earth; its object is to dethrone God, its tendency is to destroy

man.

There is a third vice, not less destructive to society than either of those which have been already mentioned, to which the system of modern infidelity is favorable; that is, unbridled sensuality; the licentious and unrestrained indulgence of those passions which are essential to the continuation of the species. The magnitude of those passions, and their supreme importance to the existence, as well as the peace and welfare of society, have rendered it one of the first objects of solicitude with every wise legislator, to restrain them by such laws, and to confine their indulgence within such limits, as shall best promote the great ends for which they were implanted.

Among innumerable benefits, which the world has derived from the Christian religion, a superior refinement in the sexual sentiments, a more equal and respectful treatment of women, greater dignity and permanence conferred on the institution of marriage, are not the least considerable; in consequence of which, the purest affections and the most sacred duties are grafted on the stock of the strongest instincts. If the recorded sentiments and feelings of the leading champions of infidelity are examined, it will be seen to be their aim to rob mankind of these benefits, and throw them back into a state of gross and brutal sensuality. *

Under every possible aspect in which infidelity can be viewed, it extends the dominion of sensuality; it repeals and abrogates 'every law by which Divine revelation has, under such awful sanctions, restrained the indulgence of the passions. The disbelief of a supreme, omniscient Being, which it inculcates, releases its disciples from an attention to the heart, from every care but the preservation of outward decorum; and the exclusion of the dearest affections and an unseen world leaves the mind immersed in visible, sensible objects. The religious affections and sentiments are, in fact, and were intended to be, the proper corrective and antidote of sensuality, the great deliverer from the thraldom of the appetites, by opening a spirit

*Such examination has been made by the late President Dwight, in two Sermons on Infidelity.

ual world, and inspiring hopes and fears, and consolations and joys, which bear no relation to the material and sensible universe. The criminal indulgence of the sensual passions admits but of two modes of prevention; the establishment of such laws and maxims in society as shall render lewd profligacy impracticable or infamous, or the infusion of such principles and habits as shall render it distasteful. Human legislatures have encountered the disease in the first, the truths and sanctions of revealed religion in the last, of these methods; to both of which the advocates of modern infidelity are equally hostile.

The infidels of late times, therefore, have aimed to destroy the very substance of morals. The disputes on moral questions, hitherto agitated among philosophers, have respected the grounds of duty, not the nature of duty itself; or they have been merely metaphysical, and related to the history of moral sentiments in the mind, the sources and principles from which they were most easily deduced; they never turned on the quality of those dispositions and actions, which were to be denominated virtuous. In the firm persuasion that the love and fear of the Supreme Being, the sacred observance of promises and oaths, reverence to magistrates, obedience to parents, gratitude to benefactors, conjugal fidelity, and parental tenderness, were primary virtues, and the chief support of every commonwealth, they were unanimous. The curse denounced upon such as remove ancient landmarks, upon those who call good evil, and evil good, put light for darkness, and darkness for light; who employ their faculties to subvert the eternal distinctions of right and wrong, and thus to poison the streams of virtue at their source, falls with accumulated weight on the advocates of modern infidelity. †

*

*See above, pp. 6-11.

This chapter consists almost entirely of an abridgment of the language and a condensation of the sentiments of the late Rev. Robert Hall's celebrated "Sermon on Modern Infidelity." It cannot be unknown to my readers, that within a few years, skepticism, of the grossest kind (Atheism), has raised its offensive head in Boston, New York, and some other of our large cities. Once let it be come strong enough, and proof will not be wanting of its destructive tendency and influence.

CONCLUSION.

REVIEW OF THE MEANS WHICH MAY BE RELIED UPON TO IMPROVE THE MORAL CONDITION OF MANKIND, AND TO ADVANCE HUMAN HAPPINESS.

THE relations, which mankind sustain to God, to their country, and to one another, have now been carefully surveyed, and the moral duties arising from these relations have been explained; so far as was consistent with the limits of an elementary treatise on Moral Philosophy. The personal duties of mankind, that is, the duties which they owe to themselves, have been illustrated. The moral principles, practices, influences, and tendencies of the chief professions and employments of life, so far as regards the moral duties which they involve, have, likewise, been reviewed. Certain duties and virtues, too, of a character peculiarly Christian, and certain vices and evils of a public nature which severely afflict mankind, have been specially considered and elucidated.

