Thoughts on the Present Distress

TWO

SERMONS
PREACHED IN

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, ProvIDENCE,

11th AND 25th OF OCTOBER, 1857.

FRANCIS

"WATLAND.

PROVIDENCE:

1857,

The following sermons were delivered in the usual course of pastoral labor, without the remotest idea of publication.

Copies of them

are multiplied, in obedience to the wishes of the church and congregation, to which the author has, for the time being, the privilege to
minister.

SERMON I.
GIVE ME NEITHER POVEETY NOE EICHES: FEED ME WITH FOOD CONVENIENT FOR ME.—Proverbs 30; $*

THERE seems but one subject at present, capable of arresting the attention of men. Go where you will, in the
city, or in the country; On the railroad, or by the fireside ;
no one converses on anything else than the finances. If
you pass through the street, you at once perceive that
some matter of universal importance is agitating the minds
of your fellow citizens. Every countenance is furrowed
with anxiety. Men stand together in groups, conversing
in an undertone, as they suggest to each other the probability of some additional calamity, which it seems improper
just now to make public ; or listen in silence to some earnest speaker who is condemning what men have done, or
what they have not done, to relieve the universal distress.
Even a politician, now, can hardly gain an audience. Elections are coming on, and no one heeds the prophecy, or
cares about its fulfillment. The civil war in India, an event
of more consequence to civilization and Christianity than
any which has occurred since the battle of Waterloo, seems
hardly of sufficient importance to be made a subject of
conversation. Nothing in the daily papers is read but
telegraphic dispatches from every city in the Union, telling
of unexampled distress, and announcing the failure of
houses that were considered above the reach of vicissitude,
or of banks whose circulation forms the earnings of multi-

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tudes. And if you go beyond this, and ask the signs of
the tinies, of those whose sagacity is rarely at fault, and
whose means of knowledge is most to be relied on, they
tell you that they see no light. Private accounts are even
more distressing than public report. City after city succumbs, and the rest stand on the verge of suspension.
Men's hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things that are coming. It seems like the deep,
choking stillness which precedes the earthquake, when the
ground begins to tremble beneath our feet, and every one
is looking in dismay, for the catastrophe which is to overwhelm the labor of centuries in one indiscriminate ruin.
But it is remarkable that this calamity has not arisen
from any visitation of God. No variation in climate, has
consigned our fields to barrenness. Seed-time and harvest,
summer and winter, have been granted to us, according to
the promise. From every region of our country, the report has reached us of the abundant harvests which have
rewarded the labors of the husbandman. Probably no single season, for half a century, has beheld so immense a
production of all the necessaries of life. The earth has
brought forth by handfuls, and laid its rich burden at the
feet of man. I t is not. then, from any scarcity, that every
one trembles, and asks, how is it possible for us to pass
through the coming winter ?
God has bestowed upon us all that we could ask. The
fault, then, must be in ourselves. We have not properly
used the benefits which he has conferred upon us. We
have, some how or other, defeated the intentions of Divine
Providence. Nor is it difficult to divine the nature of our
error. The plague spot is found in the circulating medium. Its value, as a circulating medium, depends Lipon the
universal confidence in its solvency. That confidence has
become impaired, and not wholly without reason. The
want of confidence has generated a panic, and fear has
naturally impaired that confidence unreasonably; at last,
all reliance on the circulating medium seems shaken. Securities of all kinds, are crushed in the universal pressure.
No man knows either what he shall give or receive in ex-

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change; for the value of everything is changing with every day, I had almost said, with every hour. Business of
all kinds is suspended. Labor is at a stand. The winter
advances, and no one can predict in what condition it will
find us.
The factTis, we have all forgotten that there is any law
by which God governs accumulation. He has told us,
that, by the sweat of our face, we shall eat our bread; that
is, that all real increase of capital, is the result of labor.
Every one sees that there is, at present, just as much larger
an amount of value than there was last year, as there has
been labor and skill wisely exerted. We, however, have
attempted to increase the value of the productions of the
earth, not by the increase of labor, but by the expansion
of the currency. We have proceeded with this experiment for several years. Prices have, of course, gradually
risen, and men supposed themselves to be growing richer.
Growing rich rapidly, they have invested in advance, in
everything that money could purchase. Their expenses
have enlarged with their apparently increased means. At
last, the expanded circulation, smitten by the want of confidence, has crumbled in their hands. The accumulations
of years are surrendered to meet the exigency, and it is
found, at length, that, do what we will, we are governed by
the law originally enacted by our Creator.
The effect of these changes is greatly to be deplored.
It is, however, felt most severely by the working classes.
As prices rise with an expanding circulation, the cost of
living is greatly enhanced. When the reverse comes, the
worthlessness of money not unfrequentty creates an additional rise of price, while at the same time, labor ceases, and
ail means of living are at once cut off. Patriotism, humanity, Christianity, all urge upon us the adoption of such
measures, as shall, if possible, save us from the repetition
of such errors in the future, and put it out of our power
to injure either others or ourselves.
And yet, for all this, I do not know that any men, or
any class of men, have been particularly to blame. If to
this remark, I except any men, I except those who have

