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word dwelling in him richly, " in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."

Let each, therefore, strive that he may be clothed with "the whole armour of God;" "praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance;" for thus only shall we be able to "withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Biography.

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, ESQ.
[Continued from Number CCIII.]

THE fruit of Mr. Wilberforce's new principles was speedily apparent. His anxious desire was now to employ the talents entrusted to him to God's glory. And such was the loveliness of the spirit he manifested, that those who did not entirely sympathise with his notions could not withhold the tribute of their admiration to his practice. When he joined his mother in the summer of 1786, she was prepared to mourn over eccentricity of manner and enthusiasm of mind; all that she found, however, was greater kindness and evenness of temper. And a friend observed shrewdly, after some experience of his conduct, "If this is madness, I hope that he will bite us all."

In 1787, Mr. Wilberforce obtained, through Mr. Pitt, the issuing of a royal proclamation for the discouragement of vice; and it appeared to him very desirable that an association should be set on foot to promote the object in view. This was suggested to his mind by Dr. Woodward's "History of the Society for the Reformation of Manners in the Year 1692." Thus it is that the "bread cast upon the waters" is "found after many days," and the zeal of one generation, after being used at the time as an instrument of good in God's hand, rises again in another, to propagate again and again the seeds of blessing. The proposed association was soon in active operation. The Archbishop of Canterbury warmly supported it; most of the bishops became members of it, having received, it was understood, a direct intimation from the king to assist, in their respective dioceses, in enforcing the royal proclamation; and many noblemen of great influence zealously promoted the same object. This association obtained, in the course of its labours, many valuable acts of parliament, and greatly checked the spread of blasphemous publications. It was a kind of centre, also, and source, from which various other useful schemes proceeded.

We are now, however, to view Mr. Wilberforce as entering on a yet larger field of Christian philanthropy, and undertaking a cause, in conjunction with which his name will go down to posterity, embalmed in the affections of all good men. It will be well understood that I allude to the abolition of the Africar slave-trade. It has been already said, that even while he was a boy at school, his thoughts had turned with detestation to that impious traffic. In 1780, too, he had manifested some desire of inquiry into the negroes' condition; and he was, both by his disposition and talents, well fitted to embark in the career which afterwards the providence of God opened out to him. The minds of several

excellent persons seem to have been directed about the same time to the same object; nor is it an easy task to distinguish to whom the priority belongs. It, of course, belongs not to the present sketch to enter into discussions of this kind; a very general outline of the progress of the abolition-cause is all that can here be given. Perhaps public attention was first awakened by the statements of Mr. Ramsay. This gentleman had been a surgeon on board Sir Charles Middleton's (afterwards Lord Barham) ship. He subsequently married, settled in the West Indies, and took orders. Returning to England, and being placed in a Kentish living, he had leisure to reflect on the cruelties he had witnessed; and at length, by the publication, in 1784, of his "Essay on the Treatment of and Traffic in Slaves," to awaken in other minds the pity and indignation which glowed in his own. In 1785, Dr. Peckard, the vice-chancellor of Cambridge, proposed this as a subject for a Latin dissertation, when the prize was gained by Thomas Clarkson, who yet lives to bless God for the success which crowned the cause in which he was so distinguished a labourer. Mr. Clarkson's mind was, hence, strongly impressed with the importance of the subject. He translated and added to his prize-dissertation, and published, in 1786, his "Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species, particularly the African;" and devoted himself with untiring ardour to the obtaining of a remedy for the evils he had depicted. Thus the minds of many, I repeat, were directed about the same time towards the same object; but when it was felt needful to open the horrid traflic before the great council of the nation, Mr. Wilberforce was the especial instrument whom God selected. One link in the chain of cause and effect has been graphically described by the late Mr. C. I. Latrobe, "God put it into the heart of Lady Middleton to venture on a step further, and to urge the necessity of bringing the proposed abolition of the slave-trade before parliament, as a measure in which the whole nation was concerned. This was done in the most natural and simple manner possible, at the conclusion of some very animated expressions of her feelings, on considering the national guilt attached to the continuation of such a traffic. Sorry I am that I did not mark the day when I was witness to that remarkable conversation [it was in the autumn of 1786], which took place at breakfast; Mr. Ramsay, if I mistake not, being present. Lady Middleton, addressing her husband, who was member for Rochester, said, 'Indeed, Sir Charles, I think you ought to bring the subject before the house, and demand parliamentary inquiry into the nature of a traffic so disgraceful to the British character.' Sir Charles granted the propriety of such an inquiry; but observed, that the cause would be in bad hands if it was committed to him, who had never yet made one speech in the house; but he added, that he should strenuously support any able member who would undertake it. This led to an interchange of opinions respecting the willingness and fitness of several members, who were named, to brave the storm, and defend the cause of humanity; when some one mentioned Mr. Wilberforce, who had lately come out, and not only displayed very superior talents and great eloquence, but was a decided and powerful advocate of the cause of truth and virtue, and a friend

