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BIOGHAPHU'AL RKMAINS
KEY. GEOEGE BEECHER,
LATE PASTOR OF A CHURCH IN CHILLICOTHE, OHIO.
AND FORMER PASTOR OF A CHURCH IN
ROCHESTER, NEW-YORK.
NEW-YORK
LEAVITT, TROW AND CO.. 194 BROADWAY
BOSTON : CROCKER AND BREWSTER.
PHILADELPHIA : PERKINS AND PURVES.
CINCINNATI : WM. H. M«»ORE.
I 844.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by
LEAVITT, TROW & CO.
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District -of
New-York.
J. F. TROW & CO., Printer*, 33 Ann-rtreet, New-York.
(Slji0 llolume
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
TO THOSE CHURCHES TO WHICH THE SUBJECT OF
THESE MEMOIRS
MINISTERED AS A PASTOR.
CATHARINE BEECHER.
C 0 xN T E N T 8 .
Memoir, . , 5
Further Extracts from Letters, . . . 146
Essays ox Christian Perfection, . . 167
Sermons, ••...... 20"i
BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS.
It is probable that there is no class of writings which have proved more interesting and profitable, than religious biography; and this is the reason why works of this description are so abundant.
In looking over the list of those which have excited the most interest, we find that a great por- tion of them contain the history of men, who have filled a large space in the public eye, as distin- guished for talents and piety, or as stationed on a field of labor, where their movements were attended by circumstances of peculiar interest. This vol- ume does not claim to belong to this description. The subject of it was, indeed, a good man, and a faithful minister of Jesus Christ, but has neither occupied a distinguished position in public regard, nor has his field of labor, or the incidents of his life, presented any thing of peculiar interest to attract public notice.
But there is another class of biographical wri- tings, which, though less striking in character and 2
6 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
incident, are none the less interesting and useful to the great mass of readers.
Their merit consists in presenting the history of a mind which has been called to contend with infirmities of temperament and habit, and to en- counter circumstances of temptation, which are in the range of ordinary experience, while the m.o- tives and -influences which secured success, are presented with a warmth and distinctness that shed light on the path of common Christian expe- rience, and afford aid to all who are aiming to walk in the strait and narrow way.
The lives of such men as Brainerd, Martyn, and the noble army of confessors, who have toiled on the missionary field, present interesting inci- dents, combined with high attainments and invigo- rating examples. But they are in circumstances in which few common Christians are placed, and of course do not so powerfully appeal to the mind in the every day trials, which the majority of read- ers feel to belong to their own lot.
But the biography of more humble individuals, such an one, for example, as Harlan Page, stands entirely on another ground, and writes lessons of instruction more generally applicable, and thus more widely felt.
It is believed that the following record presents an experience which is peculiarly calculated to aid those, who, while compassed with infirmities, are still aiming at high attainments in Christian
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 7
character. It is not the detail of striking incident, it is not the development of a wonderful intellect, it is not a story of remarkable trials and deliver- ances, it is not the exhibition of illustrious piety, which has long cheered and illumined an extended sphere. It is the history of a mind which, embar- rassed with infirmities of temperament, with the impediments of habit, with the weakness and dis- couragements of disease, found motives and in- fluences that imparted unwonted strength and vigor, and secured remarkable success, and these are so presented as to awaken hope and encourage- ment in all, who, amid similar embarrassments, are pressing forward to the mark for the prize of their high calling.
In addition to this, it is believed that there are some portions of this individual's history, as a minister of the Gospel, which are somewhat pecu- liar, and that his example in these respects may have a useful tendency, as it regards the influence, health, and usefulness of any who may be led to follow it.
These considerations have had weight in de- ciding to present this volume to the public eye. There are other reasons of a more private nature, which have also been deemed worthy of regard. There is a class of intelligent and cultivated minds, now scattered over the nation, who once were gathered, with the subject of this memoir, in the venerable walls of Yale. They were the objects
8 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
of his Christian solicitude, the subjects of his prayers and labors, and some among them, here- after, may shine as stars in his crown of rejoicing. To these, this volume will bring back memorials of the past, forgotten words of Christian faithful- ness, touching the chords of distant years, and awakening echoes in the heart unknown to the world around.
There is another class who were united with him in preparing for the ministry, and who shared with him in the anticipations, hopes, and plans, which arise to the young novitiate as he looks ahead to the labors of pastoral life. To them, this brief history of his successful career, will come with some sadness, that it was quench- ed in noontide energy, with more of cheering encouragements, that their fellow disciple ac- complished so much, and was so ready to depart to his higher service above.
There are three conorreg-ations, one of them a very large one, to >vhom he stood in the relation of a pastor. Deeply interested himself in the people committed to his care, and possessing, as he did, confiding frankness, ardent enthusiasm, and generous sympathy, he of course secured from his people strong personal attachment to an unusual degree.
There are many who have been cheered by his sympathy in hours of sickness and depression, many whom he has consoled in seasons of deep
REV. GEORGE BEECJIER. 9
affliction, many whom he has guided and enlight- ened in hours of mental darkness and distress. To these, the imperfect remains of his ministerial labors will come, clothed with sweet memories and sacred associations unknown to other minds. And those large classes of children, whom he has met to teach the power and wisdom of their Creator, as exhibited in the wonders of nature, and those whom, with such interest and perseverance, he trained to sing, with taste and skill, the praises of God, and those whom he watched over in the Sunday School and Bible Class — such, as they are now entering the active scenes of life, will greet this memorial of their teacher, pastor and friend with tender and grateful recollections.
There are those of both sexes, now in the meridi- an of life, who, in the large schools with which he has been connected, were playmates of his child- hood and companions of his youth. These have roamed with him over stream and wood and rocky cliff, witnessing his enthusiastic love of nature's works, and sharing the buoyant hopes and exult- ing freshness of youth. Such will turn over these pages and find how all this enthusiasm and love of nature were consecrated to his great Master's ser- vice ; and as the memories of childhood and youth soften the heart, it may find no unprofitable moni- tions in these memorials of their early companion and friend.
And there is a large circle of family connexions.
10 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
a father and ten brothers and sisters, who for four and twenty years have missed not a single golden link from the fraternal chain of family love ; sis- ters, who watched his infancy, or shared the sports of his childhood ; brothers, who have stood side by side with him in the ministries of the altar, or who were following him to these duties ; from these he was severed by a blow as sudden as the bolt from heaven. He is gone ! — the affectionate son — the warm-hearted brother — the earnest Chris- tian— the faithful minister ; — and, with yearning hearts, they look around for some memorials of the departed, that his spirit may yet seem to dwell among them.
It was with reference to these calls of the heart, that this biography was commenced, and without any determination, as to whether it should be for a private, or public record. When it was completed, the opinion of suitable judges led to the belief, that while thus meeting other demands, the minister of the Gospel and the common Christian would find, in these pages, much that would quicken their faith and cheer their spirits, as they trace the path of the good man in his course to heaven.
The subject of this memoir was the third son of the Rev. Lyman Beecher and Roxanna Foote, and
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 11
was born at East Hampton, Long Island, in the year 1809.
His childhood was spent in Litchfield, Conn. He was fitted for college at Hartford, Conn., under the care of his brother Edward, pursued his col- legiate course at Yale College, and studied his profession at the Theological Seminary at New Haven.
It was durinor his course in collecre that he be- came permanently interested in the duties of per- sonal religion.
There are no other events of his early life which demand special notice, and it is designed to con- fine this memoir exclusively to the years of his ministerial life.
Possessing strong social sympathies, he was, from early life, in a habit of transmitting his thoughts and feelings to some relative, or intimate friend ; and these records furnish the means of presenting a brief outline of his character and history after he became a pastor.
The following statements are necessary, as con- necting links, to unite the particulars contained in the extracts which follow.
On the removal of his father to Lane Seminary, he accompanied him, and soon after was settled in Batavia, twenty miles from Cincinnati. The state of the church to which lie ministered was such, and the difiiculties to be met so many, that it was considered by his friends, who advised his location
VZ BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
there, as missionary ground, where he would learn to " endure hardness as a good soldier."
He labored there four years, and then was advised by his father and other friends, to stop his labors awhile, and spend some time in study, as much of his collegiate and professional course had been in- terrupted by ill health, and he felt the necessity of repairing consequent deficiencies. At this time he was married to Miss Sarah S. Buckingham, of Put- nam, Ohio, and spent a part of the succeeding year in reading, hearing lectures, and study, at Lane Seminary.
While thus engaged he received a call from the Brick Church of Rochester, to preach there, with reference to his settlement as their pastor. He went on there, and, after preaching some months, was regularly installed as their minister.
After some years, it was decided by physicians, that the climate had such an effect on the health of his wife that it was unsafe for her to reside there, and that removal to a more congenial climate was indispensable.
During his residence at Batavia, he had preached at Chillicothe, and was urged to remove and settle there. After some years, on learning his deter- mination to remove from Rochester, those who were most anxious for his services in Chillicothe, being formed into a separate church, invited him to become their pastor. He accepted their call, and there finished his course as a minister of Christ.
REV. GEORGE BEECHERo 13
The following extracts from his letters contain a short sketch of his experience, as a country minis- ter in a retired place. The object aimed at is, in the first place, to give a short history of his minis- terial life ; and in the next place, to present, promi- nently, those points in his Christian experience, which, it is supposed, have a practical bearing on results afterwards developed. Should there occa- sionally appear some repetition, or apparent same- ness, it may be borne in mind, that the particular object aimed at could not otherwise be so clearly developed.
Batavia, 1835.
When I gave myself to the service of Christ, I relinquished ambition and its rewards for the higher honor of serving him. I relinquished all right, or desire to amass wealth, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of earth. Were I willing to live for myself, to seek honor and reputation from men, and to obtain an abun- dance of this world's goods, I believe I could se- cure them. I believe I could compete successfully with men of the world in the ranks of political aspiration. But I despise it. I despise all that can be offered in comparison with the glory of *' turning many to righteousness." 2*
14 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
Batavia, 1836.
Want of health is a much greater hinderance to me, in preparing for the pulpit, than want of in- clination; and when I am in a weak state of body, unless I have friends with whom I can converse, and thus become excited by the collision of intel- lect, I cannot raise myself to the point of writing with ease. You know I told you I have begun to write out my sermons. I wrote two or three, and found myself so embarrassed and cramped for the want of language, that I commenced a different course, which I am now pursuing diligently.
I first purchased Milton's works, and set myself to the study of them ; and having finished them once, I am now studying them more slowly and critically. Then I determined to try the mode which Cicero says he pursued, in order to acquire fluency in style, that is, to translate from one language into another. I took my Cicero, last week, and began with the first oration, and wrote it out in as good English as I could, endeavoring to free it from Latin idioms.
The next day I took another oration, and then I thought it would be better to write out a transla- tion of some entire Latin work, as copiousness in writing is what I most need. I have therefore selected from Cicero's Tusculan Questions, one of the most interesting treatises of this author. It is on the immortnlitv of the soul, and is the most
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 15
interesting work of antiquity on this subject. It presents the argument, as a philosopher, destitute of religion, contemplated it, aided by all the light, which the most learned of his own and former times, in Greece and Rome, could throw upon it, I am going to translate this into as elegant English as I can, and when I see you again, I will read it to you, with the illustrative notes, written by Prof. Stuart, of Andover.
I find already, that this course has been of great service. I can have a much greater choice in my language, and am more accurate in the selec- tion of terms to express the exact shade of thought. If God spares my life and health, I hope to become a good writer, and thus I can do good on a greater scale ; for the press is becoming the great en- gine for moving the world, and I feel as if every man, who can exert an influence in this way, is bound to qualify himself to do it. I feel that I owe it to my Saviour, who has given me talents, and put me into the ministry, to do good on as extended a scale as possible.
t have had much ill health, and did not know but I had become averse to study and mental disci- pline, but I find that I never loved study half so well, as since I have been able to resume my long intermitted habits. I can study from morning till night, and then read in the evening, and take de- light in it all. But the most delightful part of the day to me, is from five to six in the morninor. I rise
16 BIOGRArHICAL REMAINS OF
before five, and then spend an hour and a half in devotional reading and exercises. And it is then that I have sweeter meditations of heaven than ever before.
Since I have pursued this course, I find a con- stant increase in the depth and uniformity of my religious feelings. I trust that I do habitually live near to -God, and take delight in approaching to him, and in meditating on the rest he has pro- vided for his children in heaven.
We do not love Him enough — not half enough for our own happiness, for " praise is pleasant." I have often thought of the expression of Evarts, when near death. After a season of apparent stupor, he suddenly broke out : " Oh praise him, praise him, praise him in strains that ye know not of!" It seemed as if his mind was so filled with con- ceptions of the infinite perfections of God, that no language could express the intensity of his emo- tions.
Batavia. .
During the last week, I made an effort to resus- citate our Temperance Society, which had fallen to decay, and to reorganize it on the principle of entire abstinence. We had a spirited meeting, and took forty-five names to commence with. This is an encouraging indication. But I cannot
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 17
tell you how distressed I have been at the low state of religion, and the prevalence of vice here. But I daily pray for the salvation of God ; and I cannot but hope, before long, to see the influences of his blessed Spirit with us. My own feelings have been coming more and more into that state which I desire, and I hope God is preparing to bless my labors.
I was preaching this afternoon to those without re- ligion, and after presenting the most solemn truths, they seemed so perfectly indifferent and listless, that I could not endure it any longer ; I stopped, and could not refrain from tears. I besought them to lis- ten and attend to their own condition and danger. There is nothing like the power of sympathy, and I found the old Latin maxim of oratory correct : '* If you wish me to weep, you must weep yourself" This sudden burst of feeling ran like electricity over the house. Almost every head fell, and all my church were in tears with me. It refreshed my soul to find that the fountains of feeling were not entirely dried up. Yet when I came home, I could only go, in the anguish of my heart, and entreat God to work here for his own cause, for I can do nothing. Oh who can endure to labor in vain, and spend his strength for naught ! Thanks be to God, he has said that his word shall not return unto him void. And yet it may be " a savor of death unto death" to many souls ; and '' who is suflicient for these things?"
18 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
Batavia.
I HAVE the last week been reading Wilberforce's Practical View. I do admire the work and the man. The style I think perfect for an address on the subject of practical religion ; so free from technical phrases, so easy and flowing, so classical and chaste; so clear, discriminating, and copious without diffuseness. It is fitted to interest by the fascination of its style, as well as to insinuate itself into the heart by its affectionate and sincere spirit. I could not but wish that our friends B. and S. could be persuaded to read it, for it discriminates so clearly between external correctness and amia- bility of temper, and real vital piety. Can you not induce them to read it? You had better make the effort, for none can tell the result.
Under the influence of this work, I prepared a sermon from the text, " Be not conformed to this world," which was as searching and close as any I have preached this long time. I feel sad when I look over this town and see the coldness of Chris- tians in it. With none to co-operate with me, and with great temptations from my own heart, I feel almost disheartened ; and yet I must stand as a watchman, and be responsible for the souls of my people. And my example, too, must be holy. If I do not show my own heart to be fixed on heavenly things, how can I expect my people's to be ? I believe God has placed me here, where I am obliged
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 19
to Stand so much alone, that I may be taught not to trust in man. I pray that I may learn the lesson patiently.
Batavia.
It is a dark but glorious evening ; the God of Glory thundereth, and his lightnings enlighten the world ! His cloudy pavilion is spread over the heavens, and his awful voice is full of majesty ! Oh how I love to see the lightnings streaming down the darkened heavens, and to hear the thunder rolling and echoing in the clouds ! Never do I feel that God is so near, as at such a time, and when a peal of thunder breaks forth, it sends a thrill of exquisite joy through my whole system.
A hot, sultry, wearisome day has been suc- ceeded by cool air and refreshing showers. Thus he watereth the earth from his chambers, and oh that my thirsty soul may be refreshed from the fountains of his love !
Batavia.
Many thanks for your letter, and the delightful theme it presented. The rest of heaven ! Oh
20 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
what a source of joy and peace in this world of sin and sorrow ! To think that such worthless sin- ners may be raised to glory and honor and immor- tality, and be made pure and holy, " without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing," it is enough to fill the heart with joy unspeakable !
I am glad you love to dwell on this theme, and that you take pleasure in the interchange of Chris- tian feelings. Why should we not speak of our heavenly home to each other ? Do we not hope soon to be there, and enjoy it together ? Are we not soon to join in its songs of praise, and enter upon its glorious employments ? Are we not poor wanderers, seeking speedily to be restored to this our home ? If we should chance to meet each other in a far distant land, after years of absence from our country, should we not speak of this loved land, and the friends we have left here, and of our anticipated return ? And do we not omit duty, and deprive ourselves of one of the most delight- ful sources of enjoyment, when we neglect to speak of our heavenly home, its employments and joys ? Sometimes, when I have been laboring long, and am fatigued and almost discouraged, the thought that this home is so near, this rest so soon to be enjoyed, nerves my soul to new strength and activity. Oh how true is it, that, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, " we are of all men most miserable."
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 21
Batavia.
It is a beautiful morning, calm, still and bright. The sparkling sun lies upon every herb and flower, making them fresher and sweeter, and dressing them in rich jewelry. I have just been out in my garden, and gathered of " every flower that sweet embroidery wears," and set them on my table. Look at this sweet bouquet ! Here is the rich Double Gillie Flower, with its rose-like petals and fragrant perfume, and the Sweet White Rocket, delicately tinged with purple, and the Nutmeg Honeysuckle, rich in its perfume, and the graceful Daisy, the " wee, modest crimson-tipet flower" of Burns, and the Pansy " freaked w^ith jet," and the Rose Sanguinea, with its rich crimson, and the Oak Geranium, emblen^ of true friendship ; and here they shall stand by me this day, that every sight of them may remind me of my friends, and give me the happiness of at least an imaginary meeting.
I should like to make a little spot, like Milton's Eden, with its bower, where
" On either side Acanthus, and each odorous, bushy shrub Fenced up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flower Iris all hues, Roses and Jessamin
Reared high their flourished heads between, and wrought Mosaic ; under foot the Violet, Crocus and Hyacinth, with rich inlay Broidered the ground, more colored than with stone Of costliest emblem."
22
BTOORAPHIOAL REMAINS OF
I am tempted to neglect duty by my love of flowers, more than by any other thing. It is a per- fect passion with me, and I take an exquisite de- light in raising and watching my flowers.
Batavia.
During the past week, the Lord has been pleased to bless my efforts in the conversion of one young man of very promising talents and fine character, who I hope will become a minister of the Gospel. I saw him on Monday, and conversed with him for the first time, and tried to induce him at once to devote himself to the service of God. He has been piously educated, and I urged this consider- ation upon him. When I spoke of his parents and their instructions and prayers, it produced a very great effect. He covered his face and wept for some time, but he could not come to the decision which I urged. Tuesday I saw him again. He was greatly distressed, but yet was unwilling to decide. The next day I found him a new man, humble, and decided to live for God, yet fearing to trust to his own resolution. But he said it was the happiest day he had ever experi- enced.
This evening, he attended our prayer meeting, and when I called on him, he prayed with much
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 23
feeling, though with some embarrassment Thus you see the Lord has not left me wholly without encouragement. My heart has been cheered and happy this week, more than for some time past.
I know that it is better to spend the first years of a man's life in a small town, where he can have more time for study than in a large place. Espe- cially is it so with me, who am so much more fond of exciting labor, than of patient and laborious study.
We had the second meeting of our temperance society last week, and had seventy-nine members added, making one hundred and twenty-four in the whole. Yesterday I organized a Juvenile society for children under fifteen years of age, and have about forty members. Every thing is going on now as well as I could expect, and I have abundant reason for gratitude to God for all his croodness to me.
Bati
This is our communion season, commencing to-morrow; and it is the custom, in this part of the country, to have two or three sermons before the Sabbath, so that I must preach twice to-morrow, and thrice on Sunday ; and, as yet, I have been able to prepare only one sermon. Now, if, like
24 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
some of my brethren, 1 could turn over a pile of old sermons, and draw forth one or two for the occa- sion, I should be little troubled. But I must make them de novo, originate, elaborate, arrange, and prepare for delivery, and alas ! there is not a ser- monizing thought in my head, as big as a wheaten straw. I have been trying to cudgel my brains into activity, and the more I try, the more they will not obey. 1 first laid hold of Butler. This was very good, but did not set me on the right train of thought. Now, if I only could run in and talk with you and C. about anhour, I could come home and write with ease. I take my pen as the next best to talking, only I cannot have the benefit of the bright thoughts you might suggest.
But how can writing a letter prepare the mind for making a sermon? Why, thus: the mind, in order to act with vigor, must be in a cheerful state. The feelings must be awake, and the intellect ac- tive. Now, with me, nothing effects this so quickly as social intercourse. For this reason T sometimes go into company, in order to think out a sermon better than I can do it when alone.
Another reason is, that intercourse with my friends prepares my mind to appreciate the love of Christ. I have ever aimed to make my earthly at- tachments assist the heavenly, and I find that the more ardent is my affection for my friends, the more I love my Saviour ; and when I cannot feel love to him, I cannot feel much emotion towards them.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 25
To enjoy the society of my friends, or to call them to mind by writing to them, is the best pos- sible preparation for prayer and communion with Christ.
But oh ! what intense affection will exist in heaven, when every one will be like the Saviour, and his love will bind them together, even as Christ is in the Father, and the Father in him. Did you ever examine the full import of the lan- guage in the 17th chapter of John? There is a fulness of meaning in it that demands study, and meditation, and prayer. We shall all be one as God and Christ are one ! How perfect, how pure, how intensely joyful the union of such holy minds, and what a society will they form !
The care of both the singing schools now de- volves on me. I met the children the first time this morning. I think I shall make a good class of singers from among them. They are much in- terested and seem glad to come.
Batavia.
Since our communion season, last Sabbath, there has been an increase of feeling among Chris- tians here, which leads me to hope for a better state of things. My dear friend M. has commenced making efforts with the younger members in both
2^ BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
the churches, and has engaged them to meet weekly for prayer. This will keep up a right state of feel- ing among them. And I am going to the married ladies of both churches, to try and unite them in a prayer meeting. I never felt so little desire for a revival in my church, as distinct from other churches, in my life. All sectarianism seems hate- ful to me, and I want to unite all the dear Chris- tians of this town in praying and doing good, that thus there may be a revival in both churches, and extending to the whole town.
Batavia.
I ATTENDED the prayer meeting at the Methodist church, and, at the request of the brethren present, I conducted the meeting. The old man, who asked me, was once the most violently prejudiced against Presbyterians of any in town ; but this prejudice is now almost gone with him, and with many others. I do not think that there ever has been such a thing in that house before, as a Presbyterian minis- ter leading a Methodist prayer meeting. It was a very good meeting. Almost all my church were out, and many young people. Such meetings, more than any thing else, are likely to produce revival ; and if 1 can see a revival of pure and un- defiled religion, 1 do not care which church it is
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 27
in. If souls are saved and God is gloritied, it mat- ters little by what agents he effects it ; and if he sees fit to lay me aside, and employ some other one, his will be done. I wish to be willing to be nothing, and content to be lightly esteemed among men. The praise of men is too much an object of desire with me, and leads me often into tempta- tion.
Batavia, Sahhath, P. 31.
I HAVE been to a prayer meeting in the Method- ist church this afternoon. I find that I cannot preach in the afternoon, if I take charge of my Bible class in the morning, and therefore I preach in the forenoon and evening. This gives me the afternoon to rest; and I intend to go regularly to the Methodist prayer meeting, and lead my church there, and try if we cannot unite in prayer and effort for a revival. I cannot but hope, that a joint meeting of our churches, may be the means of awakening new interest in religion throughout the town.
I am delighted with the encouraging prospects of my Sunday School, which has steadily increased since I took the superintendence of it. The chil- dren come with great regularity, and listen to my instructions with eagerness. I can hold the eyes
28 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
of the smallest children as long as I wish to ad- dress them. My own class in the school is in- creasing in numbers and interest, and I am more encouraged by the Sunday school than by any thing else. The young men are coming steadily to church, and listen to preaching with much in- terest. I feel satisfied to stay and labor as long as God chooses to keep me here.
Batavia.
Last week I visited Cincinnati, and, on my ar- rival, I learned that the dearest friend and com- panion I had in this region, was dead. He was one of the loveliest men I ever knew. Oh, how many sweet hours have we spent in singing toge- ther, and in speaking of the joys he has entered upon ! But three weeks before, I was at his house, and parted from him in perfect health. I returned and he was gone, and I was left to mourn over his loss. I have never felt so keenly the death of any individual in my life. I feel that it is the begin- ning of that which I must soon know — the sunder- ing, one after another, of the dearest earthly ties.
But O, how sweet the thought, that we are all one family ; and when friend after friend has gone home, how near and how sweet will heaven appear to us ! A new attraction is added, to draw us up-
IIEV. GEORGE BEECHEK. 29
ward from earth, and to keep our thoughts above. How could a person, who has seen almost alj whom he loved here, going home to heaven, keep his thoughts away from his rest, or cease to long for the hour of his release! I have thought of the petition of the apostle John in the Revelation, as most touching all beautiful in this aspect. He had survived all his companions in the ministry, all the friends of his youth, all the beloved compan ions of his sufferinors were sfone to their rest, and
too '
he was left alone; and when he that testified these things, said, "Surely I come quickly," his heart responded with deep emotion, " Even so, come Lord Jesus !"
After all that grace will ever do to free us from earth, how strong will be the influence of earthly affections ! They will exert almost as much power to draw down to earth, or to raise the thoughts to heaven, as the love of Christ. Let us constantly endeavor to have our hearts raised above the world, by our attachments, rather than drawn down- ward. Thus will our life be hid with Christ in God, and when he appeareth, we shall appear with him in glory.
Batavia.
With regular exercise, I am able now to study, or write, or read nine or ten hours each day, a
30 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
thing I have not been able to do for years. I have lately also been adopting the cold water system, relinquishing tea as well as coffee, and I find the effect very beneficial to my health. It is exceed- ingly pleasant to be able to pursue this course, for when I have my health, study is my delight. I would be glad to sit in my room all day if I could, and study from morning to night. Having been so long deprived of the privilege, makes me value it the more highly.
This week, when I could not write, I have been reading Addison's Spectator. Many of the essays are very instructive, and all of them amusing, I like very much his essays on Milton's Paradise Lost. This, you know, was the first critique which brought the Paradise Lost into general favor. The more I see of this work, the more I admire it. Nothing in our own language, or in any other, can equal the condensation of the style, the splendor of the images, the gorgeous richness of language, and the sublimity of the thoughts. I anticipate great pleasure, in reading this delightful work with you, and studying all its allusions to the classics, which is needful to complete the interest in readinof it.
Batavia. During the last week I have entered upon a new office, that of instructor and guardian. I told
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 31
you of the death of my dear friend C, a few weeks since. He left a widow and five children; the old- est, a boy, a little over thirteen, had just begun to study, when his father died, and the family removed where there was no school. I felt sorry to have him deprived of a school at his age, and told his mother I would take him and instruct him, if she would permit. So he now is my room-mate and ward. He is an interesting boy, and I feel pecu- liarly attached to him for his father's sake. His mind has been very susceptible on the subject of religion for some months past. This evening I have been talking and praying with him, and hope he will become a Christian soon. I wish to ad- vance him as far as I can, while I remain here, that he maybe able to instruct his sisters at home. It is "most delightful to be doing for a departed friend what would gladden his heart if he were here. I often feel that my friend C. would re- joice, and does rejoice in heaven, that his son is with me, with whom I believe he would have in- trusted him rather than with any other person.
Batavia.
To-DAY I feel perfectly happy. Every thing around me, all that memory calls up, and all that hope anticipates, is full of the goodness of the Lord. He has guided my feet through the dan- gers and temptations of my childhood, and guarded
32 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
me by his own hand. He crovvneth me with the blessings of his goodness, and my cup runneth over. And when I look forward, I see every thing in this life occurring by his direction, and with his assuring pledge that it shall work for my good. I know that we shall be happy, for infinite wisdom and power and love are engaged in order- ing all our way, and in providing for every want. This morning, as I was praying for my friends, I heard the robin singing its sweet, plaintive notes. It was the song that had delighted my childhood. It told of the opening freshness and beauty of spring, and it called up all the joys of early days, when my heart beat exulting at the first note of the robin, or when the first green blades of grass waked a thrill of delight; when, with sister H., I used to roam the fields, scarcely unlocked from the frosts of winter ; and on the little sunny hill-sides, or by large rocks, or pebbly streams, gather the first children of the spring. Oh, what happiness did God give me then, when I could not provide for myself! I could not but go back and recount the mercies of God from my childhood, and praise him for them; and I felt a sweetness in recalling the memory of departed joys, that I have rarely experienced. It is sweet to trace the hand that gave them, and call to mind his exceeding precious promises, that he will crown our days on earth with goodness, and then, that through interminable years we shall drink of the river of his pleasures.
RE\^. GEORGE BEECHER. 33
Batavia.
During the past week I have been to Cincinnati, have mingled in society almost constantly, and have often longed to be alone. That sweet hymn of Cowper expresses my feelings :
" Far from the world, O Lord, I flee," &c.
How sweet to be alone with Jesus Christ, where none can hear the expression of your feelings, and then confide every thought and desire to him ! I desire no higher happiness than to be alone with him, to think of his love to me and mine. I have preached twice to-day, one sermon on the greatness of the love of Christ, and another on the influence it exerts on the character. I preached on the same subject at Cincinnati on Thursday evening; it is so sweet a theme that I love to dwell upon it, and though I have preached on this subject in differ- ent places, six times within a few weeks, it seems as new and interesting as ever ; and why should it ever become trite or uninteresting T It will be our theme, and the source of our highest joy for ever, and why should it not fill the heart with ever new delight '?
Batavia.
When in college, I used to feel as if no one cared for me, or could feel respect or affection for
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me ; and I made application, with fear and trem- bling, to a young man to be my room-mate, whom hardly any one would room with, because I thought that nobody else would room with me ; and when I saw young ladies whom I admired, I always felt as if it would be vain to seek their friendship. But since that time I have found that, with all my great defects, those around me have loved me, and those, too, whose discrimination and oppor- tunities of judging are not limited.
I wonder if in heaven we shall ever be so sepa- rated from those whom we love, as to feel regret at parting ; or whether our temporary absence on errands of love, will not serve to make us still more blessed.
This I think is the meaning of the passage " They shall go no more out ;" that is, they shall never be permanently exiled from heaven, nor sepa- rated from those they love. There shall be no such separation as shall awaken one sensation of sorrow, or cause one tear to flow, but "perfect love and friendship reign through all eternity."
This morning, long before light, I awaked, and the thought of the love of Christ " held my eyes waking, so that I could not sleep." O what an inexpressibly lovely being our Saviour is ! what a combination of glorious perfections !
I mean to preach this evening from this passage, *' The love of Christ constraineth us." I wish to present to Christians and to sinners, the infinitely
REV, GEORGE BEECHER. 35
glorious and lovely character of our Saviour. Yet what heart can conceive, or tongue utter it, but one baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire !
Batavia.
From few of my friends have I ever received expression of Christian feelings. Almost all seem to feel, that restraint must be imposed upon the soul, when religion is the theme, lest there should be something to offend fastidious and worldly tastes. Thus it is, that Christians meet, and con- verse, and correspond, and know little or nothing of the history of each other's Christian life. In- stead of confessing faults one to another, and pray- ing one for another, each seems to conceal as much as possible, all that passes in the soul. This, I be- lieve, is wrong. While we ought not to blazon to the world our experience, we ought to be ready to give to every one a reason of the hope that is in us. There is, among Christians of the present day, very little of that ardent love for each other, which characterized the early Christians, and which Christ prayed might subsist among all his disci- ples : " That they all may be one, as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." Christians treat each other very politely, talk on the general topics of religion, but how rare-
36 BIOGRAPHICAL IIKMAINS OF
Jy does heart meet heart, and the real ardor of Christian love bind the souls of Christians togeth- er. Your tendency to concealment, so far as it partakes of this character, you should strive to overcome, especially when it interferes with the happiness of others. A communicative and frank disposition, is far more fitted to win the con- fidence and affection of the world in general, than a retired one. Especially is this true of those in a grade of society below us. If you wish to be greatly useful, you must become communicative to those whom you would influence. *' He that would have friends, must show himself friendly," saith the proverb; and in like manner, he who would draw out the feelmgs of others, must ex- press his own. Just for illustration, let me be egotistical a moment. I had a friend in college, whose mind, for sometime, had been interested in religion, but v/ho had forbidden any one to speak to him on the subject. I introduced it one day, in my own room ; he immediately said, " George, you know I cannot talk on this subject, there are cir- cumstances which forbid me to do it." *' I know it," I replied, and then with all the ardor of a full heart, I told him how I had felt and prayed for him. He heard me with deep feeling; the guard was down, ere he was aware, and he poured out his whole soul to me. I have tried this often, and never found it to fail ; and whenever I wish to gain the confidence of another, I unfold mv own feel-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 37
ings first, and this draws them out to express their own. Confidence begets confidence in all men, and the most wary, suspicious, and reserved may thus be led to open their hearts to you.
In order to do any person good, you must know something of their secret feelings, and you must seek to obtain this knowledge from all whom you wish especially to benefit. You have a very good opportunity to do this among your scholars. Se- lect individuals, and determine to find out their character and secret feelings, then open your own heart to them ; let them see you, understand you, and learn that you confide in them, and you will soon gain unlimited control over them.
Batavia.
You recollect I spoke to you of my plan of spending a year in Cincinnati, to study. Last Friday, father and the other professors met, and I laid the subject before them. After discussing both sides of the question, about an hour, they unanimously agreed, that I ought to take a year for studying. The reasons are these. My course of education in college, was interrupted by ill health, both sophomore and junior years, so that I was obliged to leave during the summers. In the vacation of the first term of the senior year, I lost
38 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
the use of my eye, and this rendered study impos- sible for two years ; during which time, to a great degree, I lost my habits of mental discipline. When I commenced my theological course, I had no means of support, and was obliged to devote a part of every day to the charge of a school, so that I lost almost all opportunity of learning Hebrew. At the close of my second theological year, I came with father to this region. T was settled at Bata- via when my health was very poor, and I have been able to study but little. I have just contrived to keep my mind from rusting, while I have nearly regained my health, so as to be able to study. I have never been able to spend time enough in study to systematize my knowledge, and as I have formed no habits of writing, they consider it of the greatest importance that I should take time for this object. At the present day, ministers can exert more influence by the press than in the pulpit, and every man ought to be able to write with clearness and power. This I cannot do, and shall never learn, until I am placed in more favorable circum- stances. Habits of study must be formed, and this cannot be done when subjected to the distract- ing cares of a large church.
They thought that the question was to turn on the amount of usefulness I might be able to effect, during a whole life ; and in this view, one year spent in training would double, or treble the amount of my usefulness. T should then be fitted
REV. GEOEGE EEErHLR 39
to take any station which might be open to me, and fill it with far better success, than I could with my present illy trained mind. Besides, while I am depressed by the consciousness of deficiency, when in intercourse with others, I cannot have energy to go forward, as if I were well trained, and able to arrange and present all my knowledge properly. Indeed, the question seemed to be, whether I should be a first, or second-rate minister ; and in the present day, when so much is to be done, they thought that every man should, if possible, be qualified lor the first rank.
At the present time, too, great effort is making, to lower the standard of ministerial education, and shorten the time of study ; and my stopping in my labors and devoting a year to study, may have some influence in elevating the standard, both in the seminary and abroad. These reasons coin- cide with my own views, and so far as I was able lo comprehend the matter, I was decidedly con- vinced that I had better studv another vear.
Bataria.
Let us provoke each other to love and good works, and not be influenced by the desire of popularity, lest we love the praise of men more than that of Gorj. What ;i dreadtu) reward was ii
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when the Pharisees sought to be seen of men, and obtained what they sought — human favor with the abhorrence of their God. I shrink with fear from the thought of preaching, or studying from this un- worthy motive ; for in exact proportion to its in- crease will my love for Christ, and desire for his favor, diminish. The only path to true greatness is to seek the -favor of God, to study to show my- self approved to him, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Since I returned home, I have told some of my people that I must leave them. They are greatly afflicted, and some refuse to be comforted. I have tried to lead them to look to God, and rest upon him, and this morning I preached from Paul's ex- hortation, " Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your minds and hearts ;" but all I can do, does not seem to relieve their minds, though they all say they think it is right for me to go, and will part Vv'ith undiminished confidence and affection.
I can assure you it is hard, to sunder the ties thus entwined around the heart. The attachment between the pastor and his people is one of the strongest and most pleasant upon earth. In addi- tion to the Christian affection which subsists be- tween the true disciples of Christ, there is the habit of lookinor to him for guidance and instruction.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 41
To them he stands as Christ's ambassador. In all their afflictions, he is present to soothe and com- fort; and some here, with whom I have been, when crushed by grief, or brought low by sickness, I know will be very sorrowful when I leave. I dread the day when I must part from them, to be their pastor and guide no more.
Batavia.
Every day I find the ties that bind me here stronger than I had ever anticipated. My own church, and the best Christians among the Meth- odists and Baptists, feel sad, and I have had to sit down and weep, two or three times, when I have thought of leaving. Indeed the only way in which I can have any peace is, not to think, but patiently wait the unfolding of God's providence. And then, the prospect of the dissolution of my pastoral rela- tion has brought it all in review, and I am filled with sorrow and shame and sadness, at the re- trospect. O, I am not fit to be a minister of the Gospel, and if I could bear to do any thing else I would. But I feel as Paul did, " A necessity is laid upon me ; yea, woe is me if I preach not the Gospel." I feel myself unfit, and wish that I could escape so fearfiil a responsibility. But when I think of unv other pursuit T cannot hear to ex-
42 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
change the preaching of the Gospel for it. But, thanks be to God, who, when he put me into the ministry, knew all my defects, and promised to be with me and help me. I know he will give me his aid, and I shall yet increase in usefulness, and by past defects learn how to conduct better in future. I hope that I shall press onward toward the prize of my high calling.
Batavia.
I HAVE just come from the sanctuary, where I have been administering the communion to my church, probably for the last time, as their pastor.
Four years ago, this day, I commenced my labors here, and next week my pastoral relation will be dissolved.
It has been a pleasant yet mournful Sabbath. All my church were weeping, and yet I believe that Christ-^was with us to bless us.
It is with real pain that I leave this church. I have lived among them happily, and believe I have secured the affection of all, even of some who at first were disaffected. But God has so pointed out the course of duty that I feel no doubt what I oufifht to do.
REV. GEORGE BEECIIER. 43
In the year 1836, while resident at Batavia, he was called to labor a short time in Chillicolhe. At that time, there was only one Presbyterian church in that place, which, after some years, was divided, and a portion of it was formed into a new church, of which, eventually, he became pastor.
At this time, a large number of the church were desirous to secure his settlement among them ; but as he had decided to spend a year in studying, he declined.
The following extracts are from letters written, at that period, from Chillicothe.
Chillicothe, 1836.
It was a most miserably dull journey to this place ; and, were it not for the company of a friend, who entered with me the second day, and stayed with me at the taverns, I should have been dreary enough. As it was, we had much interesting con- versation, and the time passed far more agreeably than could have been expected. My companion was a very intelligent Irish young gentleman, who was educated at the University at Dublin, and ac- customed to the most elevated and refined society. He was well acquainted with Miss Porter, the authoress, and other distinguished literati. He told me that I was more like persons whom he was
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accustomed to meet in Ireland, and less like Amer- icans in general, who possess more secretiveness than any other nation. I always thought I was more like the Irish than like the Americans.
We had a long conversation on the character of Jesus Christ, and I found that his views were re- markably correct.
He had the "exquisite perception of what is beau- tiful, affectionate and noble in it, which an ardent, generous and independent mind, who had studied the Bible for himself, would have; and yet he is not a Christian. His mind is like Moore's, in his exquisite perception of the thoughts and images of the Bible. I urged him to devote Tiimself to Christ, to serve and obey him, I promised to write to him, and he engaged the same to me. I mean to pray and labor for his conversion, and cannot but hope that I shall succeed. While at the tavern he took my Bible, and sat down with me in the bar-room, and while I was reading in Martyn'slife, he read in Isaiah with evident and earnest atten- tion.
ChiUicotlie, 1836.
Sunday, P. M. — I preached this morning from " Woe unto them when I depart from them, saith the Lord." I tried to show this church how they might make God depart from them. If you remem-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 45
her the sermon you heard from me, on grieving the Spirit, you will know the general style of my ser- mon, except that this morning, I was plainer and more direct. I do not wonder that Paul used to pray that " he might open his mouth boldly," for there is no temptation greater, than to shrink from a faithful declaration of the duty and the guilt of a church, especially of a church that is intelligent, wealthy and aristocratic.
But, by the grace of God, I did tell them their sins and their duty, so that I do not think they will easily forget. I told them, that when a church be- came proud, and felt that because they were rich, intelligent, and stood high in the world, they were more important than other churches, and must have a greater man for a pastor, God would not bless their efforts ; and if they sought popularity, and for this end, refused to examine what was duty, as in the case of slavery, and other such topics, because they were unpopular, that though they might gain the praise of men, and have this reward, Gud would leave them. Or, if they should shrink from enforcing discipline, because offenders were rich, or honorable, or influential, they would provoke God to depart from them. I can assure you there was a most solemn attention. I do not know how they will like it, but I have done my duty, and I leave the work with God.
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ChiUicothe, Nov. 19, 1836.
This evening we have had another prayer meet- ing, and the feeling among Christians appears deep- er than at any previous time. We have had meet- ings every evening since Saturday, and have ano- ther prayer meeting to-morrow night. I shall preach on Thursday evening, and probably every evening till Sunday. I shall not leave now, till next Monday, for the Lord has given me a work to do which I cannot leave. I have M^ritten that I shall not come home until next week. This evening I have been delighted and refreshed, by a conversation with a good pious elder. I never heard such a flow of sweet devotional thought, full of Scripture and hymns, breathing love and heavenly fervor, in language simple, beautiful, and often elegant. He is a German, and has the German accent, and such a heart of love and tenderness I never met before. I felt as though I could love and embrace him, and. sit at his feet and hear him for hours. Such de- lightful thouo-hts of heaven, and the fulness of its joys, such parental tenderness towards Christians around him !
There are some most precious Christians in this place, and it would be delightful to live here where there are some who could co-operate with me, and labor with the impenitent, both by prayer and con- versation. I can always work, where there are those who are ready to unite with me. I am able
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 47
to take the lead, and teach them how to work ; point out their fields of labor, and devise plans of doing good. For this I am much better fitted, than for the labor of a missionary, which must be in de- tail, a constant succession of personal, unaided efforts for years. I have worked in this way nearly four years ; and I am satisfied that I can work in another field with a far greater effect ; and if the Lord opens the way for my removal, it will be my duty to go.
Chillicothe, 1836.
I HAVE been surprised at the attachment which a large part of this church have formed toward me, during the short time I have been with them. On Monday I shall go round and call on those who are most desirous of my coming here, and explain matters to them, and induce them to bear patiently for a time, their disappointment. I tell them if they think me worth having now, I shall be worth twice as much after another year's study, and that then they will have an opportunity to gain my la- bors, should they continue to desire them. I do not trouble myself as to the future. That I leave to the Lord to direct as he pleases. But so far as devoting a year to study is concerned, I am satis- fied it will be the best thing I can do for my per- manent usefulness.
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Chillicothe, Dec, 1836.
