expand more freely, and advance more rapidly, – while hosts of friendly spirits may greet us with a long, inspiring burst of sympathetic joy, joy inexpressible and full of glory.

DISCOURSE III.

7

RELIGION AND MORALITY.

PURE RELIGION, AND

UNDEFILED BEFORE GOD AND THE FATHER, IS THIS, TO VISIT THE FATHERLESS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR AFFLICTION, AND TO KEEP HIMSELF UNSPOTTED FROM THE WORLD. James i. 27.

THE term Religion is one of those terms which are in universal, but vague and uncertain use. It has become a technical, a professional term, and yet it might be supposed, by one unfamiliar with our language, that the term had and could have but one obvious signification. Were the question propounded to those in daily employment of this term, What is Religion? thousands would find themselves involved in unaccountable mystery, simply because they supposed that they had always had a distinct and satisfactory understanding of the term. Has a man found religion, or obtained religion? is a very common inquiry. But, What is religion? is a very rare one. Does a man profess religion? is an inquiry you may frequently hear made. But, Is that man a "religious man"? is a question seldom offered for reply.

Has a man obtained religion? implies that it is some essence or substance, which is somehow to come into a man's possession, a kind of treasure which, when once found, is never to be lost, but to be preserved as a sort of talisman or charm around the person. Does a man profess religion? implies, that it is a creed or system of some sort, a doctrine or belief which is to be declared or professed, this profession constituting one a possessor of religion, or in some way securing to him its benefits.

But both these ideas are incorrect, they are essentially defective; for religion is not an essence or a substance, which, like silver or gold, is to be obtained and secured in a man's possession. Neither is religion a doctrine or belief to be professed, and by such profession to secure some favors or privileges. It is neither something to be procured, nor is it a belief to be professed. Religion is a term expressive of the quality of certain human actions, of certain human characters, just as purity or patience, gentleness or goodness, describes the quality of certain actions, or the quality of certain characters in man. Religion is a word descriptive of certain relations and certain duties of man. In strict propriety, no one possesses purity, no one possesses patience, - that is, he does not find or obtain them as he finds money or obtains property; but he may be a pure man, or a patient man; these terms simply describe his mental or moral qualities. In strict propriety, no one obtains or holds gentleness or goodness as a possession, like a house or tract of land; but he may be a gentleman or a good man, these terms being descriptive of his personal characteristics.

So is religion a word applicable to certain relations, duties, actions, of a man, personally; and it is not a something material, a species of property to be acquired.

There is no propriety, therefore, in asking whether or not a man has obtained religion, or whether a man has professed religion; but there is a proper and allimportant question, namely, Is he a religious man? Are his actions and his life such as may be described by the word religious? For the word religious cannot describe a man's person, a man's body, -it cannot describe his business or profession,it cannot describe his property, his houses or his lands; it can only describe his spirit and his life, as manifested by his actions. To say that a man is religious, is not to express a peculiarity of a single act or series of acts at a given time and under peculiar circumstances, but it is to express the whole character, the uniform tenor, of a man's life. He is not logically, or necessarily, or strictly a religious man who offers prayers, who hears sermons and reads Bibles, who supports foreign missions and belongs to some society called a church. Religion does not consist in doing these things except so far as these are portions of a whole life, a uniform course of actions in conformity with these. A man may most cordially and liberally support a mission in India, and at the same time be supporting a gambling-house in his own vicinity. A man may belong to some church, and at the same time belong to some association whose direct design is to defraud and take advantage of his fellow-men. A man may hear sermons most patiently, and read

the Bible most seriously, every Sunday, and at the. same time he may read the most immoral works, and listen patiently to the most wicked plans, all through the week. A man may every morning by his bedside, or every evening at the prayer-meeting, utter most fervent and hearty prayers, while at the same time through the day little else than curses, reproaches, and abuse may be uttered by his lips. Now such a man - and there are such men may be profuse in his professions, and ardent in confessing sinfulness; he may be generous in supporting missions, and may be eloquent in prayer; he may be a faithful church-goer, and a diligent Biblereader; he may be called a devout man and a professor of religion; — but whatever he is, he is very far from being a religious man in any proper sense,in any Christian sense he is anything but a religious One of the most unhappy distinctions, that is, one of the most pernicious in its effects ever drawn, whether by logicians or theologians, is that drawn between religion and morality. Religion seems to be understood as expressing only our relations and duties toward God, and morality as only expressing our relations and duties toward man. The grand defect in all doctrinal systems or revelations preceding Christianity, and all beside Christianity, is, that they undervalue or overlook one class of duties in their scrupulous observation of another class. They have been devised with relation to God only, and not with relation to man also. So it has been with every Pagan system or form of worship; by sacrifices and prayers and rites they have endeavored to conciliate the various deities, and so to se

man.