Religious Faith the safeguard and consolation of Man. all-gracious Redeemer? Perhaps you think this a very intrusive question, which you may be allowed to evade. You may say, we live in happier times, and the Almighty is pleased not to put our faith to a test so severe. But, the professor of Christ, who will be accounted worthy of his final benediction, should hold himself prepared for privation, affliction, persecution. The word, which is sown in the heart of him, who is not so prepared, has taken no root it had no depth of soil to quicken it. He is the person signified in the parable of the sower, who receiveth the seed into stoney places. He heareth the word, says our blessed Master, and with joy receiveth it; but, having no root in himself, when persecution and tribulation ariseth, because of the word, by and by he is offended. He is weary of his course, gives up the combat of faith, and fails of the prize that was set before him. The faithful follower of Christ must be ready and willing to take up his cross; if it be necessary for the honour of his name, and the maintainance of his religion. "Certain it is the true religion in this country has Religious Faith the safeguard and consolation of Man. has enjoyed a long season of peace; and, I believe, it is a truth, which the enemies of the church will not deny, that, in proportion to its prosperity, it has cherished the spirit of toleration. All, that named the name of Christ, have been allowed to preach their peculiar doctrines in their own places of worship, for the instruction of their followers; and no impediment has been opposed to the circulation, of their various and conflicting tenets, through the medium of the press, among any part of the British public. Even infidelity has not been molested, so long as its opinions were put forth with no evidence of a design to propagate error, or create mischief, and were addressed to the learned and judicious. For,* the faithful minister of Christ, like his divine master, seeks to enlighten and direct, not to force and overpower, the understanding of man. Christianity is throughout a rational religion, rational as it is divine; and for the acceptation of its divine testimony, it appeals to the divine faculty of reason. So long, therefore, as the publications of infidelity and scepticism were addressed to the cultivated H 1 Religious Faith the safeguard and consolation of Man. cultivated and enlightened mind, they might be, and were, tolerated. They were then opposed by equal powers, and there could be no apprehension for the issue of the contest; because that side must prevail, which is sustained by truth, if it have light and understanding to embrace the truth. But, when the daring and unprincipled unbeliever not only avowed himself to the unwary and ignorant multitude, but put forth all his sophistry, and subtilty, and malignity, to seduce them from the faith, seeking not to convince the reason, but to move the turbulent and selfish passions of the heart, to efface every impression of religion, and loosen every moral obligation; to unfit *them for the offices of social life, and take from them all means of peace here, with all hope of happiness hereafter; it was then necessary for the secular arm to interpose, to vindicate the majesty, and preserve the integrity, of the insulted, violated, and threatened laws, which never can survive the true and holy religion, upon which they are founded. The law is the bulwark of social right, and religion is the bulwark of the law. Take away the obliga ? Religious Faith the safeguard and consolation of Man. tions of the Christian religion, you leave no efficient motive to the obligation of Christian morality; you deprive the laws of every protection, but physical force, and the influence of secular advantages, which will depend on the number, courage, and dexterity of those, who in the various pursuits of discordant interests may be disposed to obey and maintain the law. If, then, through our holy religion thus openly assailed, our mild and equitable laws, our civil liberties, our public and private rights, be endangered; if every thing dear and valuable in the possession of this life, or in the hope of the next, be thus put to hazard; if we see the daring efforts, of blasphemy, disaffection, and sedition, and the lamented success of their preachers, in drawing the unwary multitude from their fidelity to God, from their allegiance to the government, from all regard to the purer moral duties;—if such be the beginning of troubles; it is impossible for any man to foresee their issue, or to have any calm assurance that his faith in Christ, his zeal for religion, and moral virtue, may not be put to the bitterest trials? If infidelity, blasphemy, H 2 Religious Faith the safeguard and consolation of Man. blasphemy, vice, and disaffection proceed in their career, the time may not be far distant, when the altars of true religion may be defiled, the temples laid in ruins, the preachers dispersed and persecuted; and the faithful Christian, to secure the happiness of the next world, may be compelled to forego not merely the elegancies and honours, but the possessions and comforts, of the present. These seemingly impending dangers put our faith to immediate trial, calling it into action, to preserve the invaluable blessings derived, without our exertions, from our forefathers; and as the first necessary step in the discharge of this duty, it behoves us to consider gravely the foundation on which the inheritance rests, and on which its security must depend. The foundation, on which rest the blessings of our religion and laws, is the now reviled, insulted, and defamed Gospel of Christ. In this they were planted, in this they have grown and flourished together, and in this if we do not hold them, they will be no longer ours. Without the knowledge and worship of the true |