I HAVE been visiting to-day, and find it harder, every day, to loosen the hold this people have on me. The appearance of seriousness is such, that I consented to stay until Thursday, and shall preach to-morrow evening. I believe that God is working by his Spirit Here, and that if any minister could come here now, and labor and visit, there would be a revival. 'Tis hard to leave them in this state, and harder still to give them wholly up ; but as yet I see no proper reason for altering my decision.
Tuesday, 27. I find it far more difficult to bear the admiration bestowed by friends, than the re- proaches of enemies. There is a constant tendency to feel a higher pleasure in human approbation than in that of God, and to think of myself more highly than I ought to think. And yet it is not possible for a man, who understands himself, to be ignorant of his real capacities of speaking and in- fluencing mind. The great thing to be aimed at is, not to undervalue ourselves, but to attach a proper value to what we really possess. I have tried to meet this tendency to self-esteem, by bring- ing all my mental qualifications before God, and thanking him for their bestowment, while I con- sider how little I have improved the capacities for usefulness he has given me ; and thus, pride for high attainments may be changed into shame for so little improvement.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 49
To consider what I have received from God, and not to glory as though I had not received it ; and then to contrast what I am, with what I might and ought to have been ; this I find aids me to think of myself soberly, and as I ought to think. But I am daily tempted, and I need your prayers, that I may be kept humble, and never be led to exalt myself. Oh, I do so love a humble and lowly frame of mind ; it is so sweet to feel my own nothingness, and to see God working by me for his own glory, that I fear to have my heart become proud and self-confident; I desire to be like a little child in his hands.
The result of my labors in Chillicothe, has en- couraged me, and inspired me with new hope of success in laboring in the ministry. I have re- ceived a little note, signed by nine young ladies, who have recently become pious, thanking me for my efforts to do them good. I can assure you that my heart was cheered by this expression of gratitude.
In the summer of 1838, he was married to Miss Sarah S. Buckingham, of Putnam, Ohio ; and soon after took up his residence at Lane Seminary, for the purpose of prosecuting the designed plan of study. But before he had completed the time he designed to devote to this object, he received a call to preach in the Brick Church at Rochester, with a view to his settlement there.
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Circumstances were such, that it was deemed expedient for him to go on for the purpose. The following are extracts from letters written during his journey, and after his arrival at Rochester. Some extracts, also, are from his private journal.
Pittsburg, Feb. 25, 1838.
After a very cold and fatiguing ride, we arrived at this place, at one in the night. We were al- most frozen, and went immediately to the stage office to engage a passage, but found the stage full. As the stage left only three times a week, and the next stage was on Saturday, we were obliged, in order to avoid travelling on the Sabbath, to wait from Thursday till the next Tuesday. Though the inconvenience, delay, and expense were great, we concluded to reconcile ourselves to the disap- pointment, and try to find some good Christian friends to make our stay more comfortable. I first called on Dr. H., the pastor of the first Presbyterian church, who is a friend of father's. He appeared at my call; a tall, stately, dignified man, with manners rather reserved. I told him who I was, and of my detention in the city, and just then Mr. S., the minister at Alleghany town, came in, and I found they were holding a series of meetings every evening. Mr. S., who was to preach that evening, told me I must preach for him. Dr. H. did not
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 51
seem to feel much interested, and said we must set- tle the matter between us. I finally consented, and preached that sermon you have heard, on inconside- ration. When we returned. Dr. H. told me, in a very cordial manner, that he should engage me for the rest of the week to do most of the preaching, that friend G. and myself must stay at his house, and he would take his pay in preaching. We accord- ingly removed to his house, where I have been delightfully situated ever since. On Friday I preached again, but felt very unwell. Still, I preached with ease and interest. I became ac- quainted with several ministers, and dined that day with Mr. R., of the second church, who is a very agreeable man. Saturday evening I preached again to a large audience. I sat up in the even- ing till twelve o'clock, preparing my sermon for Sunday forenoon. My text was " The way of trans- gressors is hard." I went through the analogical argument, involving an analysis of the laws and operations of mind, as exhibited in this life, and the natural results of the same laws in a future state, something after the manner of Butler. The audience was large, and apparently attentive and solemn. I was too much fatigued to preach in the afternoon, but in the evening I preached to a crowded house, from the text, " There remaineth a rest to the people of God," and I never witnessed more solemn and deep attention.
The family I am in is very pleasant. The
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youngest daughter made me think of sister I., and love her for her sake. G. and myself have en- deavored, by our prayer^ in the family and our conversation, to show how deep an interest we feel for the spiritual welfare of the children of the family, and I cannot but hope that our visit may result in good to some of them. It is de- lightful to be placed where I can labor unem- barrassed by the discouragements of my past course. I feel like a new man, for God blesses my labors, people seem to love to hear me preach, and solemn impressions are made. I am ready to enter on my labors at Rochester Vvith new ardor and hope.
Dr. H. treats me like a father, and Mrs. H., too, has shown all the kindness of a mother. When I was sick, and retired to my room, she came to fix my fire, and minister to my wants, with the kind and affectionate manners so grateful to the heart. I feel that I shall leave kind and warm friends behind, when I depart
Since writing the above, I have preached once more on Monday evening. The house was full and attentive, and on my return, Dr. H. took me into his study, and told me he had a little sum to present from some friends, in return for my labors. I told him I did not need it, and did not expect it. He replied that I was better off than most minis- ters, if I did not need money, and that I must take what was offered, as an expression of kind feeling
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 53
from his people. He then handed me fifty dollars, saying that it was a donation from one gentleman, who was much interested and affected by my preaching. When asked to contribute something, he took out fifty dollars, and when it was objected to, as an unnecessarily large sum, he said he had determined to give it when he heard me preach. This, and the other offerings, made up a very hand- some sum.
Before parting with the family of Dr. H, we sung the hymn, " Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love," and we parted, several of us in tears. I never became so much interested before in a family, in so short a time, or parted with such regret. It seemed like leaving my home again to go among strangers.
Rochester, March 7, 1838.
On Friday night last, I arrived at this place, and soon a number of the brethren of the church were gathered to receive me. All seemed to re- joice that I had come, and welcomed me cordially.
From what I learned from the brethren, I con- sidered that the church, having been without a pastor for a long time, and dependent principally on protracted meetings for revivals, were rather prone to act from impulse, and to be inconstant. 4
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I therefore prepared two sermons from 1 Cor. xv. 58: ''Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." I took up, at full length, the effect of acting from emotion, and of making this the measure of Christian character, and the effect of acting from principle, and urged the importance of the latter, and set up the true standard of piety, as being a firm, unwavering, e^eient purpose of living to do the will of God, at all times and sea- sons. I learned that the sermon was approved, as correct and useful to the church. I called on brother E. of the first church, this morning, and told him the plan of my sermon. He seemed pleased, and I think we shall work together very pleasantly. Yesterday I commenced visiting, and shall continue every afternoon to visit, converse, and pray with the church. I am preparing to preach a course of sermons, illustrating the neces- sity of personal holiness to efficacy in prayer, in action, and in example.
I feel that I have committed myself, and set before my people a high standard of Christian character, by which they will judge me ; and now I must live a holy life, or else my influence will be lost. A necessity is laid upon me, for the eyes of this church, and of the city, will be upon me, and if I am not spiritually minded, prayerful, humble, and gentle, I shall do injury, and be useless as a minister. But who is sufficient for these things?
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 55
My habits are so imperfect, my temper quick, my nature impulsive, my thoughts earthly. Oh, if Christ does not aid me, I shall sink ! Nothing but the fervent piety, produced by constant communion with him, can give me the victory. I must live a life of prayer, and must study the Bible, to be im- bued with its spirit. O Lord, uphold me with thy hand : I flee unto thee !
Rochester.
Every afternoon, I visit with one of the elders. It is easy to perform pastoral duty, where there are such elders as I have to assist me. The Session consists of just such men as I could wish to be with me, and there are a great number of devoted men in the church.
Yesterday I met some excellent women. They are poor, and received me with great joy. Some of them said, they had never before received a pastoral call. They have been some time without a pastor, and my predecessor was in poor health ' You cannot think what refreshment it gives me, to go around and witness the fervent piety of God's children, to hear of their trials and difficulties, and to give them counsel and pray with them. My heart grows more and more interested in the work of the Lord every day.
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It is a practical feeling now, and not one of mere theory, I desire more and more earnestly to imitate perfectly the meek and gentle and lovely spirit of Christ ; so humble, so unostentatious, so regardless of his own interests and reputation, so unwearied and constant in his labors! Oh that I were more like him ! I do try every day to become conformed to his likeness. I especially desire to become more meek. My impetuosity of feeling and nervous irritability can never be over- come, but by a most diligent and unwearied course of self government and watchfulness and prayer. I am laboring to become more gentle — to speak mildly — and to be less positive in my opinions. But it is a hard conflict, and one where I need the constant assistance of God.
Rochester, March 17, 1838.
During the past week, I have visited about twenty families of my church, and find most of them in a progressive state of religious action and devotedness. With others it was different.
Some did not enjoy the duty of prayer. One could not do so, from having wrong views of faith: and because she could not exercise faith by direct volition, was discouraged.
Another had, during sickness, enjoyed a very
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 57
heavenly frame of mind, but on recovery, the cares of household affairs, which had accumulat- ed during her sickness, occupied her mind, and she was led back to worldliness. One had four sons without piety, had become cold and worldly, and was living without family worship. I strongly urged the obligation of resuming this duty. One young man, who had studied for the ministry, having studied Phrenology, drank in infidel princi- ples, from some who have written on this subject, and rejected revealed religion as a vain thing. This shows how important it is for a minister to be acquainted with Phrenology, that he may point out the fallacies of infidels, who pervert it to their own ends.
Another Christian had grown cold and worldly, by removing from one place to another, thus losing intercourse with Christians and declining in piety.
I found a great deficiency in almost all parents, in faith and efforts for the conversion of their chil- dren. Few seemed to feel that children of from four to twelve will become pious, or to labor for it. I must preach on the subject.
Last evening the prayer meeting of the church was held, and notwithstanding the unpleasant weather and darkness and mud, a large portion of the church were there. I urged very strongly that they should begin, immediately, a course of systematic action for the conversion of souls around them; that every one should immediately select
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some one as an object of prayer and constant labor, and induce them to attend the various meetings. There was much interest manifested, the prayers of the brethren showed a right spirit, and I hope good will result from the meeting. If this church can be properly trained to labor, there will be a constant revival. My great object is to lead them to enter upon the work of the Lord /or life, so as not to waver, or decline.
Thus I have again committed myself; and if my example does not correspond to my exhortations, they will all be in vain. I need the constant and special assistance of my Saviour. I think I have some increased in the consecration of myself wholly to him, and am beginning to learn to be humble. Still I need constant watchfulness and prayer, that I may be kept from falling. I cannot bear the burden of so great a church, and lead so holy a life as will lead them on to higher spiritu- ality, unless I pray and meditate on eternal things more than I have done. I must give myself wholly to my duties, that my profiting may appear unto all.
Rochester.
I THINK my heart is becoming more deeply in- terested in my work. I feel more and more desi- rous to please Christ, and to do every thing for his
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glory. I wish to have all my efforts such as he will approve, and to preach in such a manner as will secure his love. When I look at my charac- ter, I see great changes are needed, to make my example illustrate the spirit of the gospel. I am greatly deficient in meekness and gentleness. Yet I can become meek. Those who have had feel- ings as strong as mine, have learned to control them. The Apostle John had, at first, a quick and hasty temper, but how sweet and gentle did he become ! Henry Martyn was irascible and vi- olent, but he became emphatically " the meek man." By God's help, I am determined to labor to attain this calm, and peaceful, and gentle spirit, and to show the loveliness of holiness in my life.
This afternoon, I heard of some things said of me by a ministerial brother, in whom I had great confidence, which pained me, and weakened my confidence in him. One thing I ought to notice in the effect produced by this. When I found that there was an implication that I was deficient in talents, my pride was at first wounded. Let me take care that I do not estimate myself more highly than I ought. I am in danger on this point. Attention from others, and some flattery, have made me liable to fall. May God preserve me. I have been to Christ and prayed for grace, that I may not cherish any unkind feelings towards this brother, but ever maintain a meek, and gentle, and humble spirit.
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Rochester.
Since last Sabbath I have had no elasticity of mind. I have spent the usual hours m my study every morning, but my health oppresses my mind, so that it will not work. The labors of the Sab- bath were severe and tired me extremely. After writing my sermon on personal holiness, which I completed Saturday noon, I rested through the af- ternoon. But Sabbath morning, I began another upon inconsideration, and became much excited, writing till it was time to preach. I returned at noon, and finished it by afternoon service, writing under intense excitement. Then I preached again in the evening. All this fatigued me, both in body and mind. On Monday I attended ses- sion meeting, at 8 in the morning. Then, a prayer meeting of the clergy of all denominations, at 9 o'clock, after which we had a discussion on the means of promoting the observance of the Sab- bath, till 12. At 2 o'clock, I attended a funeral and spoke. At 3, 1 attended a meeting of session, to examine candidates for admission to the church. One was an Irish girl of a Catholic family. She witnessed a good confession. This is the second we have received from Catholic families, and there are others to be received. In the evening, I at- tended the meeting for inquiry. Fourteen were present, seven or eight of them persons recently interested in religion. The others were persons
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having the Christian hope, or professors who had declined from duty.
Tuesday and Wednesday, my body clogged and chained my mind. I can only, at such times, con- tinue to perform duty as if I had enjoyment in re- ligion, and wait till the clouds pass away.
The meetings for discussion respecting the ob- servance of the Sabbath, continued Tuesday and Wednesday. A number of merchants and millers were present, and the question respecting provid- ing means to transport their merchandise on the six week-days, was fully discussed, and all the dif- ficulties pointed out. At last it was unanimously agreed, that it was the duty of Christians to attempt so to arrange their business, as that their property should not be transported on the Sabbath. I ex- pect much good will result from this meeting. It was a delightful thing to see ministers and Chris- tians of all denominations, mingling in full and af- fectionate consultation upon the great interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. It tends greatly toi unite our hearts in Christian love.
Rochester, April.
Yesterday I preached the last of my course of five lectures on the importance of eminent holiness. In the afternoon I preached on the love of Christ,
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from Ephesians iii. 17, 18 : " That ye, being root- ed and grounded in love, may be able to compre- hend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge."
My object was to enable my hearers to conceive that state of mind in Christ, which could have prompted him to create such a race of beings, with the knowledge that their sin would render it neces- sary for him to suffer for them all that he after- wards endured.
I presented the grand outline, commencing with the creation of a race of free beings, their fall, and restoration from sin, and then the higher design of unfolding the character of God our Saviour, in such an aspect as to induce them all to love him henceforth and for ever ; thus preventing the intro- duction of any more sin, and rendering it possible, without danger, to extend the bounds of the intelli- gent universe without any limit. The subject so filled my mind on Saturday, that I could not write my sermon, and in order to let off steam, I sat down and wrote a letter to one of my sisters — but by Sunday morning, I had become so far cooled down, that I could draw out my plan.
In the afternoon, I presented what Christ had done to restore men from their degradation, and in the evening, I reviewed the afternoon sermon, and endeavored to present the great and glorious design ofChrist, with reference to the whole universe. I
REV, GEORGE BEECHER. 63
never saw an audience listen with more interest. I spoke with perfect ease, and seemed to see the whole subject in one distinct picture.
The Sunday before, I gave my people, in the evening, the sermon on Heaven. It was listened to with almost breathless attention, and I have been urged to preach it again. There is some comfort in preaching where every sermon is appreciated, and produces its appropriate effect. It is easy to write, and easy to preach to such a people.
There is a state of more cordial affection here, among Christians of all denominations, than I have seen in any other place. There is a meeting, every Monday, of ministers of all denominations, to pray for the blessing of God on our labors. Each of us tells the subject of last Sunday's discourse, and then unite in prayer ; and then we talk of other matters relating to the cause of Christ in the city. Thus, every week, we learn the state of things in the city, and learn to love and pray for each other. The session of my church meets every Monday morning, at 8 o'clock, to pray together, to devise plans of usefulness for the coming week, and to stir each other up to love and good works. If any of the brethren seem remiss, we visit them, and thus the Session is, as it was designed to be, a board of overseers, watching the flock over whom the Holy Ghost has appointed them,
I have never seen a church that came nearer to the primitive standard, and here T find it not so
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difficult to live a holy life. I have tried hard to do it ill other places, but seemed to stand almost alone, and could not breast the current. But here, I have those who will help me, men of tried experience and piety and wisdom, upon whom I can lean.
Rochester.
I DESIGN a series of plain, practical directions in regard to the hinderances of religion in the family. This evening I presented two of them — the neglect of family prayer ^ and the icant of sys- tem. The latter I particularly urged, as being destructive to fervent piety and religious enjoyment. I pressed the duty of arranging every thing in the family, so as to have all the affairs tending to one point, that of giving full time to children and do- mestics to attend private and social prayer and the study of the Bible, so that all the arrangements of the family shall be subordinate to the cultivation of religion. The more I think of it, the more I feel, that this is the vital point in the family; and that, to enable parents to maintain a high degree of holiness, and to bring the children to become Christians early, there should be such a systematic arrangement of affairs as to make every person in the house feel, that religion is the first and all- controlling end for which they are living, A fa-
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mily, thus managed, is the best place for the culti- vation of piety on earth. I long to begin house- keeping, that our house and all our affairs may be dedicated to God, with the hope that the influence of our family may be so holy that all who abide with us may feel it.
Rochester.
Last night, I preached on the subject, " The fear of man bringeth a snare." I had little time for preparation, owing to a meeting in the afternoon, and consequently did not speak with ease, nor han- dle the subject properly. I was ashamed of myself, and felt almost a wish that I need not preach any more. But this was partly the result of the inordi- nate love of human estimation. I preached against it in others, but had it to struggle within myself. May God make me humble, for this spirit alone can enable me to draw near and commune with him. The proud he knoweth afar off.
In reading the life of J. B. Taylor, the other day, I noticed that he made an earnest effort to obtain full assurance, and at length attained it.
I do not feel doubt as to my own prospects, nor anxiety for more confidence. I feel that it is of less importance to secure this, than to do the will of God, and to gain daily and near access to him in prayer. This I desire to do, and am deter-
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mined, by his assistance, so to live, that I can " en- ter into the secret place of the Most High, and abide under his shadow." I long to know more of God, and to become so holy that he can dwell with me, and grant me communion with himself. When I look at every thing in this world — my friends, ease, honor, and even on my own dear wife — I feel that they are nothing compared with God. I sometimes find my heart becoming too much absorbed by earthly affection; sometimes the desire to acquire more property, for a short time enters my mind ; sometimes I wish to have a pleasant house and every temporal comfort, but then I feel again, that I am a pilgrim and stranger, and all these things seem of little value. I think my sense of the nearness of eternal things increases continually, and that I act more in view of them.
Sunday.
It is a most lovely spring day, so bright and joyful ! All nature seems so lovely ! Just now I heard the plaintive warble of the robin, the first bird of spring. Oh, it is like my child- hood, when the robin's note told of the broken power of Winter, and of Spring's gentle reign ! How much there is that is lovely and delightful in this world, when our hearts respond to the tones of Nature's voice, and sin does not de-
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stroy the deep calm ! My Father is seen in every thing around. The bright sun, like the light of his countenance, cheers the earth, and the voice of his love is on every breeze. It is a fit day for the holy Sabbath's rest, that blessed type of hea- ven. I have prepared my sermons, and feel quiet, and free from anxiety.
Yesterday, I saw a scene of sorrow which still is telling me that this world is not my home. The little child of brother B. is dead. I called in the morning, and the little sufferer stretched out its hands to me, and I carried it in my arms till it fell asleep. It seemed to look to every one for help ; with silent eloquence stretching out its little hands, as if we could give it relief In the evening I called as it was breathing its last. I stood by, as its breath grew shorter and shorter, till it ceased, like the expiring of a flicker- ing flame. It seemed to fall asleep as gently, as in its mother's arms. The Saviour was taking it to his own fold, where the rude storms of earth should not visit it, nor sin defile.
There is nothing so mysterious as the sufferings of an infant. Why should it suffer? It has done nothing amiss, and yet it lies and groans and writhes in agony, and the parents' intense desires to relieve it, are all in vain. In some fearful way sin is the cause. God has taught us that sin can- not be checked without suffering, and that even the innocent are involved. Before even one could be
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restored from its power, the Son of the Father, a perfectly innocent being, must come down and suffer ; and Nature repeats the same sad story at the dying couch of every infant. It suffers for the good of the parents — a severe yet healthful discipline.
Rochester.
This evening, I preached from Psalm xvii : 15. " 1 shall be satisfied when I awake with thy like- ness." This subject always rests my mind, and re- freshes me. The anticipation of the day when every longing shall be satisfied, is most soothing. Oh that I may live more as a stranger and pilgrim !
The pressure of duties in preparing sermons, and in visiting, renders it difficult to maintain a near and abiding view of heaven ; and I am sometimes led into a state of mere formality. It is difficult to maintain spirituality of mind, under the pres- sure of such constant labors. But if I decline in spirituality, every thing else goes with it. May the Lord strengthen me for this arduous work !
Rochester.
During the past week I have suffered much from dyspepsy, which has unfitted me for study, and depressed my spirits. Sometimes I have
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felt almost like shrinking from the labors I have undertaken here, as too great for me. My throat and lungs have several times troubled me, after speaking, and I have feared that this climate might affect my health. Every day, I feel drowsy and ac- complish but little. And then I have been trou- bled with irritability, and once I became excited before a large company of young people, and spoke with a degree of harshness and positiveness that was unchristian. At home, my soul was bowed down with shame and sorrow, as I confessed my sin to Christ. Oh my wretched habits ! when shall I conquer them, and live constantly near my Re- deemer ! Oh my Saviour, wilt thou keep me, for I feel that without thee I am weak and wretched and helpless 1
To-morrow I must preach, and I have but one sermon prepared. I feel no energy or activity of mind, and I am too desirous of producing some- thing new and striking. I will try to bring forth the truth of God with plainness and sincerity, so as to approve myself to him.
RocJiester.
This evening we had a delightful prayer meet- ing. Though the weather was cloudy and the streets muddy, more than two hundred were pre-
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sent. All things indicate the presence of the Lord with us. This morning I enjoyed a delight- ful season in prayer, and especially in meditating on the 14oth Psalm. I have been much distressed with dyspepsy to-day, and all the week have been unable to write or think with profit. But still, I have had a sweet consciousness of desiring to do the will of God, and a feeling of cheerful and pa- tient resignation to him, in thus being sick, and prevented from studying as I desire. I have been tempted to feel hardly toward a brother Christian, who, as it seems to me, has treated me rather dis- honorably. But I trust I have put the evil feeling down, and can pray for him with sincere love. I called on him to pray in meeting to-night, and en- tered with pleasure into his prayer. God grant me a meek, and humble, and forgiving spirit.
Rochester, June 29, 1838.
Yesterday I was installed as pastor over the Brick Church. Hitherto, the connection between us was one that could easily be dissolved. Now, we are bound together by solemn vows of mutual assistance and devotedness. I am now the pastor of this church, and their hope and affections will rest on me, their eyes be turned to my example, and their conduct be influenced by it. Especially
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will the children and young people look to me for instruction and example. I must be a holy man. Woe is me if I am not! And yet, I am very far from that state. Now, I do again devote myself to Christ. I am his minister, and his flock is com- mitted to me. I will strive to live continually under his guidance, and to enjoy his light in my soul.
Rochester, Nov. 20.
Since I last wrote in my journal, many events have occurred of importance to my eternal inte- rests. The depressing effects of ill health and hot weather, the ensnaring influence of prosperity, the society of my friends, and my anxiety for my wife's health, so occupied my thoughts, that, through the summer, I accomplished but little in my Redeem- er's service, and laid the foundation for the afflic- tions which have visited me. On September 14th, my first child was born. It was feeble, and after some weeks, was attacked with violent spasms, ending with dropsy in the head. Its life was closed November 6th, seven weeks and four days from its birth. It was a most painful trial to give up all the hopes I had cherished. But the care of my wife and child had made me selfish, engrossing my thoughts and time, and unfitting me for my
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duties as a pastor, and therefore my Saviour took it from me. I believe the effect of this chastisement has been for my good. I have prayed and read the Bible more, and given myself more entirely to my work as a pastor, than before. I have made some progress in growing in grace, since that time, but am far behind what I was at former periods. There are many faults in my character, which fill me with shame. There is a great want of meekness and gen- tleness in my manners, I am often harsh in speak- ing, and I have not brought my body under so as to control all my propensities. I often lose time and clearness of mind by excess in eating. It does not seem as if I took more than I need. I rarely satisfy my appetite, and yet I suffer afterwards.
Another great fault is, unwillingness to make pastoral visits. I have a great dread of this, and always have had. Naturally, I am timid and bash- ful in society, and now, it is with great pain and effort that I undertake to visit ; and when I am des- titute of bodily energy, I give it up almost wholly. I feel that it is wrong, and yet I do not reform.
Rochester J Nov. 21.
I SPENT a season yesterday in self-examination and prayer, which has been of great service. It brought me nearer to my Saviour, and enabled me
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to rest on him as a weak and guilty sinner. It was good to feel my own unworthiness, and confide my interests wholly to him. Oh, I desire to know him more and more, and to abound in love, till I am rooted and grounded in him.
Rochester, Sabbath, Dec. 2.
During the past week, I have enjoyed a calm and uniform state of religious feeling. I have not been obliged to make such efforts to keep my thoughts and feelings aright. My mind flows into the channel of heavenly things without effort. I have prepared a sermon for Christians this week, pointing out the evidences against piety. I have had strong desires for God's blessing all the time I was writing it. I long to present ?)i7/ ichole church before God.
Rochester.
This afternoon I rode out to a green-house, six miles distant from the city. There, among the beautiful plants and flowers, my soul was revived. Their silent beauty speaks to my heart, and I feel peace and joy while I am with them. I purchased a number to keep in my room for company, while I am separated from my beloved wife.
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3Iay 1, 1839.
I HAVE been appointed delegate to the General Assembly at Philadelphia, and have been looking forward with interest and anxiety to that meeting, and praying for protection from the temptations I shall meet there. I heretofore have always been where I could lean on others, and act by their ad- vice. In college, brother) Edward was my guide ; in the seminary, Dr. Taylor, and at Batavia my father. In Presbytery, I never felt that I could ex- ert influence, because I considered myself as a youth, and that every one so regarded me. As I did not think my opinions would have much weight, I gave them without reflection. This prevented me from acting with dignity, and forming a habit of deliberate action. Now, I am in a different po- sition. The pastor of a large church, in an influ- ential Presbytery, my opinions will have weight, and more will be expected of me. I must watch, and in all things act as becomes a minister of Jesus Christ. My natural disposition is ardent, my habit of thought impulsive, my mode of generalizing too rapid, and these lead me to form and express opin- ions without sufficient care and reflection. This detracts from their weight on other minds. Now, I am bound to honor Christ with all my powers, to deliberate carefully, to advise judiciously, and to exert as much influence as possible to promote his cause.
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I am in some danger of being influenced by party spirit, at this time. Such scenes as have occurred before in the General Assembly, may be acted over again, and unmoved by the influence of friends or party, I must study to show myself approved of God.
The subject of Slavery will come up, and demand that I act with decision. I am apt to yield to the suggestions of friends for the sake of peace, and not to adhere so steadily to my own views of what God directs.
In view of these circumstances, I resolve in the strength of God :
1. That I will act independently, relying on God and not on men. I will open my mind with hu- mility to instruction from ajiy quarter, and then commit my way to God, that he may direct my steps.
2. I will not be influenced by party spirit, nor sustain any measure because those with whom I sympathize, wish it, but will seek simply what I believe to be the will of God.
3. I will abstain from frequent speaking, and will pray much during the session of the Assembly ; and when I do speak, will not do it without con- sideration and prayer on the subject.
4. I will attempt at all times to speak in a kind and gentle manner, to maintain love for all, even for those who I think violate the clearest rules of
he Bible, and will pray for God to direct them.
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5. For this end, I will abstain from speaking of the faults of others, or canvassing their conduct with others, nor will I attribute any bad motives to those who differ from me, if I can discover a good one ; attempting in all things to conform myself to that charity described in the 13th of Corinthians.
Lastly, I will examine myself by these resolutions to see where I fail, and pray for strength to keep them.
Neic-York, May 10.
During my journey, the hurry and bustle of rapid travelling and crowded boats and cars, rendered meditation and prayer almost impossible. I felt confused, and unable to fix my thoughts on any thing, though I endeavored to maintain the spirit of prayer. But in all the journey I did nothing to save souls, and spoke to no one on the subject of religion, except when I read the Bible and con- ducted worship on the canal packet.
When surrounded by a crowd of strangers, I feel timid, and disposed to remain silent and unknown, and yet I am distressed by feeling that I am sur- rounded by immortal minds, most of them without God, and still am doing nothing for them. Would Paul, would my Master be silent in these circum- stances ? I am determined, by God's help, to do every thing his providence opens before me, so that I may diffuse blessings in all my course.
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Philadelphia, May 22, 1839.
Since I have been here I have been enabled generally to maintain a spirit of reliance on God and obedience to him. I think I have been ena- bled to observe all the resolutions formed in view of my duties in the Assembly. But I have found the temptation to act from regard to human opin- ion very strong, and sometimes fear I have yielded to it.
I have been assisted, in discussing matters before the Assembly, to maintain a calm manner, and have spread every matter before God, and sought his guidance, especially in regard to the subject of slavery. On this there has been much discussion, and I have been compelled to take an independent course, and not identify myself either with aboli- tionists or anti-abolitionists.
Rochester y June 19.
I HAVE abundant reason to bless God for his pro- tecting care and love to me, during my absence from my people, and for his grace to my church. For the greater part of the time I have lived near to Christ. In the society of my dear brother Ed- ward 1 was greatly profited and refreshed, and in the society and affection of my sisters and friends, 5
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some of whom I had not seen for years, 1 was greatly cheered. God has filled my cup with blessings, rich and abundant. Since my return, I have enjoyed much comfort in prayer and studying the Bible, and have felt increasing desire to learn more of God, and to attain higher degrees of holi- ness.
I find that I am in danger of making the doc- trine of entire sanctification too frequent a theme of argument, instead of holding up the truths that will tend to lead my people to become more holy. 1 am perfectly convinced that God does require our entire sanctification, that it is possible, and that he has made abundant provision for it, in the promises, and the gift of his Spirit. But I am not satisfied that it ever has, or ever will be attained in this life, though I am sometimes inclined to think that it will when I look at God and his promises. But when I look at myself, I feel as if it never would. I know one thing, however, for which I bless God, and that is, that I shall reach the point ofperfect holiness at the end of my course, and that, even now, I may maintain a conscience void of offence toward God and man.
I have long been convinced that a far higher de- gree of holiness than is attained by the most devot- ed Christians of the present day, may be obtained by all the church, and that the promise of the Spirit to the latter days, gives us reason to expect It now.
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I have felt sure that the errors of perfectionists have arisen from being deluded by the Great Deceiv- er, in their pursuit after a real, glorious object, which they perceived to be set forth in the Bible as attainable by all. It has seemed to me that in regard to the brethren at Oberlin, their efforts to raise a higher standard were very important. Whether their theory is true, I know not. Whether the state to which some of them profess to have attained is one of entire sanctification, I am not qualified to say, for I do not know the real state of their minds, nor have I opportunity to ob- serve their conduct. But I should judge by their writings that some of them had learned by experi- ence, that rich and full assurance of love, which Mrs. Edwards enjoyed, as described by President Edwards, and that which James B. Taylor also attained. It is a state in which the whole soul feels only the promptings of love, so as to be con- scious of acting from no other principle ; when the feeling is that described by Paul, " the love of Christ constraineth me."
This point I have not yet reached, but I believe I may reach it as certainly as any other Christian, and this state, by the grace of God, I am deter- mined to reach. I know that the promises of God ensure it, that the Holy Spirit is ready to lead me to it, and that Jesus Christ desires thus to trans- form me, that my soul may thus dwell in God and God in me.
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Rochester.
When I returned home from Philadelphia, it would have done your heart good to see the affec- tion with which I was welcomed by my people. The Lord has given me the heart of all my church. The children, too, all crowded around me. I have them now all organized into classes, to meet on Wednesday for religious instruction, and on Satur- day for instruction on miscellaneous subjects. These meetings are fully attended. Yesterday, about eighty were present. Next Saturday I shall begin a course in Natural Theology, showing them various objects through my compound microscope, illustrating the wisdom and benevolence of God.
I forgot to tell you that I have purchased me about twenty pots of beautiful flowers. I expect them home from the green-house to-day. I have a fine large flower-stand, and when they are all well arrang- ed they will afford me good society in the absence of my dear wife. My shells, too, are very beau- tiful,and when arranged will appear very rich.
Since the breaking up of my family, I have felt more of the Gospel in my heart than before, for I have been compelled, as it were, to seek relief from loneliness in communion with Christ, and thus he has blessed the trial to the good of my soul. Some- times, when in my solitary room, my heart seems struck with sadness, as a sense of loneliness comes over me, till I go and pour out my heart to my Saviour, and then I do not feel alone.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 81
Rochester, Aug. 19,1839.
My general health is far better than it usually has been in summer, and I am able to accomplish a far greater amount of labor with less fatigue than ever before. Probably this is more owing to the peace of mind which I enjoy, and the steady health- ful activity of all my faculties. I do not need to rouse myself up to a high pitch of excitement, to be able to preach with earnestness and deep sin- cerity, for I feel it continually. Nor, in visiting, do I have to struggle against sloth and timidity, as I once did, every time I attempted to visit. It is easy now to go from house to house, to speak of Christ and to pray to him. I feel that he is work- ing in me that sweet and perfect liberty of love, which casteth out fear, and gives peace to the soul. And yet I never felt so much my own littleness. I seem like a little insect before the infinite God. It seems almost incredible that he should have bowed from his high elevation, to become allied to such degradation and depravity as exists in me.
Last Sunday, I preached from the words, " Be- hold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God." It does seem astonishing, that the infinite God should condescend to call us his sons, and when I think what a price was paid to bring us into this relation, I am utterly amazed. But we shall know more of this mystery as eternity shall roll on. As
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the heavens are high above the earth, so are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts.
In hearing a recent lecture on the fixed stars, showing their amazing distances, I thought, what an apt illustration of the infinite love of God, the heights and depths and length and breadth of which passes all comprehension !
Nothing contributes so much to my increase in knowledge, as the study of the Bible. It is strange that Christians will deprive themselves of the com- fort and strength which the word of God affords. It is easy to maintain holiness, if they will but keep their minds in contact with God by studying the Bible. We must spend as much of our time in studying his word, and in prayer, as we do in the society of our friends, if we wish our minds to be assimilated to his, for in no other way can we be- come like him. It is long-continued and frequent intercourse, that makes two minds become united in feeling and affection, and thus it is that we must live in Christ. As the fathers ate manna in the wilderness, so must we eat of Christ, that living bread that came down for the life of the world ; and we must eat it daily, as they did, or we have no life in us."
After a period of exhausting labor and excite- ment, in his pastoral office, he writes thus : —
KEV. GEORGE BEECUER. 83
In a body unstrung by disease, and exhausted by excitement, it is impossible to feel the calmness and peace indispensable to equanimity of temper. Still I have been able to govern my temper better than at previous times. I have tried to restrain myself from speaking unkindly or irritably, and for the most part have been preserved from it ; yet I am troubled by a sense of great deficiencies in all points, and have not strength of body or mind to feel or think. I have been so long accustomed to consider religion as consisting chiefly in a right state of feeling, rather than in a calm and steady purpose of obedience, thai it is difficult to shake it off; and when I am not in a state of religious en- joyment, from bodily weakness, and feel the fear of guilt, Satan takes advantage of it to goad me on to act beyond my strength, and then a reaction takes place.
I am in danger of being thus driven on till my nervous system is shattered, and then to feel a nervous dread and abhorrence of the course which injured me. I have been thus broken down two or three times in my past life, and suffered a ner- vous dread of all feeling and action for months. I cannot judge how much I ought to do and feel, nor how to distinguish between what is sloth and what is mere fatigue.
Sometimes I feel tempted to look forward to seasons of personal enjoyment, independent of my labors for Christ ; then I anticipate spending time
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with my friends in mere social enjoyments^ to possessing property and devoting myself to its im- provement, and sometimes I am secretly willing to wear out prematurely, that I may retire to the life of selfish enjoyment which I might then secure, in cultivating flowers, music, and friendship. My taste and social feelings draw strongly upon m.e, and tempt me to give up, at least in part, to them. I am enthusiastically fond of flowers, shells, poetry^ music, and every thing of that kind ; and am often tempted to set my heart on them. My social affec- tions are very strong, and insensibly lead me away. My desire of approbation is strong, so that I am con- stantly tempted to seek the applause of men rather than the approval of God. This leads me, in the society of others, to conform too much to their views and feelings, and to shrink from introducing religion when I might do it with propriety. My bodily health being feeble, I have a great aversion to steady, self-denying effort ; to work, as Paul did, in much weariness and painfulness, in watchings, fastings, and labors, for Christ's sake. Oh, if Christ do not hide me in his pavilion, I cannot be safe a moment ! I never felt, as I do now, the need of " abiding in Christ."
In view of these things, and in his strength, I do most solemnly covenant with my Lord and Master, to consecrate to him, from this time, my whole spirit, soul, and body; to devote my whole energy of body and mind to the advancement of
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 85
his kingdom in this world, to the elevation of holi- ness in his church, and the extermination of every form of corruption and impiety. I will wage an interminable warfare with my own proud, selfish, and sensual propensities, and seek constantly for complete and perfect sanctification. I will fight fearlessly against every form of iniquity, all licen- tiousness. Sabbath-breaking, dishonesty, covetous- ness, love of money, ambition, oppression, slavery, and every other public or private sin. I will study the Bible as my guide, and the Bible as my only guide, and will strive to derive my spiritual know- ledge from studying it with prayer.
I will henceforth strive to adapt myself to all men, that I may save them, and feel that I have nothing else to live and labor for ; and to this cov- enant, in the strength of Christ, I now sign my
name.
George Beecher.
Rochester, Aug. 26, 1840.
My shells, presented to me by Brother Parker, of the China mission, have arrived safely. There were eight boxes, like the two I had before, and in them all but two shells were broken, and those of little value. The collection is very beautiful, and nearly all new. In the whole there are probably between four and five hundred shells, well selected.
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and many of them of rare species. It is a splendid present ; but I had no letter from Brother Parker, as I hoped and expected.
I have been greatly favored lately by the society of a Mr. W., the author of a work on conchology that I gave to C. ; he has given me the names of all my shells, and also has delivered a course of lectures, and I have copied his notes, so that I am beginning to understand the science. I have given him a set of my fresh water shells, and he is to exchancre with me, and send me those I have not, in return. He has also given me a letter to a gen- tleman in Salem, Mass., who has many fine dupli- cates, and who wishes for American fresh water shells, of which he has none. He also gave me letters to two gentlemen in Troy who wish to ex- change. Now, I wish W. would hire the boys to collect all the shells they can find in the river, and clean the inside, and put them in boxes, subject to my order, for I shall want a large quantity for ex- change.
Mr. W. says my collection is unusually rare and valuable. I had several in my last boxes that he did not possess, though his cabinet numbers above five thousand species, and I have some that he had never seen before.
He is an exceedingly gentlemanly and interest- ing man. His grandfather was chaplain to George the Third, and he was brought up at court. He used to carry the basket and scissors every morn-
UEV. UEORGE BEKCUER. 87
ing for the Princess Charlotte to cut flowers in the green-house. If she had lived, he probably would have been one of her household officers. He was an intimate friend of Lord Byron, whom he describes as a very interesting man, and a noble friend. He showed me a ring, which Byron gave him at his departure for Greece from Paris, con- taining his miniature.
This Mr. W. lost all his property by the failure of his banker, and soon after his wife, a daughter of Admiral Stilson; and though his family friends, some of them among the nobility, offered him a support, he refused to live dependent, and came to America. He is well educated, intelligent, gener- ous and refined, and I hope he is also a Christian.
I have found an old gentleman, also, down at the mouth of the river, who is a collector of land and fresh water shells, with whom I have made some exchanges. I now have ninety-five genera and four hundred species — which, for one year's collection, is a good beginning.
Rochester, Sept. 20, 1S40.
Father arrived last night, and Dr. Wisner was here, and I had an opportunity of consulting them together. After stating to them the opinion I have obtained of the medical men, both here and in
^
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Ohio, they gave it as their decided opinion, that it was a very clear case, and that the providential indications were, that I ought to remove. But the thought of giving up my church is very painful. When I thought of it last evening, while surrounded by so many whom I love, I could scarcely refrain from tears, and the evening was one of sadness to me.
The affection of my church towards me appears to increase continually, and it seems almost cruel, when they are talking to me and setting off their hopes for the future, to tell them that I am to leave them.
Rochester, Sept. 24, 1840.
Never have I seen the time when it seemed to me as if my presence were so much needed as now. Many in my church are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and some in other churches too, who have been coming to me for instruction. As these meet me, they tell me they cannot bear to have me leave, and it seems to me to be harder than ever. You cannot tell how painful it is to break all these ties, and yet I feel that I am doing right. The Lord has some plan in our removal, which we cannot now understand, and he will make ail things work together for good to this church and to his own glorious cause. I
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 89
bless God that I feel such assurance in my Saviour, that I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. My soul rests upon him, and his word is sweet to my taste. I feel that I am growing in the knowledge of my Lord and Sav- iour, and the more I know of him the more I long still to know. What a blessed thought, that ** the love of Christ passeth knowledge !" When ages have passed away, and our comprehension has ad- vanced beyond what we can now conceive, still it will be, that "the love of Christ passeth know- ledge;" and so on, through eternity. Well, we have become pupils in a blessed school, under an infinitely glorious teacher !
Rochester, Oct. 1840.
The die is cast, and I am now preparing to leave, as fast as I can. On Monday, I told the ses- sion my decision ; they said they had long been expecting it, and thought I was acting right, though they much regretted the necessity. To- day I have had a meeting with the trustees, ses- sion, and leading men of the church, told them my decision, and have been trying to induce them to devise and execute a plan for putting their finan- cial concerns in a more prosperous situation in fu- ture. Next Sundav, T shall announce my decision
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from the pulpit, and preach a sermon on the duty of every person's contributing to the support of the gospel, after which, the plan will be submitted to the church.
When this is done, I shall feel that my work here is accomplished, and that the Lord lets me depart in peace. I shall have done a good work, sufficient to have warranted my removal here, and shall be ready to return to Ohio with more expe- rience and knowledge and love to Christ. I love to look over the indications of Providence in bring- ing me here, and now, in making my way so plain in this removal. I have not a doubt as to the cor- rectness of my decision in coming here, or as to my present duty in removing. It has all been by God's own ordering, for I did not seek to come here, nor have I sought to remove, but have held myself ready to go or stay, as he should direct by his providence. And he has fulfilled his pro- mise, " In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy steps." How blessed and safe, to be thus under the keeping of him, who can go before us as a guiding pillar of cloud and fire !
Rochester, Oct. 5, 1840.
Two of my brother ministers of the city called to learn the truth respecting reports they had heard
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 91
in regard to my perfectionism, and both were sat- isfied that there was no foundation for the stories they had heard. At the suggestion of brother E., I preached on the subject, and sent a request to brothers E. and B. to give notice in their pulpits, which they did. The house was fulJ, and, so far as I could learn, the sermon was satisfactory to all, though brother H. did not fully agree with me on some points. In the afternoon, we had a deep- ly interesting communion service, and afterwards I made my request for a dismission. This was granted without opposition, as they were satisfied that I was doing right ; but there never was a time when they seemed to love me so strongly, or when I was doing so much good.
