they are very nearly slaves. Their hire is nom- inally by the year, but really for life or while they are able to work; and the pay is uniformly such a subsistence as the master chooses to give. And, in the tenth and last place, we have slaves. The prop- erty in them does not attach to the labor, but to the body. They are "wholly under the control of another;" they are "wholly subject to the will of another;" and hence he is "bought and sold, like horses and oxen." Not the services, but the flesh of the man is the chattel property. But, after all, it is not legal tenures which divide pre- cisely between these and those degrees of rigor and slavish- ness in servitude. It is not in etymology that the grinding heel of oppression is felt; nor is it in the words service, hire, serf, or slave exclusively. It is in the penurious ex- action, the overbearing injustice, the deafness of the ear to mercy's cry, in the disposition to grind the last kernel of gain out of the laboring limbs of the servant. Still, these are the relations of life, and these are the services demanded and yielded among men. And can it be believed that these inequalities, this wide-spread injustice and social advantage of man over his fellow-man, was planned and arranged for by our infinitely wise and benevolent God? Can this be the mature state of human society? Is this the adult condition of things? This would be an impeach- ment of the divine perfections. There can never be a state of equality among men. This is forbidden absolutely by the constitution of man. Nor is 228 DIUTURNITY. this necessary in order to such a state *of social enjoyment as must have entered into the Divine contemplations re- specting our race. The man of a lower order of mind, who performs the menial service for another, ought to be as free from the slavishness which now almost every-where attaches to it, as the master of a higher order, who compensates and protects him in it. CHAPTER LXVI. CONCERNING WAR AND TO WHAT COMPARATIVE PERIOD IN HUMAN PROGRESS IT NATURALLY BELONGS. Those who live in an earlier age of the world can have but very poor means of judging as to what would be looked for or be tolerable jn a later and more improved age. To stand off and look at war — men slaying each other by thousands — a sane man would say that that was wrong. And yet to fix the wrong specifically might not be so per- fectly easy. Some parts of the world are said to be civilized. Poorly and partially civilized, would be the reply of the philan- thropist and the philosopher. War is the higest evidence of barbarism that can be conceived of. It is the office of civilization to do the greatest amount of good to all. War, in its very nature and business, seeks to do the most possi- ble harm to all. "Civilized warfare" is a contradiction in terms. Suppose we had not previously heard of war, and for the first time were to see the preparations for wholesale de- struction of life and property. We would pronounce such nations savages and outlaws. Their attainments in science, and the wearing of broadcloth would not relieve them. CONCERNING WAR. 229 And were we actually to see the strife, we would conclude that the flood-gates of wild iniquity had been opened, and that an army of devils had been let loose upon the world. The idea that a war may possibly do some good is a clear philosophical error. It may do harm to others, but it can possibly do no good to any one. War has ruined every nation that was ever ruined; and, directly or indirectly, has caused nine-tenths of the evil the world ever witnessed. By it the grave has been bountifully supplied, and the sluices of iniquity have been flooded to overflowing. Am- bitious men have rushed into its arena, chafing for ascend- ency and place, intoxicated with hope and dreaming wildly of fame. Some met death and the revealments of eternity and the loss of every thing valuable, and some were held to be fortunate in meeting a feeble, sickly, wilted thing, a sort of nondescript, less substantial than Jonah's gourd, called glory, or at least they think they have almost attained it; but not one man of them all has met the desires of his ambition or had his thirst in any degree satisfied. Such is war always in its direct results. And yet the world has not been free from war since man went to war with his God, save a very brief period after the creation and another after the flood, when national war was imprac- ticable. And is this the normal state of the world? Is this the moral elevation it is destined to attain? Is this the stretch of its natural capacity? The Scriptures state its character to be far, very far different. This high authority tells us that, though its present appearance is gloomy indeed, war shall infest this world only for a season. Its implements of blood and death shall be changed into implements of hus- bandry and usefulness. And indeed there are indications that the career of war is short, that it is destined to infest this world not much longer; but its end will come about from natural causes already in being. There are indications already visible of a 230 DIUTURNITY. disposition among the most enlightened nations to resort to other modes of settling national disputes. And the arts and sciences are so rapidly advancing, that it is probable the day is not distant when war will promise utter destruction. And religion is having its influence, too. War can not continue. It must cease soon. It has not. one moral, social, legal, or prudential consideration to support it. It rests upon nothing, absolutely nothing, but bad morals, bad feel- ings,- and bad policy, and can therefore by possibility be sus- tained only in a rough, crude, immature, and merely begin- ning state of the world. CONCERNING NATURAL THEOLOGY. Natural theology is that branch of natural science which discovers some of the attributes and characteristics of the Creator, by examining the evidences of design in the works of creation. It may be very properly said that God has made two separate and distinct revelations of. himself to mankind. The first was made in the exhibition of the world itself, and in what I have herein denominated its furniture. This revelation ought to have been sufficient, and would have been if man had been true to his trust. But, alas ! he was not; and then, to save him from ruin, a further revela- tion from heaven became necessary. This last revelation was made in the form of language, and is merely additional to the first. The one is called natural and the other re- vealed religion. It is our duty to study both these revela- tions, and to read in both the wisdom and wonderful con- trivance of Jehovah respecting ourselves and the great and glorious world around us. CONCERNING NATURAL THEOLOGY. 231 In noticing a few points on this extensive and very in- teresting subject, we will first mention the provision made for the preservation of both the globe and the furniture thereof, notwithstanding the existence of so many conflict- ing forces, any one of which, if the system were differently arranged, would probably or certainly, in the course of ages, derange its relations, and throw the whole into confusion. To these immensely extensive contrivances I have not room even to allude in outline; but will merely suggest at- tention to the relation of the earth to the planetary system, of which it forms a part. Here, if the student will pau^e, he will see a most grand and extensive contrivance in all the astronomical laws, every part and operation of which looks to preservation, far, far beyond the reach of human imagination. In this particular field of contrivance the wisdom of God evidently reaches forward into the immensity of duration. But for this wonderful contrivance we should soon have, in the language of Mr. Whewell, "years of unequal length and seasons of capricious temperature ; planets and moons of portentous size and aspect, glaring and disappearing at uncertain intervals; tides, like deluges, sweeping over whole continents, and, perhaps, the collision of two planets, and the consequent destruction of all organisation in both of them." But, instead of such casualties of a thousand kinds, we see every thing provided for by the most perfect and ex- tensive forecast. Every thing is in harmony. Nothing con- flicts, nothing acts injuriously upon any thing else, nothing grows old, so far as we can see, nothing wears out. Bodies may be changed as to place and form, but nothing is de- stroyed, nothing wasted. The abrasions and wearing of apparent waste are provided against by growth and repro- duction. And not only is the earth, with its furniture of immense coal-fields, ores, oils, etc., preserved from loss, but other laws 232 DIUTURNITY. and other cooperating and counter-working agencies prevent them from being sunk far beneath the depths of the ocean, so that they are kept on or near the surface, within our reach and ready for use. Another lesson in this great science is learned in the immense variety seen in animal life. If all animals were alike, or nearly so, it would argue lesser limits to the scope of the Divine contrivance ; but as it is, every part of nature, large and small, is made to support animal life, so that con- sumption consumes nothing really, but, in one way or an- other, every thing is replaced where it was before. The entire system of nature looks to improvement. Every thing is co-working with every thing, not only to keep every thing in as good a condition as it is, but every thing looks forward, through all its laws, relations, and ap- pliances to indefinite improvement. And if we descend into the regions of geology, and read the unmistakable records of the past, we will find that all the changes that have taken place have been changes of im- provement. However gradual these changes may have been, they were preparations for a better condition of things, look- ing steadily to a further and further development of the great original plan of Almighty goodness and mercy. And it is still improving. We frequently hear of the world being so changed, by some sudden transformation, as to adapt it to the residence of sinless beings. This is a favorite idea with millennarian writers. Even Professor Hitchcock has fallen into this common blunder — a blunder which looks to me to be both unphilosophical and unintelligible. How could this world be better adapted to sinless beings than it now is? Who can imagine a constitutional change for the better? In what would such change or changes con- sist? If we are inquiring about beings of a different con- stitution from ourselves, then the inquiry is both fruitless and meaningless, so far as our perceptions or reasoning CONCERNING NATURAL THEOLOGY. 233 powers are concerned. "We can neither inquire nor answer intelligibly, nor reason on the subject at all ; for we can have no idea of any other or different kind of existence than the sentient and intelligent existence we now sustain. We have the constitution we were originally created with, and we can reason only aboiit that constitution and a resi- dence adapted to its functions and uses. It can not be questioned that a race might be sinless with the constitu- tion we now have; and if this constitution is to continue, then a world different from this would be a disadvantage if not a ruin. Are any of our senses incompatible with sinlessness? Are any of our senses or faculties, functions or organs, adapted to sinning? Are any of the laws, or any part of the con- stitution of nature around us, unadapted to a state of sin- lessness ? If so, then nature is particeps criminis in the sins of men. No, it is not so. The world around us is a system of true natural theology, and it is in perfect harmony with the system of revealed theology we call Christianity. All that is necessary to a state of sinlessness, is that no one commit any sin. And still we may live here in this world with its present constitution and present adaptiveness. If the race were sinless, I can conceive of no better nor no other world for his use than this world as it is. Man would still want to eat, drink, sleep, live in houses, and walk and talk, and learn and associate with his fellows as he now does. And if you were to deprive the earth of one of its properties, or the water, the air ; the gases, or light, heat, or the changing seasons, the earth would then be lessened greatly, if not ruined for his use. So that when men talk about this world undergoing some mighty changes by fire or water, or something else, in order that it might be "adapted to the residence of sinless beings," they talk about that of which no man can reason nor form an idea. 234 DIUTURNITT. CHAPTER LXV1II. CONCERNING THE MORALS OF CITIES AS TYPES OR MODELS OF THE WORLD. Civilization, refinement, and social excellence is uni- formly looked for in the cities. Cities govern and give tone to the surrounding towns and country; indeed, they govern the world. They lead in almost every thing. They are the seats of power — all kinds of power. If you wish to find kings, princes, emperors, governors, presidents, or senators you look to the cities. They are the seats of let- ters and universities, of law and legislation, of commerce and money, of science and literature. They are the front rank portions of life in respect to almost every thing. London is England; Paris is France; New York and New Orleans are America; and so of other countries. They are the representatives. And so, the Lord have mercy on the world! for these representatives of science, industry, and progress are the very sinks and hot-beds of crime and immorality of all kinds. We do not see that Sodom and its devoted confederates of the ancient plain were any more wicked in their day than are now some of the largest and best cities of the best parts of the world. But for our familiarity with these things, we should be startled with amazement at the enormity of criminality around us. For more than thirty years past I have been pretty familiar with the commerce of New York and New Orleans; and in its leading branches of trade I know the latter to be a system of fraud and overreaching, not only in its pri- vate and social, but in its public and semi-legal aspects. Fraud by custom has acquired the force of law. Public CONCERNING THE MORALS OF CITIES. 235 sentiment sanctions it, and it is all right ; but, according to the common rules of morality, it is all wrong. I am famil- iar with these things and am careful what I write. Some respectable and truly worthy people reside in New Orleans, but more than nine-tenths of the city is a sink of corruption and abomination of almost every kind. In New York the business known by the general name of "stock-jobbing" is one of the very t largest branches of commerce of the world ; and if its corruptions could be fairly brought out and exposed to view, it would give a very dark picture of deception, overreaching, and fraud. Dishonesty is so very common that it is scarcely thought of. The persons engaged in the trade are a large class of the most wealthy and respectable people of the city. But the sluices of immorality run in the large channels of licentiousness and prostitution. It would require all the synonyms to express the true idea, and then it would be but faintly done. In this branch of infamy New York is excessively infamous. But the most deplorable state of morals to be found in this country, or perhaps in Europe, is in Washington City. Here the channels of crime run chiefly in official delinquency and licentiousness. Its "highly respectable" thieves and prostitutes are enormous. Licentiousness of the most aban- doned and shameless character, in official circles, is u.sed as a sort of political currency, almost openly, with which votes in the Houses of Congress, and patronage of the Government have been bought and sold so regularly and largely that it forms a leading branch in the barter and trade of the city. And these things are well known to those who visit Washington with their eyes open. A Congressional wag, with equal wit, aptness, and truth, in speaking of the morals of Washington, remarked that the stench arising from the putrid mass was so great that the man in the moon had to hold his nose as he sailed in his nightly voyage over that political Hinnom. 236 DIUTURNITY. Paris is the boasted leader of Europe and America in licentiousness, and London is the acknowledged champion in many branches of lower and lesser criminality. And these are the outposts of the world, the front rank in im- provement and perfectibility! The Lord have mercy on us ! The world is not mature. It has not yet learned the rudiments of common behavior. It is scarcely weaned from the cradle, much less has it walked forth in the high con- sciousness of manhood. CHAPTER LXIX. CONCERNING THE DARK AGES, AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER PERIODS, PARTICULARLY THE FUTURE. So far the world has progressed in all the habitudes of morals and civilization with much singularity. Of the ante- diluvian world we know but little. It must have had a history, such as it was; but it had no literature to convey it to our times. And this comprised one-third part of the chronology of mankind, and perhaps much more. It would seem strange, indeed, to suppose that the world should wind up its affairs and pass away with so large a portion of its history hid in obscurity; but the wonder of such a supposi- tion is greatly increased when we take into view that other dark and hidden period, commonly called the dark ages. And then there are other periods of lesser note, of a similar character, which sum up an aggregate of much more than half the world, in which its doings and relation to other periods is almost wholly shut out from the observa- tion of science, religion, and human progress. The dark ages continued more than a thousand years — more than half the entire post-messianic period. CONCERNING THE DARK AGES. 237 The Western Empire fell to rise no more in the year of Christ 476, before the power of the northern barbarians, as they were called. And from this event, more than any other, is commonly reckoned the beginning of the dark ages. The human intellect and state of society generally had, however, been for some considerable time remarkably retrograde ; and this northern conquest was only one of the agencies which increased the general gloom. And civil and social darkness thickened, and moral, re- ligious, literary and scientific clouds rested upon the horizon, and rose until the whole sky became overcast, and night, almost solidly, rested upon the world for more than one- sixth part of its entire existence, from the creation of Adam to the present hour. The history of this long period, so far as we know any thing about it, is almost a continued series of catalogues of battles, intrigues, victories, strife, and assassinations among contending sovereigns ; and which is ever and anon inter- mingled with the basest and most perfidious transactions — with murders, treacheries, homicides of all kinds, and all manner of crimes. These scenes were common among all the nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa; and the first dig- nitaries of the land, in and out of what was called Church, male and female, young and old, participated in them. "In the revolution of ten centuries," says Gribbon, "not a single discovery was made to exalt the dignity or promote the happiness of mankind. Not a single idea has been added to the speculative systems of antiquity. Not a single composition of history, or philosophy, or literature has been saved from oblivion by the intrinsic beauties of style or sentiment, of original fancy or even successful imitation." The depression of the human mind during this long, long period was as wonderful as deplorable. From the fall of the Western Empire to the revival of letters in the six- teenth century, the whole world presented a most sad scene of ignorance, barbarism, cruelty, and misrule. Many writ- 238 DIUTtTENITY. ings of antiquity which existed in the twelfth century are forever lost to the world. The literature of the Greeks had been almost all gathered together at Constantinople, and in the several great conflagrations nearly the whole of every library was reduced to ashes. The only national exception to the most deep and be- nighted darkness and superstitution of the middle portions of the dark ages, if indeed that could be called an excep- tion, was found in the Arabians. They then held a small portion of Europe, and this was by far the most enlightened part of it. Charlemagne and Alfred, two of the greatest and most powerful monarchs of those times, made great efforts in behalf of learning and the arts, but they were almost unavailing, and operated as mere tapers, making the darkness more visible. Christianity is more deeply interested in the upbuilding of knowledge and literature than any other human interest; but the spurious Christianity of those years of gloom was openly and most powerfully hostile to both,, and labored for the destruction of some of the noblest productions of the human mind which then existed. Temples of the heathens — - as they were probably very properly called — with the public libraries they contained, were every-where the objects of ecclesiastical vengeance and destruction. The best classics were "sinful books," and must be destroyed. And so while the libraries of Rome and Milan were put to the flames by " Christians," those of Constantinople shared a similar fate at the equally pious hands of the followers of Mahomet. Indeed, the Church, as it is generally called in history, in those ages, was for the most part any thing but a church. It was a sort of mongrel branch of the despotic power of the land, where superstition, corruption, and crime were in- vested with a kind of mystical and fanatical influence, by which custom, in those ages of ignorance, enabled shrewd and corrupt men to carry on their nefarious schemes of am- bition and aggrandizement. CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 239 If you view the world in an extensively diuturnal sense, this little period of only about one thousand years is easily reconciled with reason and nature. It was but a speck. Chronologically, it was almost nothing, and is but an in- stance of slight unevenness in the progress of things. But upon the narrow supposition that the world's entire history is to be cramped to the limit of six or seven thousand years, it is unreasonable, unnatural, and derogatory to the Di- vine wisdom and forecast. CHAPTER LXX CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY — OF WHAT IS IT A HISTORY? Names do not change the character of things ; for by far the most part since the time of Christ, and especially from about the fifth to the sixteenth centuries, the "Church," as it is generally spoken of in history, was, in truth, no more of a Church than any political oligarchy that might assume the name; and the propriety may be very seriously doubted of using the honored name of "Church" in con- nection with the history of the organized successions of war, crime, and political irregularity which have existed contin- uously, in various parts of Europe and the East, during the greater portion of the time since the Christian era. It looks strange and inconsistent for a history, bearing the name of ecclesiastical, to stretch along over hundreds and hundreds of years, giving accounts of varied and almost unbroken social and political criminality, and with almost nothing in it corresponding to the character of a Church. For a period of almost one thousand two hundred years, you may open one of these histories almost at random, and 240 DIUTURNITY. you will read almost nothing about a Church, nothing about Christianity, nothing about religious operations, but about political treachery, fraud, wars, and disorders. Here is a pretty fair sample: "The absurd and ground- less superstitions which deformed the practice of the Church were rather increased than reformed during this century* The progress of reason and truth was retarded among the Greeks and Orientals by their absurd admiration of what- ever bore the stamp of antiquity, by the indolence of their bishops, the stupidity of their clergy, and the calamities of the times." It might, it would seem, be not inaptly suggested whether Church is the proper word to use in connection with such history. We read of the basest treachery among "bishops," the grossest infidelity among "clergy;" of wars and con- quests and civil tyranny, routs, defeats, and victories ; of thefts and robberies, of murders and assassinations by wholesale and retail. We read chapter after chapter and century after century of such history as this, with indeed almost nothing relating properly to the affairs of a Church. We read of "the arch-pirate Rolla," whose robberies^ and devastations would disgrace ordinary pirates, that " he with his whole army embraced the Christian faith;" but whether he or his army embraced the religious faith may, I should think, be very reasonably doubted. We read the wildest and most romantic stories of "luxury and ignorance" among the popes and bishops; of one pope whose reign "was re- markable only for ambition and licentiousness;" of another who "was a scandalous example of iniquity and licentious- ness;" of another whose "adulterous commerce with that infamous woman" was not at all remarkable; and of another whose life " was as unhappy as his promotion had been scandalous." And again, " licentiousness and disorder, sedi- tions and assassinations, renewed their former sway, and diffused their horrors through that miserable city!" These quotations are made without scarcely turning a leaf CONCERNING ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 241 over for a selection. A volume of such quotations could be easily made. And this, we are told, is Church history. I think it is not. It is a history of petty wars, confusion, mur- ders, incest, bloodshed, theft, treachery, debauchery, cruelty, and other crimes. It relates to lying, to cheating, to in- justice, and to all sorts of abominations. It is not Church history, but a history of " adultery, fornication, uncleanness, laciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emula- tions, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like," which, we are told, is a very different thing from church operations. Indeed, it is more properly a history of hell than of the Church. And, indeed, it is by some considered an oversight in such men as Mosheim, Milman, Gregory, Ruter, and others, to put such painfully and scandalously true histories into the hands of the young, with the strange and startling title of " Church History' 1 If there is no written history of the Church in any given period, why not say so? And when men write a history of hypocrisies and abominations, per- petrated under the falsely assumed name of Christianity and Church, why not distinguish it by an appropriate title? The Church existed, however, all through the dark ages, but its history will never be written. But for many cen- turies the Church was not seen in those civil cabals, juntos, and factions of which we read, but in the more obscure and out-of-the-way places. It is a misnomer to call a military bandit and bravo a bishop, or to denominate his crimes Church action. Offices which are " sold without shame to the highest bidder," are not offices in the Church of Christ. These histories show that the ignorant and illiterate as- sociations which assumed the name of Church had as little of the character of a Church about them as could be con- ceived. They were mere political governments and fre- quently of the most debased and infamous character. Con- cubinage and simony were the order of the day. A den of thieves is not a Church. Christianity was the perverted 21 242 DIUTURNITT. name of a great political party whicn stood for hundreds of years opposed to the followers of Mahomet. But the latter was far more church-like than the former. The Church, all this while, was in a different place and among other people. And this view might well be extended into our ordinary histories. Look at the past transactions of mankind, as written down in history. With a few rare exceptions here and there, the history of the world is a catalogue of crimi- nality. There have been more wars in the world than any thing else; more acts of injustice and wrong than of kind- ness and fair dealing. And is this all this system is designed for? Is this present a system of crime and cruelty, and only another to come out of this, in some mysterious way, to present some reasonable traits of character worthy of its being created? Is this system of nature an acknowledged failure? Is Jesus Christ inadequate to the task of com- pletely rectifying the moral difficulties the world has en- countered ? Now, if you attach the sublime and God-like idea of diuturnity to the cosmological system, all these things are easily reconciled. They are, on the comparative scale in which we view them, mere trivial irregularities — not in them- selves any less in their wrongs and abominations, but rela- tively of little or no more importance because they continued a thousand years than similar things, in our estimation lesser, because they spread over the space of a year or a month. The progress of the world is not absolutely smooth, but is marked with little instances of roughness and irregu- larity, and the things here adverted to are but some of these instances. CONCERNING MENTAL PROGRESS. 