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LIPPINCOTT & CO., PUBLISHERS, 715 and 717 Market St., Philadelphia. WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? BY EEV. J. B. GROSS, AUTHOR OF " THE HEATHEN RELIGION IN ITS POPULAR AND SYMBOLICAL DEVELOP- MENT ;" OF " THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD'S SUPPER, AS SET FORTH IN THE BOOK OF CONCORD, CRITICALLY EXAMINED AND ITS FALLACY DEMONSTRATED;" OF "THE TEACHINGS OF PROVIDENCE, OR NEW LESSONS ON OLD SUB- JECTS;" OF "THE PARSON ON DANCING, AS IT IS TAUGHT IN THE ' BIBLE, AND WAS PRACTICED AMONG THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND ROMANS ;" OF " THOUGHTS FOR THE FIRESIDE AND THE SCHOOL ;" OF " THOUGHTS FOR THE FIRESIDE AND THE SCHOOL, SECOND SERIES;" OF " OLD FAITH AND NEW THOUGHTS ;" OF " TRUTH IN RELIGION, OR HONESTY IN OUR FAITH AND WORSHIP;" OF " THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY, ON PURELY LOGICAL principles;" OF " SIN RECONSIDERED AND ILLUSTRATED," d " Cease to do evil." — Isaiah, i. 16. " Virtue only makes our bliss below PHILADELPHIA B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 18 82. /A Copyright, 1882, by Rev. J. B. Gross. DEDICATION. To those of my fellow-citizens, who have learned properly to realize the difference between virtue and vice, and who zealously strive to disseminate a just and lively appreciation of it among mankind, the following pages are respectfully inscribed by their sincere friend and cordial fellow-helper — THE AUTHOE. 1* PKEFACE. Whether we contemplate man in the light of his moral and intellectual faculties, or confine our scrutiny to the study of his bodily structure and functions, it is strikingly evident that the Creator has designed him for happiness. But as happiness — as the history of all nations in every age of the world, plainly demonstrates, cannot be attained without an upright life, that is, the life that is appropriately normal to man, it is clear that unless he devotes himself to such a life, he neither is happy nor can be in accord with the Divine will. On the contrary, he must be unhappy just in proportion as he fails in the realization of such a life; for precisely to the extent of such failure, he is the slave of vice, and consequently inimical to virtue, the inevitable condition of moral well-being. These proposi- tions I hold to be self-evident, that is, " evident — according to Webster, " without proof or reasoning," and therefore decisive. 8 PREFACE. The inquiry, "What makes us unhappy? and which forms the pregnant and important theme of the present Essay, it shall be my endeavor to illustrate and enforce by appropriate references to various familiar examples of deviations from moral rectitude among mankind, considered both in their general and concrete manifestations. That its scope is at once ample, and its thorough investigation not without difficulty, must be ap- parent to every reflecting mind, from a knowl- edge of the vast amount of unhappiness which prevails in the human family, and the conse- quent greatness and malignity of the evil, which vice or moral obliquity must produce, both in the individual and collective phases of man, con- sidered as a free-agent. Such being the case, I am far from presuming that on the present occa- sion, I shall exhaust this copious subject, and will therefore feel quite satisfied if, in the following effort, I can throw so much light upon it as will elicit a degree of earnest and sober attention, necessary to lead to a reformation and, conse- quently, to a happy, ameliorated condition of a morbid and debased human conduct. Or, in other words, if I can succeed to enlist sufficient interest among my readers on the side of virtue, PREFACE. 9 to diminish the appalling amount of misery, which is now so largely incident to a vicious or faulty life, I shall seek no other reward but the felicitous conviction, that — in the pithy language of the immortal Twickenham bard, I have been thus enabled to " vindicate the ways of God to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., October, 1882. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTEK I. PAGE The Immorality, usually termed Vice, is one of the Sa- lient Elements in our Unhappiness 13 CHAPTEE II. The Bad Bringing-up of Children, may be set down as another Fruitful Source of our Unhappiness 23 CHAPTEK III. False Articles of Faith too, are a Source of Much Un- happiness 31 CHAPTER IV.. In which the Causes are indicated why Marriages often produce Unhappiness - 45 CHAPTEE V. Among the Many Causes of our Unhappiness, Sectarian- ism is not the Least 56 CHAPTEE VI. In which will be shown the Sad Part which Drunkenness plays in our Unhappiness G8 11 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PAGE Want of Eeligious Principles tends likewise to make us Unhappy 81 CHAPTER VIIL Hypocrisy — as is well known, figures largely as a Cause of our Unhappiness 91 PARAGRAPH I. Hypocrisy in its Scripture-Traits , 92 PARAGRAPH II. Hypocrisy in its Present or General Manifestations 99 Conclusion , 104 CHAPTER IX. In which are pointed out Some Defects of the Common- School System of Pennsylvania, and is demonstrated that — not working quite evenly ) it is: notwithstanding its Many Advantages, by no means Faultless, and, hence, a Source of Several Grave Evils 106 CHAPTER X. The Unseemly Manner in which People mourn for the Dead, tends not a little to make Mankind Unhappy 120 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? CHAPTER I. The Immorality, usually termed Vice, is one of the Salient Elements in our Unhappiness. Vice, implying depravity or corruption of manners, is mainly divisible, I conceive, into the following sinful habits : Drunkenness, Gambling, and Licentiousness. First, Drunkenness. — Drunkenness, according to Webster, is " habitual inebriety, or intoxica- tion."' It is evident that a person who is thus slavishly addicted to the use of spirituous liquors, cannot be in a healthy or normal state, either of body or of mind, for he leads an intemperate and therefore vitiating life, which is the exact contrary of a temperate life, which — according to the Di- vine ordination, it eminently behooves him to lead. Of course such persistent transgressor of 2 13 14 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY f God's laws : indelibly impressed upon the human constitution, is guilty of a grievous sin, in which many of his fellow-beings will be likewise in- volved, as he will not hesitate to disseminate the baneful seeds of a great and already wide-spread evil wherever his pernicious influence extends. Behold now the deleterious, stimulating and narcotic effects of the intoxicating draught; the inflamed eyes and bloated visage; the irritable temper ; the stolid look, of the drunkard ! Mark how his limbs tremble ; his tongue has grown profane ; his bearing coarse and vulgar ! He that was once gentle and peaceful, is now quar- relsome, and he that used to neglect no duty, is oblivious of responsibility ! Alas, what misery the drunkard inflicts both upon himself and upon society, by contracting the evil habit of this dis- graceful and suicidal vice ! Can it seem any longer strange that there should be nnhappiness in society wherever this Upas-blight casts its deadly shadow ? Ay, reader, drunkenness is in- deed " a monster of frightful mien," which — I wish I could add, in the w T ords of the poet, " to be hated, needs but to be seen;" for — I regret to say it, only too many see it ; love it ; and are ruined by it ! WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 15 Second, Gambling next demands a concise at- tention. — According, again, to Webster, gambling is " the act or practice of gaming for money or other stake," instead of engaging in an honest legitimate pursuit, to procure a livelihood, in such manner as is proper and right according to the manifest ordinations of Providence. Gamblers — zealous to make the best of their chances, seek, as may well be supposed, to ruin, not by fair but by foul means, technically and most appositely called foul play. Hence the eminent authority just quoted, hesitates not to assert that gamblers " often or usually become cheats and knaves." They are, in fact, robbers under false pretenses, and, therefore, to make a living, they seldom fail : intent as they are upon plunder, to go forth to their nightly haunts, not inappropriately denom- inated hells, to entice the unsuspecting, and then at leisure to prey upon the substance of their easily duped and readily swindled victims. It is evident from the foregoing, that gambling is not only an eminently flagitious vice, but a flagrant violation of every principle of honor as well as just dealing toward our fellow-beings. The gambler — from the very nature of his ne- farious trade, habitually disregards the whole- 16 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? some apostolic maxim " to do to others as we wish them to do to us," and instead of being influenced by its noble philanthropic spirit, he sordidly recognizes only the selfish, groveling principle which — insatiable of gain, urges him without scruple or hesitancy, to possess himself of the resources of others, in spite of the ruin to which he will most likely reduce his plundered dupes, or the feeble warnings of his abused and bleeding conscience to refrain from so wicked and despicable a pursuit. The gambler, I may observe, mostly spends his nights abroad. His eyes are not closed in a healthy sleep like those of the honest man. His place in his bed is vacant, and his parents, per- haps his wife, may mourn his absence ! His health is sure to be undermined by a life so little in accord with the essential conditions of Hygiene. Besides, the gambler generally soon acquires a taste for strong drink, when one more element of ruin and shame, is added to his profession and to his guilt ! Alas, what a mean worthless life the gambler leads : he contributes nothing to the common weal, but, vulture-like, preys on its vitals. Morality he boldly tramples under foot, while he spurns or ignores public opinion. Sympathy WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 17 for the suffering is a passion unknown to him : selfishness is the idol most clear to his soul. In short, the confirmed gambler fears neither God nor regards man. What can any one expect of such a being, whose food and drink is the love of a vice of so black a dye ? Surely not happi- ness, only misery, unhappiness ! Hence to solve the question, What makes us unhappy ? we need but interrogate the gambler's haunts ; the gam- bler's fraudulent life : the gambler's end, they will suffice; for they tell a tale as dark as it is for- bidding and deplorable : the tale, alas, as Dryden says, that the gambler has " broken loose from moral bands !" Third, Licentiousness — by no means the least among the vices, claims here to be heard. — This vice may be defined as the reckless indulgence of the animal propensities. Persons, therefore, who are noted for such a life, are guilty of vice, and hence, vicious or depraved : in short, licen- tious persons, or — in other words, libertines. These traits of a licentious character, are deemed sufficiently discriminating to convey a pretty correct or at least a tolerably distinctive idea, of the subject, and will, consequently, not receive further definition, while it will be my object in 18 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? the sequel, properly to dilate upon them, and thus illustrate them more fully by inviting atten- tion to such examples of licentiousness as may be deemed most familiar or most striking. First, the licentious person may be justly said to pay little or no regard to the connubial institu- tion, but gratifies the procreative instinct pro- miscuously, and without a feeling of compunction in consequence of a violation of the moral or civil law. All he seeks, and all about which he is concerned, is — without restraint, to gratify an endowment which he shares in common with the lower animals. Hence it happens that society is so sadly burdened and disgraced by the presence of multitudes of bastards and foundlings : a so- ciety too that loudly boasts to be Christian, and that, besides, is indefatigable in the conversion of the Heathens ! "What a sarcasm on the faith "once delivered to the saints." So fearfully cor- rupt is society at present, that it makes little dif- ference to its numerous libertines or licentious devotees, either male or female, whether they live within or without the matrimonial pale, they hesitate not; they fear not; they are not ashamed, to violate that part of the decalogue, which wisely prohibits all illicit commerce among WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 19 the sexes, from a conviction, no doubt, that such vicious indulgence would necessarily tend se- riously to undermine, nay, eventually utterly to annihilate human happiness as well as sadly to endanger the perpetuation and integrity of man- kind. Second, the licentious person is often — as may readily be presumed, a great criminal, who scruples not to imbrue his hands in the blood of human beings while they are still in the fetal state. In criminal law, this heinous offence is designated the crime of abortion, and is thus de- fined in " Chambers's Encyclopaedia,'* "As the crime of administering to a pregnant woman any medicine, poison, or noxious drug, or of using any surgical instrument or other means, with the intent of procuring miscarriage." Though the crime of procuring abortion of the embryo-human being, is penal in England and Scotland, it is not held — I am told, to be murder : a crime which death only, it seems, can expiate, but a crime, though of an atrocious nature, yet one which it is sought adequately to punish, according to English jurisprudence, by " subjecting the offenders to transportation for life, or for not less than fifteen years, or to be 20 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? imprisoned for any term not more than three years." According to " Purdon's Digest," the punish- ment of abortion in the United States, is, in sub- stance, thus briefly summed up : If the woman dies, a fine of five hundred dollars and imprison- ment by separate or solitary confinement at labor, not exceeding seven years. If, on the contrary, the woman's life is spared, the penalty is, a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars and imprisonment by separate or solitary confine- ment at labor, not exceeding three years. It is difficult to understand how the flagrant crime of abortion, naturally incident to a licen- tious life, can be excluded from the category of murder. Is the fetus, however nascent its devel- opment may still be, not potentially a human be- ing? Does not the impregnated ovum contain the germ of the future man or woman ? How then can the destruction of fetal life in any of even its most incipient stages, be a crime of less atrocity than murder, or be expiated on principles of juridical consistency, by less penalty than the law now annexes to the willful destruction of hu- man life ? For every time a fetus is destroyed, there is virtually one human being less, and so WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPYt 21 far God's purpose to propagate the human race according to pre-ordained laws, is frustrated, as it ia by the deliberate deprivation of a more mature, or emphatically adult life. I see essentially no difference. Affain, I think no one of any ordinary habits of careful reflection, can longer wonder that where such unnatural, such shocking licentious- ness reigns, our happiness must be seriously, nay, fatally injured; and that no proposition is more apparent, or ranks nearer to a truism, than the assumption, that to escape the doom of being un- happy, we must as much as possible, keep our- selves most rigidly unsullied: undepraved: un- done, by the monster giant-vice of licentiousness. Finally, I may observe that the most remark- able feature in this investigation, is the appalling fact that not only prostitutes, of whom nothing better is generally expected, are guilty of the crime of procuring abortion, and who notori- ously live by the wages of lewdness, but likewise ladies, so called, who move in high places, and often receive the homage of the elite of society! That some of this society is exceedingly corrupt, and these ladies, who would enjoy but not bear, the burden and cares of conjugal life are heinous 22 WHAT MAKES VS UNHAPPY? criminals in the sight of God and all right-think- ing men, who can doubt ? Let me tell them that they will have much to answer at the tribunal of their insulted Maker, for the injury they do to themselves in both health and morals, as well as for the sin which they commit against society and the human race ! WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 23 CHAPTER II. The Bad Bringing-up of Children, may be set down as another Fruitful Source of our Unhappiness. In accordance with a Divine provision, children immediately derive their being through the agency of their parents, and, hence, are to be deemed their offspring as well as direct representatives. Their filial relation is, therefore, a dependent one; so dependent indeed, that in its earliest stages, it is distinguished by their utter helpless- ness, and consequently requires much careful nurture, beside the exercise of a tender and ceaseless vigilance. Here then is happily laid the foundation for the judicious use of a proper parental authority, as likewise for the introduc- tion of an appropriate system of education : a happy correlation — absolute dependence on the one hand, and on the other, ample means to sup- ply its wants ! The control and bringing-up of children — I 24 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? may observe, should begin as soon as the infant mind is susceptible of instruction, otherwise chil- dren will be apt to become self-willed, and diffi- cult to bring under due subjection. Let them but know that they are master, and the natural, healthful relation between them and the parents, being thus unfortunately reversed, peace and good understanding among the parties will cease to be practicable, and unhappiness in the family — as may readily be conceived, will be the inevita- ble consequence, simply because parents are false to their trust, and children have become rebels! It is to be borne in mind, however, that this bane- ful subversion of order in the household, is not always confined within its narrow limits, but, on the contrary, frequently overleaps their bounds and — boldly no less than ruthlessly, invading the ranks of society, spreads simply by the force of example, the dire spirit of discord, and thus greatly multiplies one of the earliest and, by no means, unimportant causes of unhappiness. In the attempt to bring up their children, it is often the case that parents spoil their tempers by harsh or unkind treatment, and that, instead of making themselves beloved by them — a circum- stance so essential to their dutiful behavior, they WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 25 fill their souls with aversion and dislike toward those who should be dearer to them than all else on earth. Of course, happiness is not to be thought of under such ungenial relations. Chil- dren, I may further state, should ordinarily be addressed in an earnest yet affectionate tone, and stringent measures should never be resorted to until all cases of disobedience shall have been first duly discussed and set in their proper light, in a kind and rational manner with the offending child, that it may be made to feel its guilt, and properly to appreciate the evil which must neces- sarily follow bad or immoral conduct. By no means should parents indulge in the habit of scolding their children, as it tends to harden them, and is, besides, a rude and vulgar habit, ill becoming either the duties or the profession of the Christian. Nor — it is clear, must they ever correct their children to gratify angry passion, but solely for their good ; always let it be done in a spirit of love, and under a lofty sense of doing a solemn but painful duty. Obedience to reason- able and just demands however, must be rigidly insisted upon, and lawful parental authority promptly vindicated. Any other method of dis- cipline, essentially differing from the kind which 26 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? has been here pointed out, must be destructive of the true ends of the family-institution, and can lead only to decided unhappiness, as a sad and extensive experience everywhere amply tes- tifies. Children should, by all means, be brought up to some useful pursuit, whether it is industrial, literary, artistic, or scientific, otherwise happiness can never fall to their lot, or the hearts of their parents be ever made glad. The German prov- erb, " Miisziggang is aller Laster Anfang;" that is, idleness is the source of every sin, has been abundantly and mournfully verified in every age of the world. Hence, too, we may properly un- derstand and duly estimate the Divine injunc- tion: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Idleness is a vice of vast proportions, and what is worse, it seems daily to increase. Owing to this appalling fact, individual happiness and social prosperity steadily but surely dimin- ish. The only remedy is that every member of society shall awake to a just sense of the impend- ing danger, and consider himself under solemn obligation to make himself useful ; to sow r that he may reap, and thus to reduce the chances of the individual and social unhappiness, under WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY! 27 which, alas, mankind at present so larg ; so grievously suffer and pine away. One of the r rincij al . is - u — in :y. is. undoubtedly, due to the bad, sive. and insolent behavior )f many of the chil- dren oi this gc Iless generation.