Brother H. proposed, that the church should meet and pass a resolution expressing their confi- dence and attachment, and refuting the rumor, that our separation was caused by doctrinal differences. My heart was also greatly comforted by the kind feelings manifested by my ministerial brethren in the city, last week.
While on his journey, he writes thus :
My heart panteth after God, as the hart panteth for the water brooks. To-day, while travelling, my soul seemed constantly to go forth to the Saviour.
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and the thought of his love filled my eyes with tears. 1 do long after a full and perfect consecra- tion to him, and I hope, more than ever before, that I shall attain to the fulness of the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus.
The following is from a member of the church to which he ministered at Rochester, who was aware that an impartial statement was desired by those who sought information from him on the que- ries presented.
'' Mr. Beecher commenced his labors as a pas- tor of this church, in March, 1838, was installed the 28th of the June following, and continued his ministry till the 6th of October, 1840. During his ministry, the church was increased by the ad- dition of eighty-one members upon certificate, and one hundred and one by profession. Before he assumed the pastoral care of the church, we had been somewhat accustomed to preaching, distin- guished rather for its strong and vivid appeals to feelings and passions, than for solid instruction ; and some of us felt that the state of the church, with respect to the ministrations of the pulpit, was somewhat vitiated, and that it was desirable to create a relish for preaching of a more instructive character. Mr. Beecher seemed peculiarly quali-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 9o
fied for the post assigned him. He was active and ardent, and capable of addressing himself with ef- fect to the sympathies of his audience, while, at the same time, he was able to instruct them in the simple and profound truths of revelation. Though not always equally happy in his efforts, he was never uninteresting, and sometimes, in my judg- ment, he was surpassingly powerful.
*' He was guileless and affectionate in his inter- course with his people, and was truly an honest man in all his ways. Sometimes, owing to ab- straction of thought, he fell under the suspicion of being inattentive to those around him ; but his chief defect was precipitancy. His ardent feel- ings led him to fall at once into every proposition that seemed to promise good to the great cause in which he was engaged. He left many warm friends here, who still remember him with great affection. You probably are aware of the action of this church, on hearing of his death, when our present pastor preached on the occasion to a crowded house. In regard to the plan inquired about, it was adopted just as Mr. Beecher left us, and has been continued ever since with complete success. He was not the originator of the plan, but was very efficient in securing its adoption. It was this : Every member of the church and con- gregation, who was willing to do so, was called upon to pledge himself to pay a certain sum, such as he thought proper, wteMy, for the purpose of
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sustaining the Gospel. The names of the contri- butors were entered in a book provided for the pur- pose, and the sums contributed were deposited from Sabbath to Sabbath, with an envelope, on which was written the contributor's name. This was placed in a little box at the doors of the church. The payments are entered the following Monday. If the contributors become a little lax, they are quickened by a printed note from the one who has charge of the book. Occasionally, we have to stop the church, and give them a little talk on the subject. We have not owed a dollar since the plan was adopted. Our pastor has his one hun- dred dollars at the commencement of every month, and the other expenses are all punctually met."
After it became known that it was his design to leave Rochester, the church in Chillicothe, which had been formed from a portion of the church where he had labored some years previous, invited him to become their pastor, and he was, a short time after, established there. He kept no regular journal, after this time, and wrote but few letters, so that there are very limited records of his own, in reference to his ministry and private history, the last three years of his life.
On April 3, 1842, he made the following entry in his journal :
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 95
** Since I removed to Ohio I have been greatly blessed in my labors to build up a church, and have enjoyed a continual revival, during both win- ters I have spent here. This past winter, about forty have been added to my church, which now numbers ninety-three. And now by the help of Christ I again dedicate myself wholly to him."
A letter was addressed to a member of his church, asking for information in regard to his la- bors there. The following are extracts from the
reply :
ChiUicothe, June, 1844.
I NEED not tell you how gratifying it is to the members of his church, that they are to possess a tangible memorial of the character and labors of their late beloved pastor. You know not with what enthusiasm they speak of him, and as the year has rolled around, and brought us nearly to the season when his tragical death occurred, we seem again to feel all the sorrow of that awful pe- riod.
It would be far from telling the whole story of the good done by Mr. Beecher, merely to recount the numbers added to his church, for he exerted much influence upon the whole community. His popular talents and unequalled zeal in every good
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effort, seemed to provoke other churches to good works ; and members of other denominations have more than once acknowledged the effect upon themselves of his influence, in stimulating to ac- tive exertion. He loved to do good, and so he but accomplished that good, he cared not what church, or what instrumentality gained the credit for it among men.
His church here, at its formation, December 1839, consisted of twenty-six members, and were without a pastor until the following November, when Mr. Beecher come to labor with us. At that tim.e, there were only twenty members, eight having removed from the place. So humble were the elements for building up a church, that many predicted that it would perish in a year, and the general feeling in the community was, " What do these feeble Jews ]" We considered it arrogance, in our situation, to invite Mr. Beecher, whom we knew to be pleasantly situated in Rochester, but upon hearing that he contemplated leaving that place, on account of the health of his wife, we ventured to address him on the subject. We were aware that, after a visit he made some years ago, he felt a special interest in this field of labor. Af- ter some interchanges of letters, he gave us a de- cided reply in the affirmative. The sensation produced by this intelligence, among our little number, will never be forgotten. We were over- whelmed with joy.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 97
The next matter of anxiety was, Is his mind prepared for the change ] Will he not be utterly disheartened when he comes among us? In Ro- chester he left a numerous and wealthy church, and external circumstances altogether inviting. Here, we had no building dedicated to the worship of God, and no church-going bell to draw us to the sanctuary, no choir trained to lead the congrega- tion in the praise of God ; but we were a scattered few, assembled in a school-room for religious wor- ship. We feared he had not counted the cost. But we little knew the man of our choice.
At the] first prayer-meeting, only six or eight were present, and at the next only a few more. Our pastor had learned our anxiety on his account. It was then that we began to understand more fully the peculiar character of the man. Such un- wavering trust in God's word and promises, such confidence in the power of the Gospel, such entire independence of apparently unpropitious circum- stances, and withal such energy of purpose, began to show forth in him that night, as we never before had witnessed. The memory of that evening is fresh as if but yesterday, when with his earnest manner he assured us, that he would rather have a church of only three or four Christians, who were active, faithful and prayerful, than a church of four hundred members of an opposite stamp. He wished not to enter into other men's labors, but to lay the foundation for himself In conclu-
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sion he made the appeal of Gideon to his army, " Whosoever is fearful or afraid, let him now turn back." We left the place, ashamed of our faithless fears, and with higher hopes and purposes than we had ever felt before.
In a few weeks, he began to see some fruit of his labor. D.uring the ensuing winter, thirty-one were added to his church by letter, and nineteen by profession. The next summer, his health failed, and he left his people and visited the Virginia springs.
By the next winter, the basement room of our church was finished, and he and his people were rejoiced in these comfortable accommodations. The second year, forty-nine were added to his church, seven from other churches, and the rest were the fruits of his ministry. The last year, fifty-five were added, eight only from other church- es. The last year of his life, he ordinarily preached twice on the Sabbath to his people in town, and then rode six miles into the country to preach a third time. Previous to that time, he preached often in different places, on Sunday afternoon or evening. In his ordinary routine of labor through the week, he attended the Monthly Concert and Sunday School Concert two Mondays in the month, and the other two were devoted to a prayer-meet- ing. Tuesday evenings were devoted to the ladies' sewing society. His presence was expected as the life and spirit of the meeting. He interested him-
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self in all their plans and efforts, and he was always consulted in all matters, either of taste or expedi- ency. During the evening he read a portion of Scripture, gave us spiritual counsel, and closed with singing and prayer. Wednesday evening was devoted to a Bible class for the church mem- bers. Thursday evening he devoted to the tem- perance cause, in which he took a particular in- terest. On Saturday evening he met the choir. During the first winter he taught singing to a class of children, inviting all to come, who wished to do so, from any other church, as much as from his own. The failure of his lungs prevented his con- tinuing this after the first year.
Our choir has been considered here as remark- able for their skill and taste in performing. The credit of this was due entirely to Mr. Beecher, who trained them with much labor ; and this was one of the many proofs he gave of his remarkable tact in accomplishing whatever he undertook. As his Sunday labors were so great that he could not attend Sunday school, the latter part of his ministry here, he met them Saturday afternoons. In periods of unusual religious interest, he held meetings every evening, preaching every other evening, and having inquiry and prayer-meetings the alternate evenings.
His active and devoted spirit had looked with ardent desire upon the adjacent fields in that vicin- ity, which seemed white for the harvest, and he^ k
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longed to enter in and reap. Six miles from town in a school-house, at North Fork ^ For a year be- fore his death, he preached at this place — at first, every third Sabbath — and at length every Sunday. In the February before his death, he held a pro- tracted meeting there, going out every night to preach for them. There was a deep interest awa- kened in the whole region around, and among all denominations, and quite a number of conversions took place. In May, a church was organized there, as a branch of his church in the town, and preparations were made to build a house of worship there. Mr. Beecher was deeply interested in this church, and their hearts were bound up in him. There were several other points in this region, where he intended to direct his labors, as soon as he had strengthened and built up this new church. He was not satisfied with using all his strength, but several times was heard to say, " Oh that I could only preach in two or three places at the same time." So eager was he in his great Mas- ter's work !
One of the most marked peculiarities of his preaching while here, was his superiority to the opinions and prejudices of men, in cases where duty required him to encounter them. He held back no unpalatable truth, even when aware that it would cause agitation and painful excitement, and when by opposing popular prejudices or sins, he awakened wrath, he flinched not, but kept up
REV. GEORGi: BEECHER. 101
an uncompromising warfare with sin in every shape. He was told, that with a little more policy, his popular talents, and his ability to preach in a style so fascinating to many who admire ideas dressed in beautiful language and imagery, would secure large congregations and build up a popular church. He replied, that he was aware of that, and was not insensible to the praise of men, but that he was not at liberty to preach to please men, by keeping back any of the counsel of God, nor might he seek his own praise in preaching the cross of Jesus Christ.
The limited space of this letter will not allow any thing like an expression of the many develop- ments of his remarkable character which were made here, but we wish his friends to know that his works and virtues are appreciated by his sor- rowing people. Were you to ask the cause of their devotion to him, they would speak of him as the one who first guided their steps into the path of life, and established their goings ; they would speak of the rich feast for the intellect and the heart which from Sabbath to Sabbath they received from him. Many would tell you of seasons, when pass- ing through deep waves of affliction, had it not been for their pastor, the waters had gone over their souls. It was the lot of his people to suffer severely in various ways, while he was with them, and his affectionate heart melted with sympathy as he bore the burdens of his church. In pecuniary 6
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difficulties they repaired to him for counsel, and not unfrequently found not only sympathy but more substantial aid. At times, even his own elas- tic spirit was bowed with the trials and anxieties that came upon him and his people. From his constant activity, and unwearying benevolence, it is impossible to think of him now as at rest. We can only imagine him a burning spirit^ bound on errands of zeal and love, and swelling with delight in doing good.
The following extracts, one written a few months previous to his leaving Rochester, and the other a few months before his own death, exhibit his filial character, and also the spirit with which he bore one of the heaviest afflictions of his life.
Rochester, 1840.
My dear Father — Your welcome letter came last night; and filled my heart with joy. I re- joice that the Seminary is prospering in your hands, and that, after so long a time of darkness and un- certainty, a steady light is beginning to rise upon that institution. The Lord increase and prosper it an hundred-fold !
It also gave me great pleasure to find an oppor- tunity afforded to assist my dear father in trouble, and to make some returns for the unbounded kind-
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ness and love that have watched over me from childhood, and made me what I am. Yes, my dear father, there is nothing that gives me higher joy than the privilege of testifying my love to you, and assisting you to the full extent of my power. I cannot express to you, in words, the feelings of my heart, but I can say that, next to my Saviour, my beloved father stands first in my honor, love, and gratitude. The forming of my intellect, the commencement of my Christian character, and my capacities for usefulness, have been chiefly owing to your efforts, and I love to think that through eternity I shall know and rejoice in the agency which my father has had, in all my usefulness and happiness. In me, and in all your sons, you are transmitting your influence down to another gene- ration, and it will be felt after you have gone home to your reward.
I wrote thus far, and had to stop to complete my sermons for the Sabbath. I have been delivering, on Sabbath evenings, a course of, sermons on Atheism, and several on the being and attributes of God. I have finished those on the natural attri- butes of God, and am now beginning on the con- stitution of the human mind, before I take up the subjects of the wisdom, moral power, and benevo- lence of God, all of which involve a previous con- sideration of the nature and laws of the human mind. I can find no books that treat of the cha- racter of God, with any clear conceptions of his.
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intellectual and moral nature. In almost all, the physical omnipotence of God seems to absorb all others, or at least has such a prominence, that, like the sheaves of Joseph's brethren, they do obeisance to it, so that I am not assisted by them, but must mark out my course entirely for myself. Indeed no system of theology has been written upon the principles of philosophy which we adopt, and to attempt to apply our philosophy to the statements of most theological writers, is like putting new cloth into an old garment.
The news from C. was most cheering. I have had the fullest confidence in God, that he would restore him, and bring him to the sphere for which he was consecrated to God by our dear mother and yourself. I could only weep and give thanks at the abundant goodness of our gracious Saviour. Soon, I trust, we shall greet him in the ministry of the glorious Gospel. Dear Father, if all your sons are blessed in their labors as you have been, what a constellation of brightness will you gather around you when you present us to the Saviour !
In one of his letters he says, " My mother died when I was too young to remember her. I have often longed for the warmth and tenderness of a mother's love, but have never found it." After his ft^«f^-«e©©nd marriage, these affectionate yearn-
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ings seemed fully supplied, and the mutual affection of mother and son, was a source of much enjoyment to both.
In many of the oft-recurring questions of practi- cal duty, there was no person whose judgment and opinions exerted more influence than hers. In the management of the property committed to his control, in arranging the size and style of domestic accommodations, and in many other minor ques- tions of duty and propriety, he found it a relief and a pleasure to seek the guidance of one so highly revered, not only by himself but by every member of her family.
The notice of her danger did not reach him in season to enable him to arrive at her residence until she had departed. As he entered the house, a friend met him, saying, " She is gone !"
With a tearful smile, he cheerfully replied, " Yes, but I know where to find her !" The pro- phetic expression in four months was verified, and he found her in heaven !
Soon after her death, he thus writes to a rela- tive:
ChiUicothe, 1843.
Mother had been with us six weeks, watching with Sarah, Roselle, and our little boy, who were in turn attacked with the typhoid fever. On her return, some in her own family were seized with it, and after watching and nursing again, she herself was attacked by this disease. Her strength, feeble
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at all times, and more so from the fatigues of long care of the sick, sunk under the disease, and last Sunday, after a sickness of about a week, she fell asleep, as peacefully as an infant. Her closing days were a most beautiful illustration of the pas- sage, " Mark the perfect, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peaceJ^ So perfectly calm, happy, and peaceful was her spirit to the last !
Strong in death, she comforted all around her, and without the slightest fear or anxiety, " finished her course.''
Her life, the last year, had been becoming, more and more, a beautiful illustration of the Gospel. Her humility, spiritual-mindedness, and active be- nevolence were constantly increasing, and made her one of the loveliest women I ever knew. I could not have loved my own mother more than I loved her. Her last visit, especially, endeared her to me. Her constant kindness, her affectionate advice and reproofs, were just such as an own mother would have given. She loved me, and I loved her most ardently in return. But her loss does not make me sad. I could not but rejoice at this exhibition of the power of the grace of God, in sustaining one who used so much to fear death, so as completely to annihilate the fear of it, not only in her, but in all who saw her. Her children said in the midst of their tears, "The sting of death is taken away — it is not terrible to die."
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 107
The preceding extracts serve to present a more correct and vivid sketch of his character and min- isterial life and habits, than any formal biographical delineation could do.
There is only one particular in his character and history which demands any special prominence, and that is, the advantages secured by him from attending to the natural sciences, and the pursuits connected with them. Few are aware how much a clergyman may effect in this direction, both in securing enjoyment, health and usefulness to him- self, and in promoting enjoyment for others. This cannot be estimated justly, without remembering, that the main current of temporal happiness is made, not by securing great and exciting pleasures, but by a constant succession of Z/^/^/e gratifications. Those friends who remember the hundreds of times in which this lover of nature has appeared, bearing his tin box of botanical specimens and wild flowers, or his choice bouquet of garden flow- ers, and the exulting smile with which they were presented to admiring friends ; those who remem- ber with what pleasure he scattered among his friends and parishioners, his seeds and roots and plants, and received like favors in return ; those who knew how he enjoyed the society of scientific men, and with what pleasure he gathered, arranged, and exchanged his shells ; those who remember his early morning labors in his garden and green- house, and how often he found solace and health-
1U8 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
ful exercise, when so oppressed with disease, that nothing else would excite and charm ; those who have seen the poor negro bringing some beautiful wild plant, or singular shell or insect, as a testimony of gratitude, or the humble laborer sending some cherished flower as an expression of regard ; those who have seen the effect of his example, in awak- ening a taste for the .beautiful, and in increasing the cultivation of fruits and flowers, wherever he went ; such only can calculate the aggregate of happiness thus gained and bestowed.
And when, in addition to this, it is seen how earnest and faithful he was, in making all his em- ployments and enjoyments subserve the great end of his ministry; how these tastes brought him into contact with many interesting minds whom he could have reached by no other means, and under circumstances peculiarly favorable to social influ- ences ; how by these pursuits he was enabled to in- terest and instruct children, and waken in their young minds a taste for such healthful and elevat- ing amusements, a still higher estimate must be formed of the value of these modes of relaxation to a minister.
His taste for music, and his ability to aid others in cultivating this art, were also made eminently the means of enjoyment and usefulness among his friends, his parishioners, and especially among young children.
A clergyman who makes himself a recluse in
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 109
his Study, and never appears among his people, except on those occasions when his ministries must be exclusively solemn and professional, little knows what a delightful field he leaves uncul- tivated, when he forsakes the social influences gained by joining in the cheering pursuits of sci- ence and taste among his people and friends.
In reviewing those extracts from his private journal, which record his struggles in overcoming constitutional peculiarities, and their effects on his habits and manners, it is consoling and encourag- ing to have witnessed, as his nearest friends have done, his remarkable success. In early life, it is probable that a stranger, thrown into his society in certain circumstances, and knowing only his transient exterior, would have called him opinion- ated, hasty in temper, and possessing an overween- ing estimate of himself.
How much he had to contend with in modifying habits formed while destitute of religious principle, in regulating strong passions and quick impulses, and especially in controlling the impatience and nervous irritability occasioned by disease, few can conceive, who have not been similarly tried.
But the results of these efforts, towards the close of his life, were manifest to all. The humble pa- tience with which he heard his faults pointed out, or his productions criticised, the gratitude he man- ifested for Christian faithfulness in these respects, hi>s meekness under provocation, his generous for- 6*
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giveness of injury, his subdued and gentle manners in his family, his peaceful spirit, his cheerful resig- nation, were best understood and realized by those who came the nearest to him.
The winter before his death, his family, one after another, were smitten with severe and protracted sickness, which threatened the lives of those he loved most. In every trying hour his mind seemed to seek and to find that perfect peace in God which passeth the understanding of those who have never known its power. The mother, so much beloved by him, on returning from her last visit, made this remark : " None but those who have lived in the family with Mr. Beecher, as I have done, can know what a holy man he is."
It only remains that a few of those incidents be narrated, which become interesting because of the fact that they were indications of his preparation for the sudden summons that awaited him, or be- cause they were among the last events of his life.
Some months before his death, he heard a friend narrating the triumphant expressions of a person whose life had been apparently worldly, but whose death was joyful. He remarked, that the mere manifestation of certain emotions in a dying hour, was the humblest part of the evidence of a prepa- tion to die, and then he earnestly added, "Oh, let my life, and not my death, witness for me !"
At another time, a friend was remarking on some phenomenon, as what would probably very
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. Ill
much affect the minds of those persons who were expecting that the present year would be the close of this world's history. After some remarks on the fallacy of such interpretations of Scripture, he referred to the coming. of the Son of Man to each individual who, this year, would be called to die ; and then exclaimed, *' Oh, how I should rejoice to know, that my Saviour would come for me this year !"
A short time before his death, a friend, observ- ing him among his flowers, inquired whether he did not fear that these pursuits would engross too much interest. " No," said he, " I feel that God gave them to me, and that it is right for me to en- joy them ; but I have not set my heart upon them. I can give them all up without the least uneasiness, if he sees best."
The day before his death, he came into the room of his eldest sister, (who had just stopped on a journey to spend a day or two,) bringing with him two family circulars, which, by a singular coinci- dence, had just arrived, one from the East and the other from the West. These circulars consist of a folio sheet, which, by agreement, is started once a month, by the brother or sister who lives at the extreme east or west of the family dispersion. In this sheet, some member of each of the nine dif- ferent families writes a short letter to their parents, brothers, and sisters, and then re-directs and mails it to the next family. By this arrangement all the
112 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
brothers and sisters aim to address each other and hear from each other, once a month. After his sister had read the two circulars, he took them into his study, and on the last day of his life, using his pen for the last time, alas, how unconsciously ! he addressed, for the last time, all those he most ten- derly loved. And with what cheerful anticipations, and how far from any apprehension that death was standing at his side !
In the circular going farther West, he wrote thus : —
*' Dear Brothers and Sisters, all hail ! — I only wish I had you all here, and every room in my house full. When think you, Henry and Charles, shall I see your faces ? Can you not come, one or both, this summer 'I Our new house is com- plete, except a few fixtures and a little painting, and will be ready for every body that will come, in two or three weeks, so do make haste. Then^ I will give you an exhibition of horticulture equal to yours. I have set out peaches in many varieties, and shall have some to spare you next season, as I have commenced a nursery this summer. I have also the best varieties of plums, apples, pears, gooseberries, currants, and cherries in abundance. Of garden vegetables I have the best varieties. Of flowers I have a beautiful assortment of large double pinks, and carnations, and other items too numerous to mention. I should like to have a list
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 113
of your roses and such flowers, and, if you have any to spare, to receive a box from you in the fall. *' With much love from us to you all, " Your affectionate
" George."
From the circular going to his friends in the East, the following is extracted : —
** Dear Brother William : — I do wish you and your wife, with your whole troop of children, could come and spend the summer with us. We have room enough for you all, and we can keep you as long as we can induce you to stay with us. " Sarah has tolerably good health, and my boy is quite well. He has black eyes, and is a very sprightly, affectionate child. We are now very pleasantly situated, and only wish the society of our friends to keep our house full, and then we shall have all the earthly comforts we can desire. My dear Sisters, and Aunt E., I have room enough in my house and heart for you all, and hope I shall yet see you here, and be somewhat filled with your company. Aunt E., I shall hold on to my claim to half your time, as I was your first child. *' Affectionately yours,
'' George.'*'
That day, the first of July, 1843, was exces- sively hot, and he once complained of the effect of the heat in producing debility and discomfort.
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At evening he took his sister into his flower-gar- den, and pointed out his favorite flowers in beds and in pots. While thus engaged, a brother min- ister of the place called, and while passing among his flower-beds, in reply to a similar remark from his friend, he said, " Yes, I often think, while tak- ing care of my flowers, how much this work is like our moral labors ; the weeds grow so easily, and so much care and labor is needed for the flow- ers !"
Soon after, they all went to the observatory on the top of his house. As he stepped out upon the roof, he remarked, " We are come up to the house- top at the hour of prayer." Here they sat, for half an hour, watching the beautiful hills and valleys around, and the changes of the evening sky, mean- time conversing on some recent events in the reli- gious world of great interest and importance.
He assisted his sister in descending, with, to her, his last words and looks of affectionate tenderness, and then went to an evening meeting of his church.
In the course of the exercises, one of the elders remarked on the unusually small number of deaths that had occurred in their church the past year, and that this exemption could not continue ; that some of them must soon be called away, and that he himself had, at times, felt that he might be the first one summoned. Immediately their pastor fol- lowed with a similar strain of remarks. And in
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 115
alluding to the uncertainty of his own life, he ob- served that such had been his health, that he had never expected to live to be forty ; that the antici- pation of the nearness of this event gave him no anxiety ; that he every day felt more and more weaned from the world, and ready to depart and be with Christ, which was far better than life, and that it made little difference to him when the time should come. He then spoke of the happiness of heaven, and quoted the lines :
" Then let the moments fly — They'll waft us sooner o'er This life's tempestuous sea ; Soon shall we reach the peaceful shore Of blest eternity."
He was more than usually excited, and shed tears as he spoke.
The closing hymn of the evening, which was his especial favorite, will appear more striking from the fact, that it was the very hymn with which he first entered the kingdom of Christ. In a letter to one of his younger brothers, he mentions that the hopes and joys of religion first visited his heart while singing this elevated song. He was always the leader of his choir, and it was not unfrequently the case, that the interest awakened by his previ- ous exercises and the enthusiasm of his own feel- ings while singing, would so affect his people, that one voice after another would drop off, from emo- tion, and he would sing almost alone.
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This evening, this delightful hymn, following such touching remarks, produced this effect, so that when the two last verses were sung, his voice bore the burden of that triumphant strain, with which he entered and closed his Master's service on earth.
The hymn is as follows :
Awake and sing the song
Of Moses and the Lamb ! Wake every heart and every tongue,
To praise the Saviour's name !
Sing of his dying love,
Sing of his rising power, Sing how he intercedes above
For us, whose sins he bore !
Sing, till we feel our heart
Ascending with our tongue ! Sing, till the love of sin depart,
And grace inspires our song !
Sing on your heavenly way,
Ye ransomed sinners, sing ! Sing on, rejoicing every day
In Christ the eternal King.
Soon shall we hear him say, " Ye blessed children come !"
Soon will he call us hence away To our eternal home !
There shall our raptured tongue
His endless praise proclaim ; And sweeter voices tune the song
Of Moses and the Lamb !
REV. GEORGE BEECHEK. 117
On going out from this meeting it was remarked by more than one of his people, that if their pastor had known that he was to die that night, he could not have conducted the services more appropri- ately.
As he entered his chamber on his return, he found his wife reading a tale of some suffering Protestants, during a season of persecution, and as he entered, she was just finishing the scene of a sudden death f?wm the explosion of a bomb. As she laid the book down, she said, *' Oh, how dread- ful !" He inquired what it was ; and on being told, he said that it did not seem dreadful to him, and continued to remark on a sudden and violent death, just as one would suppose he would have done, had he known the dreadful scene awaiting her he was thus preparing. He then, as was his custom, prayed with his wife, and retired to rest.
The ensuing morning was extremely warm. He rose before the sun, and going out of his chamber, performed his last act of tenderness in closing the blinds, that his wife and child might sleep undis- turbed.
Soon after, he went to the market, where he was greeted by many of his fellow-citizens, who, ere the setting sun, were to follow his lifeless body to the grave.
On his return, noticing the birds destroying his fruit and injuring his plants, he went for a double- barrelled gun, which he scarcely ever had used, out
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of regard to the timidity and anxiety of his wife in reference to it.
One of the elders of his church was passing, and saw him discharge one barrel at the birds. Soon after, he heard the fatal report, and saw the smoke, but the trees shut the rest from his sight.
Meantime, his wife heard the first discharge, and felt some anxiety, and when she heard the second, was so troubled, that she was about starting to go and entreat her husband not to use the gun any more, but was deterred by other considerations.
In about half an hour after, the family assembled at breakfast, and the nurse was sent to call him. She returned saying she could not find him, either in the house or garden. After waiting awhile, she was sent out again, and in a few moments returned exclaiming, " Oh, Mr. Beecher is dead ! Mr. Beecher is dead ! "'
All the family, who were able, rushed after her to the spot, and in a short time returned, exclaim- ing, " Yes ! he is dead ! he is dead !"
In a short time a visitor in the family, and a neighboring laborer, attracted by their cries, raised him up, and bore him to the house. At the back porch, he was met by his sister. His face was pale but slightly marred, his eyes were closed, and over his countenance rested the sweet expression of peaceful slumber. They bore him to the par- lor sofa, and there the same hand that often had rocked his cradle slumbers, now — oh, with what
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 119
thronging memories ! — adjusted his head upon the pillow of death. Others came ift, and his family retired ; and as his people, one after another, ar- rived, the voice of lamentation broke forth, and was heard from every quarter of the house.
Then followed the coroner's inquest, then the hasty decision that his body should be removed to the future residence of his wife, and the hurried preparations for the funeral and journey, until three o'clock, when, all arrangements being made, he was borne from his newly finished house, through his blooming garden, to the new church, planned and just completed under his directing eye.
His coffin was placed beneath his pulpit ; in his wonted seat were the four clergymen of the differ- ent denominations of the place, and around was a crowd of sympathizing friends and fellow-citizens The sermon and prayers were finished, the choir he himself had trained sung their parting hymn, and at about five the funeral train started for a journey of over seventy miles. That night will stand alone in the memories of those who wit- nessed its scenes !
At about ten in the evening, heavy clouds gath- ered lowering behind, and finally rose so as nearly to cover the hemisphere, sending forth rautterings of thunder and constant flashes of lightning.
The excessive heat of th? weather, the darkness of the night, the solitary road, the flaring of the amps and lanthorns, the flashes of the lightning,
VZO BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
the roll of approaching thunder, the fear of being overtaken in an unfrequented place, and the lights, extinguished by the rain, the sad events of the day, the cries of the infant boy, sick with the heat, and bewailing the father who ever before had soothed his griefs, all combined to awaken the deepest emotions of the sorrowful, the awful, and the sublime.
After about three hours of apprehension, the clouds passed around to another quarter, and the cavalcade proceeded without delay. It was de- signed to stop and rest over the Sabbath, and tra- vel through the next night. But the gentlemen in attendance decided, that owing to the extreme heat of the weather, the greatest haste was indis- pensable. Expresses were sent on, to have a grave prepared, and every thing in readiness.
At about sundown the carriages containing fa- mily relatives from Putnam, met and joined in the train. At dusk the citizens met the procession at the entrance of the town; it moved directly to the church-yard, and there, amid many sighs and tears of relatives and sympathizing friends, his last jour- ney was completed, and beside the new-made grave of his beloved mother, he was laid to his long and last repose. To the skeptic, or merely worldly man. what a scene is here presented ! What crushing of hopes and plans ! What darkness, de- solation, and agony !
The minister, in the very noontide of success,
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 121
just having gained the acquisitions, mental disci- pline, experience, and power of self-control, which he had toiled a whole life to secure ; his feeble church, by his aid just emerging from innumerable difficulties, and resting all their hopes on him ; an aged father and brothers rejoicing in his happy location, and forming plans of co-operating aid in their great work ; the domestic circle, just ready to realize the most cherished plans of earthly com- fort; all — all are blasted in one moment! and for what ?
But, to the confiding Christian, how different the scene ! This life is but the training for an in- troduction to the complete action of a universe of minds, whose happiness is to depend, not on cir- cumstances, but on character. Every mind is to be disciplined till it can learn to be happy, just where God shall place it, be it high or low, with ten talents or one, with ten thousand opportunities of enjoyment, or only a few. An indispensable part of this training \s suffering. Like the Great Captain of our salvation, we are to be " made per- fect through suffering." When fully prepared for the eternal career, we are to go forth, as kings and priests, to everlasting thrones and endless min- istries.
The gracious Saviour saw his servant prepared for nobler duties and higher services, and so, with- out one anxious thought, without a foreboding fear, without a single pang, he takes him home, to glo-
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ries, which " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived."
The crushed hearts, even of the keenest suffer- ers, even in the first moments of quivering agony, feel the balm distilling from the very hand that smites. It is the tender Saviour, who himself " hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows;" who " seeth the end from the beginning ;" whose plans are never changed, whose purposes are never broken, who " bringeth light out of darkness," and causeth all things to work together for good to them that love him." It is no accident — it is no mistake — it is no interruption.
It is a part of that vast, eternal scheme of be- nevolent action, which unites the good on earth in the plans and ministries of the world unseen !
Oh, how much stronger and better than all the wisest and most labored arguments for Christian- ity is such a scene as this ! Take from us Christ and his teachings, and what have we left ? What confusion ! what dismay ! what despair ! But give us Christ, and the aid and hopes of his Gospel, and even the most stricken heart can rise under the blow — can look up, yea, can even rejoice !
*' Thy brother shall rise again," saith Jesus, and to all who weep around he saith, " Rejoice, in- asmuch as ye are made partakers of the suffer- ings of Christ, that when his glory shall be re- vealed, ye may be glad with exceeding joy." Deeper than all sophistries, all mazes of crooked
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 123
reasoning, is the heart's triumphant knowledge^ when in its utmost strait and agony it looks around for the Saviour, and finds, " he is here !"
And in those long arid weary after-hours of lone- ly desolation, when " lover and friend " has de- parted, when every source of earthly enjoyment has ceased to charm, when ten thousand yearning memories of joys departed pass, like obscuring clouds, over every worldly good, above them all shines the light of His countenance, " in whom is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures for evermore."
Thou art gone to thy home in the land of the blest, Where sighing shall cease, where the weary shall rest ; Thy cares are all ended, thy toils all are o'er, Thou shalt suffer and sorrow no more !
But we, in our mourning, still long for that ray That gleamed through our darkness, that gladdened our way Bright star, how we loved thee ! thy kind ray is o'er ; Oh, lost one ! thou'lt cheer us no more !
Thy smile is departed, thy wann grasp is gone. Thy flowers are all withered, and cold thy hearth-stone ; Thy home is deserted, thy welcome is o'er, Thy voice ! we shall hear it no more !
But oh, that bright home of the good and ^he blest ! We are bound to its bourne, we are seeking its rest ; Thou waitest our coming upon its fair shore : We follow, — to lose thee no more !
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There is one incident connected with this histo- ry, which is here presented for the use of mothers. The humble, wearisome, and anxious toils of the nursery sometimes need glimpses of the future, to impart to them their true dignity and value. Let any mother who feels that she is of small value, and that her duties and cares are of little account, ponder over such incidents as these.
On the east end of Long Island, in one of the most secluded spots in this country, more than thirty years ago, a mother, whose rare intellectual and moral endowments were known to but few, made this simple record :
" This morning I rose very early to pray for my children ; and especially that my sons may be min- isters and missionaries of Jesus Christ."
A number of years after, a friend who was pres- ent thus describes this mother's dying hour :
*' Owing to extreme weakness, her mind wandered and her conversation was broken, but as she en- tered the valley of the shadow of death, her soul lighted up and gilded its darkness.
" She made a feeling and most appropriate prayer, and told her husband that her views and anticipa- tions had been such, that she could scarcely sus- tain them; and that, if they had been increased, she should have been overwhelmed ; that her Sav- iour had blessed her with constant peace, and that through all her sickness, she had never prayed for life. She dedicated her five sons to God, as min-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER, 125
isters and missionaries of Jesus Christ, and said that her greatest desire was, that her children might be trained up for God.
"She spoke with joy of the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, and of the glorious day now ushering in. She attempted to speak to her chil- d^n, but was so exhausted, and their cries and sobs were such, that she could say but little.
" Her husband then made a prayer, in which he gave her back to God, and dedicated all they held in common to him. She then fell into a sweet sleep, from which she awoke in heaven."
The prayers of this mother have been answered. All her eight children have been *' trained up for God." Her five sons are all " ministers and mis- sionaries of Jesus Christ," and this son is the first of her offering whom she has welcomed to heaven.
The following remarks are designed to Exhibit the particular points of practical benefit, which it is hoped may be gained by considering this indi- vidual case of Christian experience.
It is conceded by all Christians, that the great object of Christ's mission was, to save men from their sins ; to secure a peculiar people, zealous of good works. And the mode by which he designed to accomplish this, is through the instrumentality
126 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
of his followers, who are addressed as the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, who, by show- ing forth their good icorhs, are to save men, and thus to glorify their Father who is in heaven.
It is no less conceded, that the greatest hin- derance to the progress of the gospel, is the incon- sistent lives of the professed followers of Christ, There is so little difference, in spirit and conduct, between professed Christians and worldly men, so many occasions to say, "What do ye more than others'?" that there is a constant tendency to skep- ticism induced by the very class of men appointed to convince mankind of the reality and excellence of Christianity. The grand desideratum is, some influences which shall elevate the standard of Christian character. In the present case, we have the experience of a man, who was placed in no pe- culiarly favorable circumstances for the develop- ment and exhibition of Christian character, but who, on the contrary, probably had to contend with much greater embarrassments than the major- ity drpersons are called to meet. He experienced the difficulties which result from uncommonly strong and quick passions, the temptations inci- dent to a disease, which peculiarly induces ner- vous irritability, and the embarrassments arising from the habits of years, induced by such influ- ences, unchecked by religious principle. It is true that, as a minister, and in the alliances of the fam- ily, he had some peculiar advantages. But then,
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 127
a minister's position, if he be at all popular, is at- tended with as peculiar temptations. He is ex- ceedingly exposed to the baleful influence of flat- tery and admiration. Looked up to, by most around him, as a guide, both in opinion and prac- tice, and accustomed to little collision, or contra- diction from equals in position, he is exposed to strong influences tending to engender pride, self- confidence, and an overbearing spirit. In this case were added the temptations of outward prosperity. With the exceptions of the trials incident to dis- ease, his life was prosperous, and his naturally cheerful and sanguine temperament found enjoy- ment, without alloying evil, more than is common; while to these were added, the temptations, that few ministers experience, from possessing pecu- niary means which made him independent of his people.
It was in such circumstances, and with these embarrassments to oppose, that his nearest person- al friends witnessed, in the few last years of his life, such a transformation of character, that he became exemplary in the very respects where he had been most deficient. This change was so marked, that, to his nearest and most thoughtful Christian friends, it became a matter of interesting inquiry, as to the peculiar views and influences that seemed so powerful. In the discussions re- specting Christian perfection, as taught at the
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Obedin Institution, Ohio, the course he took, led many to charge him with hoI(3ing the peculiar views inculcated there, and in reference to this, his personal friends have repeatedly remarked that if he held them, and such were their effects, that they were of God, and must prevail.
The articles from his pen on this subject, which follow, show that he did not regard himself as hold- ing any views in this respect that differed from those held by Evangelical Christians generally. It is certain that his opinions were taken from the Bible alone, so that he neither received them of man, nor was taught them by man.
The following, it is believed, will exhibit the -peculiar influences which secured the results in his Christian experience, that are worthy of consider- ation.
In the first place may be mentioned, such j^rac- tical views of Jesus Christ, as an ever-present, sympathizing friend, and such habits of commu- nion with him, as are presented both in the forego- ing extracts and in the articles which follow.
It is believed, that the Christian world, to a wide extent, are suffering weakness, from the want of such influences. In many cases, Christians ad- dress their worship solely to the Father, and Jesus Christ is never the object of communion or con- templation, till at the close of their devotions, their petitions are urged in the name of Christ, and
KEV. GEORGE BEECHER. 129
sought for his sake. Now, that this last mode of worship is proper, and that it has repeated Scriptu- ral sanctions, there can be no doubt.
But, on the other hand, the Apostles and early Christians gave a prominency to Jesus Christ dis- tinctively from the Trinity, which has too much passed from the church. The Apostle John says of Jesus Christ, " This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of hi?n." This, and several other passages show, that the Apostles were in the habit of directing their worship directly to Jesus Christ, and in obedience also to his direc- tions. For in his last instructions, after telling them that he was the way, the truth, and the life, that no man could come to the Father but by him, that the Father was in him, so that whoever had seen him had seen the Father, he says, *' whatso- ever ye ask in my name, I will do it ;'' " if ye ask anything in my name, /will do it;" he clearly intimates the fact, that praying to him is praying to the Father, who dwells in him ; and that when this is done, he, by his own power and authority, will fulfil these requests. And history records, that the early Christians were in the habit of meeting to pray and sing praises to Christ as God, while the most ancient specimen of human composition
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in the form of prayer, which has descended from the Apostolic age, the Litany, consists of petitions, all of which, with but four or five exceptions, are directed, distinctively, to Jesus Christ, and not to the Father.
In this present instance, it will be noticed, that it was communion with Jesus Christ distinctively, a strong personal affection to him, an abiding sense of his presence, a realizing apprehension of his peculiar character as a sympathizing friend, who has been in all points tempted as we have, which were regarded by him as the grand source of strength, encouragement, and success. Many hold this truth in theory ; with him, it was a practical truth, realized and adopted.
The second thing to be noticed, as among the chief influences that secured the results contem- plated, is the view he cherished of the object which Christ came to secure, and of the mode by which it is to be attained. The experience of many Christians would lead one to suppose, that the grand aim of Christ's mission was to secure love to God as the chief and almost the sole thing, which distinctively constitutes piety. With this idea, their chief attention is directed to the state of their will and affections towards God, and if these, in a good degree, are such as they desire, they are sat- isfied. They consider that this is the root, and if it is but planted, the fruit will come by a natural
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process, and with little effort, so that watering and cherishing the root, is almost exclusively the object of care and attention.
But the subject of this memoir looked at the matter in a different light. He regarded the ob- ject of Christ's mission to be, to save us from sin, to secure perfect obedience to the whole law of God, and that this law consists of two parts, one just as binding as the other ; that we are as much bound to love our neighbor, and perform all our duties to him and to ourselves, as we are to love God, and perform our duties to him ; and that when a man violates the law of benevolence in neglect- ing his own highest good, or the rights and happi- ness of his neighbor, he as much transgresses law, and removes evidence of piety, as when he ne- glects to render what is due to God. It is true, that love to God is " the first and great command- ment," because God has the first claim, and obe- dience to this part, gives aid and strength in ful- filling all those duties to our fellow beings and to ourselves, included under the second portion of this universal law.
Now, piety towards God, as it is exhibited in the retirement of the closet, to Him who reads the heart, is what can never be presented as an evi- dence of Christian character to mankind. For this reason, it is obedience to the second part of the divine law, which alone can convince men that the first part is obeyed. Now, the largest portion
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of the infirmities exhibited by Christians to the world, result from that selfishness which does not think of the feelings and rights of others. We are absorbed in our own interests and plans, we are seeking each to accomplish given ends, and we are thoughtless of the rights, the wishes, and the wants of others. Thousands of selfish things are done, and benevolent things left undone, by con- scientious persons, simply because they are so ab- sorbed in their own concerns, that they do not tliinh of them. Now, the grand object of Christ's mission is, to change this selfish current of the mind, to induce that benevolent state of feeling, which makes a man live out of himself, as it were, and in the happiness of others. We are required indeed to love ourselves, to take care of our own interest, and as our own welfare is especially com- mitted to our keeping, it is our business to give more time and attention to it, than to the welfare of any other single individual. But then, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, by giving to their rights, feelings, and wants, just such attention as they deserve, just such as we should claim as due to ourselves in the same circumstances.
The specific practical duties enjoined by Christ and his Apostles, are but extended developments of the great principle, " thou shalt love thy neigh- bor as thyself" This implies that we are to re- gard our own happiness and take proper care of it, and also requires us to pay the same regard to the
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 133
welfare of our fellow men. The specific rules forbidding sloth, intemperance, and other personal vices, relate chiefly to our own happiness, while the rules forbidding theft, deceit, and all other social, or public evils, have reference mainly to the welfare of our neighbors. To these are added commands in reference to specific duties owed to God, such as love, fear, prayer, praise, and atten- tion to the outward religious ordinances of his appointment. Now it will be observed that it is only a certain portion of these commands that are selected as the test of Christian character, such as emotions of love to God, delight in prayer, regular attendance on private devotional exercises, and efforts to promote religion by personal influence, or by money ; and if in these respects a person is tolerably consistent, it is taken for granted that he is a pious man. And ministers and church offi- cers, in examining to decide who shall be admitted to the church, too often confine themselves to these points. And if, withal, a man is prominent in the public exercises of devotion and a leader in benevolent enterprises, he is regarded by himself and others as giving evidence of a high degree of piety.