243 CHAPTER LXXI. CONCERNING MENTAL PROGRESS — AN INQUIRY INTO THE AB- SOLUTE POWERS OF THE MENTAL CONSTITUTION. The natural capacity of the human mind is quite un- known. A brief experience has taught us a little ; but that any one man, much less men generally or uniformly, has gone out the full natural length of his intellectual chain, is a mere hasty conjecture, utterly unsupported by philo- sophic truth. The memory has much more to do with mental phenomena generally than many suppose. It not only records and pre- serves the impressions originally conveyed to the mind by perception, but it combines and prepares for use that power which mental philosophers call the association of ideas. Perception is performed instantaneously, and but for the memory these impressions would be gone as fast as they come; and so there could be no retention and use of the thoughts by combining several of them. From this store- house the moralist draws his arguments and his illustra- tions, the orator his examples, the logician his reasoning, the poet his imagination, and the philosopher his materials for the accuracy of his inferences, as well as his substantive truths and facts. Mental philosophers are not agreed as to what constitutes genius. The most common views are probably erroneous. We are told that it is a kind of inspiration or preternatural gift bestowed primarily and directly upon a few. And the other extreme is, that nature is equally and alike bountiful to all ; that all are born on an equality. The truth lies probably between these extremes. Every man has a degree of the 244 DIUTURNXTY. elements of genius, but greatly varied according to his an- cestral endowments. And it depends upon the acuteness of the perception and the power of the memory whether they will or will not become eminent in genius. Any point of mental attainment, in any department of thought, tchich has ever been reached by any one the most rarely gifted, is evidence not only of particular genius in that individual, but that the race, as such, is by nature endowed to at least that extent. Natural endowments are not special and individual, but belong to the human constitution. They are conferred primarily upon the race. The development of these endowments, their being brought to the surface from their latent condition, in particular instances, de- pends upon a favorable confluence of many thousand cir- cumstances. These circumstances are found, some of them, in the life of the individual person; but by far the most of them in the ancestral line of his procreation, reaching back indefinitely. We have a common origin and a com- mon constitution ; and if one man has more of what we call talents for painting, for music, letters, mathematics, logic, etc., than another, it is the confluent result of many cir- cumstances favorable to such a development in his ancestry, and somewhat in his personal history. Creation is predicable rather of the race than of each in- dividual person separately considered. The only reason why all men of the same age are not at the same point in mental advancement is, because, first, ed- ucation in the person and in the ancestral line upward has, on the whole, been more favorable in one case than an- other; and, secondly, the physiological laws of descent and inheritance, of which we know but very little, have given to this, that, and the other child along the line more than an equal share of the mental property of particular kinds. One had more of this while another had more of that. But, certainly, any mental point which has ever been reached by any one person, is naturally attainable by all CONCERNING MENTAL PROGRESS. 245 others; and if it be not actually reached, as is the case with nearly all of us, it is because of the lack, incidentally, of circumstances sufficiently favorable for the development. I have a valued friend, the Rev. Mr. Byrd, an old travel- ing preacher, who has been riding circuits about forty years. He is noted for very unusual aptness in finding the roads, almost every-where, in newly-settled regions. He knows all the little roads and foot-paths, where they cross, intersect, and lead, and is seldom mistaken. And Mr. Byrd is almost entirely blind. We often hear it said that the loss of one sense gives greater force and vigor to the others. This is a mistake. The loss of a sense or faculty can give nothing. The ab- sence of one spurs the looser on to a better cultivation of the others; but the power was there all the while, culti- vated or uncultivated. Blind persons often attain to a most wonderful dexterity in the use of the fingers in delicate and curiously-wrought handiwork. But this is nothing but the development of a faculty common to all. It might natur- ally, though it could not actually, be brought into use in every case. I was once riding a few miles with a blind man, driving his two-horse Jersey wagon. We had stopped at a house and the horses had been unharnessed. As we entered the wagon, and before the horses had made more than one or two steps, he said to me, "Stop, stop; just step out, if you please, and buckle Bob's breast-strap a little shorter; the boys have buckled it too long." I did so, and he explained that Bob would not hold back well with his breast-strap quite so long. I wanted to know how he made the dis- covery, and particularly how he discovered it so soon. He could hear the ring working at the end of the tongue, and the angle or line from his ear showed him that it was an inch or two lower than it should be! Now, I hold that his ear was not naturally endowed be- yond my own or that of other men; but its cultivation was 246 DITTTURNITY. far superior. The surprising dexterity of some blind per- sons in curiously-wrought mechanism is nothing more than the favorable use or training of the muscles. The differ- ence between a skillful musician and one who can not play at all is perhaps owing to three things : first, the tendency to musicial harmony along the ancestral line upward be- come full and cropped out at this point; second, the har- mony of sounds was better cultivated; and, thirdly, the nerves of the hand, and, in wind instruments, of the mouth, were better cultivated. The intelligent reader is well aware that I could easily mention many instances of most wonderful development of some particular mental or mechanical power, such as music, mathematics, language, recollection, etc., which very far surpass ordinary human power. Some persons by reading a book can repeat it all from memory, and even repeat the words backward. I knew a man in Missouri whose general mental imbecility was very prominent, and yet his knowl- edge of the Scripture text was very far superior to that of any other man I ever knew; and also his ability to class, cluster, and combine these texts, as to Scripture doctrines, was wonderfully superior. Some of the best practical math- ematicians were. persons utterly illiterate and decidedly ig- norant. And the same may be said of music. And so we have had prodegies in sculpture, painting, mechanism, etc. But there was no special, personal, natural endowment in these cases. By this I mean that the constitution of man was, once for all, bestowed upon the race. But the particular individual inheritance of this common property depends upon thousands of incidental circumstances. Those rivulets which make up the natural estate run and drift in currents, here and there, seminally, in thousands of chan- nels of procreation. Oftentimes they are latent for long seasons, and then crop out here and there. Sometimes these instances of cropping out have a wonderful confluence of valuable currents. And this we call genius. CONCERNING MENTAL PROGRESS. 247 But this inheritance from nature is not like so much property to be divided out among so many heirs, where the more is received by these the less there is left for those. It is not the property itself that is bestowed, but the means of getting rich. So that all, all, under sufficiently favorable circumstances, may get rich. And if rash, hasty, and in- considerate men will but let the world remain, give it a fair chance, and not hum it up, these early disadvantages will be overcome, one after another, and all will he rich; that is, rich in such property as this world possesses. This was and is the Divine plan. Moral and mental wealth will in- crease most wonderfully. No prodigy has ever reached a point in human progress or perfectability heyond the common powers bestowed upon the race; and whether any one has ever reached this ulti- mate line, or how far he has fallen short of it, are questions which experience alone can answer. The constitution pro- vides for and points forward to indefinite progress. Even now some have reached points considerably beyond those reached by our ancestors a few thousand years ago. Mental progress is the order of nature. And this mental power, though not ruined, is greatly m- jured by sin. And hence how slow and difficult its de- velopment! How the various departments — every one of them — lie latent, like gold and marble in the quarry, until brought out by accident or by labor and effort ! But these difficulties will disappear gradually, by little and little, with the cause which produced them. 248 DITTTURNITT. CHAPTER LXXII. CONCERNING ANIMAL MAGNETISM — WHAT IS IT? In 1772 a professor of astronomy in Vienna, by the name of Maximilian Hell, conceived the idea of curing diseases by means of magnetism, and he communicated his views to a physician whose name was Frederic Anthony Mesmer. Dr. Mesmer caught the idea greedily, and cured, or thought he cured, several persons by this means, and he soon secured considerable attention. Hell claimed to be the inventor, and they disputed about it, Mesmer profiting by his perfidy. In 1778 Mesmer went to Paris, where he soon became some- what famous. In 1780 he published some books on the subject. He also brought the matter to the attention of the G-overnment, but being disappointed in securing patron- age in this way, he procured a select class of pupils, among whom were some of the first physicians of the nation, and his tuition fees soon yielded him a large fortune. In 1784 the French Government ordered an examination to be made into Mesmer's theory ; but Mesmer refused to appear before the commission. But one of his pupils ex- perimented before them. The report was unfavorable, and Mesmer and his theory became unpopular. Another French physician, by the name of Puyseger, having discovered what is called clairvoyance, which is deemed more properly ani- mal magnetism, the subject was brought more favorably to public notice by the popular and elegant work of Deluze, in 1813, called "A Critical History of Animal Magnetism." And several other works favoring the subject soon followed, by some of the first men in France and Germany. In 1825 its friends procured another official medical commission from CONCERNING ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 249 the French Government on the subject. Their report was not made until 1831. The commission consisted of nine of the first men of science in France. This report was unanimously favorable, going lengthily into detail, and it produced a decided sensation among the learned throughout all Europe; and soon 'after this the subject began to be noticed in this country. In 1833 the French report was published in the United States, by J. C. Colquhoun, and soon after several other publications, by other authors, made their appearance ; and by lectures, magazines, and otherwise, the subject became popular in this country. In 1840 the celebrated works of the learned Reichenbac made their appearance; and they were soon followed by many others in both Europe and America. These publications were numerous, and embodied some of the first authorship of any age or country. And while many of these authors disagree in many details, they all substantially agree in affirming a deep and newly dis- covered property or principle in animal life, by which a powerful and most wonderful influence is or may be exerted by means hitherto unknown to science, and about which but slight discoveries are as yet made. Notwithstanding this, the medical profession generally re- pudiate the entire discoveries as no real discoveries, and treat the whole thing as unworthy of serious notice. The pulpit, too, has generally denounced it, especially the most intelligent and respectable portions thereof, as an in- fidel attempt to throw prophecy and miracle into ridicule, and to introduce demoniacal influence among the affairs of men; and those who befriend or practice it are re- garded as fraudulent impostors or their dupes. But I have not known that any philosophic or scientific reasons for these denunciations have been attempted. They are based solely on the well-known variance between these phe- nomena and our experience; and I do not know but that all these objections might be properly answered in the nier« 250 DIUTURNITY. suggestion that human experience is not the measure of pos- sibility. It is objected that its facts are not accounted for, nor is a plausible theory in regard to it set up. But this objec- tion lies with exactly the same force against mineral mag- netism, telegraphing, vegetable growth, animal procreation, and all other natural phenomena which we see. Still, it is hard to believe all that is written of it, or even a moity, by such men as Dr. William B. Carpenter, Laplace, Agassiz, Hufland, Sir William Hamilton, Dr. Herbert Mayo, Prof. Edward Hitchcock, and many others distinguished for learning and science. Dr. Carpenter stands foremost in the list of authors on physiology, both in England and America; and he is noted for carefulness and safety in the utterance of his views. And yet the marvelous facts stated by these men, and by scores and even hundreds of other writers of known respectability, are calculated to baffle the soberest judgment and cause the most credulous to hesitate. Nor are we by any means dependent on authors for these wonder- ful facts and performances. In many parts of the country, on both sides of the Atlantic, large numbers of people have the evidence of their senses in attestation. Indeed, many of them have become commonplace. The student of natural science will meet with no subject more puzzling nor difficult to dispose of than this. He will fiud it difficult to embrace it as a science and fix its axioms, and equally difficult to discard it as unworthy of his labo- rious pursuit and investigation. Its palpable and unques- tionable facts will meet him at the threshold and demand attention. These facts will meet him not in a few isolated forms, like necromancy or conjuration, but in scores of forms, and in the entire absence of any high claims or preternatu- ral pretensions. It is certaiu that in the present age of the world, mes- merism is not known as a science. It is a mere practice with such and such ascertained results; but its axioms are CONCERNING ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 251 not established, its numerous truths are not classified, nor does its phenomena accord and harmonize wholly, nor even generally, with any natural laws well known to mankind. For these reasons, and also because of its notorious and even wild antagonism with human experience, it has been scoifed and ridiculed by divines and others as a morbid spiritualism, and, as before remarked, as setting up a sort of satanic* op- position to the truths of religion. As to the first charge, I am not aware that mesmerism, in any of its stages or degrees, affirms or allies itself with what is either properly or popularly called spiritualism, nor is this claimed for it by its most respectable advocates. While many theories have been attempted in explanation of its results, its soberest advocates content themselves with independent expositions of its demonstrable facts and varied phenomena. And as to the argument put forth by Chris- tians in defense of religion, it may be sufficient to remind them that this, is precisely the argument by which Hume and his followers prove the impossibility of miracles ; namely, that it contradicts human experience. But it is not true, as mere matter of logical fact, that either mesmerism or miracles contradict human experience ; they both vary from such experience as we have had. And this is no more than may be said of thousands of new facts which arise from day to day. When the properties of the magnetic needle were first discovered, they varied widely from all human experience, though they did not contradict it. Facts are provable by testimony, not by the past records of ex- perience. The argument is a fallacy by whomsoever or for whatsoever purpose it may be used. Whether a mesmerized person can read a folded letter yet in the post-office, or as the writer writes it, many miles dis- tant, or not, is a question to be proved by testimony, and in no other way. And this is the way to prove whether a needle can point a vessel safely across the ocean ; and it is the way, and the only way, to prove the truth of faGts said to be 252 DIUTURNITY. miraculous. Human experience is not the measure of possi- bility. Telegraphing may be true, though but a very few years since it varied widely from all experience. I know not that we have a philosophic digest of the code of nature, or that we are familiar with endless causation; and hence I know not but that the mariner's needle, telegraphing, mes- merism, and miracles may all be true. Their truth depends upon testimony and not upon experience. Nor do I see, as some divines seem to, that in believing either of these things it is necessary to violate any of na- ture's laws. I believe that miracles rather belong to a class or classes of laws above and beyond those which pertain regularly and ordinarily to this present mode of our ex- istence; and that mesmerism, supposing its facts to be true, and telegraphing, animal procreation, vegetable growth, the vitality of the blood, instinct, and many thousands of other phenomena of which we have some knowledge, belong to laws which we, as yet, are not perfectly familiar with in our infantile course of intellectual progress. We are a young race, and have made some progress in the primer of knowledge. Industry and perseverance will place us in the freshman and sophomore classes in due time; and the world will graduate in due season, or at least in some season. Wait and let true philosophy determine what are the true and genuine principles of phrenology and mesmerism, and then we can judge of their bearings upon religion. I have no fear of science, nor of truth in any shape. The history of other sciences show us that we need have no fears of any collision. Let the whole subject be brought to light. CONCERNING ASTRONOMY. 253 CHAPTER LXXIII. CONCERNING ASTRONOMY — THE NEWNESS OP THE SCIENCE AND INFERENCES DEDUCIBLE THEREFROM. Some of the important sciences have but just begun to attract attention. Astronomy is but very little older now, either in years or in progress, than it was when the earth was a stationary plain and the sun the size of a clever mountain and revolved round it every day. The telescope, we must remember, is but two hundred years old. Coper- nicus, the astronomical father of the sidereal heavens, lived but about three hundred years gone by. For about six thousand years the earth rested upon a great turtle, and the little stars came out at night to play around it. At that very recent period the restless Prussian, concluding perhaps that the turtle was tired, undertook to set the earth to revolving round the sun ; but he succeeded no further than to write a treatise on the subject, which for many years he dared not to publish. In his old and declining years he did publish it, but died before it was circulated, and so he escaped the punishment of so great a crime. And so the earth remained where it was another hundred years, until Grallileo determined that he would make it move ; but this high and unauthorized interference with the works of Grod subjected him to such severe punishments that he was compelled to stop it several times before he died. But Kelper and Newton, not many years afterward, determined that the earth should move and revolve round the sun. The former made the "laws" by which it should do so, and the latter persistently put them into execution; and it has 254 DIUTURNITY. been so revolving for a very little over one hundred and fifty years. Astronomy is, therefore, hut a thing of yesterday. Most that is known of it has been ascertained within a very few years past; much of it within ten or fifteen years. A treatise on astronomy goes out of date almost as fast as an almanac. The asteroids, as a class of recently discovered planets are called, have all been discovered within the cur- rent century, and most of them within the last ten or twelve years. A correct and easy mode of measuring the distance from the sun to the fixed stars is also a discovery of the last twenty years. Saturn's ring was discovered by Grallileo, about two hundred and fifty years ago, and was considered a solid body, until within twenty-five or thirty years past it has been demonstrated that this can not be possible, and it was then clearly ascertained to be a fluid. On the American continent the science of astronomy is in its very infancy. From this point of observation, astro- nomical researches may be said to be but just begun, about the year 1843. At this time a large comet made its appear- ance in this hemisphere, which directed attention to the subject. New methods of observation are being invented almost every year; and it is quite common for astronomers to inform each other, from month to month, of some new invention or discovery of great value and simplicity. The telegraph has added greatly to the facilities of making these researches and observations. And is it too much to presume that this great science has thus sprung into an infantile existence in the "latter days," just at the close of man's earthly career? Of what use are its sublime and astounding truths? This looks un- reasonable. It is not in good keeping with the works and ways of G-od. And to suppose that the pursuit and appropriation of astronomical and all other cosmological knowledge to the farthest point of scientific practicability is not both designed CONCERNING ASTRONOMY. 255 and intended for the religions as well as the general ad- vantage- of mankind, is to take a very superficial view of the Great God and his wonderful providence. All cosmological truth within our reach is certainly intended for our use. It is calculated to make plain much biblical truth and religious doctrine. Astronomy is well calculated to dilate the human mind and give it greatly extended views of the immensity of God, his power, and his work. Astronomy is already beginning to throw some light upon the diuturnal character of the globe. Until within the last few years, it was generally considered that this world abso- lutely began to exist a few years ago, at the Adamic crea- tion; but geology has demonstrated that the earth is of almost infinitely greater age, and has been molding and forming itself through many forms and stages in many very long periods. And astronomy is beginning to indicate at least a high probability that other heavenly bodies are pass- ing through some of those unfinished formation stages. The moon is nearest to us of these orbs ; and some recent views of it seem to indicate that its surface is in a kind of volcanic or eruptive state. And also what is called nebulas, or clusters of innumerable bodies, when placed under the power of the strongest telescopes, give decided support to the opinion that they are material for future globes and systems in a formation state, more or less chaotic, and which in process of ages will become formed in more completeness and ready for use. And who will say that science may not yet familiarize us with all this and much more? Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that the planetary world may yet become much better known to us, so that the human mind may extend and dilate in its grasp of the greatness and glory of the works of God; so that what is now known of these things will appear quite liliputian. Looking at the subject of cosmology, then, in the light of astronomy, with its transcendently sublime and magnifi- 256 DIUTURNITY. cent array of facts, its bewildering magnitudes, on the one hand, even so far as science has conducted us, and on the other, the world we inhabit as an integral portion of this sidereal immensity, and then supposing the conditions and history of the latter to be wrapped up within the compass of sixty or seventy centuries, there appears an obvious and most damaging disproportion and unfitness which makes the great providence of the Grreat God to dwindle into deformity. CHAPTER LXXIV. CONCERNING TIME AND SPACE AND THE DEFICIENCY OF HU- MAN KNOWLEDGE RESPECTING THEM. Mr. Locke says that time is "that mode of duration which is formed in the mind by its own power of observ- ing and measuring passing objects." This is perhaps as good a definition as we need expect. But suppose there be no "passing objects" to mark events in duration, how then are periods to be formed? We have some idea of time when connected with successive events, such as we mark in this present mode of existence; but if we were removed to some other mode of existence, where there are probably no such things as we now call events, what idea can we then form of time? There is, I think it is clear, no evidence that this mode of separating events which we call time is any thing more than a mode of existence. The young sciences of astronomy and geology are re- cently throwing much light on what we call time and space. Whether they can establish a relation between the unknown and the infinite, as is argued by Isaac Taylor, might be CONCERNING TIME AND SPACE. 