But these men, it may be said, were only deep thinkers, and lived in their closets, unaccustomed to the traffic of the world, and to the laws which practically regulate mankind. Gentlemen! in the place where we now sit to administer the justice of this great country, the never-to-be-forgotten Sir Matthew Hale presided; whose faith in Christianity is an exalted commentary upon its truth and reason, and whose life was a glorious example of its fruits;-whose justice, drawn from the pure fountain of the Christian dispensation, will be, in all ages, a subject of the highest reverence and admiration. But it is said by the author, that the Christian fable is but the tale of the more ancient superstitions of the world, and may be easily detected by a proper understanding of the mythologies of the Heathens. Did Milton understand those mythologies?-Was he less versed than Mr. Paine in the superstitions of the world? No, they were the subject of his immortal song; and though shut out from all recurrence to them, he poured them forth from the stores of a memory rich with all that man ever knew, and laid them in their order as the illustration of real and exalted faith, the unquestionable source of that fervid genius which has cast a kind of shade upon all the other works of man He pass'd the bounds of flaming space, But it was the light of the BODY only that was extinguished; "The CELESTIAL LIGHT shone inward, and enabled him to justify the ways of God to man."-The result of his thinking was nevertheless not quite the same as the author's before us. The mysterious incarnation of our blessed Savior (which this work blasphemes in words so wholly unfit for the mouth of a Christian, or for the ear of a court of justice, that I dare not, and will not, give them utterance,) Milton made the grand conclusion of his Paradise Lost, the rest from his finished labors, and the ultimate hope, expectation, and glory of the world. A Virgin is his Mother, but his Sire, The power of the Most High;-he shall ascend With earth's wide bounds, his glory with the heavens. The immortal poet having thus put into the mouth of the angel the prophecy of man's redemption, follows it with that solemn and beautiful admonition, addressed in the Poem to our great first parent, but intended as an address to his posterity through all generations: This having learn'd, thou hast attain'd the sum Thus you find all that is great, or wise, or splendid, or illus trious, amongst created beings;-all the minds gifted beyond ordinary nature, if not inspired by its universal Author for the advancement and dignity of the world, though divided by distant ages, and by clashing opinions, yet joining as it were in one sublime chorus, to celebrate the truths of Christianity, and laying upon its holy altars the never-fading offerings of their immortal wisdom. 66 Against all this concurring testimony, we find suddenly, from the author of this book, that the Bible teaches nothing but LIES, OBSCENITY, CRUELTY, and INJUSTICE." Had he ever read our Savior's sermon on the Mount, in which the great principles of our faith and duty are summed up?-Let us all but read and practise it; and lies, obscenity, cruelty, and injustice, and all human wickedness, will be banished from the world! Gentlemen, there is but one consideration more, which I cannot possibly omit, because I confess it affects me very deeply. The author of this book has written largely on public liberty and government; and this last performance, which I am now prosecuting, has, on that account, been more widely circulated, and principally among those who attached themselves from principle to his former works. This circumstance renders a public attack upon all revealed religion from such a writer infi nitely more dangerous. The religious and moral sense of the people of Great Britain is the great anchor, which alone can hold the vessel of the state amidst the storms which agitate the world; and if the mass of the people were debauched from the principles of religion, the true basis of that humanity, charity, and benevolence, which have been so long the national characteristic; instead of mixing myself, as I sometimes have done, in political reformations,-I would retire to the uttermost corners of the earth, to avoid their agitation; and would bear, not only the imperfections and abuses complained of in our own wise establishment, but even the worst government that ever existed in the world, rather than go to the work of reformation with a multitude set free from all the charities of Christianity, who had no other sense of God's existence, than was to be collected from Mr. Paine's observation of nature, which the mass of mankind have no leisure to contemplate;-which promises no future rewards, to animate the good in the glorious pursuit of human happiness, nor punishments to deter the wicked from destroying it even in its birth. The people of England are a religious people, and, with the blessing of God, so far as it is in my power, I will lend my aid to keep them so. I have no objections to the most extended