ears.

of the minister. He was then at Hull; and Lady Middleton prevailed on Sir Charles immediately to write to him and propose the subject. He did so, and communicated the letter he had written to the family, as well as Mr. Wilberforce's answer, which he received a few days after, both which I heard with these mine Mr. Wilberforce wrote to the following effect: 'that he felt the great importance of the subject, and thought himself unequal to the task allotted to him; but yet, would not positively decline it; adding, that on his return to town he would pay a visit to the family at Teston, and consult with Sir Charles and Lady Middleton on the subject.' After Mr. Wilberforce's return from Yorkshire, he visited the family at Teston, as proposed; and as he endeavoured to make himself master of the subject, and from every accessible quarter to obtain information, Sir Charles sent him to me, to learn what had been effected by our missionaries [the Moravian] among the slaves in the different West India islands, and I furnished him with every species of intelligence in my power."

Whatever part might be taken by the other different labourers, to Mr. Wilberforce must be assigned preeminently the merit of originating and carrying to a successful issue the parliamentary conduct of the cause. No sooner was he fairly enlisted in this honourable warfare, than he bent to it all the energies of his active mind. He first acquired as much information as he could from the African merchants, who at that time communicated freely, and from other persons. He then began to talk over the matter with Mr. Pitt and Mr. (afterwards Lord) Grenville. "Pitt," says he, "recommended me to undertake its conduct, as a subject suited to my character and talents. At length, I well remember, after a conversation in the open air, at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the steep descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice, on a fit occasion, in the House of Commons of my intention to bring the subject forward."

The avowal of his intention was delayed for prudential reasons. When at length it was made, at the table of a friend, it served to rally round him many who were well prepared to fight the battle by his side. A committee, consisting chiefly of London merchants, was about this time formed, for the purpose of raising the funds and collecting the information which might be required. The well-known Granville Sharp was the chairman of this committee, with which, though Mr. Wilberforce's name was not for a long time enrolled among their number, he was ready in every practicable way to co-operate. At this period, too, he had almost determined, with characteristic ardour, to repair to Paris, in order, if possible, to engage the French government in the same excellent cause; but finding, on further inquiry, little hope of success in this project, he relinquished it. Symptoms were now manifesting themselves of determined opposition to the abolition. Mr. Ramsay had been assailed with every species of calumny; and Mr. Wilberforce found, that though he had given notice of his motion for February 2, and many petitions had been sent up from the country to support it, and much interest had been awakened, he could not expect ultimate success, unless he could produce a greater body of distinct facts than he at present possessed whereon to ground his attack upon the trade. Mr. Pitt, accord

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ingly, consented to empower the privy council to examine, as a board of trade, the state of commercial intercourse with Africa. Evidence was, therefore, in the spring of 1788, heard on both sides before the privy council, and in preparing it on behalf of the abolitionists, the London committee took the lead.

Indeed, at this time it seemed most likely that Mr. Wilberforce would be withdrawn for ever from the cause. His health had been for some time failing, and ere long he appeared sinking under an entire decay of all the vital functions. The most eminent physicians declared," that he had not stamina to last a fortnight;" and recommended his removal to Bath, rather with the idea of soothing his last moments, than with any expectation of his recovery there. In this state, he committed to Mr. Pitt the interests of the abolition-cause, and obtained from him a promise that he would charge himself therewith. This promise the minister nobly redeemed. He at once not only, in conjunction with Bishop Porteus, superintended the privy council inquiries, but on May 9 "moved a resolution, pledging the house to consider the circumstances of the slavetrade early in the next session." Another step, too, was gained at this time; for Sir William Dolben, having gone with some friends to inspect a slave-ship then fitting in the Thames, returned with a description which roused an universal sensation of shame and pity. A bill was immediately prepared and passed, though with considerable opposition, to limit the number of slaves conveyed, and to provide some mitigation of their inevitable sufferings.

