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SERMON XLII.

THE ANNOUNCEMENTS OF REVELATION, ACCORDANT WITH THE INFERENCES OF ANALOGY.

[Preached in the University Chapel of Dublin, November, 1806, and addressed to the Students.]

PROV. XI. 19.

"As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death."

THE important conclusion contained in these words, may seem too obviously true to require proof for its enforcement: yet if we attentively observe the conduct of others, or seriously reflect upon our own, we must confess that no truth is more generally and fatally neglected than this; that the final event of righteousness must be happiness-of evil, misery. It is notorious as it is lamentable, that the majority of men proceed with blind security and hardy fearlessness in the ways of unrighteousness that there are multitudes, to whom the words of the Preacher are strictly applicable; men "who hate knowledge and do not choose the fear of the Lord; who will none of the counsels of wisdom, and despise all her reproofs;" and who therefore, to adopt the words of the Preacher, eat the fruit of their own ways, and are filled with their own devices; for the "security of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them."*

And if this carelessness and fearlessness as to the consequences of our religious and moral conduct, is at all times too generally observable, it unhappily cannot be denied, that at this time and in this land, it is most peculiarly prevalent. Were we to point out the most prominent and striking feature in the manners of all classes of society, it would doubtless be that of levity, and

Prov. i. 29, 30, 31, 32.

thoughtlessness as to their eternal interests.

What multitudes are there who seem negligent of religion altogether, and even of morality, further than as it is forced on their attention by the law of the land, or the law of honour: who seem to have no fears for any other consequences of their actions, than those of civil punishment, pecuniary losses, or general disgrace. Provided men keep clear of these, it seems generally admitted, that pleasure, or worldly interest, may reasonably and creditably form the sole objects of pursuit ; and that to pretend to be actuated by any higher motives, is mere ignorance of the world, or hypocrisy, or enthusiasm. Riot, drunkenness, and debauchery, are pursued by some: avarice, extortion, fraud, and all the vices attendant on an excessive love of money, are practised by others while virtuous self-government and humble piety, are too generally disregarded.

Amidst this universal corruption of manners, it cannot be expected, that you alone my young friends, should run no hazard of being infected by the contagion-you, whose age is inconsiderate, whose passions are strong, whose minds are not yet perhaps fully informed in the principles of moral duty, and the proofs of the Christian scheme. It cannot surely be unnecessary or unreasonable, to rouse your attention to the folly and danger of this careless and fearless negligence: to examine and to expose the delusions by which the soul is lulled into this false security and convince you, that as righteousness leadeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death.

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It is obvious to remark, that this inattention to the principles of morality, and the dictates of religion, this fearlessness as to the final result of present misconduct, could be proved reasonable and safe, by nothing short of undeniable demonstration, not only against Christianity, but in favour of Atheism.

That the guilt and danger of such conduct, are dreadfully aggravated to those who believe the Gospel to be the word of God, is indeed evident. But on any supposition which admits a supreme and righteous governor of the world, such neglect of His law and contempt of His authority, must plainly appear in the extremest degree criminal and hazardous. Yet of the multitudes who thus pursue evil, many profess, and surely some with sincerity profess themselves Christians; and probably

scarcely one could be found, who would not deem the imputation of Atheism an insult to his understanding and his heart. With a strange and lamentable inconsistency, however, they still persist in violating the clear obligations directly flowing from those sacred principles, whose truth they presume not to deny.

One principal source of this destructive security, is undoubtedly found in that promiscuous distribution of good and evil, which appears in the common course of life. Here virtue and vice meet with no immediate recompense: sickness and health, riches and poverty, happen alike to all the sons of men. The consequences of misconduct, frequently obscure and remote, lose their power and influence with the inconsiderate, the sensual, and the worldly-minded. Continued forbearance encourages continued transgression; until it is wholly forgotten, that life is annexed to righteousness, and death to iniquity.

But however general such feelings and such practice, they are plainly repugnant to experience, to reason, and the word of God. These unite to convince us, that this apparent irregularity in the distribution of this world's good, affords no presumption of final impunity to vice.