257 questioned, without questioning the fact that "the modern mind has incalculably extended its view over the illimitable fields of duration." "When we look out upon space, with some correct intima- tion as to the distance of the stars, we conclude that we see many millions of miles, and we presume that the outskirts of creation are not a great way beyond this. And when we apply the telescope of fifty years ago, its lens carries the eye forward away beyond those regions, and we extend the outskirts of the universe accordingly. And when we apply the recent and more powerful glasses, we discover that those outer regions are comparatively very near to us. "We see worlds away in the remoter distance so immeasurably far that the near telescopic stars appear to lie in our vicinity. And so, again, we extend the outskirts of creation. And if you could extend the process of measurement by multiplying their cubes, you are making no progress what- ever, so far as we can know, toward infinity. We are only measuring distances between objects. If asked how I know this, I can only reply that infinity is not divisible. The ef- forts of some to extend time into eternity by climactory processes are very far from being scientific. Some call upon us to suppose the solar system reduced to a fine sand, one grain of which is to be removed in a thousand years, and then to imagine the great length of time it would re- quire to remove the whole. Such speculations are not reasoning. They only measure periods between events, and neither long periods nor short ones serve any purpose whatever in illustrating the infinite. No man can conceive that long periods have any nearer re- lation to infinity of duration than short ones. Mr. R. W r atson — Die. art. Eternity — says: "Duration, as applied to God, is no more than an extension of the idea as applied to ourselves." This seems to me illogical. Dura- tion, like any other thing or principle, is what it is, in and of itself, irrespective of any application of it. Applying it 22 258 DIUTURNITT. to either this or that can neither fix nor change its char- acter. Time is measured or measurable periods. Eternity is not measurable, or else it is not eternity. Moreover, we can not apply duration to God at all. The attempt would run us into the absurdity of supposing that God grows old. And just so of space. In the absence of objects we have no conception of space, for the only idea we have of space is the intervening distance between objects. Of space itself independently and absolutely we have no idea. And so we are told that "our days on the earth are as a shadow and there is none abiding." But in what respect the days of man are like the shadow cast upon the dial by the gnomon we can not understand. "We only know that "we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon the earth are a shadow." Without attempting to press our inquiries further, as we roam along the border of this subject — for we can not at- tempt to go beyond the border — we may sum up our in- quiries, perhaps, as follows: "We see that our sensible impressions of either time or duration are most probably very erroneous and quite unre- liable. Periodicity seems to be regular when compared with events; but in and of itself we know nothing of it. "Respecting the final course of time and the history of this world's close, we can not form even a conjecture from con- siderations respecting its chronology. It is like the rea- soning of a blind man about colors. The close of the world's history can be predicated only of its progress toward the completion of its natural undertakings. What has the world done is a much more important ques- tion than how long has it lived. What was and is its evident plan, design, course, programme, as we may learn from its nature and such revelation as we have respecting it? What were the Divine purposes respecting it? And how much of these things have been accomplished ? CONCERNING LIGHT AND VISION. 259 CHAPTER LXXV. CONCERNING LIGHT AND VISION— THE LITTLE WE KNOW IN COMPARISON WITH WHAT IS CERTAINLY OR PROBABLY WITHIN OUR REACH. It is not at all probable that there was such a verbal utterance as we read of in that wonderful expression, "Let there be light." That was the law — the mind of God — and light and vision met each other. But what light is, is as yet unknown to science. It is an unknown agent or cause of visibility or illumination of natural bodies. It is a prop- erty or quality of matter, but is not probably an indepen- dent or separate substance or thing; or perhaps it is a con- dition of bodies while being acted on by its cause. Light is not heat, but they are nearly related. Solid sub- stances emit light when heated to a little less than one thousand degrees. Very little is known of phosphorescence, and still less of florescence, though much advancement, has been made lately in our knowledge of both. Very little is known of the agency the atmosphere performs, and far less of what it is capable of performing in the production or even the transmission of light. It is believed by mauy that it may be made a constituent in the formation of light by chemical combination or otherwise. How light is transmitted the best students of nature are not agreed ; nor is it by any means certain that any thing is transmitted at all in the operation. It would add greatly to human progress if we could adopt means by which we could extend our visual observations into bodies partially opaque. Nothing is entirely opaque that is not black and with a rough surface. This, therefore, 260 DIUTURNITY. seems to be the natural line between those bodies which, may be seen into and those which may not. Yery much would thus be added to our knowledge of the properties of matter, which knowledge lies at the yery bottom of human progress. For the lack of more knowledge in this direction, we know very little of the properties of the commonest sub- stances. We know but little of the atmosphere we breathe, the food we eat, the odors we smell; of gases, of wood, and other vegetables ; of water, of earth, oils, and, indeed, al- most every thing around us. Greater microscopic power is much needed for many purposes. Of the animalcule world we know not much. A deeper knowledge in this direction would add greatly to human advancement. The mere means of detecting unwholesome food would add greatly to health and longevity. And by this means, too, agriculture and domestic economy would be probably most immeasurably advanced; and so, too, the physiologist and the physician could see the animalcule workings in both the juices and solids of the human system. Many diseases could be arrested at once. Yellow fever and most if not all skin diseases are by many believed to be the direct workings of living animals, but nothing is demon- strated on the subject. If digestion, the circulation of the blood, the muscles, the brain, the juices and tissues, the fetus, the bones, etc., could be seen, it would most wonderfully facilitate our ad- vances in health, in morals, in science, and progress gen- erally. And, on the other hand, if we could extend our observa- tions in a telescopic direction, so as to examine more care- fully objects at a distance from us, no one can tell what great good might result. A better acquaintance with the moon will some day, in all likelihood, facilitate scientific researches greatly. We have begun many lessons in nature, but we have pur- sued nothing to any considerable extent. We have but just CONCERNING LIGHT AND VISION. 261 got here. And we find ourselves surrounded with a vast machine, combining many thousand different combinations of chemical and mechanical things and principles of which we know, as yet, almost nothing. We have examined the surface of a few things, but of the vast susceptibility of the many things in the vast store-house, we have learned scarcely the alphabet. But here we have one great and im- portant truth, which is wonderfully consoling, though it is not satisfactory. We are still learning. We have pursued nothing to the end. But it is certain we are greatly deficient in most of the ordinary uses of light. In the day-time, where the light of the sun is not obstructed, we can generally see well enough for most of the ordinary purposes of life; but in the night, and in dark places, suppose we had no such in- vention as a lamp or candle. Industry and enjoyment would be cut short greatly. The amount of facilities we have in this way satisfies us tolerably well, simply because we know of nothing better. As we advance in the arts and sciences, we need more light for many purposes. How often are we in the dark; how many accidents, hindrances, and disad- vantages are met with every day and every night because we can not see around us. If we could see as well in night as in day, how greatly would all the departments of industry and knowledge progress! Within a few years past we have got to lighting our streets and factories, and the like, a little; but suppose the entire city, suburbs, neighborhood, and settled parts of the country around, with all roads, rivers, and the like, were well lighted all the while. Really, if we look at it rightly, this is an age of darkness literally. At great expense and labor, we light a taper here and there, but our children will, not long hence, call this the dark age. In hot summer, much travel and outdoor labor could be better done at night, if light were plenty and cheap. 262 DIUTURNITY. The laws of nature, not our experience, are the measure of possibility; and the laws of nature were by no means in- tended to lie dormant and unused. Every section of every law was intended to be practically used for our advancement and happiness. CHAPTER LXXYI. CONCERNING ELECTRICITY — POSSIBILITY OP ITS DISCOVERY AND PRACTICAL USE. Electricity may be said to be an undiscovered agent or property, of the existence of which something is known, but of its character, properties, extent, or practical uses we know but very little at present. It was known six hundred years before the Christian era that amber, on being rubbed, would emit something which had the power of attracting, and sometimes of repelling, light substances; and it was subsequently ascertained that some other substances possessed the same or similar powers. Two thousand years afterward — in the year 1600 — an English physician first directed some scientific labors to the subject, but a century and a half passed before it was thought se- riously that mankind had any particular interest in the sub- ject. About one hundred years ago, Dr. Franklin and others, partly by accident, conceived the idea that lightning had something to do with this curious but apparently use- less thing; and experiment demonstrated their close rela- tionship and possible identity; and Franklin died without knowing scarcely any thing about electricity. In his day little or no attention was directed to electricity, properly speaking, but only to lightning, which is one of the very CONCERNING ELECTRICITY. 263 numerous forms in which electricity becomes apparent. Its connection with many of the physical sciences has been dis- covered within the last forty years. The various departments in which this subject is pursued are, some of them, called animal magnetism, or electricity, electric fishes, electro-dynamics, electro-magnetism, electro- metallurgy, lightning, magneto-electricity, etc. But still all these discoveries are not known to relate directly to electricity, but to its development or action; for of elec- tricity itself, it can not as yet be said that we have any certain information. It is of two kinds, or perhaps it would be more proper to say that it acts or is acted on, we do not know which, in two different ways, called negative and positive. This neg- ative and positive action of electricity, it is quite probable, though science has not demonstrated it, may be the great principles of attraction and repulsion, which of late years is supposed to be the cause of all motion, both in all the heavenly bodies and in every atom of the earth. On this subject Newton's theory of the universe is seriously questioned; and, indeed, it is not impossible but that his great Principia may yet have to give place to a hypothesis more plausible and more scientific. The various phenomena, curious, practical, useful, and scientific, which may be produced in this field of knowledge are amazing beyond the marvelous as compared with our knowledge of the subject only forty or fifty years ago. Still, we have no more knowledge of its capacity, or powers, or adaptation than we have of any other thing almost wholly unknown. It seems to be present every-where and to have much to do with every thing. Galvanism is a branch of electrical science. It relates to the phenomena produced upon dead bodies by introducing electricity into them. It was discovered about fifty years ago in Italy, by mere accident, by Signor G-alvani, or rather more truly by his cook, and hence the name. 264 DIUTTTRNITY. It would be both useless and hazardous to undertake even a partial description of the wonderful results attendant on what we suppose to be electricity. And these wonders are being so rapidly developed that descriptions and recitations become stale and devoid of much interest in even a year or two, sometimes. That all our present discoveries, in it are crude in the extreme is well known. Still, there has been enough discovered and demonstrated about electricity to render it certain that we have but just touched the edge of the border of a vast field, rich with human interests and most extensively varied in relationship and combination. There is little or no doubt but it pervades all physical na- ture; and more, there is good reason for believing that it forms the grand substratum and frame -work of all physical, moral, and intellectual being; that it is the great key to all science. Most likely this, and this alone, can lead us into the vestibule of psychology, and enable us to open the ave- nues to sentient life; and there is even hope that it may discover to us the relation between mind and matter, and possibly show to us the very principle of life and the con- necting link between the / myself of existence and the phe- nomena which it produces. Although it may be said that electricity is not yet dis- covered, yet a knowledge of its existence gives us an inti- mation of a further insight into nature than all the other physical sciences combined. The hopes it holds out to progressive science and human advancement are marvelous, almost beyond the dreams of fancy and imagination. That these hopes will be realized, and these advantages become practical and commonplace, we are obliged to believe, be- cause nothing is made in vain. If this world should wind up its affairs, or be put into liquidation before electricity shall have acted out on the open platform of human science and improvement the last round of its capability, and ministered its last natural func- tion and office to the wants of man, then this world would CONCERNING ELECTRICITY. 265 exhibit a dark and gloomy spectacle to the gaze of the universe. It would show what would be most clearly im- possible, that Grod had created useless things. Dr. Hitchcock says (Religion of Geology, p. 423) : " It would seem, from recent discoveries, that electricity has a more intimate connection with mental operations than any other physical force. If not identical with the nervous in- fluence, it seems to be employed by the mind to accompany that influence to every part of the system; and the greater the mental excitement the more energetic the electric move- ment. It seems to us a marvelous discovery which enables man to convey and register his thoughts, at the distance of thousands of miles, by the electric wires. Should it excite any higher wonder to be told that, by means of this same power, all our thoughts are transmitted to every part of the universe, and can be read there by the acuter perceptions of other beings as easily as we can read the types or hiero- glyphics of the electric telegraph? Yet what a startling thought is it, that the most secret workings of our minds and hearts are momentarily spread out in legible characters over the whole material universe! Nay, that they are so woven into the texture of the universe that they will con- stitute a part of its web and woof forever! To believe and realize this is difficult; to deny it is to go in the face of physical science. How many things do we believe that are sustained by evidence far less substantial!" How ready we are to assume, and how thoughtless we are in assuming, that, with our present powers, we are capable of perceiving all such things as are in themselves capable of being perceived, and stand immediately connected with our interests! We ought to learn lessons as to the frailty of our powers of perception from the facts almost every day before our eyes, that the steady but apparently slow prog- ress of science is constantly leading us onward into new and still newer fields of discovery, where before lay naught but a broad, dark field of impenetrable impossibility. Things 23 2ft§ DIUTURNITT. ■which yesterday were undoubted impossibilities, are to-day mere commonplaces. A full discovery and practical use of electricity must light up the halls of physical and natural science most won- derfully, and present to our observation much, very much fuller and clearer views of the wise and benevolent works and plans of the Almighty. SECTION FIFTH. We have now looked, somewhat in detail, at the relation of man to the world, first in some general points of light, and then in its physical, its intellectual, and its religious aspects; and in all these inquiries we find the world to be in a new, crude, beginning state. We find every thing begun but nothing finished. And I think we have vindi- cated the character of God from an impeachment of his goodness and wisdom, which would certainly be implied in the supposition that six thousand or seven thousand years was to measure the chronological existence of the world; because that would prove that, with comparatively a little exception, the vast untold and inconceivable amount of what I have denominated the furniture of the world was created to no valuable end. We come now to look more directly — following the same general course of argumentation — at the great sweep of diu- turnal ages the world must yet measure to be consistent and rational, and to look into the grand end and purpose of human religion; and in doing so, to see if we can find, upon principles of reason and common sense, such a happy period of the world as is sometimes called millennium; and, also, to look into what is frequently called the second com- ing of Christ, and see if we can find these in a consistent and rational form. Let the reader have patience. (267) CHAPTEE LXXVII. CONCERNING THE NATURAL WORK AND OFFICE OF HUMAN RELIGION — ITS THEATER AND ITS END. This is a reasonable, natural, philosophical world, with a reasonable, natural, philosophical Creator and Governor. There is no hap-hazard mistake or uncertainty about it. It was mapped out, contingencies and all, in the Divine un- derstanding; and whether we understand its programme or not, it will pursue its course, accomplish its design, and render up its account to God. And so far in its beginning stages, though men have oftentimes acted very unwisely, its course has been rational and reasonable. Remedial religion never ought to have been introduced into the world, because it ought not to have become neces- sary; but it did become necessary, and was therefore set up. This remedial system required, according to human comparisons, a vast amount of preparation ; that is, a vast amount of working before much, comparatively, would be accomplished. Its beginnings, taking the world as it is and was, must, for a time — to our comprehension a long time — be very slow. And then we are very poorly prepared to judge how much religion has done for the world. We have no predication for such a calculation. But it is the very nature of religion to progress according to what might be called almost geometrical progression. For a long time it shows but little result, and by little and little, after what our fac- ulties would regard a long time, it begins to attain a more firm foothold. Printing has just now come to the aid of Christianity; (269) 270 MUTUItNITY. and steam, railroads, telegraphing, and all the branches of science are lending their assistance. And what other and greater facilities science and art may afford in the dissem- ination of truth and the spread and establishment of true religion, who can tell? The leaven of Christianity is fermenting among the na- tions. It is working; it is leavening the lump more and more, and spreading deeper and wider. And as the leaven extends and diffuses, Christianity will proceed and deepen with increased and still increasing momentum. Most likely even now we are on the eve of important events. Science is working wonders. Art is delving into nature and rush- ing on almost in advance of science. The indications, not entirely unintelligible, are that a brief space may mark wonders in religious progress; and more and more rapidly, by and by, a nation will be born in a day. Let the di- vinely-instituted means be worked without trying to patch up new ones; let the plan of salvation be worked, not mended, and the natural outgoings of Gospel truth will extend, take root, and still extend until its branches, like a moral banyan, will cover this fair earth. The Christian religion, like the telescope, creates nothing anew. It only reveals that which was not seen before. The laws and precepts of religion, we read in the Bible, are not true because they are written; they are written because they are true. They are no more true since they were written than before. They are eternally true, independently of rev- elation. Then it follows naturally that the simple religion of grace and faith, as it is written in the Old Testament, and more fully elaborated in the New, is well and skillfully geared into all the elements of man's moral, mental, and physical constitution, and sooner or later must work out and accom- plish all the ends and purposes of religion. Then let it be worked — worked as it is and where it is. This green earth, spread out as it is, with its advantages and disadvantages, CONCERNING HUMAN EELIGION. 271 is its proper and natural theater. It needs no other — is suited to no other. The sling and stone are its proper in- struments; without it, it could not succeed, neither could it go in Saul's armor. More or less time will be required for Christianity to work out certain results and reach certain stages, as man shall be more or less faithful to his trusts. The time may be near at hand when it will seek a firmer foothold and move with greater rapidity. Times of general wickedness are not unfrequently followed by times of general revival. And religion moves, too, in circles and cycles; but its up- ward tendency is as sure as its system is true. As a matter of simple fact, there is written in the Bible a complete system of recovery from sin. This system in- terweaves between man as he is and his Maker as he is, and as both appear to be to man's natural comprehension. Sin in this world severed the connection once, but this sys- tem unites the parties together again. In form it is unde- niably a complete system; and supposing it to be Divine, it is infallibly arranged, and its end and office is the restora- tion of all this world to the love, obedience, and favor of God. And it is obviously and undeniably planned to work right here, in this very social system as it exists, and not in some other. It is palpably and certainly adapted and calculated to work among human governments, just as we now see them, and not in some other social system. A water-mill is hydraulic in its nature and construction, and will not work away from a running stream. In connection with it you need not eulogize the power of steam or some other power. It may be wonderfully beneficial in some cir- cumstances, but it is utterly useless in these. The religion we have writen is exactly adapted to this world, just as it is, and not to some other, nor to any radically changed con- dition of this. The relation, moral, social, intellectual, and physical, between man and his Savior, is exactly adjusted as things are shaped and agoing now; nay, more, the adap- 272 DIUTURNITY. tation and adjustment are absolutely perfect, and equally and alike perfect as regards each and every individual person of the family of Adam. Let the Savior assume some other attitude, no matter what, and this system stands forth an acknowledged failure. When Christ undertook this salvation he knew what was in man. He was perfectly acquainted with his nature, habi- tudes, passions, instincts, and susceptibilities, and he adapted the plan to suit all these. It meets his hopes, fears, de- pravity, natural goodness, love of life, taste, circumstances — all, all, just as they are in fact, no matter how they came so. Was there a mistake — a failure? Was the work greater or different from what was calculated upon? Or why are the tactics to be changed? This system of recovering religion has been in operation, in its incipient stages, developing itself more and more, for about six or seven thousand years. And in that compara- tively brief space, brief for such a work, it has already made some advances. Being divinely set up, it will continue. It has never worked with but one set of means; it needs no others — can use no others. No others would be adapted to its machinery. A Savior in some other position or relation would be no Savior to us. Human relationships require corresponding and cooperating positions. Change these and you destroy the system. Judge and criminal, parent and child, friend and friend occupy a natural position toward each other. The machinery of religion is right now. It has proper adaptedness and proper and feasible ends; and it has its proper theater. Christ is in the right place — just as visible, just as invisible, as the wants of the case require. His kingly power and all his other power is exercised in exactly the right way. He now views the earth, the world, man, society, governments, families, the Church, and each and every in- dividual person from the point of observation which is exactly the best. Every thing is in place. A change of ARE THERE PEW THAT BE SAVED? 