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Bought with the income
of the
Class of 1872 Fund

THE TENDENCY OF
IN TWO SERMONS,
t
PREACHED BY
THE REVD. ALEXR. FLETCHER,
OF MILES' S LANE, LONDON;
After the Conclusion of the Treaty of Peace
WITH
GREAT BRITAIN
AND
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Hottttott,
PRINTED BY VV. TEW,
NO! 105, UPPER THAMES STREET;
AND SOLD BY OGLES', DUNCAN, AND COCHRAN,
37, PATERNOSTER ROW, AND 295, HOLBORN;
J, OGLE, EDINBURGH ; AND M. OGLE, GLASGOW.
1815.

SERMON I.

—»<&«-

MATTHEW, XXIV. 27.

For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto
the west ; so shall also the coming of the Son of Mail be.
— »9«—
Th e expression " coming of the Son of Man," in
its general acceptation, is applicable to four memo
rable events. The first — his appearance in the flesh ;
the second — '•the manifestations of his vengeance
against devoted Jerusalem ; the third — his visitation
of the nations of the earth with Gospel light ; and,
the-fourth— -when He shall be seated on his throne -
of judgment, to pass and execute just sentences
upon an assembled world. The coming of the Son
of Man, referred to in the text, respects the second
event — the manifestation of his vengeance against
devoted Jerusalem, by the victorious armies of Titus
Vespasian. In the following Discourse, the use we make
of this passage, is a use of accommodation. The
words of the verse, when applied to the Light of
A

the Gospel, in its progress among the Nations, con
tain a fact, striking and pleasing. " As the light-
" ning proceedeth from the east to the west," so
has " the coming of the Son of Man," in the diffu
sion of Gospel light, been in the same direction.
I. We will speak of the Gospel, under th«
pleasing metaphor of light.
II. Shew how it resembles the motion of
lightning from the east unto the west.
I. We will speak of the Gospel, under the
pleasing metaphor of light. Revelation in general
is moral light. Psal. cxix. 105. " Thy word is a
" light unto my feet, and a lamp unto my paths."
Ver. 1 30. " The entrance of thy word giveth light, *'
David prays for the communication of this light,
Psal. xliii. 3, " O send out thy light and thy truth,
" let them guide me."
The Gospel in particular is denominated light.
2 Cor. iv. 6. " For God, who commandeth the Ught
" to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,
" to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
" God in the face of Jesus Christ." Peter deno
minates this celestial system, " marvellous light."
1 Pet. ii. 9. " But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
" priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that

" ye should shew forth the praises of Him, who
" hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
" light." He describes the Gospel as light shining
in a dark place. 2 Pet. i. 19- " We have also a
" more sure word of prophecy, to which we do well
" to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark
" place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise
" in }rour hearts." The graces, which the Gospel
offers, are the decisive armour of the Saints : they
are designated, the armour of light. Rom. xiii. 12.
" The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us
" therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put
" on the armour of light." Well does the Gospel
deserve the name! The clearest day of philosophical
light, compared with the lucid brightness of this
heavenly Revelation, sinks into the darkest shades of
obscurity. No wonder ! the former is the result of
the enquiries of men; the latter— the invention of
God. Christ, the Author of Divine Revelation, is
distinguished by the delightful appellation of light.
1 John, v. 9. " The light shineth. in darkness, and
" the darkness comprehendeth it not. That was the
" true light, which lighteth eveiy man that cometh
" into the world." Christ takes to himself this
name, John viii. 12. " I am the Light of the world:
" he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness,
" but hath the light of life." Malachi predicted the
A 2

appearance of our Lord, under the august name of
the Sun of Righteousness, Chap. iv. 2. " But unto
" you that fear my name, shall the Sun of Righte-
" ousness arise with healing in his wings."
We will not detain you by expatiating long
upon the propriety of denominating Christianity light.
Ignorance, with its lengthened train of gloomy
attendants, is moral darkness. The Gospel, with its
splendid retinue of spiritual advantages, is moral
light. He, who has no knowledge of the real cir
cumstances of his situation, as a moral, rational,
and accountable being, of the sad reverses to which
his nature is subject, by the introduction of sin; and
of the provision which the goodness of Deity has
made for the restoration of that purity, perfection,
and honour, which the apostacy of the founder of
our race has separated from all his offspring ; is sur
rounded with the dense clouds of moral and spiritual
darkness, which can only be chased away by the
splendid rays of the Gospel of Peace. To those
who are acquainted with the influence of this light,
we may address the words of Paul — •" Ye are all the
" children of light, and of the day : we are not of
" the night, nor of darkness."
II. We will now attempt to point out, how
the progress of the Gospel in the world, resembles
the motion of lightning from east to west.