But if, on investigation, it is found that such a man is selfish and exacting in his family, or in his business, or that he is passionate and unreasonable, so that he is so absorbed in his business and money- making, or even in benevolent enterprises, as to
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neglect his family, or that he is careless of the interests and feelings of others, the world around very soon come to such conclusions as these : — These professors of piety have no more benevo- lence than we have, and in many cases not so much. They read their Bibles and attend meet- ings, because it is the fashion, and because it is required of them, in order to feel safe and be es- teemed Christians. They take the lead in religious duties, because they love to be conspicuous, and they like, too, the influence and credit secured by promoting these benevolent objects; but when they cannot " be seen of men," where is their benevo- lence? They seem more selfish, in every-day life, than many who make no such professions.
So, in the case of a woman, who is punctual in her attendance on religious ordinances, and is active in benevolent efforts out of her family, her conduct in private is as closely scrutinized. Does she govern her temper and tongue? Does she watch over the habits, opinions and pursuits of her children? Is the law of kindness ever her guide, so that she is ready to give up her own convenience and plans to accommodate others? Is she one who thinketh no evil, hopeth all things, and never takes up an evil report? Is she ever ready to put the best, rather than the worst, construction on the motives and conduct of others ? Is she cheer- ful and patient in the minor trials appointed by Providence, as well as in the gfreater evils of life?
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If these investigations are not satisfactory, the observer quietly concludes that if piety consists in benevolent feeling and action, that home is the place to cultivate and exhibit it, and if it is not seen there, all these out-door observances arise from the desire to be seen of men.
Thus those who profess to be the lightof the world, are aiding to enshroud it in deeper darkness.
A great portion of such defects in Christian character, arises from the want of a correct stand- ard of duty, in practical matters. In those cases where the cliief evidence of piety is sought by introspection, the examination of the state of the will and affections towards God, the question as to what right and icrong is, in daily practical duties, becomes a matter of but little interest and inquiry. The lax and imperfect notions formed in early life, the false standard of the world around, the blinding influence of self-esteem, the deep aversion all feel to discovering wrong in themselves, combine to sustain a course of negligence and inattention. Meantime, the pulpit, which should be the remedy for this difficulty, has never yet assumed that full power, which it was designed to wield in this res- pect.
How rare is it to hear from the pulpit a full and correct exhibition of the principles which would convince men of sin in regard to the government of the tongue in domestic life ; the exercise of pa- tience, and submission, and cheerfulness, in the
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minor trials of business, or of the family; the dutj of men in regard to protecting the good name and interests of their fellow-creatures ; the duty of pre- serving our own health, and the health of the fam- ily, by obeying those laws of temperance, regulari- ty, neatness and care, which God has made known by experience, and by the instructions of science ; the duties of veracity, of industry, of punctuality, of honesty, and of fidelity; the political duties of Christians; the relative duties of husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, teacher and pupil, employer and employed, neighbor, citi- zen and friend; the duty of good manners, which are the outward exhibition of Christian benevo- lence; in short, all those practical virtues, for which a text can readily be found in the writings of Christ and his Apostles !
It is not until the pulpit holds up the standard faithfully in all these matters, that either Chris- tians, or the world, will be properly " convinced of sin."
Another grand cause of the difficulty under con- sideration is, the almost utter neglect, by Chris- tians, of certain precepts of the Gospel. What is the meaning of such passages as these ? " If thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault alone." *' Brethren, if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." " Confess your faults
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 137
one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed."
In listening to the conversation of family friends, or of Christian professors about their absent Chris- tian relatives or friends, it is common to hear de- fects of character or practice pointed out, with the nicest discrimination and accuracy ; but if the inquiry is made, " Have you ever presented the subject thus to the Christian friend whom you are thus criticising?" a negative answer is almost universal. Let the question be urged in the oppo- site direction, " Have you ever been in the habit of seeking to learn from your friends the infirmi- ties which in their eyes lessen the benefit of your example?" and in most cases it will be found that no such course has been pursued.
It would seem as if the homely, but striking rep- resentation of the old philosopher, was nearly as true of Christians as of others : " Men carry a bag hung over their shoulders, and in the part behind they put their own faults, and in the part before they put their neighbors' faults."
Now, if it is a fact that a large part of the self- ishness exhibited by Christians, is consequent on not thinking of the feelings, wants, and wishes of others, how important it is, that those around them should remind them of what they forget. If ano- ther large portion results from an imperfect stand- ard of duty, how important that others should pre- sent the true standard, and thus exhibit consequent
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deficiencies. If the pulpit is unmindful of this part of religious instruction, how still more impor- tant is it, that Christian friends should not fail !
In suggesting this view of the subject, there is need of discrimination in order to prevent misun- derstanding. For this reason, it is necessary ex- pressly to disclaim that injudicious, gross, and in- jurious application of the scriptural directions quo- ted, which is sometimes witnessed in periods of religious excitement, when, without any regard to the rules of delicacy and decorum, the class of persons most of all unfitted for the office, under- take the duty of reprovers to their brethren. And as much so, those indecorous and imprudent con- fessions of defects of temper and conduct, to pro- miscuous assemblies, or to unsuitable persons, sometimes practised in supposed obedience to Apostolical injunctions. The duty required of Christians, in these passages, is one which de- mands not so much good judgment, (though this is very important,) as it does a knowledge of the per- sons addressed, of their opinions, habits, and char- acter, and above all, a truly benevolent state of mind in the person who performs the duty, as ex- pressed in the inspired command, that this duty be done " in the spirit of meehiess, considering thy- self, lest thou also be tempted." It is rarely the case that any but the nearest family, or personal friends, have such a knowledge of the individual, as to enable them to escape prejudice, or false
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 139
opinions, or to speak with that knowledge of the case which is indispensable. And most of the at- tempts to do good to others, by striving to correct faults, fail from a deficiency in that " meekness " and that want of " considering thyself lest thou also be tempted," which alone can soften the pain of such interference,
Christian friends often excuse themselves for the entire neglect of this duty, by saying, that such efforts will do more harm than good, and that they have tried without success. But in a great major- ity of such cases, the trials have been made in the wrong time and manner, or in a wrong spirit. The faults have been disclosed in moments of ex- citement, or if the one addressed was disposed to justify or retaliate, have been followed by heated discussions, or impatient contradiction. And more than all, the previous spirit of meekness and of tender forbearance, and allowance for the fail- ings of others, arising from a sense of our own weakness and infirmities, has not been cultivated as a preparation for the discharge of this duty. Nor, in many cases, is that wisdom that cometh from above obtained, by seeking guidance in prayer. No person can claim exemption from this duty, till it has been attempted in the right spirit, and in the right time and manner. Nor can it be known whether good can, or cannot be done, till the effort is properly made.
There are few amiable persons, still fewer real
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Christians, who will not take such efforts kindly, when they are convinced that they arise from a be- nevolent feeling, and are done in the spirit of hu- mility and meekness.
But these duties can be much more readily and faithfully discharged, if, instead of imposing on Christian friends the necessity of obtruding their cautions and admonitions, we seek them our- selves. This is the true mode by which Christians can be brought to " confess their faults one to an- other, and to pray one for another, that they may be healed."
When a Christian becomes so anxious to cause his light to shine, as to be willing to go to those who have the best knowledge of his defects, and seek instruction of them, in meekness and pa- tience, the world around him will speedily see his good works, and thus be led to glorify his Father who is in heaven. And if those who are appointed to examine persons for admission to the church, would oftener bear in mind that the Master's de- claration is, " by their fruits (not their feelings) ye shall know them," it would more frequently be the case, that inquiries would be made in regard to the defects of character and conduct in the family, and the efforts made to overcome them, and less stress be laid on states of mind, which often are so evanescent and uncertain.
The church of Rome, by its errors on the sub- ject of good works y has driven Protestant Chris-
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tians, in many cases, to the opposite extreme. The fear of trusting to externals for salvation, has led to as dangerous an error, by the trusting to frames and feelings. The result is, that a great portion of worldly men do not believe in the reality of spirit- ual religion. They read the teachings of Christ, and see that it is the fruits which he decides to be the evidences of piety, and so, whatever a man •professes, as to his feelings and purposes, they look solely at the character and conduct, and count him to be the best Christian who is the best man in all his personal, domestic, social, and civil relations.
It is in reference to these points, that the sub- ject of this memoir has left an example, which, to his family and personal friends, to private Chris- tians and to ministers of the Gospel, is worthy of serious consideration.
The marked change in his habits and character, the last three or four years of his life, can be traced distinctly to his views and habits in these respects. To him, the great concern was to follow the ex- ample of Christ, and live, not for Iiimsef, but for others. To him, that consecration of the will and affections to God, which he taught as the begin- ning of Christian life, consisted in the deter- mination in all things to follow the commands of Christ, actually carried out. To him, repentance consisted not in the mere feclijig of contrition; it included the forsaking of sin. To him, love to God was not the emotion or the purpose only ; it
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included the appropriate effects. " This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments." " If a man love not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" He believed that the great aim of Jesus Christ, in re- gard to his people, was to stop them from sinning ; and this was the definite point at which he aimed for himself and for his people, with the same ear- nestness and the same definiteness with which worldly men aim at any earthly plan. In regard to himself, to find out what his defects of character and practice were, and to overcome them, was his cliief concern, the subject of inquiry with his friends, the chief object in communion with his Saviour, and the interest which took precedence of every other in his pursuits. It was his sinceri- ty and earnestness in these efforts, which made it so easy for his friends to approach him with coun- sels. All their efforts were met with a generous patience and gratitude, that invited rather than re- pelled such attempts. To one who often had ful- filled this office of Christian affection, he once re- marked, that he wished he could always enjoy such counsels ; that he was grateful for them, and felt his affection increased rather than diminished by such Christian faithfiilness.
This record of Christian experience, then, pre- sents a subject for anxious inquiry to those who are
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. ]4{i
the professed followers of Jesus Christ, but who, to all observers, differ very little from thousands who make no such professions. When we exa- mine the New Testament, in reference to this mat- ter, and read the description of those who are called the children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ, they are represented as being a peculiar people; as living not for time, but for eternity; as having their treasures and their hearts in heaven; as not conformed to the world ; as the salt of the earth, and as the light of the world.
And the Saviour teaches us that many who pro- fess to be his, will at last hear the declaration, "1 never knew you." He teaches that the way to eternal life is " strait and narrow ;" that many seek to enter in and are not able, that there be few that find it."
Is there not great reason to fear, then, that mul- titudes of those who claim to differ from the world, and to be the real disciples of Christ, are deceiv- ing themselves, while, at the same time, they are leading others to destruction 1 Is it possible that men and women who seem as much interested as the world in making money, in dress, in furniture, in amusements, and in the various pursuits of this life, are "the strangers and pilgrims who are seek- ing another and better country, even a heavenly one," who " are walking by faith and not by sight ?" Let these declarations of our Lord be deeply pon- dered by all who profess his name. ** By their
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fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith to me in that day, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which- is in heaven."
It is not improbable that these pages may meet the eye of some friend or acquaintance of the sub- ject of this memoir, who never has felt the power of true piety in his own mind, who sometimes doubts whether in all cases it is any thing more than a delusion.
Let such an one for a moment consider, whether the transfer of such an experience, as is here re- corded, to his own mind, would not be so com- plete a transformation, that it could properly be described as a " new creation," a ** new birth," in which " old things have passed away, and all things have become new."
This daily and delightful communion with an unseen Saviour ; these earnest aspirations for com- plete conformity to his character ; these renewed and constant struggles to overcome bad habits, and to conform every feeling, thought and action to the perfect standard ; this deep contrition for defi- ciency ; this devotion of the mind to one engrossing object, of promoting piety and virtue in his own mind and in the minds of others ; this using the world so as to make every pursuit secondary and subordinate to one great aim ; what could be newer, stranger, more unknown, or more unwelcome to a worldly spirit?
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Time was when he, whose course is here re- corded, was as thoughtless, as worldly, as indiffer- ent to all these interests, as any one whose eye may rest upon these lines. What is to be said of a change so complete and entire, which will not exactly correspond with the instructions of the Divine Teacher, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must be born again?"
True it is, that every mind, in experiencing such a renovation, developes its experience according to its own peculiar conformation. A tranquil, un- impassioned mind will not have precisely the same experience, as to emotion, as an enthusiastic tem- perament. A phlegmatic mind will not present the same Christian experience as an»active, ener- getic mind. But in the grand essential their ex- perience will be the same. The mind w hich here- tofore has been wholly engrossed by the pursuit of worldly good, through the influence of love and trust toward an unseen Saviour, comes under a steady, abiding principle of obedience to Ms will, as the dominant engrossing purpose of the soul, and which actually does control the habits and conduct.
And this it is, which the word of God teaches is the indispensable condition of eternal life, so that every mind that leaves this world without it, is lost for ever !
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ADDITIONAL EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. Batavia, March 9, 1837.
You speak, in your letter, of your sometimes doubting, *' whether a Christian can be so selfish as you find yourself to be." Do these doubts pre- vent your comfort in the duties of religion 1 Do they cloud your vision, and prevent your confiding approach to God in prayer 1 If they produce this effect, they injure your Christian character, and retard your growth in grace. I was preaching yesterday, on a subject which you need to think of much : — '* We have not an High Priest who can- not be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in every time of need." Now, let us consider daily, this High Priest of our profession. He was in all things like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and sympathizing High Priest, to have compassion on them that are ignorant and out of the way, for that he himself was compassed with infirmity. He knows all our temptations, our natural defects, and our acquired habits, and when we sin, he is not surprised nor disappointed. He
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expected to meet with just such treatment, when he undertook to save us. If we meet with ingrat- itude in a cherished friend, we cannot forget it, or bear with it, because it is unexpected, and destroys our confidence in him ; but we do not feel less disposed to persevere or to give up our efforts for a child, because we see it often stubborn, ungrateful, and rebellious. Every parent expects to meet with this, and is prepared for it, and it awakens not so much anger as pity, when it is seen. So with our Saviour ; he sees our defects, and our daily sins, more in pity than in anger, and he is not discour- aged nor disposed to relinquish his work, because we sin so often. It is very necessary for us to keep this in view, that we may be able to come with boldness to him, for mercy and grace to help. The Lord Jesus knew that you would be wayward and selfish and ungrateful often, before he should perfect you in holiness, and yet he determined to undertake the work and overcome all obstacles. Therefore let not your inward corruptions or out- ward temptations discourage you, but while they make you humble and penitent, let them only keep you near to Christ, and make you depend more absolutely on him.
Every day of my life do I learn more and more, that without him, I can do nothing, and whenever in our hearts this becomes the habitual state of feeling, then we are safe.
I am glad that you do see more and more of the
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sinfulness and inveterate depravity of your heart. Nothing is so needful, to make us appreciate the riches of the love of Christ, as a deep conviction of our own guiltiness, and nothing will make us so willing to spend our lives in laboring for Christ, or so completely annihilate self-esteem, and desire for worldly honors.
Batavia, April 30, 1837.
I HAVE just been preaching on one of the most delightful subjects, the love of God for his church, from Isaiah xlix. 14-16. How natural the expres- sion of despondency in these verses! Such, I doubt not, you have often felt, and been discour- aged and distressed. But how beautifully does God dispel these fears, by the assurance of the most ardent and abiding affection ! The strongest tie of life, the love of a mother for her helpless and de- pendent infant, for whom she has suffered, and en- dured toil and watching, she may forget ; " yet," says our God, " will I not forget thee, for I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, that thou mayest be continually before me." How can we be troubled, when we realize that God is watching over all our interests with such tender assiduity ? How much peace and joy do we lose by doubting the promises of our God ! How needful it is to
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bring before 3our mind these sweet and precious promises when you are despondent. I am sure that almost all your occasional depressions may be prevented, or removed by proper management; and as I have had no little experience in this way myself, I think I know how to meet the difficulty in your case. I recollect, when I used to suffer thus, brother E. told me, I should one day see why God afflicted me, and that one reason might be, to enable me to understand better that kind of suffer- ing in others; and I have been glad, since then, that I was led through such seasons, for I have been able to appreciate and remove distress from others, that I could not otherwise have reached.
Batavia.
Readixvg Mr. Finney's sermons is just the thing I would not recommend to one of your temper- ament, who are disposed to look on the dark side of your own character and prospects.
These sermons I have read, and they produce in me the same feelings of discouragement as in you ; and the reason is, they are harsh, in their mode of presenting the trutli. When you read the same truths in the Bible, and see the high stand- ard there presented, you do not feel the same dis- couragement, because the mode in which they are S
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communicated produces, not a feeling of discour- agement, but of desire and holy longing and hope. But Mr. Finney urges duty, removed from the aids which the Bible throws in to cheer the drooping heart. When the Bible requires you to do duties, it at the same time tells you, that God's grace shall be sufficient to you, and that his strength shall be perfected in your weakness. It brings before you the Lord Jesus, as your friend and intercessor, and the high priest of our profession ; and thus relieves the distress of conscious weakness and guilt, by encouraging assurances of assistance, forgiveness, and love. You are apt to separate these two things, and to look only at duty to be done, your own inability, and your great deficien- cies in every respect, and thus your heart sinks with discouragement. But I beseech you, remem- ber, that the gospel system is one which, while it requires perfect holiness as the thing to be aimed at, where faith and love to Christ exist, accepts the least degree of it. It does not depend upon your- self whether you make advances in holiness and se- cure eternal life ; if it did you might despair. But when you have given your heart to the Saviour, his language is, " I will make an everlasting cove- nant with you." He promises that you never shall perish, and that none shall pluck you out of his hand. This is the difference between the law and the gospel. If you were under the law, and re- quired to be perfectly obedient, as the condition of
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pardon, then nothing but unbroken obedience could be accepted, and the responsibility would rest wholly upon you. But now Christ takes the responsibility of securing your salvation on himself; he promises to keep his children from falling, and to present them faultless, before his presence, with exceeding joy.
One other direction I would advise you to fol- low. Think less of yourself, your own deficien- cies and sins, and more of Christ ; his character, his love, and his sufficiency. Thus love will draw and constrain you, when threatening and reproof would do you no good. I do wish I could sit down by your side, for I believe that I could so present the character of Christ, that you would love, and hope, and rejoice. May he open your eyes to see him, to feel his love, and thus to relieve your mind of all its darkness.
In regard to the insuperable ennui of which you complain, I have had it, and know all the distress produced by trying to shake it off, and failing, and from a sense of guilt in indulging in it. Respect- ing this, it is important to keep in view, that it re- sults from physical and not from moral causes, and is therefore involuntary, and not criminal. When it comes upon you, do not feel that you are to blame, nor take any additional burden, by unavail- ing regret. It is a thing to be submitted to, as a trial from God, just as sickness or any other ca- lamity. Whenever you suffer it, let the first thing
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be, to arm your mind with patience to endure it^ just as long as God shall see fit ; in the next place, do not try to urge yourself to feel much on any subject. Feeling must be dead while the nervous system is in this state, and every effort you make tends only to increase despondency, and to plunge you into deeper gloom. The great thing to be at- tempted is, to bear it with as little pain to our- selves, and with as little loss of time as possible. When I am in this state, I never try to study. Such seasons are almost the only ones in which I read novels or plays ; but when I am in this state, I sometimes sit down and read as steadily as I can, through the whole evening, and then lie down and sleep as soon as possible. There is a depression of the nervous system which requires this kind of excitement. I could recommend your reading Shakspeare, Irving's writings, and Scott's novels, and these I think are almost the only times when it is right to read them. The time m.ay thus be profitably employed; for this acquaintance with general literature is really valuable, and every well educated person ought to be so familiar with the standard English classics, as to be able to converse intelligibly upon them. If you cannot do even this, then learn to be still, and do just nothing at all, and be satisfied with doing nothing until you feel better.
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Batavia.
May the blessing of the Lord my God rest upon you, and cause you to know that love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and grant you that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory. He has been with my own spirit, *' and with the visits of his love, vouchsafe my inmost soul to cheer." I have rarely enjoyed so much of the calm and perfect peace, which God has promised to him whose mind is stayed upon him, as for a few days past; and never have I been able so to enter into the secret tabernacle of the Most High, and commune with him with such perfect freedom. I have realized what David meant when he said, " My soul follow- eth hard after thee, thy right hand upholdeth me." Yesterday morning, while praying for some of my friends, my soul approached near to God, with an earnestness and intensity of desire that I never felt but once before. So that it seemed to me that my petition was granted. There is a kind of as- surance, which I believe God gives to his children when they are pleading with him, which makes them know as really that their petitions are grant- ed, as though he had spoken to them in an audible voice. There is nothing irrational in this. God has access to our minds, and can communicate his thoughts and feelings to us, as easily as we can do it by language to each other. This view has, in- deed, been made the occasion of enthusiastic and
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false views, and it needs to be guarded with great care. Mere impressions made upon the mind, are not to be taken as the operations of the Spirit. We are to try our spirits, whether they be of God. But if these impressions are made on our minds in view of God's promises, when our souls approach very near to God in fervent prayer, if they prompt to action in securing the things we desire, if they make us meek and humble, instead of exalting us, if we are living a holy life, and finally if they are not transient, but permanent impressions, so that when we enjoy similar nearness to God, our con- fidence and hope is not diminished but increased, then I believe they are prompted by the Holy Spirit and may be safely trusted.
You ask. How are you to know whether you are actuated by a desire to please Jesus Christ? I will try to tell you. Not by examining every par- ticular action to ascertain whether, in doing it, you were acting for him ; for in most of the ac- tions we perform, we cannot be thinking of him, while we perform them, nor is there any definite specific purpose, that the thing to be done shall be for Christ. But I will illustrate by an example. How do I know that 1 wish to please a dear friend ? Not by thinking all the time, now I am doing this to please my friend. But my feelings are manifested thus. Suppose I should find that I should not do as I propose, if I find it would displease my friend ; suppose my mind, when at liberty from care,
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naturally reverts to this friend, and that a desire to please him actuates me more than any other prin- ciple, so that the mere intimation of his wishes would secure cheerful and joyful compliance.
Now just change the person, and suppose it to be Christ and yourself Would you refrain from doing a thing if you supposed he would be grieved at it? Would you not attempt a thing, however self-denying, if you thought it would please him? Do your thoughts revert to him oftener than to any other being? When you form plans for the future, is there not a consciousness that you desire his favor, more than that of any other being, and could you not relinquish them all for his sake ? If it be so, then " the love of Christ constrains you." It is the general course of life, and the habits of the mind, that are to decide this question, and not any particular actions taken by themselves.
Batavia.
You say that you act from a sense of duty, and a desire of " the recompense of reward;" both these are right motives ; both have scriptural sanc- tion, and ought to influence every child of God. But the constraining love of Christ is a stronger and sweeter motive to action. Yet the emotion of !i)ve may not always be felt, when love is really the
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spring of all that we do. Our hearts may be going on, constantly striving to please the Saviour, even when we do not feel any perceptible emotion in the contemplation of his character. Some minch never can feel ardent emotion of any kind ; they are rather influenced by calm., uniform feeling, rarely rising above the ordinary level. They act from duty till it becomes a habit, and are as really constrained by the love of Christ as those who feel strong emotion. Indeed I think that kind of piety which is the result o^ fixed principle is the most likely to be permanent and uniform. When per- sons are actuated by feeling, and depend on this, they must inevitably have seasons when the stimu- lus of strong feeling cannot be sustained, and if they are not under the influence of a sense of duty, and a fixed, habitual purpose of heart to serve Godj. they will waver and grow cold. Emotion is desir- able in some cases, to enable the mind to bring all its energies to bear upon some great but temporary object ; to stimulate the faculties to their highest pitch of energy ; and to give a degree of courage and decision, not usually felt but from high emo- tion, and such as cannot be habitually maintained. The thing to be desired and sought is strength of purpose — a resolution increasing in energy and compass every day, corroborated by acts of self- denial, by contemplation of the love of Christ, of the joys of heaven, of the miseries of the lost, of the dangers of a ruined race around us. of the
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shortness of life, and of the great work to be done. »A11 these should be considered, and" used, to increase the strength of our determination " to know no- thing save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Strong emotions of love are often bestowed by God, for the purpose of cheering and refreshing the soul, and of stimulating it to higher attainments. He unfolds his blessed character, and draws the heart to himself In prayer he gives the sweet assur- ance of his presence and favor. He opens the glorious promises to our minds, and enables us to lay hold on them, till we become " partakers of the divine nature." In such seasons the emotion is intense and delightful ; " though we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Something of this blessedness the Saviour has permitted me to enjoy for a week past. I have been able to approach nearer to him, and to behold with unveiled face his glory, and to feel more strong, delightful affection for him than ever before in my life. And oh, how dreadful did it then appear to sin against him ! and how did my soul long to be kept by his almighty power from falling, and to rest sweetly, with the confiding trust of infancy, on his omnipotent love ! It is at such seasons, more than at any others, I feel the blessedness of Christian affection; the thought that my friends are becoming like him, that in them I may watch the unfolding lineaments of his divine character, that together we may speak of his 1(
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and bow before him in prayer, that in time, and through eternity, allied to him and to each other through him, we shall go on with unbroken and ceaseless progression in knowledge, purity, and happiness for ever ; this has filled my heart with " joy unspeakable and full of glory." Day by day, without ceasing, " do I bow my knees to the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, that, being rooted and groimded in love, you may comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the fulness of God."
Batavia.
The subject you mention in your letter, respect- ing the knowledge which the spirits of the blessed will have of each other in heaven, is one of deep interest. I have thought much respecting it, and will try to present to you some of the reasons why I think we shall know our friends in heaven.
In the first place, this seems to be inevitable, if our memory is continued to us. That we shall have this faculty is most sure : for to suppose mem-
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ory destroyed, is to suppose that saints in glory will have more imperfect minds, and minds less like God, than those they had on earth. For the power of recalling past events is one particular in which our mind resembles God's.
Again, the extinction of memory would annihi- late the highest source of joy to the righteous. Should the saint forget all the scenes of trial and difficulty through which God led him, in bringing him to Heaven, half of the ground of his gratitude would be destroyed.
Could he forget his sins, forgiven through the blood of Christ, all that constitutes the peculiar joy of the redeemed would be annihilated. But memory does remain in every mind, when we arrive in heaven. If the scenes of earth are as visibly be- fore the mind, as though they passed but yester- day, how can such beings associate together, and not know each other ? Suppose you and your sis- ter had been separated for years, till each had so changed as to be unknown to the other, and by accident you should be thrown together, and com- mence conversing upon the events of your past lives ; how long, think you, would it be befcre you would discover that you were sisters ? Any one who knows with what rapidity one train of thought reveals another, and how a trifling inci- dent may recall long passages of life, would see that a few moments of familiar, confidential inter- course, would reveal your relationship. Now, in
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heaven there will be no concealment. Holy minds never desire to conceal their feelings and history ; especially when the history of their' lives will so much illustrate the glory of God, How long, then, with the intellectual powers we shall possess in heaven, will it be before we shall know every saint and all their secret history ?
But again, the Bible says, that " they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- ment; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever."
What is the meaning of this? It is that they shall be held in high estimation in heaven. But why will they be so esteemed ? Because, the heavenly inhabitants will know the history of their labors, and will bestow upon them that affection and honor which their fidelity deserves. Now, where one has been the means of saving another, and is honored "for it in heaven, can it be that the soul, redeemed by his instrumentality, will not know him ?
Again, when the day of judgment arrives, all the universe will be assembled together; and we are told that the history of every mind, extending to the most secret conduct, will be revealed. Now, could we hear all the events of a person's life, and not recognize him ? And if we know our friends once, shall we not know them forever ?
Again, St. Paul, in writing to the Thessalo- nians, says : " Brethren, T would not have you ig»
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norant concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, as others who have no hope ; for, if Christ died and rose again, even so those that sleep in Jesus shall God bring with him." Now, the amount of this passage, with which he exhorts them to comfort one another, is this. When your pious friends die, you are not like those who have no hope of seeing them again, for you shall be re- united to them, and together be ever with the Lord. Now, the mere fact of being together would be no comfort, if they were to be as perfect strangers. Most manifestly, he intends to comfort them, under the grief produced by separation, by assuring them that those sundered ties of affection shall be reunited in a better world. The husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister, bound together by the bands of Christian affection here, we are assured, shall be reunited in endless friendship there. It is plain, then, to my mind, that we shall know each other in heaven, far more perfectly than we do here.
But it may be a question, whether we shall know each other immediately after death. As to this, I think there is little doubt. For, in the first place, there is no conceivable reason why minds ac- quainted on earth should not know each other im- mediately in heaven.
It does not require that we should see each other with bodily eyes, to recognize the action of our minds. Two persons, who know each other
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perfectly, will recognize, in a composition, the style and modes of thought and feeling peculiar to each, and so it may be in heaven. -Spirits may commune with each other, and understand each other's thoughts far better than they could do here.
But further, it is manifest that the events of earth are known in heaven. Angels attend the saints as ministering spirits, and when one is re- leased from earth, his attending augel conveys him to heaven, nor does he forget him when he arrives there. And is the new-born heir of heaven ushered unknown into its courts ? Is there no interest among the redeemed, to know who their new com- panion is ? Are all the laws of our social nature annihilated, so that there will be no solicitude to know the name, character, and history of one who is now to be their companion forever ? Are the lips of the new inhabitant of heaven sealed, and his heart shut up from all communion with those around him ? Who does not see, that unless we cease to be social beings, and lose all our sympa- thies, every being in heaven will speedily become acquainted with their new friend, and know his whole history ?
When a stranger arrives in a little town, how long is it before all the people know of him all that may be known, and this, too, from mere idle curi- osity ? But substitute for this, the intense ardor of holy love, and the warm desire to welcome him to our joys and sympathies, let perfect confidence
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be felt on both sides, and how short the time be- fore we should know every stranger ! This is the state of society in heaven. Each is eager to com- municate joy to the other ; each is willing to un- veil his whole soul to another, and thus all are perfectly acquainted.
Batavia.
You speak in your letter, of guardian angels. I suppose the Bible teaches it clearly. It repre- sents the angels as ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. And of those little ones, who believe in Christ, it is said, " Their angels do always behold the face of my father who is in heaven." "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about those who fear him, and delivereth them." " He shall give his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up." Angels were about Elijah, ministering to him in the wilderness. Angels were in waiting, to convey the parting spirit of the poor man to Abraham's bosom. Indeed, the chief business of angels, in this world, seems to be, to watch over the people of God, and assist them in their course to heaven. What a solemn yet pleas- ant thought is it, that about our path are guardian spirits ; that they hover unseen by our sleeping
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pillow; that they are present to sympathize in our hours of joy and sorrow. With what dignity does it invest the humblest child of God! The poor, despised slave, groaning beneath the scourge, may have angelic ministers in attendance to serve him, or to convey his parting spirit to eternal day. But how much more solemn and delightful the thought, that God is ever with us, watching all our ways, and forming an impartial estimate of all we do! How do we forget this ! And yet, when our hearts are drawn to him by love and daily com- munion, how unutterably delightful is the feeling that he is with us every where ! How does it af- ford the most cheering society, and make us feel that we are never alone ! When we thus realize his presence, all nature speaks of him, and all the works of his hands afford hiijher delight.
Batavia
Butler is one of those inexhaustible series of thought, which, when you have dug through the rough crust that envelopes the precious ore, will develope more and richer treasures of thought and enlarged principles, than any other book I know of in our language. I never read his Analogy with- out having new trains of thought and investigation suggested, and T feel that he is always new. I
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can read him now, with about as much ease as any writer in the language; indeed, the condensation of thouorht, the interweavino- of sentences, and the transitions to collateral trains of thought, are in- teresting to me, as introducing me more perfectly to the author's mind. He wrote in the strictly analytical style, and gives you the trains of thought as his own mind wrought them out. You see in him the movements of a gigantic mind, conceiving the outlines of a great plan of argument, never be- fore thought out, laying out his path, and pursuing his steady course with a clearness and power rarely found in any other writer. Most other men have discovered detached truths, or enlarged systems already established. But Butler struck out a new track. His philosophy was clear, and free from , the obscure technics of that age. His principles led him to conclusions which struck at the root of existing systems of philosophy and religion, and which demolish those crude theories which have burdened and obscured the systems of theology. Yet it is a singular fact, that, until very recently, this bearing of his Analogy was not perceived. He has been read and recommended from genera- tion to generation, by the very men by whom the principles derived from him are considered as her- esy. The whole theory of the origin of sin, the question whether sin is the necessary means of the greatest good, and almost all those points discussed in recent theolocrical rontrovprsies, are all brought
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out and presented by him. His works, for a theo- logian, ought to occupy the place that Blackstone does to the lawyer, and should be read over every year. I am determined to do it myself.
The writing out of an analysis of this work will afford to you much mental discipline, and fix the principles of the subject more deeply and accu- rately than any other method.
The distinctness with which the course of rea- soning will thus be brought before the mind, the close attention required to follow him, the discrim- ination demanded in selecting the important points of the argument, and divesting it of extraneous matter, and the process of writing it down, all af- ford most excellent discipline.
tEV. GEORGE BEEGHER. 167
VIEWS ON CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. I.
" Not as though I had apprehended, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended by Christ. Brethren, I count not myself to have ap- prehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth unto those that are before, 1 press forward to the mark of the prize of my high calling in Christ Jesus my Lord.
" Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded."
Most of the disputes and differences of opinion, among real Christians, respecting Christian char- acter and attainments, arise from misunderstanding the terms by which different individuals express their views. Not unfrequently, persons will con- tend most strenuously on a subject where they are perfectly agreed, because each is deceived by the language of the other, and thus supposes him to hold great and radical errors. This misappre- hension is not a little increased by excited passion, pride, self-will, and a desire of reputation, which are aroused in the heat of controversy. Many are led to misapprehend the views of those whom, if
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they could converse with them, they would ap- prove and love. But because they receive flying rumor for truth, and too readily take second-hand statements of their principles, they gain false and distorted views of the whole subject.
In no instance has this been more apparent, than on the subject of Christian perfection. From the day in which this term was first applied to a par- ticular state of Christian character, it has been misrepresented and perverted. It is greatly to be regretted, that when this term produced so much misapprehension in the days of Wesley, it should acrain have been brought into use to describe Chris- tian character ; because no term has a greater va- riety and latitude of meaning in its several uses than this, and by no word can less be known as to the real conception of the writer.
A slight reference to the diversified use of this term in the Bible, will illustrate this.
Noah is called a just man, and perfect in his generation ; yet Noah sinned grossly. Job is called a perfect and upright man. *' Mark the per- fect man and behold the upright." In all these cases it is plain that a general course of integrity and holy living is intended by the term perfect.
God said to Abraham, " Walk before me and be thou perfect." " Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." Here complete moral purity is required. " My strength is made
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perfect in weakness." Here the sense is, that of complete adequateness to all our wants.
" The law made nothing perfect." Here the sense is, that the law did not furnish a complete system of means for the salvation of men. *' The God of peace, after ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, establish, settle you." " For the per- fecting of the saints, till we all come to a perfect man." Here the word refers to a mature Chris- tian, in opposition to the wavering, inconstant state of the new convert.
" To the spirits of just men made perfect." Here the sense is complete deliverance from all defect of constitution or character. " To make the captain of our salvation perfect through suffer- ing." Here the idea is, that of entire adaptation and fitness for the work he was to perform.
If we attempt, by a term so diversified in its uses as this, to prove any thing with respect to the pos sible, or actual attainments of Christians in this life, we shall become involved in fruitless disputes, and " find no end, in wandering mazes lost."
We must, therefore, confine ourselves to the use of the term in particular cases, and learn by ex- amination of the whole bearing of passages, their true meaning. There is a state spoken of in the New Testament, which is called perfection. " Leaving the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection." " Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect."
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" He gave Apostles for the perfecting of the saints/^ " Let as many of us as be perfect be thus minded."
The question here arises, What is this state?
We must first consider the different senses in which the term perfect may be applied to a moral agent. Any thing may be called perfect, when all its parts are complete, and it fully answers the end for which it was designed. In this sense, a moral agent, like man, is perfect, when all his constitu- tional powers and actions, fully correspond with the original design of God in his creation ; that is, when his intellect is sound, not biased by passion, or blinded by prejudice, or darkened by error; when his susceptibilities are all in a healthful state, not inordinately excited, or predisposed to wrong action, and when the icill is fully subjected to the decisions of reason and the moral sense. This is absolute perfection, and is found only among the holy angels and the spirits of the just made per- fect.
There is a secondary sense, where a being is considered only with reference to the demands of law upon him, as regulated by his present ability, and then the term perfect is used in the sense of obeying the commands of God with all the powers a being possesses, aided by all the knowledge within his reach, however great or small that ability or knowledge may be.
Perfection, in this use, relates ^\m'^\y io the state of the will as conformed to the law. This is the
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only possible state of perfection for man in this world, and to no other can he attain, and this is what God commands every man to attain, and what every man may attain. But there is another sense still, in which the love demanded is called perfect, when it is so confirmed as to be the uniform, generic state of a man's mind, producing habitual con- formity to God's will, and near and intimate com- munion with him. In this case, though at times there may be deviations in feelings and conduct, from the perfect, abstract standard of rectitude, or imperfections arising from ignorance and inexpe- rience, yet they do not amount to deliberate and wilful disobedience. This is a state of perfection which Christians have attained, and which the Apostle urges them to attain. It differs from the preceding one only in its permanence and con- trolling power.
This state of the Christian may be more clearly understood by carefully examining the difference between the state into which he is brought when he is converted, and this more perfect state which he attains by '' patient continuance in well doing," as well as by studying the experience of those who have attained this state. What, then, is the state of the believer, when God first delivers him from the power of darkness, and translates him into the kingdom of his dear Son ?
He is called, in view of this change, a new creature ; old things have passed away, and all
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things have become new ; he is created anew m Christ Jesus unto good works, that he should walk in them. These expressions will be better under- stood, if we consider what God promises to do for all those who become his children. In Romans it is said, *' What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, con- demned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might he fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." With this design in view, he promises, " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean." *' I will circumcise their heart to love the Lord their God with all their heart."
Now this is what God undertakes to do for every one who is chosen in Christ Jesus, and there- fore they are said to be chosen in him before the foundation of the world, 'that they should be holy and without hlame before him in love. This is the actual result at which God aims, and yet man has to be active in the work. Hence Christ demands of every one who becomes his disciple, that he for- sake father and mother, and brother and sister, yea, and his own life, as the condition of union with him. He must come out from the world, and be separate, and keep the commands of Christ, as Christ kept his Father's commandments. These things are indispensable to being received as a dis- ciple of Christ. Hence every believer, in view of
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this change, is called a new creature; old things have passed away, and all things have become new. He has crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts, is dead to sin and alive unto God ; sin hath no more dominion over him. All these things show, that, at his conversion, the Christian is brought into a state of perfect obedience to the law of God (using the term in the sense of entire con- secration of will). God has accomplished in him what the law could not do, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in him. The law is now written in his heart, he is cleansed from his filthiness, he has a new heart and a new spirit, has cast away all his transgressions, and walks in the statutes of life.
But his condition at conversion is still that of a child. Though his will is right, he is still very ignorant and inexperienced. He is under the in- fluence of very strong habits arising from former sins, and their power over him is great. He is constantly liable to fall from his steadfastness, un- der the assaults of Satan, and of his inordinate propensities, which the Apostle calls the body of sin and death. But if he presses on to become perfectly free from all remains of former corrup- tion, if he repents and returns to Christ as soon as he sees that he has sinned, and by experience, by watching his own heart and the wiles of the Tempter, by increasing in knowledge of God's will, and in apprehension of the character and love 9
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of Christ, he at length reaches a point where the Saviour grants him such manifestations of himself, and such abundant measures of the influences of the Spirit, that he becomes filled with the love of Christ, and is rooted and grounded in love. His soul is made perfect in love, so that he mounts up on wings as eagles, runs without weariness, and walks without fainting. At this point, his sense of the presence of God is not long suspended. He walks in the light, as God is in the light. His peace is uniform and unbroken. He is conscious of no interruption in his full conlmunion with his Saviour, in whom, though he sees him not, he re- joices with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
The state of such a mind will be best described by referring to the experience of such an one as Paul. In the earlier stages of his Christian course, after he had become dead to sin by the body of Christ, he was, for a season, brought under bond- age again by the law, and sin deceived him, and by it slew him, so that, for a time, he found him- self utterly unable to overcome his sinful propen- sities. He found a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity. But from this state he was again raised by a clear view of Christ, so that he could say, " Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." From that time he found that the law of the Spirit of life had made him free from the law of sin and death that was in his mem-
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bers, and which before had gained the victory over him. His experience from this point, is that of a confirmed Christian. He was sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and obtained the gift of the Spirit as the earnest of his glorious inheritance.
The next question is, How is this state to be at- tained? Not by any mere unaided strength of human resolutions, or efforts, or purposes. " When I would do good, evil is present with me. I de- light in the law of God after the inward man, but there is another law, bringing me into subjection to the law of sin."
This state is attained by the power of God, through his Spirit working in us, and this interpo- sition of God is secured only by those who believe in Christ and trust him for the fulfilment of his promises. " Who are kept by the mighty power of God through faith." " He that abideth in me, the same bringeth forth much fruit." *' Without me ye can do nothing." " In whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." This active faith secures an abundant gift of the Holy Spirit, by which the believer is led into the full enjoyment of God.
" After ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Now he that hath wrought the self-same thing in us is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
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From the preceding, we see the reason why so few attain this elevated Christian character.
Many think it is the result of some peculiar act of sovereignty, and not attainable by all. Some think it was peculiar to the days of the Apostles. Some think it is not to be enjoyed in this life, or not until very near death. They are not surprised to see Satan bruised under the feet of the Christian, at the hour of death. They are not surprised at such a death-bed as that of Payson, but they do not seem to suppose that it may be granted to the Christian to live always in that state which he was in near death. They have never felt that Christ came to deliver us from this present evil world ; that the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared, teaching us that denying all ungodliness, we live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world ; that Christ came to deliver us from this present evil world ; and that he was called Jesus, because he came to save his people from their sins.
Very many professing Christians have never known what it is to be born again, as children of Christ. The terms of discipleship they have never weighed, nor counted the cost. They have been awakened to a sense of danger, have seen eternal wrath threatening them, and have longed to es- cape. They have regarded Christ as a Saviolir from hell, but not as a Saviour froin sin. They have never through Christ died unto sin. They
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have never received him as the source of their hap- piness in this life, nor crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. To such, the attainment of such elevation of piety and communion with God, seems impossible ; and to them it is impossible, until they are born again, and lay the foundation of repentance from dead works, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
From the preceding, we see that the Christian, in this life, never becomes a perfect being in the highest sense of the term. There is a wide differ- ence between being in a perfectly holy state of mind, at any given period, and professing a per- fect character ; and a wider still between having a perfect character and becoming a perfect being. Now the Christian neither has a perfect char- acter, nor is he a perfect being ever in this life.
