Cowes D, and so en in a long chain of mutual dependencies. Now if there be a failure in the first or any other link of this chain, all below it are involved in loss and sin. Now where shall this evil be arrested? Suppose you hold the place of C. A refuses to make a sacrifice to pay B, and B to pay you. Shall you sin because they do, and involve your creditor in loss and sin? No. Whatever others may do, you are bound to pay your debts. And unless your creditor voluntarily consents to defer the time of payment, you are bound to pay him at any sacrifice.

2. Persons that are in debt should not contract new debts to pay old ones. It is the practice of some when they get involved, to keep up their credit by borrowing of one to pay another. Their meeting and cancelling the last debt depends altogether upon the presumption that they shall be able to borrow the money of some body else. When they have borrowed of one they will keep him out of his pay as long as possible without losing their credit. And then, instead of making a sacrifice of property sufficient to discharge the obligation, they borrow from B to pay A, and from C to pay B; and thus, perhaps, disappoint and disoblige a dozen men by not paying them exactly at the time agreed, instead of at once stopping short, and parting with what they have, at any saorifice, to pay the debt.

I do not say that a man should not, in any case, borrow of one man to pay another. But this I say, that as a general thing, such practices are highly reprehensible. Still, if a debt becomes due, and you have not the money at hand, but are certain that at a given time you shall have it, I do not suppose it wrong for you to borrow and pay this debt, with the understanding that you pay this borrowed money at the time specified. But to borrow money with no other prospect of an ultimate payment than that you can borrow again, and thus keep up your credit from time to time, is wicked.

3. Those who are in debt have no right to give away the money which they owe. If you are in debt, the money in your hands belongs to your creditor, and not to you. You have no right, therefore, "to be generous till you are just." You have strictly no more right to give that money away than you have to steal money to give away.

But here it should be particularly understood what is and what is not to be accounted as giving money away-e. g. it is not giving away your money to pay the current expenses of the congregation to which you are attached. Your proportion of the current expenses of the congregation or church to which you belong is impliedly, if not expressly contracted by you. You cannot withhold it any more than the payment of any other debt.

The same may be said of the support of ministers and foreign missionaries, and all for whose support the faith of the church is pledged. It seems to be a common, but erroneous understanding of professors of religion, that what are more generally called their secular debts or obligations are binding, and are to be discharged of course. But that their obligations, expressed or implied, to religious institutions are not so absolutely binding; and of course they can give nothing, as they express it, to these objects until their debts are paid. Now, beloved, you ought to know, that to the support of the institutions of religion you are pledged, both virtually and actually, by your profession; and that

these are your most sacred debts, and are thus to be considered and discharged by you. I beseech you not to consider the meeting and cancelling of such demands as these in the light of a gift as if you were making God a present instead of discharging a solemn debt. I have been astonished to find that the pecuniary embarrassments of the few past years have so far crippled the movements of the great benevolent societies for want of funds; and that Missionaries, for whose support the faith and honor of the church were pledged, should be so faf cut short of their necessary supplies, under the pretence that the church must pay her secular debts before she could discharge her high and sacred obligations to them, and the work in which they are engaged.

4. A person in debt has no right to purchase for himself or family things not absolutely essential for their subsistence. Things that might lawfully be purchased and used under other circumstances, become unlawful when you are in debt.

A creditor has no right to deprive you of necessary food and indispensable raiment, or of your liberty. To do so would put it out of your power ever to pay. But you have no right to indulge in any thing more than the necessaries of life while your debts are unpaid. To do so is as unlawful as it would be to steal to purchase unnecessary articles.

REMARKS.

1. From what has been said it is plain that the whole credit system, if not absolutely sinful, is nevertheless so highly dangerous that no Christian should embark in it.

Since the preaching of this sermon, this remark has been censured as a rash one. A rash remark! Let the present history and experience of the church say whether the credit system is not so highly dangerous that the man who will venture to embark in it is guilty of rashness and presumption. When has religion for centuries been so generally disgraced, as by the bankruptcy of its professors within the last few years? And how many millions of money are now due from church members to ungodly men that will never be paid? Rash! Why this is the very plea of the church, that they can do nothing for the support of the gospel, because they are so much in debt. Is there no danger of any man's getting in debt who attempts to trade upon a borrowed capital? Indeed it is highly dangerous, as universal experience shows.