The light of the Gospel first shone in Palestine,
a country of Asia, the eastern continent of the earth.
There, the Saviour was born — there he spent, in
secluded and humble retirement, his early days —
there, he performed the most marvellous deeds of
humanity — and there, he spake as never man spake.
O, how honoured were those plains on which the
Saviour trod — those cities the Saviour visited — those
mountains, on which He proclaimed, to wondering
thousands, the tidings of Salvation for a captive
world !
Isaiah foretold that this glorious light should first
shine in the eastern parts of the earth, Chap. ii. 2,5.
" And it shall come to pass in the last days, that
" the mountain of the Lord's house shall be esta-
" blished on the top of the mountains, and shall be
" exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow
" unto it. And many people shall go, and say,
" come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the
" Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he
" will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in
" his paths ; for out' of Zion shall go forth the law
" and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. O
".house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the
« light of the Lord."
At an early period after the first display of
Gospel light in Palestine, the welcome beams

6
proceeded westward to the continent of Europe.
Before the death of the Apostles, they shone in the
empire of Macedonia, and "displayed their beauty in
Rome, which remained for ages the greatest imperial
city among the nations. It is interesting to examine
the records of Ecclesiastical history, and observe
how the Gospel advanced from Judea to the western
parts of the earth. In the second century, the Sun
of Righteousness arose on Germany. Many centu
ries performed their revolutions, before the darkness
of Pagan impurities was dispelled in that extensive
country, by its celestial brightness. In this century,
some parts of ancient Gaul were visited with the
welcome dawn of Gospel day. Churches were
planted in Lyons and Vienne. In the third cen
tury, the Gospel advanced in Germany, in its pro
gressive and successful course, and the banners of
the cross were erected and established, by the
formation of Churches, in Cologne, Treves, and
Mentz. In Gaul it made similar advancement, and
Churches were planted in Paris, and Aries. In
the fourth century, Ethiopia stretched forth her
wings to God. At what period the Gospel travelled
westward to Britain, we cannot tell, We know,
however, that soon after the commencement of the
Christian Era, the Gospel visited this distinguished
protected Island of the Sea. It is truly remarkable,
how wonderfully the Gospel has been preserved in
this Land, since its original introduction, The

heavenly Visitor has never left our rocky shores,
since our ancestors first hailed his arrival. The
glorious light, which gilded the top of our moun
tains in early ages, has never been extinguished,
since the first time that its gladdening rays destroyed
the gloom of Pagan misery, .which overspread our
firmament. How wonderfully has this light been
preserved alive, to present the beam of hope to future
generations! In the language of prophecy, God
marks out Islands to be the object of his peculiar
care. Isaiah, xiii. 4. " He shall not fail, nor be
" discouraged, till he set judgment in the earth, and
" the Isles shall wait for his law." Ii. 5. " The
" Isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall
" they trust." Ix. 8, 9. " Who are these that fly
" as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ?
" surely the Isles shall wait for me."
When the Saxons invaded the plains of England,
they drove the ancient Christian Britons to the hills
of Wales, and to the Hebrides and alpine mountains
of Scotland, and covered the invaded territory, where
Christian light had shone for centuries, with all
the abominations of Pagan mythology. But, in the
seventh century, the Gospel was introduced into
Kent, and established in Canterbury, and, by means
of a matrimonial relation formed betwixt the Kings
-of Kent and Northumberland, was also introduced
into the northern parts of this Kingdom. From

these two distant points it extended its blessings,
till it overspread the whole of the, Saxon Heptarchy.
Never, since that memorable epoch, have the fright
ful and bloody rites of Paganism polluted the soil of
our happy Country,
God seems to have destined Britain, in an
eminent degree, to be the Depository of Gospel
Truth. This Land has been appointed by Heaven,
to send the blessings of Salvation to the Western
World. It has sent them. She shah1 be honoured
to the latest posterity, by having replenished the
extensive shores of North America with her sons
and daughters ; but she shall be held in everlasting
remembrance, as the instrument of bestowing, on a
portion of the Globe, that is speedily rising to the
greatest importance — the Gospel of the Son of God,
Here we may contrast South with North Ame
rica ; and Spain, which, by unparalleled cruelties,
took possession of the former, with Britain, which
planted Colonies on the latter. Look to South
America, which has been for ages under the domi
nion of Spain ; behold the despotic tyranny of their
temporal rulers, and, above all, the gloomy ascend-.
ancy of their spiritual rulers. From the seat of the
Beast in Europe, those licentious and avaricious
Priests conveyed that deadly poison, which affects
with mortal lethargy, all who become the subjects