It cannot surely be questioned, that the general and natural tendency of virtue is to produce private happiness and public good; of vice, to debase the individual and disturb society. Here then is a plain declaration of the Supreme Governor of the world, in favour of virtue and in condemnation of guilt. A declaration too plain to be overlooked, and surely too important to be disregarded. So long as integrity, self-government, and benevolence, are naturally productive of health, fair fame, and advancement; or, at all events, of gradual improvement and self-approbation, and internal peace; so long as intemperance, riot, and licentious pleasure, naturally tend to disease of body, and languor of mind: so long as extravagance leads to poverty, and dishonesty to detection and shame: so long as even in this life, malignity and revenge corrode the heart within, as well as excite opposition and hatred from without-how unreasonable is it to suppose that no degradation will ensue, no punishment be inflicted in another life, in consequence of the same conduct! Is then the system here thus plainly begun, to be there reversed?

Will the God of justice and purity regard there with indifference those faithful servants, whom even here he has begun to reward; and suffer to pass unpunished that misconduct which he has thus evidently stigmatised, as injurious to the happiness of his creatures, and hostile to the glory of His name?

Let it also be remembered, that to have done more than establish such a general tendency of virtue to happiness, as might point it out as the object of divine preference, would have been inconsistent with the whole system of Providence. Providence directs both the natural and moral world by general laws, to whose operation the virtuous and the vicious must equally submit. To require that virtue should in all cases secure its possessor from disease, and pain, and poverty, would be to require that the favourites of heaven should be guarded from the influence of the elements, and all the changes of this mortal life. That they should be preserved from every mischance by a continued series of miraculous interpositions, perplexing and confounding all human conduct and human expectation.

Again, it is certain, that great mental qualities may be united with great moral depravity. That considerable worldly industry, may consist with a total neglect of religion and contempt of God. Nay, so far as concerns this generation, the children of the world are wiser than the children of light. They are retarded by no scruples, they hesitate at no crimes, they take the shortest way to obtain their various ends. Now, is it to be wondered at, that talents and industry should obtain that for which they toil? Or is a perpetual miracle to be employed to prevent their success, except when united with piety and purity of heart? This were surely a preposterous demand. But shall then the justice of God be arraigned, because he suffers men who labour for gain, or pleasure, or power by the arts of unrighteousness, to obtain what they pursue? No: his providence ordains that their success should serve only to supply new temptations, and new means of guilt, and thus to fill up the measure of their crimes, and to embitter their final punishment.

But further; a moment's reflection will convince us, that this apparent inequality in the present life, and the numerous exceptions to that general order of providence which annexes happiness to virtue, and misery to vice, are so far from weakening

the probability of a future retribution, that they confirm and establish it. They are necessary to a state of trial, which must precede and prepare for such retribution. Such a state requires, that each individual should have an opportunity of exercising his free will and displaying his true moral character; and of strengthening his natural frailty, by vigilant self-control, by flying from the allurements of vice, and overcoming the difficulties of virtue. Now all this would be utterly impossible, were every right action attended with instant reward, and every transgression with as instant punishment. In such a system, there could be no possible temptation to offence, and therefore no trial of obedience.

If experience proved, that every instance of excess, every indulgence in licentious pleasure, was inevitably and directly succeeded by loathing and disease and agony; where would be the trial of temperance and purity? Did every attempt at fraud and violence, necessarily produce instant detection and punishment; integrity and mercy would be empty sounds. If rectitude never exposed its possessor to calumny and loss, if no indirect means could ever lead to wealth, or power, the very existence of disinterestedness would be contradictory and impossible. In truth, the higher class of virtues could have no place in such a system. Patience and fortitude presuppose the sufferance of evil. Resignation implies a mind sustained in the midst of danger by reliance on the divine protection; and faith is exercised by despising present pleasures and present interests, in comparison of that future and better world, wherein shall dwell righteousness.

Remove the present inequality in the circumstances of human life, and all these virtues must be banished from the earth. In such a case, the most exalted proof of self-control or obedience would be exactly such as is exhibited by our forbearing to plunge down a precipice, or rush into the flames. Our only motive would be self-preservation; and not to be frantic our highest praise. Thus men would be changed into machines, and the glory of their Creator degraded and obscured. And shall the sinner conclude that virtue is not required by the Almighty, from that very inequality in the present dispensation, which alone can make the existence of virtue possible? The divine