* 8 . - rather, perversely are they brought up : so sla jk is the rein, which is held over them, that they are almost totally dev )id : that bashful reserve : that agreeable diffidence, which is at once so becom- ing, and so charming an ornament to the budding- age of childhood. They have of course, never n taught the wise lesson : or if they have, it is usually entirely ignored in their conduct, that " children may be seen, but must not be heard.'" in presence oi the aged. On the contrary, their assurance is complete, often startling, and they not only presume to lead in conversation, but to :_ \ ?t their elders in knowledge, which can only be acquired by mature study, or long and careful experience. Such impudent impertinence, or in other and more appropriate words. >-.s. is * In calling this generati I say that il abounds to a fearful degree in unprincipled, wicked people, without wishing to intimate that there are not still many good ones left, who have not " bowed unto Baal." 28 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? eminently disgusting to all well-bred people ; a burning disgrace to parents; and a most prolific source of unhappiness to all sober and orderly citizens, who believe that it is pre-eminently the lovely and much to be commended virtue modesty that ought to clothe and adorn the young, and that consequently it behooves them to learn, not to teach ; to listen, not to talk ! I admire, nay, love children heartily, if they are w T ell-brought up ; if their behavior is retiring and proper, such as becomes them, and such as will make them and those around them happy ; but I dislike and instinctively shun them, if they are forward and boldfaced : it is then that they become offensive and are emphatically a nuisance, I will only add — in view of the great predominance of bad over good children, that it is high time that the ex- tremely pertinent apostolic teaching should be once more seriously, nay, prayerfully laid to heart, and that parents should earnestly bethink themselves and strive with all their energy and without delay, to bring up their children " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," lest both miserably perish together ! Without proper religious instruction, I remark finally, children can neither become happy nor WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 29 be good and reputable citizens; for religion — " pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father/' is a natural and necessary element in human well-being as well as one of the essential conditions of a harmonious and healthy mental and moral development, and, therefore, a neglect of it in the bringing-up of children, must in- evitably give a wrong bent to the youthful mind, and infallibly lead to unhappiness. They must, hence, be early and diligently taught the great lesson that there is a God, who is the adorable creator and governor of the world, and that to him we are strictly accountable for our conduct. From this august and benign being, who is pre- eminently the Father of mankind, we, moreover, receive " every good and perfect gift/' and chil- dren should consequently be carefully made ac- quainted with this no less weighty than delight- ful truth, and taught to be always devoutly thankful to God for the great and manifold blessings, which he so benignantly and profusely vouchsafes to us. Especially must a chief lesson in their tuition consist in the endeavor indelibly to impress upon their tender minds the indis- putable assurance, that if we would be happy and make others happy, we must — as much as 3* 30 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? possible, conform our lives to God's laws, and, accordingly, walk in his ways, if we would do our duty ; inherit the Divine blessing ; and be in turn a blessing to our fellow-beings. Such teach- ing and governance, it must be evident, is well calculated to implant in the juvenile breast a proper sense of order; to elevate and fix the moral tone of the character ; to disseminate right principles; and to lay a foundation, at once broad and deep, of human happiness, both here and hereafter! A stanza by a pious German hymnologist, will — I conceive, appropriately close this chapter. Thus sweetly, truly, sings the poet : " Eeligion von Gott gegeben, Sey ewig meinem Herzen werth ! "Wietrostlos wurd'ich oft erbeben, Wenn mich des Leben's Last beschwert I Nur du erheiterst meinen Sinn, Und fuhrst mich sanftzum Zielehin." WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY f 31 CHAPTER III. False Articles of Faith too, are a Source of Much Unhap- piness. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. If there is any proposition in dogmatics, or — as "Webster defines the term, " doctrinal theol- ogy," which is intuitively evident, it is that re- ligious creeds ought to be reasonable, plausible, true, for then they would invariably prove a blessing, whereas — being destitute of those para- mount qualifications, as, alas, too many at present are, they cannot fail to prove a prolific source of decided and lasting unhappiness to their blindly attached adherents. I heartily pity the deluded victims of a spurious and unholy orthodoxy, and will, therefore, endeavor in this place, while I point out the nature and extent of the grievous evil under which they suffer, to set their unhappy situation in its true light and proper bearing. 32 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? First, it is taught in most of the old orthodox creeds, that little children that die unbaptized, are lost, or at least that without it — according, for example, to the Augsburg Confession, they are not in favor with God.* The consequences which flow from a belief in so shocking a doc- trine, are often extremely deplorable ; for they largely involve the peace and, hence, the hap- piness of the unfortunate believer. It is the mothers, however, who chiefly suffer under the blighting influence of a teaching at once so cruel and so alarming. A fact, which may be readily understood, if we call to mind that the little ones are especially precious to the indomitable ma- ternal instinct, and that, therefore, in the eyes of the loving, tender mothers, and, indeed, in the eyes of all people, who are governed by the simple dictates of common sense, emphatically a sacred gift; a Godsend; a pledge of Divine love ; and an unmistakable sign of " good will toward men." Of the necessity of baptizing the little inno- * According to those wicked creeds, baptism is a saving ordinance, and children must be baptized *because, like the rest of mankind, they are all corrupt by the imputation of Adam's sin, and in a lost state I WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY* 33 cents: the brightest, loveliest jewels, enshrined in the mother's inmost affections, to save them from perdition. Jesus, the savior, says not a word ! But it matters little in the opinions of some religious teachers, what lessons he incul- cates or omits, inasmuch as they find it more to their interest to introduce a scheme of salvation of their own devising than to listen to the plain teachings of onabused, impartial reason, humbly obedient to the instructions of the clear Gospel- light. The sad and lamentable consequence is that many mothers, and many other persons like- wise believe- — having been thus perversely edu- cated by an ignorant or crafty Church, in the absolute necessity of the baptism of infants as a means to save their souls from perdition ; souls that — instead of being tainted with the pollution of sin. know not even right from wrong, or good from evil; that cannot, therefore, sin. as sin im- plies moral agency, of which babies are yet in- capable. As to the revolting creed that little children are corrupt and. consequently, in a lost state, on account of Adam's sin. I have clearly shown in several of my Works; as " Old Faith and Xew Thoughts ;" " Sin Reconsidered and Illustrated ;" 34 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? " Thoughts for the Fireside and the School, Second Series," &c., that that dogma is simply a blasphemous and ridiculous chimera : a fit specimen of a crass and insane Augustinian orthodoxy. Notwithstanding the utter fallacy of this anti- evangelical and forbidding dogma, mothers and all who are doomed by their credulity to share this heretical and repulsive faith, suffer im- mensely on account of their children in case they get sick while they are yet unbaptized, espe- cially if the sickness is threatening and the peril imminent. 0, how they will then fret, and moan, and sorrow, because they believe the dear, be- loved ones in clanger, because if, alas, they should die thus unloved and unredeemed, they cannot be happy but must, on the contrary, be — to say the least, in everlasting disfavor with God, their beneficent creator and father; or — in other words, infallibly undone ! Is there no remedy ? The minister or priest is sent for in breathless haste, but should he fail to respond to the pressing emergency, the only resource w r hich is still left to the trembling, grief-stricken souls, is to seek the services of any member of the faithful, that may be deemed most suitable on account of WHAT MAKES US UXHAPPV? 35 his age or piety for the purpose, and to get him to perform — as best he may, the solemn rite, but should the search again prove futile, or the solicitation be uncomplied with, then all hope is extinct at least in the poor, misbelieving mother's breast; for her sweet, clear babe — she is told among some other equally veracious and edifying churchly lessons, is now in a state of mis- ery, because the eating of a forbidden fruit by a couple of persons 6000 years ago, has made it a reprobate and an outcast ! The unhappiness, which the despairing and woe-stricken mother in such a case, as also the rest of her devoutly believing and deeply sympa- thizing household, and, indeed, all radically and credulously orthodox Christians, who may be cog- nizant of the dismal and hopeless disaster, which has befallen her, is at once ineffable and com- plete ! Should not a belief that causes so much un- necessary anxiety and distress; ay, so much mourning and weeping, be at once and forever discarded, as one of the worst and most egre- gious heresies, which has ever debased and cursed the Christian name? Is it not high time that the Church — so long recreant of duty, should 36 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY f make some amends for her false and wicked teaching, and — humbling itself in dust and ashes, proclaim aloud to the world, in conformity with the evangelical, consoling, and emphatically divine teaching of Jesus, Matthew xviii. 2-3 ; xix. 13-15, that little children are without sin, and, therefore, worthy — independently of all expi- atory agencies, of an heirship and the glories of eternal life ? Or, is it dead to all compassion for those it has during so many ages, made unspeak- ably wretched ? Awake, and unfeignedly confess that the doctrine of human depravity, is an un- qualified insult to the intelligence of the nine- teenth century, inasmuch as it is a most flagrant falsification of every historical or psychical expe- rience of mankind. In consonance with the fore- going disquisition, I am bold to say that the ab- surd doctrine of imputed or inherited sin, is an atrocious blasphemy against the clearly recog- nized principles of Divine justice, which — as every one's conscience teaches him, knows no punishment where there is no personal guilt.* Have pity, then — if that sentiment is not un- * Sin is not possible without an act of volition : a " volun- tary departure from rectitude or duty."; — Webster. WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 37 known in your breasts, for the unhappy mothers, who mourn and wail for their children, according to the tenor of your false and murderous creed, which teaches them to deplore them as lost ! Finally, I may remark, as a further protest against the unscriptural and flagitious doctrine of original sin : that those persons, who believe that their unbaptized children are lost when they die, can never be happy, either here or hereafter. Salvation is absolutely irreconcilable with the belief that those we love with an all-absorbing and undying affection, are doomed to endless misery : with such appalling thoughts, culminat- ing in undoubted conviction, heaven w r ould be hell only under another name ! Second, the doctrine of Election — fraught with numerous decidedly salient elements of human un- happiness, merits a concise though somewhat crit- ical disquisition in this place. In his Theological Dictionary, Buck defines Election : the antithe- sis of Eejection, or the Divine ordination of a part of mankind to endless future misery, as " That eternal, sovereign, unconditional, particu- lar, and immutable act of God, whereby he se- lected some from among all mankind, and of every nation under heaven, to be redeemed and 38 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? everlastingly saved by Christ." The proof-texts, to which the author refers, I omit, not conceding that any texts of Scripture that God would sanc- tion as emanating from him, can teach a doctrine in plain defiance of his universally recognized goodness and justice. "What first strikes us, in this monstrous creed, is the assertion, that the elect are predestined from eternity to be redeemed and saved by Christ. Now, if the Almighty did really at any time re- solve to carry out such election, what should have hindered him from directly executing his design ? Or, in other words, what need was there of a mediatorial agency to aid him in doing what was already virtually accomplished by a predeter- mined and unalterable decree ? If God wills anything, who can annul or make it void ? Does not this pernicious idea of election, imply a glaring contradiction, at the same time that it tacitly at least, expresses a doubt of God's om- nipotence? And is not, therefore, such an extravagant conception — as this theory of elec- tion premises, eminently derogatory to the char- acter of God, as well as most gravely reprehen- sible in those, who both foolishly and wickedly presume to entertain it ? But, alas, what else WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 39 can be expected of predestinarianism : a crude and profane medley of inconsistencies ; fallacies ; and blasphemy? How, I further remark, can Christ perform the ardent functions of a redeemer and savior, in the sense and manner normally implied by these terms, if he is not in personal, actual relation with the part of mankind that is included in the decree of election ? Myriad millions of hu- man beings lived and died upon the earth, before he was born ; before ever there was a Gospel, a Christian Church, or Christian means of grace, and wdien, consequently, they could have no knowledge of him as a redeemer and savior. The same predicament is equally true of the in- numerable multitudes of our race that have suc- cessively appeared and disappeared here since his advent a little more than eighteen centuries ago, in Palestine — a little, insignificant, and obscure corner of the globe, without having derived the least benefit from him sotericdly ; that is, in a way to affect their happiness, or exalt their condition. Hence, to say that Christ performs the acts of a redeemer and savior, among any part of man- kind, among whom he has never been, or is to- tally unknown, as the Calvinists in effect do, is a 40 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? flat contradiction as well as a glaring absurdity, clearly demonstrated to be such by the Savior himself, whose method of salvation is the exact opposite and virtual disavowal of the doctrine of election ! That under the circumstances here described, predestinarians should still think it necessary to resort to missionary efforts to convert and save any part of the human race, can, hence, appear in no other light but that of a deplorable fatuity, or as an instance of undoubted theological delu- sion ; for the act of election — which embraces peoples " from among all mankind, and every nation under heaven," is inexorably predeter- mined by God from all eternity, and, therefore, man's fate is irrevocably sealed, inasmuch as every one is already either saved or lost ; that is, included among the elect or damned : the elec- tion and, of course, the rejection also, being " im- mutable," it follows inevitably that man has been removed beyond the pale of human instrumen- talities. It is to be presumed, therefore, that those Christians who profess to believe in the doctrine of election, will dispense at least with the use of foreign missions, and apply the funds heretofore so uselessly lavished upon this delusive WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 41 object, to the benefit of the poor at home, who — as Christ truly says, are always with us, and — whether they are elected or not, in the predesti- narian acceptation of the term, have need of the necessaries of life, and the sympathies of their fellow-beings. "What has been said of Christ, in relation to a mediatorial agency in the plan of election, holds no less true in respect to the superfluousness of a supernatural revelation to mankind, after their destiny has been irrevocably fixed by the immu- table decree of the Almighty. What further need can men have of a Word of God, when their salvation does not depend upon their willing or running, but solely upon God's decision ? And if a revelation is not needed under these appalling circumstances, pastors and teachers, and the Church, and Divine ordinances, &c, are likewise not needed, and Calvinism — such is its evil and destructive tendency, carried out to its ultimate legitimate results, thus terminates in the aboli- tion or nullification of the entire Christian scheme of salvation ! The election to eternal life, is — we are told, unconditional, and consequently carried out in- dependently of all human volition or agency. 