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invested all their own capital, and the capital of others, so
far as they could command it, in monopolizing the necessaries of life at the East, and the millions of acres at the
West, for no other purpose than to oblige poorer men to
pay enormous prices for what they most need. With this
exception, the fault is common to us all. We can blame
no other men without inculpating ourselves. We all desire large incomes from our investments, and they can
yield us no incomes larger than the actual growth of
capital, except by the very means which have brought
upon us this financial catastrophe.
When all are involved in the same error, and all have
more or less followed in the path which leads to it, we have
no reason for blaming each other. This will do no good,
but will, on the contrary, exaggerate the evil. We have
now to do with existing difficulties, and our business is to
inquire how we may best relieve them and profit by them
in future. To this subject let us turn our attention. I
am, as you well know, no man of business. My duties
have seemed to lie in another direction. Tou will, therefore, pardon me if I display my ignorance in offering you
my advice, or in telling you what you all know so much
better than myself.
Allow me to remark, in the first place, that we are all
fearing a common danger, and all suffering a common
calamity. We are all liable to be moved by our fears.
Fear exaggerates danger, and is apt to arouse to intense
energy the instinct of self preservation. We, in such circumstances, cease to consult for the public, and consult
only for ourselves. This must inevitably lead to the most
disastrous results. We are all embarked in the same ship.
If each one, forgetting the ship, thinks only of his personal
Safety, the ship will go clown, and we shall all perish
together. If each one, forgetting himself, labors only for
the public good, the ship may be kept afloat, and we may
all be saved. Let us all, then, do everything in our
power to restore the confidence which has been so disastrously shaken. Let us make sacrifices to sustain honest
moneyed institutions, that they may be the better able to

7
sustain us. Let us aid them by placing in their hands all
the specie in our power, instead of hoarding it up ourselves. Let us diminish our demands upon them to the
utmost, that they may have the more to loan to those who
need it more than ourselves. Let us all postpone our demands upon each other as long as it is possible, in the belief that if a man cannot pay us now he will pay us as soon
as he is able,—all of us being willing to suffer somewhat
ourselves, rather than increase the sufferings of others.
And why should we not do this ? There is no diminution of the products of the country. A mill may be worth
nothing to the owner to-day, but it is just as good for
making cloth as it ever was, and cloth will soon be wanted
as much as ever. The men with whom you deal are as
honest as ever they were, and are as anxious as ever to
meet every engagement. The very condition of the community, at this moment, teaches all this most emphatically.
The bitter anguish, the sleepless nights, the haggard
countenances, the shocking sacrifices which men make to
sustain their credit, all show how earnestly they desire to
meet every obligation at maturity. I ask, then, are not
such men to be trusted? and may we not believe their
word, when they tell us that though in the present state of
the currency, they cannot meet their payments, yet that
they have the means to meet them, and they will meet
them to the last farthing, with interest, if we will only
give them time? Let these sentiments prevail, and our
distress will be abated.
Let us gain a little time, and this crisis must pass over.
Money, that is specie, is the dearest thing in this market.
It must necessarily come to us from abroad, for everything
goes where it is most in demand. The specie which has
been flowing for several years to Europe, will come back
again, and it has already commenced its return, and the
pressure will thus be lightened until it cease altogether.
We must lose, of course; but let this calamity teach us
kindness and public spirit, rather than selfishness and
hardness of heart; and then, though we lose in material
wealth, we shall at least gain in moral character.