But very unexpectedly Mr. Wilberforce was regaining his health at Bath. On the recommendation of Dr. Pitcairne, he consented to use opium, and the effects of this remedy were really astonishing. He was unwilling at first to resort to it; and with the utmost caution, as a measure of necessity, did he afterwards regularly take it. "If I take but a single glass of wine," he would often say, "I can feel its effect; but I never know when I have taken my dose of opium by my feelings." In about a month he was able to leave Bath, and proceed by easy stages to Cambridge, and thence, in a few weeks, to Westmoreland. In the course of the autumn his health appears to have been quite re-established, and he was able to attend in his place in parliament, which met earlier than usual, in consequence of the king's illness. This interrupted in some degree his abolition preparations; but the king being happily restored, he was again enabled to devote himself exclusively to his favourite object.

He now concerted with Pitt the best time for introducing his promised motion, and though the loudest clamours were raised against it, and it was predicted that colonial ruin must ensue, and even the commercial existence of the nation would be endangered,-strong in his righteous cause, he undauntedly persisted. May 12, 1789, the question came before the house: Mr. Wilberforce spoke for three hours and a half; and the character of his speech may be judged of by the loud united praise of Pitt and Fox, of Burke and Erskine. "The house," said Mr. Burke," the nation, and Europe, were under great and serious obligations to the honourable gentleman for having brought forward the subject in a manner the most masterly, impressive, and eloquent." "The principles," he added, were

so well laid down, and supported with so much force and order, that it equalled any thing he had heard in modern times, and was not, perhaps, to be surpassed in the remains of Grecian eloquence." This, however, was but the opening of a long and wearisome campaign; for the planters succeeded in deferring the decision of the house till counsel should have been heard, and witnesses have been examined at the bar. When these examinations were concluded, the lateness of the season postponed the further consideration till another session. And thus, for many tedious years, the battle had again and again to be fought, ere at length, by the kind providence of God, the victory was achieved.

It is, of course, a very imperfect sketch of the conduct of this great question that can be given in the present narrative. I notice, therefore, only the most prominent facts. During the years 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, little advancement was made beyond the accumulating, from the protracted examinations of witnesses, of a mass of evidence to be afterwards employed with fairer hopes. In the intervals of the parliamentary sessions, Mr. Wilberforce was not idle. He and many co-adjutors, who were jocularly called his white negroes, were daily acquiring information, and digesting their plans. The following extract will give a notion of his indefatigable exertions-not continued, to be sure, in such a way perpetually, as no constitution could have borne the fatigue: "Mr. Wilberforce and Mr. Babington," it is a letter from Yoxall Lodge (Mr. Gisborne's), in 1790, "have never appeared down stairs since we came, except to take a hasty dinner, and for half an hour after we have supped; the slave-trade now occupies them nine hours daily. Mr. Babington told me last night, that he had 1400 folio pages to read, to detect the contradictions, and to collect the answers which corroborate Mr. W.'s assertions in his speeches: these, with more than 2000 papers to be abridged, must be done within a fortnight. They talk of sitting up one night in each week to accomplish it. The two friends begin to look very ill, but they are in excellent spirits, and at this moment I hear them laughing at some absurd questions in the examination, proposed by a friend of Mr. Wilberforce's. You would think Mr. W. much altered since we were at Rayrigg. He is now never riotous or noisy, but very cheerful, sometimes lively, but talks a good deal more on serious subjects than he used to do. Food, beyond what is absolutely necessary for his existence, seems quite given up. He has a very slight breakfast, a plain and sparing dinner, and no more that day, except some bread about ten o'clock. I have given you this history, as you say every thing about him must be interesting to you, and this is all I at present see of him."

abolitionists. Hence it was hastily concluded, that to be an abolitionist a man must be a leveller. The flame, too, kindled in Paris, had shot across the Atlantic, and, renewed amongst the free inhabitants of St. Domingo, was soon transmitted thence to Dominica; and thus, " to the efforts of the true friends of peace were instantly attributed the intestine discords of an English colony." Reasons of this kind influenced persons of the best character and highest principle. The sovereign was not free from them. There had been a time when George III. had whispered at a levee, prompted by the kindness of his own benevolent heart, "How go on your black clients, Mr. Wilberforce?" But he was afterwards, for the above-mentioned reasons, an opposer of the cause. To all this was to be added the hostility of private individuals, whose nefarious practices in the prosecution of the traffic had been exposed by the evidence produced. Some of them even threatened Mr. Wilberforce with personal violence.

