The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1830-11-10
RELIGIOUS INDIFFERENcE

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The indifference to religion which so gen
orally prevails, especially among those VIII
are raised little above the vulgar throno
and the unhallowed propensities and vicious
! practices to which it gives rise-are owing
in considerable degree, to the want of :,
jul CONNECTION of the reality of a future ex
istence, or to some doubts which hover abou
the mind, in relation to this important point
There is no man, however sensible to thu
obligations of religion, that can fully salts
fy his own mind, or the minds of others
that the idea of future world Is a mere
chlmera. On the contrary, the possibility
and even the probability, of the truth O
mans eternal destiny, will at certain sea
sons, force themselves upon the minds even
OF the most careless and profane. Yet it is
amazing to consider, with what ease and
Indifference multitudes of this description
can glide down the stream of time, unde
the awful uncertainty whether it will land
them in the shades of annihilation. the
realms of bliss, or the regions of eternal
woe.
Between US and these three periods OF
states, says celebrated French writer, no
barrier is interposed but life, the most brit
tie thing in all nature and the happiness
OF Heaven being certainly not designed for
those who doubt whether they have an i'm
mortal part to enjoy it, such persons have
nothing left, but the miserable chance of
humiliation or of hell. There is not any
reflection which can have more reality than
this, as there is none which has greater
terror.
Let us set the bravest face on our condi-
ton, and play the hero as artfully as we can,
yet see here the issue which attends the
goodliest life upon earth 1t is in vain for
men to turn aside their thoughts from this
eternity which awaits them, as ifthey were
able to destroy it, by denying it a place in
their imagination. 1t subsists IN spite OF
them it advances unobserved and death
which is to draw the curtain from it, will, in
in short time, infallibly reduce them 10 the
dreadful necessity of being forever nothing,
or forever miserable.
To treat subject, so interesting and so
momentous, with levity and indifference-to
exert all the energies of the soul in the
pursuit of OBJECTS, which few years at
most will snatc!h. for ever from their en-
brace and never to spead one serious hour
in rejecting on what may possibly succeed
the present scene of existence, or in en-
deavorIng to find some light, to CIGAR ID
the doubts that hang over this important
inquiry, and to treat with derison and
scorn those who would direct them in this
serious Investigations not only foolish
and preposterous, but the height of infatua-
ton and madness. 1t is contrary to every
principle on which reasonable men act in
relation TO the affairs of the present world
To retain the profits of lucrative business,
or to prevent the loss of fortune, or of honor,
man will sometimes strain every nerve,
stretch every faculty, deprive himself of
sleep, submit to numerous privations, en-
counter the raging elements, and brave the
dangers of the ocean. Nay, he will often
be overwhelmed with dependency at the
slightest Inconvenience, and will pass
whole weeks and months in sullenness and
chagrin, for an imaginary afront, or for the
loss of a few pounds, while at the same
time he remains perfectly Indifferent, and
without the least emotion, in regard to the
unknown scenes of the eternal world and
the danger of endless misery to which he
is exposed. Such u conduct, and such dis
positions, which are too frequently realized
in the case of thousands who occasionally
mingle in our religious assemblies, are OBJ
viously inconsistent with the dictates of
prudence and common sense, and with every
thing that ought to characterize a rational
and accountable creature.
When we look back into the ineXplora-
BILE abyss of that eternity which is already
past, when we look forward to the unmeas-
urahle extent and unfathomable depth of
eternity to come-when we behold Time,
and all its circling years, appearing only
like point on the surface of that vast and
boundless ocean; when we consider the
immense spaces OF the universe, with which
we are surrounded, and the innumerable
worlds which lie dispersed in every direc-
ton throughout the Unreasonable tracts OF
creation; when we consider that our en-
istence, as thinking beings, may run paral-
lei with nterminable ages and that in the
revolutions of eternity, we may exist in re-
gions of space immeasurably distant from
our present habitation, associate with other
orders of intelligent beings, and pass
through new scenes and changes in distan,
worlds-and when we consider that oul
relation to time may be dissolved, and oul
connexion with eternity commence, within
the space of few months or years, or ever
before the sun shall have described anoth
err circuit al ound the earth-no inquiry car
appear So lnuUleIlLOuS anu lUIeTeSlllS, Us
that which leads to the determination o
our future and eternal destiny, and of those
realities which await us beyond the tomb
To remain insensible TO the Importance o
such an enquiry, and unaffected at tht
prospect of the result to which il may lead
while we are feelingly alive to all The paltrJ
concerns and little ills of life-would argue
the most unaccountable stupidity, nconsis
tency, and infatuation.
The man whose heart pants after sub
stantiol knowledge and felicity, whose af
fections centre in the Author of his exist
ence, and who delights TO contemplate hi
character and projections, will enter will
pleasure on every investigation which ha
a tendency to throw light on the scene o
his future destination. He will weigh will
impartialty, every consideration, and viii
seize with delight upon every argument, b,
| which n full conviction of his immortal dos