8
But suppose the worst to come. Let us look at it
calmly, that we may estimate it aright. Suppose you
lose half your property, and that your neighbors all are as
unfortunate as yourself; what then? Suppose that point
lace and sables and diamonds and pearls and jewelry were
thrown aside forever. Suppose that dresses at a hundred
dollars, were exchanged for dresses that cost only ten dollars ; that wool were substituted for silk, and cotton for
wool; that we wore our old clothes until we were able to
pay for new; that instead of riding we learned to walk;
that instead of spending two or three months of the year
in fashionable folly, we and our families remained at home;
suppose that our sons, instead of becoming idle and dissipated, were inured to honest labor, and that our daughters,
instead of being fashionable playthings, were taught to be
intelligent, useful, and self reliant women; would this,
after all, be a calamity too insufferable to be endured ?
Should all this happen, wherein would it touch the essential springs of happiness in the bosom of any reasonable
being ? It is not half so bad as the doing of a wrong or
even a mean action. We could surely endure all this.
But how shall we improve these events ? You all know
the view which our Lord takes of the value and use of all
worldly possessions. He teaches us that wealth is not at
all a proper object of direct pursuit. We are all to labor
faithfully in the occupation to which God has called us ;
and if we thus faithfully and skillfully do our duty, increase of property is the natural and secondary result
While we thus serve God in our secular business, what we
acquire is a talent committed to us, which we are to use for
the good of others as well as for ourselves. Our Lord is
particularly careful to caution us against laying up wealth,
or the accumulation of large fortunes ; as well as against
hasting to be rich; because this love of accumulation is
one of the most subtile snares that can be spread for our
souls. He would have us never be so immersed in business as to be anxious about it, or so to be drawn away by
it, as to be careless about our salvation. He would have
us industrious, economical, honest, liberal, charitable, es-

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chewing all vain display and every artifice of trade. Now,
let me ask you, is not this sound advice, even in a financial
point of view ? Would it not have been better for your
own worldly interest if you had followed it? Would you not,
at this moment, have been a happier and better man ? Have
not all your losses been chargeable to this impassioned desire to grow rich, and to grow rich in haste, by shrewdness
rather than by labor? And more than all, has not this too eager desire of accumulation harassed and troubled you, so
that you have had no time in which to prepare for eternity ?
Tou see then, that, in disobeying the Savior's rules, you
have not only periled your soul, but really scattered to
the winds your own honest earnings. Tou have neglected
the cultivation of your intellectual and moral nature, for
the sake of heaping together bonds, stocks, securities, all
of them perhaps bearing exorbitant interest, and now
they are nothing but valueless pieces of paper. Had
you been content with six per cent, and subdued this excessive desire of wealth, you would have been, to-day, a
richer man. Godliness is really profitable for all things,
having the promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come :—godliness, I say, the real spirit of
Christ carried into active and practical exercise ; not the
mere name of it, used to cover up wrong, and give a man
currency on 'change, which he never could obtain without

it.
Again. Many of you, my hearers, have made this
world your portion; at least, you give us to understand
that it is so. When we have urged upon you the importance of seeking a better portion, you have acknowledged the truth of all we say, but have told us that you
have no time to seek for i t ; that you are every day and
every hour of the day occupied with other things, so that
you have really no heart to give to anything else. We have
told you how insufficient such a portion is for an immortal
soul. We have told you how soon death would call you
away and you would stand unveiled before God. We
have told you how wicked it was to prefer such a portion
to your Savior, and, for the sake of amassing useless wealth,
2

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to reject the offer of eternal life, and say to the A l m i g h t y depart from us; for we desire not a knowledge of thy ways,
God has come near, and impressed upon us the lesson of
his word, at such an hour and in such a manner as we
thought not of. He has sought to draw you to himself
by prosperity. This has failed. He is now trying you by
adversity. He is showing you how empty and broken is
the cistern which you have hewn out, and is thus again
inviting you to drink at the fountain of everlasting life.
My brethren, is not this just? If you have made
wealth your idol, is it not just in God to take away the
idol which you have worshiped ? When He is the only
portion that can satisfy an immortal soul, is it not kind in him
to show you the worthlessness of every created thing?
Let me, then, beseech you to look upon all these reverses
in the light of eternity. Think whither you were going,
and thank God for showing you your danger. Instead of
waiting until your death bed, when it would be too late to
see that you had been living in vain, He has come to you
in the fullness of your health and in the maturity of your
powers, and taught you a lesson which commonly is learned only during the few last and troubled moments of a
dying hour. Hear the lesson, I beseech you. Enter into
your closets and acknowledge the justice of God. Thank
him for his kindness in thus seeking to rescue you from a life
of worldliness. Ask for the aid of his Holy Spirit. Repent of your life of sin and idolatry. Draw near to him
in humble trust, and plead for pardon through the blood
of his Son. There is forgiveness with him, that he may be
feared. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sins.
Go and surrender your whole heart to him: he will receive
it from you, and return it to you again, a new heart, penetrated with new affections ; the heart of a loving and obedient child of the God Almighty.
But there are others here, this morning, to whom these
events are reading a yet more solemn lesson. Many ofyou are professors of the religion of Christ. You have,
in the presence of God and man, given up yourselves to
your Savior. You have said that you were dead to the