Still there was much, from time to time, to encourage perseverance. One of the assurances of sympathy which Mr. Wilberforce received, must not be passed over. It was a letter written to him by Wesley, then in extreme old age, and lying on his death-bed.

Feb. 24, 1791.

"My dear sir,-Unless the divine power has raised you up to be as Athanasius contra mundum, I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villany, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils; but if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of his might, till even an American slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall vanish away before it. That He who has guided you from your youth up may continue to strengthen you in this and all things, is the prayer of, dear sir, your affectionate servant, JOHN WESLEY."

Wesley died, it may be added, in less than a week after writing this letter.

The parliamentary course of the abolition-question must be briefly stated. In 1791, Mr. Wilberforce's motion was negatived by a large majority. In 1792, the House of Commons resolved that they would abolish, not immediately, but in four years' time. This vote, however, in 1793, they refused to confirm. After renewed disappointments, in 1796 a brighter gleam of hope succeeded. It had been proposed to suspend the question till the return of peace. "There is something," exclaimed Mr. Wilberforce," not a little provoking in the dry calm way in which gentlemen are apt to speak of the sufferings of others. The question suspended! Is the desolation of wretched Africa suspended? No, sir, I will not delay this motion; and I call upon the house not to insult the forbearance of Heaven by delaying this tardy act of justice." His bill passed the second reading, and through committee; but on the third reading, was rejected by a majority of "Ten or twelve of those," he says, "who had supported me, absent, in the country, or on pleasure. Enough at the opera to have carried it." The three

Mr. Wilberforce had not given up his hopes of inducing the French government to co-operate in the abolition, and in 1789 was again preparing for a journey to Paris, but the events of that disastrous time deterred him. Indeed, any connexion had, or supposed to be had, with revolutionary France was a most serious obstacle to success in England. The prostitution of the name of liberty there, under the guise of which the worst principles were inculcated, and the worst excesses perpetrated, alarmed the Eng-four. lish people; especially as many men, foes of all order and government, chose to rank themselves with the

following years, the motion was defeated as regularly as it was made. It was then deferred, in expectation of a general convention of European powers at the time of the peace of Amiens; renewed again, and again postponed, in 1803, in consequence of the excitement of the threatened invasion. But brighter days were at hand. Mr. Wilberforce and his coadjutors had laboured through the long watches of a weary night: there was now to cheer them the dawn of the morning spread upon the mountains.

Mr. Pitt had just returned to power. There were many warm friends in the new cabinet; and the fear of French principles on the part of the abolitionists had well-nigh passed away. A change in the colonial system was consequently looked at with more favour; and some, even of the West Indian body, had withdrawn or moderated their opposition. Through the Commons, therefore, the bill proceeded triumphantly; but it was deemed prudent, from the lateness of the session, to postpone it in the Lords. In 1805, however, Mr. Wilberforce had the mortification of experiencing a defeat on the second reading in the Com

mons.

But then the indomitable spirit of the man was remarkably exemplified: "You ought not," said Mr. Hatsell, the experienced clerk of the house, to him, "Mr. Wilberforce, you ought not to expect to carry a measure of this kind. You have a turn for business, and this is a very creditable employment for you; but you and I have seen enough of life to know that people are not induced to act upon what affects their interests by any abstract arguments." "Mr. Hatsell," he replied, "I do expect to carry it; and what is more, I feel assured I shall carry it speedily. I have observed the gradual change which has been going on in men's minds for some time past; and though the measure may be delayed for a year or two, yet I am convinced that before long it will be accomplished." Something, too, was this year obtained. For an order in council was issued, extinguishing the trade to new colonies; and thus the only markets left to English vessels were the old islands.