He still has tendencies to sin, so that if he were not upheld by Christ, he would go back to the deepest pollution. He is constantly liable to have unholy thoughts and desires arise in his mind, though he may not yield, and may resist them. He still is a depraved being. His constitution and habits, both of body and mind, are essentially viti- ated and corrupt, and he is only enabled to abstain from actual transgression by the constant help of Christ. He may love with all the strength he pos- sesses, and do all that he believes to be his duty, and still he is liable to err through ignorance and the influence of former sinful habits, and he never
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will escape from the evil influence of past habits of sin, till he gets to heaven. He, to the last, is obliged to mortify his body, and bring it under, and to watch and pray, lest he enter into temptation. Now, in the sense in which men generally under- stand the term perfect, it is as improper to affirm of any man that he is perfect, as to say of a lame man, who is able to walk only when held up by a friend, that he is a perfectly sound man.
From the preceding remarks, it is manifest that for any man to affirm, positively, that he does not sin, or has not sinned for any length of time, is presumptuous and unauthorized. A man may so live that he can say that he has the testimony of his conscience, that in simplicity and godly sin- cerity, not with fleshly wisdom, he has had his walk and conversation in the world, that he has a conscience void of oflfence, that his heart con- demns him not, that he is not conscious of disobey- ing God in any thing, that he enjoys the constant light of God's countenance, and walks in the light as God is in the light, that he is made perfect in love, so as to have all fear cast out, and to enjoy the spirit of adoption.
But for him to say, positively, that even for one day he has lived without sin, appears to be unau- thorized and presumptuous, and for these reasons:
There is no example of the kind in the Bible. The apostle Paul says he could not do it, and expressly forbids any one to do it. It is assuming
KEV. GEORGE BEECHER. 179
the prerogative of searching the heart, which be- longs to God only. It is assuming that we are perfectly fair and impartial judges of our own char- acter and conduct. It is assuming that we under- stand fully the extent and bearing of God's law on our whole life, and have before our mind a perfect recollection of every thought, word, and action during the time of which we affirm; and no man can possibly do this. Such an assumption tends greatly to promote self-confidence and spiritual pride. Lastly, it tends to bring the true scriptural doctrine of sanctification by faith in Christ, into contempt.
In view of this subject, as thus presented, we see that sincere, devoted Christians are substantially agreed on the doctrine of sanctification, or Chris- tian perfection in this life. The high state of re- ligious experience, before described, has long been known and sought for and attained, by Calvinistic Christians, under the terui oHhefull assurance of hope. Many have lived and enjoyed this, without interruption, for years. Our Methodist and Mora- vian brethren have known and experienced the same thing, under the names o^ perfect love, and Christian perfection. But they distinctly explain the term, so as to obviate the objectionable mean- ing conveyed by it. And at the present time, those who seem to be antagonists on this subject, as it seems to me, agree in fact. All the New England divines and Calvinists believe, that the
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remarkable experience of Mrs. President Edwards, was a genuine and wonderful instance of true and genuine Christian attainment. But the brethren at Oberlin publish this very account by Presi- dent Edwards, of that case, and tell us that it is just what they mean by perfect sanctification.
All the church have glorified God for the grace ^iven to Payson in his dying hour, and held up his experience as an encouragement to others. And yet some of the brethren point out this very case as the state, which, by the blessing of Christ, they have attained, and as what they mean by entire sanctification. Now here are pious and excellent men, agreeing fully as to the things and are con- tending merely about terms^ while Satan triumphs^ that he can thus obscure the glorious truths for which both contend, in the smoke of the conflict. It ought not so to be.
VIEWS ON CHRISTIAN PE-RFECTION,
II.
" Be ye holy, for I am holy."
" Be ye therefore pferfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect."
These two passages show that God requires of us perfect holiness. By many, it seems to be taken for granted, that God, under the gospel dispensa-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. I8l
tion, has relaxed the requisitions of his law, and that Christians are no longer under obligations to live a perfectly holy life. This error is the source of great deterioration in the style of Christian character in the church. It is therefoi-e proper to inquire, first, What is the meaning of the two com- mandments given in the above passages, which are substantially the same?
The holiness, thus required, is no quality or faculty of the mind itself It is no part of our con- stitutional powers. It is nothing created and placed within us, to act like a kind of mainspring. It is not a taste, or instinct, that leads us to love what is right and hate what is wrong, as we like or dislike certain kinds of food. It is no state of in- tellectual views, like a sudden revelation of a new light. It is no peculiar state of emotion, awakened in us by some supernatural power, affording con- vincing evidence that we are sanctified, as some suppose.
But it is a supreme preference of God our Sa- viour as the object of our love, the submission of i)UY intellect to his, the awakening and quickening of our emotions to correspond with his, and the entire submission of our loill by obedience to him in all tilings.
This, then, includes the regulation of all our
thoughts and opinions by the revealed will of God,
involving, as the indispensable means, the careful
examination of the word and the providence of
9*
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God, in order to learn our duty. It also includes a constant state of right emotion, in kind such as corresponds with those of God, and in degree as strong as the nature of the objects presented, and our present capacity for feeling, ivill admit. Love, reverence, gratitude, admiration, joy, and all other spiritual emotions are to be perfect, in the sense above explained. It includes, also, the constant habitual submission of the will to God, implying active obedience to every requirement, as soon as it is understood, and a cheerful acquiescence in all the events of Providence.
This is the holiness required, and in order to be perfect, it must be fully equal to our capacity, and it mu^ be constant, and never intermitted for a moment. No deviation in thought, motive, feeling, vi'ord or action may be admitted by the will, where it has the power to control. There must not be the consent of the mind to any thing, which in the slightest degree, contravenes the law of God.
The next question is. Are mankind under obli- gations to attain this perfect holiness?
That every man is under the highest obligations so to do, is manifest, in the first place, from the law of God ; and secondly, from our nature and re- lations to God.
Thenature of the law, and the character of God, render this requisition universally and eternally obligatory on all. For it is the only rule that is right in itself: nothing but supreme love to God,
REV. GEORGE BEECHER, 18U
and impartial love to man, together with the exter- nal conduct manifesting this love, is right, or ac- cording to the dictates of reason and common sense. Next, it is the only thing which God, as a perfectly holy being, can require, or approve. It is the law which he has given to all worlds, uni- versal and eternal, and has never been abrogated. The gospel was intended, not to suspend or lessen the obligations of the law, but to sustain and en- force it. Christ magnified the law, and declared that heaven and earth should pass away, before one jot or tittle of it should fail. The apostle, likewise, teaches that God sent his Son, '' that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the fiesh, but after the Spirit."
This subject presents the Gospel standard of sanctification, and enables us to understand such requirements and declarations as these : " And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
This subject also teaches us how we may obtain a correct estimate of our character and actual at- tainments in holiness. Such questions as the fol-
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lowing, will enable us to understand our real con- dition :
Do I constantly control every thought by the word of God, banishing every foolish, vain, proud, envious, or revengeful thought that may intrude contrary to my will and wishes, and do I constantly aim to maintain the opposite train of thought ?
Do I cultivate my intellect to the full extent of my capacity, endeavoring to know more of God in every possible way, both in his works and in his word? Do I trace the hand of God in the works of creation, and in the movements of his provi- dence, so that my msind is continually instructed by him ?
Do I employ every possible means to know what is my duty in every thing I do ? Are my opinions and investigations unbiased by my wishes and feelings, so that I am not led into erroneous views by them ?
Are my feelings, in view of the truths I do know, such as God requires, and as strong as the subject and my capacity of feeling render possible? Do I love all that I see of God, as much as I can love? Do I feel gratitude as strong as I can feel, in view of all his mercies? Do I hate all that is evil in myself, as entirely as my capacity will allow, and the subject demands ?
Do I feel towards every beingjust such emotions as God desires, loving them with benevolent regard,
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 185
desiring their happiness as much as my own, wil- ling to labor for their good, pitying their ignorance and wickedness, and longing to relieve and save them?
Do I cherish any emotions of pride, anger, envy, revenge, covetousness, or other forbidden passions'?
Do I control all my bodily appetites, so as con- tinually to present my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable?
Do I always do every thing which I know to be duty, whether I discover it by the word or provi- dence of God?
Do I employ every moment of my time in the best manner I can, in the circumstances in which I am placed ?
Am I as kind, as meek, as generous, as self-sa- crificing as I am able to be ? Do I employ all my time, talents, and property, only to glorify God and promote the happiness of my fellow-men, and in the way which will enable me to accomplish the most for this end ?
Am I perfectly satisfied with all the events of Providence, allowing no feelings of discontent, but always rejoicing that God reigns and orders all events according to his own will ?
In view of these inquiries, it is easy to perceive, that it is a mark of presumption and ignorance, rather than of humility and self-distrust, for a man to affirm that he lives a perfectly holy life. Know- ing the deceitfulness of the heart; the limited
186 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
sphere of our intellectual vision often leading- us to become engrossed with one aspect of truth, to the neglect of others ; the wiles of the arch de- ceiver, blinding us to the view of the claims of God, our own character, and the exceeding strict- ness and purity of God's law ; who can say that he lives without sin, and not afford a strong presump- tion that he is ignoranl and self-deceived ? Even the Apostle Paul, mature as he was and eminent in Christian holiness, did not dare to decide positively respecting himself 1 Cor. iv. 3-5: " But with me it is a small thingthat I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment ; yea, I judge not mine own self; for I knbw nothing by myself; yet am I not here- by justified ; but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will brinor to liorht the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts : and then shall every man have praise of God."
From this we see the fallacy of the principle, that a man may judge by his own consciousness, whether he loves God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself The Saviour says, " By this shall ye know that ye love me, if ye keep my com- mand7nents. He that keepeth my commandments, he it is that loveth me." Now, to depend upon mere consciousness, when we are so liable to take limited views of truth and duty, is presumption. Nothing hut the most strict examination of our
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 187
own thoughts and feelings, motives and actions, for a long course of time, can furnish any correct knowledge of our own character.
The question now arises, When does Christ de- sire his children to become perfectly holy 1
Always. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. All his commands and exhortations have respect to ihe present time. " Be ye perfect" now. " Be ye holy, for I am holy," noiv. He came into the world to destroy the power of the devil, and to make his people holy ; and his glory before the world, depends on the holiness of his children. See Col. ii. 15 ; 1 Pet. iii. 2.
What, then, are the means for attaining this state of holiness ?
They are, first, the ivord of God. " Sanctify them through 'thy truth." Being " born again, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.' ^
Next is prayer. '' Pray without ceasing."
Next, are the ministrations of those whom God has appointed to watch over his church.
Next, is the regulation of providential events, prosperity, adversity and change.
Then, there is the agency of angels. They are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of salvation.
Lastly, there is the directing, controlling and employing of all these hy the Holy Spirit.
188 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
What are the obstacles to be encountered in" the attainment of entire sanctification ?
They are, ignorance of the real character of God, and his truths and dispensations, from inattention, from false systems of philosophy, and from false interpretations of Scripture.
Next, unbelief in regard to the testimony of God.
Next, the force of long-established habits, the influence of bodily appetites perverted by indul- gence, the wiles and corrupting influence of the Tempter, and lastly, the influence of worldly rela- tions, customs, business, wealth and ambition.
How are these obstacles to be overcome by the Christian, and these means of sanctification to be made available?
By faith in Jesus Christ. This presents the all- important doctrine o^ sanctijication by faith alone, which corresponds with the fundamental doctrine of justification by faith.
The regular discussion of this last topic is not written out in any article to be found among his papers. There are several memoranda prepara- tory to writing, and several sermons and other wri- tings, which contain his views on this subject, in- troduced incidentally-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 189
By comparing all together, the following (in his own language chiefly, but not exclusively,) is pre- sented as the general outline.
ON CHRISTIAN SANCTIFICATION.
For [the bread of God is he that came down from heaven.
And Jesus said, I am the bread of life ; he that Cometh tome shall never hunger, and he that be- lieveth on me shall never thirst. These and other passages establish the position that Jesus Christ is the true source of spiritual life. He is the heav- enly manna, the true bread from heaven ; and the life of the Christian is to be sustained, day by day, by partaking of this spiritual bread.
The way in w'hich this bread becomes available or nourishing, is hy faith. In the same chapter, the same great truth is thus stated : where it is de- clared to be the will of the Father, that every one that believeth on the Son shall have everlasting life.
Again, in the 57th verse : " As the living Fa- ther hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is the bread which came down from heaven. He that eateth of this bread, shall live forever."
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The grand truth that runs through these and many other passages is, that Christ is the author of the believer's life, and of his continual vigor. The Christian is to be sustained by him through a spiritual union with him, as complete as the physi- cal one would be if he ate his flesh and drank his blood ; and that this life is not the result of a sin- gle act, but of constant communion with him and dependence on him, just as the fathers received daily supplies of manna from heaven.
The terms faith and belief, in the Bible, are used in the common popular sense, signifying, not mere intellectual assent, but including all the feel- ings and actions which result from the belief of any fact.
A man believes his house is on fire and his fam- ily in danger, when he rushes forth to save him- self and them ; nor would any thing else be deemed belief of this truth.
A man in a leaky ship, believes he will sink in it, when he forsakes it ; and so long as he remains in it, when escape is possible, he does not thus believe.
Faith in Jesus Christ, then, is such belief in what he teaches, as is attended with appropriate feelings and conduct.
It is manifest from Scripture, that this faith ex- ists in different degrees. The apostles prayed, '•' Lord, increase our faith." And in all their wri- tings they exhort and pray that faith may abound more and more.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 191
From this it is manifest, that the truths which Christ taught, both as to our duties to God, to our fellow men, and to ourselves, and those motives that appeal to fear, gratitude, and love, which he has presented, are not fully apjjrehended and resil- ized, and, of course, that the feelings and conduct which depend on a realizing sense of such truths, do not exist. The increase of faith, then, is an increased apprehension of the truths Christ teaches, and such a feeling of their reality as alone can produce corresponding feelings and actions.
To secure this, the Spirit of God acts in con- nection with the agency of man. It is man's part of the work to use all appropriate means, such as daily communion with Christ, diligent study of the Bible, with all the aids for understanding it within reach, attendance on all the ordinances and minis- trations appointed for this end, and a constant effort to discharge every duty as fast as it is ap- prehended.
And both the word and providence of God teach us, that the aid of God's Spirit is proportioned to the diligence and faithfulness with which man per- forms his part of the work.
And such is the aid promised to those who will faithfully follow this course of effort, that every real Christian may set out on this course, with the confident hope of securing, in this life, that ele- vated state of Christian experience described in this article. So that to us, as well as to Christians
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in the Apostles' days, the language addressed, by them to their converts may be used : " Whom hav- ing not seen, ye love ; in vi^hom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un- speakable and full of glory."
*' Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest- hood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." For you who were dead in trespasses and sins, hath he raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and are built upon the founda- tion of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth to a holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye are builded together, for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Grace be to you, and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver u& from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.
And you that were sometimes alienated and ene- mies in your minds by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER, 193
Our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good w^orks.
Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience. .
" And the very God of peace sanctifyyou wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The compiler of this memoir, in connexion with a subject which has excited so much feeling and contention, would present these suggestions for consideration.
Allowing that the views presented in the preced- ing pages are correct, and that the chief point of difficulty has arisen from differences as to terms, rather than as to the thing signified, still there seems to be other matters which, perhaps, have con- tributed greatly to increase alarm and evil tenden- cies.
One is, what most men of reflection would con- sider a philosophical theory, contrary to experience, and contrary to the received use of language. The following statement of this theory, has been
194 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
examined by Prof. Finney, and others of the insti- tution he is connected with, and is allowed by them to be the correct expression of their views on the subject. " Perfection, Entire Consecration, Entire Sanctif cation, signify the existence of a governing purpose to act with perfect benevolence. When this purpose is first formed, a man is regen- erated, or becomes pious, and then every action is conformed to what he believes to be the will of God. If, in any case, he violates conscience, this gov- erning purpose is at an end, and he is in precisely the same state as he was before regeneration, ex- cept that there are causes in operation in his mind, (understood by the writer to be intellectual views and habits of thought, feeling, and association,) which, together with God's promise, make it cer- tain that this governing purpose will return, so that a man is always either perfectly obedient to the divine law, or not obedient at all. The differ- ence between a very elevated Christian and a very imperfect one, consists in the frequency with which the governing purpose ceases, and the length of interval between the several renewals."
According to this theory, a generic governing purpose never exists in the mind, except when it actually secures the complete and entire conformity of all subordinate volitions ; and whenever any subordinate volition is contrary to this generic purpose, that purpose is at an end. Thus, if a man has made a determination never to speak
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 195
harshly, or never to omit reading a chapter in the Bible each morning, or always to refrain from food which he supposes has once injured him, and either by carelessness, or the power of temptation, should occasionally fail, at each failure the governing pur- pose no longer exists. Or if a man starts on a journey for some end, and is determined to stop for no other object, and he should on the road hear of some case of distress that demanded aid, and go back some miles to assist, his main purpose has ceased.
Now those who hold this theory, may say, that according to their use of terms, and their view of mental phenomena, no man has a generic, govern- ing purpose in his mind, unless it governs all sub- ordinate volitions perfectly, at all times. But this theory and use of terms is contrary to the expe- rience and language of all mankind, and no man can adopt it, without making it certain that he will be universally misunderstood, even if he does mean only what possibly may be metaphysically true in his understanding of terms.
From this theory comes the widely extended impression, that those who hold it, teach that a man is ?i perfect Christian, or no Christian at all; that a man either is serving God with all his heart, as perfectly as he can, or not serving him at all ; that all who are obeying God at all, are obeying him with all their present powers of obedience, which is all that God requires.
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In addition to this metaphysical theory, there' is a use of terms in regard to " faith in Jesus Christ," and " the gift of the Spirit," which appears mysti- cal, and tending strongly to fanaticism.
In reading the writings of those who hold the theory above exhibited, we find them calling upon the church to attain a perfect Christian character, so as to be entirely free from sin, and then present- ing, as the only mode of doing this, perfect faith in Jesus Christ.
Now the term "faith," in the Bible, is used to signify, sometimes the mere intellectual state of belief, or conviction ; sometimes it is used to sig- nify the effects of this belief on the feelings; and sometimes it includes both the intellectual state and its effects on the feelings and conduct. Some- times it is limited in its use to o?ie part of these effects, such, for example, as an affectionate, con- fidential reliance on Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of the soul ; because, when this exists, the cor- responding emotions and actions will follow as nat- ural results.
Sometimes it is used for the effects of faith on the actions. Thus, when the impotent man was laid before Christ, it is said, " when he saw their faith,'^ that is, the effects of faith, which are called by the same name as the cause which produces them.
The Bible assumes throughout, that if men do believe with the heart, that is, if they have a clear
REV. GEORGE BEECHER, 197
view of Christ's character and teachings, and their purposes and intentions are fully conformed to them, that all the appropriate /ee/m^s and actions will come as inevitable results. So that the same name is given sometimes to a part of what is thus inevitably connected, and sometimes to the whole.
Now when, by these writers referred io, faith in Jesus Christ is spoken of as the only mode of st'^ cnx'ing perfect obedience, it must signify a merely intellectual belief of all that Christ teaches about himself, and about our duties to him and to each other, or it must include more, and signify this in- tellectual belief and its appropriate effects on the feelings and actions.
It is probably used by these writers in the latter sense. In this case, in order to become perfect men, we must have a true view of the truths Christ taught, and have the feelings and actions which correspond to them. But to understand truly all that Christ teaches, and to believe it, so as to have the corresponding feelings and actions, is to be per- fect, and thus we have the childish proposition, that in order to be perfect, we must be perfect.
But there is still something needed in order to secure this faith, and that is what they call ** the gift of the Spirit," or " the promise of the Spirit." This is defined, by them, thus: " The gift of the Spirit, is that influence from God the Holy Ghost, which produces a realizing sense of divine truth, not attainable by human means/' The conditions 10
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for obtaining this gift are, " an entire consecration of the will to the service of Christ, and a belief in the promise that this gift will be bestowed, and in the certainty of its fulfilment if the promise is believed." That is, when the will is entirely con- secrated, this gift will be bestowed, if a man be- lieves that it is promised, and that God will keep his promise.
From this it appears, that in order to be per- fectly sanctified, we must have perfect faith in Christ ; in order to have this faith, we must have the gift of the Spirit; in order to have this gift, we must have our will entirely consecrated, and must believe that this gift is promised by God, and that God will keep his promise. But how are we to believe in this promise? If by applying the laws of exegesis, we learn from the Bible that this gift is promised unconditionally to all Christians, thien all who take the Bible for a guide will believe it so soon as this is made clear; and in this view all that is wanting to the entire sanctifieation of the whole church, is the texts and the true exegesis of them.
If the promise is conditional, what is the condi- tion ? Here is^ the mystical point, and nothing definite is yet to be obtained.
The most definite idea within reach, is what amounts to moving in a circle. If you will believe the promises with a right state of character and feelings, you will have the gift of the Spirit, and that
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 199
will secure faith in Christ, and that will secure perfect obedience. That is, the thing to be gained is the sole condition of bestowing it, and in order to get it yoQ must have it.
From this blind and mystical way of teaching result blind efforts to do something, or to feel something, they know not what ; and in certain minds the results are mysticism and fanaticism, and in others painful and injurious mental action and feeling.
If the compiler has not correctly understood those writers, it is not because all proper attention, time, and effort have not been given. After read- ing their papers, and conversing with their leading teachers, these definitions were presented as the supposed expressions of their views, and by them conceded to be correct.
The great body of Christians, of all evangelical sects, hold to the possibility and duty .of attaining that high state of Christian character described in the articles preceding. In order to attain this, they believe that " faith in Jesus Christ" is indis- pensable, consisting in a correct intellectual belief of the truths and motives he taught, connected with appropriate feelings and actions, as the fruits or inevitable results. They believe that these truths are never fully understood and realized without the aid of the Holy Spirit, and that this assistance is proportioned to the diligence and faithfulness which man himself exercises in seeking entire con-
200 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
formity to the will of God by the use of all appro- priate means.
If those who so strenuously urge the duty of entire sanctification as a neiv mode of presenting truth, mean the above, it is what they hold in com- mon with most other pious men. If this is not their view, and they mean something else, cer- tainly it seems desirable that they should not at- tempt to be teachers and reformers until they have the matter so arranged and defined that intelligent persons, honestly seeking to know what they mean, and using appropriate means, can succeed in the attempt.
In selecting from the writings of the subject of this memoir, no reference could be had to the sub- jects or to the character of what he has presented in the pulpit. So few of his more recent sermons were written out, that the selection could be made only from a very small number, and those not his most popular discourses.
He always complained that he was embarrassed and restrained by being confined to a written dis- course, and both he and his people were best satis- fied with a well studied sermon delivered extem- pore.
The excitement of the occasion, in the pulpit.
RKV. GEORGE BEECHER. 201
supplied to liim illustration and language he could never command in the composure of study, so that his writings consist, in most cases, of the sim- ple thoughts; and, even in his most completely written sermons, the places which the audience who heard them would have selected as specimens of eloquence or fine writing, are to be found only in the short expression, " here extemporize."
The four sermons which follow, on the existence and attributes of God, present the subject in a mode which is not common, and which excited much attention and interest, particularly those on the omnipotence and omniscience of God. To these, two sermons are added, as specimens of his practical preaching, and they are on topics on which it is far too rare to hear instructions from the pulpit.
As it was the great aim, in regard to his own Christian experience, to cause his light to shine, by rectifying every fault, exhibiting every virtue, and practising every duty, so he sought to train his people in the same course, especially during the latter years of his ministry. In examining the brief notes and skeletons used by him in preach- ing, there will be found instructions and admoni- tions on almost every practical duty.
The care of health, the control of the appetites, the regulation of expenses, the rules of honor and honesty, which should guide men of business; the obligations of Christians in their political affairs,
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the peculiar duties of each domestic relation, and all the multiplied obligations resulting from our many other social relations, are drawn out with a distinctness, and earnestness, and variety, rarely to be found in pulpit services. It may here be men- tioned, that, in preparing for the press, the altera- tions have been limited simply to arrangement, omissions, and the correction of verbal inaccuracies.
TENDENCIES OF ATHEISM.
Psalm xiv. 1. — The fool hath said in his heart, No God. They are corrupt, they have done abomi- nable works, there is none that doeth good.
The cause and effect of Atheism are disclosed in this passage of God's word. A depraved heart cries ?io God ; and having banished him from its thoughts, and thrown off restraint, gives way to its desires, corrupts itself with abominable practices, and does evil, and only evil, continually.
It is true that every Atheist is not an openly im- moral and vicious man. The restraints of public sentiment and salutary laws, based upon Christian principle, combined with an enlightened self-inter- est, may prevent him from plunging into vice and crime, when all religious restraints are cast off; but it is equally true, that the Atheist does not owe his
ttEV. tiEORGK BEKCHEK. 203
freedom from vice to his system of belief, but to other external and counteracting influences.
In examining Atheism as a system, we are to look at its tendencies. By these, and these alone, must we judge of its merits. Any system which tends, when universally adopted, to promote happi- ness, is good, and that which tends to promote misery, is evil.
By this standard God invites us to judge of his works, laws, and providential administration. By this, he will test all schemes opposed to his, and demonstrate to the intelligent universe, that his own plans are productive solely of happiness, and that misery is the inevitable result of opposing systems.
It will be my object in this discourse to examine the tendencies of Atheism as a system, irrespective of the character of those who adopt it. They may be, and in many cases are, moral and amiable men, in all their social relations, but this will not alter the tendencies of the system, when developed in a society where no religious restraints exist to pre- vent crime.
There are two ways in which the tendencies of a system may be decided : the one by comparing its principles with the known laws of mind, the other by an appeal to facts,
I shall first endeavor to show from the laws of mind, that Atheism is injurious to the intellectual, moral, and social nature of man.
204 BrOGKAPHICAL R K:\I.il AS Ot
And secondly, by facts, corroborate this position, and show that its political tendencies are destruc- tive to the social system, annihilating every fabric of human government, and plunging society into the vortex of anarchy and confusion.
In the first place, Atheism is injurious to the intellectual nature of man.
It greatly limits the sphere of scientific investi- gation, at one blow annihilating the whole spiritual world, and the department of science connected with it.
The human mind, examined in regard to its fac- ulties, their mode of action, and ultimate destiny, opens an unbounded field for thought and inquiry, comprising one of the most interesting studies in the range of intellectual pursuits.
But the mind of man, by the atheistical system, is reduced to a mere physical organization, acting according to material laws. Inquiry into the mode of disciplining its powers, and training it to the greatest perfection, is set aside by affirming it to be entirely controlled by physical causes, and therefore any attempts to regulate and govern it otherwise, would be as futile as efforts to direct the movements of the whirlwind.
But the bearing of mental philosophy upon the formation of character for ct cm it 7/ /imparis to this science its greatest interest.
This Atheism annihilates, by affirming that there is no future state of existence to be affected by our
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 205
conduct here. All questions respecting the ulti- mate progress of mind, in knowledge, power, and moral purity, are at once set aside, since, on this system, the mind perishes with the body.
That most interesting department of moral sci- ence, which contemplates mind as the subject of a moral government, under the control of wisely adapted laws, administered by a superior mind, for the promotion of its entire purity and happiness, is also annihilated.
Man is not the subject of a moral government, but is acted upon, as the brutes, by instinct, or, as the vegetable kingdom, by physical laws.
All inquiry respecting the agency of spirits, good and bad, the effect they exert upon our minds, and the results which will follow from their action throughout eternity, is also relinquished, since the existence of spirits is wholly derived from a revela- tion from the God whose existence is denied. The field of scientific investigation is reduced to ascer- taining simply the phenomena of matter, and thus, half the universe, with all pertaining to it, is at once annihilated.
The compass of investigation in the material world, is equally contracted, as all manifestation of contrivance and design is denied, and the mind is limited solely to the discovery and classification of facts.
The Atheist, by the very statement of his prin- ciples, forbids the question why are these things so 10*
S06 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
formed. We may not ask, for what was the eye of man constructed, or what is the design of the curi- ous mechanism of the ear. These questions would lead to the discovery of contrivances and adapta- tions of surpassing ingenuity and beauty, proving clearly the agency of a wonderful inventive mind. The atheistic philosopher is in the study of natural science, what the annalist is in history, a mere recorder of facts.
Suppose him to stand up as a demonstrator of anatomy, exhibiting to his class the construction of the human body. They are astonished and de- lighted with the multiplied and wonderful adapta- tions and contrivances presented, and eagerly in- quire, why was this muscle placed in this position, and what is the design of these valves, or of that artery or of these veins? For w^hat is this curious structure of auricle and ventricle intended? For what is this spinal column designed, so constructed as to give strength and support, and yet admitting of motion in all directions, and guarding its spinal cord so that it can bend in every way without injury?
Their teacher replies, " Young gentlemen, you are greatly mistaken. There is no design or con- trivance here. This structure is a mere accidental combination of atoms in this form. You must con- fine your investigations merely to the shape and position of the various bones, muscles, nerves, tendons, and veins Any questions as to their de-
-REV. GEORGE B LECHER, 207
sign would imply a designer, and there is no cre- ator or contriver of the material world !"
Such a philosopher would be like a mechanist, who should describe the framework, wheels, and levers of a machine, without giving any informa- tion as to their uses or adaptations, or as to the design of its construction. Suppose such a man to transmit an account of his machine to the patent office, omitting all mention of the design of any part of it, or of the object for which the whole was contrived ; would he be called an intelligent artist, or a stupid blunderer ? Yet this is the fair repre- sentative of an Atheist philosopher, when acting according to his principles.
The most ennobling subject of study in the uni- verse, and that which gives more grand and en- larged conceptions than any other, is the character, attributes, and plans of God. The study of the developments of any great mind tends to enlarge and elevate our own. Associating with a man of expanded views enlarges our own field of thought. lie that walketh with wise men shall be wise.
What, then, must be the effect of studying the attributes and acts of an infinitely wise, powerful, and benevolent Being, whose plans comprehend the movements of the material and moral universe for eternity ! To be able to read his thoughts, study his designs, and enter into his feelings, is the most elevating of all possible pursuits, assinii-
208 BIOGRAPHICAL REaiAINS O*
lating man to the image of his Creator, But this the Atheist wholly abjures.
Atheism also lends to enfeeble the reasoning powers, by removing the foundation of correct moral reasoning on every subject. There are two kinds of reasoning : one which is employed in all departments of physical science, and the other is applied to subjects which rest on the evidence of consciousness, and the accumulation of probabil- ities. In the first, or demonstrative reasoning, we assume some fundamental truth, as self-evident, and incapable of clearer proof than attends the bare statement — such, for example, as that the whole is greater than a part. In the latter, which is called moral reasoning, there also are intuitive truths to which the mind assents as soon as stated. Among these are the following : that the evidence of the senses and of consciousness is to be trusted ; that no effect can exist without a cause; and that the adaptation of means to an end proves a design and a designer. Whenever a mind is found un- able to perceive and believe these fundamental axioms, it is considered as disordered, and incapa- ble of reasoning. If a man should deny that the whole of a thing is greater than a part, or that two things which equal a third thing equal each other, he would be incapable of reasoning on mathemat- ical subjects.
Now, the Atheist denies some of those intuitive
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 209
truths which form the basis of moral reasoning, and is thus disqualified to argue on subjects estab- lished by it.
He denies that the adaptation of means to an end is proof of design. He denies also that the testimony of our own consciousness is to be trusted, affirming that when man is conscious of perfect freedom in mental action, that he is not free, but subject to uncontrollable necessity.
By his habits of sophistry, the Atheist also im- pairs his power of accurate discrimination, and often involves himself in mazes of uncertainty and doubt, from which he cannot extricate himself. All reasoning that involves the contradiction of our senses, or of our own consciousness, is necessarily sophistical.
The Atheist affirms that men are coerced by motives in their choice, so that, in the given cir- cumstances, they have no power to choose other- wise than as they do. But the testimony of con- sciousness contradicts this, and in his daily inter- course with his fellow-men, the Atheist constantly assumes that they have power to act otherwise than as they do, and are coerced by no necessity. If a man insults and strikes him, it would be deemed an additional insult if the excuse was offered, that he had no power to do otherwise, but was com- pelled by motives to act as he did.
The Atheist professes to hold that there is no cause for the effects around him, and no intelligent
•210 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
designer of any of the works of nature. But every development of science bears witness against this assumption. A wonderful and glorious designer is testified by all things around him. He hears it in the moving planets, uttering, with still but cer- tain voice, the praise of their Creator.
He perceives it in the richly garnished earth, in the perfume of gentle flowers, in the grandeur of the forest, in the murmur of the insects, in the voices of summer birds. He feels it in every beat- ing pulse, in every movement of his lungs, in every movement of the well adjusted mechanism of his own frame.
In the silence of his chamber, under the open glories of the heavens, in the solitude of deep for- ests, on the shore of the restless ocean, in the flash of darting lightnings, in the peal of awful thunder, in the sighing of summer breezes^ in the roar of wintry storms, the voice of nature speaks to every sense of the being of a God.
Amid this conflict between his own false as- sumptions, the voice of nature, and an abused conscience, his mind can never rest. He flies from one absurd theory to another, certain of no- thing, and looking for something more plausible and firm, like a goodly vessel drifting without helm or anchor, the sport of every wind, and liable to be dashed on every rock in its course.
Not less pernicious is the^endency of Atheism, as it respects the moral nature of man. Respect-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. '^11
ing the excellence and desirableness of virtue, the Atheist professes to be as fully convinced as the Christian. In what it consists is a matter to him of great uncertainty and doubt. But probably the greater part of the most intelligent Atheists would admit that benevolence toward our fellow men, and temperance in the indulgence of our propensities, are necessary to our own happiness, and to the welfare of society. It will not be denied that the natural tendency of man is to indulge his appetites and passions to such a degree as is inconsistent with his own good, and with the welfare of others. Children, when unrestrained, are selfish, and dis- posed to seek their own gratification, unmindful of injury to themselves or others. The young are in constant danger of excesses, injurious to the health of body and mind. In riper years, avarice, ambition, revenge, and other passions, are contin- ually tending to become controlling principles.
To resist these tendencies, demands the watch- ful care of parents in early life, and habitual self- control in more advanced age. To form virtuous character, constant influences must be exerted, to modify or change the natural current of the soul. But Atheism removes those restraining influences by which the mind is most powerfully induced to avoid evil, and thus leads to the formation of per- nicious habits. Nothing so enables a person to re- sist temptation, as a belief in the practicability and obligation of so doing. A conviction that resist- ance is hopeless, inevitably discourages all effort,
'rll''^ BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
and a sense of inability removes the feeling of obli- gation. But Atheism affirms, that man cannot re- sist the impulse of impetuous desires and passions. He claims that the strongest desire always governs, by unavoidable necessity. When a man adopts this opinion, he will not attempt to oppose the cur- rent of passion. Where defeat is sure, he will make no effort. He becomes listless and inefficient, and passively resigns himself to his fate.
Nor can he feel the sense of obligation to make effiDrt ; for without the power to alter or modify his destiny, the attempt would be folly. But without a sense of obligation and responsibility, self-govern- ment is impossible. This part of the Atheist's creed, therefore, binds a man hand and foot, and delivers him, a passive, resistless victim, to every storm of passion and impulse of appetite.
Atheism, also, annihilates conscience. Man can- not feel blame for that which he feels to be una- voidably necessary. Were a man compelled by force, to strike a dagger into the heart of his dearest friend, he would feel distress, but no remorse. Whatever crimethe Atheist may commit, if he really believes his principles, he can feel no remorse. He can only mourn that he is the victim of a stern ne- cessity, compelling him to do evil. But a man whose conscience is annihilated, we regard as a monster, and give him up as the hopeless slave of sin. A man who can rob, murder, destroy domes- tic purity, and yet feel no self-reproach, is regarded as a prodigy in crime, whose reformation is all but
KEV. UEORGL UEECHtK. *2J3
hopeless. But every consistent Atheist is such a man.
The fear of pimishment in a future state is an- other powerful restraint upon the commisssion of crime. Cicero says that the founders of the Ro- man government found it necessary to adopt a sys- tem of religious belief, embracing the punishment of crime in a future state, as indispensable to the welfare of society. When all fear of consequences in a future state is removed, nothing remains but human laws, to hold in check the furious passions «»f depraved man. But before the impetuous tor- rent of anger and revenge, or the strong current of ambition and avarice, envy and malice, human laws are like cobwebs. The Atheist's creed throws away this powerful princi})le of restraint, and hush- es his fear of retribution by holding that death is an eternal sleep.
A removal of the fear of God, and of a sense of his presence, takes off still more the restraints of depravity. Nothing'is more dreadful to a criminal than the inspection of a being of infinite purity, with knowledge to detect and power to punish sin.
Let the conviction be deeply engraven on the soul, that there is no place, not even the shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity can hide, and it is an abiding restraint to guard from gross sin. Take away the restraints which God's being and presence exerts over the corrupt heart, and you let
'^14 BIOGRAPHICAL UEMAIXS Ot
loose the tornado upon the billows of depravity, till they burst every barrier which human ingenuity can invent. " Oh," said a criminal in the state prison, to the chaplain, ** had I, fourteen years ago, but believed this one verse, Thou, God, seest me, I should not now have been in this prison."
Atheism also destroys the most powerful restora- tive influence, by which a corrupt and degraded mind can be purified and elevated. It is a fact, which observation clearly establishes, that a fallen mind, unaided, never raises itself to purity and vir- tue. By his own solitary efforts, the dishonest will never relinquish fraudulent practices, or the impure forsake corrupting pleasures. The mind, by lonjr indulgence, loses the conception and love of virtue, and becomes habituated only to sensuality and de- basement.
When the missionaries visited^ the Sandwich Islands, they found the inhabitants so sunk in vice that they had not even the words to express ideas of justice, purity, benevolence, and holiness. They had not known these traits of character, and lan- guage could no more suggest the idea of them, than description could convey ideas of color to the blind. The missionaries, first of all, showed by example, the character they were required to imitate, and then applied the motives by which they could be animated to attain it.
Now the character of God is the light of the world. The exhibition of his perfections has given
KKV. GEORGE BEEOHER. 215
10 man the only perfect example of benevolence, purity, long-suffering, self-denial, and humility. The embodied image of perfection in the person of Jesus Christ, is like the sun shining upon the dark- ness of this world's corruption. But few of the most hardened infidels have dared to deny its glori- ous beauty and sublimity. Even the infidel and profligate Rousseau has left his tribute to the per- fection of this character. He says, "The death of Socrates, peacefully philosophizing with his friends, appears the most agreeable that could be wished for ; that of Jesus, expiring in the midst of agonies and pains, abused, insulted, and accused by a whole nation, is the most horrible that could be feared. Socrates, in receiving the cup of poi- son, blessed, indeed, the weeping executioner who administered it; but Jesus, in the midst of excru- ciating tortures, prayed for his merciless torment- ors. Yes, if the life and death of Socrates were those of a philosopher, the life and death of Jesus Christ were those of a God !"
Such a character as Jesus Christ, believed in, as an ever-present and watchful inspector of our conduct, yet a sympathizing friend, to assist in restoring us from the degradation of sin, will exert the most powerful transforming influence conceiv- able. Such a friend is needed to awaken hope in a mind enslaved by sin.
The strength of sensual and selfish habits, like a second nature, in a mind weakened by indulgence,
•21(5 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
often defies the strongest energies of the human soul. Repeated resolutions and repeated failures bring upon the victim of vice the most overwhelm- ing discouragement. Try to persuade the intem- perate man to relinquish his ruinous excesses, and while he will admit the truth of your strongest representations, and weep in view of the sufferings he is bringing on himself and on his family, and promise to break his habits, the next demand of appetite finds him its slave, till a deep and set- tled despondency unnerves his soul and paralyzes all effort. In such circumstances nothing can rescue him from destruction but the encouraging presence and cheering counsel and aid of a judi- cious friend, who, while presenting the evils of his course, still sympathizes with his wretchedness, and bears his repeated failures and broken vows with long-suffering, gentleness, and patience. If any thing can inspire hope and nerve the enfeebled soul, it is the presence of such a friend. Now this is the attitude in which Christ presents himself to every mind, bowed with conscious weakness and despairing of success against long-established hab- its. He comes with the voice of kind sympathy, of tender encouragement. He promises to endure, with patience, all failures and provocations, if we will but give our whole souls to the effort of per- fect reformation. He demands that with this firm inward purpose, we yield ourselves to his direction, just as a patient resigns himself to his physician,
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 217
and then he assumes the responsibility of securing perfect transformation and recovery. Sorrow for past sin, determination to forsake it, and confi- dence in him as our deliverer, is all he demands to secure our restoration to moral purity.
But this remedial influence the Atheist spurns with scorn. It is to evade repentance and reliance on the Saviour, that his proud spirit dares to deny his guilt and efface from his mind all evidence of his being. If, then, he becomes involved in vice, or sinks in the depths of crime, there is no Al- mighty Friend to come near his struggling spirit, and aid his escape from the horrid pit. Repelling the hand that would raise him to life and purity, sullen, despairing, and alone, he plunges to the bottomless abyss.
The consciousness of self-degradation, and of the loss of estimation from others, and the hope- lessness of ever rising to respect, affection, and honor, are the greatest hinderances to the elevation of a corrupt mind. Yonder wretched woman, shut out from pure society, shunned by the virtu- ous, abhorred by the good, feeling an utter hope- lessness of relinquishing her sinful course and re- turning to a life of purity, " I am an outcast," she exclaims; "no one loves me ; no one cares for me. If I die, they will bury me like a brute, and no tear will be shed at my grave. If I live on, none will regard me with sympathy or speak words of tenderness. If I attempt to regain my charac-
218 BIOGRAPHICAL KEMAINS OF
ter, none will lend me aid. Every virtuous woman will shun me, and there is nothing before me but a life of unutterable shame, agony, and remorse." The history of such miserable slaves of vice, as re- vealed to those who have sought to restore them, has disclosed agony the most intense, where the insupportable anguish of the present and the ray- less despair of the future, often has ended in self- destruction.
Now, suppose such a mind, longing to shake off the bondage of sin, and regain purity, respect, and usefulness, should meet a gentle and virtuous wo- man, ready to listen to her sorrows, and rejoicing to cheer her broken spirit with hope and encour- agement, and to aid in restoring her to virtue, honor, and respect, among the most pure and re- fined of her sex, how would the clouds of despair break away, and the light of hope shed peace and joy into her agonized heart ! With what energy of purpose would she break away from her loath- some associates, and join the pure, to imitate their character and share their joys!
It is in such a ruined condition that the Lord Jesus Christ meets us, when borne down with a sense of our degradation, oppressed with the conscious- ness of guilt, and despairing of ever rising to the society of the pure, and attaining honor and love among the holy. He comes with tender compas- sion, to assure us that though all others should for- sake us, he will not cast us ofT. If we will but
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 219
yield to his control, and accept his assistance, he will exalt us to stations of honor, beyond all that eye hath seen, or heart conceived. He will re- ceive us into intimate alliance with himself, share with us his own honors, bestow upon us perfect peace, open before us fields of unbounded know- ledge and activity, love us with everlasting affec- tion, and make us shine forth as the stars of the firmament forever and ever. From this glorious prospect the Atheist turns with scorn. Better is it, in his estimation, to sink with the brutes, into everlasting annihilation, than to acknowledge a sinful character, forsake sin, and rely upon a re- deeming God to obtain eternal life.
Therefore it is, that the dominion of evil habits must remain unbroken forever, and his soul, either without an eifort be swept into the vortex of utter pollution and crime, or be borne down by its re- sistless force, in spite of struggles and cries for aid. Man, without the help of God, is the hope- less slave of every appetite and passion that may gain dominion over him, and through the long eternity before him, must lie down in everlasting despair.