It seems natural and appropriate to bring my labors to a conclusion, by inquiring, I. into the best practical means of improving the moral condition of mankind, and, II., into the best practical means of advancing human happiness.

I. There are several practical means, on which we may rely, to improve the moral condition of mankind.

1. First and principally, we must rely, for the extension of sound moral principles and practice among mankind, on the extension of Christianity, by the stated preaching of the Gospel where it is now known, by the labors of missionaries where it is unknown, and by the use of the press in circulating the Scriptures, and other religious books and tracts. Christianity has done much, very much, already, for the moral renovation of mankind. It is compared, by its Divine author, to leaven, gradually making its way until it has leavened the entire mass subjected to its influence. * Every

* Matt. xiii. 33.

nation on earth will eventually be blessed by its purifying and renovating moral triumphs. It has diminished the horrors and calamities of war. The spirit of war, wherever Christianity has been unknown, has been a relentless and sanguinary vengeance, knowing not how to be satisfied but by the destruction of its victim. This fell spirit has, in a good measure, been softened in the conduct of modern warfare. It has meliorated the calamitous lot of captives. Anciently, death, slavery, or an enormous ransom, was their customary doom everywhere; and this still continues to be the case in all countries not Christian. In arbitrary governments, it has relaxed the stern rigor of despotic sway. It has suppressed infanticide. It has secured the life and limbs of the slave against the caprice or passion of a tyrannical master. By securing the frequent periodical recurrence of a day of rest, it has elevated the character and meliorated the condition of the laboring classes of every Christian country. It has restored the wife, from a condition of humiliation and servitude, to be the companion, the associate, the confidential adviser and friend of the husband. It has restored marriage to the standard ordained "at the beginning," the indissoluble union of two individuals, and has thus furnished the only reasonable security for domestic tranquillity, and the suitable nurture and education of children. Under its influence, the combats of gladiators, the impurities of superstitious rites and unnatural vices, are no longer tolerated. The poor, the sick, and the forsaken are relieved by the numerous hospitals and asylums, which are provided in all countries in which its authority is acknowledged. Moreover, it has been chiefly instrumental in rendering the nations of Christendom superior, in virtue, freedom, intelligence, and power, to all the other nations of the earth. Nor are we to estimate its principal benefits by what is visible. "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; "it does not consist in external splendor; its chief influence is unseen, renewing and sanctifying the hearts of the multitude, who throng the obscure and humble walks of life. *

It is admitted, for it cannot in candor and truth be denied,

* See the author's Sermon, before the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of South Carolina, 13th of February, 1833; pp. 23, 24, 2d edition.

that much immorality remains in Christian countries, amidst the meridian lustre of Christianity. Still the prevailing tone and tendency of things, in Christian countries, is favorable to religion and virtue. The ascendency is manifestly on the side of sound principles and sound morals. Vice, when practised, is shy and shamefaced, and is compelled to seek concealment, — it does not venture to appear in open day. Not so, however, in countries where Mahometanism and heathenism have absolute sway. Seneca says, of his own times, "All is full of criminality and vice; indeed, much more of these is committed than can be remedied by force. A monstrous contest of abandoned wickedness is carried on. The lust of sin increases daily; and shame is daily more and more extinguished. Discarding respect for all that is good and sacred, lust rushes on, wherever it will. Vice no longer hides itself. It stalks forth before all eyes. So public has abandoned wickedness become, and so openly does it flame up in the minds of all, that innocence is no longer seldom, but has wholly ceased to exist."*

Professor Tholuck (of the University of Halle in Germany) has lately, with admirable diligence, candor, and learning, reviewed the origin, nature, and moral influence of heathenism; the estimate made of heathenism, by the heathen themselves; the heathenism of the Greeks and Romans, in particular; the influence of heathenism upon the lives of heathens, particularly among the Greeks and Romans; the heathen philosophy, as it existed in the time of Christ; and the moral influence of the study of classical literature. He has demonstrated, with extraordinary fulness of learning and research, that heathenism and its consequent vices, as St. Paul says, sprung from mankind, when they knew God, not glorifying him as God, nor being thankful to him as such, but substituting, for the glory of the immutable God, the image of the form of perishable man, of birds, of beasts, and of creeping things, t-that, with few exceptions of countries and individuals, (among the former, placing the Roman commonwealth in its earlier times, and among the latter, placing Socrates in the foremost rank,) the most unbridled, indiscriminate, and

* De Irâ, II. 8.

+ Romans i. 17-32.