A

With 1806 came Mr. Pitt's death, and a new ministry, most of whom were favourable to abolition. bill for the prohibition of the foreign slave-trade accordingly passed into a law; and resolutions were carried in both houses, declaring the traffic generally to be "contrary to the principles of justice, humanity, and sound policy;" and pledging parliament with all practicable expediency to abolish it. During the recess Mr. Wilberforce was not idle. It occurred to him that it might do good, if, just at this crisis, he published an address upon the slave-trade. Many new members had come upon the stage of public life, comparatively unacquainted with the labours of preceding years; and it was well, preparatory to the final struggle, to put plainly forth the strong facts and arguments on which the measure was grounded. "A pamphlet thrown in," said he, " in such circumstances, may be like a shot which hits between wind and water, -it might prove of decisive efficiency."

At length, in 1807, the bill passed the IIouse of Lords, and was introduced into the Commons. The temper in which Mr. Wilberforce entered on the battle, may be seen by a record of his feelings the day before the second reading: "Never, surely, had I

more cause for gratitude than now, when carrying the great object of my life, to which a gracious Providence directed my thoughts twenty-six or twentyseven years ago, and led my endeavours in 1787 or 1788. O Lord, let me praise thee with my whole heart; for never, surely, was there any one so deeply indebted as myself; which way soever I look, I am crowded with blessings. O, may my gratitude be in some degree proportionate." The debate was on Feb. 23. It must have been an august scene when the cause of injured Africa was so nobly vindicated in the first deliberative assembly of the world. A West India planter opposed the bill, and was replied to by Mr. Wilberforce in a speech "distinguished for splendour of eloquence and force of argument." But the solicitor-general, Sir Samuel Romilly, touched upon a chord, to which all hearts extraordinarily responded. "When he entreated the young members of parliament to let this day's event be a lesson to them, how much the rewards of virtue exceeded those of ambition; and then contrasted the feelings of the emperor of the French, in all his greatness, with those of that honoured individual who would this day lay his head upon his pillow, and remember that the slave-trade was no more,"-the whole house, surprised into a violation of its ordinary rules, greeted the honoured name with rounds of the loudest applause. Then came the division, 283 to 16. So strong indeed did the abolitionists feel themselves, that though they had previously determined to provide no specific penalties for the infraction of the law, they now thought it proper to introduce them. The bill, thus amended, was agreed to by both houses, and March 25 it received the royal assent. S.

[To be continued.]

AMERICAN SLAVERY.*

A NEGRO who has occasion to travel must, in the most inclement weather, go outside, as no white man will sit in a carriage with him. In a steam-boat, his whole fortune would not purchase his admission into the best cabin. If the New York negroes walk in Broadway on a Sunday, the whites shut themselves up, that they may not breathe the air contaminated by the blacks. To all this the free negroes in the northern states submit, for they know that the slightest murmur would be the signal for their massacre by the according to law, have voted at the election of a shewhites. In one county of Pennsylvania, the negroes, riff; but the whites forthwith confederated, declared to the blacks that they would not again suffer such impudence to pass unpunished, and protested before the Legislative Assembly against the election.

"To bid a negro sit down is a crime against the majesty of the whites; the negro, be he free or slave, who sits down in the room of a white, is guilty of high treason. Give way!' cries a drunken white to a negro at Philadelphia. Why so?' returns the negro. Knock him down, the presuming runaway slave!' yell a dozen whites. Bravo!' claps the mob, and the negro is stretched on the pavement. At Boston, a free negro would send his child to the public school, for the support of which his earnings are heavily taxed. 'No,' says the schoolmaster; I am not here to teach your black brood; bring them up as you will, no black brat shall sit by a white child in my school.' The negro applies to a private teacher, and

From the "Foreign Monthly Review."

is willing to pay for his son's instruction. 'What fancy's this?' is the rejoinder; 'why should your son learn to read and write? You can make nothing but a servant or a barber of him! If you persist, hope not that a white would so degrade himself. Send him to Europe; the French do such things for money, but no American.' 'But I am the son of a white,' cries the mulatto. My father, grandfather, and great grandfather, were whites,' moans the quateroon. matter, so long as you have negro blood in your veins.""

No

And all this the writer attributes to republican freedom, to equality and democracy; for he says:"Were the United States a monarchy, or divided into principalities, the abolition of slavery were easy.