9
of its influence. The expedients adopted by the
Government of Spain, to rivet the fetters of the
most heart-rending bondage on that Country, are
unequalled in human enormity, and fix a stigma
on the Land that originated and perpetrated such
crimes, which cannot be wiped away by the revolu
tion of ages. All the recompence which was given
to the bleeding inhabitants of that extensive portion
of the Globe, for the submission extorted by vio
lence, carnage and' murder, was the deadly venom
of Antichrjstian abominations !
Look to the situation of Spain, the nation
' which is covered with disgrace. Whether we con
sider her in respect of morality, liberty, religion, or
political existence, we must confess, that she is the
scorn of the civilized world, and the object of the
Divine displeasure. There is scarcely any part of
the earth which presents before the mind events cal
culated to produce such painful sensations, as Spain,
and the Continent she has deluged with misery !
A scene of a very different description rises to
our view, when we look to the northern division of
the Western World. While Spain, by the inscrutible
and mysterious arrangements of Providence, has
been permitted to entail the most degrading miseries
on the inhabitants of the South; Britain, this
land highly favoured of Heaven, has been destined

10
to send to the northern part of this vast Continent,
those Treasures of Gospel light, which shall fill a
wondering world with grateful astonishment. It's
shores were first visited by the Natives of Britain,
in the year 1496. Queen Elizabeth granted them a
charter, to plant Colonies, in the year 1 578. It was
not, however, till the reign of James I. that Colo
nies began to flourish, and assume among the nations
an appearance of importance. Now, the United
States have become a great and a growing Power,
and they are treated with respect by all the Nations
of Europe. The recent and pleasing event of a Treaty of
Peace having been ratified by the Government of
the United States and Great Britain, calls upon me,
in the providence of God, to direct your candid at
tention to the consideration of a variety of affairs
connected with the history of that Country, which
is peopled by the descendants of our ancestors, as
far only as those affairs respect the interests of Reli
gion, and the progress of Christianity.
The United States of America may be1 consi
dered as a Christian Power, which will probably
reach, through the influence of the Gospel, the
most distinguished elevation. The introduction of
Christianity into this part of the world, differs widely
from its introduction into other parts of the earth.

11
In other cases, the admission of the Gospel had to
contend with all the prejudices, rites, pollutions,
and superstitions of Pagan idolatory ; in this, it is a
Christian People, with their manners, improvements,
and religion, planting Colonies in a part of the earth,
of all others, the most favourable for an abundant
supply of the necessaries and comforts of life, and
for the increase and support of the human species.
On this account, Christianity has, comparatively
speaking, few difficulties to encounter, while its
privileges will extend, in proportion as the offspring
of those Colonies multiply.
What an astonishing contrast, now, do South
and North America present before our eyes ! The
harbingers and attendants of those who invaded the
former, were rapine and destruction, idolatry and
ignorance; the harbingers and attendants of those
who planted Colonies in the latter, were civilization
and religion, liberty and peace. In the South, the
agents of the Papal See imposed on the mind, the
massy fetters of antichristian captivity! — in the
North, multitudes of British Protestant Divines ap-
pear.with the Torch of Truth in their hands, which
diffuses through the soul, the light of Heaven, and
endows it with those exalted principles of moral and
spiritual freedom, which enable it to disdain, with
holy indignation, ever to become the slaves of popish
and crafty domination.

12
In considering the history of the existence and
progress of Christianity in that extensive Continent,
we are necessarily led to advert to those obstacles
which Satan has cast in its way. We can speak
out in this free country. This day, I will avail my
self of the right, which Britons receive as their
hereditary paternal possession from their ancestors,
who purchased it by the price of their blood.
The enemy of man has employed two powerful
obstacles to oppose the progress of Christianity in
the earth: the one is popery — the other is infi
delity. No impartial observer, who candidly in
vestigates the subject, will dare to deny the justice
of the assertion. The first, robs the mind of its
liberty — the second, of its hopes of blessed immor
tality beyond the grave. The first, Satan employs
in countries where ignorance prevails, and where
the means of information are scanty. The second,
in those countries, where inhabitants, through liberty
and education, have full opportunity, without the
terrors of the Inquisition and anathemas of priests,
to examine the Sacred Records, and weigh their
contents in the balances of reason. The first, Satan
has employed in South America, because it suited
his object ; and the second, in North America, be
cause it was most likely to answer his end.
END OF THE FIRST SERMON.