4* 42 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? If this statement could be credited as true, it would follow as a necessary result, that God is not the kind and just father of the human race, for which he is usually taken, but rather an un- feeling and cruel despot, who rules over his off- spring as passion or caprice dictates. Distin- guished by so repellent and unlovely a character, God — it is clear, could no longer be deemed worthy either of respect or reverence among his disappointed and unhappy children, and they would, dreadful thought, thenceforth live with- out God and without hope. Such is the baneful issue, which really underlies the doctrine of elec- tion, traced to its ultimate sequence. A fact in itself sufficient to prove it false, and forever to brand it with infamy ! By this time it must be abundantly evident to the intelligent reader, that the doctrine of elec- tion largely and most grievously affects the peace and happiness of mankind, and that it ought, therefore, if for no other reason, to be promptly rejected, and no longer suffered to disfigure and pollute the symbols of the Christian's faith. Thus — let us but bear in mind that some people — according to the purport of this creed, are elected to everlasting life, and others singled out WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 43 for everlasting misery, but that no certain mark is set upon the one or the other, clearly and un- doubtedly setting forth who will be saved or who will be damned. Is such total want of un- doubted discrimination not eminently well suited, to fill the human mind with profound doubt and perplexity, and, consequently, make it supremely and permanently unhappy ? For if I am saved, I know it not, and though my lot may be cast among the elect, yet not being unequivocally as- sured of the fact, I cannot refrain from often and tremblingly thinking that I may have my destiny assigned among the lost ! Can anything be more saddening, more dreadful, than such alarming uncertainty? Such a state of indecision; of hopeless groping in the dark; of ever seeking and never finding, is essentially hell, and, hence, in this life at least, the fate of either the elect or the rejected, is not clearly defined, and both the one and the other must be, therefore, more or less the inevitable victims of manifold and inef- fable unhappiness ! What is worse than all in this hateful doctrine of election, is that man cannot do anything to make sure of his acceptance : it is, alas, uncon- ditional, as we have seen ; all free-agency is ab- 44 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? solutely ignored in its attainment; and man is treated as if lie had no interest in the issue : as if he was a mere machine, responsive to a force over which he has no control, and a destiny about which he is not consulted ! He is, hence, irre- sponsible : his fate is decided, and let him do what he will, it is all the same ; for he is all that he can be — saved or damned ! Such, 0, horror, is the Calvinism of the doctrine of election, and such are its blighting, unavoidable tendencies to plunge in utter unhappiness a great part of the human race. Such a creed like this, cannot — it is evident, be of God, and, as I do not believe in the existence of a Devil, it must be the monster- offspring either of a morbid or a depraved intel- lect ! Away, then, with this crass and wicked doctrine, called election, and let us listen to the better creed the poet thus sings : " Seek virtue; and, of that possess'd, To Providence resign the rest." — Gay. WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 45 CHAPTER IV. In which the Causes are indicated why Marriages often produce Unhappiness. Connubial or, in other words, wedded life, is evidently designed by the Creator to be a source of enjoyment to the parties, and to prove at once a blessing and an honor to them. This important end — I am pleased to say, is still often attained, while in very numerous instances, it is frustrated, when marriage — of course, terminates in a state of unhappiness, more or less marked and pain- ful. In a relation of life, which is both so tender and so sacred, it seems proper to investigate the causes which give rise to so adverse and deplor- able a result, and to point out such means as may be deemed best calculated to avoid them. First, when we have resolved to enter into the matrimonial relation, we should well ponder the important step which we are about to take ; for the relation — according to the original intent, is 46 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? meant to be permanently binding, unless the death of one of the parties dissolves the connec- tion. Besides, the relation is emphatically sacred : consecrated to a special end, and designed to be strictly confined to the contracting parties, with the exclusion of all others. Such being the case, it would evidently be very wrong in setting out to select a companion in married life, to be con- trolled in the choice of so weighty a matter, by such sordid motives, for example, as the acquisi- tion of riches. Riches are indeed not to be despised if they come in our way incidentally ; for they may be made the means of a great deal of good, both in a secular and spiritual point of view. But to make them a chief object in the consummation of matrimony, would be not only exceedingly imprudent, but, besides, running a great risk, as — according to the familiar proverb, " Riches often take to themselves wings and fly away/' Second, beauty has no better claim than riches to control the decision in the choice of a husband or a wife. It is — like riches, or any other earthly possession, a gift of the Creator, and not to feel attracted by its charms, or influenced by its worth, would argue great want of a proper ses- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 47 thetic taste. But estimable as it undoubtedly is, it must give way to more durable and serviceable qualities, if these cannot be found in happy union with it. Beauty soon fades, and is no more entitled to determine the issue of matrimo- nial preferences than mere worldly affluence. An oversight in this regard is, therefore, neces- sarily productive of more or less decided unhap- piness, as it sets out from false principles, at the sacrifice of more solid and reliable advantages. — The foregoing paragraphs — it may be remarked, are intended mainly as prefatory, and will ac- cordingly be here succeeded by such disquisitions upon the subject, as will place in a proper light, the distracting and unhappy effects of faulty or ill-assorted marriages. First, there may be a good wife but a bad hus- band, when the consequence will be found to be — as may readily be supposed, unhappiness in the family. A good wife is one that is not only of an affectionate disposition, but of circumspect and diligent habits; that omits not to do her part in the proper management and maintenance of the family ; that is, in short, a helper in the affairs and needs of her household. She is, ac- cordingly, not an idle, gadding, but an industri- 48 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? ous, frugal woman ; a woman that keeps every- thing neatly and tidily around her, or makes it her duty to see that it is thus kept ; that has a place for everything, and a particular time in which to observe her routine of duties; that is — and this is not the least of her many virtues, good tempered, and that can above all, boast the possession and the charm of good common sense. Here are united, I conceive, the essential ele- ments — as far as the wife is concerned, of a well- regulated and happy conjugal life, but all this fair and pleasing side of the family portrait, is no security against the pangs and miseries of unhappiness, if the husband is recreant to his vows, and remiss to his duties; if he scolds instead of using kind words, or is harsh and despotic in his manners, instead of being con- siderate and governed in his conduct only by the dictates of reason; if he is disorderly in his habits; an idler; a spendthrift; in short, if he is deficient in all, or most, of the leading traits, which constitute a good husband, great and grievous must be the unhappiness, w T hich he brings into the family, of which he is the osten- sible head, but of which he is emphatically the plague and the disgrace ! WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 49 Second, the case in the preceding paragraph, may be reversed, and the husband may be con- sidered as good and faithful in all his marital re- lations, while the wife is sadly deficient or short- coming in her connubial duties. — Strange as it may seem, many women at the present day, do not expect to take an active industrial or even supervisional part, in the conduct of a family : they professedly marry to be supported ; to have good times ; to be ladies ! Decked in their trinkets, and assuming the airs of refinement, they spend most of their time in lazy listlessness, unconscious of their arduous and solemn respon- sibilities, and intent only in devising means to indulge their silly taste for dress, or fondness for frivolous amusements, utterly regardless of the comforts, the wishes, or the finances of their neglected and grossly abused husbands. Such sad and ridiculous specimens of wives, it is clear, are, by no means, calculated to make married life anything but an extremely unenviable and unhappy life; for let the husband of a woman of this class, labor and care for his family ever so assiduously and wisely ; let him be ever so well suited to make a sensible woman happy, and a household — conducted on ordinary principles 50 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? of prudence and wise methods, prosperous and respectable, all his painstaking; all his self- denials; and all his untiring perseverance in the attempt to counteract the evils, which a person — so ill-adapted to the weighty and exalted duties of a Christian wife, has brought into his domicile, and his efforts, alas, will be all in vain ! I will only add, that the following apothegm of the "Proverbs of Solomon," is well worthy of serious attention of such as are matrimonially inclined: "Every wise woman," thus says the writer, " buildeth her house : but the foolish plucketh it down." Third, when it happens : which is only too often the case to admit of doubt, that the connu- bial life of either the husband or the wife, is bad, and consequently inimical to the evident ends and duties of married life, the proper bring- ing-up of their children is in many, perhaps most cases, clearly impracticable; for what — under such untoward circumstances, the one parent builds up, the other pulls down, and the unfortunate offspring, alternately impelled in op- posite directions, being thus filled with doubt, becomes confused, then indifferent, and at length — not unlikely, even hardened : could they always WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 5 J properly discriminate between right and wrong, the result might not necessarily be so disastrous, but such sagacity in most instances, is not to be expected. To ensure a judicious and wholesome moral training, and raise up good children, who only can make useful citizens, both parents must labor, and watch, and pray, in happy concert, in bringing about so great and auspicious an event. But such united effort, fruitful in most salutary and lasting impressions upon the minds of the young, is possible only when both parties are true to their high and sacred destinj^, and, ac- cordingly, faithfully and zealously devoted to each other, and to those intrusted to their care. It is, hence, evident that much of the unhappi- ness in the world, is owing to a want of suitable and prompt co-operation of the parents in the education of their children, and that both bad husbands and bad wives, already burdened with the guilt of matrimonial shortcomings, will, be- sides, have much to answer for at the tribunal of God — to say nothing of their amenability to society in such case, for the neglect of their duty toward their children : such result beino; but the natural reflex action of their unfaithfulness in the hallowed family relation ! 52 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? Fourth, the bad and disreputable conduct of many married persons, giving rise to so much unhappiness among themselves and their families, has a direct tendency to make a very unfavora- ble impression upon the minds of numerous per- sons in respect to married life, leading them not only to contemplate it with, distrust, but even with decided dread and aversion. Many worthy men and women, who would fill the relation of husbands and wives in an honorable and praise- worthy manner, are thus discouraged from risk- ing themselves into a position, which appears to them to be so difficult to maintain, and which, so often, ends in disappointment and disgrace. Their conclusions are often made — no doubt, with- out due reflection, as well as not always without a little exaggeration ; yet upon the whole, they have ample cause to be wary and deliberate; for there is evidently marked danger in taking a false step in this direction, as the history of multitudes of families, both in ancient and modern times, only too sorrowfully demonstrates to be questioned in this place. Such being the case, marriage is often deferred till a late period in life, or altogether dispensed with. The consequence is that celi- bacy is frequent, and the improper or sinful in- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 53 diligence of the sexual instinct, alarmingly com- mon : for all these adverse and baneful issues of life, bad, godless husbands and wives — as the undoubted efficient cause, are — I repeat it, most gravely responsible. Whence it may be again inferred, how destructive and eminently sad is their wicked and scandalous example. Fifth, in determining the choice of a husband or wife, virtue and godliness only — as being par- amount to all other considerations, should guide our decision and justify our judgment. For such persons only as are thus pre-eminently qualified, are worthy to stand in the important relation of husband and wife, inasmuch as they only are com- petent properly to appreciate and successfully to discharge the duties or feel the obligations of married life. But what are we to understand by the qualities of the persons, who are here distin- guished by the laudable and precious epithets vir- tuous and godly f Answering the question, Web- ster writes that virtuous means "morally good; acting in conformity to the moral law," &c. As to godliness, it signifies, according to the same high authority, "Piety; belief in God, and rev- erence for his character and laws/' &c. These are the lovely and transcendent attributes which 5* 54 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? should — as far as it is possible, characterize and ennoble the matrimonial relation ; for marriage is eminently a holy institution, and — as the sa- cred writer says, " Honorable in all:" Hence it is clear that should we be ever so poor and needy, if we possess virtue and godliness : emphatically the two pillars of a well-ordered life, to lean against them, we shall still be able to bear up in our various afflictions and trials, however severe or protracted they may be, whereas if w^e lack these great and essential blessings, our connubial life will be a decided failure, and our household a gloomy scene of discord and unhappiness. Sixth and lastly, I shall — however startling the announcement may be, briefly advocate the pro- priety : in certain cases, of dissolving the mar- riage-tie. In Matthew v. 32, and xix. 9, divorce is allowed in the single case of adultery : called fornication there, while in Matthew xix. 8, and Mark x. 9, the positive command stands out in bold relief that " what God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." I agree entirely with the prohibition contained in the last passage, in- asmuch as what God has " joined together," will need no sundering, but only that, I conceive, which he has not joined together. The disposi- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 55 tions and habits of married people are often so exceedingly discordant and inimical , that it is impossible for them to live together except under circumstances of extreme unhappiness. Divorce, therefore, seems proper not only in case of adul- tery, but also in respect to an irreconcilable di- versity of principles and modes of life, ever breeding contention, ill-will, and discontentment. If anything is clear in human destiny, it is this, that the marriage-state, should be a state of peace and mutual good-will among the parties, and not a state of distraction and hatred. Not the latter, only the former, can attain its legitimate and lofty ends. Hence, I hold that it is best to put asunder what God has not put together ; for not having been put together by him, it ought not to have been put together at all, as such a godless union can only be an unholy and unhappy one ! 