SERMON.

ON RELIGION MILITANT IN THE WORLD.

Matt. x. 34-36.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her motherin-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

ON reading this passage of the Gospel, we may be apt to express our surprize, and to say to ourselves, Is this the character of the religion of Christ?-Was it not, on the contrary, announced, not only as glory to God in the highest, but as peace on earth, good will towards men?—And are we not told that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness?-How can we apply, then, to Christianity the terms of the text, and suppose it to be the introduction of strife and discord among men?

There is, however, no real contradiction between this declaration of Scripture, and other passages which appear to speak in a different tone. It is not the purpose here of our Lord to describe the nature of

• Gal. v. 22. REM EMBRANCER, No. 70.

[VOL. VI.

his religion, but he is addressing his disciples on the nature of the errand on which he was about to send them forth, and preparing their minds for their reception in the world. He, accordingly, describes to them the effects which would follow from their preaching the word among an evil and perverse generation. It is with regard to these effects, and by no means with a view to the intrinsic properties of his religion, he tells them, that he was come not to send peace, but a sword among them-that the passions of men would clash with the saving knowledge of the Word, and cause its progress to be accompanied with dissension, and disruption of the closest ties among men. was it intimated to the blessed Virgin Mary, so early as at the presentation of our Saviour in the temple, when the aged Simeon told her, amidst his joy at the birth of the promised Redeemer, that "the child was set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which should be spoken against -yea, that a sword should pierce through her own soul also *,"-expressions-which might have fully unfolded to her, that while the blessing of the Redeemer, now born into the world, was in itself all joy

4 E

Luke ii. 34.

So

perceive, that those by whom its exertions are, in this country, chiefly occupied, give such satisfactory proof of the sense they entertain of the benefit they derive from it.-Bombay Gazette, March 3, 1824.

Account of the Ceremony of laying the Foundation-stone of a new Church in the East Indies.

On Monday last, the 1st of March, the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the New Church at Tannah, was performed by the Venerable the Archdeacon, in the presence of the whole of the Society resident in the place. A eight o'clock in the morning, the gentlemen proceeded from the Adawlut to the spot chosen for the site, when, after appropriate prayers had been offered up by the Rev. D. Young, Chaplain of the station, the Archdeacon deposited, in a cavity in the stone, a bottle, containing several British and Indian coins, together with a brass plate, on which was engraven the following inscription.

Individuæ et Benedicta Trinitati Gloria. Ecclesiæ in Tanna Anglicanæ, Jacta sunt fundamenta,

Die Martii Primo

Anno Salutis MDCCCXXIV. Georgii iv. Britanniarum Regis Quinto. Viro Honorabili

Mounstuart Elphinstone,

Rebus Bombaicis
Feliciter Præposito.

Patre in Christo Admodum Reverendo
Reginaldo Heber, S. T. P.
Secundo Sedis Calcuttensis Episcopo.
Adjuvantibus

Viro Venerabili
Georgio Barnes, S. T. P.
Primo Bombaiæ Archidiacono

et

David Younge, A.M. Ecclesiæ apud. Tannam Ministro, Cui Operi Pio Munifico Curante suo, Gulielmo Tate, Centurione Sumptus Suppeditabat Societas Illa Anglicorum Honore Digna, Apud Indos quæ Facit Mercaturam Quod Feliciter Vertat Sui Gloriæ

Hominumque Saluti

D. O. M.

from the fort. A blessing was then pronounced by the Archdeacon, after which the party present returned to the Adawlut, where they partook of an elegant breakfast given by E. H. Baillie, Esq.

The plan of this Church, designed by Lieutenant W. A. Tate, is very generally admired; and the situation on the Esplanade in front of the burial ground, such as will make it a great additional ornament to a place, which is celebrated for possessing many natural advantages.

We cannot help remarking, that this event presents a subject of congratulation highly interesting, whether we regard the credit of the government by which it is undertaken, the advantages of the people for whom particularly it is designed, or the honour and ultimate increase of Christianity in this country. The zeal with which the work is commenced, gives a promise of rapid progress, no less creditable to the activity of the engineer, than the elegance of the design is to his taste and profes sional talents. Bombay Gazette, March 3, 1824.

Farewell Dinner to the Bishop of Barbados.

ON Tuesday, the 27th of July, a farewell dinner was given to the Bishop of Barbados and the Leeward Islands, at the Albion, Aldersgate-street, by the principal members of the congregation attending the National Society's Chapel, in Ely-place. In the course of the evening his Lordship was presented with a very handsome piece of plate, in testimony of the respect entertained for him by his late flock, and of their gratitude for the benefit derived from his instructions while Preacher of the National Society's Chapel.