And what is the necessity, I pray, for Christians to embark in so dangerous an enterprize, and one that so highly jeopardizes the honor of religion? Is it because the necessaries of life can be prooured in no other way? Is it because the institutions of religion demand it? Religion sustains a greater loss through the debts and bankruptcies of Christians, than it ever gains by their prosperity.

But the credit system, as it now prevails and has prevailed, is useless and worse than useless; e. g. suppose the consumers of merchandize, instead of anticipating their yearly crops and yearly income, and running in debt with the expectation of paying from these, were to take a little pains to reverse this order of things, and be a year before hand, paying down for what they purchase, and having the income of each year beforehand, so as to contract no debts. In this case the

country merchants, giving no credit, but receiving ready pay, would be able to pay down on the purchase of their goods from the wholesale dealer the wholesale dealer would pay down to the importerthe importer to the manufacturer-and the manufacturer to the producer.

Now any man can see that many millions a-year would be saved to this country in this way. The manufacturer could afford an article cheaper for ready pay-and so could the importer and the wholesale dealer; and each in his turn, down to the consumer. Every one could sell cheaper for ready pay, as no risk would be run, and business could be done with much greater convenience and safety. Thus an entire rejection of the credit system, in its present form, and the adoption of the system of ready pay, would afford to the consumer every article so much cheaper as to save millions of dollars every year. And I do not apprehend that there is in reality any serious difficulty in so reversing the whole order of business.

At another time I may more particularly examine the credit system in ts foundation and various ramifications, and the nature and tendencies of the prevailing system of doing business on borrowed capital. But at present I can only say, as I have said, that, waiving the question whether it is absolutely sinful in itself, it is too highly dangerous to be embarked in by those who feel a tender solicitude for the honor and cause of Christ.

2. That if in any case the present payment of debts is impossible, your duty is to regard your indebtedness as a sin against God and your neighbor to repent, and set yourself with all practicable self-denial, to pay as fast as you can. And unless you are laying yourself out to pay your debts, do not imagine that you repent either of your indebtedness or any other sin. For you are impenitent, and a shameless hypocrite rather than a Christian, if you suffer yourself to be in debt, and are not making all practicable efforts to do justice to your creditors.

3. If payment is possible, by any sacrifice of property on your part, sin is upon you till you do pay. There is a wicked custom among men, and to a considerable extent in the church, of putting property out of their hands to avoid a sacrifice in the payment of their debts.

As an instance, take the elder whom I mentioned in a former lecture, who confessed to me that "he was avoiding the sacrifice of his proper ty, in payment of his debts, by finesse of law.'

4. The lax notions and practices of the world and of the church upon this subject, are truly abominable. It has come to pass, that a man may not only be considered a respectable citizen, but a respectable member of the church, who suffers himself to be in debt-who has judgments and executions against him, and who resorts not only "to finesse of law to avoid the payment of his debts," but who practises the most palpable frauds against both God and man, by putting his property out of his hands to avoid meeting his just responsibilities.

O shame on the church and on these professors of religion! Some of them will even go to an unconverted lawyer for advice in this iniquitous business, and lay open before his unconverted heart their shameless iniquity. Alas! how many lawyers are thus led to call in question the whole truth of the Christian Religion; and over these dishonest professors they stumble into hell. And until the church

will rise up and wash her hands, and cleanse her garments from this iniquity, by banishing such persons from her communion, the cause of Christ will not cease to bleed at every pore.

5. Some persons take the ground that not to meet their contracts and pay their debts when they become due, is not sinful, on account of the general understanding of business men upon such subjects. To this I answer

(1.) There is no understanding among business men, that debts are not to be paid when they become due. Among that class of men the non-payment of a debt always involves a disgrace, and a wrong, even in their own estimation.

(2,) Let the public sentiment be what it might among business men, still the law of God cannot be altered; and by this unchanging law it is a sin to be in debt. And as "sin is a disgrace to any people," it is both a sin and a shame to be in debt.