56 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY \ CHAPTER V. Among the Many Causes of our Unhappiness, Sectarianism is not the Least. Sectarianism may be concisely defined as the division of the Christian Church into different denominations, all having something peculiar both in their creeds and in their rituals. It is eminently natural that mankind should differ from each other in their religious opinions, and just that they should be allowed to give expres- sion to them ; but it is by no means proper, that they should become sectarian to be true to their convictions, or to enlist others in their cause. St. Paul entirely coincides with this view of the sub- ject, when he sharply rebukes the evil sectarian spirit, which had begun to develop itself in the Corinthian church, in which every one—beside professing his adhesion to Christ, said : " I am of Paul ; and I of Apollos ; and I of Cephas," and asks : " Is Christ divided ? was Paul crucified WHAT MAKES IS UNHAPPY? 57 for you ? or were you baptized in the name of Paul':*' Thus strongly disapproving of sectari- anism, and emphatically condemning its spirit! With the exception of the incipient schism, noticed above, the primitive Church was mod- estly content to be simply Christian^ and to know no other article of faith but belief in Christ. Therefore the Apostles, and their fellow-laborers, though they occupied various fields of Christian activity, yet all conspired toward a common cen- tre, mutually striving to obey and glorify a com- mon Lord: and, hence, everywhere under the benign influence of this praiseworthy evangeli- cal spirit, all was unity, harmony, and peace. Under such normal and, consequently auspicious working of the Church, there was, of course, no room, or cause for unhappiness; for its wise teach- ings were at once wholesome, and its methods reasonable. That Christendom appears, at pres- ent, under less favorable aspects : being a source of much unhappiness, no other reason can be as- signed that will be so likely satisfactorily to ex- plain the cause of it, as the prevalence of blind and unhallowed sectarianism : the root of much bickering and other manifold evils, debasing its spirit, and frustrating its design. 58 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? Some people think that sectarianism is a use- ful institution, tending to excite rivalry among the different denominations, and to inspire them with greater zeal and activity in their profession, than would otherwise be the case. But this is, I conceive, to " do evil," — as the Apostle writes, " that good may come" : a morality whose damna- tion, he assures us, " Is just." Having said thus much prefatorily, I shall proceed to lay before the reader some examples of unhappiness, which mars the peace of society, and which may be justly considered as unmistakably due to the anti-Christian and baneful influence of sectari- anism. First, sectarianism is emphatically separatism, and, therefore, from its very nature and aim, un- sociable and repellent. The house of worship of each sect, is peculiar and distinct from all other houses of worship, and the creeds and modes of worship of each, are in marked discord with those of the other. It is, hence, a pitiful, a sickening sight, to see on a Sunday or other prominent church-going occasions, worshipers rushing past each other, their faces bent toward almost every point of the compass, to find their Christ, or worship their God ! Each one of these sectaries WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 59 is sure that he has something more excellent or more orthodox; something of greater saving efficacy, or that inspires a more certain as well as a more evangelical hope, than the other. Some of these misbelievers go a long way to get to their house of God, that might be accommo- dated as well or better nearer at home; and others — owing to the distances which they would have to go, to assert their Shibboleth, or glorify their sect, will go but seldom or not at all, espe- cially in inclement weather, in feeble health, or in old age. Besides, the boast of sectaries of their respec- tive superiority is often of so evidently trivial or repulsive a character, that it is difficult not to find it to be either ludicrous or repulsive. Thus, an unbroken succession in the episcopacy, is not only deemed an inestimable, but an eminently unexceptionably choice prerogative, in the Church of England; in the Roman Catholic Church, the doctrine of transubstantiation, is held to be the very bulwark of a true and only saving Chris- tianity ; whereas that of the real presence in the Lutheran Church, claims to be a specimen of what is most excellent and clever in undoubted orthodoxy. Again, the Presbyterian, or Augus- 60 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY f tinian belief in foreordination : held up as the only possible or true solution of the dogma of the absolute sovereignty of God, is gloried in as the quintessence of high theological attainment, while the close-communionism of a branch of the Baptist Church, is insisted upon as a neces- sary condition of true religion, and though a lit- tle too exclusive to be a very eligible element in a scheme of universal salvation, it may, proba- bly, presume to justify its narrowness of view, by pointing to Matthew vii. 14, where we read that " strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life," &c. The foregoing instances of a contracted and overweening spirit, may be considered as a fair sample of the general tendency and character of sectarianism ; and, hence, though we should pass under review every sect or religious denomina- tion in Christendom, we would find among all similar ridiculous and vain pretensions staring us in the face, and loudly attest the grievous apos- tasy of sectarianism from the pure and unpre- tending prineiples of the Gospel ! How can sectaries thus divided and contradistinguished; thus in crass and evident antithesis toward each other, be animated by the lofty sentiments of a WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? CA genuine Christian brother-hood? or justify their astounding dereliction from the clearly untram- meling principles of the Gospel ? It is simply impossible. This being the case, a want of sin- cere attachment, unfeigned love, and good will, such as one disciple of Christ should cherish for another, must be largely prevalent in the mani- festations of sectarian life, resting as a blight upon the souls of its deluded and misguided fol- lowers, and, consequently, diffuse more or less, the pernicious seeds of misgiving, jealousy, and unhappiness, within the ample sphere of its sin- ister and baleful influence. Second, the primitive Christians had no creed except the Gospel, wdiich was deemed — it is to be taken for granted, to be quite sufficient to direct them aright in their religious convictions and practices : for what is called the Apostles' creed, is of later origin, and the gradual out- growth of centuries. Every one then, who w 7 ished to become a Christian, or who — being already in Church-connection, sought for light to guide him, or authority to solve his doubts, was promptly referred to the teachings set forth in the Gospel, the common creed, as well as the universally admitted standard of orthodoxy, of the 62 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? infant Church. After its illustrious Founder had terminated his Divine mission, and he could no longer be personally appealed to, in such matters, the Apostles propagated the religion of the Gospel, as they had been taught to understand it by the Master, and the churches, which they planted in different places, were invariably taught to look upon the Gospel as the Alpha and Omega, in all things appertaining to their salvation through Jesus Christ. This being incontrovert- ible, why should not the Gospel now be sufficient to teach and govern mankind in the way of ever- lasting life, if it was once infallibly sufficient for this purpose ? Has its power perhaps decayed ? or its redeeming efficacy been blunted ? If not, then why will it not suffice without the addition and incumbrance of adventitious creeds, often only the absurd and stupid productions of igno- rant or interested churchmen ? How dare osten- sibly Christian teachers to adulterate or virtually supplant, the religion of Christ, by their spurious and pernicious speculations ? " For" — as St. Paul no less aptly than pointedly declares, " other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." How happy, how transcendently happy, should we all be, if this great and para- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 63 mount truth was carefully and prayerfully laid to heart, and we should thus be forever freed from the influence of the deadly Upas-tree of sectari- anism ! Third, every person, Christian or non-Chris- tian — in the early days of the Church, having unobstructed access to Gospel-teaching — as has been stated : for that was the only evangelical creed, he was consequently treated as a free- agent, possessing adult-capacity, and, of course, as one capable of personal, independent research, entitled, consequently, to the undisputed and inalienable indulgence of his private opinions. It seems in those unsophisticated and single- minded times, the idea never occurred to any one, that it was dangerous or improper for him to do so, as it might possibly lead him astray, or give him too much self-assurance, and thus imperil his salvation. No; on the contrary, it was deemed far better that he should act an independent and manly part, in his important capacity of a Christian, than — like a child, blindly follow the leading-strings of mother- Church ! The popular proverb, that " experience makes perfect," is eminently true too of a re- ligious education. Theoretically, Protestantism 64 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? perfectly agrees with these sentiments, but in practice, it flatly ignores and condemns the use of private judgment as a religious test, as its history in all countries fully proves.* * The following notice upon this subject, by a writer in " Chambers's Encyclopaedia," is as interesting as it is in- structive. Speaking of Protestantism as it first revealed itself, and how it gradually degenerated and reverted to Koman Catholicism, he thus proceeds to observe, "That" — according to its original principles, " the authority of the Bible is supreme, and above that of councils and bishops, and that the Bible is not to be interpreted and used according to tradition or use and wont, but to be explained by means of itself — its own language and connection. As this doctrine, that the Bible, explained itself independently of all external tradition, is the sole authority in all matters of faith and dis- cipline, is really the foundation-stone of the Keformation, the term Protestant was extended from those who signed the Speier protest ; to all who embraced the fundamental prin- ciple involved in it ; and thus Protestant churches became synonymous with Reformed. The essence of Protestantism, therefore, does not consist in holding any special system of doctrines and discipline, but in the source from which, and the way in which, it proposes to seek for the truth in all matters of faith and practice ; and thus a church might, in the progress of research, see reason to depart from special points of its hitherto received creed, without thereby ceasing to be Protestant. The Symbols or Confessions of the Protestant churches were not intended as rules of faith for all time, but WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 65 Fourth, in the halcyon days of apostolic times, congregations, without denominational distinc- tions, or any idea of the heresy : since developed as a permanent institution, and known as secta- rianism, were scattered over different parts of the Roman Empire, but they were all emphati- cally Christian organizations, or at least aimed solely to be such, both in doctrine and in practice. All the followers of Christ in a certain neighbor- hood or locality, if they wished to hear the Gospel preached and to join in the solemnities as expressions of what was then believed to be the sense of Scripture. When, at a later time, it was sought to erect them into unchangeable standards of true doctrine, this was a re- nunciation of the first principle of Protestantism, and are- turn to the Catholic principle ; for, in making the sense put upon Scripture by the Keformers, the standard of truth, all further investigation of Scripture is arrested, the authority of the Eeformers is set above that of the Bible, and a new tradition of dogmas and interpretation is created, which differs from the Catholic tradition only in beginning with Luther and Calvin, instead of with the apostolic fathers/' I will only add that — as may be verified by this quotation, the principles from which the Keformers started, were liberal and evangelical, but that — overshadowed by a sinister theology of the Dark Ages, they gradually degenerated into narrow- minded and unevangelical sectarianism, whose dire watchword is inertia, not progress ! 66 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? of public worship, went to the same place of meeting or house of God : the invitation : " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters/ 5 was generously extended to all without distinc- tion of person, or regard to shades of faith, and was, therefore, expected to be responded to by all indiscriminately. As was one congregation thus constituted at that time, so were all then similarly constituted, and it must have been a pretty, nay, a most charming sight, well calcu- lated to make glad the heart and to banish from the minds of Christians all thoughts of unhappi- ness, more or less inevitably incident to sectarian modes of observing divine worship. The beggar and the prince; the learned and the ignorant, might alike come, and worship as God should give them grace, or as their honest convictions might dictate. Why cannot congregations now be constituted after this simple pure type of church-organization, which is so eminently in accord with the principles of common sense as well as the evidently democratic spirit of the New Testament, instead of being formed after the present selfish, isolating, and unsociable sectarian exclusiveness, so fertile in the heart-burning and grievances to which it will infallibly give rise ? WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 67 But would not people, thus left chiefly to their own free-agency, or private judgment, without a definite and fixed creed, often be likely to enter- tain very crude and even heterodox opinions ? It is very possible I think that at least some would, but they would — in such case, do only what is done daily by multitudes under the different de- nominational sect-teaching ! Let, I say, every Christian stand face to face with his God, and let no man dare " to judge another man's ser- vant," for " to his own master he standeth or falleth!" 68 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? CHAPTEE VI. In which will be shown the Sad Part which Drunkenness plays in our Unhappiness. Nothing, perhaps, is more common than to find mankind to differ in their opinions about the light in which strong, or spirituous drink, is to be viewed. Thus, some think it ought not to be used at all, and their maxim is, " Touch not, taste not, handle not," while others allow its use, but restrict it exclusively to medicinal purposes. Again, a third class of persons, differing from both the others, insist that a moderate, that is, a judicious and, consequently, wholesome use of it, is neither unreasonable nor can it be injurious. Those who admit its employment as a medicine, confine it to actual disease, whereas, it is clear, that it may be very properly and wisely resorted to as a prophylactic or preventive of disease ! The plain truth of the matter is, that whenever strong drink is used, it should be used only medicinally, or — in other words, for purposes of health, either WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 69 to restore or to preserve it, Except for this end, its use ought to be carefully avoided, as, in such case, it would be decidedly injurious, and, con- sequently, a sinful misapplication of it. There is, I conceive, no more reason that total abstinence should be observed in respect to strong drink, than in respect to the enjoyment of food or the indulgence of ^the sexual instinct. Food is an absolute necessary of life, yet it is often used to excess, and is, therefore, not a good but an injury. Notwithstanding this is the fact, no person of sound mind — unless he designs self- destruction, thinks of dispensing with its use. It would, I think all reasonable people will admit, argue very little good sense in any one to refrain from eating as much as a healthy appetite craves, because many persons indulge a morbid appetite, and. hence minister to gluttony; thus making brutes of themselves, and, besides, waste as well as abuse, a precious gift of the Creator. As to the sexual instinct, to which reference has been made, and which — according to Divine appointment, plays so important a part in the propagation of the human race, who is there insane enough to interdict its legitimate use, merely because its licentious indulgence in the 70 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? commission of the alarmingly prevalent crimes of fornication, adultery, &c, is numerous as " the sand of the sea ?" Hence it is clear, that any drink or beverage, which is healthful when it is properly used, and which — being thus used, is, of course, adapted to attain the ends for which the Creator has intended it, is to be ranked among the indisputable gifts, which are designed for the use and happiness of mankind. In the advancement of the preceding facts, I am far from attempting to plead the cause of the drunkard : he does not use, but abuse, the strong drink in which he indulges, and, of course, does himself great and lasting injury as well as set a bad and ruinous example for others. Hence, though I shall point out the vice of drunkenness from different points of view, and shall by no means pass lightly over its many and grave evils ; yet I will not lose sight of the fact that, no doubt, many a drunkard can plead some ex- tenuation at the bar of his Maker, for his wicked and disgraceful life, and that it behooves us : none being without sin, kindly and wisely to temper justice with mercy. Thus, some per- sons, it seems, have a natural, inborn propensity toward strong drink: Socrates affords such an WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 71 instance, and he rose superior to it, but all men are not Socrateses ! First, drunkenness often leads to the commis- sion of crime. — Alcoholic, or spirituous liquor, has a tendency when it is used to excess, to act as a powerful stimulant, which — according to Webster, " Produces an increase of vital energy and strength of action in the heart and arteries," while, I add, it has a tendency to impair the judgment, and unduly to excite the sensuous passions. Under these circumstances, evidently fraught with great danger to a healthful state of morals, the victim of strong drink often becomes very irritable ; feels strong, and grows pugna- cious, when perhaps an old grudge suddenly re- vives, or, inflamed with anger at a recent real or supposed insult, and — as incapable of cool, delib- erate reflection as he is blindly