SERMON II.

. >~«..

MATTHEW, XXIV. 27.
For as. the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto
the west ; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.

••>?<•¦

In the former Discourse, we observed, that the
enemy of man employs two means in opposing the
progress of Evangelical Truth : the one is popery,
the other is infidelity. The first he employed
in South, the second, in North America.
The Prince of Darkness, beholding with a
jealous and suspicious eye, the probability of the
great and universal prevalence of Christian light in
the northern part of this Continent, raised to ma
turity the monster of Infidelity, which French phi
losophers had cherished, by every effort which
enmity to the true interests of man could stimulate,
and which appeared embodied in Thomas Paine !
This Champion of Infidelity, and enemy of Chris
tianity, left England with disgust, and visited France,
a country more congenial to his gloomy and cheer-

14
less opinions. From thence he sailed to the United
States of America, which place he had destined to
be the scene of his forbidding labours, and the
theatre of his discouraging conquests.
He visited the state of Connecticut. Its rulers
have adopted the Bible, as the basis of their civil
and political constitution. Here the Agent of Error
began to disseminate his noxious principles among
unwary youth ; he was thwarted in his designs,
and left the State in disappointment.
He went to the City of New York : there he
lived for a short period, in circumstances of the
most degraded misery. On his death bed, he
poured the most marked contempt on the Christian
faith ; and, as he despised the Gospel, with all the
consolations it offered, he left the world in a situ
ation of wretchedness, rarely, if ever equalled. His
dead body was carried out of the Island where New
York is situated, and buried at Rochelle, by the
way side. I esteem it my duty, to be thus explicit, in the
account I have now given. The agency of Provi
dence is evident, in the end to which this deter
mined Champion of Infidelity, and confirmed enemy
of Christianity, was brought, and the disappoint
ment which attended his bold and last struggles, for

15
destroying the best hopes of men. It may be a warn*
ing to those young men now before me, who may
be already tinctured with Infidel opinions, or who
are exposed, from Sabbath to Sabbath, to the pesti
lential breath of those who indulge them.
Infidelity seemed to have reached its zenith in
that country, during the administration of President
Jefferson. This ruler observed, that he cared not
what men worshipped, provided they did not break
his bones, and pick his pockets.*
General Washington took a noble stand
against the debasing infidelity of the existing rulers.
From documents of undoubted veracity, it appears,
that Jefferson employed a British traitdr, of noxious
name, to vilify the character of this brave general,
lively patriot, and humble christian. Some of the
observations which this great Soldier delivered, in
his farewell address to the United States, deserve to
be engraved upon a monument of brass. " Infidelity,
" he said, is the greatest enemy of the interests of
v< man, both as it respects his moral and civil advan-

* Thomas Jefferson, when asked by some gentlemen, who
were travelling with him in Virginia, what was the reason he
allowed the churches to'fall into decay, observed, that " they
" were good enough, to commemorate the death of Him, who
« was born in a stable ! !"

16
" tages ; and the religion of Jesus is the best friend
" of the human race. It is the basis of civil society*
" without which it cannot exist. When the solem-
" nity of religious oaths leave our Courts of Justice,
" there is neither chance for liberty, reputation, nor
'f life. If Infidelity prevail, in some instances, men
" of liberal and refined education may shew an ex-
" ternal respect for the interests of morality : but if
" Christianity prevail, all ranks, without distinction,
" are obliged to bow to the Gospel of Peace. — A
" volume could not pourtray the miseries which
" would accrue to society, if the ordinances of
" Christianity were rejected; because whatever is
" opposed to the prosperity of that system, is op-
" posed to every principle which can dignify and
" exalt the mind of man." He concluded by ex
pressing his regret, " that the people would not
" likely receive his farewell address with that readi-
" ness arid respect, which its importance deserved."
To human appearance, the Light of the Gospel
had much to encounter in the United States, when
Infidelity, its greatest and most formidable antago
nist, obtained an ascendancy in the minds of the
leading members of the Government of the Country.
A Government where Infidelity prevails, is
peculiarly hurtful to the interests of morality and
the progress of Christianity. If we can prove that