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world and alive only to God; that your affections were
taken from things on earth and fixed on things above;
that yourselves and all you possess were not your own,
and that you are seeking, first of all, the kingdom of God
and his righteousness. This confession you make, every
time you appear at the table of the Lord, and every one
knows it.
But, my brethren, how has this profession been maintained ? Have you not sought for wealth, just like other
men—making it the direct object of your pursuit ? Nay,
have you not given up your time and affections to it? Has
it not occupied your thoughts to the exclusion of the realities of eternity ? Have you not spent it for yourselves
and families, without considering it a talent ,for which you
must render an account ? Has it not withdrawn you
from private communion with God ? Has it not broken in
upon your family devotion ? Has it not rendered the Savior, himself, uninteresting in your eyes ? Has it not
quenched your love of souls ? When you have known
and acknowledged your duty, have you not habitually
neglected it, on the plea that you had no time to serve
God ? Month after month, Sabbath after Sabbath, have
we urged upon you the duty of conversing with men on
the subject of salvation; and who of you has taken a single half hour from his business, to devote to this duty ?
Is it not evident that you have considered your dollars
more valuable than other men's souls ? A h ! brethren,
Christ did not thus estimate the value of these things:
Though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor, that
we, through his poverty, might be made rich.
And now, is it not just in God, to show you the value
of that for which you have labored ? Can his blessing
rest upon wealth acquired by disobeying his plainest commandments ? Is it not right that he should smite your
idols ? Is it not kind in him to open your eyes, before it
be forever too late ? How could he do otherwise, if he
had not forsaken you utterly.,
Brethren, hear his voice. Come before him with repentance and contrition. Confess your sin. Acknowledge

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your transgression. First of all, seek his pardon for your
offences. Confess your sin before men. Urge them to
improve this lesson of God. Begin anew a Christian life.
Love not the world, nor the things of the world, and He
will receive you. But if you still harden your hearts ; if,
at such a time as this, you take advantage of the necessities of your neighbors; if you add extortion to your other
sins; I do believe that the Holy Spirit will leave you, and
that you will be given over to the destruction you have so
richly deserved, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
And, lastly: the winter is coming on, and there must be
great suffering among us. I will not ask you in advance,
to be charitable, for I know the heart of the city of Providence. I have lived many years as your fellow citizen,
and never yet have I known you to turn away from any
deserving applicant for charity. But in this case, we must
in every way enlarge our means for benevolence. Especially, let us practice the strictest economy, and gather up
the fragments, that nothing be lost. Every crust of bread
saved, leaves one crust more for the needy. Every potato
saved, leaves one potato more to sustain the famishing.
Let us, in this congregation, unite with all our fellow citizens, in one common effort to relieve every form of human
suffering; remembering the words of the Lord Jesus—it is
more blessed to giv6 than to receive. Obeying the precepts, and trusting in the merits of the Savior; though
our possessions be less on earth, our true riches will be
greater in heaven, and this calamity will not have fallen
upon us in vain.

SERMON

II.

I N THE SWEAT OP THY FACE SHALT THOU EAT BREAD, TILL THOU RETURN UNTO THE GROUND.—Gen-

esis 3 : 19.

IT chanced, a few days since, my brethren, that I held
an interesting conversation with a very intelligent gentleman, in a railroad car, on the subject of the present distress. We both arrived at the conclusion, that the origin
of our calamities must be sought for in our moral condition. He expressed the opinion, that, in the revelation
given us by God, there was to be found the only preventive
of these disorders;' and that, if the precepts of the gospel
were obeyed, such misfortunes would never overtake us.
But, he added, " you ministers never preach to us on such
subjects. You never teach us how to apply the principles
of the gospel to our practice. You discuss general doctrines, but you do not unfold to us the manner in which
they should regulate our daily avocations, or how we should
make use of them, in the formation of our ordinary judgments."
To this, I could make no other reply than to admit that
what he said was the truth. I was obliged to acknowledge
that we taught men to be honest, without also teaching
them what the laws of honesty required ; that we urged
them to speak the truth, without setting before them the
nature of veracity; and that hence, our hearers went
away from our instructions with, frequently, no higher ap-

14
preciation of practical right doing than before; and that
those who professed to obey the gospel, were often as
much in fault as those who had never adopted it as the
rule of their conduct.
This conversation led me to inquire, whether I had not
a duty to discharge in this matter • and it confirmed me
in the intention, which I had before entertained, of attempting to show you what light the religion of the Bible shed
on ordinary mercantile transactions. I fear that my crude
suggestions will lead you to remark that I am, by no
means, a practical man. This, with all humility, I confess
to be the fact. You will, however, allow me to suggest,
that all successful practice must be founded on correct
theory. A correct theory is nothing but an exposition of
the laws of God, pertaining to a particular case, and the
laws of God are, at all times, fixed and unalterable. Neither individuals nor communities can modify or amend
them. If a whole community violates them, it will suffer
the consequences as much as an individual; nay, even more
disastrously, inasmuch as, if only a single man fall, his
neighbors may assist him; but, if all fall together, who is
there to help his brother ?
Let us, then, inquire whether there is any lesson of revelation which will apply to our present circumstances, or
which will enable us to escape such misfortunes in the
future.
The text seems to me to have a distinct and pertinent
bearing on this subject. It was given to our first parents;
that is to all humanity. It was enacted as a permanent
law. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return to the ground. It applies, therefore, not only to every
man, but to every man as long as he lives. This earth
was made for industrious men and women, and not for
idlers. This is the law under which our race, from the beginning, has been created.
But what is meant by the terms of this law ? What
are we to understand by a the sweat of thy face?" You
at once perceive that it signifies physical exertion, manual
labor. Every one knows that this is essential to health.

