Christianity the only true liberty. dictive, or temper him by corrective chastisement, into the fit agent of events yet in the womb of futurity either to bless or afflict mankind?-these are questions reserved in the secret counsels of Heaven, and possibly indeterminable to us, but in the revolutions of time, and the fate of empires. We are, however, less concerned to consider what may be the future fortunes of this extraordinary person, than to draw a moral lesson from his example;-to learn how baneful is human greatness, when it enslaves the mind of its possessor! how much better it is to live in a cottage with all the faculties at liberty to serve their Creator, in pursuit of the ends for which He gave them, than to sit upon a throne ruling over millions, while the mind is in сарtivity, compelled to obey the passions which it ought to command; to direct the service which it ought to abjure; to rebel against the God that gave it; and to be the agent of its own perdition-For my brethren, can we think that this warrior, conqueror, and potentate, before whose arms so large a part of the civili zed world trembled can we, in Christian Charity Christianity the only true liberty. Charity think, that he enjoyed the liberty, which alone can grace and dignify humanity? Shall we not rather say, although he knew it not, neither did his heart think so, that while the powers of the earth were externally at his disposal, he was in bondage to those malignant and selfish desires, which sin introduced to our nature, and which are the cause of all our miseries? What I have said, I think, is too clear and forcible to need a recapitulation, and I trust it has impressed your hearts with the truth uttered by divine lips, that he who committeth sin is the servant of sin; that vice of every kind enslaves, as it degrades and defiles, the soul. Would we then enjoy that liberty which is proper to our being, that freedom, by which alone we can apply to their right uses, and direct to their right ends, the privileges bestowed by human laws; we must acquire the command over ourselves. Self is the strongest enemy, the most absolute tyrant, that we have to fear. We must moderate desire, keep the Christianity the only true liberty. the heart with diligence, and have the passions at rest; so that nothing from within may rise in resistance to the dictates of conscience, or the course of duty. But every person, who has attentively marked the infirmity in his own breast, must be sensible that we have not in ourselves the power to do this. Philosophy asserting the efficiency of reason may set before you a proud display of the faculties and energies of the mind. Morality may prescribe the strictest rules of conduct-But it is religion, the Christian religion only, that can make you, what every wise man desires to be, the master of himself, the safe and skilful pilot of his own understanding, able to exhibit the genuine beauty and dignity of human nature, in the course of a pure, upright, virtuous, and blameless life. Christ alone can make you truly free. If you fly to him with a just sense of your own worthlessness and helplessness, submitting yourselves with sincerity and confidence under the healing of his wings, he will take off the servile yoke, which subjects your reason to your lusts, and give you the power to think and to act as your reason Christianity the only true liberty. reason prescribes, as your conscience approves, as the will of Heaven commands. He will enable you to perceive, to chuse, and retain the things congenial with the immortal principle within you. He will give you that state of the mind and affections, which, harmonizing alike with divine and human laws, renders obedience to both easy and happy; which alone, in rational estimation can make you worthy of pre-eminence; which in the sight of Omniscience exalts you above the unjust or licentious lords of the earth, the corrupt counsellor, and, what is more appropriate to these times, the uncertain favour of the factious multitude. This is the liberty of a social, intellectual, and accountable being, conferred by no laws, no form of government, no parts→ no learning. It may be a stranger or the companion equally to the monarch on his throne, to the conqueror in his triumphs, to the peasant in his cottage, or even to the prisoner in his chains, or to the slave in his bondage. The slave Onesimus had not this liberty, when in the pursuit of freedom, he deserted from his master; but possessed it when converted by St. Christianity the only true liberty. St. Paul, he returned penitent and submissive to the duties of his servitude. This is the only true liberty, because this alone gives us happiness, for which all men desire liberty. It disengages us from all those vices, which waste the substance, impair the health or the understanding, break the rest, and trouble the conscience, in this life, or darken futurity with overwhelming terrors, It nourishes our thoughts, designs, and efforts in union with the purposes of God, to effect the happiness of every thing that is guiltless and sensitive in his universal creation, Giving us the unfettered exercise and application of both soul and body in the service of righteousness, through all the pains and vicissitudes of the present existence, it conducts us in confidence and composure to meet our final and awful destinies in the presence of our redeemer and judge. It is, therefore, the liberty of reason, the liberty of religion, the liberty of a Christian, the liberty of an angel, As this is the only true liberty, so the subjection to sin is the only real slavery. The severest tyranny of this world can only enslave the |
