The National Register. — London, England, 1813-10-03 00:00:00

TIONAT THE N they ought to have their duty pointed out to them, &c. ; but the main rpoittt is to persuade them to follow it when it is pointed out, and this never will, never can be done effect ually, unless the heart is engaged. Vain are all that man's pretences to religion, who acquires first this virtuous habit, then that, and hi eaks tlnough the Lands of one vice, then another, for the sake of the trward :,ttached to vit tue, or to avoid the punishment and shame which follow vice, while a love of holiness and a detestation of sin are strangers to his beart : this, I am convinced. is the case of every one who can say his passions have no shale in forming and maintain ing ha religion—That the service of the heart alone is accept able with Ilim whom we arc made to serve, is' as manlest, as that the heart cannnt he at a!I affected but by means of the passions : surely then the passions we the proper objects to which religious discou , scs should be directed, and, al, course, these minlstets to lie preened who so direct them. had the Layman said (and I conceive he meant so to sav), that some passions beiing sinful, .are alwaNs at war with tea son, and that all may be cat t i-d to unreasonable excess, I should l ci fectly ha% e agi ccd with him tbe•ein ; but if the pas s ons are not to be addressed, because it is pcs ible that, wilt st excited, they may be carried to exec's, why, for the same season, ate We not bound to obey the rt«7ept of 'Ala brine?, and di ink no wire, bemuse drinking is sometimes caviled to exec ss also ? To et , deavour to set asif.le. the pas sions in relit!tous rnatter , , when, in fact, titers can be no sincere religion without them, would resemble the conduct of a man, who I tin t ; in a beat furnished with sails and oars, a nd in the midst of a ricer, the stream of which is so violent as to p:event his making much progrecs with the oars, would trevet airless, notwithstandit g there being a Lir sale at the time, keep the sails furled and endeavour to reeved by means of the oats alone, became, if perchance the gale inct Cos( el, the slits tnigl:t be torn, or be ro:ght be overset. If Oleic wet e a cota:act a little lower down the stream, and if ',WA unceasing !oil he rnu'd do little more than keela the boat stationary ; if Oleic were no means of escaping the dancer, but by proceeding some miles up the river, surely all would allow that not to hoist the sails for fear of an eventual danger, when there was no utter way to escape a eertain one, would he acting very foolish!y—lf some were ex horting him to exert himself more, and pointing out to bim any faults in h's manner of !owing, or encouraging him wi!h tile bore that when he got habituaied to it, the toil would seem less and he would proceed with more ease, -and advising him to pe'sist as he had begun, and not to li;se a thonght about the wind, because the gale (though at pre sent sufficiently strong to carry him forwards) might soon die amay, wind being an evanescent thing, and needing perpetual excitement in order to keep it up. Should any give such advice as this, it must be allowed that however kindly his advice was intended, and however solicitous such adviser might be, that the man should arrive in safety at the place desires, they gave (in compa!ison) unprofitable advice. Yet if any Minister, neglecting to apply to the passions of his auditors, delivers discourses addressrd ex- Iv to their understandings, pointing out their duty plainly and comprehensively in its every beating anti lati tude k by which 1 conceive moral discourses are meant) they cer7ainlv resemble the before mentioned advisers, their hear ers at ast the uneeliQ,litened part of them) being in an exactly s!milar case to the man in the boat. If then it is most consonant to reason that the passions could be the proper of religious diicour.eq, it is no less certain by the 'es, that the fiat flunders of Christiarsity so directed is true that the discourses of our Saviour are mostly for which I think a very satisfactory and conclusive REGISTER. OCT. 3. r eason may he giver). The Apostle Paul, who laboured so abundantly in the cause, and who was not a whit behind the yet y chiefest of the Apostles, most evidently took this course; it would be etn(hess to enumerate the pa , sages in his epistles which prove this : I shall only mention one in his second Epistle to the Corinthians, he informs them, that though he had been sorry that he had greved them by a letter, vet he rejoiced exceedingly when he braid what carefulness it wrought in them ; tiea what clearing of them selves ; yea, uhat indignation ; yea, what fear ; s ea, what vehement desire; vra, what zeal . ; yea, what revenge, &c. This I think is sufficient proof that Sr. Paul addressed hirn self to the passions, in which he acted in unison with the test of the Apostles, Sm. and I aver, that the discourses of a minister, though denominated Evangelical or even Presby terian, Independent or Bapti,t, are better calculated to set ye th:. cause of Christianity. and more likely to be conclusive to the be nefit of their hearers, than those addressed solely to the understanding. Ili: should be asked why tl eyareso? 1 answer, because the mind of man being naturally strongly inchned to seek for pleasure in present enjoyment tin which respect it fears a resemblance to the stream of the river), it requites strong motives to resist its natural course, which motives the understanding d es not usually afford, for a proof of which take one (at pleasure . ! from the crowd of the unenlightened or unconverted, which, as Fltuellen says, " is all one reckon ing, save that the phrase is a little variation," ask him if he always endeavours t.o make his moral conduct squat e with what even he conceives to be his ditty.. I would venture three to one Cif laving wagers in such a case is allowable), that if he answered candidly, he would allow, that he °fal indulged himself in things, he cmuld not justify by sound rea son. much less by the precepts of revelation, because I am convinced that three out of four, to name the,least odds, might with reason say—l idca weliora proloque—Deteriora Nevor. This: being the case, it is apparent, that endeavour ing to enlighten time understanding, however desirable and proper it may be, is not what is most requisite in a Minister, because with a great majority the understanding has already more light than it makes use of to gain the passions to the side of virtue and religion. By setting their rewards before the eyes of his hearers, and by representing to them the dangers of sin, to affright them from the broad-way, or to allure them to the narrow one, are clearly more - requisite than describing the various ramifications of moral duty. By what has been raid, I do not mean that reason is not to be attended to ; whatever some sectaries may affirm re specting reason having nothing to do with religion : such assertion I hold in the contempt it deserves, for though I am firmly convinced that the passions are absolutely necessary to carry us against the stream in the voyage of life (the stream we must go against if we would re.lch the desired. haven) yet it is no le,s necessary, that reason should bins the sails and guide the vessel if we would avoid shipwreck. I only wish to point out the proper office and employment of rea son ; for though the Stoic may ascribe his virtues to the dic tates of his reason or understanding, the Christian derives his from other causes ; gratitude to God makes him pious, trust in him makes him resigned in adversity, fear of offending him makes bhn moderate in prospe:ity, hope makes him pa tient in affliction, consciousness of undeserved benefits makes him charitable to others. Ste. Sre. Thus it is, that the vir tues of a Chi istian are founded on the passions, whilst it is reason's place to reign over and govern the whole to prevent piety from becoming superstition, resignation from degas.. nerating into insensibility, and to correct any effervencies which are contrary to its laws. I take the office of reason tub be this and not the acquirement of morality.. objects Scripture their t- ,it ethical, 1 1 1