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In some form or other, we must obey this law, or suffer the
inevitable penalty—feebleness of body or imbecility of
mind. It is because this law is so frequently disobeyed,
that we see such multiplying forms of new disease, and,
in general, so great a want of manly vigor and resolute
energy of character. Nay, it has grown to such a pass
among us, that, to labor with our hands, is considered positively a disgrace. We thus not only disobey, but despise
the law of our Creator; and we are suffering, universally,
the consequences of our disobedience. Men, indeed, carry this notion so far, that they are ashamed to confess that
their parents were ever engaged in any useful manual occupation. It is held to be a blot on the family escutcheon,
if any of their lineage has been known to obey this primitive law of the Almighty.
But the words of the text were not, of course, intended
for so narrow a limitation. They include all labor, whether
of the mind or body; never, however, excluding the latter.
The inventor, wTho teaches us how labor may be more productively employed; the physician, who restores us to
health ; the lawyer, who seeks to establish justice and resist oppression; the minister of the gospel, who honestly
and earnestly strives to make us better for time and for
eternity ; the merchant who, by providing for the wants of
others, saves that time of the community which may be
more usefully employed;—all labor, in the sense of the text,
for all tend to the increase of production. And, in general, every man, who either produces by the labor of his*
hands whatever increases the real happiness of the community; or who, by his skill and knowledge, enables other
men to do this more successfully; is included in the number of those who labor by the sweat of their brow. But
even those who are principally employed in mental labor,
are not exempted from the law which imposes upon us all the
necessity of physical exertion, and they suffer from the
neglect of it as much as other men. The man, whether
lay or clerical, who, because he belongs to what he calls a
profession, deems it a disgrace to wipe the sweat from a
bronzed and manly forehead; or, who considers the hands

36
which God gave him, mere tasteful appendages, to be covered and blanched and rendered unfit for any useful employment ;—in simple, downright English, makes a fool of
himself.
In like manner, the other words of the text are to be
taken. Bread does not merely designate food, but every
thing necessary to our existence, comfort and improvement.
The food that we eat, the clothes that we wear, the habitations that shelter us, the ships that transport us and our
merchandise, the tools that we use,—in a word, all of every
kind that we call stock or capital, is intended to be understood by the word here used.
The meaning of the text, then, as thus explained, is as
follows : Labor is the essential condition to the creation of
value, that is of whatever is needed for human subsistence,
comfort or convenience. By this, it is intended that the
means of human happiness are to be produced in this manner, and they can be produced in no other. So much labor produces so much bread; so much bread is the product
of so much labor. Attempt as we may to escape from this
law, or to modify or reverse it, it is all in vain; the law
remains unrepealed and unalterable. The sweat of the face
produces the bread, and there is no bread without it. The
-bread which has been obtained without it, has been obtained in violation of the law of God. It has been dishonestly
obtained, and, in most cases, has not been obtained at all.
It has only mocked the possessor with an unsubstantial shadow, which soon has vanished, leaving him poorer than he
was before. •
What I mean may be made evident by the statement of
an obvious fact. The products of the present year are
precisely the result of the sweat of the face applied to the
capital of the last year. There is no other way in which
that capital could possibly have been increased. Can you
raise a bushel of wheat or a pound of cotton, or make a
yard of cloth, by any thing but labor ? Can you do it by
shrewdness, by speculation, by political management, by
legislation, by the making, or transferring, or discounting
of notes ? You see at once that this is impossible* How