But what an abyss severs the rude African, born in slavery, from the American, with his European civilisation, and drunk with liberty! .... Thus the continuation of slavery is so intimately connected with the maintenance of the republican constitution, that the one seems to me the very condition of the other."

The writer, nevertheless, feels and avows that slavery cannot last for ever; and, among many external causes that must eventually induce or compel the planters to emancipate their negoes, he gives the following, growing out of the evil itself:-"The rapid and dangerous increase of the blacks in South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, &c., which renders the utmost vigilance necessary, and lessens their value. The inhabitants of Charleston have already built a citadel as an asylum for the women, in case of a negro insurrection, and similar measures of pre

caution have been taken in other towns. In the country, as in the towns, the planters have a regular nightly watch; and every negro found out of his own hut after nine o'clock, without a written permission from his master, is imprisoned. Other towns hire troops, or solicit from Congress a division of the standing army, &c. . . ."

"The abolition of the right of primogeniture, beneficial as it has proved to the industry of the north, acts more detrimentally upon the value of plantations and of negroes. The division of landed property into small parcels, as in France and in the northern states of the Union, is advantageous only to free labour."

It appears that the cost of production, upon a small plantation, with few negroes, is out of all proportion greater than upon a large and well-stocked

estate. "But, it may be urged, if the slaves increase faster than the whites, a moment must come when their power will be formidable to the planters. It may be answered, that this case would inevitably occur, were it not opposed by another principle, calculated to restrict, and finally to destroy slavery. This principle

is the diminution in the value of slaves, which, sooner or later, must necessarily take place. The value of a negro is the difference between the cost of his rearing and maintenance, and the price in wages of his work. In colonies and young countries, where labour is dear, the price is far above the cost of the slave. With an increasing population, and the increasing industry that goes hand in hand therewith, the relative proportion lessens, until it is completely reversed. ... When this state of things is reached, emancipation follows of itself; that is to say, capital takes another direction; and the slaves, becoming useless, or valueless, are gradually manumitted by their owners, as has been the case in Delaware, and now is, partially, in Kentucky..... How far distant this moment may still be, and what will at last be its consequences, we leave the reader to judge from what has been previously said."

We have said that we will not discuss the opinions we lay before our readers; but, upon a question so interesting, and so disgraceful to the United States, we cannot refrain from a word or two. Upon the writer's own shewing, the consequences must be then as much

worse than they would be now, as the numerical superiority of the negroes shall be greater. And does it never occur either to the Americans, to whom the matter is so vitally important, or to this writer, who seems to have deeply meditated upon it, that the way to guard against or alleviate such calamitous results, is to elevate the character of the slaves, and by education, especially in religion and morality, gradually to fit them for becoming free agents, if not free citizens?

THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST:

A Sermon,

BY THE REV. JOHN AYRE, M.A., Minister of St. John's Chapel, Downshire Hill, Hampstead. EPIES. iii. 8.

"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."

THE apostle Paul took every opportunity to magnify the mercy of Jesus Christ. He recollected the fearful sins into which his ignorant zeal had harried him, while to persecute the followers of the Redeemer appeared to him the best means of doing God service; and therefore he often contrasts his own pre-eminent guilt with the pre-eminent love which had forgiven him. To have extended pity to such a blasphemer was, he would have us know, a miracle of grace. And besides, it might be taken as a pledge and warrant by other offenders who sought for pardon, that with the Lord they might find mercy, yea plenteous redemption.

But the apostle, though gifted with inspiration, felt himself unable, upon such a topic, adequately to express his feelings. The love of Christ was a depth too vast for his mind to fathom; the stupendous mystery of salvation was too glorious a theme to be worthily told of even by an angel's tongue; and therefore, as in my text, he is frequently obliged to content himself with saying, that the mercy human thought. Thus he speaks of" the love he would celebrate is beyond the grasp of of Christ, which passeth knowledge," and describes the Lord as "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think;" yet, as he elsewhere testifies, though "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for those that love him," yet "God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." Such is the blessed portion of the faithful followers of Christ; such is the communion they enjoy with him, of which the world knows nothing.

I shall endeavour, in the following dis

course,

I. To explain what is meant by the unsearchable riches of Christ; and,

II. To shew how this treasure may be attained.

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