and free discussions upon doctrinal points of the Christian religion; and though the law of England does not permit it, I do not dread the reasonings of Deists against the existence of Christianity itself, because, as was said by its divine Author, if it be of God it will stand. An intellectual book, however erroneous, addressed to the intellectual world upon so profound and complicated a subject, can never work the mischief which this indictment is calculated to repress. Such works will only incite the minds of men enlightened by study, to a deeper investigation of a subject well worthy of their deepest and continued contemplation. The powers of the mind are given for human improvement in the progress of human existence. The changes produced by such reciprocations of lights and intelligences are certain in their progressions, and make their way imperceptibly, by the final and irresistible power of truth. If Christianity be founded in falsehood, let us become Deists in this manner, and I am contented.-But this book has no such object, and no such capacity:-it presents no arguments to the wise and enlightened. On the contrary, it treats the faith and opinions of the wisest with the most shocking contempt, and stirs up men, without the advantages of learning, or sober thinking, to a total disbelief of everything hitherto held sacred; and consequently to a rejection of all the laws and ordinances of the state, which stand only upon the assumption of their truth. Gentlemen, I cannot conclude without expressing the deepest regret at all attacks upon the Christian religion by authors who profess to promote the civil liberties of the world. For under what other auspices than Christianity have the lost and subverted liberties of mankind in former ages been reasserted?— By what zeal, but the warm zeal of devout Christians, have English liberties been redeemed and consecrated?-Under what other sanctions, even in our own days, have liberty and happiness been spreading to the uttermost corners of the earth?What work of civilization, what commonwealth of greatness. has this bald religion of nature ever established?-We see, on the contrary, the nations that have no other light than that of nature to direct them, sunk in barbarism, or slaves to arbitrary governments; whilst, under the Christian dispensation, the great career of the world has been slowly, but clearly advancing,lighter at every step, from the encouraging prophecies of the Gospel, and leading, I trust, in the end, to universal and eternal happiness. Each generation of mankind can see but a few revolving links of this mighty and mysterious chain; but by doing our several duties in our allotted stations, we are sure that we are fulfilling the purposes of our existence.-You, I trust, will fulfil YOURS this day. MR. ERSKINE'S SPEECH, IN MARKAM vs. FAWCETT, BEFORE THE DEPUTY SHERIFF OF MIDDLE SEX AND A SPECIAL JURY, UPON AN INQUISITION OF DAMAGES. Mr. Sheriff, and Gentlemen of the Jury-In representing the unfortunate gentleman who has sustained the injury which has been stated to you by my learned friend, Mr. Holroyd, who opened the pleadings, I feel one great satisfaction-a satisfaction founded, as I conceive, on a sentiment perfectly constitutional.—I am about to address myself to men whom I PERSONALLY KNOW; to men, honorable in their lives,-moral,-judicious; and capable of correctly estimating the injuries they are called upon to condemn in their character of jurors. THIS, Gentlemen, is the only country in the world, where there is such a tribunal as the one before which I am now to speak: for, however in other countries such institutions as our own may have been set up of late, it is only by that maturity which it requires ages to give to governments-by that progressive wisdom which has slowly ripened the Constitution of our country, that it is possible there can exist such a body of men as YOU are. It is the great privilege of the subjects of England that they judge one another.-It is to be recollected, that, although we are in this private room, all the sanctions of justice are present. It makes no manner of difference, whether I address you in the presence of the under-sheriff, your respectable chairman, or with the assistance of the highest magistrate of the state. The defendant has, on this occasion, suffered judgment by default: other adulterers have done so before him. Some have done so under the idea, that, by suffering judgment against them, they had retired from the public eye-from the awful presence of the judge; and that they came into a corner, where there was not such an assembly of persons to witness their misconduct, and where it was to be canvassed before persons, who might be less qualified to judge the case to be addressed to them. It is not long, however, since such persons have had an opportunity of judging how much they were mistaken in this respect the largest damages, in cases of adultery, have been given in this place.-By this place, I do not mean the particu lar room in which we are now assembled, but under inquisitions 31* |