17
it is productive of perjury, and inimical to one of
the noblest principles which can elevate the heart —
we mean " the love of the Country that gives us
" existence/' we have made our assertion good.
Encourage in any State a system ol perjury, and
you lay the foundation of disrespect for Deity, and
contempt for the sacred nature of those obligations,
under which men are laid, as rational subjects of hfl
moral government, to love, reverence, and obey Him.
Such a system of perjury was encouraged by the
Government of the United States, through the pre
valence of Infidel sentiments.
This appears in the plan adopted for naturalizing
British subjects. The design was, to prevail on the
natives of this Country to subscribe their names to
printed papers of naturalization,* that they might af-

* The following is the substance of the Oath prescribed to
British subjects, in those Papers, by authority of the Government
of the United States: — " I, A. B. do now and for ever abjure
" all Emperors, Rings, Princes, Potentates, Principalities and
" Powers whatever, and particularly the King of Great Britain,
" of whom I was lately a subject."
By this oath, every British subject immediately becomes a sub
ject of the United States, under circumstances very different to
the native himself; because, according to the tenor of the oath,
B

IS
ter^ards be obliged to lift up the hand of war against
the Country which gave them birth. This was not
apparent in the first instance. These papers were
sold for trifling sums of money. The persons who
procured them were dazzled with the power it in
vested in them, of giving their vote, in electing re
presentatives for Congress ; not thinking that the
same document which gave them this advantage on
the one hand, would be employed on the other, as
a legal bond, to oblige them to carry the weapons
of hostility against the land of their fathers !
Recourse was not only had to measures of craft,
but to measures of violence. Because many sub-

he/or ever abjures every Power; while the native of the United
States is at full liberty to swear allegiance to any other Power he
pleases : therefore the British subject who is entrapped in this
way, does not only swear allegiance to a new Government, but
also is compelled, for ever, to forsake his Parents, Wife and
Children, and the sepulchres of his Fathers, and even Religion
itself, while he becomes the unhallowed instrument, in the hands
of an Infidel Government, of raising up the parricide arm of war
against all that was once dear to him. This surely bespeaks the
nature of the principles of that Government, which can be guilty
of so debased and abominable a practice. In all the actions of
the Usurper of the French, a blacker crime cannot be found !—
Let Britons consider this., and adore that God, who in his pro
vidence, has hitherto protected and delivered this happy Island
from such awful and corrupt principles.

19
jects and natives of Britain refused to accept of the
papers of naturalization offered them ; after the
declaration of war against this Country, a law was
passed, that they should be driven into the interior,
40 miles from tide-water : there, by starvation and
misery, they were forced into an involuntary sub
mission. Is it possible that a blacker crime can
pollute the operations of any Government?
Consider the Land, against which such ignoble,
cruel, and treacherous proceedings were directed !
It is one, exceeded by none, in those noble princi
ples, which deserve the admiration and imitation of
surrounding kingdoms ' — Was there ever a Country
that manifested such affectionate concern for their
offspring, as this^ — Have the parents of any Nation
discovered such anxiety for the information, im
provement, and happiness of their children, as the
pareuts of this? — Did ever any Kingdom display
such liberality in relieving the wants, and amelio
rating the miseries of those who have been rendered
widows and fatherless by the calamities of war ?
No ! We need only mention one fact, of a recent
description, to prove the propriety of our last appeal.
At a late convivial feast of a Caledonian Society,
held in this City, from five to six thousand pounds
were subscribed, in the course of a i'ew hours, to
relieve the necessities of those women and children,
who have been involved in oppressive difficulties by
B2

20
a severe and protracted war. And is this the Coun
try against which the cold blooded cruelty of Ame
rican naturalization has been directed ! ! I blush for
human nature !
In no book can the excellence of that dignified
feeling, love of country, appear to such advantage as
in the Bible, which is equally the friend of nations
and of individuals,
We will gill give you a few pleasing specimens.
Hear the language of Nehemiah, the cup-bearer of
Artaxerxes: " And it came to pass in the month
" Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the
" king, that wine was before him : and I took up
" the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not
" been before time sad in his presence. Wherefore
s' the king said unto me, why is thy countenance
" sad, seeing thou art not sick ? then I was very
" sore afraid, and said unto the king, let the king
" live for ever ! why should not my countenance be
" sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepuU
" chres lieth waste, and the gates thereof are con^
" sumed with fire ! Then the king said unto me, For
" what dost thou make request ? So I prayed unto
*' the God of heaven. And I said unto the king,
" if it please the king, and if thy servant have found
" favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me
*' unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres,