indifferent to consequences, he brutally maims, disables, or: transported by an ungovernable rage, imbrues his hands in the blood of a fellow-being ; is tried, imprisoned, banished, or hung ! Such is one of the sad, disgraceful episodes in the debasing, ill-spent life of the drunkard. The great and grievous amount of unhappiness, which a life leading to such sad and fearful issues, must 72 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? infallibly cause, cannot but render extremely miserable, not only the infatuated votary of Bacchus, when he at length awakes to a just sense of his degradation and guilt, but also those whose ties of consanguinity bring them in close sympathy with him. For his fall — as that of one near to them, must, of course, affect them more or less painfully as well as abidingly : the dread, dismal thought of it, piercing like a dagger, their stricken souls, ever sorrowing and mourning over his sinister and dire fate : ah, he has indeed made desolate and wretched their hearts — once so happy ; their homes — once so pleasant and cheer- ful ! Evils of a character so appalling : following in the path of the drunkard's career, should — it seems, suggest a timely and solemn warning against an indulgence which — carried to excess, its consequences are both so eminently disastrous and lamentable. Second, one of the serious charges, which may be justly preferred against the drunkard, is that he cannot be either a fit husband or a good father. His absence from home is frequent, generally prolonged, while his return is irregular, and when it takes place, what first announces his presence, is his offensive alcoholic breath. His WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? .73 greeting is a scowl, abuse, now and then, per- haps, an idiotic smile. O, how the poor wife's heart must bleed, if, indeed, she is a good and true woman, under such coarse, rude treatment, suited, alas, not to endear, but to repel, connubial affection ! His example as a father, must be in an eminent degree pernicious, often inducing imitation of his bacchanalian vices, and hence multiplying unhappiness in the family, whose head : unworthy as he is, he still claims to be. Being in a besotted state from the effects of inebriate habits, it is not likely that he thinks much of his children's education, and they ac- cordingly, in most cases, grow up in ignorance as well as without proper moral training. That, finally, he is a " poor provider," for the temporal wants of his household, is — rare cases perhaps excepted, to be taken for granted. Speaking of the effects of drunkenness on home-life, in his book, entitled " Total Absti- nence/' &c, Doctor Hargreaves says : " Another direful aspect of strong drink is its results upon Home Life. Here it assaults the fountain head of our social and national character, and the scenes of our greatest, earthly joys. Affection may build up a home, spread around it the love- 74 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? liest forms the human eye can rest upon, or re- finement and taste desire ; fill every apartment with all that can make home agreeable ; if in- temperance enters, it destroys the happiness of all within its threshold, and banishes every hope and joy. " Vast numbers of our people appear almost destitute of the comforts and happiness of home, around which should cluster the happiest and the most joyous associations of childhood, and the most hallowed recollections of youth. In numerous cases their homes are entirely the re- verse of this ; intemperance has filled them with poverty and misery. Of all abodes, the drunk- ard's home is the most deplorable. It is not only associated with cold, hunger, rags, tears aud woe, but frequently with crime, physical and mental disease, and death under its most appall- ing circumstances. Children in such homes, find little to love, to cherish or to recall with pleasing recollections. Thousands of such homes exist in our large cities. These homes are the training schools of vagrancy, vice and crime, for which society has to provide the means of sup- port," &c. Third, some of the causes, leading to poverty WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 75 in the drunkard's sad career, are patent to com- mon observation, as well as attested by undoubted statistical tables. The drunkard, I may accord- ingly remark, is characteristically distinguished for an idle, spendthrift-life, and, hence, instead of wisely accumulating what is needful and proper in our destination, he sinfully wastes such resources as may be still left to him. Whence it necessarily follows that he is often reduced to great want, ay, squalid misery, thus becoming, of course, a burden to the community, and a curse to himself! In view of such pernicious results, arising from inebriate habits, the solemn truth cannot, therefore, be too early or too sedulously inculcated, that worldly possessions are a heritage derived from God, though we should acquire them indirectly, and — according to Scripture, " In the sw^eat of our faces, " and that a strict ac- count will have to be given to him for the man- ner in which we use them, as also of the extent to which we have — well or ill, employed our par- amount personal gift of free-agency. No one, it is clear, has a right to misapply his God-given blessings : they are, I need hardly say, bestowed upon us only for tvise and good purposes; for the dissemination of virtuous principles : the basis of 76 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? true happiness, and, consequently, indirectly, for the diminution of vice and misery. The observations in the last paragraph, are abundantly verified as well as aptly illustrated by statistical detail, in the following communication by the able writer above quoted : " The Citizens' Association of Pennsylvania," he states, " char- tered by the Legislature to report on our depend- ent and criminal population, reporting to that body, February, 1868, said : ' It will not be doubted that two-thirds of the pauperism and crime are justly attributed to intemperance; and it is stated by authorities that one-third of the dependent classes, as insane, feeble-minded, &c, are to be traced to the same cause. 5 In that year 14,988 were in poor-houses, or one in 246 of the population, whose cost of maintenance was $1,597,720, or $2.67 for each voter in the State. The out-door relief cost $190,376.56, or 32 cents for each voter. In addition, there were about 361,000 vagrants, who were furnished with meals, at an estimated expense of $54,150, or nine cents to each voter. There was also 119,000 nights' lodgings furnished to traveling poor, which added to the 46,250 nights' lodgings furnished to va- grants in the station-houses of Philadelphia, gives WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 77 a total of 165,346 nights 5 lodgings. Three- fourths of this vagrancy is directly traceable as the result of strong drink/ 5 &c. Fourth, drunkenness, I may observe in the next place, has a pernicious influence upon the normal condition of offspring. For alcoholic drinks long continued and used in excess, predis- pose to various very serious kinds of mental and physical diseases ; as B right's disease of the kid- neys ; delirium tremens ; softening of the brain ; insanity ; apoplexy ; paralysis ; cirrhosis of the liver; dropsy; &c. There is no doubt, that a person suffering from one or more of these bac- chanalian afflictions, and whose constitution is consequently vitiated, is incapable of performing either his bodily or psychical functions in a proper, healthy manner, and that the integrity of his bein^ having thus become deteriorated, he is henceforth incapacitated of producing strictly normal offspring. As well, indeed, might we presume that a pure stream can issue from a turbid fountain, or " a corrupt tree" bring forth good fruit, as to believe that a person rendered organically diseased, could still give birth to well-formed, mentally and physically vigorous, fair, and in every sense, perfect children. Opin- 7* 78 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? ions, similar to these, I think are entertained by physicians generally, who concede that the effects of drunkenness are frequently hereditary, or — in other words, that the drinking propensity of the parent is transmitted to the child, thus proving a vitiated origin. But, on this interesting subject, I shall once more refer to the instructive teach- ing of the author on " Total Abstinence," &c, who has made this important subject a specialty. An abstract of this salient question, is contained in the following remarks : " The results of ex- cessive alcoholic indulgences most frequently overlooked, because the least plain," writes the Doctor, " are the amount of disease, weakness, and imbecility transmitted from parents to chil- dren. As a rule, children inherit the passions, diseases, &c, of their parents, and even when the inheritance does not present itself in absolute disease, it often appears in defective mental and physical organization, and this defect or feeble- ness predisposes to intemperance as well as dis- ease." Such being the case, it follows that a predisposition to strong drink, being transmitted from parents to their offspring, the same diseases to which it gave rise in the former, will likely be developed in the latter ; for the cause being WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 79 the same, the effect will be, of course, the same.* Fifth, according to St. Paul, Galatians v. 24, a person who is guilty of habitual drunkenness, " Shall not inherit the kingdom of God." This is plain language, and positive decision. But it is far from implying unjust or arbitrary measures under Gospel-dispensation, inasmuch as the Apos- tle only unequivocally states what is the natural consequence of a drunkard's life ; for the king- dom of God, or— in other words, Gospel-fellow- ship with Christ, is possible only among persons of good moral principles, while those of an op- posite character, would be entirely out of place in the society of the Savior. The German adage admirably expresses this salient fact, in the phrase, " Gleiches zu Gleichem gesellt sich gern," whereas uncongenial dispositions have a natural repugnance toward each other. Hence, drunkenness, it is evident, is incompatible with the privileges of the Gospel, and must, therefore, on no account be indulged in ; for being — as we have seen inimical to good morals, it must prove * According to Dr. Hargreaves, the annual expense for in- toxicating drinks in the United States, amounts to 8700,- 000,000. 80 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? an inexorable bar to admission into glory. Thus we see, that it is temperance which it ever be- hooves ns to observe in all things, if we would enjoy life, be, in short, happy, or — as Mary Chandler no less truly than tersely writes : Cl 'Tis to thy rules, Temperance, that we owe All pleasures that from health and strength can flow." WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 81 CHAPTER AT- II. Want of Religious Principles tends likewise to make us Unhappy. There is not a nation or people, with whom history has made us acquainted, that has not had some kind of religion, either in its incipient or more advanced state of development : a salient fact, which clearly demonstrates that the religious sentiment is radically inherent in human nature, and that, hence, wherever man exists, there is a more or less distinct recognition of the presence of a superior, invisible power, influencing human destiny, and, accordingly, the gradual formation of a creed as well as the introduction of a cor- responding mode of worship. Therefore, a per- son who is of so anomalous a character as to have no religion, or that ignores responsibility to his Maker, seems to be hardly entitled to the epithet human, differing — as he does, so essen- tially from the healthy, normal type of his fel- 82 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? low-beings, in being at once indifferent to his duty and reckless of his fate ! The fact — by no means to be overlooked, that the nurture and manifestation of the religious element is thus coextensive with the human race, shows without a doubt, that the Creator is its originator, and that it is his unalterable will, de- cidedly and unmistakably expressed in the man- ner here pointed out, that religion — qualified by the attribute reasonable of course, should consti- tute the chief and absorbing concern of our lives, and that it is consequently to be a principal means as well as an unfailing source of human happi- ness. Hence it inevitably follows, that the re- verse of such a condition, or, in other words, an irreligious, profane life, is in direct antagonism to man's true interest, and a main, nay, I think I may appropriately and emphatically say, the para- mount, cause of all the unhappiness, traceable to his own voluntary delinquency. But, the sub- ject being viewed in its proper light, why should we not be willing resolutely to guard against any result in our conduct that might lead to the state of misery denominated unhappiness ? Is not the possession of " a pure and undefiled religion/ 5 as the Apostle calls it, generally acknowledged to WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 83 be an inestimable good? a superlative blessing? Then let us cherish it with ardor, and by its effi- ciency make life at once glad and beautiful ! It is, alas, too true to be gainsaid, and too familiar to excite surprise, that much of the religion which is at present in vogue among mankind, is erroneous and little attractive to an intelligent and reflecting mind. It is often, in- deed, little better than a contemptible medley of vulgar superstition, containing hardly any of the appurtenances of a true soul-ennobling and be- atific sentiment. But it must be absolutely so, unless the human race should be restrained by the constant intervention of a miracle, from fall- ing into error, and consequently from entertain- ing false and puerile conceptions of his appropri- ate normal relation to his Maker. The adoption of such a course, however, it is plain, would not be educating man through means of his inborn and inalienable free-agency, as is now the case, but stunting or debasing his faculties, and divert- ing their energies from their proper and legiti- mate ends. Experience and a maturer reflection will here too gradually correct mistakes and over- come imperfections, while a larger knowledge and a more sensitive consciousness will point out 84 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? more suitable methods of approaching and ador- ing the Deity. Hence we at once see the propri- ety of religions toleration, and that the religion of any one is worth very little, hardly indeed, deserving that venerated name, that does not concede the same liberty of opinion to others, which it claims for itself. If God had thought that an institution like that of the Holy Inquisi- tion: emphatically a Satanic invention, was neces- sary either for the preservation or the further- ance of true religion, he would most undoubtedly have introduced it already in the early dawn of primeval time of our race, and made sure of one, inviolable, and universal faith, among all peoples in all times, but he is a Father, and we are his children ! The person who lives without religious influ- ences, or — in other words, fails to be governed by religious principles, is emphatically Godless ; that is, as the word primarily implies, Godloose, signi- fying that he is not tied to God by religious con- siderations, and that, therefore, he has no practi- cal religious intercourse with him ! * Such de- * Thus it is common and proper to say fatherless — having no father ; motherless — having no mother ; childless — being WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? g5 cided lack of intimate relationship with God, and of pious emotions towards him ; such evident proneness toward the sensuous and the earthly, properly constitutes practical atheism : a morbid or abnormal state of the mind, of which multi- tudes of people are at present suffering, and to which they owe much of the unhappiness, which so gravely afflicts, and often, alas, undoes them. Such strange and sad dereliction of duty might plead some excuse, if God was not so good, so lovely, and hence, so supremely adorable, as he is, but under the circumstances, the atheistic conduct of men seems to be as inexplicable as it appears to be without alleviation of guilt. Religion being therefore both so natural and so necessary to the happiness of mankind, there has rarely been a time, since civilization dawned upon the human race, when religious teachers — ostensibly seeking to promote the true dignity and welfare of their fellow-beings, were lacking, to instruct them in the belief and worship of God.* The result — among other good effects without children, &e. Why then should Godless not also have a privative import among other significations ? * God, under the symbolical phases of religion, was once universally, and still is largely, worshiped in his separate 86 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? to which they gave rise, was that houses of wor- ship under the different names of fanes, temples, pagodas, mosques, churches, &c, were erected; sacrifices instituted ; priests ordained; and rit- ual ceremonies introduced. People were not to live here like the lower animals, thought these sensible religious educators, without a solemn, public recognition of God in the stated and de- vout observance of Divine worship : an organiza- tion at once so appropriate and excellent, rightly judged these opportune spiritual guides, would be the most likely and consequently the best means, to elevate the minds of men to a truer and more worthy appreciation of their destina- tion ; to point out to them the way in which they would most certainly find the much needed bless- ing of comfort in distress and sorrow; and, above all, to make their interest in God a lively and an ever-abiding sense of their sacred duty toward him, as well as the most efficient means of lessening the amount of the various kinds of unhappiness, which afflict the human race. Hail, attributes, each being represented as a deity. As, therefore, the whole must contain all the parts — the Divine attributes, I shall designate it emphatically as God. WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 87 all hail, whatever brings good tidings to the unhappy ! Though — notwithstanding the great extent of religious teaching, which has been devoted to the benefit of our race, there is still — as is sadly everywhere apparent, much religious unbelief and worldliness among mankind, yet the major- ity of men are, I doubt not, religious, and though their religion is often extremely faulty, and little creditable to the human understanding, consid- ering that with somewhat more care and dili- gence, it might easily be made to appear under a less repulsive aspect, it is nevertheless better than blank infidelity, or a total and persistent state of unbelief; for — glaring as its defects may be, it is still calculated, in many respects, to minister to the peace and comfort of its votaries, and inspire them with unwavering confidence in an overrul- ing Providence, whereas a person, severed from all religious ties, and hence, in Scripture-phrase, " Living without God and without hope in the world," is a pitiable object indeed, as he must, under the circumstances, be profoundly unhappy ; yes, unqualifiedly wretched, when, at last, the heavens above him grow dark, and fate, relentless fate, is busy in casting up his ill-kept accounts. 