In view of this subject, we may see that the con- dition of the Atheist, and of all rejectors of reve- lation, is one involving the deepest misery, and one which demands the tender sympathy and fervent prayers of every Christian. There is a tendency but too common among Christians, to regard with
220 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
abhorrence the Infidel and Atheist, and to shrink from all contact with them.
But, my brethren, such feelings are not accord- ing to the example of Christ our Saviour. He prayed for those whp were inflicting on him the keenest agonies, and mocking his intensest suffer- ings; and when he had risen from the dead, he commanded the first offer of pardon and salvation to be made to them. The first act of his almighty power, in giving repentance and remission of sin, was to those who had been his betrayers and mur- derers. The Atheist is of all men the most to be pitied. He shuts himself out from the study of the glorious works of God. Nature, to him, is a sealed book, where no words of wisdom and love raise his mind to an Almighty Creator and Father. Life, to him, is a gloomy desert, cheered by no hope of future and eternal joy. Sufferings and sorrows beat upon him, but he sees them only as the irresistible decrees of inexorable fate. He bids farewell to those whom he has loved most dearly, and lays them in the grave without the faintest hope of meeting them again. When stripped of his friends, he is a wretched, lonely outcast, with no Almighty Father, no compassion- ate Redeemer, no ever present Comforter, to cheer his soul. And when the dark hours of life are drawing to a close, he looks forward only to deeper darkness, and more dismal gloom.
Oh, ye, who have found rest in a Saviour, who
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 221
can look on all the glorious objects around you, and, '' smiling say, my Father made them all " — who are supported in the hour of sorrow, by an ever sympathizing friend, and sustained in death by his almighty arm — pity the lonely, bewildered Atheist, beclouded by error, enslaved by habits of sin, delivered over a captive to the Great Deceiver, to be bound in chains of darkness for ever ! Adore the grace that rescued you, and pray for its mighty energies to deliver him.
And now, to all who have begun to tread the path of the scoffer, and to cherish his bewildering doubts and dark uncertainties, I lift the warning voice. At this opening gateway to hell, I would stand and cry aloud, Young men, to you I call ; avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. Oh, come not near the path of the Atheist, listen not to his sophistries, believe not his delusive dreams! Your intellect, now unfettered, may range the paths of science, and, studying the wis- dom of their Almighty Author, be led to love and obey him. But adopt the Atheist's creed, and you darken your mind, destroy the foundations of correct belief, enfeeble your reasoning powers, and shroud yourselves in the bewildering mazes of doubts and sophistry. Avoid the path, for death is there.
Now, your mind is uncorrupted, your moral
feelings unblunted by vice, your conscience yet
unseared. But Atheism will deaden your moral
susceptibilities, stupefy your conscience, and give
li
222 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
you over J a hopeless slave, to unrestrained appe- tites and passions. Yield to its suggestions, and you embark your temporal and eternal destinies in a frail vessel, upon a stormy sea, without com- pass to direct your course, with helm unshipped, and sails rent, and gloomy clouds overcasting your sky, and hiding every guiding star. The winds rage, on every side are rocks and breakers, and the shore is strewed with fragments of unnumbered wrecks. Deep thunders utter their voices as pre- sages of the approaching storm. Go forward, and your bark, with all your hopes and joys, will be dashed on the rocks of perdition, and the surges of despair will beat over your ruined soul for ever. Take, then, the Gospel as your refuge, and its sure word of prophecy will direct your course over life's rough ocean. Upon its opened page every shoal and rock are clearly marked. Adopt it as your guide, and He who gave it will hold the helm, and with the voice of authority, say to the stormy waves, he still. The gentle breezes of his love shall fill your sails, and waft you, with your richly laden freight, into the peaceful haven of eternal rest.
REV. GEORGE BEECUER 2*23
THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, AS PROVED BY HIS WORKS.
Ro3f. i. 20. — For the invisible things of him, from the foundation of the world, are clearly seeti, being understood by the things that are made, ev^n his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
The evidence of the being of a God does not rest upon the authority of Revelation alone. It can be derived from sources lying back of it, and prior to it ; for the very idea of a Revelation as- sumes the existence of a God from whom it pro- ceeds.
In entering, therefore, upon the discussion of the evidence of the existence of the Divine Being, we must, for the present, dismiss Revelation, and, reasoning from the nature of the objects around us, derive evidence of the existence of a Great First Cause.
The Apostle, in the text, adopts this mode of reasoning, and goes back, previous to Revelation, to the works of God, which have clearly manifested his being from the creation of the world.
In the present discourse I shall follow the course marked out by Paul, and show the evidences of the existence of God, in the exhibitions of intelligence and design in the material universe.
224 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OP
When we lift our eyes to the heavens, we see unnumbered bodies of vast magnitude, and at in- conceivable distances, stretching far beyond the vision of man, and yet so arranged as to aiford evidence that they belong to one system, and are connected by a mighty bond of union, as parts of some grand design. As we approach and fix our attention on the system of which our own planet forms a part, we begin to discover the arrange- ment and movements of these mighty worlds. First is the central orb, of a magnitude surpassing the united contents of all the planets that surround it, and which holds by its attraction those bodies in their orbits, while some power of inconceivable energy compels their uniform motion in vast cir- cles from age to age. Around these planets, with equal harmony, revolve the minor satellites, in their appointed courses.
While contemplating this vast system of moving planets and satellites, we cannot but ask, what power first imparted motion to these immense masses of matter ? They possess no innate power of motion, and some external force must have im- parted their inconceivable velocities. And when put in motion, why did they not pursue their course for ever in their natural straight lines? What hand turned them into their curving orbits, and made them move with undeviating regularity from age to age ? What skill balanced so accurately the attractive and repulsive power that neither can
REV, GEORGE BEECHER. 225
they be drawn into the sun by its powerful attrac- tion, nor be driven from it by their great projectile force 1
We are compelled in solemn awe to confess that *' It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, that spreadeth abroad the heavens as a curtain, and stretcheth them out as a tent. He leadeth forth their host by number, he calleth them all by their names, because he is great in power."
Descending from the heavens to the world we inhabit, we find it constructed with the clearest marks of design, as the habitation of sentient be- ings. For this purpose it is divided into land and water, affording residence for different classes of animals ; the land, to give support to innumerable orders of vegetation, for the nourishment of the animal tribes ; the water, composed of two gases which, in one mode of combination, have power to melt the firmest rocks and dissipate into vapor the solid structure of the globe, and yet are so com- bined as to afford a healthful fluid for sustaining vegetable and animal life.
For this purpose it is diffused by springs and subterranean streams over the earth, so that in all parts of the habitable portions, by digging or bor- ing, water may be found for the sustenance of man and beast.
This fluid is so dense as to retain its form under the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, and yet so rare as to admit the passage of bodies through
226 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
it, thus rendering it the pathway for the commerce of nations, and at the same time a residence of innumerable tribes of living beings. To prevent the stagnation of this fluid, the heavenly bodies are made to influence it, changing the position of the largest masses, while the process of evaporation raises smaller portions, to be distributed in health- ful moisture and refreshing rains over the whole earth, imparting vigor to vegetation, and replenish- ing the springs among the hills, and the streams through the vallies.
Surrounding the whole earth is a soft and health- ful fluid, the atmosphere, indispensable for the support of animal and vegetable life, and yet com- posed of two gases, either of which alone would destroy it ; or, if slightly modified in proportions, would immerse us in an atmosphere of corrosive acid, consuming our bodies and decomposing all vegetable substances. Still these two gases, com- bined by no necessary affinity, are ever held in steady friendship by the same Almighty Power that formed their alliance for the good of mankind.
And then, over all, the glorious sun pours forth its exhaustless streams of light, imparting warmth and vigor to the animal and vegetable creation, giving freshness and beauty to every plant and flower, while the secret, mysterious influence of the galvanic fluid, diff*used through earth and air, contributes to the same great design.
Who, on looking over this glorious system, can
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say that all this goodly structure has no design ; that in all these wondrous adaptations, no vast intel- lect contrived, or almighty power executed, the plan ? Who, that is not wilfully blind, can fail to discover the impress of Him who rideth upon the whirlwind and directeth the storm ; who covereth himself with light as with a garment ; who sendeth forth the waters from his chambers, and giveth the deep its appointed bound ; who causeth the grass to grow for cattle and herb for the service of man; who speaketh in the thunder, and sendeth forth the winged lightning as his minister !
If, from this general outline of the earth's struct- ure, we turn to examine the varied organizations of the vegetable and animal kingdoms which in- habit it, we find the marks of design growing upon us at every step.
The first consideration to arrest our notice is, the indications that all this immense variety con- stitutes one great system, connected by links that blend the different orders, and give each a relation- ship to the whole. Commencing with man, the most finished of nature's works, and descending to the brutes, we first meet the connecting link in the monkey tribes, a strange caricature of humanity, showing us how, in physical structure, we are closely allied to the lower animals. By gradual changes we are led from beasts to the birds, on one hand connected by the bat, a union of bird and beast ; and to the fish, on the other hand, connected
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by the seal, half beast and half fish. From tliese we descend by connecting links to the insect tribes, to reptiles, and to the invisible animalculoe, which in their lowest stages are joined to the vege- table world, by links semi-animal and semi-vege- table.
In tracing these various orders, in downward progression, we cannot but feel that they all consti- tute one great family, so closely united by their Creator, that every discerning mind shall perceive their common origin as parts of one great system.
The mere classification of these different orders and classes, and the detail of their history, consti- tutes a science, the knowledge of which is deemed an evidence of superior intellect. A Newton, a Bacon, and a Cuvier, have rendered their names immortal, by merely observing and classifying the works of Nature, and developing the laws of their organization. All concede to these works the evi- dence of design, and to the authors the possession of great intellect. But does the mere discovery and classification of these things prove the exist- ence of a great mind ; and does the construction and arrangement of the whole system afford no evidence of an intelligent author 1 Does the mere description of a machine, entitle a man to the name of a mechanic, and to the praise of skill and inge- nuity ; and does the machine itself afford no evi- dence of design and intelligence?
But in proceeding to investigate the more minute
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parts of the system, we shall see the evidences of design brightening at every step.
First, then, let us examine the vegetable king- dom, endowed with powers to arrange the unor- ganized particles of matter in forms adapted to the sustenance of animal life. Without this con- trivance all the races of animated beings would speedily perish.
But this, by wonderful processes peculiar to itself, prepares the gases and mineral substances to become the food of man, beast, bird, and insect. For this end, vegetables are furnished with absorb- ent vessels to draw up moisture and various salts from the earth, and with leaves to inhale the at- mosphere, and change a portion of the sap into the substances needed by the plant, and also to expire all those parts which are useless for its nourish- ment. And for the propagation of their species, each is furnished with an apparatus for the pro- duction of seed containing the germ of the future plant, and so contrived as to be scattered in vari- ous directions, and exposed to the agents which cause them to vegetate. Thus, from age to age, the earth has been covered with a verdant carpet of luxuriant vegetation, beautiful to the eye, health- ful in its influence on the atmosphere, and adapted to give nourishment to the vast multitude of the animal tribes which inhabit it. As we proceed to the animate creation, we meet the lowest form of animal organization, in the Zoophytes, so allied 11*
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both to animals and vegetables, as to be named for both, and called animal vegetables. From the lower species we rise to others more perfect, end- lessly varied, and yet so uniform, as to evince how unnumbered the expedients of the great Author of all in securing the same results.
All these differing systems are so allied as to give proof of a uniform plan of one mind, and yet so diverse as show that it was no chance organiza- tion after a single model, but the work of a mind whose resources and contrivance are endless.
Advancing higher in the scale of being, we reach the more perfect organization of the warm-blooded animals, endowed with various degrees of instinct. In these we still find a general uniformity of struct- ure, and yet such constant diversity in particulars, as fills us with wonder at the wonderful resources of the mind that adapted each part of every animal to other parts, and also the whole animal to the place it occupies in the general system.
Common to all these diverse species, we find contrivances adapted to accomplish some specific end. Thus every species has its own peculiar di- gestive system, all tending to secure the same end, the preparation and assimilation of food. This system consists of an apparatus for grinding the food into fine portions, and a liquid to mingle with it, before it is carried into the stomach. When conducted to the stomach, it is supplied with a fluid so wonderfully compounded that no eflforts of
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science have been able to imitate it, of such vari- ous power that substances of the most opposite character are dissolved by it. Thence, by an im- mense multitude of minute vessels, the most nutri- tive parts of the food are drawn off, and mingled with the blood, and carried to the heart. But be- fore it is sent out by the heart for distribution, this blood must be purified by the atmosphere. To accomplish this, respiratory organs are constructed, consistingof innumerable air-cells, so thin that the air can act through them, on the blood, and yet so strong as not to be ruptured by its pressure. Thus purified, the blood returns to the heart, which, acting like a forcing pump, drives it into every part of the system.
The conductors of this vital fluid are the veins and arteries, which are elastic tubes meandering and branching to every part of the body, and sup- plied with curious valves, so constructed as to allow the blood to flow forward in its intended course, and oppose its re-flowing backward to the heart. After performing its appropriate duty, in conveying nourishment throughout the body, the blood is re- ceived by the veins from the arteries, and con- ducted back to receive fresh supplies from the stomach, when it again enters the heart, and is driven to the lungs to be there purified and prepar- ed for a new journey through the body. The posi- tion of the arteries and veins indicate equal skill in their structure. The arteries, that are subject to the
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impulsive action of the heart in sending out the blood, and which if ruptured would destroy life, are placed deep in the system, and carefully pro- tected from the ordinary injuries that might affect the^body ; while the veins in which the blood flows back to the heart more sluggishly, are more on the surface, except where they are so large that rupture would endanger life, when they are sunk deeper, and protected by muscles and bones.
Connected with this, is the secretory system, formed to separate those ingredients from the blood which are needed by each particular part ; some of the glands being employed to secrete matter for the nourishment of the bones, others for the skin, the hair, the nerves, and the various other parts of the body. In every portion of the body is distributed another set of organs to carry off useless matter in perspiration and other modes. Connected with the other organs, and necessary to the vigor of the whole, is the brain and nervous system. The brain is protected by a strong bony cavity, and from it, transmitted through the strong tube in the back, runs the spinal cord, which branches out to various organs of the body, and spreads over every part of the skin. The brain is constructed to be the or- gan of thought, feeling, and will, and the nerves convey sensations from every part of the budy to the brain, and communicate from the brain those motions that are caused by the will.
Who can look on this complex system, so full of
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wonders, and say that these have no design ; that this curious fabric is the chance combination of unintelligent atoms ! What man can avoid the conviction that he is fearfully and wonderfully made, by the great Master of Life and Author of all things !
Turning in another direction, let us examine the indications of design in the different parts of organized bodies, in their relation to each other, and to the whole system.
In observing the structure of different animals, we are struck with the strictest adaptation of each particular part to the other parts, and also to the peculiar habits and circumstances of the animal. Thus, if a skilful comparative anatomist is pre- sented with barely a single tooth, he can determine, from its size and construction, what was the size of the animal to which it belonged, what was its shape, its internal structure, and its modes of life. Thus, if the tooth be a grinder, deeply indented on its upper surface, it is known to belong to a car- nivorous animal, and to have been constructed for cracking bones. When this fact is known, the structure of the jaw is manifest. It must be of great strength, and deeply indented for the pow- erful muscles necessary for the breaking of bones. But this is always connected with a short neck of great strength, short legs, and feet divided into toes, and possessing claws to hold the prey. On the other hand, if the grinder be comparatively
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smooth, or only slightly ridged, the animal is known as one that feeds on vegetables. Con- nected with this habit of life, is a structure corres- ponding to it, a long neck and head, long and slender legs, feet covered with hoofs, or some simi- lar substance, and an internal arrangement fitted for the digestion of vegetables. When the teeth of the mastodon were discovered, it was supposed, at first, as the tooth fitted a carnivorous animal, that an exception was found to the general rule, as the animal was in reality herbivorous. But when the skeleton was examined, it was found that the animal must have lived on the larger branches of trees, and that these teeth were constructed for crushing them, like the teeth of carnivorous ani- mals.
In these arrangements, the works of nature are uniform. The teeth of a carnivorous animal are never found connected with the frame and internal structure of a grass-eating quadruped. Nor are the long neck, slender legs, and hoofed feet of the graminivorous animals, connected with the stom- ach, teeth, and strong jaws of the carnivorous ones. The uniformity is so perfect, that a single bone will enable us to detect the form, size, and habits of an animal which has been extinct for ages.
A similar adaptation of the entire structure of each animal to its mode of life, also affords the clearest indication of design. The bird, destined
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to live in the atmosphere, and fly from place to place, is fitted by its conformation for this mode of life. Its bones are formed of the firmest material, to secure the smallest size united with the greatest strength, and are filled with air, instead of the oily substance contained in the bones of quadrupeds. Their muscles, also, are adapted to impart great strength to the wing, in proportion to the rest of the body, that it may sustain, unwearied, its long flights. The feathers are light and porous, and yet possess sufficient strength to support it in the air, while its shape is fitted to offer the least resistance in its movement through the atmosphere. None can examine this, and not be convinced that it is a wonderful machine expressly designed for flying through the air.
Equally curious and perfect is the adaptation of the fish to the denser element it inhabits. Its spe- cific gravity corresponds exactly with the fluid in which it lives, while it is provided with an appa- ratus by which it can secrete air within itself and then expel it, to enable it to rise or sink at pleas- ure. It is also provided with organs of motion by which it can dart with great swiftness from pla!be to place.
The structure of the whale is a curious instance of an animal constructed to live in the water, and yet to require the constant support of the atmo- sphere. It is a warm-blooded animal, ha\ing a circulatory and respiratory system, and for this
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reason is compelled to come frequently to the sur- face for air, while the breathing holes are so formed as to be closed under water, to prevent strangula- tion. Inhabiting the coldest region of the polar seas, it is covered with a thick coat, formed of mi- nute cells, filled with oil, defending it equally against intense cold, and the great pressure to which it is exposed in the immense depths to which it dives.
The examination of every class of animals will serve only to increase the evidence of similar adap- tations. The waterfowl is furnished with webbed feet for swimming, and with long legs and neck to enable it to seek food by the margin of streams. The bird of prey is endowed with strong talons and beak for seizing and rending its prey. The animals of cold climates are provided with a thick covering of fur, and the warmer countries with a thinner covering of hair. Every thing around us discloses the infinite wisdom of that Glorious Mind who planned the whole, and fitted each being to its appropriate place.
Turning from the evidences of adaptation, let us examine more minutely some particular contri- vances that give striking exhibitions of skill and contrivance. The eye of man is a wonderful in- strument, which art has never been able to equal. Go to the optician, and ask him to construct an instrument with which yon can examine objects at a great distance, and he will furnish you with a
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 237
telescope constructed for this purpose. Demand, further, that he shall so construct this telescope that it shall adjust itself so as to enable you to look with equal ease and distinctness at objects near and at a distance, and also connected with an apparatus that shall regulate the amount of light admitted into it, and by its own operation diminish the light when excessive, and increase it when it is too feeble. He will tell you such a demand is be- yond the reach of human skill. You must turn to Him only, who so fashioned the eye as to discern with equal distinctness near and distant objects, and at the same time to exclude or increase light as it is required.
Among many other curious contrivances, may be mentioned the trochlear muscle, which directs the motion of the eye by a contrivance like a pul- ley. The bill and tongue of a woodpecker, the trunk of the elephant, the tusks of the babyroussa, are all contrivances fitted to the shape or habits of the animal, as compensations or conveniences.
Among the insect tribes similar marks of con- trivance and design appear. The bee constructs its comb on the strictest mathematical principles, her cells being of that form which will. contain the greatest amount of honey in the least space, and yet secure the most compactness and strength.
The white ant lives in communities, with a well organized government, that secures a division of labor. The beaver constructs its dam, and the
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bird its nest, with a skill man would vainly imitate, and yet without experience or instruction. The birds of passage pursue their way for hundreds of miles, in a straight course, without chart or compass, and never miss their way. Even the dull tortoise is endowed with instinct to regain its home, when separated by thousands of miles. The horse, mule, cats, and other animals, have shown the same in- stinct, returning long distances, by unknown paths, to the place from which they were taken.
But there is a still more wonderful contrivance than all. It is an agent that thinks, feels, reasons, remembers, and chooses ; that can range the vast fields of science, trace the comet in its distant flight, wing its way from star to star, through the utmost bound of creation. It can combine and arrange facts, detect principles, and deduce the laws by which all bodies are regulated. It can call up from the recesses of the past, the thoughts, words, hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows of years gone by. It can dart forward through the future, lift the veil from its dark regions, and discern the scenes of coming ages. It can exult with joy, and be agonized with sorrow ; can rise with the elastic spring of hope, or sink with the leaden weight of despair; be soothed by the self approval of con- scious rectitude, or lacerated by the lashings of guilt and remorse. It can arrange matter in forms of wondrous ingenuity and beauty, and subject to its control the various powers of nature. It can
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hold in subjection the feelings, hopes, passions, and will of man ; enchaining them by eloquence, terri- fying them by threats, inspiring confidence by su- perior talent, awing into obedience by the energy of its emotions or strength of its will, directing the destinies of empires, and transmitting its in- fluences from generation to generation.
And has such an existence, so varied and mighty in its energies, no author or contriver ? Is it a mere chance-combination of matter 1 Does mat- ter think, and feel, and choose 1 Has it powers of perception, reflection, and skill? Or, if mind be but a peculiar organization of matter, is there no intelligence or design exhibited in contriving so wonderful an agent? Can any honest intel- ligent man look over all these things and say, there is no design in them all ?
If any one of these contrivances had been ex- ecuted by man, would any one deny that it was a work of design ? Would any rational man believe that a telescope or microscope has no contriver, or that a rope and pulley was the work of ac- cident ? What then is to be said of the human eye, constructed with such ingenuity that, even to imitate it, requires more skill than the best opti- cian ever possessed.
A few years since, a physician of New-York in- vented a mode of constructing glass eyes, which should externally be an exact counterpart to the human eye, and so accurate was the resemblance
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that the false could not be distinguished from the true. Even the Atheists acknowledge this to be a wonderful contrivance, and never would have ventured to call it a work of chance, and yet the same men, calling themselves philosophers, would deny that a real eye afforded as much evidence of a designer as the colored glass.
But, say these philosophers, no man ever saw God, or saw him make any thing— how then is there any evidence of his being? But how many ever saw one of these glass eyes constructed ? Not one in a thousand ; and yet who ever doubted that they were made and had a maker ? And it is not because the senses or the testimony of others as- sure us of it. We arrive at this conclusion from the marks of design evinced in the contrivance itself
But again, the appearance of this world is just what it would be, if it were the work of an intel- ligent Creator.
It is a fact that, aside from Revelation, no more and no other evidence can be conceived of, to prove the existence of an intelligent Creator, than that which already exists ; and if it is asserted that this does not prove it, it is equivalent to asserting that no possible evidence from the works of nature can prove the existence of the Creator. Man, by his works, can prove his existence and intelligence, but God can furnish no such evidence !
Suppose a man had privately constructed a ma-
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chine, and, without revealing the fact to any per- son, had placed it for exhibition in a public place, could any who saw it doubt that it was made by some man of intelligence and skill ? Who, then, can inspect the curious structure of the human frame, and doubt whether it was contrived by a being infinitely superior to man ?
In view of this subject it may be remarked, that an Atheist must either be ignorant of the structure of material objects, or destitute of common sense, or wilfully determined to shut his eyes to evidence, or insincere in his professions of unbelief
It is not possible for a man, in a sound state of mind, to examine the curious mechanism of nature, and not be impressed with the conviction that it has an author and contriver. And he, least of all men, is worthy the name of a philosopher, who can study any department of natural science, and yet deny the being of its great Author.
Again, it may be observed, that the Atheist stands upon the most dangerous ground conceiv- able. By his theory and conduct he contradicts the first principles of intuitive belief, and acts in opposition to all those rules of common sense by which he regulates his worldly affairs. Should he, in his daily pursuits, act on the assumption that the adaptation of means to ends proves no design or contriver, he would be deemed insane. It is only when this kind of evidence would lead him to a God, that his fear and dislike make him reject
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the conclusion. But he will find, to his eternal loss, that God's laws are uniform, and that as he sows so he will reap. As, in worldly affairs, he would bring suffering and shame on himself, by rejecting the evidence of design in the works of man, so will he be borne down before an in- telligent universe for rejecting the evidence of a God.
Again, it is remarked, that if there be this evi- dence of God's existence and agency, on every hand, then those who glorify him not as God, are without excuse.
If he has made you, he has a will in regard to you, and you are bound to inquire what his will is, and to conform to it.
If he created you, then, too, you are entirely at his disposal, and you must be prepared cheerfully to submit to his will, or be crushed in your attempt to resist his government. He has feelings, plans, and preferences, and unless yours are conformed to his, you can never be happy. For to live with a being whose character and plans are opposed to yours, and be entirely in his power, is misery. Hence those who are living as if there were no God are acting the part of folly and madness. God has made the world to illustrate his attributes, and written upon the heavens the signature of his name, and he who attempts to efface it is contending with almighty power and infinite wisdom, and his defeat must be certain and dreadful.
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THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD.
Rev. XV : 3. — And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, say- ing. Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty !
The power of God, under the direction of wis- dom and benevolence, is the safeguard of the uni- verse. Here is found the security of all those holy minds that repose beneath the shadow of his throne.
While the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, they cannot but rejoice ; for he can provide for every want, and ward off every danger.
Here, too, is the safeguard of the holy from the incursions of sin. Like the virtuous and obedient of every government, they dread the triumph of lawless violence, trampling on the rights, and mar- ring the peace and joy of the community, and de- sire to see a government invested with power ade- quate to protect the innocent from the selfishness or malignity of those who would disregard law, and sacrifice to their own interests the happiness of others.
Without such power vested in the government, the weak can have no defence against the strong, or the ignorant and inexperienced against the sa-
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gacious and crafty. With joy, therefore, we may look upward and join the song of heaven: " Hal- lelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth !"
But how inadequate are our conceptions of the power of God ! How low, for the most part, are the thoughts of all Christians, as to the extent, ful- ness, and the majesty of this attribute of God ! And how little does the thoughtless sinner con- ceive of the power of him with whom he is con- tending, and whose wrath he defies !
In presenting to your contemplation those attri- butes of God which are inherent in his nature, and are exhibited by the rnere inspection of his works, I shall first exhibit some of these evidences of God's physical omnipotence.
In speaking of the omnipotence of God, we are not t0 confound the power which he exerts over matter, with that influence by which he controls mind. These are as different in their nature, as in their modes of action. Power over matter is an inherent quality of his nature, inseparable from his existence, and having no limitation, except in those things to which physical power cannot be applied, and those cases which imply contradic- tions. Physical power cannot be applied to mind ; and, therefore, the assertion that God is physically omnipotent, does not imply that he can control mind at all. Nor does physical omnipotence im- ply that God can work contradictions, such, for example, as that he can make a thing to exist and
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not to exist at the same moment of time, or endow any thing with fixed properties, and make it act contrary to these properties while they still exist. Thus, he cannot make unorganized matter think and feel, and still remain unorganized and en- dowed only with its present properties.
Moral power, on the contrary, is the influence which God can exert over intelligent beings by motives.
The assertion that God is physically omnipotent, however, conveys no clear or definite conceptions to our minds. We form our ideas of power, not by words, but by the contemplation of its effects. Thus, we judge of the power of a steam engine, by its effects in propelling a boat, or raising great weights, or moving large quantities of matter. In the same way, we are to judge of the power of God, by observing the effects which he produces upon matter.
The illustrations of his omnipotence must be derived from the energy exerted by his agents, and from the magnitudes and movements of the bodies he has formed and sustains.
Let us then examine the exhibitions of power presented by some of the agents which God has created.
The first agent that presents itself is the luind. The atmosphere, though soft and gentle in the balmy breath of summer, when roused to the im- petuous motion of the hurricane and tornado, is 12
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possessed of fearful energies. When let loose upon the sea, it rears its giant billows to the hea- vens, and tosses the gallant ship from wave to wave, or drives the ocean against the rock-bound coast, with the impetuous force of artillery.
Upon the land, its force is marked with desola- tion, as, marching through the forests, it uproots the firmest oaks, riving and scattering their branches to vast distances. Houses are demo- lished, cities desolated, men and animals borne upward like feathers, and then dashed again upon the earth. Ancient towers rock to their founda- tions, and the firmest structures men can rear, groan beneath the tempest's blast But it is God who bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures, and holdeth them in his hand. He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, he lifteth the billows of the ocean, he hath his highway in the whirlwind and rideth upon the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
Another illustration of power may be derived from the force of moving waters.
In a valley in Switzerland a glacier dammed up the course of a river, and blocked up the valley through which it flowed from a large lake. The thawing of the ice in the spring, released the im- prisoned waters, first in a gentle stream, and then in an irresistible torrent. Pouring forth with im- petuous fury, it made its way towards the lake of Geneva, distant forty miles, arriving there in six
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and a half hours. In its progress, it tore up rocks of the size of large houses, and bore them more than a quarter of a mile. One of the fragments moved, was sixty paces in circumference.
The force of the waves upon the stormy coast of the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland Islands, is immense. In the winter of 1802, on one of these islands, a mass of rock eight feet long, seven feet broad, and five feet thick, was dislodged from its bed and carried to a distance of eighty feet or more.
At Plymouth, in England, in a violent gale, so great was the force of the sea, that eight thousand tons of stone were fairly lifted by it and thrown from the outside, over the wall of masonry called the breakwater, into the sound. The breakwater itself suffered severely ; many large blocks of gra- nite, weighing from three to nine tons, being firmly dovetailed together, were displaced and washed into the sound. Over two hundred and fifty ions of this masonry were thus displaced, and carried to the north side of the breakwater.
In the Shetland Islands a ledge of porphyry rocks, that had resisted for ages the progress of the At- lantic, which beat against it with the forceof artil- lery, at length yielded, and the waters forced their way through, forming the breach called the Grind of Naver. This is widened every winter by the overwhelming power of the surge, which separates large stones from its sides, forcing them to a dis-
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tance of one hundred and eighty feet, piling them up like an immense quarry.
Rocky islands have been completely destroyed by the furious attacks of the stormy ocean, and have left only a few pillars projecting above the deep to mark their former position.
The rock-bound shores of England and Scot- land are receding every year before the steady and resistless assaults of the waves. Where, a few years since, were large towns and sea-ports, the ocean holds undisputed sway. Off the coast of Weybourn, there is now a depth of twenty feet, at one point in the harbor, where forty years ago stood a cliff fifty feet high, with houses upon it. Such is the mighty power which wind and water together can exercise upon the firmest structures of the globe. None but He, who shut up the ocean and set bars and doors to its fury, can say to its wa- ters, " Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."
" The Lord on high is mightier than many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. He sitteth King upon the floods, and stilletii the noise of their waves. He discovereth the foundations of the waters, and breaketh up the foundations of the great deep. He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still."
Another symbol employed to illustrate the power of God is, fire.
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The intense energy of this agent, in consuming or melting bodies, we see in ordinary operations. But of its intensity in large conflagrations, or when evolved by chemical agents, few can conceive. The combustion of the two invisible gases, hydro- gen and oxygen, which, when thus united, form water, as exhibited by the compound blow-pipe, produces a heat so intense as to melt the hardest and most infusible substances known. Even the diamond is instantly consumed by it.
The heat evolved by a large galvanic apparatus, is still more intense. No substance has been sub- jected to it, which has not been instantly melted or consumed.
The furious and uncontrollable power of fire, in desolating cities, and sweeping over forests, defies all the resistance of man. No physical agent, except electricity, so instantly annihilates human strength, decomposes animal and vegetable sub- stances, and destroys life.
But its most terrific power is seen when the vol- cano manifests its energies. Raging in subterra- neous caverns, it generates those gases whose ex- pansive force shakes the earth to its centre. Coming in contact with the solid rocks and earthy matter of the globe, it converts them into lakes of liquid lava, which roll and heave in the volcano's breast. Stewart, the missionary, describes the crater of a volcano in the Sandwich Islands, as a vast cavity on the summit of a mountain, half a
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mile in diameter, and filled at one extremity with liquid lava. While he was looking at it, the mass began to heave and roll its burning waves, dashing them upon the rocky shore, and sending sheets of fiery spray into the air. When this burning liquid rushes forth to desolate the earth, then we see the most tremendous agencies of fire. In the eruption of Etna, in 1669, a stream of lava rolled over the surrounding country, overflowing fourteen towns and villages. Arriving at the walls of Catania, the burning flood accumulated, till it rose to the top of the rampaits, sixty feet high, and then rolled in a fiery cascade into the city.
In the eruption of 1766, a gentleman went out, with his servant, to an eminence, to watch the progress of a stream of lava two and a half miles broad. Suddenly he saw two small currents de- tached from the main body, and flowing toward the point where they stood. They had just time to escape, when they saw the hill where they had been standing, which was fifty feet high, surrounded, and in a quarter of an hour, melted down into the burning mass, so as to flow on with it. Such are the energies of fire. How great, then, the power of that Being, whose throne is as ftames and his wheels like burning fire. " For a fire is kindled in his anger, that shall set on fire the mountains and burn to the lowest hell."
Another manifestation of the power of God is seen in the phenomena of electricity. In the form
REV. GEORfiE BEECHER. 251
of lightning the terrible effects of this agent are well known. The sturdiest oaks are shivered to splinters, and the strongest buildings are demol- ished in an instant.
In the Shetland islands, a rock one hundred and five feet long, ten broad, and four in thickness, was instantly torn from its bed, by a flash of lightning, and broken into fragments. One of these, twenty- eight feet long, and seventeen broad, and five in thickness, was hurled fifty yards. Another, about the same size, was thrown still father into the sea.
In 1772, in the island of Java, a bright cloud was observed at midnight to cover a mountain. It emitted globes of fire, so luminous that the night became as the day. Every thing, for several leagues around, was destroyed by it. Houses were demolished, plantations buried in the earth, hun- dreds of people were killed, besides great numbers of cattle.
All nations have regarded this agent with terror, and in the sudden and tremendous energy of its action, nothing is so like the direct stroke of God's hand. It is viewed as the messenger of his wrath, and man quails before the flashes of his eye and the deep voice of his thunder.
Thus he maketh the lightnings with the rain, and bringeth the wind out of his treasures. He direct- eth them to the ends of the earth, and maketh a way for them with his thunders. The Lord utter- eth his voice in the heavens, and that a mighty
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voice. He thundereth marvellously, yea, he tliun- dereth with the voice of his excellency. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory thundereth. The voice of the Lord is full of ma- jesty, the voice of the Lordbreaketh the cedars, he breaketh the cedars of Lebanon, and discovereth the forests. Out of his throne proceed lightnings and thunderings and voices. His lightnings en- lighten the world, the earth saw and trembled.
Another awful manifestationof the power of God is seen in the varied phenomena of volcanoes. Im- agination cannot conceive the awful grandeur, ma- jesty, and terror, of a great volc;mic eruption.
In the eruption of Vesuvius in 1779, the jets of lava, mixed with stones and scoria, were thrown to the height of at least ten thousand feet. These, falling, red hot and liquid, covered the cone of the mountain and the whole valley, forming a body of fire two and a half miles in breadth, casting a heat for six miles around. In 1783, Mount Heckla, in Iceland, experienced the most tremendous erup- tion ever known. On the 11th of June, the moun- tain threw out a torrent of lava which, flowing into the river Skapta, dried it up. The channel of the river was between high rocks of from four to .«ix hundred feet deep, and was two hundred feet broad. Not only did the fiery stream fill this im- mense chasm, but overflowed the adjacent fields. On issuing from this rocky gorge, it was arrested for a while by a deep lake, which it entirely dried and
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 253
filled up. Then, advancing again, it readied some ancient lava full of subterraneous caverns, pene- trated and melted down a part, and where the stream could not find vent, blew up rocky fragments one hundred and fifty feet high. Sometimes the streams of lava spread themselves out over wide plains into broad burning lakes, from twelve to fifteen miles wide, and one hundred feet deep. No less than twenty villages were thus destroyed, besides those overflowed with water. Of the two branches which flowed in opposite directions, the greatest was fifty and the least forty miles long. One was fifteen and the other seven miles broad. The ordinary height of the currents w^s one hun- dred feet, and in rocky defiles was over six hun- dred feet; equalling in volume a vast mountain, and longer than the ranges of many basaltic hills.
Another most frightful volcanic eruption took place in the island of Sumbawa. It commenced in April, and continued till July. The explosion was heard over nine hundred miles in one direc- tion, and seven hundred in another. Out of a population of twelve thousand in the island, only twenty persons survived. Violent whirlwinds car- ried up men, horses, and cattle into the air, tore up the largest trees, and covered the sea with floating timber. The ashes was carried over three hundred miles, and in such quantities as to darken the air, and around the island of Sumatra, hun- dreds of miles distant, the ashes were two feet 12*
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thick and many miles in extent. The darkness produced by the falling of the ashes, was deeper by day than the darkest midnight. The sea suddenly rose to a great height, rushing to the estuaries and then suddenly subsiding. All the Moluccas, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, to the distance of a thousand miles, felt the tremendous motion.
The following is an abridged account of an eruption of a volcano in the island of Hawaii, taken from the Missionary Herald, 1841 :
" The process of filling up the vast crater contin- ued till it became one entire sea of ignifluous mat- ter, raging like old ocean lashed to fury by a tem- pest, and exhibiting a scene awfully terrific. The infuriated waves sent up infernal sounds, and dashed with such maddening energy against the sides of the aw^ful caldron, as to shake the solid earth.
" Soon the villages around were thrown into con- fusion by sudden exhibitions of fire, on a scale so grand as to leave no doubt that the molten flood was about to pour itself down from a height of four thousand feet, and run over the country to the sea-coast, and no one knew in what direction.
On Monday it began to flow out of the crater, and on the next Wednesday evening, the burning tide reached the sea, having averaged in speed half a mile an hour. Conceive to yourself a river of from one to five miles broad, of deep gory red, after flowing awhile under ground, breaking out
REV. GEORGE BEECIIER. 255
like an overwhelming flood, sweeping forest, ham- let, plantation, and every thing before it, passing on with loud detonations, fearful hissings, and a thousand unearthly noises, till it reaches the sea, where leaping a precipice of fifty feet, it pours it- self in one vast cataract of fire, not less than half a mile wide, into the deep below. The two antago- nist and gigantic forces produced effects on a scale inconceivably grand. The atmosphere was filled with ashes, spray, and gases, while the burning lava, as it fell into the water, was shivered into millions of minute particles, and being thrown back up into the air, fell in showers of sand all over the country. The coast was extended more than a mile into the sea, and three hills of scoria and sand formed there, the lowest two hundred, and the highest three hundred feet high. For three weeks, this terrific river of fire disgorged it- self into the sea with little abatement. Multitudes of fishes were killed, and the waters of the ocean heated for twenty miles along the coast.
The breadth of the stream, where it flor\ved over the land, was from one to five miles, acc«3rding to the face of the country ; and the depth of the stream was from ten to two hundred feet. Indeed, if you can imagine the Mississippi converted into liquid fire, of the consistency of fused iron, moving onward, sometimes rapidly, sometimes sluggishly, now widening into a sea, and anon rushing through a narrow defile, and winding its way throuah
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mighty forests and ancient solitudes, you will have some idea of the spectacle exhibited. During the flow of this awful river, night was converted into day, in all eastern Hawaii. The light rose and spread like morning on the mountains, and its glare was seen on the opposite side of the island. It was distinctly visible for more than a hundred miles at sea, and at the distance of forty miles fine print could be read at midnight. The brilliancy of the light was like a blazing firmament. During the early part of the eruption, repeated shocks of earthquake were felt for several days. The roar of consuming forests, the rushing of devouring fire, the startling detonations, the hissing of escap- ing steam, the rending of the earth, the shivering and melting of gigantic rocks, the raging and dashing of fiery waves, the murmurings, and bel- lowings, and unearthly mutterings, coming up from the boiling deep, the rain of ashes and fiery scin- tillations, the varying atmosphere, black, murky, livid^ and blazing, the sudden rising of lofty pillars of flame^ the upward curling of ten thousand col- umns of smoke, the majestic roll of dense, dingy, lurid, or parti-colored clouds, all these seemed tokens of a burning world, the departing heavens, and a coming Judge.
But what is this volcanic energy, compared with the power of Him who lights these quench- less fires, and ministers their supply of ever burn- ing fuel ! He toucheth the hills and thev smoke :
REV. GEORGE BEECIIER. 257
his anger setteth the mountains on fire. The mountains quake at him, the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence ; yea, the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation 1 and who can abide in the fierce- ness of his anger 1 His fury is poured out like fire ; the rocks are thrown down by him. The mountains flow down at his presence, the earth is shaken out of its place.
But the most awful exhibition of power ever witnessed on earth, is seen in the earthquake. No- thing strikes such terror into every heart as this. When the solid foundations of the globe give way, there is no refuge from danger. Height is use- less where the mountains are shaken, the firmest rocks thrown down, and even the earth itself rent asunder. To all other dangers men may become accustomed, but it is said that those who have once experienced the shock of a heavy earthquake, are those most terrified by the signs of another. It is impossible, by description, to convey an ade- quate conception of their effects. Imagination must aid in adding to the simple detail of facts. The precursors of an earthquake are terrible, causing faintness of heart in all who observe them. Sudden gusts of wind arise and sweep over the country, followed by a dead and awful stillness. Violent showers descend, and the sun appears red through the hazy atmosphere. Lightnings and in- flammable gases proceed from the earth. Hollow,
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rumbling noises are heard beneath, like carriages rolling over pavements, or like distant thunder. Animals utter cries of distress, and run about with the wildest exhibitions of terror, while a sensation of dizziness, like sea-sickness, is experienced by men.
Then follow the shocks, with fearful power, des- olating earth and affrighting the sea. In an earth- quake in 1835, in Chili, vessels one hundred miles distant felt the shock, and the sea retired in the Bay of Conception, leaving all the shoals visible. Three hundred miles distant, the Island of Juan Fernandez was violently shaken and overwhelmed by vast waves. Flames rose from the sea, and il- lumined the island during the night, while on the continent the earth opened and closed rapidly, and more than three hundred shocks were felt.
The earthquake at Lisbon was one of the most terrible that ever visited the south of Europe. It began Nov. 1st, 1755. A sound of thunder was heard under ground, and immediately after a vio- lent shock threw down the greater part of the city. In six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The sea retired, leaving the bar dry, and then rolled in mountain waves fifty feet above its usual level. The mountains around were impetuously shaken, some opened at their summits, which were split and rent in a wonderful manner, while huge mass- es of rock were hurled into the subjacent valleys. A great concourse of people had collected for safe-
REV, GEORGE BEECHER. 259
ty upon a new quay built of marble, when sudden- ly it all sunk down with the multitude, and not one of the bodies ever appeared on the surface. Many boats and small vessels were ingulfed, and no fragments ever reappeared, and the place of the quay was covered with six hundred feet of water. This shock was felt in Africa, through all Europe, and even to the West Indies.
In 1692, the Island of Jamaica was visited with a violent earthquake. The ground swelled and heaved like the rolling sea, opening in numerous cracks and closing again rapidly. Many people were swallowed up; some were caught by the mid- dle and crashed to death by the closing earth. Some were first ingulfed, and then cast up with great quantities of water. At Port Royal, where more houses were left standing than in the whole island besides, three quarters of the buildings, with the ground on which they stood, sank down with their inhabitants beneath the water. A tract of more than a thousand acres sank down in less than a minute, and the sea rolled in over it. But the power of earthquakes in elevating vast masses and entire tracts of country, is still more wonderful. In the Delta of the Indus, immediately after an earth- quake the inhabitants beheld, where once had been a plain, a long and elevated mound fifty miles long, fifteen broad, and ten feet high.