273 programme would be ruinous. Nothing is needed but that the system be worked — worked as it is. We see the work of this system now, in individual in- stances, to be most successfully triumphant. All that is needed is, that it proceed far enough. Christianity predi- cates salvation not only of individual persons, but of the race. If it shall proceed until the whole race shall be thoroughly Christianized, and cause it to remain so finally, and thus conduct the world on into the diuturnal ages of sinless life, then it may be said it was a success, otherwise it stands an acknowledged failure. CHAPTER LXXVIII. ARE THERE FEW THAT BE SAVED? — LUKE XIII: 23. And after all, in the great sequel, what will be the final result of this remedial system of salvation? Will it prove a success? Or what will be the -grand issue? The strug- gle is between the Savior and the devil, each striving for universal supremacy. The issue is fairly made up and the champions are in the field. Which will be the victor? Or will it be a drawn battle? Will the saved be comparatively few or many? The young ruler wanted to know about this. The inquiry was a little irrelevant, out of place just then and there, but in itself there was nothing wrong in it. The contest commenced with most fearful odds on the part of the great leader of evil, and the means put forth by Christ appeared to human eyes most feeble and inadequate. And as the warfare opened and progressed, the armies of sin con- tinued overwhelmingly large, and seemed to bear down all opposition. And so, for the most part, it has continued to the present time. And, as yet, no very considerable advan- 274 BIUTURNITY. tage has been gained by Christ. The ranks of sin are still large and powerful; its front is bold and defiant; its rniefi is lofty, self-reliant, and self-confident. And to a superficial observer it may seem as if Christianity would be a failure; and then, indeed, there will be but "few" saved. But a more enlarged view will teach that the contest has but fairly commenced. In so short a time but little could be expected. So far, certainly, but few are saved; but let us have patience. Things on a scale as wide as a world, and moving in a cycle which may include hundreds of thou- sands of years, may move at a pace which, to our feeble faculties, may seem very slow; but the long continued tri- umphs of sin, as they seem to us, are but brief transitory apj>earances. The successes are so brief that they are merely apparent, not real. What are a few thousand years of apparent triumph? In a great scale of a world's opera- tions it amounts to nearly nothing. A criminal may elude the arm of justice, and swagger and boast for a few days or years, but his triumph is short. The slow but sure tread of justice overtakes him in due time, and his short- lived independence is over. Sin must fail, because it is wrong ; and its failure must be signal, complete, thorough, overwhelming. And it must not only fail in some way, but it must fail in the simple, straight- forward pursuance of the regular means first, and once for all, set on foot by the Almighty for its destruction. It is not enough to say that Christ will finally succeed, but is quite as necessary that he succeed in the way he began. He advertised to the world and to the universe a particular system of grace, which we now see; and in and by this sys- tem he approached his adversary, pledging his name that here and by this he would conquer. With this system we are familiar. We see it every day, and know it by the ac- customed name of Christianity. While the struggle is going on, a few thousands, a few millions, a few thousand millions will be lost; but, compara- ARE THERE PEW THAT BE SAVED? 275 tively, they are few. But the scale will turn, must turn, and Christianity will spread and deepen at a rate far exceeding any thing hitherto known in the history of this strife, The age of the world — the course of time mainly — all ex- cept these few thousand years that are past, is yet before it. With this little exception, it has its course yet to run. Multiplied millions — numbers far away beyond the feeble imaginings of men — numbers in comparison with which the one hundred and twenty thousand millions who have here- tofore been born into the world are but as a drop in the bucket — are yet to live and die in this world. The per- fected day of the world will yet come; and in that age, the diuturnal round of its appointed cycles, the Lord will reign wholly in the hearts of men without a rival; and then all who live will live and die in Christ. His reign will be in the hearts of men. He reigns over men in no other way. The great characteristic difference between the rule of Christ and that of earthly rulers is seen just here. The one reigns in the heart; the other seeks to control the mere external actions. This difference is not because the one is divine and the other human, but because of the very nature of earthly and spiritual rule. In that day, that period, all will belong to Christ, and he will reign without a rival. It will then be seen that Satan was but a miserable pretender; that he strutted in imagin- ary triumph, a little brief authority for a short period; but that Christ was the great ruler. It will then be seen that Christ, in his presently working system of grace and faith, was not a mere competitor of Satan. His triumph shall be great and glorious. There shall be no drawn battle. The ruins of the fall shall be rebuilt, completely rebuilt. And man, as a race, shall be brought back to his rightful alle- giance; and the way to heaven, by the simple means of grace and faith, shall be thronged, thronged with the dense, countless, teeming millions of the Lord's redeemed; and the way to hell shall be grown over with the brier and the 276 DIUTURNITY. bramble and the moss of time, with, here and there a lonely traveler, despised and forsaken of himself, his fellows, and his God. And the comparison of the saved and the lost shall be as the free people of H great commonwealth contrasted with the little handful of convicts in the cells of its penitentiary. Christ shall be the great master, without a rival, for his tri- umph shall be without a struggle. CHAPTER LXXIX. CONCERNING THE SINLESS PERIOD, IMPROPERLY CALLED A MILLENNIUM ITS PHILOSOPHY AND NATURALNESS. A treatise of this sort should contain a chapter spe- cifically upon what is commonly called the millennium; first, because a good deal of public thought lies, or is supposed to lie, in that specific direction; and, secondly, because of the unscriptural, unnatural, and unphilosophic arguments which have been put forth on the subject, of late, by sev- eral writers. There has been a tradition lingering along in the Church since some time before the Christian era, and cropping out occasionally, that the world was to close its history with one thousand years of universal peace, plenty, and holiness. Some of the early Christian writers — a very few of them — who, for some reasons, I know not what, are called fathers, seemed to favor the doctrine, and the belief has obtained more or less to the present day. In the time of Cromwell, in England, there arose a re- ligious sect called 3Iillennarians, or Fifth Monarchy men. They held that just at that time Christ was to appear in human form and establish an earthly empire, which would CONCERNING THE SINLESS PERIOD. 277 Tbe the fifth great monarchy, the ancient monarchies of As- syria, Persia, Greece, and Rome being the preceding four. They claimed to be saints, and cited abundance of Scrip- ture which they claimed supported their views. The im- mediate coming of Christ, they said, was incontestably proven. Many of this sect were first-class men for piety and intel- ligence. Since then we have had writings and doctrines on the subject all the way. They claim support from a doubt- ful expression in the book of Revelation, and some few other passages. The Fifth Monarchy men were mistaken, it is certain, with regard to the time when the millennium, as they called it, would begin; but, correcting this error, the doctrine and belief have continued, with more or less regularity, to the present time. Of late years, we are told the second appear- ance of Jesus Christ must occur at precisely the six thou- sandth year of the world. On this point we will have a few observations to make in a future chapter. This prophecy in Revelation — for there is but one ex- pression relied on — is written in the most highly figurative language of any in Scripture, and yet we are told it must be understood literally ; and yet it could hardly mean that Satan was to be chained with an iron chain, and that it must be fastened with a hey, made by a locksmith, and a seal. The meaning is, rather, that the Savior, in the reg- ular, onward working of religion, will effectually lay his adversary under restraints; will subdue his power and ar- rest his influence, by which he has deceived and destroyed so many. The thousand years he is to be so bound, is, it might be safely said, I think, according to the uniform and almost undisputed criticism, a very long time — an immeasur- ably long period. When this language was written, it must be remembered, there was no word in human language de- noting a greater number than a thousand or myriad, which sometimes, but not always, meant ten thousand. Our word million is of recent origin. In Scripture language, the term 278 DIUTURNITY. most generally used to denote a very great number answers to our word thousand. This is the meaning in Acts xxi: 20, and many other places. The Scriptures speak of the coming of Christ and the second time, etc. ; but this certainly does not always mean a visible appearance. In Heb. ix : 28, it is said he will " appear the second time," at the Judgment. Now, accord- ing to such literal interpretations as we are instructed to make, this could not be his second coming, for we are told by the same persons that the second coming will be one thousand years before the Judgment. Moreover, second, in Scripture language, is not always confined to mean the next after the first, but sometimes means another. By another coming of Christ is generally meant a signal display of his spiritual power and glory. He will be with the Church, or worshiping assembly, every-where; but this .can not mean a human appearance. This point will be en- larged upon in another chapter. "A thousand years," spoken of in the 20th chapter of Revelation, can not mean literally that number of years. Dr. Clark is " satisfied this period should not be taken lit- erally." He very properly remarks: "It is not likely that the number, a thousand years, should be taken literally here, and year symbolically and figuratively in all the Book beside." He says, and indeed, with a few incidental excep- tions, every body says, "the term a thousand years is a mystic number among the Jews. It signifies an immeasur- ably long time, and is a feeble synonym of our word eter- nity." It is well known that in Scripture time-measure a day is frequently put for a. year.. So the time calculations are generally made; and so it is considered that if any defi- nite period be intended at all, in this place, it means three hundred and sixty thousand years. This is the opinion of the learned Dr. Whitby and Dr. Doddridge, and many others. CONCERNING THE SINLESS PERIOD. 279 The idea that there is to be solid peace to this world during the mere space of one thousand years, is so cramped and so circumscribes the work and programme of the Al- mighty Being, that it is absolutely derogatory to his char- acter, and even contemptible. Dr. Clark thinks the thousand years spoken of in the fourth verse of this chapter may " signify that there shall be a long and undisturbed state of Christianity; and so universally shall the Gospel spirit prevail, that it will ap- pear as if Christ reigned upon the earth, which will, in effect, be the ease, because his spirit shall rule in the hearts of men." This harmonizes with both Scripture and common sense. It looks reasonable that after the contest between sin and holiness should close, that the world should be at peace. Sin naturally introduces an irregular, twilight period of trial and contention. Christ reigns and Satan reigns, and the rule of neither is complete. Some follow one and some the other. Nothing is complete. Every thing is begun, but nothing is finished. It is a period of pupilage, a school- boy age, the morning twilight of the world; it is an un- fortunate excrescence upon our history, a period of feeble- ness and disease. When sin had the effect of turning Satan loose in the world, Christ stepped forward as the champion and defender of our cause. His work will be done, effectually done — not partially but wholly — and the world shall be sinless; and afterward there shall be a period of three hundred and sixty thousand years, or more likely an indefinite period, immeasurably long, of sinless peace, when holiness shall be uniform and then universal, love to God and to man shall predominate in every heart. The idea that this period of regular life shall last one thousand years is, I repeat, disgraceful and ridiculous, considering that it marks the great plan of God and a world. What is one thousand years in the scope and operations of a world? The circle 280 DICJTURNITY. . of the Divine operations are not thus to be cramped down into the narrow plans and precincts of domestic life. A world is not made to administer and close up its affairs in such periods as you would prescribe to a commercial cor- poration or a nationality to wind up its plans and give place to a successor. It is such restricted, liliputian, school-boy views as these that give rise to the thousand- year millennium doctrine. A thousand years may seem long to children or even to men, but what is it in the plans of the world? The binding of Satan with a chain, so as to render him powerless, denotes very plainly a sinless condition of the world. This sinless period is abundantly set forth in Scrip- ture in many places, as is hereinbefore fully explained. But that this sinless period will be a mere winding-up scene, to last a few years just at the close of the world's course, is a notion not only gratuitous, so far as Scripture is concerned, but is openly at war with reason and analogy, and entirely unlike such large and liberal views as we must _. attribute to the Divine Being in planning the course of a world. It has been shown, in the preceding chapters, that al- though this world is six or seven thousand years old, still it is in an infantile condition ; that its adult period, so to speak, is far in the future as respects progress, at least ; and, very likely, as respects time, it may not have measured half the days of its morning twilight. We are not at liberty to presume, either from reason or revelation, that the entering of sin into the world, creating thereby the necessity of a remedial system of salvation, is going finally to thwart the great purposes of God in bring- ing this world into being. These purposes, so far as we can understand them, must have been the glory of God and the enlargement of the happiness of his creatures. This was intended to be a world of holy and happy people, who should live and love and adore God ; where peace, harmony, CONCERNING THE SINLESS PERIOD. 281 good-will, truth, strict obedience to God, and kindness, jus- tice, love, and friendship to all men, should find scope and a theater for action; a world on which God could look down with complacency, where the great ends of creation should be worked out. These great purposes are not to be finally thwarted. They may be baffled for a season; indeed they are, but it shall be only for a little season. Christ will conquer his enemy fully, completely, finally; and then the world will go on. Its history will see the day when it will almost be forgotten that such a thing as sin ever happened to it. Peace will be restored to this world. Sin, with its train of evils, will be thwarted, and Christ will reign supreme. It will be as good a world yet as its Maker intended from the beginning. There is nothing in either reason or revelation to justify the belief that sin is to continue throughout all or even a large portion of this world's course; that the world is to be a sickly, wilted thing during almost all its life. We are clearly and indubitably taught, in many places, that sin is a curable malady ; that, however fatal it may be to any number of individuals, so far as the world is con- cerned, it is curable and will be cured; that €hrist will, after a time, hind Satan for an immeasurably long period ; that this change will come about gradually, and from natural causes already in being and visible to all men. Neverthe- less men will still be born with a tendency to sin. This must needs be, because we are born of a sinful parentage. But a tendency to sin does not necessarily produce sin. As a matter of fact, it does so in the present condition of things ; but this state of things will improve, until the circumstances surrounding men, as they are born into the world, will en- tirely overcome this tendency, so that there will be no actual sin. This idea is previously elaborated, and, of course, this greatly changed and improved condition of things can not 24 282 DITJTURNITT. take place in any short time. It may not be brought about in less than thousands of years. It will be the result of great advances and improvements in science, morals, and religion. But Christianity is fully adequate to the task. It was planned and intended for this very purpose. The doctrine that a part of the history of this world will be sinless is so plainly and repeatedly taught in Scripture, that it has not been directly controverted, so far as I know. But it is strangely assumed by many, without either testi- mony or argument that I know of, that this will be only a brief closing scene, just at the end; but this is a naked assumption, resting upon neither analogy, Scripture, nor reason. The millennarians claim that the phrase a thousand years is to be understood literally, or according to the modern meaning of that word, and that the holiness of that period is to be brought about by some new and miraculous pro- cesses connected with what they call the second coming of Christ. This is inferred from a previous assumption, which is demonstrably untrue, that a state of sin and great moral irregularity and derangement is the normal condition of the world. This is sufficiently marvelous and exciting for poetry and the embellishments of romance, but can not be received as sober reasoning. Sin is not the normal condition of the world. The sup- position is a clear, naked assumption, without a word or a reason to support it. Sin is a thing which happened in the world — a thing which ought not to have happened; and deep as was the misfortune, it is a curable misfortune. The Son of God undertook this cure, and pledged himself, before heaven and earth, to accomplish it — to accomplish it fully. And because it requires six or ten or fifteen thou- sand years to do it, it is childishly inferred that this period is so very great that surely no more time can be afforded for the world's life. And when the Scriptures speak of the sinless period of the world, it is in the face of Scripture, CONCERNING THE SINLESS PERIOD. 283 well understood; and, in opposition to all analogy, it is in- ferred that it must, in the first place, be brought about by some radical, marvelous, and unnatural means ; and, secondly, that it must be a mere hasty winding-up period. They mistake the normal world — its proper life — for its mere unnatural, closing scenes. But I see no necessity for an abandonment of the means and processes we now have for the renovation of the world. Give it time, and it will carry the world right onward into holiness, where it belongs. The natural condition of the world is such that in it it shall not be needful for one man to teach another, saying, " Know the Lord ; " for all shall know him, from the least to the greatest. The course of time may be divided into two periods, differ- ing widely from each other in some respects, the one running gradually and by slow degrees into the other. The first period, that which we are now in, is one of strife between sin and holiness. It is marked with great irregularity, .its beginning years, several thousand in duration, being dread- fully sinful, but with slow, imperceptible improvements, until, in process of time, sin shall be eradicated, and the world will assume its natural, normal, sinless condition. In this condition aggressive or persuasive religion will have worked its work thoroughly, and will cease with the necessity for it. Nothing will be authoritatively withdrawn or discontinued, but persuasive religion will cease when it has no more to do. Now, this sinless period so coming about from natural causes now in operation, the entire course of it is what I un- derstand by the so-called "millennium"— the long, long period of sinless peace, the world's proper normal condition, its adult life after these twilight morning clouds shall have passed away. Sin will have troubled the world for a little season and will then pass away. How long either of these periods will be no man can know further than this, that the latter will be millennial, or 284 DIUTERNITY. a very long time, or, in more proper language, countless myriads of years. The former period, from the general ap- pearance of the world and its history, we might hope would not continue more than a few, perhaps three or four or ten thousand, years longer. I confess that, from all the general appearances, I can but conjecture that sin will not last in the world more than one, two, or three thousand years. These periods, however, will be commensurate with the large ideas of a God and a world. To cramp them into the di- mensions of mere human operations, or to fit them to the capacity or convenience of mere human modes of measure- ment, is both illiberal and unphilosophical. You may call these two periods of the world by any arti- ficial names you may choose, the former is the beginning state, and the latter the adult life proper. The one is the irregular, twilight beginnings of the morning, and the other is the day; the one is the childhood, the other the man- hood; so that mainly, after all, the years of the world will be according to the original design. With the exception of this morning twilight period of strife with Satan, the world will be worthy its original design — holy, Godlike. The millennium, as it is miscalled, is not to be the mere closing scene, or mere winding-up period of one thousand years — but the age, the lifetime proper of the world, after the boyhood period of strife shall have passed away. This looks philosophical, natural, and, withal, it is eminently Scriptural, Some verbal errors, the one relating to the true meaning of "a thousand years," and a few others, have led to these cramped and unnatural views of the life of the world. But it is said that, after the period of peace, however long or short that period may be, Satan will be let loose again to deceive the nations. Well, if so, be it so. There are various conjectures with regard to the proper inter- pretation of some few words of the 20th chapter of Reve- lation. I know of no author of standing who claims to have a satisfactory opinion as to their true meaning. Dr. Clark CONCERNING THE SINLESS PERIOD. 285 says of these doubtful expressions : " These can be only symbolical representations, utterly incapable of the sense generally put upon them." They probably refer to some state or states of the world away in the remote ages of its existence, and are certainly not very intelligible in the present condition of things. When we come to file our demurrer to these speculations, we will look at them from other points of observation; but I close this chapter with a few practical remarks. First. This doctrine of millennium, if contained in the Bible, is by very far the most important doctrine revealed to us, save the bare isolated fact of redemption; and then it is remarkable, indeed, that it rests upon one single ex- pression, in the most highly figurative and unintelligible portion of all the words of revelation. All the other doc- trines are mentioned in scores, if not hundreds, of places. Secondly. It is remarkable that, up to the present time, the Church should not have discovered it. It was never the doctrine of the Church, nor of any part of the Church, save perhaps the Fifth Monarchy men ; and it is very certain their doctrine on the subject was untrue, for Christ did not come, and the millennium set in as they believed. The doc- trine rests solely upon the spasmodic and sensational pro- ductions of a few men. And then it is perhaps worthy of note, that among those writers there does not chance to be one who can be said, with any reasonableness, to occupy a position among theologians of solid distinction. I do not produce this as an argument, for it is not conclusive; but it is a visible circumstance. Tliirdly. The issue, closing scene, denouement, or winding- up period of happiness, called millennium, as derived from the 20th chapter of Revelation, is, at most and at best, a piece of literary product, manufactured with as much or as little skill as the occasion required. It is a separate, independ- ent, and distinct thing, with no ostensible or ascertained connection with human religion of any kind, true or false. 286 DIUTERNITT. It can by possibility rest upon no natural, philosophic, or reasonable foundations — can sustain no relation to human affairs, because it lies wholly outside the physical, moral, and mental territories we call nature. The entire conjectures, or, if any one chooses, reasonings, rest solely and exclusively upon the etymology of the Greek phrases which we translate into these two words, "thousand years." And yet a class of writers speak of millennium as though it were something which stands fitted into the frame-work of revealed religion. And, fourthly, the millennial doctrine places the present era of the world in a relation to the past and the future, which narrows down the operations of the Creator into conditions and limitations the most liliputian and disgraceful, and makes him a mere time-serving manufacturer of little things. And so it chains and fetters the mind of man down to a nar- row alphabet of thought and contemplation respecting his Maker, and cramps and depresses our ideas of very existence into the surveyed and limited precincts of verbalists and copyists. If their doctrine be true, the world is a failure ! Daniel Webster could have planned a better ! CHAPTER LXXX. CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST — A DEMURRER TO SOME RECENT THEORIES. Sensation treatises on the second coming of Christ are not very uncommon. They are frequently the production of talent, and are sometimes put forth in the most engaging forms of imagery, and clothed in beautiful rhetoric and verbiage, and frequently in such a profuse Scripture phra- seology that its very indefiniteness of meaning and lack of naturalness of idea give them popularity. Mystery itself CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OP CHRIST. 