88 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? Let us now shift this scene from fallible man, to the contemplation of a holy and perfect God. This adorable Being is the creator of innumer- able worlds, together with all their diversified and wonderful appendages. Vast and sublime as this manifestation of his wisdom and power is, the human mind, animated w T ith feelings of becoming reverence, and happy in meditating upon the manifold and marvellous works of an Almighty builder, will not discover anything either in what he has made, or in the manner in which he governs it, but what is both admirable and praiseworthy. His goodness too is every- where strikingly manifest, as all animated nature amply testifies by its marked susceptibility of the great and almost innumerable kinds of enjoyment, with which he has so graciously endowed it. In short, the world in which he has been pleased to place us, is — viewed as a whole, a perfect and most pleasing picture of consistency, harmony, and loveliness, eminently indicative of the benefi- cence of its Divine author, and of its nice adap- tation for the happiness of inferior, sentient creatures, as well as for the display and glory of intelligent life. These are salient truths, patent to all, and it seems, therefore, as if no one could WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 89 be cognizant of them, without being thoroughly imbued with the religious sentiment, and led to love, adore, and serve God, as is taught in St. Matthew xxii. 37, with all his heart, and soul, and mind, thus fulfilling one of the essential con- ditions of human happiness, as it is clearly the w r ant of such filial devotion and profound attach- ment to God, that bring so many and heavy af- flictions upon the human family; such is the dread penalty of a want of fealty toward God, and consequent omission of fidelity to our highest duty ! The lower animals have evidently no other way of expressing their gratitude toward God for the many and weighty blessings which they constantly enjoy, but by the evident satisfaction and well-being which they derive from their use : from them, therefore, no thanksgiving properly so called, or considered as a strictly devotional act, can be expected, for both according to Scrip- ture and the plain dictates of common sense, God does not claim to reap where he has not sown, but with regard to man, the case is manifestly very different, inasmuch as he is abundantly able to recognize and properly to appreciate the source whence his great and manifold blessings are ob- 8* 90 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? tained, and it is consequently to be presumed that he would not only feel deeply grateful, but make due acknowledgment, for them to the gracious and munificent Giver of every good and perfect gift God, indeed, needs no such acknowledg- ment for his own sake, but requires it — as expe- rience clearly teaches, simply on our account, as only a thankful disposition can make a child of God happy; that is, fill his soul with a serene and joyous satisfaction, which repeats substan- tially what St. Paul teaches, when he writes that " Godliness with contentment is great gain." Hence, finally, if we are not happy, the likeli- hood is that beside other minor causes, which may affect us disastrously, the chief is most prob- ably the crying sin of unthankfulness toward God! WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 9 J CHAPTER VIII. Hypocrisy — as is well known, figures largely as a Cause of our Unhappiness. A hypocrite is " one/' says Webster, " who feigns to be what he is not," or, I may add, one who appears and acts under false pretenses. Either definition is — I conceive, sufficiently accu- rate readily to point out the dangerous and dis- graceful class of persons, whom it is intended to designate. The Jewish sect, known in sacred history, as the Pharisees, and to which also belonged the Scribes: the learned members of the sect, who were the legally recognized exponents and teach- ers of the Law, are addressed by Christ con- jointly under the repulsive and disreputable title of Hypocrites; as — when in tones of menacing rebuke, he exclaims : " Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites !" The hideous vice of hy- pocrisy, it is evident from a somewhat attentive perusal of the twenty-third chapter of the Gos- 92 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? pel according to St. Matthew, was especially hateful and revolting to the exquisite moral sense of Christ, not only as a great and appalling wick- edness in itself, but also because they who were notoriously guilty of it : the Pharisees, were that part of the Jewish population, who did most to stir up ill-will and opposition against him, thus proving mainly instrumental in preventing their countrymen from recognizing Christ a savior ! After the foregoing preliminary remarks, these people, who were the implacable enemies of Christ and his reformatory labors, will receive such attention as may be deemed appropriate under the present heading. PARAGRAPH I. Hypocrisy in its Scripture-Traits. First, Christ censures with deserved vehem- ence, the forbidding conduct of the Pharisees, because "they shut up the kingdom of heaven against men/' neither entering it themselves, nor suffering others to enter it. Doubtless these wily and most unamiable people, governed en- tirely by selfish, groveling motives, and, never, of course, thinking of the general welfare of their WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 93 fellow-beings, or of what is right and proper in itself, were indefatigable in their efforts of dis- paraging the character and ministry of Jesus among their ignorant and deluded countrymen, and in calling their attention to the untiring zeal and diligence, which they and their adherents displayed in behalf of the holy religion and the admirable ceremonies in vogue among them, and as they had been inviolably handed down to them through a long course of ages, from the venerable patriarchs and prophets — their thrice meritorious and glorious ancestors ! What better could be offered to them ? Were not their religious insti- tutions more than once solemnly declared to be intended to be perpetual ? Were they not, be- sides, already the emphatically Chosen People ? What need then could they have of a new- fangled scheme of salvation ? Away with these novelties, they cried ! Crucify the pretender ! Such unfair and most reprehensible treatment of the Son of Man, has, no doubt, had a decidedly damaging influence upon the future destiny of the Jewish nation, proving a most prolific and never-failing source of diverse and grievous un- happiness. Second, these impudent hypocrites " for a pre- 94 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? tenee, made long prayers." — A practice like this, was vile and detestable in an eminent degree, and it cannot, therefore, be deemed matter of wonder, that Jesus peremptorily denounces it as being deserving of the " greater damnation/' The idea is extremely shocking that a being so frail, so erring; a being made of the dust, and that must so soon again return to dust, should pre- sume to insult his Maker with so vile a thing as false pretense : a lie, upon his lips ! I know no wickedness, no desecration of the use of speech, that is comparable to this, both in respect to its daring attempt, and in view of the flagitiousness of its guilt. Its blighting effects, not being con- fined to the evil-doer, exercise a pernicious in- fluence upon persons who are not over-religiously inclined, but who — if it was not for such base hypocritical, or pretended devotion, would prob- ably sooner or later take an interest in religion, • and be thus induced to lead a useful and virtuous life, whereas — being now disappointed in their good opinion of the false pretender, they are un- happy, and discouraged from an attempt to be pious, or good : their case is the case of thousands, and tens of thousands, whom the atrocious sin of hypocrisy deters from the sanctuary of God, and WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 95 for whose bereavement of the consolations of religion, pious hypocrites, who pretend to be de- vout and Godfearing, will be consequently held amenable by the " Searcher of hearts !" Third, the Pharisaic hypocrites were seemingly very conscientious in paying tithes even upon property of such comparatively little value as " mint, anise, and cummin," while they made no scruple to omit the weighter of the law; as, " judgment, mercy, and faith." It is indeed much easier, as may readily be conceived, to pay a trifling tax than to obey the arduous and never- relaxing precepts of the law of God. Besides, by the apparent candor and zeal, which these crafty and systematic deceivers employed in thus studiously giving to the utmost farthing " unto Csesar the things which, were Caesar's, " they had evidently the design to ingratiate themselves with the functionaries of the Roman government, and to gain their good opinions, though in tlieir hearts, they hated and despised them as the op- pressors of their nation. In little things, there- fore, they sought to acquire a name for honesty among men, while in weightier matters : in- volving the conditions of eternal life, they were content with simulation — a seeming, thus blindly 96 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? striving against their own vital interest; their nefarious behavior meanwhile, of course, neces- sarily disgusting and repelling all honest men : at once deeply wounding and scandalizing their sensitive souls at the dreadful thought that there can be so much wickedness under the fair and seductive guise of piety and uprightness. Fourth, the Savior next charges those consum- mate hypocrites with the vile practice. of making clean "the outside of the cup and of the platter," while " within they were full of extortion and ex- cess." In this passage, it is clear that we have to do with figurative language, and that the hypo- crites who appeared under a fair and attractive form in the eyes of the world, were a good deal like the well-cleansed outside of vessels : the in- side being still soiled and filthy, while in their hearts they were teeming with the disgusting de- filement of rank moral corruption ! The gist of the argument — in its moral significance, is, there- fore, that he w T ho simulates virtues, while his heart is wicked and he, perhaps, laughs at the idea that people should be sincere and good, is — according to Jesus, spiritually blind, and unless he shall speedily and thoroughly repent of his perverse and evil ways : or, as it is called here, WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 97 u Cleansing the inside of the cup and of the platter," he can expect only woe to be his lot : a fate already prospectively denounced against him hj Christ, and sure to overtake him, if he persists in the hideous vice hypocrisy, on account of the bad example which he sets his fellow-beings, and the grievous no less than manifold evils, which his abominable hypocrisy inflicts upon the cause of virtue and the happiness of mankind, by its wicked and baneful enticements to the imitation of a feigned and godless life. Fifth, considered as religious teachers, Christ unhesitatingly calls them " blind guides;" that is treacherous or false guides, and says — the text being properly rendered in English, that they " strained out the gnat but swallowed the camel !" Who can doubt that hyperorthodoxy is here meant to be castigated ? For if only his shibboleth is well defined and rigidly carried out, no matter what becomes of men's souls, or what may be the practical state of morals among mankind, the hypocritical teacher of religion is seemingly well content: his faith saves us, works are soterially or in a saving point of view, of no account : so substantially and sadly enough, reads the dogma on justification in the Protestant creeds ! 98 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? Sixth, the Pharisaical hypocrites — in the Savior's time, tried to make their contemporaries believe that if they had lived in the days of their fathers, they would not have imbrued their hands in the blood of the prophets; and so — to verify their sincerity, they built to the memory of those murdered guardians of the Law, splendid monuments, richly garnished, thus sparing no pains to propagate the idea that it was piety that prompted them to such noble deeds, on account — such they pretended was their profound vener- ation for those ancient worthies, of the important services which they had rendered to mankind, as also because they considered no sacrifices on their part too great or costly to do them honor, or illustrate their fame. But, alas, their piety was feigned, and their ostensible love for ancestral virtue, a mockery. For Christ, who knew them, predicted that they would crucify and kill in various other ways, the " prophets, and wise men, and scribes," whom he should send among them ! Such is a brief abstract of the repulsive traits of hypocrisy, as it is portrayed in the Gospel. But brief as it is, it shows that it is better to be honest than to be a rogue ; and that it is easier to appear what you are, than to feign WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 99 what you are not. The following distich, from the terse and fertile pen of Scott, admirably expresses the hypocrite's case : " O what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive ! ? ' PARAGRAPH II. Hypocrisy in its Present or General Manifestations. First, the hypocrite — viewed in a connubial light. — Considered as a lover, it may be justly affirmed that he wooes to deceive ; that, accord- ingly, he pretends to one thing while he aims at another. He makes people believe that he loves the woman who receives his addresses, simply for the sake of her many and rare virtues; that his sole desire is to build up an honorable and happy household; and to enjoy the companion- ship of a chaste and sensible woman. Alas, his asseverations are all mere false pretense : a snare and a delusion. His only object — the object of a vulgar soul, is to get possession of her money, and to have the means to live in affluence, in dis- sipation, and in idleness. Too late, the poor, de- luded and injured woman, sees her error, and 100 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY f repents of a misplaced confidence, when all that she can do is, to suffer in silence and die, or to give vent to her outraged feelings, and cover her treacherous husband with bitter reproaches, per- haps with fierce maledictions, and to lead an un- happy life of contention, want, and wretched- ness, cursing the day on which the inauspicious nuptial tie was consummated ! Such is the method, and such the fruit of the hypocrite's wooing : a wooing that has for its basis the wily arts and schemes of false pretense; that is at once wicked in its inception, and disastrous in its consequences. A wooing that makes an unsus- pecting, innocent woman, the unhappy victim of a selfish, unprincipled hypocrite, who never scru- ples to sacrifice the happiness and fair fame of others, to his own sinister and diabolical ends ! Second, to deceive or gain his groveling and wicked ends, the hypocrite simulates piety. His business or pursuit cannot well dispense with the patronage of church-people, and, therefore, to get their custom or their vote, he pretends to have religion much at heart, and is diligent in commendation of its paramount importance to the human race. He goes to church, though he cannot see that it will be of any spiritual benefit WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 101 to him; he listens attentively and with becoming gravity to the sermon or the lecture ; takes an active, perhaps, leading, part in the devotional exercises; contributes liberally to defray ex- penses ; and is, to all appearance, a sincere wor- shiper and humble Christian. The congregation now lives in daily expectation that he will join the church, while his adroit hypocrisy enables him as constantly to evade their solicitations, and to disappoint their wishes. He does not want to maintain a full membership relation to the church ; oh no. All that he wants, is personal gain : self-aggrandizement ! His pious manceu- vering is, of course, mere pretense. Sooner or later his contemptible wiles will become mani- fest, and the finger of just scorn be pointed at him. But what does he care of that ? He has gained his vile ends, and what is more to be de- plored, he has proved a stumbling-block to many, who, but for his deceitful and misleading con- duct : perplexing the unsophisticated mind with suspicion, and filling it with doubt about the saving efficacy of religion generally, might have in time — as has been already observed on a kin- dred occasion, espoused the cause of Christ, and become his sincere and faithful disciples. Such 9* 102 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? is one of the subtle and mischievous episodes of hypocrisy, not uncommon in recent experiences and regrets of church-life ! Third, the hypocrite is sometimes in the pul- pit ! Can it be possible ? Ay, it is only too true to be doubted. It is notorious that among the many thousands of ostensibly Christian ministers, there is seldom one that confesses to a change of creed, or is known to forsake his existing eccle- siastical relations ! How can so singular a fact be accounted for on honest principle, or a just sense of duty ? It is certain that the human mind — unless it is altogether brutish, cannot be prevented from thinking, whence it follows that it must often arrive at conclusions, which differ materially from received orthodox opinions. And yet — with rare exceptions, the same dogmas con- tinue to be taught, and the same sect-peculiari- ties to be maintained, as they were interpreted and received on the day of ordination. The so- lution which the case seems to demand here, can — I presume, be given readily enough : to desert a creed and secede from old and familiar reli- gious associations, requires two important quali- fications, first, honesty, which will not hesitate openly to declare its convictions, and, second, WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 103 courage, which will assert them at all hazards and in the face of the world. It seems clear then, that many ministers sadly lack these praise- worthy qualities, and that personal considera- tions, or — in other words, selfish