21
" that I may build it. And the king said unto me,
" for how long shall thy journey be ? and when wilt
" thou return ? So it pleased the king to send me,
f' and I set him a time." Nehemiah ii, 1 — 6.
Observe that fervent glow of patriotism, which the
Jews discovered, when they sat in captivity by
the streams of Babylon, far from the land of their
fathers : " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat
" down ; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion.
" We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the
" midst thereof. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
" let my right hand forget her cunning ; if I do not
" remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof
'* of my mouth, if I remember not Jerusalem to my
" chief est joy" Psalm cxxxvii. Witness the pun
gent grief which tore their spirits, when they con
trasted Judea in its grandeur, with the appearance
it exhibited through the ravages of its enemies.
" The holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilder- '
'' ness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and
" beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee,
f' is burnt up with fire : and all our pleasant things
" are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these
" things, . O Lord ? wilt thou hold thy peace and
" afflict us very sore ?" Tsaiah lxiv. 10 — 12. The
Author of our Religion, Jesm of Nazareth, has
stamped eternal honour upon the principle of love
of country, which a system of naturalization, the
offspring of Infidelity attempts to eradicate. <' And

22
" when he was come near, he beheld the city, and
" wept over it, saying, if thou hadst known, even
" thou, at least in this thy day, the things which
" belong unto thy peace ! but now they are hid from
" thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee,
" that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee,
" and compass thee round, and keep thee in on
" every side, and shall lay thee even with the
" ground, and thy children within thee ; and they
" shall not leave in thee one stone upon another;
" because thou knowest not the time of thy visita-
" tion." Luke, xix. 41 — 44.
It is a fact ascertained beyond the possibility of
doubt, that the inhabitants of the United States,
who have manifested the greatest love to Britain,
the land of their ancestors, and the greatest oppo
sition to the unnatural war, proclaimed against it,
are the warm friends of Christianity ; and that they
who have been the most earnest supporters of the
measures of hostility, and have discovered the un
paralleled and determined anxiety that this Country
should be blotted out from the catalogue of Nations,
are those who are the advocates of the darkness of
Infidelity, and have left no scheme untried to pre
vent the irresistible progress of Gospel light.
One of the Members of Congress, in a speech
he delivered in that assembly, made the following

23
observation : " I wish I had the red hot artillery of
" Heaven in my power, then should I drive the
" British Island from her moorings." That day, the
thunderbolts of Heaven fell upon his villa and plan
tations, and levelled them with the ground.
Thus I have given you a lengthed account of
the influence of Infidelity upon the Government of
the United States. But as the fumes of ascending
smoke cannot oppose the progress of the luminary
of day in its irresistable power, neither can the dark
opinions of scepticism and doubt ever be found
competent to prevent the prosperity of the Gospel
in the Western World. Who can lay restraints upon
the lightning? " As the lightning cometh out of the
" east, and shineth even unto the west ; so shall
" also the coming of the Son of Man be."
Let us change the subject. It will delight and
refresh our minds, to consider the stand which the
Ministers of the Gospel have taken in that Country
against the proud pretensions of Infidel Powers, and
the high veneration they bear towards this protected
Island, as that gem in the bosom of the ocean,
from whence emanates that celestial Light, which
shall enlighten all the Nations of the World.
The Reverend Elisha Parish, native of Massa-
ehussets, and Professor of Divinity in that State, in

24
a Sermon which he delivered, made the following
remarks : " All wars are murder! and the blood that
" is shed falls on the aggressors. In this war, our
" Government are the aggressors! Already lives
" have been lost; their souls have been severed from
" their bodies ; they have appeared before the throne
" of the Great Eternal ; they have given in their
" testimony, and the recording angel has noted it
" down till the day of final retribution. The blood
" that is shed falls on us ; and woe, woe to that
" man who stains his hands with innocent blood \"
He turned his eyes to Britain, and exclaimed, " She
" is the Fountain-spring of the Gospel of Peace,
" from whence it flows, to enlighten benighted
" Nations. She rises from her surrounding waves,
" like the mountains of Arrarat, to save a sinking
" world. She is the Ark of God, destined to con-
" tain the liberties of the human race."
The Reverend John Clerk, of New York, in
a Sermon which he delivered on Christian Charity,
stopped short — turned his eyes to the sepulchres of
his fathers, to Britain, where, like the Patriarchs
and Apostles, they slept in peace, and observed:
" Shew me the Land that is eminent for every
" virtue ? — it is that blessed Landr Shew me the
" Land that is the Fountain-spring of the Gospel of
" Peace ? — it is that blessed Land. Shew me the
u Land that has done more for the spread of the .