287 has a sort of charm about it, when put forth in engaging forms and clothed in classical oriental phraseology. The second-coming writers of the present day, though they differ much oftentimes in the manner of presenting the subject, yet they build generally upon the same kind of foundation and find the same general conclusions. The arguments are generally supported by a profuse peace-meal quotation from all over the Scriptures, particularly, and indeed entirely, its most allegorical expressions. If we reduce their embellished hypotheses to sober prac- tical meaning, they hold that the man Jesus Christ, who lived and was crucified in Jerusalem, will return again to the earth, will come down as a man out of heaven, and, in his proper manhood and human capacity, will live on the earth as other men live on it. He will take up his resi- dence, they mostly agree, in the city of Jerusalem, and there he will assume the reins of civil government, and reign as an earthly monarch, not only over the Ottoman Empire, but over all Asia and all the world. He will over- turn and upset all the existing civil governments, and all the ecclesiastical establishments, and will be, in fact, a uni- versal civil emperor, with full powers over the nations and people, civil, legislative, judicial, executive, and ecclesiastical. He is to set up a literal, visible, political kingdom, and rule and reign as any other earthly monarch would rule, only his reign will be "glorious," whatever that may mean, uni- versal and preeminently good. He will thus rule upon the earth for the space of one thousand years, during which time the preeminent advan- tages of his administration will be such that all living men will soon become entirely holy. All sin will now become eradicated from the earth, and the world will be absolutely pure. And then, at the close of the one thousand years, some tell us, the earth will be burned up with fire, and nothing will be left but its ashes. Others tell us it will be "glori- fied," and become heaven. \ 288 DIUTURNITY. They all agree, I believe, that, during this period of one thousand years, the world will be under the immediate con- trol of Christ, and the affairs of the world, as well as of human society and association, will be radically different from what they are at present; but in what these changes •will consist I have not seen it particularly intimated. Whether there will be, practically, such things as arts, science, husbandry, industry, commerce, courts of judica- ture, literature, what we now call religion, etc., I have not seen it intimated. The preaching of the Gospel, religious teaching, churches, and our usual external forms of worship, could be no more known, I presume, though I have not seen this particularly stated, as I remember. "The Chris- tian dispensation," as, for some reason unknown to me, this present state of things is called, will then be at an end. I have thus given an outline of this doctrine of millen- nium and second corning in my own language for the sake of brevity and perspicuity. To quote fully from those writings would be too voluminous. But I think the case is fairly stated ; and to support this doctrine it is of course necessary to support the several hypotheses out of which the general doctrine grows, and which, I believe, are, on all hands, acknowledged and claimed to be the following: I. The world has nearly answered the purposes of its creation. It is about as old as it was intended ever to be, and is now ready to wind up its affairs and cease to exist under its present constitution. II. The world is to continue to increase in wickedness until Christ shall come and turn the tide in the other di- rection. III. The chronology of the world must measure out pre- cisely six thousand years at the time of the coming. IV. The Jews are to be restored ; by which is meant that the entire living progeny of Jacob will be gathered together and form a political commonwealth inhabiting the land of Palestine. v CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 289 These several things must all go together; for, as we are told on all hands, so far as I know, they are essential parts of the system. But there are some objections against these hypotheses which might be stated, it seems to me, without joining the issue specifically. And, first, with regard to the full, ripe maturity of the world, or its old age, that question is argued at length in other parts of this treatise. And here it need perhaps be only remarked that, in support of the hypothesis, I have not known an argument, good or bad, to be attempted. It is nakedly assumed, without a reason, that the world is old; that it has about run its course, and is at the termination of its career. The possibility of an error on this point does not seem to have entered the minds of those writers. The world is old and worn out, and these are its "latter days," because it is old and worn out and these are its latter days. It has not been deemed worth while to look and see whether all the furniture of the world has been used at all, whether any of it has been used to the natural extent of its obvious capability, whether any thing has been finished. If men will but stand still one moment and look out upon the world, they will see thousands of things begun and nothing finished. They will see that nationalities have not arranged for the settlement of little petty difficulties without going to war, and slaying millions and ruining millions more. We have learned nothing except very partially; we have done noth- ing except very partially. We see around us a vast amount of plan and adaptation, but nothing actually geared and in- terworking. If the world is not in a new, crude, beginning state, then it is a clumsy failure. If system, plan, arrange- ment may be predicated of th6 works and ways of the Almighty, then is this world in its infantile state. Secondly. The world will continue to grow worse and worse until it is six thousand years old, when Christ will come in human person, and the entire face of things will be changed. 25 290 DIUTURNITY. This proposition, with most cool indifference and com- placency, assumes a very important historic fact, which is wholly and undoubtedly untrue. It assumes that the world is growing worse. Is this true? Is the world growing worse in morals and religion, or is it growing better? The latter, most assuredly, is true. A very hasty and superfi- cial observation, very sectional and very partial, might prove, or seem to prove, otherwise. The same kind of observation would, on some particular days, and in some particular localities, in the month of April, prove that the weather was growing colder, and that summer never could come; but a comparison of periods, more distant from each other, and more general as to locality, would prove that summer was regularly and unmistakably approaching. The experience of one man, oftentimes, may be, that during one entire day in October, the weather is growing warm; but this does not prove that the seasons have forgotten their accustomed changes. A more general experience will prove the very reverse. And so, in the other case, let account be taken of the en- tire world at any two periods far enough distant to make an observation, say five hundred or one thousand years, and who will not say the world is improving in morals and re- ligion? What was the state of religion and morals in the world six hundred years ago ? or one thousand, or two thou- sand, or five thousand years ago ? Improvement is often- times seemingly and may be really, somewhat irregular; and in times and places the real state of society, in this regard, is latent to our observation. It appears better or worse than it really is. But that the world generally is improv- ing regularly and very considerably in morals, in religion, in science, arts, industry, in every thing valuable to man- kind, is a truth which is patent to the observation of all men of observation. To deny this is to deny the most pal- pable historic facts. An argument, therefore, that holds that the morals and CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 291 religion of the world will continue to grow worse and worse until six thousand years, and then "a new dispensation" will usher in and take matters in hand to improve them, because they can not improve them under such a dispensa- tion as this, can not be a good one. It does not make out a case. It needs no opponent, because it is in deadly hostility with itself. Thirdly, as to the chronology. The second coming must occur, it is held on all hands, I believe, among late writers, at the close of just six thousand years from the creation of Adam. Some consider it necessary to calculate the time to the very month and day, but mostly it is not considered that calculations can or need be made so very accurately. The calculations differ somewhat, or are considered some- what uncertain. They all come within a few years — four or five or ten at most — so they can not set down the exact time of the event. According to the best millennarian au- thority the true time is about 1866, or certainly from that to 1870. Some considered it 1864 or 1865. There is a little uncertainty in our chronology, 'they say. And so, such scientific chronology as this is put forth in printed books, by men of letters, and sold in book-stores, and men buy and read them, and consider them respectable for science and learning. But what are some of the simple, well-known truths with regard to ancient chronology? There is no ancient chronol- ogy that is at all reliable. The true date of the world is not known with any reasonable probability within one thousand years; and, indeed, it is not known with any approach to certainty within several thousand years. This may appear strange to persons who have not taken the pains to inform themselves on the subject. They look into their Bibles and see the date of the world at the head of the columns, and they regard this as a settled matter. But they are greatly mistaken. In many Bibles you will see two sets of chronol- ogies, varying more than one thousand years from each other. 292 DIUTURNITY. The variation relates to very ancient times, chiefly, bnt by no means wholly, to the period before the flood. Ancient chronology is one of the most difficult and per- plexing subjects known to learning; and it is one that, in all likelihood, science will never be able to settle satisfactorily. The difficulties are many and of many different kinds. To say that the Bible teaches on the subject, is to say little or nothing. The Bible, indeed, teaches but very little ; and the question is, what does the Bible teach? According to some modes of computation, approved by some scholars, the He- brew versions will place the flood in the year of the world 1656, while the Samaritan Pentateuch places it, by the same modes of calculation, in the year 1307, and the Septuagint in 2262 ; and Josephus, authority much relied upon by scholars, puts it in 2256. Now, here is a variation of al- most one thousand years before the flood. Other modes of calculation differ still more widely. One of the best short treatises on this subject extant is in Appleton's New Amer- ican Cyclopedia. We are there told that "the estimates of the real epoch of the creation of Adam, by students of the Old Testament, vary from 3616 to 6984 B. C." And these estimates or calculations, even the outside ones, it is not pretended by any, have been demonstrated to be incorrect; but, on the contrary, though others differ in opinion from them, they are treated with profound respect and consid- eration by all the first chronologers known to literature. This subject has had the extensive labors of more than one hundred of the best scholars. Many have devoted many years to its study and research, and among such men we have differences of opinion, not, most assuredly, of five or six years, but of more than three thousand three hundred years. And for an author, pretending to write with scien- tific accuracy on this subject, and give out that the chron- ological calculations vary five or six or ten years, is, I do not hesitate to say, disgraceful. I will admit, however, because it is true, that generally, CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 293 among scholars who have devoted study to this subject, it is considered probable that we can approach, with reasonable belief, to within from one thousand to sixteen hundred years of the true date of the Adamic creation. Beyond that I can not admit, because it is not true. Dr. George Smith, of England, is well known in the em- pire of letters as one of the first authors of his age. He has lately issued three works on oriental history, viz : " He- brew People," "Gentile Nations," and "Patriarchal Age." In the last-named he devotes considerable space to this sub- ject. He examines, at some length, the chronological num- bers in the Hebrew, Samaritan, and Septuagint versions of the Bible, and is decidedly of the belief that the long num- bers of the Septuagint have claims to correctness decidedly superior to those of the other two. This opinion on this one point makes the world now very nearly, if not quite, seven thousand years old. Most scholars, I believe, incline to this opinion. Bishop Usher does not pretend that his system is correct. He claims, and no doubt correctly, that his calculations are. It is not likely that there is one able scholar extant, who has studied the subject deeply, who will not, in one shape or other, admit that it is probable that the world, since the creation of Adam, was six thousand years old nearly, if not quite, one thousand years ago. And yet, without an allusion to the well-known uncer- tainties investing this subject, it is gravely assumed, as an unquestioned thing, and as the basis of an extensive scien- tific argument, that the six thousandth year of the world must occur within a very few years of 1866. Such debat- ing needs no opposition, because a case is not made out ex- parte. It is not shown that it is certain that the chronol- ogy of the world will measure out six thousand years within three or four, or even within five hundred or one thousand years, of 1866. An issue can not be properly joined, or ought not to be, until a logical issue is presented; that is, until the affirmant first makes out a case. 294 DITITURNITY. It might then be asked if, indeed, we have no biblical chronology that is reliable. To this I reply, first, that I am under no more obligations to answer that question than other men are. I am not responsible for the literature of mankind. I have stated the case briefly, but correctly, and I hold that no man, even partially read, will for one mo- ment question any fact I have stated. But, secondly, wo indeed have very much very valuable biblical chronology. Since about the period of Abraham we have it very nearly correct. But the great and wide uncertainties lie before the flood. In that period we not only have no chronology, but we have no history of any sort, or next to none, and the lack of these things is far less important than many would suppose. An error of ten thousand years in the chronology of that period is of little if any practical dis- advantage; at least I do not see that it is more disadvan- tageous than the lack of other history. The practical in- conveniences of an unascertained chronology lie mostly in the period between the flood and Abraham. Fourthly. The Jews are to be restored to the possession of Palestine, and be converted to the true faith. Here, also, we have an argument which, without opposition, is unable to stand alone. What is the true and proper mean- ing of this proposition? Who are to be restored? Who are "the Jews," in the meaning of the proposition? So much has been written, and, as I conceive, erroneously written, on this subject, that I must beg the indulgence of the reader for a few minutes. Please to lay some of the books aside a moment, and look at a few plain, unques- tioned biblical facts touching this subject. It is said that certain Divine promises were made to and respecting the lineal posterity of the twelve sons of Jacob, which are yet to be fulfilled; and they are construed to mean that hereafter this lineal posterity will reinhabit Pal- estine, and be converted to Christianity. Now, the point I raise is this: Is it possible that that CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 295 proposition can be true when looked at in connection with unquestioned historic facts which stand necessarily con- nected with it? If I can show that this can not be possible, then I need not argue the question. The proposition assumes that the lineal posterity of Jacob still exist in the world, visibly distinct from other races; that they are not Christians, but are called Jews, and so may be nationalized and converted as above, and settle in Palestine. Now, if this is in itself impossible, then we need have very little to do with the interpretation of prophecy re- specting it. Let us look at some unquestioned history. The sons of the twelve Patriarchs and their families formed a distinct people, and did not mix generally with other people, during the period of the bondage in Egypt and during the journey in the wilderness, the whole forming a period of about two hundred and sixty years. I say they did not mix gener- ally, but they must be understood, at the best and at the first, to be but half-breed descendants of Jacob and his wives; for Jacob's sons did not marry their sisters, but outside. But, after perhaps two or three generations, they mfermar- ried among themselves. But after they entered the promised land, this was no longer the case. It was neither their law nor their usage, from that time to the coming of Christ, a period of fifteen hun- dred years, to so intermarry as to preserve their lineal identity. I am aware that this is contrary to the common notion, but it accords strictly with the history and with the natural- ness and reason of the thing. The Israelitish Church was as exclusive, as it must needs be; but the lineal birth-line was not. They were to take in from without all who would come in, and there was to be "no difference" between these and those. They mixed and mingled with all who would come in among them. In Esther viii : 17, it is incidentally men- tioned that "many of the people of the land became Jews." To become a Jew was to identify one's self with the Church. 296 DIUTURNITY. These proselytes to the Church, after the first generation, became mingled with the mass. Nevertheless, straight lines of geneology from Jacob were very preservable, and were actually preserved, as is well known. And it is also true that the Church generally, very generally, rather nomi- nally, were regarded the posterity of Jacob. The people prided themselves in that noble and ancient ancestry, and called themselves Jacob. There was no going out, or very little, but a constant coming in, for fifteen hundred years. Secondly. About four hundred and fifty or five hundred years after the occupation of Palestine, the Hebrew people divided into two great nationalities, each claiming to be the true Church and lineage, and each proselyting what they could. One party consisted chiefly of the large tribe of Judah, and were, from his name, called Jews. The other was the "Ten Tribes," as they are commonly called. They were very hostile to each other generally, but continued national neighbors for about two hundred and fifty-four years, when the Kingdom of Israel, as the ten tribes were called, ceased to exist. The people were carried away cap- tive into other countries, and have not been heard of since, except that ages afterward a mixed-blood portion of them returned and formed the Samaritan branch of the Church. Thirdly. Judah still retained the ancient name, but, as is Been, were but a mixed-blood portion of ancient Israel. And, in something over one hundred years, they were also carried away captive to a foreign country, and in about sev- enty years a portion, and but a small portion, of them re- turned to Palestine. Now, for one moment, let us trace the Jewish nation, to whom, as a whole, these ancient promises were made, through the history of this captivity, and see where we find them at the close of it. Nearly or somewhere about one-half were carried to Babylon, and in seventy years they returned. Who returned? Josephus tells us that forty-two thousand four hundred and sixty-two returned. Not much more than CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 297 a mere handful of the leading families returned to Pales- tine. And what became of the remainder, the great body of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin? Like other people of those ages, they mixed and mingled with the people of earth, and, in a very few generations, lost their national Jewish identity forever. These promises, then, so made, as is supposed, to Jacob, as a whole, now follow not even this branch of a branch of Jacob's posterity, but those forty-two thousand people. And then, fourthly, in about five hundred and thirty-six years after this, a very important change took place in the lineal history of this now small remnant of mixed-blood people; and, meanwhile, the influx from without was con- stant, intermingling a foreign blood from without. The Savior came, and the Jews, as this remnant was now called, divided again. In this division it is not known which was the larger and which the smaller portion. The one portion, under the leadership of the Apostles, remaining firm in the Scriptures, receiving Jesus as the Messiah, now constituted the great Apostolic Church, no other person taking any part therein. And for about ten or twelve years, when it had spread into great proportions, and over vast countries, it was still exclusively composed of a certain portion of the Church which was called Jewish before the crucifixion. The other portion of the Church apostatized from the re- ligion of their Scriptures, and set up a false religion in op- position to Christ and the Bible. This apostate portion of the Church took, or rather retained, the name of Jews. No body cared what name they went by, and the other party took the name of Christians. It is a most egregious blunder to suppose that modern Jews maintained the ancient Jewish religion. Christians— that is, that portion of the Jewish Church which received Christ — maintained their ancient faith in that they main- tained the Christ of it. Those who repudiated Christ repu- diated the Old Testament religion; for, exclude Christ from 298 DIUTTJRNITY. the Old Testament, and what religion have you got left? None. You have got some names, and history, and forms, and manipulations, but you have no religion left but deism. This is the condition of the Jews— the people so-called — - since the apostolic days. I can not afford to enlarge upon this point here ; but the reader may find the whole subject thoroughly elaborated in my work on the " Identity of Judaism and Christianity." But these are some of the simple, unquestioned, historic facts. Now, when we are told about "the Jew)s," and are desired to understand thereby the entire living progeny of Jacob as an exclusive race, we are required to do that which is clearly impossible. There is no such exclusive race. There is no such people existing. There is indeed a distinct peo- ple in the. world, which every body sees, called Jews, but they are only a small apostate remnant of a fragment of a portion of a very impure blood, descending in fragmentary lines from Jacob. But where is Jacob to-day? Most assuredly he does not exist as a distinct people. These promises, we are told, pertain to the descendants of Jacob. This can not be. Who are you going to restore? The proposition fails for lack of support in its own ex-parte frame-work. These present Jews might, for aught that I know, be restored or gathered together nationally, preternaturally, or supernat- urally, in Tennessee or in Palestine; but that would do nothing toward meeting these promises, for they pertain, we are told, to the entire lineal descendants of Jacob and none others. This is no place for prophetic exegesis, but I can not but suggest that the Prophets are misinterpreted. But to this personal second coming of Christ, in manner and form, as is set forth by millennarian writers, I have a far weightier objection than is set forth above. It repudi- ates the remedial system of grace we call Christianity . Is Christianity to be laid aside for a better system? Has it CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 299 proved itself a failure? Does it lack the vital elements of perfeetability? Who are the who have tested it and dem- onstrated its inefficiency? Who has shorn its locks and infused the curdling blood of imbecility into its veins? Can a few dashes of rhetoric and a volume of hypercriticism upon a few doubtful passages of Scripture set the Bible against the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is this Gospel no longer the Gospel of salvation? I will not believe it. It has, in ten thousand times ten thousand instances, proved itself fully capable of wielding the very power of God unto sal- vation. Its simple instrumentality, geared as it is, and with the Savior where he is, is capable of wielding infinite power, and of applying it to all the widely diversified wants of mankind, in all the varied avenues of human misfortune. In its own very letter it claims ability to renovate this world, and make it a world of sinless, happy people, where every man shall love his neighbor as ifimself, and his God supremely. It claims to be a Gospel without any earthly, fleshly emperorship in Jesus Christ. And now I hold it to be a question of some importance whether this remedial system of grace and recovering sal- vation is what it purports to be. If it is, indeed, inade- quate to the wants of the world, why was it instituted? To what valuable purpose was this atonement for sin — this sys- tem of faith, this vicarious suffering, this sacrifice, this pres- ently-working plan of salvation, which is notoriously out- side and irrespective of a fleshly, earthly second-coming? One of the best millennarian writers I have seen on the second coming, says, in so many words, "My Bible tells me of no millennium which existing processes are to bring about." And so we have an open and express repudiation of what we call the plan of salvation, or the Christian religion. These "existing processes" won't do! Whatever verbal criticism may be given to the expression of our Savior that his kingdom was not of this world, I do not hesitate to understand him to mean that his kingdom 300 DIUTTTRNITY. not only teas not, but was not to be of this world. And from all we learn of him and his character, his office and his work, from his inseparable identity with the Divinity, from his relation to mankind, from his mediatorial position and enterprise, his manner of working the work of human redemption and restoration to the favor of Grod, of bringing back this revolted world to its orbit of peace and harmony and loyalty — from all this, and much more, we plainly see that his work does not call for a forum among men, for a position of human power, for a civil throne, for a place in the hustings. According to the whole tenor of Bible religion, from the primeval promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent to the last amen of the apocaliptic lessons, there is, in the wide world and work of mediatorial power and benevolence, no place for a temporal scepter, no use for a mere worldly theater, no sense nor reason in mere mundane political jurisdiction. The idea changes radically the entire policy of the Divine administration. The religion of faith in Jesus Christ becomes a nullity. We are no longer to have faith in his atoning merits and vicarious death, but in the political emperorship of the man Jesus. The Savior of the world, as he is, becomes a nullity. The Prophets were not teachers of practical religious truth. The Apostles were mistaken as to the essential work and office of Christ; and of him himself it may no longer be said that by the sacrifice of himself, once offered, he brought life and immortality to light by his Gospel. We now learn that he is to bring these things to light by means of a human sword, wielded upon an emperor's throne. I can not exchange the old religion for the new. No, nor can I entertain the proposition to do so. Being com- mitted to the former absolutely, I can not admit the latter as a competitor, nor even weigh its boastful claims to rival- ship with either the philosophy or the revelation of the Bible. Being a Christian, I have boarded this craft, and CONCERNING THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. 