In an earthquake on the coast of Chili, Nov. 1822, the shock was felt simultaneously twelve
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hundred miles from north to south. The morning after, it was ascertained that the coast around Val- paraiso had been elevated from three to four feet ; the whole coast from the foot of the Andes having been raised. There was thus added to the conti- nent, fifty-seven cubic miles in bulk. This equalled a weight of one hundred thousand pyramids, each weighing six million tons. But this was a trifling part of the weight thus raised. The whole mass between the surface and the expansive power was also raised by its force. Suppose the thickness only two miles, the matter thus upreared must have been more than two hundred thousand cubic miles in bulk !
Who can contemplate such exhibitions of power, and not stand in awe of Him at whose presence the earth shook and trembled ; the foundations of the hills also were shaken ! The Lord also thundered in the heavens, the Highest gave forth his voice. Then the channels of the sea ap- peared, the foundations of the world were discov- ered, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
Rising now from these minor agents, let us con- template the immense power manifested in the cre- ation and regulation of the vast bodies that consti- tute the solar system, and in their inconceivable velocities and momentum.
The very idea of creation implies power of which we can form no just conception. That the
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mere will of the Creator should cause material bo- dies to spring from nothing into existence, is a sub- ject of unbounded wonder. But this is so beyond our comprehension, that we are more impressed by contemplating the power that sustains and moves the universe by his almighty energies.
It is difficult to form any just conception of the quantities of matter composing the solar and stel- lary systems. We can, at most, only approximate to it by beginning with lesser magnitudes, and ad- vancing to greater.
A power that could seize the eternal hills and tear them from their solid bases, is almost incon- ceivable. The power which, in the earthquake, rears vast mountains and islands, affords some idea of it. But conceive of a force that could up- heave a whole continent with all its load of moun- tains, rocks, and streams. And yet, what is all this to His power who takes up the world and holds it in his hand ! Let us attempt to form some esti- mate of the magnitude of the earth we inhabit, whose diameter is eight thousand and its circum- ference twenty-four thousand miles. Suppose we could ascend a mountain, so high that the eye could take in, at one view, an extent of forty miles in every direction. Such an area, containing five thousand square miles, is but the forty thousandth part of the earth's surface. And if one such land- scape as this should pass before the eye once an hour, for twelve hours each day, it would require
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more than nine years to complete the survey of the earth's surface ! What, then, must be the immense masses of rock, and soil, and water, contained in a solid globe whose exterior surface is so vast !
If we leave this earth, to traverse the system to which it belongs, we meet Saturn, which is nine hundred times larger than this earth, encircled with a ring two hundred thousand miles in circum- ference, which would reach nearly from this earth to the moon, and also attended by seven satellites. Another planet, which to us seems only a bright star, is fourteen hundred times larger than this earth, with an attending train of four moons.
All the other globes, constituting our solar sys- tem, excluding the sun, contain twenty-five hun- dred times as much matter as the earth. But the sun itself is two hundred and fifty times larger than all the rest of the solar system put together ; so that it is capable of containing within itself all the bodies which revolve around it.
But when from these we pass to the fixed stars, we find our imagination lost in the contemplation of their number and magnitudes. Each star is probably a separate sun, surrounded by worlds like our own, and at distances from us and each other which would require millions of ages for the swift- est cannon ball to traverse, and over which light, moving ninety-six million miles in eight minutes, could not pass in many years.
These immense suns and systems are the work
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of Almighty God, and to these he appeals as the evidence of his power.
Lift up your eyes on high and behold, who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number ; he calleth them all by names, for that he is strong in power. I am he, saith the Lord, that raaketh all things ; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself I, even my hand, hath made the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded.
But let us now contemplate a moment, the amazing velocities and momentum of these bodies. Conceive yourself placed in space, thousands of miles from Saturn, where its vast magnitude would fill the heavens. You see its sublime ring, revolv- ing around the approaching world, and its seven moons, each turning on its axis, and revolving around the greater planet, now passing along in its course around the sun at the rate of twenty-two hundred miles an hour. It approaches, and in an instant it has shot past you, and receding far into space bends around in its mighty orbit. Jupiter, with still vaster bulk, is moving onward at the rate of twenty-nine thousand miles an hour, Venus trav- els seventy-six miles an hour, while Mercury passes at the rate of one hundred and fifty thousand miles an hour, or seventeen hundred and fifty miles a minute.
A ship will move at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, a race-horse some thirtv miles an hour, a
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bird can fly sixty miles an hour, the hurricane will drive one hundred miles, and a cannon ball goes at the rate of eight hundred miles an hour. What, then, is that power which took these mighty orbs and propelled them with such inconceivable velo- cities on their ceaseless course !
Contemplate the sun revolving on its own axis, around it all the planets, each turning on its axis, with their revolving satellites, all turning on their axes, and all flying in inconceivable swiftness around the central orb, while the sun itself leads on this moving train around some still more dis- tant central point, amid the countless sister suns that shine or glimmer in the evening sky.
Thus the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his* discretion. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
By his Spirit he garnished the heavens. He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. Lo, these are parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him.
In view of these illustrations of the almi^htv
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power of God, we see how blessed are all those who put their trust in him.
Under the protection of such a being, no real danger can reach them. The sun cannot smite them by day, nor the moon by night. No human power can harm them, for the Lord their God will hide them in the secret of his presence from the wrath of man. When they cry to liim in their dis- tresses, he will bow the heavens, and come down for their deliverance. He will cover them in the hollow of his hand. None shall be ashamed that wait upon him, for he giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. For even the youths shall faint, and the young men shall be weary. But those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
How safely, then, may we intrust all our inter- ests to his protection! And how foolish to fear those who oppose us in our Christian course ! Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of man, who is as grass, and forgettest the Lord thy Maker that planted the heavens?
We see, also, how terrible it will be to have God for an eternal opponent and enemy. Rebellious man, it were well for you to think with whom you are contending ! Hast thou an arm like God, or canst thou thunder with a voice like his? Hast thou seen the treasures of hail which he has pre-
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pared for the day of battle and war ? Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that the abundance of waters may cover thee ? Canst thou send lightnings that they may go, and say unto thee, here are we?
Let Him send forth his whirlwinds, breaking in pieces the dwellings of men, tearing up the lofty forests, bearing men and beasts into the air, and dashing them against the earth.
What is your strength to battle with the storm ? But if the breath of his mouth spreads such deso- lation, how can you endure when he rises himself to contend with you? Go forth, and meet the power of the mighty ocean, when his winds have raised up its mountain waves. See that goodly ship, that is borne like a feather upon the giant billows. She nears the rocky coast. Her affrighted crew cast out their anchors, and the firmest cables snap like a thread. Onward she drives with head- long fury, and dashes among the boiling breakers. See the struggling crew, on broken fragments, borne toward the iron-bound shore. They mount the crest of yonder black wave, and now they come sweeping with fury upon the rocks, and now their crushed and mangled bodies drift back with the returning wave, to tell the impotence of hu- man strength.
But remember that the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
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Stand forth — defy him to send forked lightnings, or wrest the gleaming bolts from his hand, and hurl back on him the arrows of wrath. Try your strength with the sweeping fire, desolating cities, and consuming the wealth of thousands. Put forth your puny arm to arrest its progress, and see how like a feeble insect, writhing in a fiery furnace, is the strength of man before its eddying waves. How, then, will you conflict with Him, before whom goeth the devouring fire, the fierceness of whose anger setteth on fire the mountains, and burns to the lowest hell?
Go where the earthquake is overwhelming cities, heaving mountains from their base, and rending asunder the firm earth. What will your strength avail, when the solid ground is shaking and gaping beneath your feet !
Listen to the wild shrieks of terror and despair, as thousands sink with their shattered dwellings into that vast chasm, and the earth closes over them !
And yet what is this to the terrors of His power, who shaketh the earth, and removeth it out of its place; at whose presence* the heavens tremble, and the earth is dissolved and melteth away? Stand by the crater of yonder volcano, and look down upon that red flood of boiling lava ! See the rocks and burning ashes, raining showers of fire around you ! See the heaving mass of lava struggling for a vent, till the solid mountain bursts, and the fiery stream gushes forth, bearing desolation in its path !
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Go forth to meet the advancing tide, to be shrivel- ed to ashes before its consuming heat. But what is this to that fiery storm that will beat upon the wicked forever, and that lake of fire whose burning waves forever dash on the rocks of despair !
Sinner, think with whom you are contending ; for " our God is a consuming fire !"
Oh ! when he arises to take hold on vengeance, when he calls forth all the agents of his wrath to execute judgment, when the mountains shall quake at his presence, and the hills melt and the earth be removed out of its place, then where will you stand ?
Now, because his wrath delays, you may, like the hardened Atheist, dare to stand up and chal- lenge God to strike you dead. But when the measure of your iniquity is full, and the long-suf- fering mercy of God pleads no more, then will Death come upon you with his troops, and your guilty soul, driven away in its wickedness, will be reserved " under chains of darkness to the judg- ment of the great day."
In that closing scene, death and hell, obedient to the voice of their Sovereign, shall give up their dead. The reanimated bodies of the lost, receiv- ing their souls called forth from the gloomy prison house, amid the convulsions of a perishing world, will stand before the throne of judgment. Then the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and
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the earth also, and all things that are therein, shall be burnt up. As you are borne aloft to the judg- ment seat, you shall see around you the kindling elements, and the earth glowing like a vast fur- nace, in the awful conflagration. Then shall you hear from Jesus Christ himself, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ;" and, cast into the lake of fire, the smoke of your torment will ascend for ever and ever.
Sinner, listen to the warning voice of Mercy. Can thy heart endure, or thy hands be strong, in that day ? Think with whom you must contend, before the storm shall burst upon you. Flee to the city of refuge. Look where the Saviour stands, with heart of love and voiceof compassion, calling, " Come unto me, and I will give you rest. He that believeth in me shall never perish."
Here is the only refuge from the tempest, the only shadow from the heat. Fly to him, while yet he holds open the door of mercy, and calls you to enter in, and then, at that day of doom, you may look forth, secure from the devouring storm, amid the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.
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THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD.
Rom. xi. 33. — O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How un- searchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out !
Werr we about to place ourselves under the government of another country, an important ques- tion would arise in regard to its rulers. What is their character for intelligence and wisdom 1 Do they understand the interests of the people for whom they legislate? Are they able to extend a watchful supervision over every part, and provide for the life and happiness of all their subjects? The importance of these questions, would be in proportion to the extent of the territory, the num- ber of the population, and the greatness of the power intrusted to the government.
To one, then, who contemplates the boundless extent of God's empire, the unnumbered intelli- gent beings who inhabit it, their complete depend- ence on him for the supply of every want, and the unlimited power he exercises over them, these inquiries are of infinitely great moment. Is our God and King endowed with knowledge adequate to the superintendence of so vast an empire ? Can he comprehend the innumerable wants of so many
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living beings? Can he devise for them all the resources of life and enjoyment 1 Will not his mind be distracted by the care of so many worlds and systems, and the superintendence of so many intelligent beings, and such multitudes of beasts, birds, fishes, insects, and reptiles? Shall we not be neglected, and miserably perish for the want of needful inspection?
To these anxious inquiries nature and revelation alike return a cheering answer : '' Great is our Lord, and of great power, and his understanding is infinite !"
True, the conception of so vast a mind is far above us. " His judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out." But still he has exhib- ited parts of his ways before us, that we may in- spect them, and become convinced that we are safe in the hands of such a Being.
Let us then endeavor to enlarge our view of the omniscience of God, that our joy and confidence in him may be increased, and every rising fear for ever dispelled.
In presenting before you some views of the know- ledge of God, for your contemplation, I shall en- deavor to show —
That God is perfectly acquainted with the con- stitution, structure, and laws of all material bodies ;
That he knows the nature, operation, and laws of all minds ; and
That he knows all events that have transpired
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during an eternity past, all that are occurring at each present moment, and all that will take place through an eternity to come.
First. God understands the constitution of mat- ter, organized and unorganized.
There was a period when matter had no exist- ence, when the Creator had only in his mind the plan of the system he was about to create.
According to this plan, his creating energy im- parted all the properties and qualities of organized bodies. The chemical arrangement of all the particles composing every mineral, vegetable, and animal existence he planned and executed. The composition of air and water, the principles of at- traction and repulsion, in fluids and solids, of crystallization, of evaporation, of electrical and galvanic influences, and the definite proportions in which all the particles of matter combine, were fixed by him. And man, by discovering, arrang- ing, and classifying the facts, is only prying into a few of the secrets of his vast laboratory.
But God understandeth perfectly the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he look- eth to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heavens, to make weight for the winds, and he weigheth the waters by a measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then did he see it and de- clare it, he prepared it, yea, he searched it out.
But not onlv does he understand the chemical
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combinations of all bodies, but he knows the prin- ciples that regulate their relations to each other. He has established the laws by which vegetables and animals receive their origin, structure, and growth. At their first creation, he endowed them with fixed properties, and established immutable laws by which they should ever after be controlled. The vegetation of the seed, the progress of the plant to maturity, the mode of deriving its support from the earth and the atmosphere, are results of the curious contrivances which he invented, so that the study of botany and vegetable physiology are only further developments of his plans.
He gave command, and the earth brought forth the herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man. He visiteth the earth and w^atereth it. He prepareth them corn when he hath so provided for it. He watereth the ridges thereof abundantly ; he maketh it soft with showers ; he blesseth the springing thereof.
The organization of animal bodies is also his work. His intellect contrived the various struc- ture of all the tribes of beast, and bird, and fish, and insect. The science of physiology and com- parative anatomy are but the classification of the facts in this department of God's works. To this wide field of natural science God directed the mind of Job, when he would unfold to him his own
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knowledge compared with the ignorance of man. " Who hath sent out the wild ass free, whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwelling? Gavest thou goodly feathers to the peacock, or wings and feathers to the ostrich, which leaveth her eggs in the earth and forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them, because God hath deprived her of understanding ? Doth the hawk fly by thy wis- dom and stretch her wings toward the south ? Doth the eagle mount up at thy command and make her nest on high ?"
Thus to him are familiar all the principles and details of every science, from the laws that guide the heavenly orbs to the structure of the minutest animalcula that, with myriads like itself, inhabits a single drop of water.
The structure of the globe we inhabit, and of all the unnumbered worlds that fill the boundless empire of God, with all their infinite varieties of forms, and of beings that inhabit them, are all familiar to his mind. He traces the wandering comet, and leads forth the trains of countless stars, and calleth them all by their names.
Secondly. The nature and laws of all the minds in the universe are perfectly known to God. The mind of every angelic being, and of every man, was made after his own. He knows what power of intellect, what strength of emotion, what capa- cities of execution, what susceptibilities of joy and
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sorrow, he has imparted to each one. He under- stands the effect which all external influences will exert upon the character, and how each mind will act in all possible situations. He knows the exact condition in which every being is placed, the temp- tations which will befall him, and the power of re- sistance which he possesses. He knows the com- parative strength of every mind, and the influence which one can wield over another. Every thing which can in the remotest degree afiect the hap- piness of any one of his creatures is known unto God, because he has created all, and appointed unto them the bounds of their habitation.
Thirdly. God knows every thing that has tran- spired in all past time, all that is now occurring, and all that will ever take place in future. He has existed from eternity, and his presence has per- vaded every part of the universe. He remembers the time when he alone inhabited eternity, before the mountains were brought forth, or any bright star shone in the firmament, or man or angel had awaked to being.
All that passed in the fellowship of the Blessed Trinity, all the mutual counsels and plans that were devised, the beginning of the work of crea- tion, the continued accessions to his vast empire, with all the events that have occurred through these vast dominions, are clearly before his mind. The thoughts, and feelings, and actions, of every anael and ofeverv man, are written in the book of
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his remembrance, and no record has ever been effaced. He saw the first sinful thought in the breasts of angelic beings who revolted, and watched its progress to the full development. He knew the machinations of fallen spirits against the race of man, and saw their efforts to seduce from alle- giance. The record of these events is still vivid in his mind. No oblivion dims the clearness of his memory, or effaces the records of the past.
All passing events are under his inspection. In the remotest worlds, among the bright armies of hea- ven, among the rebellious spirits of hell, and in this world of revolt, he is present, beholding and sustain- ing all . For it is he who giveth life and breath to all, and provideth for the wants of every living thing.
From the most stupendous events that amaze a universe to the most minute that is hid from all ; from the destruction of suns and systems to the death of a worm ; from the motions of the heavenly spheres to the sportive play of the insect tribes — all are under his inspection. The eyes of all wait upon him, and he giveth them their meat in due season. Not a sparrow falleth to the ground with- out his notice, and the very hairs of our head are all numbered. No thought of any heart escapes him, for God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing. He reads the emotions that glow in the breasts of the high archangels that bow and worship before his throne, and sees the first glim- mering light of holy affection that awakes in the
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heart of the wandering sinner. He detects every daring plan of malignity in the great arch-enemy, and watches the secret thought of selfishness that rises in the heart of a child.
Nothing is beyond or beneath his observation. He knoweth our downsitting and uprising, and understandeth our thought afar off. There is not a word in our tongue but, lo ! he knoweth it alto- gether. He hath beset us behind and before, and laid his hand upon us. Such knowledge is too wonderful ; it is high ; we cannot attain unto it !
But the knowledge of God is not limited to the history of the past, and the events of the present. With all-seeing inspection he reads the future as clearly as the present and the past. How his mind can discern future events, we cannot conceive. Our knowledge of the future is only derived from uncertain reasonings upon probable events. But we know not what a day may bring forth. No human mind, and probably no mind but God, can read, with the certainty of knowledge, coming events. But to him belongs the faculty of foreseeing, as well as of remembering. To a being who had no faculty of recalling past events, it would seem as wonderful that they should be known, as the power of foreseeing the future appears to us. We possess one, God exercises both. Nor is it by a process of reasoning that he obtains his knowledge, as many seem to suppose. His perceptions of the future are intuitive, and not derived from the slow 13*
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process of reasoning. There are some things which no reasoning from previous causes could discover, such, for example, as the volitions of free, intelligent minds. The events which can be pro- duced by physical causes, may be made certain by necessity, and therefore be fully known by under- standing these causes. But the actions of free agents are never necessary, and are not produced by external causes, but proceed from the inherent- ly active power of the mind itself Here is an in- dependence of all physical or external causes, as absolute as that possessed by God himself; and, pre- vious to the formation of a character, there may be no possibility of knowing, from circumstances and causes, what will be its future action. God alone possesses the faculty of discovering the fu- ture with entire certainty, without any process of reasoning. This prerogative he claims for him- self. " I am God, and there is none like me, de- claring the end from the beginning, and from an- cient times the things that are not yet done. I have declared the former things from the begin- ning, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them, I have, even from the beginning, declared it ; before it came to pass I showed it thee."
He that planted the ear, shall he not hear ? He that formed the eye, shall he not see ? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know? For who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being
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his counsellor, hath taught him ? With whom took he counsel, or who instructed or taught him know- ledge, or showed him the way of understanding?
Blessed be the name of the Lord forever, for wisdom and might are his, and he changeth the times and seasons, he removeth kings and setteth up kings, he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and secret things, he knoweth what is in the darkness, and light dwelleth with him.
In view of this exhibition of the omniscience of God, we are led to reflect how vast is the intellect of our Creator ! The knowledge of all finite beings is acquired. Time was, when the highest archangel knew nothing. His capacity of obtain- ing knowledge was great, but his mind had but just opened on God and his works, and he knew no more than an infant.
Observation, experience, testimony, and reason- ing, are the only things by which finite minds can gain knowledge, and these demand time and study. Hence, all finite knowledge is progressive, imper- fect, liable to be mingled with error, and needing to be corrected by the accumulating results of ex- perience.
But the mind of God possessed from eternity all its present stores of knowledge. Observation and experience have added nothing and corrected no- thing. The present and the future were as clear-
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ly before his mind in ages past, as at this moment. From ancient times he discovered the things which are not yet done, by the intuitive powers of his vast intellect, and comprehended from the beginning of events all that ever will or can be known.
The properties of all existences, both material and spiritual, are learned by men with much study and painful thought, and when all is acquired that with present capacities can be known, they dimly see vast fields of investigation stretching on, more boundless than those already explored ; just as the astronomer sees faint outlines of unnumbered suns and systems, where his telescope can detect no distinct forms. The essential properties of matter and mind no human intellect has learned. Nor has it detected the modes by which such agencies as light, heat, electricity, and attraction operate to produce their effects. We can ascertain facts^ and here our intellect finds its limits. But the mind of God discerns the essences of matter and mind, every hidden property that ever has or ever will be developed, the modes and reasons of their action ; and the natural effects of all causes are clear before his mind.
Human intellect, by the labor of a long life, can acquire only an imperfect outline of one or two sciences, just enough to discover how little can be known. As Newton said, after a long life employed in various successful discoveries, " I seem to my- self like a child, walking by the side of the vast
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ocean of knowledge, who has collected and ar- ranged a few of the shells and pebbles from the in- finite multitude that lie around."
But God, at one glance, sees all that can be known of every science and every art. Astrono- my with its wonders is but a limited account of his operations, as from his lofty throne he moves the mighty wheels of suns and planets, and sus- tains their courses. Philosophy, natural history, and chemistry are but the transcript of a page or two of the vast book of Providence. The know- ledge man acquires of the past, is but a few scat- tered facts on the surface of this world's history, while God comprehends all the events that have transpired in all ages, in all worlds, and among all orders of existences, from the vastest to the most minute. The intellect of man can attend to but a single train of thought at a time, and becomes bewildered with a multitude of cares.
But at one and the same moment, God is think- ing of all events that are transpiring in every world, down to the floating of the smallest particles of dust, or the secret thought of the humblest child.
How utterly beyond our conception is such in- tellectual power ! Think of a mind that watches the rolling of such countless worlds, and holds them in their appointed courses, and yet, at the same moment, supplies the vital energy to every plant and animal that inhabits them ; notices the most minute occurrences in their complicated
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Structure, traces the blood in each beating pulse, supplies the nervous energy to each fibre, supports the digestive and assimilative operations, wards off danger, and preserves health and strength to every being in every world !
Who that studies the structure of his own intri- cate system, can refrain from exclaiming, " I am fearfully and wonderfully made !" or from admiring the skill and care that keeps in safe action all its functions ! But multiply this complicated mech- anism by the eight hundred millions of human be- ings upon this earth, and add to this, all the count- less tribes of beasts, birds, fishes, insects, and an- imalculae, and multiply this sum by the millions of millions of worlds that fill the Creator's empire, and then consider the sum of all the thoughts that are passing in all the minds of all intelligent be- ings, the infinite variety of circumstances that must be considered to form an estimate of the mo- tives and character of each act, the inconceivable multitude of events that must be arranged to pro- vide for the complex wants of each of these living beings, and what must be the powers of that intel- lect, which at every moment is thinking of all, and attends, without confusion or perplexity, to the wants of all, and who fainteth not neither is weary with these cares ! There is no searching of such understanding, and with David we can only ex- claim, " Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is hitrh, I cannot attain unto it !"
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In view of this subject, how competent is such a being to be the Governor of the universe ! Were all created beings to be assembled, in one vast con- clave, to elect their sovereign, what qualities would be presented as essential to that station? Possess- ing themselves a derived and dependent existence, they would demand one whose power was adequate to sustain the existence and supply the wants of every living thing. Ignorant and short-sighted themselves, they would ask for one whose capacious mind could, without weariness, superintend the multiplied and complex interests of so vast a gov- ernment. But where can such a being be found, but in our Creator ? He is worthy to be God over all, for he can listen, without distraction, to every call that rises from all the myriads of beings that wait upon him, and his power can furnish them their meat in due season.
Such an assemblage would demand, also, that he should know the nature of every mind, its wants, its weaknesses, its liabilities to temptation, that it may be placed in its appropriate situation for securing happiness. And he should know, also, the circumstances of every community, and the influence of each individual upon it, so as to appoint the situation of each one conformably to the highest good of the whole. This knowledge is possessed by God alone, and he only can act as the just and impartial dispenser of rewards and penalties, giving to every man according to his deeds.
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But to do this, the thoughts of all hearts must be known. His eyes must be upon the ways of man, and ponder all his goings. All the causes that conspire to produce each action must be in- spected, in order to estimate rightly the merit or demerit of each act, and the amount of reward or punishment deserved. God only can do this with perfect certainty, and therefore he alone is quali- fied to act as a righteous judge, and to reward every man according as his work may be.
They would seek, also, for one to govern who could detect the plans of malignant and selfish beings, and guard the virtuous against their de- vices, and in God alone they would find one, whose all-discriminating mind can bring to light the hid- den things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of all hearts, and defeat the wiles of de- praved and malicious men and angels.
Thus, in every intellectual perfection, is our God worthy to be chosen by the free and joyful suffrage of all virtuous intelligent minds, as their Sovereign King. And in view of his dominion, we may join the triumphant song, " The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad thereof!"
We see, also, in view of this subject, the su- preme folly of those who attempt to sit in judg- ment on the plans and actions of God.
Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ? Canst thou by
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searching find out God 1 Canst thou understand the Almighty unto perfection ? It is high as heaven, what canst thou do? deeper than hell, what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out. Lo ! these are but a part of his ways !
It is folly, then, for feeble, short-sighted man, to attempt to read or understand the reasons that con- trol the actions of God. True, when a part of his ways are revealed, we may understand it, but " how little a proportion is heard of him !" How little does the highest archangel know of him ! How little will he ever know through the ages of eternity !
The higher we rise in intellect, and the inore extensive the fields of vision, the more objects shall we see which we cannot understand The astronomer, gazing with the naked eye, perceives thousands of stars distinctly, but there are multi- tudes whose lights combined give but a dim and indistinct whiteness to the sky. As he applies the telescope, he then discovers clearly myriads before obscure now emerging into distinct forms. But still greater numbers, entirely lost to the naked eye, appear in indistinct masses, and as he directs more powerful glasses to these, new stars burst out upon his sight, while still beyond, the same dim and cloudy light shows more and more of Jehovah's empire yet to be discovered. So will it be with
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the study of the works and plans of God. Infi- nitely more will remain unknown than we have discovered, and faith will find occasion for stronger exercise at each advancing step of our existence.
How presumptuous, then, for man, yet in the infancy of his being, to find fault with the works of God, or with his Revealed Truth, because it does not coincide with his vain fancies. Should we hear a company of children discussing the polit- ical and financial aflTairs of this nation, gravely ad- vancing opinions respecting this or that measure, debating the expediency of every law, and passing judgment on the conduct of public officers, we should be amused at the absurdity, and laugh at their childish folly. But this would be pre-emi- nent wisdom, compared with the conduct of those self-conceited men, who gravely debate the pro- priety of God's conduct, and with look of learned sagacity, pronounce that this and that fact, asserted in Revelation, is inconsistent with the character of God, as taught by their own reason, and is there- fore to be rejected. " He that sitteth in the heav- ens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision." It were easier far to assume the place for which our ignorance and inexperience fits us, and rejoice that we may be taught of God like little children.
In this view of the subject, how ridiculous and presumptuous the conduct of those who refuse to acknowledge the truths of the Bible, till they can
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understand the reasons of all its doctrines. The Bible is a record of facts respecting the character and actions of God, the character and destiny of man, and the means employed by God to secure man's ultimate happiness, and the happiness of the universe. The infidel, strutting with consequen- tial air, boasting of his philosophy, scarce deigning to cast a glance at its doctrines, asserts that they are absurd, inconsistent, and incomprehensible. He cannot understand why God has made such a law, and established such a penalty, how Christ can be both God and man, nor how he could make an atonement for sin. And can you, vain man, explain any one of the ten thousand mysteries that surround you ? Can you understand how he stretcheth the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing ? Dost thou know how God causeth the light of his cloud to shine ? Dost thou know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge? Have the gates of death been open to thee, or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? Where is the way where light dwelleth, and as for darkness, where is the place thereof? Can you tell how he binds the firm rock, or holds the waters together ? Can you un- derstand how he established the courses of the planets, and by what power he maintains their mo- tion ? Can you tell how his rain and light and heat cause the grass to spring forth, and the tender
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herb to bud? Do you know how he leads the wild-fowl over its long, trackless journey through the air, or how he gives knowledge to the timid bird to construct its nest and guard its young? Do you understand how the bee is taught to con- struct its cell according to the abstruse rules of science, or the beaver to erect its curious habita- tion, or the ant to provide her meat in summer and lay up stores in harvest ?
Whither can you turn, on what object in nature can you fix your eye, where you will not find won- ders that neither you nor any human intellect can explain ?
And can you expect the revelations of the plans of God, which have reference to unnumbered orders of intelligent beings, through eternal ages, will contain no facts whose bearings and reasons you cannot comprehend ? Were it thus, you might be sure it could not be the work of God. A system devised by man might be understood by his fellow man, in all its bearings, but a revelation of the plans of God, must contain facts whose connexions will be interwoven with other truths, which demand ages for their full development, and therefore must be incomprehensible to finite intel- lect.
Come, then, to the study of God's word, not ex- pecting that all will be easy of explanation. Ex- pect that the works and the word of God will alike contain truths too deep for your present capacity to
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fathom, and opening fields for boundless investiga- tion and delightful study through all your future being.
In view of this subject, how blessed the condi- tion of those, who have allied their interests to God, and committed their souls to his protection. He knows all their wants, his eye is upon their goings, to direct their steps, and to guard them from every real danger. To all their requests his ear is ever open, and his heart attent. His foreseeing care is preparing for their future residence mansions of light, whither he will conduct them, crowned with glory and honor. The storehouse of his know- ledge shall be unlocked to them, and their intellect shall feel the impulse of his almighty mind. The vast fields of his material kingdom shall be spread out before them, with God for their instructor, to develope its hidden wonders, and explain its deep- est mysteries. From the book of his remembrance, the history of the past shall be unfolded to their ad- miration and praise. No more through a glass darkly, but face to face, they shall see as they are seen, and know as they are known. The objects of his peculiar care, his knowledge shall be em- ployed to defend and bless them for ever.
" Then shall they see, and hear, and know All they desired or wished below, And every power find sweet employ In that eternal world of joy."
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We also see, in the light of this subject, how ter- rible the condition of those who are rebels against the government of God. His eye is ever upon them, to mark all their hidden iniquities, and to bring to light their deeds of darkness.
When Bonaparte reigned in France, the police employed spies to watch the conduct of every man in the empire. No man could speak, or write, or act, without being liable to have it all reported to the government. The household servants often were spies upon their employers, and sometimes the wife upon the husband, and the children upon their parents. No rank or condition of life was free from this ever-vigilant inspection. No plot could be devised but the government learned it, and arrested all engaged in it. Men feared to breathe their thoughts to their dearest friends, and stood in constant fear of a government that thus had access to their most secret actions.
But, sinner, you are under a more watchful in- spection every moment than any human govern- ment ever exercised, an inspection that looks, not only at your external actions, but reads the secret thoughts and purposes of your heart. God knows every sinful desire you cherish, every selfish, re- vengeful, envious or impure purpose you have form- ed, every wicked action you have committed, and every word you have spoken. For there is not a word upon your tongue but lo! he knowethit alto- gether.
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How would you tremble, if in your secret cham- ber, resting upon your bed, you should hear the voices of invisible beings around you, and feel their influence over you ! But God is ever present. He has beset you behind and before, and laid his hand upon you. Go where you will, you cannot escape his omniscient eye. The veil of darkness cannot cover you, noi can even the shadow of death hide you.
Nothing that you have ever thought, or spoken, or acted, is forgotten by God. It is in the book of his remembrance, and the day is coming when he will disclose it all to you, and to an assembled universe.
How you would start and turn pale to hear pro- claimed to this congregation all the thoughts you have cherished, and all the actions you have per- formed for a single week ! If your name should be called aloud, and the recital be commenced of all that God has seen in you the past week, you could not hold up your head for shame. But re- member, God knows all, and soon the whole intel- ligent universe will know all.
There will be no possibility of your deceiving God, when he begins to deal with you in judg- ment. Now, you may cover yourselves with the cloak of religion, and by professions of piety de- ceive your fellow men, but you cannot so deceive God. He will bring into judgment every work and every secret thing, and reward you according to
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your works. It is infinite folly for you to practise hypocrisy or self-deception. You must submit to an inspection that shall pierce through every false disguise, and bring to light your real character. You will be rewarded or punished according to your deeds, not according to your professions. Careless, barren professor, beware and take warn- ing in time, before God shall search out your ini- quity, and hold it up before you, when repentance will be in vain.
Careless sinner, would you rest secure and thoughtless, if God should call you into his imme- diate presence ?
But he knows all your ways as fully as if you stood disembodied before his throne. At the dread day of retribution, he will call up all your sins to your remembrance. You have forgotten them, but God has not, and your judgment now for a long time lingereth not, and your damnation slum- bereth not. Why will you disregard the warning of God ? He knows the danger that is before you. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. He sees you hastening thither, and lifts up the voice of warning, *' Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?" He knows what a mind like yours can suffer, through the ages of eternity. He looks down through the long period of the future, and sees what it is for the lost soul to writhe under the gnawings of remorse, and be consumed by the fierceness of his holy indignation.
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He knows what that spirit may enjoy in the pure society of the blest, the expanded intellect glowing with delight in the discoveries of ever new wonders, the heart kindling with fervent love in fellowship with saints and angels and himself for ever. He sees the glowing rapture with which the redeemed shall return and come to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy, to join with those that, day and night, with song and choral symphony, circle his throne rejoicing.
Wretched wanderer ! will you refuse to believe the warning, or to accept the offers of mercy?
Then shall the joys of heaven fade forever from your view, and, amid the ever-augmenting horrors of eternal despair, shall you learn the madness of disbelieving the declarations of an omniscient God!
ON SLANDER AND EVIL SPEAKING,
James iv. 11. — Speak not evil one of another ^ brethren. He that speaheth evil of his brother , and juclgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law; but if thou judge the lau\ thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
There is no one fault that is more universal, even among those who profess to be Christians, than that of evil speaking. 14
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The remains of a selfish and envious disposition are continually breaking out in the renewed man, giving sad proof of that moral depravity seated up- on the soul. There is no sin, either, which is com- mitted with more thoughtlessness than this. Chris- tians will meet together, even in a prayer meeting, and edify one another by a preliminary discussion of the character and faults of some one of their brethren or neighbors ; and the practical applica- tion of many sermons is found in judicious criticism of the defects of some member of the congre- gation or church.
Few who have not watched themselves are aware how easily they are led into this sin, and how frequently they indulge it, and few think how great a sin it is against God and their brethren, or of the great evil resulting from it, to their own souls, and the interests of the Church.
It is proposed, at the present time, to set before you some of the common forms of evil speaking; and to point out to you its injurious effects, and the great guilt incurred by practising it.
The first and most aggravated form of evil speaking is slander.
By slander I mean, the circulating the faults of others through a community. Slander includes both the speaking of those things which are false, and those which are true, to the injury of another, and without any benevolent intention.
It may be duty, sometimes, to speak of the con-
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duct and character of men, that the unwary may be guarded against them, and that they may not be able, by fair speeches and cunning deceit, to be- guile the innocent. Benevolence may demand the tearing of the sheep's clothing from the wolf, and the disrobing of Satan of his angelic garb. But such cases are rare, and constitute not one thou- sandth part of the slander that is circulated.
When injurious reports are once set in motion respecting another, there are many who feel them- selves at perfect liberty to repeat them again, and feel no obligation to inquire into their truth or falsehood, provided only they do not originate them. They are eager to carry the first news of a re- ported evil deed, 'and congratulate themselves when they happen to light upon one who has not heard it, that they may enjoy the pleasure of rehearsing the precious news.
With such persons, there is no deliberation, no weighing of the probability of the story, no inquir- ing into its authority, no allowances made for exag- geration. If the report is current, that is enough, and with hearty good will they put the trumpet of rumor to their lips, and strive to swell a louder blast.
Such persons rarely stop to reflect upon the mo- tive that prompts them. Did they do so, they would perceive that envy, the deepest and most malig- nant, is cherished in their hearts; that there is a
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secret joy that another has fallen, that they may rise by the contrast.
Such a spirit is the bane of society. Such per- sons are the carriers of every idle report, the scav- engers that collect and retail all the faults of their fellow men. Their eyes are always bent upon spying out some defect, their ears open to hear some evil rumor, and their tongues ready to pub- lish, with swift alacrity, all false reports, lying ru- mors, exaggerated truths, and perverted facts.
Of such conduct it is said, *' He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth slander, is a fool ;" and of such persons David, filled with righteous indignation, says, " Whoso slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off." This is the charge that God brings against the wicked, **Thou sittest and speakest against thy neighbor, and slan- derest thine own mother's son."
The injury that one such man or woman can do, is incalculable. Strife and dissension are fo- mented, for " where there is no talebearer the strife ceaseih."
The ties of affection are sundered, for '^ a fro- vvard man soweth strife, and a whisperer separateth chief friends." And again, " He that repeateth a matter separateth very friends."
It breaks communities into factions, fans the flames of party spirit, divides churches, alienates Christian brethren, blasts character, and carries
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with it wide-spreading desolation. Such a tongue ** is a world of iniquity, and is set on fire of hell."
The misery that such a course pursued will pro- duce is immense, and those who practise it are classed with those who are full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things.
But there is another form of evil speaking, which is not regarded exactly slanderous, because there is no malicious intention. It is the exercise of an empty brain, destitute of materials for profit- able conversation, and belongs to those of whom it is said, '' A fool's mouth is known by the multi- tude of his words." This odious vice is that of tattling, and it is one that the wise and judicious sometimes fall into, without reflecting on the com- pany with which they thus are associated.
Of this kind is all thai contemptible scandal which so often forms the small talk of little neigh- borhood circles, where the character of every one in the community is anatomized and dissected, and every detected fault held up in the most luminous manner. Here, all the foolish reports that ill- minded persons think fit to raise are discussed, and all the petty foibles of each individual are ex- amined with microscopic accuracy.
Enter such a circle, and you can tell in a short time, how many times one person has been to a party, how often another has entertained company,
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and a full inventory of the bonnets, apparel, mirrors, carpets, horses and carriages of the whole society, so that it might be supposed, by a transient listener, that they were a company of tax-gatherers, making out a list of taxable property.
Here, too, may be learned all that can be known of the private history of individuals, or of the man- agement of their household affairs. Such a neighbor or acquaintance has children who are not too well governed, another is not overstocked with neatness, such a couple are not so well united as they might be, such a person's temper is none of the best; and with all this may be heard, why this person made such a journey, or that one incurred such an expense, or how much this person spends in a year, and how much another wastes.
•Nearly allied to this, is a fault which the Bible denominates evil surmising. This includes the insinuation, the mysterious look, the indirect ques- tion, the knowing look, the sly wink. For exam- ple, inquiries are made respecting a man's charac- ter, and such replies are given : " Perhaps it is best to say nothing ; he may be good enough, after all. Where one cannot speak well, it is best to say no- thing." But enough is said already to soil a man's character and injure his reputation.
Again, the inquiry will be made, whether a re- port about a certain person has been heard ; and then, when curiosity is excited, a mysterious or commiserating look, hands over a neighbor's
REV. GEORGE BEECIIER. 299
character to suspicion, rumors are started, and character tarnished.
Again, it is remarked that such an one is in- creasing in riches, and making a show in the world, and a hope expressed that his wealth was all honestly obtained. Enough is said to weaken confidence and injure character.
Inquiries are made respecting another, and the reply is, " I have heard reports, but I hope they are not true, but / should not wish to associate with the persons she does." A charitable wish, the sincerity of which would be better proved by silence.
Thus, without any exactly malicious design, as the result of mere carelessness, or to pass away an hour in conversation, the characters of multitudes are injured, the foundations of confidence and affec- tion are shaken, and the seeds of strife are sown broadcast over the community.
Another form of this hydra monster is that of censoriousness. The motives of every person are scrutinized, and the worst construction put upon them. Thus, for example, it is the opinion of one that it is the duty of every man to join an abolition society, and every one who fails to do it is set down as a time-server, or as possessing a man- fearing spirit; and it is predicted, that when the tide turns, he will turn with it. Or it is intimated, that if he had more piety and less love of popular- ity, he would take a different course. Another
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considers the efforts for moral reform of pre-emi- nent importance, and, indulging this censorious spirit, wishes that a Christian brother had courage enough to aid an unpopular object, or that his min- ister would not be withheld by false delicacy, or love of popularity, from preaching on the subject.
Another deems that the government of the ap- petites is the chief Christian duty, and where oth- ers fail in meeting his views of duty, they are spoken of as fond of good living, or incapable of self-denial, or destitute of piety. One Christian thinks there ought to be great plainness of dress and furniture, and if others pass the bounds he has marked down, they are reproached as proud, or worldly-minded, their religious character is im- peached, and their prayers and counsels sneered at as being insincere. Thus, too, in regard to vari- ous modes of indulgence, such as dress, visiting, and the use of money, censorious remarks and im- peachment of motives and character are allowed.
Now, my brethren, I wish to show you the great sin of such a course of conduct as this.
Suppose, in the first place, that all that is said about others in these various respects, is true.
Suppose that there are all the defects that are represented, and that every thing which you think to be wrong is so. Still, you are none the less guilty for speaking about it to others.
That spirit of love which Christ enjoins you to cherish, demands of you, that if your brother sin.
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you go and tell him his fault between you and Mm alone.
You have no right to go to other persons and talk about his faults. The duty is a personal one, and God has given you a specific rule to direct you in every case. " Brethren, if a man be over- taken in a fault, ye that are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering lest thou thyself also be tempted. Bear ye one ano- ther's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. And whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them." Now, how would you feel if your faults were blazoned to the world ; if brethren and sisters of the church, instead of coming to you in the spirit of meekness, to tell you your faults, and try to re- store you, go round among each other, and discuss your faults, till, before you are aware of your fail- ings, you find the whole church standing aloof from you, and regarding you with suspicious eye ? Would you not feel grieved and injured ? Would you not say that they ought to have come to you, and frankly told you your fault, and not spread it abroad to your injury?
Such conduct is a violation of the royal law of
love. It is a contradiction of that, charity that suf-
fereth long and is kind, envieth not, vaunteth not
itself, thinketh no e\il, rejoiceth noL in iniquity,
14*
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beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all thinofs, endureth all things.
But in cases where the fault is not a deliberate violation of God's express commands, or is one of those peculiarities of constitution, or weaknesses that belong to all mankind, then there is no kind of excuse for you, when you sit down and dissect char- acter, and hold up defects to ridicule. It is a most cruel thing to expose the weakness and infirmity of any man, and will excite the virtuous indignation of every noble-minded person on earth. Much. more will it provoke the deep displeasure of an infinitely holy God.
My brethren and sisters, how^ w^ill tattling, back- biting discourse appear, when it is all revealed at the day of judgment? IJow would it appear now, if it could be read aloud to this congregation ? I have sometimes sat and listened to the dissection of character, carried on in an under-tone, as if persons were asham.ed to speak loud; and in a short time how much the character of some indi- vidual, perhaps a brother or sister in the same church, was tarnished and exposed !
