The weekly standard., 1870-07-13

mluSter-DIckenS' Religious LlIe-dls
Hafts of Eating and DrInking-His
Deah Ascribed to Indulgence in Drink.
ReylMr. Fulton delivered discourse at
Tremdt Temple, yesterday morning, upon
the lessons drawn from the death of
Charld Dickens" taking for his text the
tenth &apter of Hebrews and the thirty
first veee-" 1t is a fearful thing to fall into
the hafls of the living God" In his in
trodudiry remarks, he said it was ques
tion wfther note of warning should not
issue tom the Evangelical pulpit, and
whethd from recent events the drift of
Evangelical Christianity was not against
Christ. After referring to the many excel
lent qIlities in Mr.. Dickens, in bringing
to ligh numerous evils, which made him
almost universal favorite, Mr.. Fulton said
In re!atbn to his death The feast at which
he sat Vas. s..disturbed by the shadow of Gods
hand, tlan by shadowy hand. Does it
not becIme us to ponder the lesson taught
The auAor has gone to his reward, and we
knew n3thing beyond this vale but who
can fail to ask in the light of coming
Judgment, how much greater would have
been our satisfaction had he devoted his
nobler powers to furthering the interests of
thsycapse of his Divine. Master. 1t was
hdt while d brher nstlle pulpit had
arfmsFd' Mr. Dickens, sothers have made
this death, and the honest Treatment of the
event, an occasion for seeking to obtain
popular favor by claiming that the man was
Christian, and that Heaven was his home
About this we are not to argue. 1t is neither
aduty nor privilege to prove who are
lost. tits botha a duty and a privilege to
point the way to Jesus Christ, by whom
alone salvation is possible to men. If it is
neither duty nor privilege to prove
that a man judged by his life, died
without hope, it is more than a
mistake for any man who takes Chnst's
gospel for authority thauRto intimate that
death frees man from Human error, deliv-
ers him from the bondage of sin, and per-
mitshim to walk the realms of light. The
death of Christ for the sinner, not the death
of the sinner, is the ground for hope" In
further remarks on this point, it was said
that We were sure that the judgement of
God is saccording to the truth against those
who commit ungodliness. and unrighteOus-
ness, and also that others were sure Of it, else
why was every infidel, anti-Christian Press
tian? Their very zeal proved that all their
mockcry at Christianity was delusion
which never deluded them Many see that
it is Of the first, aye, of infinite Importance
that Mr. Dickens have something 10 support
him after death other than his genius and
fame. He stands naked before his God.--
With what is he clothed upon? Nothing
wrought by himself will answer. The blood
ofChrist alone cleanseth from all sin. In his
last note, written the day before his death,
Mr.. Dickens said Il have always striven in
my writings to express veneration for the
life and lessons of our Saviour" This is
we'll Did he rest his hope Of salvation in
the finished work of Christ? This is the
question of questions. Who can answer it?
All ought to be able to answer it. Il was
the duty OF Charles Dickens 10 confess Christ
as much as it was the duty Of Whitefield, or
Judson,, all of whom have been saved Well
and truly has it been said il he accepted the
offers ofsalvation made TO every poor sin
ner, as some humbly hope he did, he was
saved; if not, not God is not the slave of
his creatures. A father is no more tender to-
ward a brilliant son than 81 dull one. In the
utterances of such truths it was claimed
that the ministers of Christ appreciate the
excellencies of character ofthe great genius,
and in the light of Scripture bewai the con
dition of the great soul which chose fortune,
fame, position, the applause of mankind, to
the cross of Christ. As a man he lived and
wrought for II certain purpose He was never
a partisan nor Il fanatic. He lived with an
eye single to a certain work. He said, Il
have Always bad and always shall haYc an
earnds< andh true desire to contiibutc,
as far as in me lies, to the common stock
of healthful cheerfulncss and enjoyment
l believe that virtue shows as well in rags
and patches as she docs in purple and fine
linen. believe that she and every beauti-
full object in eternal nature claims some SYM
patty in the breast of the poorest man who
breaks his scanty loaf CT bread" That
faith enobled and glorificd his life He has
walked II path peculiarly his own. Empires
have risen and fallen. Revolutions have
rocked continents and shaken society to the
very centre, but he has paid little heed
to them. Liberty was on the cross, and he
turned his face away and paid her no dcyo-
ton. The hopes of freedom were cloudcd
in America, the land that loved him most,
but he needed it not. He kept on his way.
He wrought at his old task He did his
his work in such ii way that infdels, the
intemperate, the proianr, the lovers of
pleasures, all found in him iayorite. He
was Oh the mountain peak Of his emincnce.
His pen was still busy with creation which
was literally opened to the eye of all the
world each week, and while there, in sight
of all men, in the midst of his greatness,
God took him. He died and gave no sim.
The cause of his death is no mystery. AS
has been said He worked to hard and
lived too fast" We can read of his habits
of life, temperate, and even abstinent, from
break last to half an hour before dinner this
was his working time. Four hours work
and four hours field vas the rule of his
working life. He took brandy and seltzer
before dinner, drank, as nearly everybody in
England, sherry wine with his meals, and
port at dessert; sat long at table; enjoyed
his cigar; spent an hour i'll the drawing
room ut the conclusion of the evening, and
then, returning to bis study, read, smoked,
and slipped brandy and water till his bed
time Latterly, says one who knew him
well, his habits became more confirmed. He
drank more often His liquors were OF the
choicest kinds and wines of rarest vintage
were stored in his cellar at Gad's Hill.
Highly spiced beverages came to be liked,
and he was vain of his skill in compound
ing them. He was never drunk, but he
cnioyed life If any man was safe in indul-
gence, it was Charles Dickens; yet indul
gence in drink killed him.
Abstinence and rest might have given him
two decades more of life He tried these
year ago, and at that time staved off the
threatened attack. but his old habits of lite
and work returned More fuel was required
to keep up the fame. His thoughts came
not to him as of yore. Love was dying out !;
the wife of his bosom and the mother of
his children lived apart from him because
| his wife's sister lived too near him und
shared too many Of his thoughts. He had
no religious support. He seldom, if ever,
went to church, never kept himself sacred,
never affiliated with religious people, but
lived without hope in the world. He was
conscious oil his needs. 1t is said that let
tiers to his wife evidenced it, though she saw
him not when dead or when buried. 1t is
sad life and mourniul history. The Ian
guage of Rev. Mr.. Murray, upon the death
OF Dickens was quoted by Mr.. Fulton, TO
this effect: Z" Farewell, gentle spirit Thou
was not perfect until now. Thou didst have
thy passions and thy share of human errors !;
but death hast freed thee Now thou art no
longer trammelled Thou art delivered out
of thy bondage and thy spirit walks in
glory" In commenting upon this, he said :
"To keep silence in the face of such an ut
terance is to deny Christie make his death
of no avail. Alas, that this should have
been written. The consequences none can
foresee. Letit go forth uncontradicted by
the evangelical pulpit that death frees from
sin-a position from which Rome shrinks
and Unversalism rejects, and by action il
not by speech, by silence if not by sound,
do my bart toward making sinful man be
licve that Heaven is the addcnda of Il life o1
pleasure, rather than a possession secured
by the.Son of God. 1t is false in theory as
in fact. As tree falls so it lies, and every
tree which bringeth forth not good fruit is
hewn down and cast into the fire." Tht