301 have weighed my anchor and committed myself to the sea. You may eulogize your long-boat, and tell me it is newer and better suited to some shoal waters over which we may have to pass. It may be painted like a life-boat, but I fear it is a death-boat. Candidly, I'm afraid of it. I don't believe there is or can be any other bark under heaven, among men, by which we must be borne above the shoals and quicksands of these waters but this Gospel, as it is now working. All it requires is to be worked more efficiently. The Savior, as he is and tvhere he is, proposes to you and to me, and to all who have lived before, as well as to the millions who shall follow us, that, by and through this Gospel, and without any civil rule or second coming, " about 1866," we shall be so far elevated above mundane mis- fortune — the mire and clay of all possible earthly degen- eracy — that we shall be brought right into personal and happy communion with Almighty God; and that by this means, and this alone, the long-lost glories of Eden shall return to earth, and the bowers of sinless paradise shall adorn and embellish every plain, and every mountain, and every hill-side, moral, mental, and physical, in all this green earth. That is enough. More than this Christ himself could not do in any changed position, nor by any means conceivable to my understanding. So, I don't need these so-called second-coming advantages. Pardon me if I reckon them dear at the asking. Rich as I am in the inheritance of all the affluence of Christ's salvation under the Gospel, these little earthly things would not be greatly desirable. Perhaps an audience and beneficiaries among those who are more needy, who are not Christians, might be secured. Beggars, I am told, are grateful for small favors, but kings and priests unto God are already the proprietors of a city, the very foundations of which are garnished with all manner of precious stones; and the twelve gates are twelve pearls, every several gate is of one pearl, and the streets of the city are pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And there 302 DIUTURNITY. is no temple therein (nor emperor's throne), for the Lord G-od Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it; and this city has no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shino in it; for the glory of G-od doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. CHAPTER LXXXI. CONCERNING THE PHILOSOPHY AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AS IT NOW IS. Christianity is the religion of nature as well as of God. It is a complete system, adapted to all the possible wants arid woes of mankind. There is not a malady, there is not a difficulty, there is not a want nor woe nor misfortune, private, public, individual, social, personal, nor national, in all the wide world of man, that it will riot cure 'perfectly. It gears itself perfectly and easily, naturally and philosoph- ically, into all the varieties of exigence and circumstance in which man can possibly be found, with adequate power to restore him from every disability which is in any way con- sequent upon the acts of Adam. Let it be worked. Noth- ing more is needed. It is not susceptible of change nor of alteration except for the worse. Let man work up to it, and all is well. And it is not only adapted to individuals, but to the race. Its promise and undertaking is to repair the ruins of the fall, not partially but wholly. Its undertaking is to hand back the entire world to God cleansed and renovated, and as free from sin as when it came from his plastic hand. By Christianity I mean the religion written in the Bible, as it is and has been — the religion of Abel, of Moses, the Prophets, Apostles, and of all pious men who live now. PHILOSOPHY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 303 In the progress of these workings, practically, several things became necessary as parts of the plan in its begin- ning stages. The flood and ministry of Noah; the calling and mission of Abraham, and of Isaac and Jacob and the twelve Patriarchs; the history of the Israelites in Egypt, in the deliverance from bondage there, their journey in the wilderness and occupation of Palestine ; the mission of Moses and his successors, the Prophets, and of John the Baptist. All these things dropped in as parts of the pupilage system. Each thing was necessary in its place, and each served its appropriate part; and then the manifestation of God in the fleshly person of Jesus, the son of Mary. All this work is susceptible of a clear and philosophical explanation, though the explanation can not be properly introduced here. Then God addressed himself to the world as it is. He did not, properly speaking, enact a system of religion; he revealed the system which existed in the very truth and philosophy of nature. Any other arrangement would have infringed upon primary truth and natural justice. All was addressed to the human constitution in all its variety, and to the springs of human action and motive wherever human action and motive exist. When God, in Christ, had finished his work on earth- that which pertained to earth and required the vestments of humanity — he laid aside those vestments as being no longer useful, and renewed his essential spirituality. The Apostles were instructed at the right time and in the right way. Miracles pertain naturally to a beginning state, and so they discontinued. Improvement follows improvement; nature works onward. When Christ retired from manhood, the preliminaries of salvation were all settled. Now noth- ing is to be done but to work the system. Christ did not leave the world, and go away to some other place, in the sense that he might come back again at some future time. He is here all the while, as fully, truly, and efficiently as when he preached on the Mount. There is no 304 DIUTURNITY. going away nor coming again, as we would apply these terms to human persons. These words, or those from which they are translated, mean by going away that his mode of existence becomes so changed as to become invisible to us. And he may be said to come again as his sin-subduing power in the Holy Ghost may be more apparent and his name be more glorified among men. The Savior is not only here now, but here in the most appropriate and efficient manner possible. For the Savior to introduce himself again in a fleshly, human form would certainly put an end to Chris- tianity — the Christianity of Scripture — and introduce some- thing else. A visible second -coming would be unwise and unphil- osophical. The truths of religion are innate, independent, and immutable. And now there are but two ways in which truth can be brought into contact with and impress the mind. These two ways are by knowledge and by faith, or by what we see and by what we believe. And we are so constituted that the oftener we see a truth the less it affects us ; while the oftener we believe, or dwell upon a truth be- lieved and not seen, the more it impresses us. This is an important principle in human nature, and one to which re- ligion must needs adapt itself. Any thing, no matter how important, frequently seen, loses its power upon us; while a truth believed and often brought before the mind, in- creases in its power and impresses us more and more. And so, a Christ frequently seen would soon be no Christ to us. He would become commonplace and entirely uninteresting in a short time. While we all know that the Savior, in his present attitude, believed in and dwelt upon in the mind by faith, increases our reverence and challenges more and more our adoration and holy feeling. Our re- ligion is eminentl} 1 - philosophical. Christ to live in the world would be but one man among many millions. With many there would be great curiosity to get a sight of him; and then, for the most part, they PHILOSOPHY, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.. 305 would be disappointed. They saw a man, but no evidence of his being the Savior. The minds and hearts of men would be turned away from what we now call religion, and atten- tion would be directed to the great Man, and the religion of faith in God would be changed into speculations, dis- putes, and curiosity about mere worldly facts, their char- acter and effects. Again : This thing we call religion requires but one single change in the moral affairs of mankind. It requires the implantation of obedience in the hearts of men, and nothing more. But obedience is by no means the mere doing of such things as we are commanded to do. There is prop- erly no obedience but affectionate obedience; that is, the doing of things commanded for the sake of the command — from a sincere wish to obey. Now, how is this principle to be engendered in the soul and become universal by means of mere commands addressed to the external senses? The thing is impossible. As it is, the command laid nakedly upon the soul, is of such a kind as naturally to beget and inspire love to God through Christ, and assimilation to the character which Christ ex- hibited when he was a man of sorrows. The spiritual com- mands which religion now imposes, tend always to the in- crease of affectionate obedience. In this new state of things, what is to become of the doc- trines of religion, as we now understand them, and which stand out in such collossal beauty and grandeur before the admiration of heaven and earth? With our present knowl- edge of the doctrine of the Divine Sonship, how would it comport with a visible, fleshly Savior? Christianity comes to an end — is superseded by entirely new principles. Jesus Christ, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, has now permanently become a man, living in a certain city, in a brick house, and is a neighbor to Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones. He holds a very high civil office, and also exercises mili- tary rule. He has many servants, domestics and others, some '26 306 DIUTURNITT. of whom attend to his finances, to see that other men don't defraud him. We are not told how he is to get into office; but his government is to be monarchical, and so is to be unphilosophical and contrary to nature. Nature and the world and mankind, it is presumed, are to continue to be the same as now, and so this second com- ing must comport with practical life. Or if not — if nature and the constitution of man are to be radically changed and become something else entirely, something of which we have no knowledge and can understand nothing, then we are talking about nothing — we are not interchanging ideas. Any other words might as well be used as second coming; for in that case, addressed to the human understanding, they mean nothing. If we are talking about Jesus Christ living here like one of us, and being a king or emperor, why, be it so. Let us so understand it. The thing is conceivable, and might be so. I want to understand the proposition in a plain, nat- ural way. ' The objection I have to it is, that it is unphil- osophical, unreasonable, and unnatural; at war with revealed religion, the constitution of man, and the character of God. It sets the Almighty against the divinity, and overturns a system of religion which was calculated and intended to elevate man to the fulfillment of his high social destiny and to communion with his God. ATTEMPTED DEGRADATION OE JEHOVAH. 307 CHAPTER LXXXII. CONCERNING THE ATTEMPTED DEGRADATION OF JEHOVAH TO AN EARTHLY EMPERORSHIP— A GLANCE AT ITS RA- TIONALE. This subject, if treated rationally and practically, must be done in plain common language. To be understood, we must speak what we mean. To describe and understand plain, natural, worldly things, we need no oriental, alle- gorical phraseology. If Jesus Christ is going to live again, in fleshly form, in this world, and be a king or emperor, and by his power put down other kings and empires, and be a civil ruler among men — if these things are going to come to pass now, in 1866 or 1867, or in two or three years at most from 1866 — then let us look at it practically, nat- urally, and rationally. The thing is as clearly conceivable as that the present Emperor of France will be superseded by some other certain person, or that the President of the United States will be superseded by some certain person, either by election or usurpation, or in some other way. All these or any other political changes are possible, so far as we know. It is perfectly simple and easy to understand that all North America, or all the continent, might become one government — any kind of government — or that all Europe and America might be consolidated in one govern- ment. Any national and political changes might happen. Then let us look practically and rationally at the civil and political change which the millennarian writers tell us will come about now, in a year or two. If natural men continue to live here, then, with Jesus Christ, or any one else, to be- 308 DIUTURNITY. come universal emperor, the civil changes must have some natural aspects easily understood. Then the President of the United States will either be thrust out of office by violence or be induced to resign vol- untarily, or to hold his office as a provincial governor, sub- ordinate, in a civil and political sense, to the universal emperor of all the provinces; and this will also be the case with the emperor of France and Russia, the queen or king of England and Spain, etc., and also of every little petty government in Africa and Asia ; and China and Japan, too, must fall into rank and do likewise. And then these changes are to come about in some prac- tical way. We can suppose it to be published in the news- papers, and other channels of information, that the Lord Jesus has assumed man's form, and lives in New York, or London or Jerusalem, or somewhere else, and that he is recognized as a monarch about to assume civil rule in all the earth. Such intelligence, however attested, would scarcely attract attention. Not a king would listen to it nor vacate his throne. True or false, the announcements would be laughed at wherever they would attract sufficient attention. Those who professed to have seen and conversed with him would be treated like the others. The so-called appearance of Christ in the world is indeed no very new thing. It has happened many times. About 1834, one Matthias, in Jersey City, claimed to be Christ, and was publicly known for several years. He spent much of his time in New York, and a number of first-class per- sons firmly believed in him; and I chanced to have such a private and personal knowledge of his history, that I could relate some most marvelous facts touching the credulity of some persons in regard to his claims. His private, do- mestic influence over some families knew no bounds. And it is probable the man himself may have been as much duped as others were. I allude to cases of this sort not for the purpose of dis- ATTEMPTED DEGRADATION OF JEHOVAH. 309 paraging a true Christ by the production of false ones, but to show that a possible true one would have the same fate. Men are going to continue as they are, with such slow, gradual changes as natural means will bring about, or they will be moved and changed unnaturally or violently by miraculous force. We are to presume the former; for if the latter is to be the case, then none of us know what we are talking about. We can reason only by predicating our thoughts of the things around us, and by drawing natural inferences. And as the world now is, there would be little or no difference between a true and a false Christ, so far as his reception in the world is concerned. It is assumed that Jesus Christ, in fleshly form, would exercise immense moral and religious influence over the world; but this is a mere naked assumption, with neither reason, analogy, nor revelation to support it. He exercises more influence now, where he is, than he did when he was visible and wore the clothing of flesh. It is by no means true that Jehovah is under the necessity of resorting to merely adventitious means of using such worldly, fleshly, and social instruments as you and I would resort to to ef- fect such purposes as pertain to thedivinity. Indeed, there never was any such coming into the world on the part of the Savior as Millennarians seem to sup pose; indeed, it is very far from being true that Jesus Christ came into the world in the days of John the Baptist, and that he went away again. No Christian man believes that these words are used in any sort of literal sense. They are highly figurative, and represent a mere appearance, and by no means a reality. He is no more here or absent at one time than at an other. What was called the "coming" of Christ before, was no real coming at all, any more than it was a going. It was the manifesting of the Godhead to our senses. And this was not done for the purpose, by any means, of giving Christ power, or additional power in the world, but for very different purposes. 310 DIUTURNXTY. It remains therefore to be shown, or at least there should he produced some testimony of some kind which would go to show, that the Savior would possess more moral and re- ligious power over the hearts and lives of men in a fleshly form, and as the civil ruler of the people, than in his pres- ent position and relation to mankind. This has not only not been attempted to be shown, but the supposition would seem to be entirely out of the ques- tion and even ridiculous. Look at it a moment in the plain, practical light of common sense. We are to suppose him to appear in this world, as it is, and to be a man, like other men, with the exception that he is Messiah; and that those who can be induced to do so, will believe that he is. Well, all this we have seen once, and his human appearance did not seem to give him additional power even in the little province of Palestine, much less in the world at large. Generally he was unknown ; and in the neighborhood of his acquaintance, some three hundred miles in extent, in the course of his life, he commanded even the respect of only a few thousand Jews. The Ro- mans knew him only as a by-word, and he has not even a place in their history. To suppose that Jesus Christ is to enforce order and good behavior, to spread and inculcate good morals, and to deepen religious truth in the hearts of mankind by means of a personal, human agency, is, in my view, to degrade him to a degree bordering, at least, upon sacrilege. He would live in some city, or town, or country, in a certain house, and other men and families would be his neighbors; he would hold what is commonly esteemed a somewhat higher office than Mr. Johnson or Mr. Napoleon, or these and those other men, many of whom at least are distinguished more for ignorance and wickedness than for higher and better qualities. It might be said or imagined, perhaps, that he was an emperor, and that his civil jurisdiction extended ATTEMPTED DEGRADATION OF JEHOVAH. 311 beyond the Atlantic and beyond the Pacific, but really and practically the thing is impossible; and neither poetry, romance, nor rhetoric can make it otherwise. To look at this thing in any practical light imaginable, stripped of the romance and oriental verbiage in which it is clothed, it humiliates the name and the greatness of Jehovah, and brings down his crown from the high and pure emperorship of the universe to the dirty shambles of earthly contention, in a manner which, in my eye, looks abominable! And to what purpose? For what good? "Why? What advantage is there or can there be in it? These are questions which are not satisfactorily answered by the wild cry, "He's coming! he's coming!" Indeed, he is not "coming," in that sense, for he is here now. He has never been away. And, on the other hand, all we have from millennarians on the subject is vague, indefinite, impracticable, and so void of detailed description and naturalness that no man can understand and comprehend it. There is a wild sensa- tional cry about "coming, coming;" but this, however much of oriental flourish or displays of rhetoric there may be about it, does not meet the case. This is a reasonable and natural world, and the men in it are natural men, and we can understand only natural things when men and govern- ments and civil jurisdiction, and the like, are spoken of. I defy any man who believes in millennarianism and sec- ond coming, as they paint it — for they do not describe it — to tell me what it is that he believes, and make his belief Jit the existing facts of this world lav System, its wonders ; The Atmos- phere and Acm )spheric il Phenomena, etc. Illustrated with numerous engravings and a portrait. 2 vols, royal civo. sheep, spring back, marbled edge. This edition is printed fr mi entirely new plates, containing the recent re- vision of the author, and is the only complete edition published in the Uni- ted States. The works of Dr. Dick are sd well known and appreciated, (being such as should be in the possession of every family and made the daily study of its members, old and young,) that the attempt to praise them would be like gild- ing fine gold- " Dick's Works. — Those who read at all, know both the name of Dr. Dick and the w irk itself, now reprinted. It has long found acceptance with the public " — Presbyterian Review , Edinburgh. " The range of subjects contained in these several essays and scientific treatises is varied, all are highly important and of practical utility to mankind generady " — Presbyterian of the fVest. " The best recommend ition which can be given of Dr. Dick's Works is the great popularity they have enjoyed, and the numerous editions of them, col- lectelanl separate* which have bean published in England and America. Messrs. App egate &. Co are deserving of much praise for the tasteful and handsome stvle in which they have issued the work, and at such a price as to be within the reach of all " — Cincinnati Gazette. " Dr. Dick's works have filled a place occupied by no others, and have pre- sented the great facts of nature and the scientific movements and discoveries of. the present age* in a manner at once both pleasing and instructive."— Central Watchman. "The typography, plates, paper, and binding make the book more favor- able in appe trance th in any publication we have yet seen in the West, and without exulting any, we are glad to say it equals the publications of like work* in New York or B >ston. II >w g| id we are to see this, as it tells well for go ahead Ohio. — Springfield Republic. " We hail this remarkably cheap and greatly improved edition of Dr. Dick's admirable and highly popular Works. It is a real boon to the mil- lions to be able to purchase such an excellent work for so inconsiderable a cost. We earnestly recommend this work to all our readers, and especially to all who d -sire to store their minds with general information." — Wesleyan Associate Magazine, London. Eleven different works are embneed in these volumes, making it an edition full and complete. The range of subjects embraced in these several essays and scientific treatises, is varied, all are highly important and of practical utility to mankind generally. These characteristics of Dr. Dick's writings, while! hey render them permanently valuable, insure for them also a wide circulation among all classes of readers. — P resbyterian of the West. APPLEGATE & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. Plutarch's Lives, With Historical and Critical Notes, and a Life ok Pltjtarch. Illustrated with a Portrait. 1 vol. royal 8vo.. sheep, spring back, marbled edges. This edition has been carefully revised and corrected, and is printed upon entirely new plates, stereotyped by ourselves, to correspond with our library edition of Dick, etc. "Next in importance to a thorough knowledge of history, and in many respects fully equal to it, is the study of well authenticated biography For this valuable purpose, wo. know of no work extant superior to the fifty lives of Plutarch. It is a rare magazine of literary and biographical knowledge. The eminent men whose lives compose this work, constitute almost the entire of that galaxy of greatness and brightness, which stretches across the horizon of the distant past, a>nd casts upon the present time a mild and steady lustre. Many of them are among the most illustrious of the earth." — Nashville and Louisville Christian Advocate. " No words of criticism, or of eulogy, need he spent on Plutarch's Lives. Every body knows it to be the most popular book of biographies now extant in any known language. It h >s been more read, by the youth of all nations, for the last four or five centuries in particular, than any ever written. It has done more good, in its way, and has been the means of forming more sublime resolutions, and even more sublime characters than any other work with which we are acquainted, except the Bible. It is a better piece of prop- erty for a young man to own, than an eighty acre 1 >t in the Mississippi Val- ley, or many hundred dollars in current money. We would rather ieave it as a legacy to a son, had we to make the choice, than any moderate amount of property, if we were certain he would read it. There are probably but few really great men now living, that have not been largely indebted to it for their early aspirations, in consequence of which, they have achieved their greatness.'' — Ladies' Repository. " No book has been more generally sought after or read with greater avidity." — Indiana State Sentinel. This is a magnificent Rvo., handsomely and substantially gotten up, in every respect highlv creditable to the enterprising house of Applegate & Co. Who has not read Plutarch ? for centuries it has occupied a commanding po- sition in the literature of the age. It needs no eulogy ; the reading public know it to be one of the most interesting, instructive and popular biographies now extant.