17
all this wheat and wool, and cotton and cloth, and whatever may have been the product of the year, may be
weighed and measured and numbered. It all amounts to
a fixed sum. There are so many bushels of wheat, so
many pounds of cotton, so many yards of cloth, so many
ships and houses, and so of all the rest. There they are,
and they are neither more nor less than the actual reality.
And there is enough to supply the wants of the whole
community, if we distribute to each one his fair proportion,
according to the labor and capital which he has employed
in production.
But suppose, that, by an expansion of the circulating
medium, products begin to rise beyond their natural value,
that is, their value in labor; and that one and another is
stimulated to purchase more than he can use,—that is, more
than his proportion,—in order to grow rich, not by labor,
but by the advance of prices. His neighbor does the same.
The thing becomes a mania, and all are buying, and for
the same reason. . Prices are doubled. The expansion of
the currency increases, and they are trebled. But has the
the capital been thus increased, by a single atom? Has
this buying and selling, and borrowing and lending, and
travelling and telegraphing, added a single spoonful of
wheat or a single yard of cloth to the products of the nation? Is there a penny worth more, as the portion of each
individual ? Suppose that there are millipns of vacant acres
that cannot for twenty years be occupied by the husbandman. They are bought up, and for the reason which we
have before mentioned. Passing from hand to hand, they
reach an exorbitant price. Has anything been added to
the capital of the country? Has any sweat of the face
been applied to this capital? It is precisely what it was
before, and not the value of a dollar has been added to it.
Men have agreed to place a different nominal value upon
it, but it remains unchanged, and will remain so until it
has been united with labor.
This folly, however, like every other, has its limit.
These fictitious values at last correct themselves. An expanded and irresponsible circulation, in time, exhausts the
3

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confidence even of the most sanguine, and by necessity,
explodes. The fabric, which men have so laboriously
erected, trembles, heaves to. and fro, and crumbles in one
common ruin. Products return to the values placed upon
them by the law of God,—" by the sweat of thy face thou
shalt eat bread,"—that is, they resume their labor prices.
But in regaining this position, a universal calamity ensues^
such as we now experience. All this teaches us the immutability of the laws of God, and the impossibility of
altering or evading them. If God has decreed that we
can grow rich only by labor, try what expedients We may,
they will all be in vain. God will vindicate his own
authority and turn our counsels into foolishness; and commonly make us the instruments of our own punishment.
If such be the law of God, it would follow, of course,
that all modes of acquiring property, without labor, are at
variance with his will. For this reason alone, aside from
its other shocking consequences, gambling of every kind,
whether with cards, or dice, or in stocks, is sinful. The
winner here takes possession of wealth on which he has
expended no labor, and for which he gives no labor, or the
product of labor, in exchange. For the same reason, all
speculation, of which the tendency or the object is to raise
the price to the consumer, seems to me to be wrong. If
capitalists unite in buying up cotton or wheat or tea or
sugar, not to use themselves, or to sell at a reasonable
profit, but in order to control the market, and demand for
it what they please; the price which they receive may be
divided into two parts. The one part is the fair value, in
labor, of the article; the other is the amount extorted from
the buyer, who must pay what is charged, because he
cannot do without it. This latter part the seller has not
labored for, and he demands it by means of an abuse of
of the power of capital. * This is a violation of the laws of
God, who never entrusted us with wealth for the purpose
of enabling us to oppress our brethren.
In the same manner, the immense purchases of land at
the West and elsewhere, seem to me at variance with the
law of God. The purchaser has no intention of rendering

19
the land productive; he merely buys it so that he may
oblige the poor man who wants it a few years hence, to
pay him twice or thrice what he gave for it, Is this
dealing justly, I will not say mercifully, with our brethren.
Besides, this manner of investment is a vast disadvantage to the community. The capital thus invested is-lying
idle: it might, if productively invested, have given employment to thousands. Had the millions which have
been thus buried, been used in active production, the
nation would have been vastly richer, and the calamities
which we suffer might possibly have been averted. This
kind of investment seems to me nothing else than forestalling. In many places, this sort of transaction is forbidden by law, and. every where it is considered mean and
disreputable. We despise the man who forestalls a turkey
or a bushel of potatoes; while he, who forestalls cotton or
wool or land or sugar, if he does it at the rate of millions,
is esteemed wise and sagacious—a skillful operator, whose
example is worthy of the imitation of all enterprising men.
It may and of course will be said, that this is all theory.
Be it so; but is it not also fact ? Men attempt to grow
rich in modes at variance with the law of God; and what
is the result ? According to the most accurate examination of the books of banks in our large cities, it is estimated
that at least ninety per cent, of all the men who enter into
mercantile business, fail. Can there be a more conclusive
evidence that business is carried on upon principles at variance with some fundamental and universal law?, If a
physician lost nine out ten of his patients, or a lawyer nine
out often of his cases, would it satisfy us, when we ventured
to suggest a different practice, to" be told that all we said
was theory, and we must leave such matters exclusively
to practical men.
Still more. Look around you to-day. Examine the sad
lists of failures which every week presents to our notice.
Who, in general, have been the first to fail ? Who, when
they fall, fall with the most overwhelming crash, leaving
hardly an asset for the creditor to pick up out of the
rains ? Are they not the men who have most signally set

