Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-02-06
Tha,,.hts upon INTEGRITY.

There is an order of men IN the
profession Of the ministry. who have.
perhaps,, become more obuoxleus'
than almost any other description OF
public characters. All countries
forms Of government, and seets OF
religion, &c. join, more or less. 10
suspect or censure them. 1t is due
to religion, and to the characters OF
those gentlemen. to endeavor to trace
the cause Of such general suspicion
and censure. The common opinion
concerning them 1--WE know is, that
they are out Of Place-that they
have no business in courts. and In
the company ofstatesmen and lesIs-
Iators, &c. But do the good people
who entertain such an opinion, con,
slider its consequences? Has the gos-
pei any business where its ministers
have none! If ministers OF the sos-
mel have ne business in conrts, will
not christians fall under suspicion
there !? Shall the salt Of the earth
have no place 10 imperial and royal
residences p? Shall the light of the
gospel shine not in legislative halls,
&c? The Holy Scriptures favor no
such ideas. The great and good
characters of the Bible are. almost
all, public ones. Among those holy
men we find no hermits. Their vir-
tues AIDED not the light, nor shrunk
from the trial. The ancient pro-
phets may. in general. be considered
either in form, or in fact, as court
divines. Such was Moses, the ser
want of G0d-such were the 'seers
under the IsraeIitish commonwealth
such were the prophets. &c. under
the reseneies oflsraeI' and judah
such was Daniel-such was Saul OF
Tarsus and such was most OF the
Apostles and John the Baptist also.
These oil In their turn administered
the truth to the sovepeigns and go
|.vernments under whom they lived.
He who ate the little book vas COM
missioned to prophecy again before
kings.
Ifthose WHO are called court d.
vines are Justly offensive, their Of
fence should not be charged to place,
but to conduct: otherwise Prophets
and Apostles will be involved in the
general condemnation, and states
men be forever excluded from the
instructions Of gospel ministers. If
this aoiat can be established. several
others will be gained lin examin-
ing and reviewing tie characters Of
the ancient and modern ministers O.
religion. the comparison shouic prove
TO the disadvantage Of the latter. il
will nevertheless put them much
more upon a level with their cotem-
poraries. than they seem willing to
admit. None but public characters
can have their integrity fairly and
fully tested. In no situation is the
integrity Of a minister ofthe gospel
nut to SO severe a test, as in courts
and in the company of statesmen.-
Men, in such circumstances, may be
considered as in the crucible. He
vino bears such trial, is as gold tri-
cd in the fire. Had We no examples
6fmodern divines living in the pur-
Iicus ofcourts, to compare with the
old prophets, &c. We should not, per-
haps, be able to form a correct idea
of the Integrity Of those holy men,
and the loss the world sustains
for the want Of their like
| IL. it is true, that the most Of
these divlnes, whose integrity has
been tested by court influence. have
been found wanting !; what exalted