— St. Louis Republican. The Western public are under obligations to Messrs. Applegate & Co., of Cincinnati, for the handsome and substantial manner in which they have re- cently got up editions of several standard works. Dick's Works unabridged, Itollin's Ancient History, and now Plutarch's Lives, attest the enterprise and good judgment of this firm in their publishing department. To speak of the character and merits of Plutarch, which the old and the young of several generations are familiar with, would be presumptuous ; but we tan with pro- priety refer in terms of high commendation to the manner in which this edi- tion has been got up in every department. The size is royal octavo, just right for the library. The paper is good, the typography excellent, and the calf binding just as it should be. neat and substantial. If this house contin- ues as il lias begun, it will soon have an extended and enviable reputation for the character and style of its editions of standard works, and it will deserve it. — Cincinnati Daily Times. APPLEGATE & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. Rollin's Ancient History. The Ancient History of the Carthagenians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, and Persians, Grecians and Macedonians, including a History of the Arts and Sciences of the Ancients, with a Life of the Author. 2 vols.royalSvo., sheep, spring back, marbled edge. One of the most complete and impartial works ever published. It takes us back to early days, and makes us live and think with the men of by-gone centuries. It spreads out to us in a pleasant and interesting style, not only the events which characterize the early ages, but the inner world of thought and feeling, as it swayed the leading minds of the times. No library is com- plete without Rollin's Ancient History. " A new edition of Rollin's Ancient History has just been issued by Ap- plegate & Co. The value and importance of this work are universally ac- knowledied. Every private library is deficient without it ; and it is now furnished at sc cheap a rate, that every family should have it. It should be placed in the hands of all our youth, as infinitely more instructive and use- ful than the thousand and one trashy publications with which the country is deluged, and which are so apt to vitiate the taste and ruin the minds of young readers. One mere word in behalf of this new edition of Rollin : It may not be generally known, that in previous English editions a large and interesting portion of the work has been suppressed. The deficiencies are here supplied and restored from tiie French editions, giving the copy of Messrs. Applegate &. Co. a superiority over previous English editions." — Western Recorder. '* This work in this form lias been for some years before the public and is the best and most complete edition published. The work is comprised in two volumes of about six hundred pages each, containing the prefaces of Rollin and the ' History of the Arts and Sciences of the Ancients,' which have been omitted in most American editions." — Springfield Republic. •■ The work is too well known, and has too long been a favorite to require any comroendaiionfrom us. Though in some matters more recent investi- gations have led to conclusions different from those of the author, yet his general accuracy is unquestionable." — Western Christian Advocate. ,k This work is so well known as standard — as necessary to the completion of every gentleman's library — that any extended notice of it would be folly on our part. We have named it for the purpose of calling the attention of our readers to the beautiful edition issued by the enterprising house of Mess. Applegate & Co."— Jfetkodist Protestant., Baltimore. The public are under obligations to Applegate & Co. for their splendid edition of this standard History.— Times. Works like this, that form a connecting link between the splendid civiliza- tion of the ancients, and the more enduring progress of the moderns, are a boon to the lover of literature and the student of History. — Railroad Record Time is fleeting — Kmpires perish and monuments moulder. But a book like this survives the wieck of time and the ravages of decay. — Globe. The history of departed kingdoms, with the causes of their sad decline and fall, serve as light-houses along the sea of life, to warn succeeding generations of their fate, anil to teach them to avoid the rocks and quicksands of error and guilt on which they were wrecked. In no history is this purpose so well ac- complished as in that of Rollin, a handsome edition of which has just been Issued by Applegate &. Co.— 2fews. APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. The Spectator, By Addison, Steele, etc., 1 vol. royal 8vo., 750 pages, with portrait of Addison. Sheep, spring back, marble edge. The numerous calls for a complete and cheap edition of this valuable work, have induced us to newly stereotype it, in this form, corresponding in style and price with our other books. Its thorough revisions have been com- mitted to competent hands, and will be found complete. There is no work in the English language that has been more generally read, approved, and appreciated than The Spectator. It is a work that can be perused by persons of all classes and conditions of society with equal pleasure and profit. " One hundred and forty years a°ro, when there were no daily newspapers nor periodicals, nor cheap fictions for the people, the Spectator had a daily circulation in England. It was witty, pithy, tasteful, and at times vigorous, and lashed the vices and follies of the age, and inculcated many useful les- eons which would have been disregarded from more serious sources. It was widely popular." — Central Christian Herald. " Applega.te & Co., 43 Main street, have just published, in a handsome octavo volume of 750 pages, one of the very best classics in our language. It would be superfluous at this day to write a line in commendation of this work."— Cin. Com. " There are few works, if any, in the English language that have been mo-re highly appreciated and generally read than the Spectator. It is in gen- eral circulation, and continues a popular work for general reading. The chaste style of its composition, and purity of its diction, has placed it high in rank among the English classics. "—£2. Louis Republican. "It is a source of general satisfaction to hear of the republication of a work of such standard merit as the Spectator. In these days, when the press teems with the issue of ephemeral publications, to subserve the purpose of an hour, to enlist momentary attention, and leave no improvement on the mind, or impression on the heart — it is a cause of congratulation to see, now and then, coming trom the press such works as this ; to last as it should, so long as a pure taste is cultivated or esteemed." — Cincinnati Gazette. " Criticism upon the literary merits of the Spectator would be rather late and superfluous at the present lime. Steele, Addison and Swift are above criticism. This edition is gotten up in style and form that will make it pecu- liarly acceptable to the admirers of English literature. It is bound in one volume, with copious notes of the contributors prefixed. The type is clear and elegant, the paper $*ood, and the binding excellently suitable for the li- brary." — Cincinnati Daily Times. " Amid the rush and whirl of this locomotive and high pressure aere — amid the jfhnost breathless rage for the light and flimsy effusions with which the laboring press is inundating the world, Addison, the immortal Addison, — one of the most beautiful, chaste, elegant, and instructive, as well as piecing writers of the English language, may be pushed aside or overlooked for a time, but the healthful mind, satiated with the frothy productions of the times, will again return to such authors as Addison, and enjoy with renewed zest the pleasing converse of such pare and noble spirits." — MethodUt Monthly. APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. The Tattler and Guardian, By Addison. Steele, etc., with an account of the authors, by Thoa. Bab- bington Macau lay. Illustrated with steel plate engravings. Complete in one volume, with notes and general indexes. Tattler and Guardian.— Addison and Steele never wrote anything that was not good ; but superlatively so is the Tattler and Guardian. In con- junction with the Spectator, (and neither of them is complete without the other) it affords a full view of English, as well as Continental Society, one hundred and fifty years ago, and in a quaint and classic style vividly portrays the follies and vices of the age. With pleasant humor, keen wit, and bitter sarcasm, it overflows, and is entirely free from the nonsense and common- place tvvaddie and toadyism of much of the popular writings of the present day. It would be superfluous for us to say that the style in which it is writ- ten is chaste, classic and unique. No Library of Belles-Lettres is complete without it, and no scholar can appreciate the beauties of the English lan- guage until he has thoroughly studied the diction of Addison and Steele. The splendid series of* articles contained in these journals, having such authors as Addison. Steele and their associates, living through a century and a h-ilf, and still retaining all their freshness, can not but make them in their present shiipe sought after in every enlightened community.— Cincinnati Daily Times. Thk Tattler and Guardian, whose capital Essays by Addison, Steele, Tickell and others, lonsr since placed the volume in theforemost rank among the English classics- — Cincinnati Press. They were and are yet models of composition, almost indispensable to a thorough knowledge of Belles-Lettres- — Cincinnati Enquirer. The writings of Addison, Steele and their associates have rarely been is" Bued in a form so well adapted for the general circulation which they deserve. —Cincinnati Gazette. As a collection of rich essays, in beautiful English, The Tattler needs no commendation from our pen. — Ohio State Journal. The publishers have done the public a good service by placing this foun' tain of pure thought and pure English in a convenient form. — Western Christian Advocate. No library is complete unless the Tattler and Guardian is on its shelves, and every man of literary tastes regards its possession as a necessity. — Ma- tonic Review. Tattler and Ghardian. — Who has not heard of Addison and Steele, and where is the scholar or lover of English Literature who has not read the Spectator ? It is a part of English literature that we could not afford to lose. The writings of such men as Addison and Steele are good in any age. The book now before us is by the same authors.— Ledger. Among all the flippant publications of the present day, in which there is an awful waste of paper and ink, it is refreshing to see a reprint of a work of standard merit such as the Tattler and Guardian. The criticisms of over a century have only more clearly pointed out its merits and established ita reputation. — Democrat. APPLEGATE & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History; Ancient and Modern, from the Birth of Christ to the beginning of the Eigh- teenth Century, in which the rise, progress and variations of Church Power are considered in their connection with the Stat ; of learning and philoso- phy, and the political history of Europe during that period. Continued to the year 1826. by Charles Coote, LL. D., 8U6 pages, quarto, sheep, spring back, marbled edge. This edition forms the most splendid volume of Church History ever issued from the American Press ; is printed with large type, on elesant paper, and altogether forms the most accessible and imposing history of the Church that is before the public. — Gospel Herald. This great standard history of the Church from the birth of Christ, has just been issued in a new dress hy the extensive publishing house of Apple^ate &. Co. Nothing need be said by us in relation to the merits or reliability of Mo=heim's History ; it has long borne the approving seal of the Protestant world. — Masonic Review. To the Christian world, next to the golden Bible itself, in value, is an accu- rate, faith "ul. and life-like delineation of the rise and progress, the develop- ment and decline of Ihe Christian Church in all its varieties of sects and de- nominations, their tenets, doctrines, manners, customs and government Such a work is Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History. Like " Bollin's History of the Ancients.'" it is the standard, and is too well known to need a word of comment. — Advocate. But little need be said of the history as a standard work. It has stood first on the list of Church histories, from the day it became known to scholars, down to. the present lime ; and there is but little probability that any new one Will soon set it aside. — Beauty of Holiness. No Church History, particularly as it respects the external part of it, was ever written, which was more full and reliable than this ; and indeed, in all respects, we opine, it will be a long time before it will be superseded. — Lite- rary Casket. Who has not felt a desire to know something more of the early history, rise and progress of the Christian Church than can usually be found in the po- litical histories of the world ? Mosheim's Church History, just published by our Western Publishing House of Applegate & Co., contains ju«t the infor- mation which every believer in Christianity so much needs. It fills the space hitherto void in Christian Literature, and furnishes a most valuable book for the student of Christianity. Every clergyman and teacher, every Sunday School and household, should have a copy of Mosheim's Church History. — Herald. The work is printed on beautiful white paper, clear large type, and is bound in one handsome volume. No man ever sat down to read Mosheim in so pleasing a dress. What a treat is such an edition to one who has been study- ing the elegant work in the small, close print of other editions. Any one woh has not an ecclesiastical history should secure a copy of this edition. It is not necessa-y for us to say anything in relation to the merits of Mosheim's Church History. For judgment, taste, candor, moderation, simplicity, learn- ing, accuracy, order, and comprehensiveness, it is unequaled. The author spared no pains to examine the original authors and " genuine sources of sacred history," and to scrutinize all the facts presented by the light of the »' pure lamps of antiquity." — Telescope, Dayton, O. APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. Lorenzo Dow's Complete Works, The Dealings of God, Mm and the Devil, as exemplified in the Life, Expe- rience and Travels of Lorenzo Dow, in a period of over half a century, together with his Polemic and Miscellaneous Writings complete. To which is added, THE VICISSITUDES OF LIFE, by Peogy Dow, with *n In- troductory Essay, by John Dowling, D. D , of New York, MAKING THE BEST AND MOST COMPLETE EDITION PUBLISHED. I vol. 8vo., library binding, spring back, marbled edge. Notices of the Press. Several editions of the Life and Works of Lorenzo Dow have been issued by different publishers, but the mosc complete and accurate is the one pub- lished by Applegate & Co., Cincinnati. After perusing it and reflecting on the good he accomplished not mentioned in this volume, we came to the conclusion that, if for the last hundred years, every minister had been a Lorenzo Dow, the whole world would have been civilized, if not christian- ized, some time since. " No wonder that he was finally crucified at Georgetown, D. C , if it is true, as reported in some quarters, he was poisoned by some enemies who followed him to his retreat." " Lorenzo Dow was not ' one,' but • three ' of them, a St. Paul in bless- ing souls- a Washington in seeking the best interests of his country, and a Howard in getting people * out of the prison ' of conservatism and oppres- sion." " We decide {ex cathedra) that one of the most interesting works ever placed on our tible is 'The Complete Works of Lorenzo Do»v,' embracing his travels in Europe and America, his polemic and poetical writings and • Journey of Life,' by his wife Peggy, who heroically accompanied him in many of his peregrinations." " Full as an egg is of meat, so was Lorenzo Dow of sparkling wit and genuine good humor. He overflowed with anecdote like a bubbling fountain in a sandy basin, and was never at a loss for a good and lively story where- with to illustrate his subject and engage the attention of his hearers. His audience ever listened with breathless attention, and drank in his sayings with wondrous admiration and reverence. By some he was regarded as one of those special messengers the Almighty sent in times of great dearth of godliness and piety, to wake up the slumbering church. He evidently had his mission, and thousands now living throughout the land can testify as to how he filled it. " His life was one continuous scene of adventure and anecdote, ever vary- ing, and full of the life-giving power of enthusiasm. Spotless in purity, faultless in heart/and wholly devoted to the cause he had espoused — the cause of Christ." *' This is the best octavo edition of Dow's complete works now published. The writings of this remarkable and eccentric man have been before the pub- lic for years. They have been read by thousands. If not altogether unex- ceptionable, they embrace many wholesome truths. Vice in all its forms is rebuked with characteristic severity : his bitter sarcasm and cutting wit are employed in niany instances to good effect. His wife sqems to have been a kindred spirit, and both, with all their peculiar eccentricities, no doubt were truly devoted Christians, doing what they sincerely believed to be for the spiritual good of their fellow-heings, and the glory of God. Those who hare not read this book will find sufficient to instruct and interest them." APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. Guizot's Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; A new edition, revised and corrected throughout, preceded by a preface, and accompanied by notes, critical and historical, relating principally to the propagation of Christianity. By M. F. GnzoT, Minister of Public Instruc tion for the kingdom of France. The Preface, Notes and Corrections trans- lated from the French expressly for this edition — with a notice of the life and character of Gibbon, and Watson's reply to Gibbon. In 2 vols, impe- rial £vo., sheep, spring back, marble edge. We are pleased to see a republication of Guizot's Gibbon, with the notes, which have never before been republished in English. Gibbon, so far as we know, stands alone in filling up the historic <1 space between the Roman Cas- sars and the revival of literature. — Cincinnati Chronicle. While there are numbers of Historians of the early days of the great Em- pire, Gibbon stands almost alone as the historiau of its fall. The present edition, with the notes of Guizot, is a treasure of literature that will be highly prized. The vices of the Roman Empire, that like the vipers in the bosom of Cle- opatra, caused her destruction, are traced from their first inception, and should act as beacon-lights on the shores of time, to guide oiher nations that are following in her footsteps. Altisonant Letters, Letters from Squire Pedant in the East, to Lorenzo Altisonant, an emigrant to the West, for the Benefit of the Inquisitive Young. 1 vol. 12mo., cloth- The publishers of the following letters do not present them as models of 6tyle, but as a pleasant means of obtaining the meaning of the greater part of the unusual words of the English language, on the principle of "association of ideas." In the column of a dictionary there is no connection between the definition of words, consequently, the committed definitions are soon lost to the pupil. By placing in such a juxtaposition as to form some kind of sense> the learner will the more readily retain the meaning of the word' used To the Youngsters. By the Author. Young Friends:— Some one has said "that words not understood are like uncracked nuts — the lusciousness of the kernel is not enjoyed." Believing this to be so, and thinking that there are now many uncracked nuts in the English language, the author went up into old John Walker's garret, anA gathered 'Mots" of old and hard nuts, and brought them down for you, and then he went into old Noah's ark — he means old Noah Webster's dictionary — and gathered many more, and by the assistance of Mr. Altisonant, placed them in the "letter basket," with the hammer, the dictionary, laid side by side. Will you take up the hammer and crack the nuts, and enjoy the ker- nel ? Try it. Your friend, S. K. HOSIIOL'K. A rare book this, and rare amusement it will afford to the reader. — Daily Times. APPLEGATE & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. Farmer's Hand Book; Bain?: a full and complete Guide for the Farmer and Emigrant, comprising the clearing of Forest and Prairie land, Gardening and Farming generally. Farriery, and the prevention and cure of diseases, with copious Hints, Re- ceipts and Tables. 12mo., cloth. The publishers are gratified that they are enabled t;> satisfy the universal demand for a volume which comprises a mass of superior material, derived from the most authentic sources and protracted research. The contents of the " Farmer's H and Book " comprise about fifteen hun~ dred points of information respecting the management of a Farm, from the first purchase and clearing of the land, to all its extensive details and de- partments. The necessary conveniences, the household economy, the care of animals, the preservation of domestic health, the cultivation of fruits, with the science and taste of the arborisfe, and the production of the most advan- tageous articles for sale, are all displayed in a plain, instructive and mos- satisfactory manner, adapted peculiarly to the classes of citizens for whose use and benefit the work is specially designed. Besides a general outline of the Constitution, with the Naturalization and Preemption Laws of the United States, there is appended a Miscellany of 120 pages, including a rich variety of advice, hints and rules, the study and knowledge of which will unspeak- ably promote both the comfort and welfare of all who adopt and practice them. The Farmer's Hand Book is a handsomely bound work of 478 pages. It treats of farming in all its various depai-tments, buildings, fences, house- hold and culinary arrangements, diseases of Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine, etc.. etc.- and gives the remedies suited to each It has a valuable treatise on the use of medicine- with hints for the preservation of health and the treat- ment of wounds, accidents, etc., and also contains a vast amount of valuable receipts, tab'es and facts, to aid the male and female in this important busi- ness of life. No farmer can fail to be benefited by reading this work. — Valley Agriculturist. Though this book has been before the public a few years, it will prove a useful, instructive tre itise on a great variety of interesting subjects to the farmer and emigrant to a new country. Its hinti upon farming interests must be valuable to the agriculturist. Agriculture is now to a very great extent reduced to a science, and all the reliable information touching that branch of industry is appreciated by a large portion of the farming popula- tion. This work will be of great service to them. — (PFallon Polytechnic Institute. " The Farmer's Hand-Book is a collection of facts, hints receipts, and really valuable information, which should be in the hands of every farmer in the land. We find in it directions for purchasing and clearing timber land, prairie farming, hints on the general management of a farm, for the con- struction of buildings and fences, a treatise on the dairy, also a household department, comprising all kinds of cookery." — ClarJcsnille Jeffersonian. APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. Dick's Theology. Lectures on Theology. By the late Rev. Johv Dick, D. D., Minister of the United Associate Congregation, Grayfriar, Glasgow, and Professor of The- ology in the United Session Church. Published under the superintendence of his S>n. \V,th a Biographical Introduction. By an American Editor. With a Steel Portrait of Dr. Dick. *• We recommend this work in the very strongest terms to the Biblical stu- dent. It is, as a whole, superior to any other system of theology in our lan- guage. As an elementary hook, especially fitte 1 for those who are commenc- ing the study of divinity, it is unrivaled." — Christian Keepsake. " This is a handsome octavo of 601) pages, published in uniform style with the other viluible standard works of Applegate & Co. It contains a tho- rough and enlightened view of Christian Theology, in which the author pre- sents in beautiful, simple and forcible style, the evidences of authenticity of the sacred text, the existence and attributes of the Deity, the one only and unchangeable God Toe fill of man, and its consequences, and the restora- tion of the fallen through the intercession of the Crucified. It is one of the most simple and yet elevated of works devoted to sacred subjects " — Lite- rary Gasket. s * The lecturer, throughout, displays an extensive and a most accurate knowledge of the great variety of important topics which come before him. His system has all the advantages of fair proportion : there is nothing neg- lected, and nothing overlooked. His taste is correct and pure, even to se- verity ; nothing is admitted, either in language or in m itter, that can not establish the most indisputable right to be so ; hence, he is alike lucid in his arrangement, and perspicuous in style." — Christian, Instructor. " We consider these Lectures as no small accession to our Theological literature, an I would cordially recommend fiem to the perusal, not merely of the professional divine, but also to the general reader. They are ch irac- terized throughout by a clear and perspicuous style, by tasteful illustration, by fervent, manly piety, by cindor and perfect fairness in stating the opin- ions of all from whom he differs and by a modest and firm defense of ' the t.uth as it is in Jesus.' The most intricate doctrines are unfolded with admi- rable tact." — Presbyterian Review. " Few men of the present day appear to have united more requisites for the office of Theological Lecturer. Asa theologian; we are told, Dr. Dick was distinguished by the strictness with which he adhered to the great Pro- testant ru?e of mi'iing the Bible, in its plain meaning, the source of his reli- gious cree 1, and the basis of his theological system. The intellectual excel- lence for which he was chiefly remarkable, was that of conceiving clearly ; which, when united, as in him. with acuteness and a sound judgment, must be peculiarly Useful in theological investigations. T<> these high requisites, he added a very correct taste, dignified manners, gentleness of heart, and fervent piety, such as rendered him an object of affectionate veneration to his pupils, and of no ordinary .ttachment to his friends. We can not conclude this notice of so valuable a work, without cordially recommending it to our readers."— Eclectic Magazine. "On every subject which he discusses, Dr. Dick may safely be trusted as a Scriptural guide. He always thinks for himself, displaying a mind of much acuteness, enriched with extensive information, imbued with the deepest reve- rence for the authority of scripture. His taste is pure, ami his style obvi* ously formed upon the finest models," — Christian Journal. APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. Gathered Treasures From the Mines of Literature. Containing Tales, Sketches, Anecdotes and Gems of Thought, Literary anfl Moral, Pleasing and Instructive. Illustrated with steel engravings. 