176 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



is unhappily divided into sects and parties; and 

 these divisions must still continue for a time ; 

 but what should hinder Christian ministers of 

 different parties from, occasionally at least, offi 

 ciating for each other, in order to show to the 

 world, that they entertain no malignant jealou 

 sies, and that they are united in the bonds of a 

 common Religion ? Yet, do we ever behold an 

 Episcopalian officiating for a Methodist, an In 

 dependent preaching in an Established church, 

 or a Baptist leading the devotional exercises of a 

 society of Presbyterians ? If such a case occa 

 sionally occur, it is so far from being a matter of 

 course, that it is considered a phenomenon in 

 the religious world. Yet all these different par 

 ties recognise the leading doctrines and duties 

 exhibited in the Christian Revelation ; and the 

 points in which they differ are &quot; trifles light as 

 air,&quot; when compared with those important truths 

 in which they all agree,* 



Even among Christians belonging to the same 

 religious society how often do we behold a dis 

 play of &quot; bitter envyings,&quot; contentious disposi 

 tions, and malignant passions! Perhaps a mere 

 punctilio respecting a certain mode of worship, or 

 a difference in opinion about the choice of a pas 

 tor, will throw the whole society into a flame. 

 Evil passions will be engendered ; backbitings, 

 whisperings, tumults, and dissensions, will arise; 

 harsh and unfounded conclusions, respecting the 

 motives and characters of individuals, will be 

 drawn : alienations of affection will be induced ; 

 friendly intercourse interrupted ; an attitude of 

 hostility assumed ; and even the rules of common 

 civility violated ; so that a calm and impartial 

 spectator will plainly discern, that the spirit of 

 Christianity has never been thoroughly imbibed, 

 and that they have never learned the apostolic 

 precept, &quot; to forbear one another in love,&quot; how 

 ever high pretensions they may have previously 

 made to spirituality of affection and deportment. 

 Among Christians of every name, we find dis 

 positions and practices daily prevailing, which 



* The following recent facts will illustrate some of 

 the positions contained in this paragraph. It ap 

 pears that the minister of the parish of Annan has 

 been in the habit of allowing Dissenters occasionally 

 to preach in the parish church. His Assistant 

 brought this heavy offence before a late meeting of 

 the Presbytery ; and, by that body, it was declared, 

 that no Dissenter should, in future, pollute the said 

 pulpit. Tl.ey, at the same time, voted thanks to the 

 Assistant, for his manly and liberal conduct in mak 

 ing the complaint. Public Prints, April, 1324. 



&quot; Lately, the minister of a parish, a few miles to 

 the westward of Cupar, hearing that, at the request 

 of some of his parishionMt a sermon was to be 

 preached to them, by a Dissenting clergyman from 

 Cupar, and knowing that wFschool-room was the 

 only place where that could be conveniently done, 

 he called upon the teacher and commanded him not 

 to allow the school-room to be used for such a pur 

 pose- In a few days, a company of strolling players 

 visited the parish ; whereupon the worthy pastor, 

 calling on the schoolmaster, ordered the school-room 

 to be at their service, to perform in.&quot; Dundee 

 Courier April 1825. 



are altogether inconsistent with the genius of 

 the religion of Christ, and directly repugnant 

 to its precepts. Slander, dishonesty, falsehood, 

 cheating, swindling, and vexatious litigations, 

 are far from being uncommon among those who 

 profess to be united in the bonds of a common 

 Christianity. How little dependence can we 

 have, in social and commercial transactions, on 

 the promise or the declaration of a man, merely 

 on the ground of his being a Christian in profes 

 sion ! If written engagements, and civil laws, 

 did not secure our property, and the performance 

 of promises and contracts, our reliance on Chris 

 tian principle, abstractly considered, in the pre 

 sent state of the religious world, would prove 

 like that of a person who leans upon a broken 

 reed. How few would fulfil their promises 

 and engagements, when they interfered with 

 their ambitious schemes, and their pecuniary in 

 terests ! How many instances of fraudulent 

 bankruptcy happen among the professors of reli 

 gion ! And in cases of common bankruptcy, where 

 a legal settlement has been obtained, is there one 

 out of a hundred that ever thinks of performing 

 an act of natural justice, in restoring to his cre 

 ditors the loss they had sustained, when he aftei- 

 wards has it in his power? 



Finally, the degree in which the spirit of in 

 tolerance and persecution still prevails, shows a 

 lamentable deficiency of benevolence and of 

 Christian spirit in the religious world. Notwith 

 standing the unjust and cruel sufferings which 

 English Protestants endured from Popish priests 

 and rulers, a short period only elapsed, after they 

 had risen to power, before they began in their 

 turn, to harass their Dissenting brethren, with 

 vexations and cruel prosecutions, and fines and 

 imprisonments, till they were forced to seek for 

 shelter in a distant land. And no sooner had 

 the English Independents settled in America, 

 than they set on foot a persecution against the 

 Quakers, no less furious than that which they 

 themselves had suffered in the country from 

 which they had fled. A number of these worthy 

 persons they threw into prison, and seized upon 

 the books they had brought from England, and 

 committed them to the flames. In virtue of a 

 law which had been made against heretics in 

 general, sentence of banishment was passed 

 upon them all ; and another law punished with 

 death, &quot; all Quakers who should return into the 

 jurisdiction after banishment ;&quot; and it is a fact, 

 that four persons actually suffered death, under 

 this impolitic and unjust law.* Nor did the 

 Reformed clergy in Scotland lose sight of that 



* Morse s American Geography. The following 

 severe laws, among others, were enacted against the 

 Quakers. &quot; Any Quaker, after the first conviction, 

 it a man, was to lose one ear, and for the second of 

 fence, the other : a woman, to be each time severely 

 whipped; and the third time, whether man or wo 

 man, to have iheir tongues bored through with a red 

 hot iron. 