motives, govern their conduct in this most weighty matter. A state, so decidedly unnatural to the human mind, and — at the same time, so inimical to the plain dictates of conscience, premises — I am un- feignedly sorry to say it, the existence of a large and fearful amount of hypocrisy in the Churches, and proves — without a doubt, that the god of many ministers, is — as the Apostle expresses it, " Their belly !" Fourth, politicians too are often guilty of the flagitious vice hypocrisy. It is wonderful how some of the " office-seekers" fawn and smile in the presence of their constituents ; how they flat- ter the voter and — with seeming candor, reiterate the promise of a diligent and faithful discharge of the sacred trust that would be committed to their care, in case they should be elected to office, is well known, and the shameful infringement of this solemn promise, either in consequence of incompetence, or — which is perhaps more fre- quently the case, of treachery, is also a fact of 104 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? familiar as well as most painful occurrence ! Such men are simply base hypocrites : traitors to their country, whose aim is the " spoils of office/' and who, therefore, care but little for the welfare of the State, or the sanctity of its institutions. Hence, if ever our glorious star-spangled banner shall cease to wave in the breeze of " the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave," the hypocrit- ical, faithless politicians will have a fearful reck- oning to answer. They cannot, therefore, learn too soon, or too well, that " honesty is the best policy," and save their names from the just brand of eternal infamy ! CONCLUSION. First, the hypocrite may with propriety be gen- erally characterized as a wily, perfidious pre- tender, who has not the courage or generosity to say what he thinks, or to do what he ought to do ; who— instead of pursuing a straightforward, honest course of conduct, seeks to attain his sin- ister ends, by devious by-ways and the use of unmanly and contemptible tricks. The hypocrite — being thus devoid of all nobleness of prin- ciple, which alone can dignify and exalt human WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 105 nature, he is emphatically a monster that — as St. Peter writes of the Devil, " Walketh about, seek- ing whom he may devour !" Second, and lastly, the hypocrite is a base and wilful denier of the truth, the best and greatest gift of God to man, and hence, guilty of treason against his Maker; for he basely disavows the open, manly spirit, with which God has primarily endowed the human race, thus betraying his sa- cred and inviolable trust, for worldly gain and selfish ends. He is no longer one with God, but has wickedly fallen away from the glory of the Divine image, in which he was made, and in- stead, therefore, of beirtg any longer a child of God, possessing the lofty and graceful stature of manhood, he has degenerated into a ridiculous simulacrum — a fraud, whom the Judge of the world, will only then again own and bless when he shall have confessed his guilt, and forsaken his evil ways ! 106 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY $ CHAPTER IX. In which are pointed out Some Defects of the Common- School System of Pennsylvania, and is demonstrated that— not working quite evenly, it is : notwithstanding its Many Advantages, by no means Faultless, and, hence, a Source of Several Grave Evils. The expressions primary school and common school are, according to our distinguished lexi- cographer, "Webster, essentially the same, for — in treating upon the term school, he says : " A primary school is a school for instructing children in the first rudiments of language and literature ; called, also, a common school, because it is open to the children of all the inhabitants in a town or district." "What in the investigation of this subject, can- not but strike a person as very remarkable in the common-school system of Pennsylvania, is, that it presents at once an elementary and a collegi- ate aspect : the former being recognized in a proper, legitimate confinement of the public in- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 107 struction to the emphatically common-school system of education, while the latter, in the in- troduction, or use, of the higher branches of learning, singularly ignores the original, plain intention of the system : the exclusive provision of a common, practical course of education, suited to the ordinary wants and pursuits of the citizens, never dreaming it seems, that such ad- ditional and more abstruse scholastic lore, can- not, with any sense of propriety, be included under the simple, well-defined phrase common- school education. If now we inquire what is the nature of the instruction, which is to be imparted under this system of education, the answer is thus readily given : " The branches of knowledge" which — according to the " Common School Laws of Penn- sylvania," &c, are to be taught in the common schools, " are orthography, reading, writing, arith- metic, geography, and grammar ;" and they are — as appears further from the same reliable source of information, " Peremptorily required to be taught in every district — that is, to every pupil in every school in the district, who requires in- struction in either or all of them." In addition to the common-school branches of 108 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? education, noticed in the preceding paragraph, " The law" — it is, moreover, stated by the same authority already referred to, " permits and en- joins provision for instruction in such other branches as the board of directors may require." The introduction of higher branches of instruc- tion into the common schools as well as the de- termination of the number and the kinds of such branches of instruction, is, therefore, en- tirely left to the discretion of the board of school- directors, and they may — it likewise appears, make such disposition in the case as they please, being thus empowered without restraint or gain- say, of teaching any of the arts and sciences which have heretofore been looked upon as ap- propriately appertaining to the learned profes- sions, and, therefore, constituting a strictly scien- tific course of study, confined to a usual college- curriculum. A license like this, which is capable of unlimited extent, may be in accord with the constitution of Pennsylvania, but it is, neverthe- less, a grave abuse of the primary, common- sense intentions of a common-school education. School-directors are not always competent to act wisely and well for the best interests of the people, even if the introduction of higher WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 109 branches of learning into elementary schools, was not — as it seems to be, a flagrant contra- diction of our sense of propriety, or judgment of the fitness of things ! There is only one bar — it appears, to the un- limited exercise of power intrusted to the board of common-school directors, and that is the wants, or progress of the pupils. For, thus say the laws of the State on the subject, " The only limits to the course of instruction in a common school, is that set by the wants of the pupils and the discretion of the board. The higher branches of learning should not, however, be introduced, either into mixed schools or those of grades es- tablished for the purpose, till full provision has been made for the instruction in the rudimental branches above named, of all who need them." To the foregoing information upon the subject of our common-school system, the simple remark may be considered sufficient, that common sense would seem to dictate that a pupil should not be advanced to a higher " grade," till he has ac- quired a thorough knowledge of the inferior branches of study, and that no especial proviso is necessary in the case. Again, " the board of directors of the common 10 HO WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY f schools," which by-the-by are often very un- common, " shall direct what books shall be used," &c. This exclusive privilege to control the supply and kinds of books, which are to be used in the common schools, affords the board of directors — in case they should not be governed by strict principles of integrity, an opportunity to make the purchase of school-books a means of personal gain, to the serious detriment of course, of the parties who must be at the expense of buying those books, and hence, so questionable a power should not be granted unconditionally, but be subject, more or less, to the will of the people, who are directly interested in the traffic of school- books. For this end, the people of the State of Pennsylvania, should from time to time, call public meetings in the different school- districts, and discuss the common-school interest in such a manner that no unnecessary expenses might be incurred in the administration of public instruc- tion ; for it behooves them to know that the school-books, which they are obliged to purchase, amount annually, at the least calculation, to one million dollars. Beside this large sum of money, which is immediately derived from the property of the taxable inhabitants of the State, the Com- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? \\\ monwealth advances — from funds of the general revenue, one million dollars more toward defray- ing the annual common-school expenses ; and which too — of course, is obtained from the re- sources of the State ; and, hence, from the sub- stance of the people. A change of books is, no doubt, often un- necessarily frequent, and consequently the outlay for books uselessly augmented. This wasteful practice is very censurable, and should not be allowed without good reason. If the people— who are so intimately concerned in the issue of the question, are not permitted to have a voice in the matter of introducing new school-books, then they are virtually disfranchised, and the constitution of the State, guaranteeing the sover- eignty of the people, and reposing in them the ultimate trust of all political power as well as of all social well-being, is practically subverted by this somewhat arbitrary school-law, and there is an end of free-government ! It is, alas, too much the case in our country, that the representatives of the people, instead of maintaining a dependent and respectful relation to their constituents, as it behooves them to do, are too apt to forget the source of their power, and prove false to their duty. 112 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? The common-school system of Pennsylvania, in making provision for the introduction of the higher branches of education to be taught in the schools, is often — without intending it, I doubt not, the means of treating the poor with marked injustice ; for it is only the children of rich citizens who can avail themselves of the ad- vantages of a high-school course of education, while those of the poor, must soon put their hands to some useful industrial occupation, to contribute toward the support of the family. Such being the disadvantages under which the poor labor in reference to the acquisition of a common-school education, it is not likely that many can avail themselves of the more expensive course of study embraced under the comprehen- sive phrase higher branches of knowledge* Yet not- withstanding this fact, the poor — without : owing to their circumstances, deriving any advantage from the higher grades of education, must pay taxes as well as those whom fortune has treated more kindly. The unfairness is patent and striking ! An item of expense : not to be overlooked in * More expensive both in regard to books and clothing. WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? H3 this investigation, and which is incident to this anomalous, twin system of education, in Penn- sylvania, is the increase of rent, which it is chiefly the lot of poor people to pay; for a school-course in the higher branches of learning, being — as has been just stated, comparatively expensive, the amount of taxes which it is, hence, necessary to levy, is derived in a great measure from the owners of real estate, who — to indem- nify themselves in some degree, raise the rent on their property, and the tenants are consequently much inconvenienced by the additional burden which they are thus called upon to bear, a meas- ure which is indeed unjust in itself, but which can ultimately trace its iniquitous origin to the higher-branches division of our common-school system of education ! This — by no means pleas- ing fact, furnishes another serious objection against this heterogeneous dual system of educa- tion, and pleads loudly for the discarding of the higher branches of education from the common- school interest of Pennsylvania. People ask "fair play,' 7 and will, I hope, stand up for their rights ! It seems very evident then that the higher branches of learning, should not be introduced 10* 114 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? into a system of education that has ostensibly for its object common-school education ; that it cannot be made to work equitably to all classes ; and that it is an evident violation of the sacred prin- ciple of equal rights. If a common-school edu- cation has been acquired, according to the course prescribed by law, and any pupils wish to prose- cute their studies further, and consequently to attain greater proficiency in learning, let them go elsewhere where they will find institutions, which are exclusively devoted to such purpose ; but let them not seek to get learned or wise at the expense of the poorer citizens. Owing to the diversity of opinion by which boards of directors are often distinguished, it will happen — as frequent examples can testify, that in some school-districts, the common branches only of education are taught, while in others, the high-school innovation is rigidly enforced. The adoption of measures so diverse in the pursuit of the same object, is, of course, not seldom the cause of very unpleasant feelings and, sometimes, even of fierce contention, both among the people and the directors. Such disagreeable and un- seemly incidents could not occur if this system of education was true to its primary intention WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? H5 — the instruction of the rising generation in those branches of knowledge only, which arc designated as primary, or rudimental, and hence appropriately denominated common-school edu- cation : the system — it is very evident, is at once, vague and inconsistent; a fact which every sensible and patriotic man must deeply deplore, and, therefore, sincerely wish it might be other- wise. Another objection to the introduction of higher branches of knowledge into our common-school system of instruction, and not to be lightly passed over in this place, has reference to childless citi- zens. The citizens, composing this class of per- sons are — as far as is known, generally well-dis- posed toward a system of education, which gen- erously aims to give a good common education to all the children indiscriminately of the Com- monwealth ; they cheerfully pay their quota of the taxes for this end, and think themselves happy in being permitted to contribute toward an end, which is so well meant, and which is calcu- lated to do so much good : they want the poor — for whose sake chiefly the common schools of Pennsylvania have been introduced, to share the privileges of a good rudimentary education alike 116 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? with the rich.* But they protest — as all men of common sense and in favor of equal rights, must do, against a law which compels them to pay for the education of children, whose parents are often richer than themselves, and who, instead of being content with the prescribed common branches of education, and thankful for the advantages here- tofore enjoyed, ignobly aspire to become learned by the unjust use of other men's means ! Finally, the great, the crying defect under which the common-school system of Pennsylva- nia, suffers, is its striking omission of all moral instruction : I say nothing here of what may be property called religious education, as that is more suitably confided to the care of the Church. The total absence of the moral element in a school- system in a Christian land, is certainly a phenom- enon well calculated to create alarm ; for a per- son, who has the good of his fellow-beings at heart, has eminent reason for apprehending the worst consequences from so flagrant an oversight in the education and proper bringing-up of chil- * I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I am not at en- mity either with the rich or with riches, considered in them- selves : the rich are often good people, and riches may prove a great blessing to mankind. WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? H7 dren. Education — I am bold to say, without a careful moral training, is essentially worthless, caring only and simply for the acquisition of knowledge, but not also and mainly for the in- culcation of virtue, thus being one-sided, and utterly unfitted to make good citizens and happy men and women. The education of the young — to be suitable, or, in other words, efficient, and to answer its appropriate and hallowed ends, must by all means include the paramount lesson, that there is a God, who is the creator of all things, and the giver of every good gift : on whom we are, there- fore, dependent for our lives and for all that we have ; that he requires us to obey his laws, and to be faithful toward him in all the relations of life ; and that, as must be clear to all, we are ac- countable to him for the manner in which we live, or use his gifts, and will be rewarded or punished accordingly as it shall appear that we have been either good or bad. Toward this august and holy Being, they should be diligently and earnestly taught to cher- ish the most profound veneration ; to be cor- dially and supremely thankful for his manifold and innumerable blessings; and especially to 118 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? make the pious conviction — that God will ever govern us in such ways only as shall prove to be best for us, at once the motive of willing obedience, and the exhaustless source of a cheer- ful and happy confidence. Children — it must seem self-evident to the re- flecting mind, should not be brought up in igno- rance of what duties they owe toward their fel- low-beings, or — in other words, how it behooves them to deport themselves toward them ; for their happiness or misery in life is, in a great measure, the undoubted result of their conduct accordingly as it is of moral or of immoral import. Hence, above all other moral lessons — of a social nature, they should be most assiduously taught to do to others as they would wish them — under similar circumstances, to do to themselves. A duty so comprehensive includes, of course, not only the weightier precepts of the moral law, but also the observance of common politeness, especially, how- ever, the esthetic grace of respect toward their seniors, including both parents and elderly per- sons generally. The aged, or such individuals as are, more or less, advanced in maturer years, are presumed to have acquired wisdom from ex- perience, and, hence, the young who are not WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? H9 brought up to show proper respect, or to behave with becoming decorum, toward them, are justly to be regarded as ill-bred, and foredoomed to suffer the many and grave evils, incident to bold-faced- ness and a froward behavior. It is notorious that — to judge from the frequent examples of rudeness and boisterous insolence, moral prin- ciples are not included among the branches of education, which are taught in the common schools of Pennsylvania, and so far at least, as this is the case, they are egregiously and deplor- ably deficient in the most important and indis- pensable element of a good, Christian education. It is a sad, daily experience of tax-payers, to be treated with disrespect and even contumely, by children who are educated through means of their money. May a sounder tuition inspire bet- ter manners, and lead to happier issues ! The following pithy couplet, taken from Pope's " Essay on Man/' will pertinently conclude this chapter : " Know then this truth — enough for man to know, Virtue alone is happiness below." 