Fourth Report of His Majesty's Commissioners appointed by virtue of an Act of Parliament, passed in the fifty-eighth year of the Reign of his late Majesty King George the Third, c. 45, intituled, "An Act for building and promoting the building of

additional Churches in populous Parishes."

SINCE His Majesty's Commissioners made their last Report, ELEVEN churches and chapels have been completed, at Erdington, in the parish of Aston and county of Warwick; in the parish of Saint Augus. tine, in the city of Bristol; Camberwell, in the county of Surrey; Pudsey, in the parish of Calverley and county of York; Hackney, in the county of Middlesex; Hoghton, in the parish of Leyland in the county of Lancaster; in Wyndham-place, in the parish of Saint Mary-le-bone and county of Middlesex; Nuneaton, in the county of Warwick; in King-square, in the parish of Saint Luke, Old-street, and county of Middlesex; Workington, in the county of Cumberland; and at Stanley, in the parish of Wakefield and county of York. These churches and chapels afford accommodation for six thousand five hundred and eight persons in pews, and for eight thousand six hundred and twentyseven poor persons in free seats; that eight of these churches and chapels have been consecrated, and divine service is regularly performed therein, and the remainder will be consecrated within a few weeks, That in the whole, twenty-six churches and chapels have been completed, which, according to the allowance of twenty in ches for each person, the scale assumed by His Majesty's Commissioners, will afford accommodation for thirteen thousand six hundred and twenty-four persons in pews, and for twenty-three thousand and twenty six poor persons in free seats, making a total provision for thirty-six thousand six hundred and fifty persons; but as the assumed scale is greater than is actually required for each person, the accommodation will in fact extend to a much greater number; and it is particularly gratifying to His Majesty's Commissioners to be enabled to add, that, from the information which they have received from the places where new churches and chapels have been erected, that the sittings in pews are mostly engaged, and that the free seats in general are fully occupied.

His Majesty's Commissioners have further to report, That Forty-four churches and chapels are building at the following places: Ashton-under-Lyne, in the county of Lancaster; Bermondsey, in the county of Surrey; Bolton, in the county of Lancaster; Shipley and Wilsden, in the parish of Bradford, and county of York; Brixham, in the county of Devon; in the parish of St. Luke, Chelsea, in the county

of Middlesex; Chorley, in the county of Lancaster; Farnworth, in the parish of Dean, in the county of Lancaster; Dewsbury Moor, and Hanging Heaton, in the parish of Dewsbury, and county of York; Belper, in the parish of Duffield, and county of Derby; Gateshead, in the county of Durham; Greenwich, in the county of Kent; at Pimlico, and in Regent-street, in the parish of St. George, Hanover-square, and county of Middlesex; Kidderminster, in the county of Worcester; Norwood, Brixton, Kennington, and in the Waterloo Road, in the parish of St. Mary, Lambeth, and county of Surrey; Quarry Hill, Woodhouse, and in Meadow-lane, in the parish of Leeds, and county of York; Leicester, in the county of Leicester; Tyldesley, in the parish of Leigh, and county of Lancaster; Camp Field, and Salford, in the parish of Manchester, and county of Lancaster; Langham-place, and Staffordstreet, in the parish of St. Mary-le-bone, and county of Middlesex; Beckford-place, and in Great Suffolk-street, in the parish of St. Mary Newington, and county of Surrey; Stand, in the parish of Prestwich cum Oldham, in the county of Lancaster; Regent-square, and Somers-town, in the parish of St. Pancras, and county of Middlesex; Fylde Road, and in the Parks, in the parish of Preston, in the county of Lancaster; Attercliffe, in Broad Lane, and near the Infirmary, in the parish of Sheffield, and county of York; West Bromwich, in the county of Stafford; in the Hoxton division of the parish of St. Leonard Shoreditch, in the county of Middle-' sex; Stockport, in the county of Chester; and at Alverthorpe, in the parish of Wakefield, and county of York; that according to the returns made by the Architects, twenty-four of these churches and chapels will be completed in the course of the present year. His Majesty's Commissioners have also received Plans, which

are

and peace, yet should it from other causes be attended with personal pangs and suffering, as well in her own case, as in the world at large.

Now that the natural consequences of a religion may be excellent, while those which actually follow its promulgation, are untoward and evil, it is perfectly consistent to suppose. The natural consequences of a religion are such as would necessarily flow from its principles, were those principles suffered to operate freely, without any outward impediment. The actual consequences are such as arise from the conjoint operation of those principles and the materials on which they act. To estimate, therefore, the real state of the case, and to calculate the true effect of any religion, we must deduct from its whole positive effect, as discernible in the course of the world, the re-action of those evil and obnoxious circumstances to which it is applied. We must look, in short, to its real tendency all else, though inseparably combined with its diffusion, is merely accidental, and therefore not belonging to the consideration of its essential nature. If the tendency be good, then are the consequences of the religion naturally good, even in the most extreme cases, where the outward impediments to it may amount so far as to make them practically evil.