20
at naught the scripture doctrine of accumulation, and have
seemed to grow rich by magic, without either capital or
labor. Have they not been, as it has proved, the largest
operators, the boldest speculators, men who were supposed
to have accumulated millions, and whose establishments
vied with the magnificence of princes ? Are they not the
men, who, in their failures, have brought ruin upon so many
more cautious and right minded than themselves ? Does
not this fact teach us, not only that violation of the Creator's
law must meet its established result, but that those who
violate it most signally are the first to suffer the consequences? I reproach no one. I sympathize as truly and
as deeply in the misfortunes of my fellow citizens as any
other man. But I ask, is there not a lesson to be learned
from all this ? Are such calamities as these brought upon
us without a cause, and can they be averted until that
cause has been removed ? The men who have suffered
most severely would be the first to confess their error; and
should I not, from that error, draw a lesson of instruction,
and an illustration of the steadfastness of the laws of the
Creator.
So much, then, for the general teaching of revelation on
this subject. The New Testament, however, goes farther
than this, and imposes upon us a stricter and more spiritual law. Let us, then, proceed and briefly allude to the
precepts of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, on the subject of wealth.
1. Our blessed Lord, over and over again, inculcates
upon us the duty of holding every worldly possession in
very small estimation, in comparison with the salvation of
the soul. Hence, he warns us against laying up treasures
upon earth, inasmuch as it is hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven, because it is difficult to be rich
without trusting in riches. He assures us that we need
not be anxious to accumulate, for the God who feeds the
ravens, will feed us, if we only do our duty. Not that he
would have us indolent, reckless, careless or improvident.
On the contray, we must be industrious, diligent in busisiness, and gather up the fragments that nothing be lost,

21
while we permit nothing whatever to diminish our interest
in our own salvation or the salvation of others. If we govern ourselves by these principles, he will grant us just as
much of this world's possessions as will conduce to our
spiritual good. In his infinite benevolence, he will provide us with all things needful, if we do not frustrate his
intentions by our own waywardness and hot haste to be
rich.
2. In order to prevent us from setting an undue value on
riches, our Lord imposes upon us the duty of universal charity. Whatever we possess is a talent committed
to us, to be used for the benefit of others. He, who was
rich, for our sakes became poor, that we, through his
poverty, might become rich j and he holds forth his example for the imitation of men, whose nature he assumed.
And, let me assure you, there is nothing like simple-minded,
self-denynTg charity, for moderating our excessive desire
for the gold that perisheth. But, do not suppose that
misers, who live on crusts, and spend their evenings, in
darkness to save the expense of a farthing candle, are the
only hard-hearted Shylocks in the community. The men
who squander thousands on thousands upon their personal
and family expenses; whose establishments are the wonder
and the envy of the idle passer-by; frequently rival the
miser in cold, grasping, iron-handed selfishness, and in
breathless, reckless, and unprincipled lust of. gain. It is
only by using what God has committed to us, as stewards;
by considering our property as a trust, held for the benefit
of others as well as ourselves, that we can escape the
spiritual dangers which attend upon the acquisition of
property.
Here, however, let me utter a word of caution; for even
here, a temptation lies concealed. Men who are disposed
to be charitable, are liable to mislead themselves. They
are frequently tempted to violate the very rules whose authority they acknowledge, on the ground that they intend
to do good with their money. They plead the end as the
justification of the means. They do what conscience cannot justify, but justify it to themselves, by imagining that

22
they do it in order to have the more to give to the cause
of charity. They come to think, that conduct which would
be wrong in other men, is innocent to them, because they
act from a better motive. Such causistry as this, finds no
support in the word of God. Christ will receive nothing
from us which has been gained by the violation of his
commandments. He never asks of us robbery for a burnt
offering. When Saul was commanded utterly to destroy
the Amalekites, with their cattle and herds, and he reserved
the choicest of them for himself; the excuse was not received, that he intended them for an offering to the Lord.
"To obey," said the prophet, "is better than sacrifice, and
to hearken, than the fat of rams."
3. And, once more. Christ requires us to hold our property, in the most general sense, for the good of others ;•
not merely in charity, but in the way of kind, friendly,
and neighborly assistance. Give to him that asketh of
thee, saith our Lord; and from him that would borrow of
thee, turn not thou away. Any man, engaged in business,
is liable, from unforeseen occurrences, to find himself in
strait places. He may, without his own fault, need the
aid of his more fortunate neighbor. Our Saviour teaches
us that we should, in such circumstances, be prompt to
lend our brother such assistance as he may need; just as
we, in a similar case, would wish him to do for us. We
should do this, not for the sake of gain, but for the pleasure of doing a kind action, and of relieving a worthy and
honest, but unfortunate brother. Were such principles as
these universally carried out into practice, how beautifully
would the different portions of society be blended in social
harmony, and the rich and the poor be united together, by
that charity which is the bond of perfectness.
I fear, however, that this commandment has been shamefully violated of late. From what I have heard of the
rates of interest which have been taken in many places,
I am sure men must have fogotten that the Almighty
God still exists, who has said, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. When I say this, I know it will be replied,
that money, like any other article, is worth just what it