25
*' Gospel than all the rest of the world put together ?
" — it is that blessed Land. Shew me the Land
" to which we are indebted for our existence, for
" all the arts and sciences, for the Divine Law, and
" for that Stream which refreshes a portion of our
" happy Country ?< — it is that blessed Land. He
" who wishes that he had the red hot artillery of
" Heaven, to drive her from her moorings, shews
" plainly, that he is filled with all the rancour and
" malice of the damned."
Let us indulge the pleasing hope, that the
Gospel, which shines in that astonishing portion of
the Globe, will never be extinguished, and that, as
the " shining light, it will shine more and more unto
" the perfect day."
Look to the Continent of Asia east from Judea.
Greater attempts have been employed there, than
have ever been employed in the Western World, to
establish and promote the interests of Christianity.
But how different the success ! The former is a
moral wilderness ; while the latter presents a pros
pect before the mind, which shall be the admiration
of future generations. " As the lightning cometh
" out of the east, and shineth even unto the west ;
"• so shall also the coming, of the Son of Man be."
c

26
conclusion.
I. Let us rejoice that Christianity in the
Western World, presents before the eyes of the
hopeful Christian, the most encouraging prospects.
The exertitions of Infidelity have been overruled
for good; they have excited the energies of the
Friends of the Cross ; the doubts of the fearful have
been dispelled, and the confidence of the faithful
strengthened. Dr. John Mason, a member of the same eccle
siastical body to which we belong, is professor of
Theology, in one of the principal Universities in
the United States. We have heard Of his learning,
his piety, his zeal. His labours, in preparing young
men for the Ministry, have been eminently blessed.
Those who have been trained up under his fostering
hand, have furnished the Churches with the most
satisfying marks of ability, godliness and eloquence.
Religion begins to revive in the more southern
States, where it has languished for ages. Some
years ago, the Theatre of Richmond in Virginia,
was destroyed by fire, and nearly the whole of the
crowded assembly Avhich filled it, perished in the
conflagration ! On the spot where Satan had his
seat, a Church has been erected, to commemorate
the Salvation of the World.

27
Let us cast our eyes to Upper Canada. It is
a vast tract of the most picturesque and luxurient
country, capable of containing more than twenty
million Of inhabitants. The Government of Britain
are presenting the greatest encouragements before
such as -may be disposed to settle in that hopeful
part of the British Empire. They will be permitted
to take along with them Ministers of the Gospel,
agreeable to their own views, for whorri a com
fortable independence is prepared by the Cabinet of
this Country. II. Religion is a personal thing. Let every
individual enquire : " Have the saving influences of
" this heavenly light visited my soul?" Since ever
we were conscious of existence, this light has dis
played its beauty around us; has it shone within
us ? Has it enabled us to behold the ruins of our
nature? that guilt and pollution, misery and death
are the inheritance, which the founder of our race
has bequeathed to his numerous offspring? Have
we seen the new and living way, which leads to
that Paradise where sin shall never enter? Have
we heafd him who is the Wonderful— the Coun
sellor — the Witness — the Leader — the Commander,
standing in the entrance of the path, address us
in language affectionate, pressing, and particular,
" Follow thou me?" Have we accepted the offer
of this generous Conductor? — To such as can ren-

28
der a satisfactory answer to these interesting queries,
I would say, " You shall reign for ever in the
" heaven of light; you shall stand for ever before
" the throne of light; you shall mingle for ever
" with the angels of light; and you shall be arrayed
" for ever in the robes of celestial brightness." Of
you I say, in the name of the Lord, " Light is
" sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright
" in heart. The path of the just is as the shining
" light, which shineth more and more unto the
" perfect day. They that be wise shall shine as
" the firmament. Thy sun shall no more go down;
" neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the
" Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and
" thy God thy glory."

finis.

W. TEW, Printer, 10S, Upper Thames-Street,
* near Loudon Bridge.

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