6. The rule laid down in this text is applicable not only to individuals, but to corporations, and nations, and all bodies of men assuming pecuniary responsibilities.

7. It is dishonest and dishonorable to hire or purchase an article, and say nothing about payment till afterwards.

8. The violation of this law is working immense mischief in the church and in the world. It is truly shocking to see to what an extent the church is involved in debt, and church members are engaged in collecting debts of each other by force of law. The heart-burnings and bitterness that exist among church members on account of the nonpayment of their debts to each other, are awfully great and alarming,

Besides all this, in what light does the church appear before the world as a mass of money-makers, and speculators, and bankruptsshuffling and managing through finesse of law to avoid the payment of their debts?

I could relate facts within my own knowledge, and many of them too, that would cause the cheek of piety to blush. Alas! for the rage and madness of a speculating, money-making, fraudulent church!

9. There is great reason to believe that many young men, in the course of their education, involve themselves in debts, that so far eat up their piety as to render them nearly useless all their days. I would sooner be twenty-five years in getting an education, and paying my way, than involve myself in debt to the Education Society, or in any other way.

How many young men there are who are in debt to the Education Society, and who are dealing very loosely with their consciences on the subject of payment. Because the Education Society do not press them right up, they let the matter lie along from time to time-increase their expenditures, as their income may increase, instead of practising self-denial, and honestly discharging their obligations to the Society.

10. I cannot have confidonce in the piety of any man who is not conscientious in the payment of his debts. I know some men who are in debt, and who spend their time and their property in a manner wholly inconsistent with their circumstances, and still make great pretensions to piety. They are active in prayer meetings-take a conspicuous place at the communion table-and even hold a responsible office in

the church of Christ, and yet they seem to have no conscience about paying their debts.

I believe it is right, and the duty of all churches and ministers to exclude such persons from the communion of the church. And were it generally done, it would go far to wipe away the stains that have been brought by such persons upon the religion of Jesus Christ. I do not see why they should be suffered to come to the communion tahle any more than whoremongers, or murderers, or drunkards, or Sabbath breakers, or slaveholders.

11. There must be a great reformation in the church upon this subject, before the business class of ungodly men will have much confidence in religion. This reformation should begin immediately, and begin where it ought to begin-among the leading members of the church of Christ. Ministers and church judicatories should speak out upon the subject-should "cry aloud and spare not, but lift up their voice like a trumpet and show Israel his transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins."

And now, beloved, are any of you in debt. Then sin is upon you. Rise up, and show yourselves clean in this matter, I beseech you. Make every effort to meet and discharge your responsibilities; and beware that in attempting to pay your debts, you do not resort to means that are as highly reprehensible as to be in debt.

12. Let no one complain, and say, that instead of preaching the gospel I am discussing mere business transactions. The truth is, that the gospel is to regulate the business transactions of the world. Religion is a practical thing. It does not consist in austerities, prayers, and masses, and monkish superstitions, as Papists vainly dream. If religion does not take hold of a man's business operations-if it does not reform his daily life and habits, of what avail is it? Until in these respects your practice is right, you cannot expect to enjoy the influences of the Holy Spirit. You cannot grow in holiness any farther than you reform your practice.

The preceptive part of the gospel, therefore, is to be spread out in all its detail before you. And when you find it "convinces you of sin." I beg of you not to turn round and say that this is preaching about business, and not about religion. What is business but a part of religion? A man that does not consider it so in practice, has no religion at all.

And now, dearly beloved, instead of suffering your heart to rise up and resist what I have said, will you not, as I have often requested, go down upon your knees, and spread this whole subject before the Lord? Will you not inquire wherein you have erred, and sinned, and make haste to repent, and reform your lives?

ORDINATION-NO. II.

In my former essay I showed that there is not a single passage in the whole of the New Testament, from beginning to end, which records the fact, that any disciple of Christ ever had hands laid on him to authorize him to preach the gospel and baptize believers. The object of this essay is to ascertain the scriptural use and meaning of

the term "ordination."