8vo^ embossed sheep, colored, marbled edge. To furnish a volume of miscellaneous literature, both pleasing and instruc five, has been the object of the editor in compiling this work, as well as to supply, to some extent at least, the place that is now occupied by publications which few will deny, are of a questionable moral tendency. It has been the intention to make this volume a suitable traveling and fire- side companion, profitably engaging the leisure moments of the former, and adding an additional charm to the glow of the latter ; to blend amusement with instruction, pleasure with profit, and to present an extensive garden of vigorous and useful plants, and beautiful and fragrant flowers, among which perchance, there may be a few of inferior worth, though none of utter inutil ity. While it is not exclusively a religious book, yet it contains no article that may not be read by the most devoted Christian. " How important to phce within the reach of the people such books that will instruct the mind, cheer the heart, and improve the understanding- books that are rich in the three grand departments of human knouled/e — literature, morals and religion. Such a book is ' Gathered Treasures.' We can cheerfully recommend it to all." — Intelligencer. " A book of general merit, diversified yet truly rich and valuable in its interests; thrilling in many of its incidents; instructive in principle, and strictly moral in its tendency."— Cin. Temperance Organ. " This is both an instructive and entertaining book, frora which many a sparklins gem of thought may be culled. Its vast range of subjects affords b'>th pleasure and Instruction. It is a book of pastime, and time not usually lost in its perusal."— St. Louis Democrat. " Gathered Treasures from the Mine* of Literature." — As its title imports, it is a suitable traveling and fireside companion, profitably en- gagi ng the leisure moments of the former, and adding an additional charm to the cheerful glow of the hitter. It blends amusement with instruction and pleasure with profit.— Freeport {III.) Bulletin. G.ATHKRF.D TRE\srRES FROM THE MlNES OF LITERATURE — The above 1*3 the title of an excellent work now publishing by the well-known firm of Ap- plegate & Co. It is certainly one of rare merit, and well calculated for a rapid and general circulation. Its contents present an extensive variety of subjects, and these not only carefully but judiciously selected and arranged in appropriate departments. It is a work of pleasing and instructive char- acter, free from all sectarian bias and impure tendencies, and designed to sup- plant, in part, the light literature, or what is more appropriate, the ephem- eral trash of the day. Its contents baye also been highly spoken of by men of distinguished literary acumen, both Editors and Ministers of various Christian denominations. We cheerfully recommend it to the attention and patronage of the puo'.ic. — Cincinnati Times. APPLEGATE & CO/S PUBLICATIONS. Webb's heemason's Monitor; By Thomas Smith Webb. A new edition, printed on fine paper, large and clear type, beautifully and symbolically illustrated— containing all the Decrees from Entered Apprentice to Knights of Malta, together with a Sketch of the Origin of Masonry. Government of the Fraternity, Ceremony of Opening and CI is : n=r the Lodxe, with fuil directions for Institutin? and Installing all Masonic Bodies. To which is added A MONITOR OF THE ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE, containing ample Illustrations of all the Grades from Secret Mister to Sovereign Grand Inspector General, including the series of Eleven Grades known as tie Lvkffable Degrees, arranged according to the work practiced under the jurisdiction of tne Su- preme Council of the Tuirty-third Degree. By E. i'. Carson. Cincinnati, 0. Gentlemen : — Having carefully examined your' new edition of " Webb's Freemason's Monitor," we find it to correspond with ihe system of work as now adopted in all the Masonic bodies in the Uniied States, and we take great pleasure in recommending it to the Craft throughout the country, as being the most useful and well arranged practical Manual of Freemasonry that we have yet seen. D. H. HEARS, W. M of N. C Harmony Lodge, No. 2 WILLIAM SEE, W. M. of Miami Lod^e, No. 46. J. M. PARKS. W M. of La'avette Lodge, No. 81. HOWARD MATTHEWS, W. M. of Cincinnati Lodge, No. 133. C. MOORE W. M. of McMillan Lod ? e, No. 141. E. T, CARSON. W. M. of Cynthia Lodsre, No. loo. ANDREW PFIRRMANN, W. M. of Hany their minuteness and complication, would tend rather to con- fuse than assist the beginner. It everywhere bears the marks of most care- ful prepaiation, and is evidently the work of an experienced practical teacher." Prom Judge J. B. Stallo. " Professor Soden has most skillfully selected and arranged his exercises. The book, though of unpretending form, lias by no means disappointed the expectations which the eminence of Prof. Soden as a scholar and a teacher had caused me to entertain, and 1 cheerfully recommend it as the most valu- able introduction'to the study of German which has fallen under my notice-'' From Rev. William Nast. " Mr. Soden 's work is truly superior, original and the fruit of successful expeiience in teaching. A peculiar recommendation i f it is, that the student can make immediate practical use tff every lesson he learns, for instance, one of the primary lessons consists in a concise and entertaining dialogue on the principal grammatical rules. The subject-matter of the exercises is chosen with great care, in view of gradual progression, and refers not to imaginary, useless objects, but to the real concerns, relations, business and interests of social and civil American life, and is, therefore, interesting for the student. Of especial use are also the strictly progressive exercises in translating from English into German." From Ph. J. Klund, Prof, of Modern Languages at Farmer's College, Ham- ilton County, Ohio. " If a long experience and numerous experiments crive some claim to a downright opinion, we do not hesitate to pronounce this book the best, the most practical, the most .judicious, and within the limits of a school book, the most complete English-German Grammar yet published." From Rev. Wm. G. W. Lewis, Prof, at the Wesleyan Female College, Cin'ti« " I particularly admire the easy gradations by which the student is led on from that which is simple and readily understood, to that which is more dif- ficult. I find in it an unusual amount of that which is ordinarily the un- written grammar of the language, that part I mean which is usually left to the skill and care of the student, and which, on that very account, is often denied to the student. I therefore consider your work well calculated to secure the great *md at whieh'l know well you have aimed in its preparation, namely, a compre- hensive and schelarly mastery of the German language." From Dr. J. S. Unzicker, Cincinnati. " This work has been compiled with great care and judgment, and is far more comprehensive and practical than any similar work I know of. It is well adapted for the use of our High Schools, and especially for those of English parentage, who wish to study the German language." Memoirs 4 the Life of Dr. Darnel Drake, Physician , Professor and Author, with notices of the early settlement of Cin- cinnati, a nd some of its pionetr citizens, with a steel portrait of Dr. Drake. ByE. D. Mansfield. LL. D. 1 vol. 12mo. Dr. Drake was an extraordinary man- Talents of no ordinary character, developed by unceasing industry, raised him from comparative obscurity and placed him amongst the most eminent and scientific men. He was at the same time one of the most sincere, humble, spiritua' disciples of Christ. As an eminent Physician and as a man of general scientific attainments, he has con- tributed largely to the stock of useful knowledg e. As a Christian, he was a "burning and shining light."— £t. Lows Republican. We are deeply indebted to Mr. Mansfield and Messrs. Applegate & Co., for this timely book, putting on record the life and wonderful exertions of one whom we have ever been taught to cherish with sincerest admiration while living, and for whose memory in death we cultivate the most profound vene- ration.— Templar's Magazine. Medical science in the West is largely indebted to Dr. Drake. Almost self- educated, he anived at Cincinnati at the age of fifteen, and was there instruc- ted in the art of healing by Dr. Goforth, a physician of the old school. Drake was the first student of medicine in Cincinnati, and was so apt a pupil that at the age of eighteen he became his instructor's partner. — Hew Yorlc Times. This will be an acceptable book everywhere in the West, as a record of the enterprise and successful labors of one of the most eminent men and earliest settlers.— Cincinnati Times. Christianity As exemplified in the Conduct of its Sincere Professors. By the Rev. W. Secker. 12mo., embossed cloth. This is a book of rare merit full of thought-exciting topics, and is particu- larly valuable as an aid to Christian devotion. This is a reprint of a quaint old English book, entitled " The None-Such Professor in his Meridian Splendor." It abounds in pithy sentences and suggestive expressions, and should be read by such as wish to put a spur to thought. — Madison Courier. This is a book of more than ordinary merit, and may be made a valuable assistant to the Christian, as he strives to grow in grace. It has its founda- tion on Mat. v. 47, "What do ye more than others." — Beauty of Holiness. This is a book every professor of religion ought to procure and read. We predict for it a large circulation and a useful mission among men. — BrooJc- ville American. Popular Christianity and Christianity exemplified by its sincere professors are two entirely different things, and we hazard nothing in saying that a stu- dious perusal of this little book will add its share in producing the latter. From Rev. W. R. Babcock. This is a most charming w^rk on practical religion. It is a treatise of more than ordinary merit as an aid to Christian virtue and devotion. It abounds with living thought, and may be read at all times with religious profit. Chain of Sacred Wonders; Or a connected view of Scripture scenes and incidents, from the Creation to the end of the last epoch. By Rev. S. A. Latia, A. M., M. D. Illustra- ted with two steel plates, and a number of wood cuts. 1 vol. 8vo. cloth, marbled edge. We believe (his work is eminently calculated to create an additional inter- est and a more extensive reading of that invaluable book from which its sub- jects are taken. It is illustrated with beautiful engravings, and ts gotten up in the best style of our publishers. — Daily Commercial. We have examined this work with o often overlooked. The book is a gem for a Christian's library. — Cincinnati Daily Times. This is an interesting practical exposition of the various petitions, etc., in the Lord's Prayer. It is well calculated to instruct the minds and quicken the hearts of Christians, and being a Western book — a home hook, it will, no doubt, have a wide circulation, and do much good.— Christian Herald. This is a charming and most excellent digest of this inimitable portion of God's Word.— St. Louis Sentinel. No person can read the book without profit, and infmcy, maturity and old a&e would alike be benefited by its perusal. — Masonic Review. It is just the volume to present to a child or a friend, in whose mind you would desire at once to incite and answer the question, "Teach me how to pray." — Journal and Messenger. Notes oil the Twenty-five Articles of Religion, As received and taught by Methodists in the United States, in which the doc- trines are carefully considered and supported by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures. By Rev. A. A. Jimeson, M. D. With a portrait of the author. 12mo., embossed cloth. This book contains a clear exposition of the doctrines of the Articles, and of the errors against which the Articles were directed, written in a popular style, and divided into sections, for the purpose of presenting each doctrine and its opposite error in the most prominent manner. From the Rev. John Miller. It is a book for the Methodist and for the age — a religious multurn, in parvo— combining sound theology with practical religion. It should be found in every Methodist family. The style is clear and forcible, the illustrations ars just, the arguments sound. The author has performed a good and useluf work for all the Meth- odist bodies in the world ; as his book win furnish a very sat'sfactory exposi- tion of the leading doctrines of Methodism. — Western Christian Advocate. We have looked carefully over this volume, ami find it to be truly what it purports to be — Cincinnati Daily Times. A timely aid to the private Christian and to the pulpit.— Boston Herald Religious Courtship; Or Marriage on Christian principles. By Daniel Defoe, author of «« The Life and Adventures of Robinson Cru- soe," &c„ &c. 12mo., cloth. Who has not read Robinson Crusoe ? It has fascinated every boy, and stimulated his first taste for reading. Defoe has been equally happy in this present work, in interesting those of riper years, at an age (Shakspeare's age of the lover) when the mind is peculiarly susceptible of impressions. Altho' but few copies of this work have ever been circulated in America, yet it has a popularity in England co-extensive with his unparalleled " Crusoe." Young persons should by all means read it, and with particular attention, for it furnishes important directions relative to the most importantact of life. —Masonic Review. Who would have thought that the author of " Robinson Crusoe" could have written such a book as this ; but it seems he did so.— Jour, and Mess. We commend it to all whom it may concern. — Albany Argus. The subject is- one of great importance, and it is suggestive of valuable counsel.— Rev. Wm. R. Babcock. _ This book is of rare excellence. The best of instruction and counsel are given in a very attractive and pleasing form.— Miami Visitor. Universalism against itself; Or, an Examination and Refutation of the Principal Arguments claimed in support of the final Holiness and Happiness of Mankind. By Alexander Hall. Revised and corrected by W. P. Strickland, D. D. J2mo., cloth. This work contains a vigorous and earnest remonstrance asrainst the doc- trines of universal salvation. It is characterized by great perspicuity and directness. — Albany Argus. It is better than any volume of dpbates on the same subject, and should be in the hands of every minister, or others investigating the subject.— Beauty of Holiness. This volume is not only valuable to the general reader, but is excellent as a reference hook, and should be in the hands of every person who lives in a region troubled by the heresy of Universalism.— Xalhvilh and Louisville Christian Advocate. This work will certainly prove a burr in the hands of TJniversalists who take it up. It is that: species of warfare, by which combatants seize upon an ene my 'spark of artillery and turn it;>gainst them.— Journal and Messenger. Those who are almost persuaded to become Tniversalists, or have been en- tangled in their net, will do well to peruse this brok. It will, of course, do them no harm, even if Universalism be true.— Lady Kews. From Rev. W. R. Babcock. We can commend this book to those who wish to studv the subject upon which it treats. V, is a book for the people, devoid of metaphysical abstrac- tions to bewilder the mind and neutralize the force of Scripture authority. APPLEGATE & CO.'s PUBLICATIONS. Methodism Explained and Defended, By Rev. John S. Inskip. This is an exposition and defense of the polity of Methodism, giving a brief history of its introduction, in England and America, and contains a large anil valaable collection of statistics, connec- ted with the progress of the Church in various sections of the country. ]2ino., embossed cloth. If any one without, or within, the compass of that branch of the Christian Church, wishes to know what Methodism really is, as viewed and taught by a progressive, liberal-minded man, this is the book to meet his wants. But what we especially like in this book, is the fearless and just estimate which the author puts upon such things as are deemed non-essential, in the econo- my of the Church. He has had the courage tc stand up and speak face to face with ecclesiastical authority, truths which others have only dared to think..— Dayton Journal. We have read this book with no ordinary interest, and, on the whole, re- joitfe in its appearance for several reasons — First, It is a concise and power- ful defense of every essential feature of Methodism, now a-days so much assailed by press and pulpit. Second, The general plan and character of the work are such, that it will be read and appreciated by the great masses of our people who are not familiar with more extended and elaborate works. Third, It is highly conservative and practical in its'tendencies. and will em- inently tend to create liberal views and mutual concession between the min- istry and laity for the good of the whole — a feature in our economy never to be overlooked. Fourth, This work is not written to advocate some local or neighborhood prejudice; neitherto confute some particular heresy or assault; but its views are peculiarly denominational and comprehensive, indicating the careful and wid^ observation of the author — free from bigotry and narrow prejudice.— Herald and Journal* Home for the Million ; Or, Gravel Wall Buildings. This is one of the most desirable books published, for all who contemplate erecting dwellings or out-houses, as the cost is not over one-third that of Brick or Frame, and quite as durable. Illustrated with numerous plans and cut of the author's residence, with full directions, thai every man may be his own builder. 12mo-, cloth. The process is simple and easy, and the walls once built, become as hard as common rock, and are impervious to the corrodings of time, and the peltings of the inclement storm, as well as the ravages of fire ; beside, it is said that this method of building is cheaper by one-half than brick, stone, or frame buildings, and the inner walls never get dump, as brick and stone often do. The plan has been successfully tested by the author and many others. — Railroad Record. This book is a treasure to every man who desires to have a house of his own, comfortable and durable, without costing a fortune. Every one intend- ing building should buy this hook : it will lie worth to him a hundred times its cost, before he is done building. — Masonic Review. Any man who had sufficient genius when a boy to mould a sand oven over his naked foot, can construct the walls of one of these houses. — Aurora Standard. APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. Peterson's Familiar Science; Or the scientific explanation cf common things. The pages of " Familiar Science " are its best recommendation. The com- mon phenomena of life are treated of in a simple and intelligible manner, which renders it both pleasing and instructive. In the family circle, as a text-book, it will form the basis of an hour's interesting conversation, and in the hands of the pupil it will be a valuable aid in the acquisition of useful knowledge. This is a work of rare merit. It should be in every family, for more infor- mation can be gained from it, than from half the books afloat. We most hear- tily commend it to the public. — Masonic Review. How often have we heard parents rebuke a child for asking what they term "silly questions," when they were unable to answer their artless inquiries. This little work is designed to explain many of these things. — Odd Lellow^a Literary Casket. The above manual of science should be in the hands of every youth in the land.— Parlor Magazine. About two thousand questions, on all subjects of general information, are answered in language so plain that all may understand it. — Home Gazette. This is really a valuable book, and furnishes more useful and practical in- formation than can be obtained from many volumes of profoundly abstruse works.— Genius of the West. Temperance Musician; A choice selection of original and selected Temperance Music, arranged for one, two, three or four voices, with an extensive variety of Temperance Songs. 1 vol. 32mo. It contains a great number of tunes and melodies which win the hearts of all the people, and which the boys in their happy moments sing and whistle as it were spontaneously. — Springfield Western Leader. We think it. so far as we have examined it, the best collection of songs we have seen. Some of them are exceedingly beautiful and affecting. — Tempe~ ranee Chart. We have examined the Temperance Musician, and have no hesitation in recommending it to the public as a valuable work. The tunes seem to be ex- cellent, and the songs are of the best. — Indianapolif Christian Record. This is a popular Temperance Song boo<, designed for the people, and should be in every family. We can/ecommend it to the patronage of all our temperance friends, as the best temperance songster, with music attached, wo have seen. — Cincinnati Commercial. It is the best collection of Temperance songs and music we have seen. — Summit Beacon. It strikes us as h-ing just the thing for the times and the vacuum it is in- tended to fill. Temperance songs, with music to suit, will do much to keep temperance feeling alive, particularly with lovers of music— Maine Law Messenger. APPLEGATE & CO. S PUBLICATIONS. Universal Musician, Containing all sy»» By A. B. Pillmore, nuthor of Christian Psalmist, &c. terns of Notation. New edition, enlarged. The title, " Universal Musician." is adopted because the work is designed for everybody. Most of the Music is written in Harrison's Numeral System of Notation, because it is the most intelligible of all the different systems ex- tant ; and is, therefore, betier adapted to the wants of community. Music would be better understood and appreciated by the people generally, if it were all written in this way. For it is more easily written, occupies less space, is more quickly learned, more clearly understood, is less liable to be forgotten, and will answer all common purposes better tisan any other. But the world is full of music, written in various systems, and the learner should, acquire a knowledge of all the principal varieties of notation, so as to be able to read all music. To afford this knowledge to all, is the object of the present effort. The system of Numerals set forth in this work is, in our judgment, better, infinitely better, than the labor saving, but mind perplexing system of the transportation of syllables from tone to tone in the various ktys.—3Iel7iodist Protestant. It brings a knowledge of that sacred, yet hitherto mysterious science within the reach of those who have not the time, nor the means, to spare in acquiring a knowledge of music as taught on the old plan.— Central Times. Songs of ihe Church; Or Psalms and Hymns of the Protest. Episcopal Church. Arranged to appropriate melodies, with, a full Choral Service Book for the Protestant Episcopal Church— the first ever published— embracing all those parts of the Service usually sung. The Music harmonized in four parts, and printed side by side with the words to which it is to be sung, with spe- cial reference to the use of congregations with or without choirs. By Gto. C Davies. 1 vol. l*mo., 450 pages, embossed morocco, marble edge. This work is gotten up in the highest style of the art, from new stereotype plates from new type — the music part cast especially for it, printed on fine white paper, extra calendered, and superbly bound in embossed leather, in Tarious styles, to suit the t-iste of the most fastidious. Such books as the one before us, should be in the hands of every worship- er, especially when in the church ; and we have no doubt this will meet with a ready and extensive sale. It is just what was greatly needed. Call on Ap- plegate &. Co.. 43 Main street.— Masonic Review. We wish that we could hear that this valuable volume was placed in every pew, of every Church in this city, and throughout the Diocese — that we could learn that our congregations were all joining in singing as well as praying to the Lord, in lieu of listening to four feeble voices yclepta " quartette choir," " doing up" the praises of ihe sanctuary. "We regard the appearance of the present book as the commencement of a new era and we hope ere long to hear throughout the lemth and breadth of the land every Christian congregation joining in unison in singing the songs of praise which have expressed the ovations of the devout in all ages. APPLEGATE & CO. S- PUBLICATIONS. Lectures and Sermons Embracing the Sovereignty, Holiness, Wisdom, and Benevolence of God. The moral agency of man. considered as subject to and capable of moral government, all reconciled with the endless punishment of the finally im- penitent. The filial relationship of the believer to God. The final state of the righteous, and the world by the Gospel converted to God. By Rev. F. G. Black. Pastor of the First C. Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati. 1 vol. l'2mo., cloth. These ably written lectures embrace the Sovereign character of God, and the agency of man as a ubject of moral government. They have lost none of their interest as revealed truths by having been published some years ago. — Christian Banner. This is a book that should be possessed and read in every ChristiM-a family. The sovereign power and goodness, the wisdom and benevolence of the Holy One. and man's relations to that Great Biing who has created and preserved him, are subjects that engage too little the attention of practical Christians. — Presbyterian. The Camp Meeting, And Sabbath School Chorister: A selection of Hymns suitable for Camp Meetings, and Sunday school exer- cises. By A. F. Cox. 32mo. The compiler, Bro. Cox, is a Methodist of the old school, and as a man of taste in the matter of poetry suited to Sabbath schools, c^mp meetings, and social worship, is unexcelled by any in the Western Country.— Banner of the Cross. Nightingale; Or Normal School Singer. Designed for schools, home circles and private practice, on a mathematically constructed system of notation. By A. D. Fillmore, author of Universal Musician, Christian Psalmist, Temperance Musician, &c. The book we deem a good one, and has an excellent selection of tunes, .many of which are great favorites with the music-loving public. Get a copy and practice the tunes. — Western Christian Advocate. Sacred Melodeon, A collection of Revival Hymns, sheep. This little work is a selection of Hymns and Social Songs, designed more especially for social worship and revival meetings. It contains many pieces of high poetic merit, and is admirably adapted to social worship. The pres- ent edition is revised, and a number of hymns of long-attested merit have been inserted, while a few, seldom if ever sung, have been omitted. Revised by Rev. R. M. Dalby. 32mo., X. d> *+ -y 'J- Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Dec. 2004 PreservationTechnologies, A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-2111 • j .HI. C .\' N . ^ ♦.