120 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY i CHAPTER X. The Unseemly Manner in which People mourn for the Dead, tends not a little to make Mankind Unhappy. There is perhaps no sadder sight in all nature, than that of a human being mourning for the dead, provided, of course, that his mourning is truly heart-felt and, therefore, sincere : it is the natural unburdening of the soul, and to shed a tear; to heave a sigh; to break out in deep, melt- ing tones of lamentation, seems to be but a just tribute due to those, whom in life we have es- teemed so highly, or loved so long and so ten- derly. Not to mourn for such as these, would argue want of proper feeling; would be deci- dedly unnatural; would be, in short, disgraceful, and eminently unworthy the sacred name human- ity. The idea that it is unmanly to give utterance to our grief even in but subdued emotions, or in the expression of a grave, mournful look, is as puerile as it is extravagant, and clearly militates against the dictates of universal human experi- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? | 21 ence. It must, therefore, have its origin in a de- praved, sickly feeling, little creditable to our na- ture. And I hesitate not to say, that he who is incapable of mourning, is likewise incapable of rejoicing, and that, instead of being an unexcep- tional pattern of humanity, he is — in a moral point of view at least, a monster ; that is, a man without a heart ! Here the following stanza from the poetical effusions of Hill, may be suitably introduced as an appropriate conclusion to the foregoing para- graph : " Hide not thy tears ; weep boldly, and be proud To give the flowing virtue manly way : 'Tis nature's mark to know an honest heart by, Shame on those breasts of stone that cannot melt In soft adoption of another's sorrow !" If I believe that the friend, the relative, whom death has snatched away from me, is not happy ; is — according to the Calvinistic and other hyper- orthodox beliefs, in a hell of fire, and doomed to its concomitant : everlasting torment, I may well mourn, weep, nay, cry and wail in the sharp and deadly anguish of the soul. In such dis- tressing case, I would not only mourn the death 11 122 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? and the removal from me of a human being, in whose smiling presence I was once happy, but — being still in profound and undying sympathy with him : friend ever tenderly, lovingly cling- ing to friend, I would mourn my own supreme unhappiness, in the appalling and terrible thought that my friend was in hell : a thought which I could not for a moment entertain without being myself in an incipient state of hell-torment. I can, therefore, readily understand why the believers in a retribution of a hell of tire : a Gehenna, " Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched/' should mourn and sorrow with the vehemence of a hopeless despair. A faith, thank God, which is daily growing more and more obsolete, and which — becoming finally extinct : as it most as- suredly must, w T ill be the means of closing up a most prolific as well as an extremely pernicious source of human sorrow and misery, thus en- abling poor, stricken, mourning souls to breathe more freely, and to think of the future and their dear ones, without the fear and trembling, inci- dent to a belief so little in accord with common sense and the infinite goodness and mercy of our heavenly Father. There is — I may next observe, an occasion for WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 123 mourning on funeral events, which should : it seems, elicit the kindliest and most indulgent feelings of our fellow-beings, and be, therefore, an amply sufficient cause for the most liberal exercise of their forbearance and long suffering toward us : an occasion, which has its origin in doubt about a future existence of the human race. There is no subject which can engage human attention more distressing, more dreadful in fact, than the thought that our dear, cherished ones, when they die, will cease, perhaps forever cease, to be, namely, as conscientious personal entities, and that we too when we die, will ter- minate our existence as organic animate beings, by undergoing decomposition, and returning to the original elements : supposed or feared, in the present instance, to be the sole constituents of which our bodies are, at present composed. The Gospel, which teaches in precise and posi- tive language, a life to come, should afford abundant consolation to those who have no doubt of its truth, and be, therefore, a very cogent means of moderating our mourning demonstra- tion. Beside the express scriptural teaching upon this eminently salient and interesting subject, I deem it proper, in this place, to direct the reader's 124 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? attention to my recent Work, entitled " The Belief in Immortality, on purely Logical Princi- ples," in which — I think, I have demonstrated the eminent likelihood, that independently of any evangelical reasons for such a belief, we have very strong and most encouraging inducements for indulging the pleasing conviction that man is destined to realize a great and glorious here- after ! It is to be fervently hoped, that the firm and undoubted belief in a future life, will soon be- come the inestimable heritage of the whole hu- man race ; for without this belief : which is the very sheet-anchor of our hope, human happiness here must continue forever to be most lamentably defective, and remain one of the chief causes of expressing our mourning on funeral occasions, with inconsolable vehemence — in fact, with the energy of blank despair : thus afflicting and tor- menting with doubt and misgiving the human mind, on the great and absorbing question of a future existence of man; an existence which alone can give to the soul its purest peace, and prove our dearest, fondest hope's surest, happiest realization ! As God has predestined mankind to die, and WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 125 as it is, therefore, liis will that the separation of one person from the other through the inter- vention of death, should take place, it might seem from a mere glance at the subject, as if all demonstration of regret or sorrow, however slight or guarded it might be, on the occasion of the death of a human being, was radically and alto- gether improper, nay, even highly sinful, because it is a mourning over what God has ordained, and what must, therefore, be considered good and proper in itself; and, hence, all things in the case, duly weighed, the best for us ! But in reply to this rather too hasty view of the subject, I observe that the custom of mourning for the dead, is, apparently, as old as the human race ; that — as far as is known, it is common to all mankind in every part of the globe; and that, consequently, the pain, which we feel, and the expression of grief, which we manifest, upon funeral occasions, must be not only eminently natural to us, but emphatically innate in our con- stitution. Its origin, potentially, is therefore evi- dently from God, and such being the fact, his intention must have been that man should mourn the death of his fellow-beings, not — by any means, in boisterous, unseemly utterances of grief, but ll* 126 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? in a chastened, rational manner, nobly free from all violent and inordinate emotion. But I am anticipating later themes on this subject, and will only barely remark, that to be moved at death's grim and dismal inroads upon the fair domain of the living, requires a Stoicism, which is possible only to comparatively few men, and cannot there- fore, be expected as a gift and grandeur common alike to all. Before I shall invite attention to what may, perhaps, not inappropriately, be called home- scenes of mourning, I will introduce the reader to some examples of funeral ceremonies among the Jews, as set forth in the Bible: in the ac- complishment of this task, I shall follow the lead of the interesting little book, entitled " The Bible Expositor," &c. — Accordingly in Exodus xxxiii. 4, we find that when on a certain sombre oc- casion, the people mourned, " no man did put on him his ornaments," and, hence looked, of course, as unaesthetic and repellent as he could. In Luke xxiii. 48, it is stated that the people, who witnessed the ' crucifixion of the Savior, " Smote their breasts." Again, Jeremiah ix. 17-18, we read of mourning women, who were to be called together to bewail the impending calamitous fate of the WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 127 Jewish people : " And let them/' writes the Prophet, " make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters." According to the same Prophet that has been just quoted, chapter xxii. 18, Jehoiakim was a very bad king, and the people were enjoined not to lament for him, saying, "Ah, my brother! or, Ah, my sister ! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah Lord ! or, Ah, his glory !" From a further consultation of the prophecies of the son of Hilkiah, chapter xvi. 5, it appears that a part of Jewish mourning consisted in the lugubrious and painful act of " bemoaning" the dead. Job — on the calamitous event which had befallen him, " rent his mantle," we are told, and " shaved his head;" while it is said of Joseph, the Jewish viceroy of Egypt; G-enesis xlv. 1-2, that when he made himself know T n to his brethren, " he wept aloud," so loud indeed, that the " Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard him" ! Rude, boisterous music too, the Jews had to make more hideous and appalling their barbarous funeral solemnities; for it is said, Matthew ix. 23, " Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise." Be- 128 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? side these various kinds of extravagant manifes- tations of mourning, it appears from the warning which it was deemed necessary to administer to the Jews in primitive times, as may be seen in Leviticus xix. 28, and Deuteronomy xiv. 1, that on mourning occasions, they cut and otherwise disfigured themselves similarly to the practice, common among the priests of Baal, 1 Kings xviii. 28. The texts, referred to, read thus : " Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead." And again, " Ye are the children of the Lord your God : ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead." I do not at all wonder that the Jews indulged in excessive and, indeed, very grotesque modes of expressing their grief at the death of one of their race; for — as far as their canonical books* give any information about a hereafter, the substance of their belief, relatively to the state of the dead— as I have clearly shown in my Work on " The Teachings of Providence, or New Lessons on Old Subjects," was, that they occupied a gloomy, dismal subterranean region, * Distinguished as such by the Protestants. WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 129 called Sheol, or Hades, and that they were in a kind of a semi-somnolent, or half conscious con- dition of existence.* — To have had ideas about the departed dead, so little satisfactory and genial upon this most salient subject of human interest, as these — of so decidedly spectral a nature, must have been, was enough to fill the poor, bereft, and disconsolate souls with absolute consterna- tion and dismay, and they, accordingly go a great way to apologize or suggest extenuation for their wild, ungovernable expressions of soul- desolating sorrows, at the celebration of their dismal and heart-rending obsequies : well calcu- lated to spread its depressing and desponding influences over the whole dread scene of death and the grave. The style of mourning, common among many Christians, will next demand a concise notice. When I speak of Christians, I mean, of course, not merely nominal disciples of Christ, but gen- uine, or sincere believers, who mean what they * The Jews — like the Christians prior to the heliocentric theory of our astronomical system, as taught hy Copernicus, believed that the earth is a plane, and the immovable centre of the universe : hence their belief in its adaptation for an under-world spirit-abode. 130 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? profess, and who — it is to be supposed, ought to live in harmony with the spirit and meaning of their profession. "When, therefore, Christians of this stamp, " go into mourning," it is to be expected that they should mourn as those that " have hope," in respect to the future destiny of their fellow-Christian friends and relatives, who have departed from this life. But such, alas, is often not the case ; for although they confidently assure us, that they have no doubt : oh, no ! not the least doubt, that they are in a happy, blessed state of existence, ay, in heaven itself, and that — after a little while, the lapse of a few, short years at most, they will find them there again, yet will they weep, and mourn, and sorrow as if their hearts must break, and their very souls dissolve in the anguish of tribulation. Nothing — under such lugubrious circumstances, but the healing soothing influence of time, change of scene, joy- ful events, or the pressing cares of life, will be able to assuage the profundity of their grief: like Eachel, the wife of the patriarch Jacob, weeping for her children, they refuse to be comforted, " because they are not." What a wonderfully strange and glaring con- tradiction this is of the professedly Christian be- WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? 131 lief in the immortality and certain happiness of the presumed pious dead ! For if I firmly be- lieve in an undoubted happy future in store for the dead who " die in the Lord/' and who, be- sides, are so near and dear to me, why should I not much rather rejoice, nay, be exceedingly glad in the beatific conviction, that they have gone into a world where they are supposed to be freed from the many cares, the anxieties, the sickness, in short, from the almost innumerable reverses, incident to the checkered scenes of this life, and where — it is boldly asserted, they " rest from their labors and their works follow them." In- stead, however, of cherishing a frame of mind conformably to such pleasing views — so well cal- culated to make the mourners happy, and inspire them with a praiseworthy magnanimity, these people, bearing the name Christians, clothe them- selves in sable habiliments; assume dejected and lugubrious visages : seldom speak, and then only in a monotonous, wailing voice : sighing and la- menting with the persistent assiduity of a seem- ingly hopeless despair. If these persons are so certain of the salvation and celestial felicity of the dead, why do they not rather forbear alto- gether from mourning : making themselves and 132 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? others extremely and needlessly unhappy, and, on the contrary, rejoice and thank God that at least one soul more is safe, and that they shall soon and forever share in its bliss and glory ? The conduct of these, so glaringly self-contra- dicting Christians, is so exceedingly remarkable, that the only way to explain it is, either that the persons, who are guilty of it, are really not Chris- tians, though they think and say that they are, or that their Christianity is of a low, inferior kind, and that its fruits are consequently of a very im- perfect or — rather, defective quality, suited much better to be classed — as a psychical phenomenon, under the category of the Law than of that of the Gospel, and that these unhappily contradictory Christians are in fact rather Jewish than Chris- tian mourners, whose mission it clearly is, that while they mourn, they must not distress, but cheer; not repel, but invite: their dead has — they fondly believe, ascended into the Father's house above, why then — I repeat, mourn for him, ay, mourn for him, with such distressing and fatal pertinacity, and cast a death-chill over all who have the misfortune to come near them ? Admitting that these equivocal mourners are Christians — as they claim to be, notwithstanding WHAT MAKES US UX HAPPY? 133 they are apparently only in a rudimentary stage of evangelical progress, we have no other alter- native to account for their inconsistent and un- amiable behavior as mourners, but to come to the reluctant conclusion, that they say of the dead; of whose happiness they profess to have not the slightest doubt, what they do not believe to be strictly and irrefragably true, and that they accordingly simulate a belief: perhaps from mo- tives of family-pride, or social considerations, &c, in his future well-being, but do not express a conviction of an actual fact. People — the habit is proverbially notorious, have a decided propensity for speaking well of the dead,* and, hence, hopefully of their future destiny : a laud- able habit it must be owned, if the good will toward the dead is deserved ; but to clothe a per- son of questionable morality in the hallowed ha- biliments of virtue, at his death, is — to say the least, wickedly trifling with that which should be deemed by all sober-minded and conscientious Christians, as sacred and inviolable ! After some sad and trying experience in the company of mourners, it is natural to look around * De mortuis nil nisi bonum ! 12 134 WHAT MAKES US UNHAPPY? us for some source of comfort, and I shall, there- fore, conclude this brief disquisition, with the following cheering, euphonious and hope-inspir- ing couplet of Longfellow, while, at the same time, the investigation, What makes us Unhappy ? may be considered terminated : 11 Be still, sad heart, and cease repining; Behind the cloud is the sun still shining." THE END.