This is a distinction not peculiar to religion, but which applies equally to other subjects.-We readily allow that the natural effect of reason is to give power over brute force. Yet can we not readily conceive reason placed in circumstances so untoward as to nullify its natural effect-where the force opposed to it may be so disproportioned to its means, or so aided by a concurrence of accidents, as to be an overmatch to its strength ?-And do we not find that even reason itself is sometimes defeated by the actual want of it, as in cases where fortunate rashness has succeeded, by

daring an attempt which real prudence forbad ?-so that the actual effect of reason does not necessarily agree with that which we must allow naturally to belong to it.-The same observation may be made with regard to the actual effect of virtue, without taking religion into our consideration. Love and honour and happiness naturally attend on virtue, and make her ways the ways of pleasantness and peace, even in a worldly sense. Men, however depraved themselves, are disposed to admire and befriend the integrity of others, and all however malignant in their disposition, concur in rejoicing at the prosperity of the righteous, as the proper consequence of merit; and, on the other hand, are indignant at the advancement of the wicked, as at a thing out of course, and which ought not in propriety to have taken place. Yet from ignorance of men's characters, as well as a multitude of other circumstances, how often does it not happen that virtue fails of its proper reward? How often, accordingly, is not the actual consequence of being virtuous different from that, and even the reverse of that, which we are entitled to expect from a view of its nature? So may we with equal reason admit the proper effect of the religion of Christ to be peace on earth, while it is often practically no peace-or, in the emphatic words of our Saviour, a sword. So may discord and violation of the most tender charities of life, be the actual consequence of that which is perfectly adapted to produce the opposite effects of universal concord and benevolence.

To expect, indeed, that a religion, however perfect in its scheme, should meet with no opposition, and immediately obtain by its natural force an universal success, is to expect that it would be placed in different circumstances from those in which we find it. It is arguing from a more perfect state of things than that which human life presents,

and, in the case of Christianity, in opposition to the very tenor of the religion itself, which presupposes, and addresses itself to, a fallen condition of human nature, and, at most therefore, can only be held responsible for a very partial and limited

success.

Still, however, we can hardly divest ourselves of that wrongful prejudice by which we confound the natural efficacy of our religion with its positive and visible effects. We still expect from it more than we actually see, and are scandalized when we find that it is not that unmixed delight which its divine nature bespeaks it. Men perversely ima gine that it has disappointed them of its fair promise, whereas they have themselves only frustrated the happy consummation of it. On

beholding the scene of confusion and misery which the world presents, notwithstanding the benign influence of Christianity now for so many ages exerted for its reforma tion on reflecting on that moral chaos which still reigns throughout it, although the quickening Spirit of God has moved upon its face, and carried light into its darkness-we are sometimes tempted to forget ourselves, and almost to join in the expression of disappointment uttered by the two disciples on their way to Emmaus-"We trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel"-altogether overlooking the rude and untractable and stubborn materials on which the Divine Word has to operate, and which must unavoidably impede and mar its gracious effects.

It was to obviate this prejudice that our Lord, who knew the secret springs of the human heart, so pointedly forewarned his disciples, in the words of the text "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against

her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." And so also in the parallel passage of St. Luke, he says, that he is come to send fire on earth: aptly illustrating by the analogous expressions of fire and a sword, the grievous personal afflictions which would be consequent on the preach. ing of the Gospel of peace and gen tleness; as if he had said, "I am come, indeed, to bring peace on earth-my coming is to mankind the kindest gift which God could have vouchsafed them-but the folly and malignity of those to whom I am come will pervert that blessing, so that I shall not indeed send peace to them, but a sword-the bitter animosity which they will unhappily feel to the reception of my doctrine, will become hatred against its teachers and professors-to such a degree, that even the closest ties of kindred will afford no protection against the malice of persecution. Destruction and unhappiness are in the ways of men, and therefore will they not know the way of peace, though that way is through me made plain before their face."

Be it our endeavour to turn this gracious warning to our advantage, that we may contemplate the state of religion in the world with proper feelings, and prepare ourselves to meet the peculiar exigencies of the condition in which we are placed with regard to it.

In the first place, we shall profit by it in our own hearts, if it rightly instil into us the conviction, that, from the nature of the case, religion cannot be entirely in this world a way of pleasantness and peace. Our Lord has told us that he came not to send peace on earth, but a sword, and so must even the best among men experience it according to his word. There is that within them, even in such as are regenerated by the word of truth, which will not readily conform itself to the guidance of the Spirit-the lawof the members they find to be con