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 tint; in a beat furnished with sails and oars, and
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 kby 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.

reason 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,