The eflTect of this evil speaking, upon all who hear it, is to degrade the character of the person spoken of in their eyes. Now^, if you speak of a Christian before his brethren in a disparaging manner, you lessen his influence in the church; you destroy the fervor of affection toward him;
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 303
you prevent his usefulness among his brethren. But if you speak of him before the impenitent, you may be ruining souls by it. You may be implanting a prejudice in their minds, that will prevent the effect of their instructions and example, or, in some cases, destroy respect for religion. You may be preparing the way for the ruin of that soul. Oh how many have been lost by this careless and sin- ful conduct of God's people ! Some thoughtless remark made against a Christian brother, has pre- judiced the mind of a listener, and prevented him from hearing instruction. Especially is this influ- ence most injurious when it is used toward those whom God has appointed to be officers in the church, to whom many look for counsel and ad- vice. Some remark against a minister, uttered thoughtlessly, may have awakened a prejudice against him that shuts the heart of some immortal being against all his instructions. Some fault found with a pious elder, because you have not been pleased with every thing he has done, may have destroyed his influence with those he other- wise might have saved.
But remember, my brethren, that the things which are done to the disciples of Christ he con- siders as done to himself *' Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of the least of these my breth- ren, ye have done it to me." Especially does Christ consider dishonor done to his ministers and the officers of his church as an insult to him.
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'* He that heareth you/^ said he to his disciples, " heareth me, and he that despiseth 3/ou despiseth me, and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me." Whenever, therefore, you have spoken evil of a Christian brother or sister, and especially of an ojHicer of Christ's church, you have spoken against Christ, and he feels the injury inflicted upon him through his members.
But again, when you indulge in this habit of speaking evil of the brethren, you do great injury to your own soul. You destroy in your own heart that fervent love for the children of Christ which you ought to cherish. You can never love a man when you have been speaking evil of him. You poison the fountain of your own affections. You form a habit of looking away from yourself, and of comparing yourself with others, and foster your own pride and self-righteousness by discovering their defects. You soon begin to feel that you are bet- ter than they, and to thank God that you are not as other men are.
But the sin of censoriousness in particular de- mands our careful examination, because it is that into which the most devoted Christians are in great danger of falling,
A cold and slothful Christian, having a low stand- ard himself, is not half so much in danger of judg- ing harshly of his brethren, as one whose feelings are intense, and whose desire for the purity of the church is ardent.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER 305
When the heart is longing to see religion pros- pering in the church, it awakens grief to see any thing in a brother that retards its progress. Then, if this conduct is persisted in, there is danger of becoming provoked, of pronouncing a harsh judg- ment, and of speaking with severity. And then it is very natural to go to those who are like-minded with us, and consult together, and mingle our feelings and sorrovvs. But in doing this it is al- most sure that a harsh, censorious, and finally a self- righteous spirit will be generated. It is of great importance, therefore, to look upon the origin of this sin, and guard against it.
It may proceed, as I have said, from a real love to the cause of Christ, and from sincere grief that his name is not honored, but it becomes a wrong spirit, when it leads us to assume to ourselves the prerogativeof passing judgment upon our brethren, and of determining their motives, and insisting upon conformity to our standard.
Censoriousness is almost always exercised re- specting those things which are of a doubtful na- ture, when real Christians differ as to their pro- priety.
In those things which are expressly forbidden, there is little doubt among Christians whether he who persists in them is destitute of the spirit of Christ.
But there are multitudes of actions where there is no fixed and determinate rule established in the
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Bible, and where we can only judge of the correct course by its general spirit.
Thus, the regulation of our food, our dress, our furniture, our conversation, our habits of inter- course, and our social relations, are matters left by Christ to the decision of each one for himself, subject to the judgment of God ; if he makes a false conclusion, from a wrong state of heart, God alone is his judge. Now, habits of education, dif- ferences of natural disposition, of intellectual vigor, of external circumstances, make a thousand shades of difference in judgment on these points. With regard to dress, there is all the diversity of senti- ment, from the plainest and coarsest garb of the ascetic, who, in a hair-cloth shirt, with a rope gir- dle, does penance for sin, to the gorgeous robes of a monarch who lavishes a fortune upon a single dress.
In all these various grades, there will be an en- tire difference of opinion as to what constitutes propriety in dress. So in the arrangements of a house, its ornaments and furniture. One may think the log cabin, with a chair and table and a bed, sufficient for all the wants of man. Another, with abundant means, may demand a splendid palace, with a most costly array of furniture. In every in- tervening rank, there will be a different opinion as to what constitutes plainness, and where it is a duty to begin retrenchment. So in the habits of social intercourse. One may think that any inter-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 307
«
course with society is dangerous, and go to the monkish extreme of perpetual seclusion in the cloister, while another may feel at ease in con- science, and rejoice in his augmented opportuni- ties of usefulness, while surrounded by the crowded multitudes of a royal court. In all these points, no individual is at liberty to affix the limits of gratification to another.
No man may impose his standard upon another, to bind his conscience. To his own master he standeth or falleth. This is the ground expressly assumed by Paul in the 14th of Romans, '* Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant. To his own master he standeth or falleth."
This case establishes a principle of universal application. No one may make his conscience the rule to another in things not expressly commanded. In all such things every man is to judge for him- self, and decide what is his duty, according to the circumstances in which he is placed, according to the word of God as he understands it, and not as others read it.
Now, censoriousness begins the moment we
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•
insist upon others conforming to our standard in things not positively commanded.
Tf we declare that those who do not conform to our rule are sinning against God, we set up our- selves as judges. This is the reason assigned in the text why we should not speak evil of our bro- ther, or judge our brother. We assume the place not of a doer of the law but a judge. We assume a prerogative which belongs only to God, and which he has never commissioned us to exercise.
Now, in doing this, we act contrary to the ex- press commands of Christ : ''Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge ye shall he judged, and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. And why behold- est thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, and considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite ! cast out first the beam from thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote from thy brother's eye." When you have purified your own soul, perfectly, and are free from sin, then you may begin to sit in judgment on your brethren. Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.
Do you ask if you are never to speak of the faults of a brother to another person ? There is one case when you may do it. When you have gone to him who offends, and he will not hear you, then you may tell it to one more, and go with him to
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 309
restore your erring brother, and if he will not then hear you, you must tell it to the church. But you may never make it the topic of conversation among brethren.
You may not speak evil of Christian brethren, except in the cases where God requires it, and in the manner which he prescribes.
But as a still farther reason why you should ab- stain from this habit of censoriousness, let me add, that its effect upon your own character is most dis- astrous.
It destroys all that meekness and gentleness which are the cardinal graces of the Christian. You become harsh and severe, and lose your influ- ence over others.
It tends to make you spiritually proud. Censo- riousness never begins till the heart has become elate with pride, and as soon as you indulge it, pride receives a most rapid growth. The habit of looking at the defects of others makes you forget your own. The harsh judgment you pronounce on them is attended with a secret self-gratulation that you are not guilty of such things, that you are a more consistent Christian. Indeed, no man would dare to set himself up as a reprover, and pass se- vere judgment, unless he felt himself to be more free from sin than he whom he reproved, or else was a hypocrite endeavoring to hide his own sins. The very act of censuring severely, implies in you an assumption of superiority. If you see your
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brother sin, and cherish a right spirit, you will rather mourn over his fall, and in meekness in- struct him, if, peradventure, God will give him repentance.
But the effect of this conduct on the person re- proved, or of whom evil is spoken, is another rea- son why we should watchfully avoid it. Private and affectionate admonition, administered without assumption of superiority, will be kindly received by the real children of God. But bitter rebuke, or open proclamation of their sins, will exasperate and alienate their hearts from you. It destroys the unity of the Spirit and changes harmony into dis- cord.
Finally, it gives great occasion to the world to reproach the church.
They find Christians, who profess to love one another, speaking harshly of each other, retailing the faults of their brethren, holding them up to ridicule or contempt, and they learn to despise the whole church, to disbelieve all their professions of attachment, and to feel that they are no whit better than the rest of the world.
And now, my dear brethren, T pray you to ex- amine yourselves seriously and prayerfully on this subject. Have you never been guilty of slander? Have you never circulated reports respecting the character of others, that you knew would injure them t If so, you have been actuated by a self- ish, wicked spirit, and you ought sincerely to re-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 311
pent of it. And remember, brethren, you are bound, in regard to those injured, to make all the reparation in your power, openly and honorably be- fore God and man.
Have you never been guilty of tattling and scan- dal ? Have you never sat down with your neigh- bors and friends, and taken up the character of this or that neighbor or acquaintance] Have you never spoken openly of faults of Christian profes- sors, even before the impenitent? Have you not often said those things of your Christian brethren that would wound their feelings, and tend to de- grade them in the eyes of others? If so, you have acted cruelly, and in direct violation of the royal law, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- self"
Have you never been censorious? When your brethren have not come up to your standard, or have done things that you considered wrong, have you not put the worst and not the best construc- tion on their motives ? Have you not taken the matter up and discussed it in your families? Have you not spoken harshly and unkindly of your breth- ren, and in a manner calculated to wound their feelings ?
If you have, you have been setting yourself up above the law as a judge, and while you were con- demning another were violating the fundamental law of love.
My dear brethren, in doing these things, you
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have spoken evil of Christ. You have injured the members of his body, those whom he loves with an everlasting love, and whom he has promised to pu- rify and present faultless in heaven.
How do you suppose the Lord Jesus looks upon such conduct? Do you not think that sometimes when you have been speaking against your breth- ren, and calling it zeal for religion and the honor of God, he would say to you, " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of"? When you stand with your dear brethren, purified by the blood of Christ, and unite in the swelling anthem of praise in heaven, think you it will afford pleasure to re- member how you spoke against them on earth, with what contempt, or ridicule, or censoriousness you held them up before others? Oh, it seems to me that I should be ashamed to meet a brother in heaven whom I had thus unkindly used on earth !
It is only in the light of the judgment day that we look on this thing aright. It may seem a tri- fling matter here, but it will be awfully solemn there. Remember, my brethren, that for every idle and slanderous word you must give an ac- count to God, and that by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words condemned ; and pray earnestly, " Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, keep the door of my lips, lest I sin with my tongue."
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 313
ON THE RELATIVE DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS AND OF THOSE EMPLOYED.
Ephesians vi. 5, 6, 7, 8. — Servants, be obedient to them that are masters according to thejlesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ. Not with eye-service, as men plcasers ; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart ; icith good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men ; knowing that lohatsoever good thing a man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
And ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening ; knoicing that your Master also is in heaven ; neither is there respect of per- sons with him.
The term servant, in this and similar passages, is sometimes claimed as signifying the same as the word slave. That it sometimes has this last mean- ing, there is no doubt, but it is by no means the most common use in the New Testament, as may be seen in the following passages : *' Christ took upon him the form of a servant;" " Whoso com-' mitteth sin is the servant of sin ;" '* Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant ;" ** Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace."
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There are but two or three places in the New Testament where the word unequivocally means slave, and then it is shown by the context, and not by the word itself.
The common, ordinary use of the word servant is, any person who, for any reason, is bound to ren- der obedience and service to another. Thus, Paul says, " The child differeth in nothing from a ser- vant."
The direction here given is, therefore, one of general import, and is applicable to all, in every station, who are under obligation, either by con- tract or by law, or by divine authority, to render service to another person ; and it is a rule, which will be just as important for the regulation of so- ciety when the last vestiges of slavery have been forever banished, as it was when the Apostle spoke. It applies to all agents, clerks, apprentices, domes- tics, and all who are employed by others to do work for them. The relation is one which is found in all departments of society, and will con- tinue to exist on earth and in heaven. Under laws which enforce slavery, this relation has an appendage, which is always iniquitous, unjust, and oppressive, viz., the servant is made the property of his master, having no right to control his time, his labor, his family, or his intellect. All are placed entirely under the control of the master, and this is an utter violation of the great law of benevolence.
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But let US now examine the duties of those, who, in any circumstances, are acting as the ser- vants of others. In the first place, this divine command requires obedience. Obey your employ- ers, however the relation may have originated. If it is a voluntary one, then obey according to the true spirit and intent of your engagement. If you are employed as an agent to transact business, ex- ecute with fidelity the instructions of your em- ployer. If you are a clerk, or an apprentice, obey in all things pertaining to your duty to them, as faithfully as you would obey Christ. If you are voluntarily acting as a domestic in a family, obey those who are the head of the family, in all things which it belongs to them to control. If you are involuntarily bound, either as apprentice, or as slave, obey in like manner. In the next place, this direction teaches the manner in which this service is to be rendered; " in fear and trembling, with singleness of heart, as unto Christ."
That is, while you sustain this relation, act as becomes it, " in fear and trembling, as unto Christ." Treat those you serve with respect, not talking about them reproachfully, not speaking to thom disrespectfully. This direction is often vio- lated in the shop, and in the family, by insolent and disrespectful deportment towards employers. Your service is to be rendered " in singleness of heart," with a single aim and intention to do your duty to them. Let your mind be decided to pro-
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mote the interest of those who employ you, just the same as if it were your own. Throw your whole mind into your work, and do it heartily and with good will. If you are in a family, do all in your power to make it prosper. Feel an interest in those who employ you, and in their children. Show them that you are not actuated by a mere desire to obtain wages, but that you wish, as a friend and a Christian, to make them happy, and do them all the good in your power. If you are a clerk, or an apprentice, or a journeyman, or an agent of any kind, let your aim be single to benefit your employer.
Again, the direction requires that you perform duty, " not with eye-service, as men-pleasers." Eye-service is that which is performed well only when the eye of the employer is watching. This forbids a man hired in the field to loiter when his employer is gone, or the domestic in the family to slight her work when those who hire her are away. Wasting food, or leaving things out of place, or neglecting any part of appointed duty, are viola- tions of this rule in the family. Goingoff to play, being idle and careless, making disturbance and trouble toothers, are violations of this rule in the shop or store. Moreover, do not labor as if your only object was to please your employer. You have a higher responsibility than this. You are di- rected to do the will of God, as the servants of Christ. In every station, you should act as if Je-
«EV. GEORGE BEECHER. 317
sus Christ had appointed you to that place, and you were acting directly in his employ, and doing all for him. For this you are assured, that for every good thing that you do, in the station in which you are placed, you shall receive the reward from God, whether you be bond or free. This shows that the directions are given to the free, as much as to the bond.
Obeying these directions and doing service in this mode, the labors of your station will become easy and delightful.
For, in the first place, it will secure respect and confidence from all around. Fidelity and single- hearted devotion to the duties of our station, al- ways command respect. The saying of Themisto- cles is true, that the man honors the ofhce, and not the office the man.
In the next place, if an employer is unreasona- ble and unkind, the labor and trial is lightened by doing it all for Christ. Thus you secure the feeling, that all that you do is for his sake, and that he considers it as done for him. Again, such conduct powerfully tends to honor religion. No- thing shows the power of true holiness more than conscientious faithfulness in an inferior station. Respectful deportment, strict fidelity, content- ment, and humility, secure the feelings of all in favor of religion. Hence, when masters are not pious, such a course has a powerful influence to 15
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win them to the service of Christ. Many exam- ples might be given to illustrate this.
This passage shows the perfect adaptation of the Gospel to the condition of the human family. In every age, the larger portion of mankind have been in a subordinate condition. If men, therefore, are not faithful in subordinate stations, society must be in perpetual jar and confusion. Heads of fami- lies, contractors, manufacturers, tradesmen, farm- ers, all are dependent on those in subordinate sta- tions, and it is faithfulness alone that keeps the wheels of society in motion. And such obedience as is here required, alleviates the feeling of infe- riority or degradation, which a proud heart is apt to feel, by keeping before the mind the noble ob- ject of doing every thing for Jesus Christ, If a person is under the necessity of being a servant, it is pleasant to act for one who is generous, kind, faithful, and interested in his welfare. All this he finds in Jesus Christ.
In these directions, we perceive that God clear- ly requires subordination and submission to author- ity, on account of the station, and not with refer- ence to personal character. If a person is em- ployed by another, he is bound to submit to his di- rections in all lawful things, whatever may be his character or conduct.
We see also the wonderful adaptation of the Gospel to alleviate the miseries of slavery, by se-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 3J9
curing a course of conduct that wins the good will and cultivates the conscience of the master.
After having enjoined upon those who are serv- ing others, to discharge their duties faithfully, the Apostle next turns to their employers, and points out their duties. And, in the first place, it is de- clared that the relation of employer and those em- ployed is not one of mere pecuniary interest, which can be discharged by the performance of the money contract. The servants are required to act with sincerity, fidelity, and single-heartedness, for the good of their employer, and then, on the other hand, the employer is required "to do the same things unto them." The relation is a moral one, constituted between individuals in this world, as parts of a great plan of moral influence, to form characters for eternity. Every man who has ano- ther in his employ, exerts a powerful influence over him in all his actions, and is bound to exert it in obedience to God.
Not only the heads of families and masters of clerks and apprentices, but contractors on canals and railroads, stage proprietors, and all those who employ others in trade, manufactures, agriculture, or commerce, have great responsibilities resting upon them, for the character and actions of those who are committed to their care. The civil law holds men responsible for the acts of those they employ. And thus God holds the employer respon- sible for the conduct of those under his control
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The fourth command expressly recognizes this ob- ligation, in reference to the Sabbath day. Employ- ers, then, are bound to see that a right religious influence is exerted on all in their employ, to in- struct them in their families, to guard their morals in the shop, store, or fields, to persuade or require them to attend public worship, to furnish them with a Bible and religious books, to converse with them personally on their temporal and eternal in- terests ; in short, to act like one to whom the formation of character for eternity has been com- mitted.
In doing this, they are required to be kind and patient, " forbearing threatening, knowing that your Master is in heaven." Those whom we em- ploy are to be treated with tenderness, as sinful beings, and liable to temptations like ourselves. Allowances are to be made for previous unfavora- ble circumstances, and for consequent mistakes of ignorance. Many, in this respect, are exceeding- ly unreasonable, finding fault for unavoidable mis- takes, and having little patience with just such sinful tempers as they themselves indulge every day.
Bear in mind one rule, in dealing with those whom you employ. Act towards them as you tcould wish your Master in heaven to act toivards you.
Expect always to find some failings in thejn, and bear them with patience and kindness. Labor
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 321
to eradicate their faults, and remember that you are ever responsible for your moral influence over them.
Treat them with politeness, and thus secure, by the surest method, respectful treatment from them. It is not enough that you pay them their wages, you are bound to labor to do them good. Hence, be not harsh in reproving, and avoid threatening. It only provokes to wrath, and leads to resistance. Be kind and sympathizing, and show the same in- terest in their welfare which you wish them to show in yours.
Give to them that which is just and equal. Pro- vide comfortable accommodations for lodging and a proper supply of healthful food. Those whom you employ are as much entitled to kind treat- ment in this respect, as your own family. Pay them a full and proper compensation for their la- bor. There is a great selfishness in this respect exhibited in society, grinding the face of the poor, by beating down wages to the lowest rate. For- eigners, sempstresses, and many others, suffer in this way.
Pay your wages punctually and in current funds. The wages of the poor is their daily bread. The Jewish law required every man to pay his laborers at sunset. There is much suffering occasioned by thoughtlessness and inattention in this matter; for what may seem a small matter to the wealthy, is of great importance to the poor. In regard to
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current money, some men will purchase poor mo- ney, at a discount, and then pay their laborers with it. This is shameful. The poor laborer has but little, and that little should bring its full value. Always strive to satisfy those you employ in this respect.
The motive urged upon the employer is, " know- ing that you have a Master in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him."
Your Master is no respecter of persons, and the day of reckoning is not far distant. He will not ask whether you were master or servant; he will only examine the fidelity with which you dis- charged your duties. In his sight, all are equally servants, appointed each to particular duties, and required to occupy till he come. Then, he will judge you by the same rule that tries your servant, and with what judgment you judge you will be judged, and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again. In view of this subject, we see the bearings of such precepts on the sub- ject of slavery. They show it to be a system of fraud and injustice. The cry of laborers, who reap down the fields, crieth against the master, who keeps back their wages. The faithful discharge of the reciprocal duties of master and servant here laid down, would annihilate the institution of slavery. The slave would become a cheerful, obe- dient, faithful laborer, and thus gain the respect and affection of the master. The master would
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 323
feel that before Christ, who is no respecter of per- sons, he is on the same level as his slave, and would treat him as a man and a brother, and pay him fairly the worth of all his labor. When this is done, a legal title is of no value, and would speed- ily be relinquished. Thus it was that slavery was abolished in the Roman empire, in about two cen- turies, by the spread of Christianity.
WRITTEN ON THE APPROACHING DEATH OF HIS FIRST-BORN CHILD.
Psalm xxxix. 9. — I teas dumb and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it.
This psalm was written by David in a time of great affliction. God had laid his hand upon him, and made him to feel deeply his own weakness, and the vanity of life. It is probable that he was suffering under a severe disease, for, in the elev- enth verse he says, " When thou with rebukes dost correct man for his iniquity, thou raakest his beau- ty to consume away like a moth ; surely, every man is vanity ;" and in the last verse, he prays, " Oh, spare me, that I may recover strength, be- fore I go hence and be no more." In the midst of this de6p affliction, he expresses his perfect, un- murmurinof submission to the will of God : '' I
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was dumb and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it."
The sentiment conveyed in this passage, and which I wish to set before you, is this :
The consideration, that affiictions come from the hand of God, should make the Christian submit to them leith cheerful resignation.
This will appear, if we consider the character and attributes of God, and contrast them with our own.
In the first place, it is to be considered that God is perfectly benevolent.
His works and his word equally declare this. He is the fountain of life and happiness, from which flow the streams that gladden the hearts of all living beings. He lives but to dispense joy to other minds. His exhaustless resources are ade- quate to the supply of every creature throughout eternity. Standing as the source and centre of all being, and their only point of rest, he surveys with infinite delight the happiness he is dispensing and purposes yet to dispense through eternity. From his own infinite fulness, he will pour out streams of happiness that shall spread and deepen till they form an ocean of blessedness encircling the uni- verse.
Now, when we contemplate our interests in the hands of such a Being, who can fear, who can complain? The child reposes with confidence in the limited affection of its parents, and feels no
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 325
doubt or fear. But what is parental tenderness compared to the love of God '? A woman may for- get her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the fruit of her womb, but God will not forget his people. He has graven them on the palms of his hands, ihey are as the apple of his eye. Such being the benevolence of God, what reason is there for uncomplaining submission to his chastisements. Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil 1 For we know that this which appears to us as evil, is only one means of securing for us a greater good.
It is not the expression of unkind, or vindictive feeling. God, in his chastisements, does not smite in wrath, but in love. He doth not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men ; but as a fa- ther pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he re- membereth that we are dust. If, therefore, we endure chastening, God dealeth with us as with sons. He is endeavoring to make us partakers of his holiness, and the chastisement is as strong a proof of his love, as the abundance of his favors in prosperity. How then does the consideration of the perfect benevolence of God, change the as- pect of our afflictions ! We can submit cheerfully to what is painful, when we know that it is the effect of love, and not of cruelty or wrath. We can look up through our tears, and read in our 15*
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Father's face the expressions of affection and pity and tenderness.
When we contemplate the character of God, as unfolded in the person of Christ, this aspect of tenderness is heightened in beauty.
He stood by the grave of one beloved, and while he saw the deep anguish of friends, although he knew he could and should soon relieve it, he wept with them. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.
In all our afflictions he is afflicted, and the an- gel of his presence saves us and sustains us. He was compassed with infirmity, and subject to sor- row, that he might convince us that he could sympathize with us and would never unneces- sarily afflict or grieve.
If any higher proof were wanting, than the de- clarations of our God, that he never inflicts suffer- ing upon his creatures willingly, we have it in the atonement of Christ. Here the full-orbed com- passion and love of God shines forth. Here, the ocean of his benevolence bursts its barriers and rolls its tides of mercy over a ruined world. And this mercy was purchased by the sufferings of our God.
That his creatures might not suffer he suffered ; that man might not weep he wept ; that sinners might not be punished the chastisement of our sins was laid on him, and by his stripes we are healed.
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 8*27
Can a Being whose love is so strong as to stoop to degradation and suffering and death to prevent the misery of others, willingly inflict pain upon them ? When we stand by the suffering Son of God, and see his agony and hear his groans, and know that all this was to prevent the suffering of men, is it not enough to silence every rising mur- mur, and to check every word of complaint ? Can such a Being make us suffer unnecessarily ? No, he cannot, I know that when he smites me, it is love that prompts it, and 1 bow and kiss the rod as the symbol of his affection.
When I look at the perfect benevolence of my God, I feel assured that there is not one drop of bitterness in my cup which could be removed without injury to myself. I know that when I am permitted to stand before him in heaven, and hear the explanation of his providential acts toward me, none will shine with brighter lustre, or awaken emotions of deeper gratitude, than the afflictions with which he visited me on earth. Therefore, when smitten I will be dumb and open not my mouth, O God, because thou doest it.
Again, when we contemplate God as a Being of infinite wisdom, the reason for perfect submission is increased.
We might be assured of the good intentions of a person, who by great error in judgment, had in- volved us in deep suffering; but though we might free him from blame, we could not rejoice in his
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conduct. We must be satisfied, not only that the sufferings that befall us are sent by infinite love, but we must also be sure that wisdom has rightly directed them.
This assurance we have, when we look up to God. He is wise in heart, and sees with perfect clearness the end from the beginning.
He contemplates, not the present effect only of all events, but their bearings upon our happiness in all possible circumstances, and in all coming time.
He knows, with the minutest accuracy, the state of our hearts, and what means are best adapted to secure the result which his love desires.
A physician might comprehend the disease and yet not know how to reach and remove it; or he might have remedies, but be so ignorant of the real nature of the disease as to be unable to apply them judiciously. But it is not so with God. He sees every thought, every habit, every evil propen- sity that needs to be rectified ; and he has all possible means at his disposal, and knows how to apply them. With what willingness would we trust our bodies to a physician in whose know- ledge and skill we had entire confidence.
With what readiness should we take the most unpleasant remedies, when we were sure that they were exactly the thing to effect our cure. Now God is a perfect physician to all the diseases of the mind. He knows what part is affected ; whether
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 329
the heart is fixed too strongly on the world and needs to have its grasp relaxed, or whether pride has raised us up and rendered it necessary to humble us, or whether sloth has enervated and made it necessary to arouse us by sharp rebukes. And he sees exactly how to apply the remedy. He knows when to lay his hand upon us and prostrate us by sickness, when to take away our property and leave us destitute, or when to remove some object of affection, some loved companion, some darling child, some cherished support. In every case, we may be sure that God did not mistake the nature of our disease, nor did he misapply the rem- edy, nor did he make it more severe than was ne- cessary to effect the cure.
The remedies that are applied, too, are not to be transient in their results. They are adminis- tered with reference to their effects throughout our whole existence.
The eye of God rims through the whole course of our being in a future state, contemplates all the circumstances in which we shall ever be placed, understands perfectly what character will be neces- sary for our highest usefulness and happiness, and applies the means to prepare us for that station, and those employments to which he has destined us. Therefore, the apostle says, our light afflic- tion, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a fiir more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
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Thus afflictions, in their effects, are to compass eternity, and exalt our joys for ever.
When we contemplate, therefore, the unerring wisdom of God, we feel sure, that in nothing could our afflictions have been changed for the better.
They are exactly the thing we need. They come at the moment when it was best they should come. They extend to just that degree that renders them most fitting to secure their appropriate design.
But there is still another reason for unrepining submission to the afflictive providence of God, in ihe fact, that he is an almighty Being.
We are sure, when we look to him, that he has omitted nothing that was for our good, through weakness, or incapacity to perform it. His om- nipotence places him above all compulsion and all resistance. He doeth his will in the armies of heaven and over the inhabitants of earth, and none can stay his hand, or say to him. What doest thou ? Whatever his love prompts and his wisdom directs, his power can execute. No effort of ours, therefore, could have prevented the events that have occurred.
He is equally the Lord God omnipotent over mind and matter. The hearts of all are in his hand, and as the rivers of water, he turneth them whither he will ; so that he can cause the afflic- tions he sends to secure their appropriate re- sults. No suffering will be inflicted, without the
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 381
same love insuring that the good designed shall be secured.
All things shall work together for good to them who love God. This is his promise, and his pow- er renders it practicable at all times to accomplish it.
Now let us contrast this character of God with our own feeble, ignorant, and selfish character, and the duty and wisdom of patient submission will appear most conspicuous.
We are ignorant, short-sighted beings, and therefore utterly incompetent to decide what is best for our own present interest, much less what will be for our highest happiness through eternity.
We usually desire the course which will avoid present suffering.
When sickness has prostrated our strength, when we are racked with pain, and our intellect darkened by disease, we desire immediate relief We look not beyond, to see the moral effects that are to result from this discipline, but, impatient of restraint, desire to regain our strength and enter upon our accustomed pursuits. If God should grant us our desire, it might be ruin to our souls, or greatly diminish our enjoyment through eter- nity.
A mother is sitting by her suffering, dying child. Every pang of the little sufferer inflicts se- verer pain upon herself. She longs to relieve it, she longs to retain it in life, to enjoy its society, to
332 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
train it up for happiness and usefulness. Her lim- ited wisdom would at once suspend the suffering, and restore the little one to health ; but the far- reaching vision of God sees that those sufferings of the infant and its death, are the very means by which the parents are to be sanctified, their useful- ness augmented, and their glory and joy increased through eternity.
God may see that to spare its life is to expose it to severer suffering, to destructive temptation, to endless death ; and, before the flower has begun to bloom, he transplants it to the paradise of heaven, where it shall grow and bloom and bear fruit for ever.
Who, then, when he reflects upon his utter ig- norance of his own wants and means of happiness, would wish to take the direction of events from the hand of God? Who would refuse to drink the cup of sorrow, as well as of joy, when he knows it is so wisely mingled ? Who would utter a com- plaint of any affliction, however painful, when he knows that, had it been otherwise, it would have produced less happiness to him, and less joy to God's holy universe 1
But, especially, who would wish to direct, or change the plans of God, when he thinks that they are plans affecting the complicated interests of un- numbered minds, throughout endless ages; when, under the guidance of infinite wisdom, events ap- parently the most trivial here, are necessary links
REV. GEORGE BEECIIER. 333
in a chain of glorious blessings, reaching through eternity; when to alter in one point the providen- tial events affecting a single individual, may di- minish the happiness of multitudes for ever?
Confidence and submission are the states of mind most appropriate to a created being.
His nature is adapted to the constant exercise of these feelings, and in no other way do all his pow- ers blend in such sweet harmony.
When a finite being sets himself to scan and di- rect the plans of God, he is soon involved in inex- tricable labyrinths. He sees around him causes operating, which he cannot control, the workings of a plan which he cannot comprehend, and whose results he cannot alter or resist. If he measures his confidence in its author by what he sees, he is endlessly perplexed. Doubts and fears harass him, and yet he feels that he cannot help himself. Whether events, to him, move on right or wrong, he cannot stay their progress. A power, as irre- sistible as that which moves the planets, is control- lino- all, and bringing forth results whose bearings he cannot comprehend. In such circumstances, a spirit repining, or resisting, or one which vvill not be satisfied till the reason of every thing is under- stood, must be miserable. Man was made to sub- mit to God and confide in him. The responsibility of controlling the movements of Providence, he is not fitted to bear, and if he assumes it, he will be crushed. But when he gives up questioning the
334 BIOGRAPHICAL REMAINS OF
propriety of the acts of Providence, when he ceases to assume the direction of events, when he stills every rising murmur, and quietly submits himself and all his interests to the direction of God, he enters anew world. Because he has taken the position for which his Creator fitted him, peace, like a river, fills his soul. His weakness is adapted to rely upon Omnipotence. His ignorance needs an infi- nitely wise Being upon whom to confide, and he is happy, because he rests upon one whose attributes meet the wants of his nature, whose resources sup- ply him in the points where he himself is most de- ficient.
This afi'ords him perfect quietness, because it relieves him from all responsibility in devising plans, or controlling the results afiecting his pres- ent and eternal interest. It brings him where he has nothing to do but learn the will of God and obey it, with the full assurance that in this course lie will secure perfect happiness. It places him where his weakness and ignorance instinctively prompt him to desire to be placed, where his wants are supplied and his happiness cared for, by one whose wisdom and power and love infinitely surpass his own, and where, like a child, he may rest upon his parent.
The effect of this course of unmurmuring sub- mission, shows that it was that to which man was adapted by his Creator, and proves clearly that there is a natural fitness in a finite beino- submit-
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 335
ting without a murmur to a Being of infinite wis- dom and love and power.
Where men have refused to do it, and plunged into the depths of proud philosophy, attempting to mark out the course which the Creator ought to pursue, they have found no end, in wandering mazes lost. The actual course of Providence so crossed the prescribed plans, which, in their wis- dom, they had dictated, that they have been driven from point to point, without rest, and at length in- volved themselves in the thick mists of skepticism, or the deep darkness of infidelity. The events of God's providence, contemplated through the medi- um of a proud and unhumbled spirit, present a map as involved and inexplicable as the perplexed and intricate courses of the planets, to the philo- sopher who understood not the true system of astronomy. There are some events which God explains to us and unfolds the reasons of them ; but there are innumerably more, which man cannot comprehend, and where he can only find peace by resting with confidence in God. To the eyes of a Voltaire, the world presented a perfect maze of inexplicable events, making him cry out against God, and curse himself, and wish that he had never been born. To a Payson, it was a beautiful system, because in every thing he saw the opera- tions of an infinitely wise God, some of whose plans he could comprehend, but all of whose ways he could confidently trust, and wait their full devel-
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opment in a future world, sure that he would bring light out of darkness, and order out of confusion.
Thus, every Christian finds, that w^hen he sub- nnits implicitly to God, peace, passing all under- standing, fills his soul. He is assured of happiness, because a God of infinite wisdom and love is on the throne. He has no anxiety, for he has cast all his care on God. Every event ministers joy, be- cause God hath done it.
So the penitent sinner finds it, when he first sub- mits himself to God. Before, every thing in the character and works of the Creator was involved in darkness. His attributes inspired him with terror. He had no peace. But when he uncon- ditionally surrendered himself to him, when he ceased to question the justice and benevolence of his plan, when he became dumb and opened not his mouth, because he felt that God had done right, then his soul was filled with holy joy. Then he had assumed his appropriate place, as a depend- ent, ignorant being, and found rest by committing all his interests to the protection of an infinite God.
How can it be otherwise than this ? God exists clothed with attributes that place him beyond the power of any, or all created beings, to affect him, or change his plans. He has designs which he is able to accomplish, and which, with irresistible certainty, he is rolling on to their full completion. To resist is destruction. To be dissatisfied is to
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 337
be for ever restless under their progress and final triumph.
But when we have given up all our plans, when our interests are merged in those of God, when our will is subject to his, and our happiness is found in his glory, then we are certainly and un- changeably happy. No event can then annoy, for all things are parts of his great plan, and from them all he will still educe good. No plan of his can interfere with our good, for every plan has for its object the distribution of the highest possible amount of happiness to every obedient mind. Our interests, therefore, with those of myriads of other holy beings, are the very object for which God is acting. Strong as are the movements of his be- nevolence, is his design to bless us, with all others who repose in him. Sure as the throne of God, is our happiness, for infinite wisdom and almighty power are employed in securing it. What though events may take place that we cannot now under- stand, we know they are for our good? What though, in the progress of God's plans, ours are broken up ? When we gave ourselves to God, we expected to relinquish all our own plans and merge them in his, and w^e are not disappointed. We are just as sure that those parts of his system which cross our present feelings, are for our good, as those which accord with them. Till you can de- feat the plans of God, you cannot annihilate the sources of happiness of him whose mind is thus
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staid on God. His own interests are secondary- God's are first, and most to be desired ; and when God is satisfied, he is happy. When the designs of God are accomplished, his highest interests are secured.
We see, therefore, the first and m.ost necessary ingredient to a life of perfect happiness, is an ab- solute, unqualified, unmurmuring submission to the will of God.
This is the only way to find support in affliction. Nothing can soothe the bed of sickness, but a sweet confidence in God, and submission to his will.
Nothing can sustain under bereavement of friends, but the full surrender of all our interests to the entire disposal of God. Then, it matters not what results may happen — they are parts of God's plan, having reference to the welfare of his chil- dren, and the soul can rejoice in them even when its own individual wishes and plans seem to be sacrificed.
We see, further, how great an obligation is im- posed upon one who has been afflicted, to give up himself and all his interests, to the disposal of God.
An event has occurred, under the direction of God, which is designed to have a direct and spe- cific bearing on his particular case. It is not, like the other influences, which are a general pro- vision equally designed for all, but a particular event, sent directly to one individual, for one pur- pose.
REV. GEOllGE BEECHER. 339
Its application cannot be mistaken, its design cannot be misapprehended.
God intended it as his own particular call upon that heart. He found that the ordinary events of his providence were not sufficient to raise the soul above the ensnaring influences of the world, and in his infinite wisdom and love, he has sent that which, of all means, is best adapted to release the heart from the grasp of earth, and raise it to heaven.
Whoever here present has been afflicted, it is the voice of thy Father to thee, calling thee to re- turn and seek thy happiness in him. He has dashed thy hopes, embittered thy joys, shaded thy prospects, that you may turn from the failing foun- tains of earth, and drink from the water of life that floweth from the throne of God and the Lamb.
Return, O wanderer, return !
Thy Father calls for thee ; No longer now an exile roam,
In guilt and misery.
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Extract from the Scioto Gazette of July 6th, 1843.
DEPLORABLE CASUALTY AND DEATH.
A GENERAL gloom pcrvadcs our city to-day, owing to the sudden, unexpected, and shocking casualty, by which one of our most respected, en- terprising, and useful citizens was instantly de- prived of life.
About eight o'clock this morning the Rev. George Beecher, pastor of the second Presbyterian Church, in this city, was accidentally killed, as described in the finding and verdict of a coroner's jury, of which the following is a copy :
State of Ohio, Ross County.
We, the jury, having been duly sworn and af- firmed, by John R. Tucker, Esq., coroner of said county, diligently to inquire, and true presentment make, in what manner the Rev. George Beecher, whose body was found this morning in the garden of his late residence in Chillicothe, came to his death, after having heard the evidence, and upon full inquiry concerning the facts, and a careful ex- amination of the said body, do find as follows, to wit :
That the deceased, on the morning of this day, went into his own garden where his body was found, with a short double-barreled shot gun, with common flint lock, and which belonged to himself,
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 341
for the purpose of shooting birds, which were gathering his fruits and buds ; that he made one shot at the birds from one of the barrels of the gun, that the other barrel was loaded with powder and shot, and that in a short time afterwards (between five and ten minutes) he raised the barrel of said gun to his mouth, for the purpose, it is believed, of blowing into the empty barrel of the gun, at which time, and during which act, the barrel M'hich was loaded accidentally went off, discharging its whole contents in at the left corner of his mouth, the shot passing obliquely upward through the brain and skull, and out through his hat, causing instant death. And we, the jurors aforesaid, upon our oath, do find and say, that on the morning of this first day of July, A. D. 1843, at Chillicothe, in the county of Ross, the whole contents of one of the barrels of a gun loaded with powder and leaden shot, were, by mere accident and casualty, and in the manner aforesaid, discharged into the head of the said George Beecher, passing through the brain ' and skull, by means of which said discharge into his head as aforesaid, the said George Beecher then and there instantly died. Given under our hands this first day of July, 1843.
R. DOUGLAS, Foremaiu J. S. ATVVOOD,
A. CARLISLE, J. LIGGETT,
Dr. C. a. TRIMBLE, J. P. CAMPBELL,
R. W. DEMING, Dr. V^^M. WADDLE,
Dr. J. COATS, S. W. ELY,
A. PEARSON, Db. \VM. FULLERTON.
16
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By this most lamentable accident, our commu- nity has lost a member who, within the brief pe- riod of three years, (being about the time he has resided here,) has done more than any other indi- vidual towards the improvement of our city, and has also been instrumental in furthering the cause of morality and religion, to a degree equalled by few.
In the very flower and prime of life he has been suddenly cut down, just as it seemed to his friends, judging in the blindness of human prescience, he had got ready to live. • Mr. Beecher was unusually ardent in the furtherance of any work which his hands found to do, and many there are who will, at the mention of his honored name, " rise up and call him blessed."
The Court of Common Pleas, holding their June session in this city, adjourned, through respect to the deceased, when a meeting was called, of which the Hon. Thomas Ewing was chosen Chairman, and John L. Green, Esq., Secretary. After the appointment of a committee to report suitable re- solutions, the meeting adjourned till two o'clock, P. M. At that hour, a great number of persons convened, and resolutions, eloquently representing the sentiments of the community on the afflictive event, were offered by R. Douglas, Esq., which were unanimously adopted. Mr. Douglas made some appropriate remarks.
At three o'clock this afternoon, a funeral sermon
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 343
was preached by the Rev. Mr. Woodrovv, after which the remains of our friend, in charge of his afflicted widow, were conveyed towards Putnam, at which place it is designed to inter them.
The following is an official copy of the proceed- ings of the meeting above alluded to.
At a meeting of the citizens of Chillicothe and strangers present, assembled to consider of their mournful bereavement, in the sudden death of the Rev. George Beecher, and to consider of such measures as may be proper and expressive of their sense of this afflicting event, by motion of R. Doug- las, Esq., the Hon. Thomas Ewing was called to the Chair, and John L. Green was appointed Secre- tary, On motion of Allen G. Thurman, Esq.,
Resolved, That a committee of three be ap- pointed by the Chair to prepare and report to the meeting resolutions appropriate to the occasion.
Whereupon, the Chair announced Messrs. Wil- liam Creighton, Richard Douglas, and Allen G. Thurman, Esquires, such committee. Mr. Doug- las, from the committee appointed for that pur- pose, reported the following preamble and resolu- tions, which were unanimously adopted :
Whereas, it has pleased an all-wise Providence suddenly to take from us, in the midst of life and health, our late respected citizen, the Rev. George Beecher ; and as this meeting is desirous of ex- pressing to the family and friends of the deceased,
344 BlOGRAl'HICAL. REMAINS OF
its deep concern for the affliction which has so sud- denly befallen them ; therefore,
Resolved, That we sympathize with the friends and family of the deceased, in their so late and sud- den bereavement, and offer to them our deepest condolements upon this sorrowful event.
Resolved, That, in view of the sound and ar- dent mind of the deceased, and his untiring labors in the field of moral and religious reform, we con- sider his loss to this community as a public ca- lamity.
Resolved, That, as a further mark of respect, we recommend to the members of the different pro- fessions, and all others so disposed, to wear crape on the left arm for thirty days.
Resolved, That a copy of the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman and Secre^ tary, and sent to the family of the deceased, and also published in the different newspapers of this city.
Thomas Ewing, Chairman
John L. Green, Secretary.
The following resolutions, copied from the Rochester N. Y. Democrat, were passed on Sab- bath afternoon, the 9th inst., by the members and
t
REV. GEORGE BEECHER. 'M5
congregation of the Presbyterian Church in that city, of which Mr. Beecher was pastor, previous to his removal to Chillicothe, in consequence of the announcement from the pulpit, of the melancholy intelligence of his death, by casualty :
Resolved, That the members of this church have heard with deep sorrow, the affecting tidings of the death of their late beloved pastor, the Rev. George Beecher, and they tender to the widow and other relatives of the deceased, and to the church to which he ministered, their heartfelt sympathy, in the heavy affliction, which, in the course of an in- scrutable Providence, they are called to endure.
Resolved, That in the death of this beloved ser- vant of Christ, the church has lost an active, de- voted, and successful minister, and the world a man, prominent for his intellectual powers and acquirements, and his high moral worth.
Resolved, That th^ preceding resolutions be en- tered on the records of the church, and that the pastor be requested to transmit a copy of them to the widow of the deceased, and the Second Pres- byterian Church of Chillicothe.
THE END.