according to the Protestant Christian's maxim, is to be the basis or not, of all that we are to believe, and all that we are to teach, and all that we are to do to be saved. Those who most venerate the character of Mr. Wesley are wont to say: "he was sorry at the close of his life that he had gone so far ;" and that " they were sorry to see such divisions in the Christian body." All I ask is, Why may I not be sorry too? Why may I not condole with him and his followers without offence? But, my lord and gentlemen, De mortuis nil nisi bonum is the maxim of a partizan-Nil nisi verum is the office of the Christian minister, if he needs must speak at all. In an hour of peril and of trial, when, from the lips of all speakers, and of every rank, on every public occasion, the patriot's motto, "England expects every man to do his duty," is avouched and responded to with acclamation, he that to the best of his ability acts up to it, with one exception only, secures to himself the commendation of his fellow-citizens. It cannot be so with the ministers of Christ in the fearless and faithful discharge of their duty; for there is this strong resemblance in the features of the church of Christ in every age. It has the enmity of the world to encounter always. It is opposed alike to the folly, the superstition, and the vices of mankind. When therefore in the discharge of his duty, any minister taking the Holy Scripture for his guide, declares the Truth to the shame and the reproof of all that is contrary to the gospel of Christ, he is sure to give offence to some, though there be no fault found in him at all but his fidelity. If in the perusal, after comparing especially the notes, F, G, and H, in the Appendix with what is asserted in the Sermon, you shall find any thing untrue, condemn me; but if otherwise, count me not an enemy because I have told you the truth. Be this as it may, I shall still find consolation under the woe denounced against the ministers of Christ, when all men speak well of them. I have the honour to remain, MY LORD AND GENTLEMEN, Your faithful Servant, Mansion House, Oct. 15, 1839. CHARLES CATOR. ACTS XXI. PART OF VERSE 39. 66 A CITIZEN OF NO MEAN CITY." THE two chief sources of error amongst men, whether relating to religion or to government, arise out of their want of a sure guide to Truth, or to a want of heed unto a guide which they possess. Short-sighted in the contemplation of the future, too deeply intent upon things present to examine their causes in the retrospect, men are apt to take a superficial view of the circumstances in which they are immediately engaged, without regard to the pages of history, or to first principles.--These furnish motives to holy practice: those, like a mirror, in the faults of past generations, reflect our own failings and ought to be as a beacon to warn us from their fatal consequences. Inattention to the things which have happened for ensamples* to mankind, makes room for the vain speculations of the theorist as well upon the origin of government, as upon the right exercise of authority both ecclesiastical and civil. We have, however, an authoritative rule of conduct in holy writ, and inexcusable shall we be if we treat it with such profane contempt as to substitute for it the precarious theories of the philosopher, the statesman, or the zealot. We can all discern the blots, the stains, the corruptions, the anomalies, and imperfections in every system of government with which men have to do, whether in the Church or in the State. The faults of the human character lie open not only to the eye of every observer, but they are delineated in every page of sacred and profane history. The Christian mourns over "the misery of man," and with every friend to humanity aims at its amelioration, especially by discountenancing vice, and promoting true religion. The zealot, alive to the defects of things constituted, but disregarding them as the inevitable consequences of human frailty, with loud complaint against abuses, great show of liberty, and specious panacéas of reform, hurried by passionate desire to be the founder of a perfect order of things, becomes the leader of a faction, and falls into the very same errors, but greater in magnitude, than those from which he thought to escape. The scorner, questioning the exercise of Divine Providence in the affairs of men, objects, if there be "a God that judgeth in the earth;"* that men, guilty of great crimes, have been the favoured instruments of His will. These murmurers and enthusiasts for perfection in human systems seem to forget that the sin brought into the world by Adam's transgression cleaves to all his posterity without exception. They forget that none of the children of men are free from the pollution of iniquity. They overlook the fact, that no man could be chosen of God for his own righteousness; and that if, in the dispensations of Divine Providence, any thing was to be brought to pass by human agency, it could only be accomplished by sinful men; for among them, “there is none righteous, no, not one."† Rather, therefore, than allow this to be a stumblingblock, as if God had preferred wicked persons for the *Psalm lviii. 11. + Rom. iii. 10. completion of His designs :-rather than be offended that sinners should be permitted to execute His Will, let us admire the infinite Wisdom of God, displayed in contriving a way for the fulfilment of His purposes by such miserable agents. Let us open our eyes to the manifestations of His infinite power, displayed as well in overruling the machinations of the wicked, as in directing them to the great ends of grace designed. These may be thus defined: the deliverance of a lost world from the power of Satan; and the establishment of a new and living way for man's salvation, i. e., * his recovery of eternal life, by repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.† Subservient to these great ends, the social state of man has been constituted by God the great Creator, adorned by God the Redeemer of mankind, and sanctified by God the Holy Spirit. Thus was dominion given to the first created man over his own children, and the subjection of children to their parents ordained, which is the origin of all government. No matter how it is diversified by time or compact which has since given pre-eminence to kings and made subjects of the people, investing nevertheless with subordinate degrees of authority for the due exercise of power, magistrates, and ministers of religion, law, and justice, a system of order is evidently the condition designed for man. The obligation as well of the citizen, therefore, to submit to government, as of every member of the state from the highest to the lowest to discharge each his own particular office, "is an immediate result from the first principle of religious duty, which requires, that man shall conform himself, as much as in him lies, with the will and purpose of his Maker."* It is herein also implied, since there is no power but of God; † that all government should be conducted in every part of it, upon the unerring principles of the Divine Will. In this all-wise arrangement of God's Providence, which has ordained rulers to be a terror not to good works but to the evil;‡ and has caused them, as ministers of God, not to bear the sword of Justice in vain, but for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well; § it is not less clearly ordained that the ministers of Christ are to put their Christian brethren in remembrance of these things. Wherefore, in the faithful discharge of the office assigned to me this day, my earnest desire is to show that your national privileges as citizens are founded upon and can only be preserved by true religion, and that our privileges as citizens may be pleaded for the Gospel's sake in the exercise of our ministry. This I propose to do by drawing your attention, I. In the first place to the Order of Nations, which rendered the privilege of a Roman citizen, subservient to the ends of Divine Providence. II. To our own privileges as citizens of no mean city in the scale of nations. III. And lastly to the end for which they are conferred upon us, as fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.¶ 1. For the furtherance of God's purpose in the deliverance of a lost world from the power of Satan, a peculiar people was set apart from the rest of the nations of the earth, for the purpose, as it should seem, of making a revelation of His will to man and of identifying the promised Seed in whom all the nations * Horsley. + Rom. xiii. 1. Compare Acts ix. 15. 1 Tim. iv. 6. + Idem, 3. § 1 Pet. ii. 14. ¶ Eph. ii. 19. |