23
will bring. I, perhaps, understand this, as well as some
others. I know that the price of money, like any other
article, is subject to slight fluctuations. This is one thing;
but to take advantage of the necessities of a neighbor is
quite another thing. It is worth something for me to put
out my hand and lift out of the water one hundred and
fifty pounds avoirdupois, and it would be worth more when
the thermometer was at 20° below zero, than on a summer's day ;•—but, if my neighbor has fallen into the water
and cannot help himself, does this justify me in refusing
to put forth my hand and save him, unless he promise to
give me the half of his property ? So, the interest of money
may, for short periods, be worth from 4 to 8 per cent, per
annum; but does this justify me in taking from my neighbor two, five, eight, or ten per cent, per month, and that
upon unquestioned and undoubted security ? So, house-rent
may from time to time vary, as every one knows; but
does this justify me in charging a poor widow, who can
find no other shelter, a rent per annum, equal, perhaps, to
the whole value of the hovel which scarcely protects her
from the rain and the tempest ? Nor does it justify me
in receiving an exorbitant rent for houses that are used
for the purpose of scattering pollution and crime over a
whole neighborhood.
I am credibly informed that banks are sometimes so
managed, as to grant facilities for various forms of financial oppression. It is said, that there are bank directors,
who make use of the trust committed to their charge, for
the purpose of exacting enormous interest, for their own
individual emolument. The business of banking, when
properly conducted, is as honorable, and as beneficial to
the community, as any other. Its tendency is to bind together the capitalist and the laborer, by the bond of mutual interest and good will. But, when used for the
purpose of financial oppression, they become a, nuisance,
which ought to be abated by the strong arm of the law,
or by the stern rebuke of outraged public opinion.
All these forms of iniquity, are designated in the scriptures, by the name of extortion; and are thus classed with

24
the most unpardonable transgressions. " Know ye not,
that neither thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God?"
a
I have written unto you, that if any man that is called
a brother, be unclean, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one no
not to eat."
I would ask, moreover, are there not indications every
where visible around us, that, by this eager haste to be
rich, we are violating one of the laws of God. Every innocent occupation, properly pursued, is favorable to health
of body and vigor of mind. But the pursuit of wealth
among us, is ruining the constitutions of our most enterprising men. The human nerves were not created to bear
the strain of incessant care and corroding apprehension.,
What begins in dyspepsia and despondency, too frequently
ends in madness. Hence the alarming increase of suicide
and insanity, both in this country and in Great Britain.
Nor is this all. This unhallowed passion for wealth is becoming too strong for the control of moral principle, nay,
of religion itself. The mournful defalcations of men who
have, through life, enjoyed the unlimited confidence both
of the church and the world, stand, as beacons, to warn us
of the imminent danger of shipwreck of our faith.
Here, again, it will doubtless be said; all this is very
beautiful in theory, but it would be absurd to reduce it to
practice. Were a man to carry on his business on the
principles you advocate, he would be inevitably ruined.
I confess, I do not see this so clearly as many others.
Suppose you knew a merchant of competent skill, whose
profits were always honest and reasonable ; who abhorred
a trick, whether in trade or out of it; who, in his every
day transactions, was obviously governed by the rule,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; and, in whose
hands your interests were as safe as they would be in your
own; would not he be the man, of all others, with whom
you would prefer to do business ? Would not all other
men follow your example ? Suppose that all professors
of the religion of Christ were just such men; would they

25
not be sought out as the merchants with whom rich and
poor would d esire to open an account ? Would not such
disciples of Christ thus place themselves at the head of
the mercantile community, and direct and regulate all its
financial arrangements ? Would not all other men, from
the necessity of the case, be obliged to follow their example ? It would seem, then, looking at the subject practically, that it is in the power of Christian men, by obeying
the precepts of their Master, to transform and regenerate
the commerce of the world. It is a libel on Christianity
to .say that it is absurd to obey its teachings. It is nothing less than to charge God with foolishness. I put it to
any man to say, whether, if we had obeyed the precepts
of Jesus Christ, these calamities could have overtaken us.
So, then, after all, honesty is not the worst policy; charity
is not folly; to love our neighbor as ourselves, is no proof
of insanity; and, as the good book hath it, a Godliness is
profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that
now is, and of that which is to come."